I was looking around on the net and I found a camera that shoots uncompressed 4:4:4 RGB via a direct to disc interface and is capable of multiple framerates, shoots in 1.85:1 or 2.37:1! and is operated essentially like a film camera (it even has a physical shutter!)

Check it out:
www.viperfilmstreamcamera.com

-Shawn

Yeah, thanks for the link and this is fascinating stuff for sure. However it's a little bit over my budget. ;-)

I assume it's over most of our budgets, but I couldn't find a price anywhere. (Which usually just proves that it costs too much)

-Shawn

You know the saying, Shawn... if you have to ask, you can't afford it! However I'll bet you that in time we'll see this sort of technology down at the affordable prosumer level, so it's smart to check into this sort of thing now, even though it probably costs more than my house at the moment.

We actually inquired about the status of the Viper for a shoot we're doing in Paris in August (see http://www.2plus1.net). Since the Viper is being developed by a French company, we thought it would be a better idea than lugging a CineAlta cam from Hollywood. Unfortunately, only 3 Vipers exist, and only as test phase/demonstration models. The camera doesn't really work yet and/or hasn't been put through it's paces. Maybe in 2003 we'll hear more about the Viper, but my bets are more firmly placed on 2004.

Scott Billups, author of "Digital Moviemaking" claims on his website that he'll be using one to shoot something soon.

http://www.pixelmonger.com/hg_cam.html
(very bottom of the page)

It also has more info about the new 24 fps AG-DVX100 miniDV cam.

-Shawn

I checked out the link, but all he says is that he'll be using this camera to shoot a feature "soon." Yeah, him and every other filmmaker trying to get their hands on it.

We considered pushing back our shoot to take advantage of this camera, but we were told not to bother. It really won't be ready for another year or two.