S35 digi cinema camera for US$8000

[Simon Wood]

DSLR News Shooter | BIRTV 2011 – China’s answer to Red? The Kinefinity KineRAW S35 digital cinema camera for US$8000

China's answer to Red / Alexa? Either way more competition can only be a good thing (and it will probably be available before Scarlet)!

Website is here:

KineRAW-S35

Seemingly they also have an S16 sized camera with CCD sensor, and an S8 sized camera with a CMOS sensor (both with exchangeable lens mounts) in addition to the S35 CMOS camera.

All still vaporware at the moment I guess.

[Heath McKnight]

Not to sound negative, but until any of these cameras are shipping, I ignore them. There have been so many (non-working, or barely working) prototypes and announcements of affordable, film-like digital cameras (stretching back before RED), that I just end up tuning them out.

It sounds cool, but I like that I can get a Sony NEX-FS100 with a Super 35mm (with a basic zoom lens) for around $5500.

Heath

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree with Heath.

Too many announcements without any concrete action. Hope there are more competitors to Red. Lets wait for the sleeping giant to wake up (read Canon).

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Heath McKnight]

JVC is developing a 4K camera, too.

Heath

[Gabe Strong]

I've got the FS100 with basic zoom lens. It is one freakin sweet camera.
Can't believe you can get it for the price it is. Course, I hope everyone
DOES keep coming out with 'cheap' super 35 cameras. Competition is how we
got the AF100 and FS100 in the first place. I showed the FS100 to a friend
of mine the other day. I am helping him edit a film, as he is an older guy
who hasn't really used NLE's before. He used to shoot on 35mm film in LA.
When he saw the image the FS100 put out he was literally flabbergasted.
He was telling me how lucky I was to live and work with all this new technology.
I'd have to say he is right.....

[Heath McKnight]

Check out this comparison with the AF100, 5D and F3, candle light, from Moving Picture in Ft. Lauderdale:

Moving Picture Electronic Services Presents: Producer's Cheatsheet August, 2011; MPES Camera Test

heath

[Nigel Barker]

It's nice to know that the Sony F3 is better in candlelight than the Canon 5D but considering that it costs about 10X the price perhaps that is to be expected. Does it really look 10X better?

[Simon Wood]

Originally Posted by Sabyasachi Patra

I agree with Heath.

Too many announcements without any concrete action. Hope there are more competitors to Red. Lets wait for the sleeping giant to wake up (read Canon).

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Well, Canon is always fashionable late to every party.

You cant be sure of what it will be or when it will be released, but you can be almost guaranteed one thing with Canon: it will be the most expensive item in its class.

[Heath McKnight]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

It's nice to know that the Sony F3 is better in candlelight than the Canon 5D but considering that it costs about 10X the price perhaps that is to be expected. Does it really look 10X better?

Probably, especially with the S35mm sensor and Sony's usual color and gamma features. And less compression vs. the 5D Mk II, as well. But the 5D is great, too.

Heath

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

It's nice to know that the Sony F3 is better in candlelight than the Canon 5D but considering that it costs about 10X the price perhaps that is to be expected. Does it really look 10X better?

First I heard it cost 10 times as much, perhaps nearly 6 times as much, although you'd also have to add a few accessories to the 5D to turn it into a video camera.

They're basically doing different things.

[Heath McKnight]

A decent F3 package costs around $20,000, the 5D Mk II (still with a great, big sensor) costs around, what, $2000 without a lens? The Sony FS100 is affordable because it likely lacks features the F3 has, and it's NXCAM, which is more compression. XDCAM EX technology ain't cheap.

Heath

[Brian Drysdale]

A 5D is $2.5k at B & H, but it still needs accessories to make it suitable as video camera, which would still put the F3 in at roughly 6 times the cost. It really depends on the package on either camera.

[Heath McKnight]

There are also limits between the two that you need to take into consideration. I'm more inclined to rent something like the F3 vs. buying, but that's due to me not being a full time filmmaker or video guy.

Heath

[Brian Drysdale]

Yes, it really depends on what use it for. If your market is at the F3 level, it has a lot of bang for bucks, comparing favourably with much more expensive cameras.

Perhaps the FS100 is the one that the 5D has to compete with, and the costs do start getting close when add in the accessories. It could depend on if you also want to use your video camera as a high end stills camera, but are prepared to compromise on the video.

[Heath McKnight]

I'm looking at a chart right now, and the two DSLRs with the biggest sensors (and are relatively "affordable") are the 5D and the Nikon D3S, both around 36 x 24 mm.

Heath