 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2023) |
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| Type | Video camera |
|---|---|
| Inception | 1999 |
| Manufacturer | Sony |
| Website | pro |
CineAlta cameras are a series of professional digital movie cameras produced by Sony that replicate many of the same features of 35mm film motion picture cameras.
CineAlta is a brand name used by Sony to describe various products involved in content creation, production and exhibition process within digital cinema workflow. Now Sony's products branded as CineAlta include camera, camcorder, recorder, cinema server, and projector. "CineAlta" is a portmanteau of Cine, from cinematography, and Alta, an Italian word for "high". [1]
The first CineAlta logo was designed by Hiroki Oka, Chief Art Director of Sony CreativeWorks Corporation, based at the Sony Atsugi Technology Center. The twinned ribbons represent the marriage of film and videotape, arranged in a way to deliberately evoke the infinity symbol, to symbolize the infinite possibilities. [1] The CineAlta logo was updated by Tetsuro Sano and applied for the first time to the F65. [2]
CineAlta cameras record onto HDCAM tapes, XDCAM Professional Discs, SRMemory, or SxS flash memory cards. They have the ability to shoot at various frame rates including 24fps and a resolution of up to 8K. The camera can be used with a Miranda DVC 802 converter. This allows the camera to output SDI, DV, and multiple HD outputs.
In June 1999, George Lucas announced that Episode II of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy would be the first major motion picture to be shot 100% digitally. Sony and Panavision had teamed up to develop the High Definition 24p camera that Lucas would use to accomplish this, and thus the first CineAlta camera was born: the Sony HDW-F900 (also called the Panavision HD-900F after being "panavised"). However, the science-fiction film Vidocq was actually the first released feature that was shot entirely with digital cinematography. Lucas held a private screening of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones for the Atsugi Technology Center staff, and inserted a credit to specifically thank the Sony engineers at Atsugi for the use of the HDW-F900. [1]
For Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith the more advanced Sony HDC-F950 was used, with higher resolution and better color reproduction than its predecessor. The film was cropped to a 2.40:1 aspect ratio from its native 16:9 frame. As a result, only 818 of the 1080 vertical pixels were actually used. An anamorphic adapter lens is available from Canon to allow shooting in 2.39:1 without losing any pixels. Manuel Huerga's Salvador is the first movie shot with this adapter.
2002's Russian Ark was recorded in uncompressed high definition video using a Sony HDW-F900. The information was recorded uncompressed onto a hard disk which could hold 100 minutes, thus allowing the entire film to be shot in a single 86 minute take. This was very complicated, as in 2002 there wasn't widely available technology for high capacity hard disk recording, and even less for doing this portably, on battery power, indoors and out from −23 °C (−9 °F) to 23 °C (73 °F). Four attempts were made to complete the shot, which had to be completed in one day due to the Hermitage Museum being closed for the shoot. The first three had to be interrupted due to technical faults, but the fourth attempt was completed successfully. Extra material on the DVD release includes a documentary on the technology used.
Other notable movies that were shot with CineAlta cameras include:
All cameras are made by Sony except where noted:
| Model | Weight | Size [lower-alpha 1] | Sensor | Lens mount | Media | Framerates | Introduced | Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HDW-F900 [23] | 18 lb 8 kg [lower-alpha 2] | 5.5 in × 10.4 in × 15.0 in 140 mm × 265 mm × 380 mm | 3×2⁄3" CCD | B4 | HDCAM | 24,25,30 (1080p) 50,60 (1080i) | 2000 |  No |
| HDC-F950 [22] | 11 lb 5.1 kg | 5.2 in × 10.9 in × 14.2 in 133 mm × 276 mm × 360 mm | 3×2⁄3" CCD | B4 | [lower-alpha 3] | 24 (1080p) | 2003 | No |
| HDW-F900R [20] | 12 lb 5.4 kg [lower-alpha 2] | 5.0 in × 10.6 in × 13.6 in 127 mm × 269 mm × 345 mm | 3×2⁄3" CCD | B4 | HDCAM | 24,25,30 (1080p) 50, 60 (1080i) | 2006 | No |
| PDW-F350 [21] | 8.5 lb 3.85 kg [lower-alpha 4] | 4.9 in × 10.6 in × 12.9 in 124 mm × 268 mm × 328 mm | 3×1⁄2" CCD | Sony 1⁄2" bayonet | XDCAM PFD | 4–60 (1080p) | 2006 | No |
| PDW-F330 [21] | 24,25,30 (1080p) 50,60 (1080i) | |||||||
| PMW-EX1/EX1R [19] [24] | 5.3 lb 2.4 kg [lower-alpha 5] | 7.01 in × 6.93 in × 12.26 in 178 mm × 176 mm × 311.5 mm [lower-alpha 6] | 3×1⁄2" CMOS | Fixed | 2×SxS | 1–30 (1080p) 1–60 (720p) | 2007 [25] [lower-alpha 7] | No |
| PMW-EX3 [19] | 4.2 lb 1.9 kg [lower-alpha 8] | 9.8 in × 8.3 in × 15.7 in 250 mm × 210 mm × 400 mm [lower-alpha 6] | EX-mount | 2008 | ||||
| F23 [18] | 11.0 lb 5.0 kg | 7.85 in × 8.62 in × 7.79 in 199.3 mm × 219 mm × 197.8 mm | 3×2⁄3" CCD | B4 | [lower-alpha 9] | 1–60 (1080p) [lower-alpha 10] | 2007 [26] | No |
| F35 [18] | 1×Super 35 CCD | PL | 1–50 (1080p) [lower-alpha 10] | 2008 | ||||
| PDW-700 [17] | 9.5 lb 4.3 kg [lower-alpha 11] | 4.9 in × 10.6 in × 13.1 in 124 mm × 269 mm × 332 mm | 3×2⁄3" CCD | B4 | XDCAM PFD | 24,25,30 (1080p) 50,60 (1080i) | 2008 [27] | No |
| PDW-F800 [17] | 1–60 (1080p) | 2009 [28] | ||||||
| PMW-500 [17] [29] | 7.5 lb 3.4 kg | 2×SxS | 1–30 (1080p) 1–60 (720p) | 2010 [30] | ||||
| SRW-9000PL [16] | 15 lb 6.9 kg [lower-alpha 12] | 5.8 in × 8.3 in × 13.0 in 148 mm × 211 mm × 330 mm | 1×Super 35 CCD | PL | HDCAM-SR [lower-alpha 13] | 24,25,30 (1080p) 50, 60 (1080i) [lower-alpha 14] | 2010 [31] [32] | No |
| F3 [15] [lower-alpha 15] | 5.3 lb 2.4 kg | 5.9 in × 7.4 in × 8.3 in 151 mm × 189 mm × 210 mm | 1×Super 35 CMOS | FZ [lower-alpha 16] | 2×SxS [lower-alpha 13] | 1–30 (1080p) 1–60 (720p) | 2010 [33] | No |
| F65 [13] | 11.0 lb 5.0 kg [lower-alpha 17] | 8.9 in × 8.0 in × 8.1 in 227 mm × 203 mm × 205 mm | 1×Super 35 CMOS | PL | SRMemory [lower-alpha 18] | 1–60 (8K) 1–120 (4K) | 2011 [34] | No |
| NEX-FS700 [14] | 3.7 lb 1.68 kg [lower-alpha 19] | 5.71 in × 7.03 in × 9.27 in 145 mm × 178.5 mm × 235.5 mm | 1×Super 35 CMOS | E | MS PRO Duo, SD/SDHC/SDXC [lower-alpha 20] | 1–240 (1080p) | 2012 [35] | No |
| F5 [13] | 4.9 lb 2.2 kg | 5.1 in × 4.9 in × 7.5 in 130 mm × 125 mm × 191 mm | 1×Super 35 CMOS | FZ [lower-alpha 16] | 2×SxS, AXSM [lower-alpha 21] | 1–60 (4K) [lower-alpha 22] 1–240 (2K) [lower-alpha 23] | 2012 [36] | No |
| F55 [13] | ||||||||
| VENICE [12] [lower-alpha 24] | 8.6 lb 3.9 kg | 5.2 in × 6.3 in × 6.8 in 133 mm × 159 mm × 172 mm | 1×Full Frame [lower-alpha 25] CMOS | E [lower-alpha 16] [lower-alpha 26] | 2×SxS, 2×AXSM [lower-alpha 27] | 1–30 (6K) 1–60 (4K) | 2017 [37] |  Yes |
| VENICE 2 (8.6K) [11] [lower-alpha 28] | 9.5 lb 4.3 kg | 6.0 in × 6.2 in × 9.8 in 152 mm × 158 mm × 250 mm | 1×Full Frame [lower-alpha 25] CMOS | E [lower-alpha 16] [lower-alpha 26] | 2×AXSM | 1–30 (8.6K) 1–90 (5.8K) | 2021 [38] | Yes |
| VENICE 2 (6K) [11] [lower-alpha 29] | 9.3 lb 4.2 kg | 1–90 (6K) 1–110 (4K) | ||||||
| BURANO [39] [lower-alpha 30] | 5.3 lb 2.4 kg | 5.74 in × 5.61 in × 8.59 in 145.7 mm × 142.5 mm × 218.1 mm | 1×Full Frame [lower-alpha 25] CMOS | E [lower-alpha 16] [lower-alpha 26] | 2×CFexpress Type B | 24,25,30 (8.6K) 24,25,30,50,60 (6K) 24,25,30,50,60,100,120 (4K) | 2023 | Yes |
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