Shooting for virtual production, visual effects plates, IMAX or even the Sphere? Achtel’s 9x7 Digital Cinema Camera shooting 18.7K can replace six 8K cameras stitched together in a relatively compact package.
Cinematographer and inventor Pawel Achtel, said: “It uses a very specialised sensor [from Gpixel, Belgium] with global shutter and various sophisticated architectures at the photosite level, including overlapped readout of the sensor - no other camera has that.” This allows him to check focus on a highly cropped sensor readout rather than a cropped 4K feed of the camera, as the camera can still record the next full frame as he’s doing that.
The 9x7 records to built-in storage, either 30 or 50 minutes at 24p, in uncompressed linear Raw. “It’s a lot of data, but we use all of it,” he said.
The camera, which is now available for sale or rental, has been used on movies for VFX plates. On Equalizer 3, shot in Italy, Achtel was DP, working from home, in Sydney. “I can log into the camera from anywhere and take over,” he said.
One of the most innovative features is its colour science. It can produce colour-accurate images regardless of the lighting, as it already has a built-in image of the colour chart as it should be and can create a look-up table to match it in any light. “We fix it up front so it always matches. There is no need to colour correct. No other camera can do this.”
Stand Number 12.A48
Company Achtel
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