High-res Camera Debuts with Short Film by Curtis Clark, ASC

Sony showcased the new F65 CineAlta camera at its NAB press conference earlier today, touting its 8K sensor and 4K recording resolution, its 16-bit RAW output, and promising to bring an "end-to-end 4K workflow" to feature films.
Debuting along with the camera is “The Arrival,” a new short film written, directed, and shot late last year by Curtis Clark, ASC. Clark, chair of the ASC’s Technology Committee, put the camera through its paces in a shoot at the iconic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles and cautiously suggested, in a short promotional documentary shown at the Sony event, that digital acquisition may finally have nudged ahead of 35mm film.

Reporters were ushered into the Sony booth on the show floor to watch the complete film in full in a darkened theater. (The images are astounding, though difficult to compare directly to 35mm; the complete absence of film grain is the most notable difference.) Starting tomorrow morning, show attendees will have the same opportunity.

The push to 4K acquisition no doubt has something to do with the increased adoption rate of Sony’s CineAlta 4K projection systems. Sony Senior VP Alec Shapiro said more than 7000 of the projectors have been installed worldwide.

Details were scanty, but Sony also introduced two new 3D camcorders, the shoulder-mounted PMW-TD300 and the handheld HXR-NX3D1. The TD300 has dual 1/3-inch Exmor CMOS full HD image sensors and records to SxS cards. [Sony TD300 product page.] The NX3D1 boasts a variety of recording modes, including 50i, 60i, and 24p 3D recording at 28 Mbps AVC HD. For playback, it supports side-by-side or frame packing stereo formats via HDMI.[Sony NX3D1 product page.]

Also at the show was a parade of Sony 3D broadcast stories, including news that the Wimbledon Championship will be telecast in 3D and that the long running live-music show Austin City Limits is being retooled around an elaborate new 3D-ready venue for which Sony was the primary contractor.

Zach Jarosz of Fremantle Media detailed the production workflow on upcoming show The X Factor, which is shooting in the field and on stage with the Sony F800 recording at 50 Mbps. For shots that require more specific depth-of-field effects, the show is using the F3, and a third, run-and-gun camera is the XDCAM EX3. For archiving – Jarosz said a single season of shooting can generate 2500 hours of footage – Fremantle uses the PDW-HR1/MK1 field recorder to transfer footage from SxS cards to XDCAM discs, which are considered a 50-plus-year archival medium.

For more on Sony’s pre-NAB camera launches, see Beth Marchant’s coverage from Japan.