DAL: Anybody know anything about the Dalsa camera?
 

I quite accidentally ran across this site last week:

http://www.dalsa.com/dc/dc.asp

This appears to be quite a remarkable piece of equipment that (it says here) was previewed at NAB. Based on the information available at the site, I assume that this is designed to compete with ultra high end film cameras like Panavision and Arri.

Any thoughts?

hehe. That thing just looks awsome. I would love to see a demo of that or just let me demo it myself. The other nice thing is that it is ahead of its time because nothing can really capture the stream of information unless it is parked in a studio with a server sitting next to it.

Rob:D

I can't wait to see what this sucker costs !!!

I spent some time with it at NAB. The images that I saw were nice but a bit inconclusive...a still image on an HD LCD at full resolution (raw file), plus a somewhat compressed (HDCAM, perhaps) motion clip on a CRT. Thus a bit hard to judge the full capabilities. The still image was stunning, however.

The incorporation of a spinning mirror to allow an optical eyepiece plus the PL mount compatible with standard film lenses were great choices to dovetail into the film world. However, the body is large and awkward (making handheld and Steadicam an issue) and as Robert points out, the data storage issue is tricky although that's just a matter of time. I saw a 1-minute hard drive on top of the Viper camera (which also outputs raw data) that was an impressive size. By quadrupling that storage time, which is not a tall order, it will achieve the same run time as a standard film magazine for handheld/Steadicam work (400 ft which runs 4 minutes; the studio mags are 1000 ft/10 minutes)

The Dalsa is an interesting step in the right direction, but it is unknown if that company has the means to carry the product to maturity.

I spent some time with it at NAB. The images that I saw were nice but a bit inconclusive...a still image on an HD LCD at full resolution (raw file), plus a somewhat compressed (HDCAM, perhaps) motion clip on a CRT. Thus a bit hard to judge the full capabilities. The still image was stunning, however.

The incorporation of a spinning mirror to allow an optical eyepiece plus the PL mount compatible with standard film lenses were great choices to dovetail into the film world. However, the body is large and awkward (making handheld and Steadicam an issue) and as Robert points out, the data storage issue is tricky although that's just a matter of time. I saw a 1-minute hard drive on top of the Viper camera (which also outputs raw data) that was an impressive size. By quadrupling that storage time, which is not a tall order, it will achieve the same run time as a standard film magazine for handheld/Steadicam work (400 ft which runs 4 minutes; the studio mags are 1000 ft/10 minutes)

The Dalsa is an interesting step in the right direction, but it is unknown if that company has the means to carry the product to maturity.