One of the product managers just posted the specs for the Infinity elsewhere on the web. The camera will be full raster 1920 x 1080 2.4 million pixel 3 x CMOS which recording to 10-bit 100mbs JPEG2000 codec should look excellent. Cost is in the mid-20's.

This might sound stupid, but:

If you guys could release a HVX killer so to say, that records this codec and records to the rev pro drives in the $5000 to $10.000, I think that would be a hot item.

Just an idea though.

The infinity is definitely a fascinating camera.

If its specifically for motion picture, then the two are VERY different beasts and are in a different ballgame altogether..
different formats, different form factor... different budget

Peter,
I'm looking forward in seeing a photo of this camera. What kind of zoom lens will it have and what will the overall weight be with viewfinder, mic etc? Wishing you guys all the best with this camera.

Thanks,

Leon Lorenz
www.wildlifevideos.ca

Sorry I used Peter's name in my post instead of yours Tim.

Leon Lorenz
www.wildlifevideos.ca

No worries Leon. I've been called worse! You can see a video I posted on YouTube back in December here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V4uW3Pq3lI

Peter

Peter,
Do to the slow dial-up service I have for internet I'm unable to play any video clips from my home. Please continue to post more info on this camera if at all possible.

Thanks,

Leon Lorenz
www.wildlifevideos.ca

Peter,
I'm looking forward in seeing a photo of this camera. What kind of zoom lens will it have and what will the overall weight be with viewfinder, mic etc? Wishing you guys all the best with this camera.

Thanks,

Leon Lorenz
www.wildlifevideos.ca

Leon,

There's lots of info about this camera that's been floating about the web for over a year. Do a Google.

Also, since this is a broadcast camera, you'll have a wide selection of zoom lenses to put on it.

http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/products/infinity/camcorder/

There is a pic on the companies website.

I think the camera is going to be big news:

A 2/3" HD camera that does 10bit 4:2:2 to random access memory/hard drive, all for under $30k (plus lens of coarse). No 24p though? This is big news for industrial shooters that need the multi format capabilities. Can't wait to see some sample footage out there.

What's the deal with these new chips?

http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/products/infinity/camcorder/

There is a pic on the companies website.

I think the camera is going to be big news:

A 2/3" HD camera that does 10bit 4:2:2 to random access memory/hard drive, all for under $30k (plus lens of coarse). No 24p though? This is big news for industrial shooters that need the multi format capabilities. Can't wait to see some sample footage out there.

What's the deal with these new chips?

The new chips are totally designed from the ground-up by Grass Valley. They will be full 1920 x 1080 2.4 million pixel CMOS sensors. If I'm not mistaken, this will give the Infinity the largest pixel count sensor in the 2/3" ENG/EFP market. The Sony F900R has 3 x 2.2mil sensors so with the advances made with the Xensium sensor will have to give that camera a run for the money. Plus recording to 10-bit JPEG2000 will help preserve that quality. I'm trying not to buy anything before NAB for want of announcements and price changes.

Peter

Here is some info from the last release;

Quoted from GVG: "The 2/3-inch "Xensium" CMOS chip features a new native high-definition sensor with an array of 2.4 million pixels. Xensium offers wider dynamic range, lower power consumption and reduced signal to noise ratio when compared to other CCD or CMOS imagers on the market today, according to Rosica."

"It supports all HD formats natively--both progressive and interlaced--as well as raw 4:4:4 image capture. The sensor will make its first appearance in the Infinity cameras."

"Xensium offers a wider dynamic range, lower power consumption and improved signal-to-noise performance when compared to current CCD and CMOS imagers. It was developed and designed by Emmy® Award-winning Grass Valley engineers in close collaboration with colleagues at Thomson Technology’s Silicon Components division and within a European Union Medea+ program, where it won the highly prestigious Jean-Pierre Noblanc Award for the most innovative project of 2006."

"The imaging chip is at the heart of professional camera design, and Grass Valley has continually worked to achieve high resolution, wide contrast handling and low noise. The first application of Xensium technology is an imager designed specifically for full resolution high definition capture."

"The chip also includes control electronics which allow pixels to be read in any order, meaning it can capture natively in progressive or interlaced formats. The sensor also incorporates on-board analog to digital conversion, further reducing noise and improving performance by eliminating a separate processing stage."

"This marks the first time Grass Valley has moved from CCD to CMOS in its cameras. Coupled with Grass Valley’s broad spectrum digital signal processing it is set to deliver remarkable pictures in uncompromised HD resolution. The 2/3-inch 1920 x 1080 active pixel Xensium HD sensor, supporting 1080p, 1080i and 720p high definition natively, will first be used in production models of the Grass Valley Infinity™ Digital Media Camcorder , and the Xensium line of imagers will become a standard in future generation Grass Valley camera products across a broad range of applications."

"“Unlike other manufacturers, who have to source their sensors from a third party and then integrate it with their own camera design, our engineers develop both the sensor and image processing architecture in parallel, ensuring that the whole optical-electrical system is perfectly matched to get the best possible quality,” said Marc Valentin, president of the Grass Valley business within Thomson. “Grass Valley has been a leader in image acquisition for many years, and continues that tradition of excellence with the new Xensium sensor.”"

The big news in this neighborhood will be that it doesn't support 24p.

Mmm... if the Red system is released for NAB too, I think it will hurt... 2/3" will be past for the price. Hey, Thomson, wake up !

They had a prototype of this camera at Video Forum in London, I don't know if it was a fully working version. I didn't really look at it too much but a couple of observations - it seemed very bulky (the design of the body shell is all squared off corners and solid lumps of plastic), and it appeared to be very hot (hot as in temperature, not hot as in "Cool!"), but it probably had been switched on all day. I was more interested in the portable HD deck for the same system, which looks like it might be useful in a number of applications, they said the retail price on the deck would be around 12000 euro

Mmm... if the Red system is released for NAB too, I think it will hurt... 2/3" will be past for the price. Hey, Thomson, wake up !

This form is more suitable for the broadcaster market than the RED which seems to be more aimed at the Indie or digital cinema market. The price sounds pretty comparable given the cost of an actual shooting RED kit as against just the basic camera head price.

Broadcasters couldn't care less about 35mm DOF, so 2/3" is fine for them. However, I feel that it's main competitors will be Sony and Panasonic, who sell large amounts of kit to the Japanese broadcasters. A lot will depend on how the European and North American broadcasters take to Rev Pro and compact flash compared to XDCAM HD and P2 and how well it fits into their workflow requirements.

I believe they're going to have 24P/25P in the final version, because there'd been requests for it in the middle of last year.

They had a prototype of this camera at Video Forum in London, I don't know if it was a fully working version.
I believe it was fully working, but was the previous version with CCD chips which now seems as if it won't be commercially released - they seem to be going with the 1920x1080 CMOS version from the start. (Which should also reduce power consumption.)

As far as 24p goes, I don't think that version did do it, but the CMOS version may be a different story - the press release copied above would seem to imply it does support it?

(".......it can capture natively in progressive or interlaced formats........" and ".......Xensium HD sensor, supporting 1080p, 1080i and 720p high definition natively.....")

Here's the UK manager giving quick tour of the Infinity.

http://web.mac.com/julianmitchell/iWeb/CES2007/Podcast/E9EADB2F-663D-4753-A3B4-B37945051A91.html

Seems to be aiming it at news organisations in this talk, but he does mention FCP in the future.

I thought you guys might be interested in a new doc I'm shooting inside San Quentin prison on the Infinity. I'll be blogging about my experiences with the camera at www.trustcommunity.org just click on blog.

Thanks,
Jesse Dana
DP | Producer
SF | LA | NY
www.trustcommunity.org
www.jessedana.com