Sony has announced a January 2020 upgrade to its Venice full-frame digital cinema camera that will allow users to shoot in 6K at up to 90fps with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, and at up to 72fps with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
News of the new shooting modes, which enable 3x slow-motion cinematography at the camera’s full horizontal resolution, comes just as Sony prepares to release version 4 of the Venice firmware, which supports shooting at up to 120fps in 4K (2.39:1) with a paid high-frame-rate license.
Venice v5 will have a few more tricks up its sleeve, too, including the ability to record Apple ProRes 4444 at HD resolution to SxS Pro+ media and some usability improvements.
Here’s the list of features announced by Sony last night at the opening of its new Digital Media Production Center in Hollywood, CA:
- HFR Capabilities – Up to 90fps at 6K 2.39:1 and 72fps at 6K 17:9.
- Apple ProRes 4444 – Record HD videos in high picture quality with SxS PRO+, without Sony’s AXS-R7 recorder; this is especially effective for HD VFX workflow
- 180 Degree Rotation Monitor Out – Flip and flop images via viewfinder and SDI
- High Resolution Magnification via HD Monitor Out – Existing advanced viewfinder technology for clearer magnification is now extended to HD Monitor Out
- Improved User Marker Settings – Menu updates for easier selection of frame lines on viewfinder
Also new for the Venice is the ACES logo, which it has earned thanks to a new input transform created specifically for the Venice. Sony’s Raw Viewer software can be used to export Open EXR files for use in post-production; alternately, Sony says the input transform will be released through the Academy’s ACES website. Sony published a short document explaining how to set up the Venice for ACES workflow [PDF] earlier this week.
