Hitachi 2/3" 4k camera

[Brian Drysdale]

Hitachi have revealed a 2/3" camera with a B4 mount for use on 4k broadcast productions.

http://www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp/glo...ews140822.html

[Darren Levine]

Hitachi... Hitachi... ah i got it, it's a power drill, but with a sensor and camera stuff in it. neat.

[Eric Lagerlof]

FWIW, the first pro camera I learned to engineer, with CCU's, 'registering' the three tubes, etc., etc., was a Hitachi. We're talking what, 30 years ago. They make good cameras and have been in the game for a good, long time. Just like Phillips, who is the european light-bulb manufacturer, made the LDK series of video cameras, excellent kit. Now sold under Thompson/Grass Valley.

[David Heath]

It's not fully clear whether or not it's single chip or 3 chip (though a prism is referred to, so 3 chip seems most likely). That's obviously good for sensitivity versus single chip, but if quality is to be maintained, that puts a lot of demand on manufacturing tolerances in the block.......

My understanding is the main reason all main manufacturers have shied away from 2/3" for 4K is diffraction limiting. Fundamentally, the iris range between wide open and the image starting to soften due to diffraction becomes only a couple of stops. It's back to the problems of 1/3" and smaller chips with HD.

As far as I can see, the only real advantage it has over an s35 camera with a B4 adaptor is that (as they do say) you're saving the cost of the adaptor! Hitachi state that "It’s going to find a particular home in live sports OB, mitigating some of the problems that have somewhat marred the move to 4K in the field such as sensitivity and depth of field." That's not really true - compared to an F55, the F55 gives a *lot* more flexibility with no disadvantage other than the B4 adaptor cost. An F55 with B4 adaptor and 2/3" lens will perform almost identically to this (assuming the same basic lens) in respect of sensitivity, depth of field, diffraction limiting range and lens angles of view. But use a lens designed for s35 on the F55 and you get all the factors normally associated with large sensor cameras - shallow dof, very high sensitivity, much less diffraction limiting issues etc.

(Same is true of any 4k s35 camera - I mention the F55 as that's the one that AFAIK has been used for all the live 4k broadcasts from such as Sochi, Brazil etc.)

I suppose a lot will depend on price, but it will need to be considerably cheaper than a combined F55 plus adaptor to be taken seriously. Otherwise the F55 just offers far more versatility.

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Darren Levine

Hitachi... Hitachi... ah i got it, it's a power drill, but with a sensor and camera stuff in it. neat.

What I'm missing (or perhaps catching my scotoma blind spot) -- there's no mention of bit depth or DR.

-- peer (being too picky..?)

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Darren Levine

Hitachi... Hitachi... ah i got it, it's a power drill, but with a sensor and camera stuff in it. neat.

They've been making professional cameras for many years, they also make consumer cameras. Broadcast and Studio Production Cameras : Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, Ltd.

Details from Hitachi: http://www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp/glo...ews140822.html

[Jack Zhang]

The official Hitachi press release states "prism." There's a higher likelyhood it's 3CMOS by this statement.

[Shaun Roemich]

Prism means three imagers, CMOS or CCD. And remember this is a studio camera, not a camcorder.

And further to what Brian says, Hitachi is one of the HEAVY HITTERS in broadcast.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Shaun Roemich

Prism means three imagers, CMOS or CCD. And remember this is a studio camera, not a camcorder.

According to Hitachi they seem to be thinking of it mainly for OB rather than studio - "It’s going to find a particular home in live sports OB, mitigating some of the problems that have somewhat marred the move to 4K in the field such as sensitivity and depth of field."

And if diffraction limiting means you can't use it over more than a couple of stops aperture range without softening setting in, that could make racking the camera fun when the sun goes in and out....... :-)

Yes, a 2/3" lens on an s35 camera via adaptor will have the same problem - but at least then you have the flexibility to use a true s35 zoom. (Though such tend to have more limited zoom ranges, even if they aren't so limited for aperture range.)

The Hitachi quote is just plain wrong about sensitivity and depth of field. Use the same lens on a 2/3" camera and an s35 (with adaptor) and (with all else equal) a remote operator wouldn't be able to tell which was which.

"Why" is not intuitive, but think of it this way. The adaptor on s35 will make it seem as if any f stop is about 3 stops smaller than when the camera is used on a 2/3" camera (so f2 on a 2/3" camera will equate to about f5.6 on s35). *But* because the effective focal length becomes longer the dof doesn't change, and because of the bigger sensor the native camera ISO sensitivity will be higher - so the smaller f stop is fine for correct exposure. In all important aspects, for a given set of iris, zoom, focus settings, an operator wouldn't be able to tell whether it was mounted on a 2/3" camera or s35 with adaptor.