Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Questions about Phantom HD Gold

Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
8,520
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Is the Vision Research Phantom HD Gold a "true" 1080p camera when shooting in 1920x1080 mode? Is it RGB? RAW? Is there a 1080p crop factor on cine lenses? In other words, when you switch from 2K to 1080p, is it cropping the sensor or somehow downsampling? I guess the crop would be pretty minor anyway.

What are some of the good things and bad things about this camera? What accessories are mandatory?

Can I easily review shots in the field so I can delete unwanted shots to save data space?

BTW, I was looking at their 65mm "4K" Phantom, but it can only shoot 144fps at 4K, so it seems like Epic X might put that camera out of business pretty quick.

Thanks!
 
The Phantoms sensor is a square CMOS sensor, 2048x2048. Not sure if it's cropped or scaled. It records Raw .cine files onto their 256gb or 512gb cinemags or you can record direct to HDCam tape via the dual link 444 SDI on the cinestation. You can use Glutools software to transcode the RAW files or use SpeedGrade XR or DI to run dailies out of and do full RAW control CC.
It will do 1,000 FPS @ 1080p which is about 4 seconds realtime. It has a 16gb buffer. You can control the camera on the PC or Mac w/Windows OS installed via they're 663/675 and Phantom Player software. You can easily view your triggered takes in the buffer and save any portion of the take via setting in and out points. It has a PL mount, uses basically the same arri accessories and o'connor support.
The Phantom images are amazing! They are 14bit but you have the option of recording 14,12,10 and 8bit. It's expensive to rent and much more expensive to purchase but trust me, you'll love it!
 
Does the 1080p hold up, pixel for pixel, on close inspection?

Is there a way to review the footage easily in the field without being tethered to some serious stuff? This would be for shooting in remote places, like shooting lizards in the desert.
 
Would you say the Phantom 1080p is better in image quality and color than an F900, for example? What about the field aspects like deleting data on the fly? Shooting without tether in remote spots? Reviewing dailies at night?

Thanks for the info, guys!
 
The Phantom is exceptional in image quality...I wouldnt compare it to the f900 because they are very different. Its more complicated to use than Red and the F900, and requires the services of a competent DIT or Technician. If you were to say that the Red and the Phantom are computers, Red is OSX and Phantom is DOS.

There is a heavily compressed shot on our Blog, not the best example but you can get an idea of quality:
http://www.digitalfx.tv/blog/2009/2/27/phantom-camera-swimmer
 
Mike Burton is the FREAKING Bomb ! ! (he has been a welcome addition to our Native Community)

mikeburton said:
The Phantoms sensor is a square CMOS sensor, 2048x2048. Not sure if it's cropped or scaled. It records Raw .cine files onto their 256gb or 512gb cinemags or you can record direct to HDCam tape via the dual link 444 SDI on the cinestation. You can use Glutools software to transcode the RAW files or use SpeedGrade XR or DI to run dailies out of and do full RAW control CC.
It will do 1,000 FPS @ 1080p which is about 4 seconds realtime. It has a 16gb buffer. You can control the camera on the PC or Mac w/Windows OS installed via they're 663/675 and Phantom Player software. You can easily view your triggered takes in the buffer and save any portion of the take via setting in and out points. It has a PL mount, uses basically the same arri accessories and o'connor support.
The Phantom images are amazing! They are 14bit but you have the option of recording 14,12,10 and 8bit. It's expensive to rent and much more expensive to purchase but trust me, you'll love it!
Click to expand...
 
digitalfx said:
The Phantom is exceptional in image quality...I wouldnt compare it to the f900 because they are very different. Its more complicated to use than Red and the F900, and requires the services of a competent DIT or Technician. If you were to say that the Red and the Phantom are computers, Red is OSX and Phantom is DOS.

There is a heavily compressed shot on our Blog, not the best example but you can get an idea of quality:
http://www.digitalfx.tv/blog/2009/2/27/phantom-camera-swimmer
Click to expand...

What if you owned one, or had access to one for like a month or two? Could you learn to operate one yourself? Or is it just too complicated for one person to handle on their own?

Good lord, I love that ramped swimming shot! :emote_happyhappy:
 
Mike Burton just shot with it last week or so = the Genesis Gold. You can ask Mike as well for hands on, first hand knowledge. But I did look into buying one.. but decided to stay with RED (and seemed easier for our kids to grasp the concepts since they have been around Red Cameras all summer). Genesis is not to easy to come by on a daily basis like the RED is.
 
someone to manage it beyond the shooter himself? could a two-man crew use one in remote places? for example could a 1- or 2-person team travel with one to a mountain lake and shoot a fisherman pulling a trout out of a lake at 1000fps?

i think i need to maybe have a chat with someone about this. i might pm you about this, mike.
 
yes, one or two people can handle it...its just slow as you have to offload frequently. Once its set-up, its easy to use. Not the best solution for remote locations though. Its also expensive to rent.
 
Hi Tom

For someone as able and talented as yourself the Phantom will be very easy to get familiar with. Once you know the gotcha's and the process you will be up and running fast. We have had our Phantom now for 4 months and it has been out on a number of natural history jobs with a single operator very successfully. Camera can be used completely untethered from a computer for shooting. All the controls you need are on the camera body. Having a experienced Phantom tech controlling from a laptop is the ideal way to go, but it is also very easy to operate completely untethered if you have to.

I dont know what you have got planned but if you are taking it out to remote locations the issues you will have are power and offloading data. Camera draws a lot of power. Two Anton Bauer VCLX batts are needed to cover a days shoot. They are big and heavy and need 6-7hrs to charge.
Its easy to view your footage on location , trim it and upload it to the CineMags. The 4 sec take is often 50% or more waste. You can squeeze a lot of trimmed footage on a 512gb CineMag if you upload judiciously. Downloading a full mag can take 7hrs, so plan for that!

Pictures are gorgeous and easily equal a F900. It is roughly 200ASA. You will need good, fast , sharp lenses. The new Gold upgrade was heaven sent. After a one hour warm up the black levels stay very stable. Pictures are so clean now.

If you have more questions Im happy to chat.

John
510-525 5400
Chater Camera Inc
 
Thank you so much, John. I appreciate that.
 
John Chater said:
Hi Tom

The new Gold upgrade was heaven sent. After a one hour warm up the black levels stay very stable. Pictures are so clean now.
Click to expand...

That's great to hear, in the previous version you had to black balance every time the wind blew.
 
how do you go with out a computer ? just finished a lego shoot where we had some phantom shots - but all the controls was run through a computer. infact there hardly seemed to be any way to control it without? -(maybe i didnt look closely enough. this was not the gold upgrade but an older one.
 
The HD Gold is a huge improvement both in image quality and stability. It no longer feels like you are compromising when you have to switch from Film or Red to Phantom for your slowmo. The image straight out of the camera feels like Red's Rec709 output, but is true 1080p, and the Raw files are your digital neg. You could quite easily operate with just the camera and a laptop, as long as you were prepared for the download times.
 
is it necessary to have a latop connected to it? if so, could it be a little netbook or something?

how would Zeiss Super Speed T1.3s work out on this camera? the photosites are actually quite large, right? are there any fast PL-mount zooms anyone might recommend for it? i might need some long focal lengths, like 300mm.

is there anything like a 1:1 focus assist?
 
Sidney
A laptop is not 'necessary' on location to shoot with the Phantom. Period. Its important to have one around to confirm and troubleshoot but absolutely not necessary for shooting. Abel Cine Tech have worked really hard with Vision Research to make this a very flexible and practical field camera.
The only critical setting a laptop is needed to program the camera with is the 'bit depth'. The others are playback and image processing for field viewing. These can be set in advance at the hotel and the camera will hold them. Otherwise on the Phantom Gold everything you need has a button control on the camera. This is not the case with any of the other Phantom models however.
National Geographic own a Phantom. For their shoots its primarily a one man operation. Laptop is only brought out on location if needed to confirm settings on the camera or to trouble shoot any technical issues.
One person operation of the camera isnt optimal. It requires someone with a n ability to juggle the creative with the technical and the physical. Just like the Red camera. But having seen Tom's work Im pretty sure he is more than up to the task.
For downloading and transcoding footage after the shoot however a laptop is essential.

Best
John
Chater Camera Inc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top