Tim this can become a very interesting discussion and I think it deserves a new thread.
You are cleverly separating the technical side from the art etc. but I think that these two sides will have to work together as they will for sure affect one another.
I have spent the last 5 days on a big production set where they are filming a new ad campaign, all shot on an ArriMax 35mm. This is a fairly new ground for me and I'm learning something new every day.
However there's an AFi7 there that is located next to the Arri and that is used for capturing as many images as possible during each take, that involves with allot of special effects and difficult lighting conditions, meaning mostly wide open at 400iso
Each take is about 40 seconds and at the moment it looks like the AFi7 is the only capturing device that can produce a minimum of 30 usable frames (usable as in sharp) over 40 seconds sessions and that can be edited/ picked into high quality inkjet posters. No other system would have given us a decent amount of 95MB frames to work from.
This could be where a future RED will be able to do both, but I have doubts as to the usability and the image quality/ size of the images, assuming that stills technology is also going to move forward.
The same AFi7 camera is also used for capturing high-speed motion (think explosions) at 1/500-1/1000 with flash. I cannot see how a 1/100 camera at 5K can achieve this.
Yair
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I guess this could be moved to the video section, but when you think about it, this is the most professional of all the areas, so a discussion of high rez digital cinema and high rez still photography belongs here.
I find it interesting that most people view photographers as this one artist that wakes up and goes into the the studio or location, the assistant hands him/her a fabulous medium format camera, the photographer takes a few snaps, drinks an espresso and then goes to the wrap party.
I don't even think that a lot of the camera companies understand who a lot of their market is.
Most photographers are small independent producers. We and our staff search out locations, negotiate talent, cut permits, work budgets, handle payroll, arrange for travel, etc. etc. to the point that the only real difference between what we do vs. what a movie production house does is we wear more hats and cross more territory, usually because our budgets don't always allow for one person per skill set thinking.
Given this, our equipment purchases also have to move us forward. It's fun to buy a new camera, but today buying a new camera isn't something that's probably going to be useable for 10 years, so we have to be wise in where we put our resources.
From my perspective, owning a p21+, P30+ and Contax, what do I really gain by going to a new still system and spending an additional 20, 30 or 40 thousand?
Now wearing my independent producer hat what do I gain from buying something like the Red for the same cash outlay?
Obviously from a still camera makers standpoint you want to see a market where everyone can afford a new 95mb file high rez digital camera every two years and still have the money and time left over to pursue other areas, but for most that's not the case.
In my industry we are always marketing, though the web, print, editorial and we are always driving and pushing our art looking for that edge to get noticed or continue the buzz.
I know for a fact that offering moving imagery in parallel with our still productions has moved us forward and I also know a lot of photographers that would scream to the heavens is someone even suggested they shoot video during a still session.
In a way I hope they keep that mindset, at least the ones I bid against.
My point is not all photographers have the same busienss model, in fact of the successful photographers I know, when you scratch below the surface you will find that the ones that work non traditional are the most successful.
JR
P.S. Yair, now to take this one step further, if at photokina somebody annouces a still camera that will shoot very high frame rates, has a detailed 7" lcd that works in daylight, interchangeable lens mounts, really clean 800 iso, variable frame crops, color and tone (film like) processing in camera, useable in camera previews, wired or wireless tetheering to hand held devices, then you will get my attention.