Hi Bob,

Also in regards to the back focus system, we have a very robust system that allows you to set the back focus, and then clamp the lens mount down so that it's not going anywhere. It's actually much more robust than the plastic/metal combo of the Sony F900.

Hope this helps.

Yes, this helps a lot.
Looking at the Spoon production shoot stills I'm still a bit concerned though about running the imager - lens combo with remote recording. The imager block is way smaller and lighter than the lens and there's only one or two screws to secure the imager block to the camera plate and you need a spacer block under the imager block.
Traditionally the camera holds the lens but in this configuration that's almost reversed, maybe I'm being overly cautious engineering wise but I feel this could be a potential problem with klutzes not taking enough care in handling things. If it was my own camera this wouldn't worry me at all but having seen first hand how people can manage to damage jibs made of very solid metal any frailty in a lens mounting system is a bit of a worry in a rental situation.

The one thing that I do like about these next generation cameras is the overall simplicity. I'd never contemplate doing any work on any of the current camcorders myself but these new designs from SI and RED (to be impartial) look so much simpler to maintain.

Now to make this thread constructive...

Ari/Jason - Here is my free marketing advice - Get your camera into the hands of film makers. Lend it for free to various types of film projects (action, horror/suspence, comedy, Nature (National Geographic), etc. with the agreement that they must release footage as they shoot film.

The footage posted to the public forums and websites will serve to sell way more cameras and create way more interest than some count down on a web page or handouts telling people how great something will be.

The Spoon footage sells itself - without a a single sentence or marketing buzz word.

We have several of these genres lined up to shoot with Silicon.

However, we should consider ways for individuals to get access to our camera, who may not have normally been able to shoot Cinema quality footage.

How about a contest of some sort to gain market interest? Winner(s) get Silicon to shoot their project?



PS. Tom....Thanks for playing along and please stick around :-) !

Thanks! You're right, but reading you speculate is absolutely fascinating!

Graeme

Hah, just wait until NAB 2007 when the DylanMegaPimp camera comes out and all you'se guys are shaking in your boots trying to figure out what that one big putton labeled "Magic Film Look - 3D" does and how "Onboard Smellovision" works...

there's Dv expo east i think July in NY ..and DV west LA in Nov ..

also Cinegear has expo in LA and FL IMO more persons that work in FILM industry go to cinegear ..and how should i say ? well 20k is not out of their range of thinking or pocket book ...

IMO have a few camera's at the shows !! AND try to get a room near by where you are projecting clips on the BIG SCREEN ( maybe 12- 15 min of clips and it repeats every 30 min or hr .. show a little digital projection and some clips transferred to FILM )

Ari,
Given the close proximity Upstate Independents has to your company, if I could put together a top notch team, would you be open to lending a camera out for say a two-day shoot? We'd be glad to allow the experience to be used for promotional purposes in any way you'd like. I'm pretty sure I could get some top people to sign on to this.

Ari,
Given the close proximity Upstate Independents has to your company, if I could put together a top notch team, would you be open to lending a camera out for say a two-day shoot? We'd be glad to allow the experience to be used for promotional purposes in any way you'd like. I'm pretty sure I could get some top people to sign on to this.


Lets do it :-) !

Awesome! Thanks.

I'd be very interested in publishing these results.

Steve Parker, Editor, Showreel

Ari,
you and the Spoon crew should be trying to get some coverage in the ASC magazine. Latest issue has some pretty good words on the XL-H1 / Wafian combo so you've already got a foot in the door. They've given quite a bit of space to the capabilities of the Cineform codec so you should be laughing and heck this is a camera cinematographers can relate to.

...If you can't hump a RED camera, then it doesnt exist...

Loaning a camera for testing to DV Magazine would be my first step.

Hi Marco,

I thought you were getting the camera and were going to do the write up for the pubs.

You really should consider submitting to "Showreel". Steve Parker, the editor, has already stated he is interested.

Anyone wanting a free subscription, here is a thread from the publisher

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=67237

Their second issue in US is going out this month. We should plan on geting into the Sept/Oct issue. We will have some additional news to announce by then.

Ari,
I've actually begun corresponding with Steve, and absolutely would like to participate. In saying we'd like to shoot with the camera, I was intending to actually produce a five-minute short which we would submit to festivals. I've been having some discussions with our DP on what type of footage would really showcase what the camera can do.

Hi Obin,

If you read our FAQ, you will see that you can get the same DOF on a 2/3" sensor to a f4-5.6 split 35mm sensor if you use Zeiss primes at f1.2 (wide-open, which is T1.3).

Jason , just read this interesting article titled :Lenses for the Digital Era, written about zeiss digiprimes & caught site of this information :

"Maybe you agree that shooting wide-open at T 1.6 not only produces great-looking images with 35mm-like shallow depth-of-field (T 1.6 in 2/3in. HD approximates T 2.8 in 35mm), but also lowers the lighting bill. How do you afford to get your hands on them?"

Can you reconcile why they say T 1.6 in 2/3in. HD approximates T 2.8 in 35mm & how this affects the SI2k (i am confused)?
The article can be found at:
http://digitalcontentproducer.com/mag/video_lenses_digital_era/

We need to get our FAQ back up on our web site:

How can you claim "35mm-like depth-of-field" if you're using a 2/3" sensor?

Because the SI-2K is a single sensor design, wider-aperture S16mm film lenses can be used such as the Ziess Superspeeds, which can go to a maximum aperture of f1.2. This is in comparison to the widest aperture 3-CCD primes, which are limited to an f-stop of f1.5.

In the comparison below, we have taken a 20mm Zeiss Superspeed S16 lens set at a f-stop of f1.4, and compared it to two common 35mm formats. The subject is 3 meters away from the focal plane. The results, using the depth-of-field calculator on the Panavison New Zealand website are as follows:

--2/3" Sensor, 20mm lens, f1.4 (which is possible using Zeiss Superspeeds) - Depth-of-field of 1.39m

--Panavision Std 35mm HDTV 16:9 TV Trans 0.825x0.464" (CoC=0.001"), f5.6, 45mm lens - Depth-of-field of 1.31m

--Arri Std 35mm HDTV 16:9 TV Trans 21x11.8mm (CoC=0.025mm), f5.6, 43mm lens - Depth-of-field of 1.43m

The surprising conclusion from these calculations shows that the SI-2Ks depth-of-field, when using this large aperture Ziess S16mm lens, can in fact be the equivalent of a given 35mm format's depth-of-field when shooting at an f-stop of f5.6 in 35mm (for the same FOV). Also, if one were to shoot at f1.2 (which Zeiss Superspeeds can open up to at their wides aperture setting), the depth-of-field on the 2/3" sensor would be equivalent to a f4-f5.6 split in 35mm, since f1.2 is another half-stop wider than f1.4. This does not mean that a 2/3" sensor will always match 35mm film or a 35mm-sized sensor in DOF, but it does prove an advantage to using S16mm prime lenses on the SI-2K, where ground-glass converters and other "tricks" are not necessarily needed if one's aim is to get shallow "35mm-like" DOF. A similar effect to the shallow DOF of a 35mm camera can be achieved by placing Superspeed S16mm optics on the SI-2K and opening them up to their widest apertures.