The Editblog

Check out this behind the scenes video from photographer Chase Garvis that details a recent promo shoot for the Kung Fu HD network. They used the 1000 frames per second Phantom HD camera to record a kung fu guy fighting the elements. I know you’re asking the same question I did … there’s a Kung Fu HD network?

So is the new Ikonoskop A-cam dII the digital cinema equivalent of the 16mm film format? I’ve seen several posts on this camera (apparently it was previewed at IBC) today and it looks really cool. Besides the fact that it has a very unconventional industrial design and just looks really cool the whole idea of a digital cinema camera that uses a smaller sensor at first seems kind of silly. The main reason people often choose to shoot 16mm film over 35mm film is because of the cost. Since the 35mm image size is bigger it takes more feet of film it is more expensive to buy and more expensive to process. It’s not really the same dynamic with digital cinema since you don’t have to buy and process film so the question could be asked why do we need a 16mm equivalent in the days of digital cinema? We have the RED camera and it’s already a fraction of the cost of other similar cameras so what’s the point? Well, cost is a big one. The RED is around $17,000 for the body minus lens and accessories for one and that’s still expensive for many. The Ikonoskop A is listed for pre-order at €6.950 which is a little less than $10,000. The other big plus is that the camera uses Super 16mm lenses. Besides the advantages like depth of field and quality of the glass and construction of film lenses over a fixed-lens camera’s fixed lens, Super 16mm lenses are probably quite a bit cheaper to buy and/or rent than 35mm lenses. From what I hear all of the RED cameras in the market have made the cost of good used film lenses go way up as well as making their availability scarce.

And then you’ve got the rebel/indie factor. I’ve shot a lot of 16mm film and there is always a bit of an independent filmmaker feeling when you know you can’t afford 35 and you are working hard to make your 16 look as good as possible. And 16mm film can look great!

One big question that has been noted is that Ikonoskop has developed their own flash memory module to record the raw files. It’s great to tailor a recording medium to a camera but if the prices are sky-high then any advantage of this cool little camera might be negated. Stay tuned and check out the pdf  brochure in the meantime.