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Following pressure from filmmakers following the debut of the Sony Venice cinema camera, full-frame image capture will be available from day one rather than in a firmware upgrade, in time for the shipping in February 2018.
The feature enables filmmakers to use the camera's full potential by utilising 24x36mm Full-Frame 6K recording in Sony’s established 16-bit acquisition format, X-OCN. In addition to Full Frame image capture, Sony plans an extensive roadmap of features planned to be implemented in future firmware upgrades.
“Sony’s development of the Venice motion picture camera platform represents our commitment to the film industry in furthering image capture in the key areas of dynamic range, colour rendition and large format aspect ratio freedom. Venice demonstrates our commitment to developing tools that support Directors and Cinematographers in bringing their vision to the screen”, said Claus Pfeifer, Head of Technical Sales, Broadcast & Cinematography, Sony Professional Solutions Europe. “This announcement reflects our strong relationship with filmmakers around the world and enables them to create Emotion in Every Frame.”
The Venice CineAlta digital motion picture camera system is scheduled to be available in February 2018. For more information about the VENICE platform please visitwww.sony.net/pro/VENICE
Sony has taken some of its latest technology from the A9 and included it in the speedy new A7R III mirrorless camera, an update on the current A7R II. A lightweight new 24-105mm f/4 lens to accompany the camera has also been revealed, as well as the promise of a 400mm f/2.8 super telephoto to further boost Sony’s credentials as a serious player in the sports and wildlife market
The new £3200 camera still uses the same 42 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor as the Mark II, but hardware and software changes increase dynamic range up to 15 stops. The A7R III now allows 10fps continuous shooting with AF, five-axis image stabilisation dual SD card slots, and a new body which has the A9-style rear AF joystick and AF-ON button. It also gets the improved A9 viewfinder and the larger-capacity A9 battery.
The camera also has a new Pixel Shift Multi-Shooting Mode which takes four images, by moving the sensor by one pixel for each shot, similar to features found on some Olympus mirrorless cameras. The images can then be combined using Sony's new Imaging Edge software for improved colour and resolution.
The A7R III will shoot 76 JPEG, or 29 Raw images when shooting at 10fps with continuous AF, using either the silent or mechanical shutter.
For video shooters, there is 4K recording that uses full-pixel readout without pixel binning. It now supports Hybrid Log-Gamma for HDR video recording, and instant playback with compatible 4K HDR TVs but the HDMI output is still 8-bit.
There are S-Log2 and S-Log3 options, for a wide dynamic range of up to a claimed 14 stops. There’s also a new S-Gamut3/S-Gamut3.Cine wide colour space.
There a Super 35mm mode, and a new Slow and Quick Motion Mode where frame rates from 1 fps to 120 fps can be selected in eight steps for up to 60x quick motion and 5x slow motion while recording in full-HD quality.
The camera will go on sale next month, alongside the new full-frame FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS lens. The £1200 lens has a minimum focus distance of 38cm, weighs just 663g and has built-in optical image stabilisation.
Sony has also confirmed it is working on a 400mm f/2.8 telephoto lens that will be on sale next summer. This will be a large and expensive lens, forming part of the G-Master series of high-end full-frame optics. It’s the first fast super-telephoto prime in a E-mount to be released by the company.
The official information from Sony says:
Drone giant DJI has revealed its new Zenmuse X7, the world’s first Super 35 sensor camera for drones. It is built to be used on the DJI Inspire 2, uses interchangeable lenses and also has a new DJI Cinema Colour System for improved colours. The camera will cost £2699/ $2699. A set of lenses is £4299/ $4299, with individual lenses starting at £1199/ $1199. The official info says:
Try Fujifilm's new cinema lenses for free as part of Hireacamera's promotion in London on October 30 at Cherryduck studios. Check out the official information below...
A free firmware upgrade for the Atomos Shogun and Ninja Inferno monitor recorders boost their HDR capability as well as increasing support for some Panasonic, Sony, RED and Canon cinema cams and even the latest Nikon D850. The official information says:
Panasonic has released a major free firmware upgrade for its GH5 which adds All-Intra codec with bitrates of up to 400Mbps in 10-bit 4:2:2, a 6K 4:3 anamorphic mode and the Hybrid Log Gamma) colour profile as well as various improvements in both video and photo modes. The full changes are:
BenQ new SW271 is a 4K UHD 27” monitor offering advanced colour performance. It covers 99% of Adobe RGB, and 100% of both sRGB and Rec. 709 and has a 14-bit 3D lookup table (LUT). The SW271 requires a single cable for calibration and video transmission. The BenQ SW271 monitor also features an SD card reader, USB 3.1, USB Type-C, HDMI 2.0, and DisplayPort 1.4 ports. The full information says:
