Possible to shoot 3D at IMAX size on RED yet?

[Markus Lanxinger]

You are right, so do digital sensors though. Just read the article on digital sensors in the new ASC. I just threw out a number that was considered to be the equivalent IMAX resolution (subject to change). There have been IMAX titles digitized using 8K scannners. Maybe you still get a good scan at 10K or 12K, maybe somebody that knows can answer that.

 

[Erich Ocean]

To rephrase the question... what's resolution of digital capture would feel the same as the 15/70mm experience.

None? It's a trick question, the physical sensor size makes a difference as well. A simple example:

1. Each focal length compresses (near to far) the objects in the image a different amount (this can also vary in minor ways from lens design to lens design). A telephoto focal length in general compresses more than a wide focal length.

2. When framing a shot, as a director, I select a desired field of view and then determine which lens will give me that (and how much I'll have to move the camera forward/back with said lens).

3. The focal length that will give me a particular FOV with a particular sensor depends on the size of the sensor.

4. Ergo, identical field of views on different sensor sizes come from different focal lengths. Since different focal lengths have different near/far compression independent of the sensor size (which only affects final FOV), the conclusion is inescapable:

Identical framing (FOV) with different sized sensors looks different due to the near/far compression effects of lenses.

This is why Epic S35 will never look like 15 perf IMAX. In fact, the only sensor that could look like 15 perf IMAX is a sensor exactly that size.

Now, of course there is more to recording an image than how the live, three dimensional scene is laid down on a two dimensional sensor. Things like sensor resolution, dynamic range, the resolving power of the lenses, OLPF filters and the like all determine the final quality. But there is no way for an Epic to cheat optics.

I work primarily with medium format for (fashion-style) stills, and am wanting to use the Epic for motion stills. But I know it won't look the same. It can't, and it's not just resolution or dynamic range, it's optics -- physics, if you will. They won't look the same scaled down to an 800x600 JPEG. (This is one reason I'm also planning a Phantom 65 shoot in June.)