Weisscam HS-2 initial impressions

Weisscam HS-2 initial impressions

I was just trained on this thing and I've got to say, it's pretty amazing. The first point that comes to mind is that I learned the entire camera and accessory operation as well as the workflow in a single morning session. It's an incredibly intuitive system unlike another very popular High Speed Camera. As of now there are really only two practical high framerate video cameras available so you can't discuss the Weisscam without drawing comparisons to the Phantom. Being a trained Phantom operator who works with the camera often, I will readily admit that the system isn't without its problems. It produces amazingly rich images though and once you wrap your head around it and are aware of the shortcomings, it's actually fairly simple to operate. The point of this post is not to compare the Weisscam to the Phantom tit for tat though, I just want to share with you my first impressions. Newly available to the east coast through Tamberelli Digital, Weisscam HS-2 powered by P+S Technik.

It's big. It's boxy. It's ugly. It also makes some very pretty pictures and in 1080p can shoot 2000 frames per second which is already twice as fast as the Phantom HD. It's also incredibly light sensitive. The camera has 2 workflows, HD video and RAW. I'll get more into that in a moment but the exposure index rating for HD Mode is 400 ASA. In RAW it's 600 ASA. I was shocked we were able to do table top work at 2000 fps using only 2 - 2k watt HMI's and at a stop of T5.6. Absolutely incredible technology.

Here's the Specs from their site. My revisions are in quotes.

• 1.500 fps in 2K (RAW)

• 2.000 fps in 1080p

• 4.000 fps in 720p (not available yet)

• Super 35mm format

• Single CMOS sensor

• Interchangeable lens mount

• 12 bit RAW uncompressed

• 10 bit YCbCr 4:2:2 & RGB 4:4:4 (not available yet)

• Output: HD SDI single, dual link & Gig E (camera interface)

• 600 ASA sensitivity (400 ASA for SDI workflow)

• 10 F-stops dynamic range (more like 8)

• 16GB / 32GB onboard memory

The camera is designed to output it's captured frames in 2 ways - HD-SDI and RAW. The HD workflow is very well tested and seems to be the preferred method for dealing with Weisscam footage. Basically you record to the camera's on-board 32GB buffer, you then very quickly and easily mark your in's and out's on the wireless touch screen hand set, you can then use the same hand set to paint a  look on the video or tweak the blacks, gamma, etc.

Once your ready to capture, via HD-SDI you play the corrected video out in real time to a 10 bit 422 recorder like Sony SRW-1 HDCAM SR Deck or Panasonic AJ HPM-100 P2 Deck where it's recorded on the fly. This is a very straightforward and rock solid way of dealing with the footage. The only real downside is that you're baking the video and everyone on set has to be patient while the frames are recorded in real time. If you have a good eye and know how to read your scopes, you can record a very robust image using this method and because it's 10 bit 422, you have plenty of latitude in post production. Tamberelli sends their Weisscam out with the Panasonic 110 P2 deck (with the AVC-I board) and have recommended this workflow if you don't have the intention of shooting RAW. The RAW workflow involves the Weisscam DM-2 DigiMag.

Just like the Video Workflow, the first portion of the capture process is identical. You record the event and then trim the clip, instead of playing the frames out of HD-SDI you play them out to the DigiMag via the RAW Link connections (BNC) where the RAW 422 12 bit picture data is recorded in real time with Standard RAW Mode or twice as fast in Fast RAW Mode. The DigiMag is really not like the CineMag on the Phantom HD at all which transfers huge amounts of data in a few seconds. Whatever workflow you decide on for the Weisscam, there is a bit of downtime involved in between takes. Also the DigiMag takes a very long time to download its 2 TB of data over USB. It's an overnight process. Not a quite yet a practical workflow for rigorous production in my opinion. 

First impressions were very positive and as I work with the camera more, I'll be sharing my thoughts here as always so please check back for updates.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Great Lens Adapter Solution

Great Lens Adapter Solution

I recently shot a project with this package and I really enjoyed working with it.

This is a Sony EX3 and a P+S Technik Pro35 joined together with the Fujinon B4 Adapter. The camera package was rented from my friends at Tamberelli Digital in Manhattan and the support and service they provided was top notch. The lens in the pic is one of the new Zeiss Compact Primes - extremely sharp and well matched lenses but the wildly varying maximum apertures could be a potential problem - 18mm T3.6, 25mm T2.9, 35mm T 2.1, 50mm T1.5, 85mm T1.5. For this project, luckily it wasn't such an issue. This version of the Pro35 is made for 2/3" cameras that have a B4 mount so you need the Fujinon to adapt it to the EX3's Mini Bayonet. There is a new EX3 Version of the Pro35 available that works with a relay lens to optimally get the front lens' entire field of view onto the 1/2" chipset. That product wasn't available at the time so after some testing, I found this to be a fantastic solution. Because the Pro35 is made to project the front lens' image onto the larger 2/3" chip, there is a crop factor when used with the EX3. By my calculations, I thought it would be about x2.9 but the B4 adapter pushes the image plane farther away from the sensor, thus making it smaller, thus reducing the crop factor. I basically doubled the focal length of the primes and knocked a little off, finding that to be pretty accurate.

Using the very handy pCam software, here's what a 25mm at 5' would look like with the Pro 35 on a 2/3" camera:

And this is approximately what the same 25mm looked like on the 1/2" EX3 with the Fujinon B4 adapter. As you can see, there is a crop but it's not too bad.

My biggest issue with Lens Adapters is that they're so long and cumbersome and without a lot of additional hardware workarounds, they leave the camera very front heavy and unwieldy.

Maybe this is an extreme example, but who would want to operate something like this? Is there a camera in there somewhere?

Even this was not without it's headaches. Remember this guy? Good old MovieTube.. I don't miss you. I'm sure someone will be offended that I don't like the MovieTube so I'll go ahead and apologize in advance... It was a technological stepping stone. A really awkward, unwieldy, heavy, cumbersome stepping stone.

There's also focus issues with lens adapters as you have 3 potential places for de-focus: the front lens, the back focus on the adapter, and the stock lens. When you're running and gunning, this can really slow things down. If I can have it my way, I'm going to burden my brain with as few hardware related thoughts as possible so I can focus on making effective creative decisions. I think Lens Adapters are a great solution but can also  be a lot of headaches (and back aches!). Because the Pro35 bypasses the stocks lens and has such precise controls, I found it to be a lot more comfortable to operate and with less things to worry my brain about. With the Zacuto plate, shoulder pad, and handles, the rig effortlessly went from studio mode to handheld as fast as we could get it off the sticks. That was awesome. Definitely the biggest issue with this setup is the crop factor. Without a real relay lens, your 18mm is more like a 35 or a 40. That's wide but not really wide enough in a tight space or if you have to get exceedingly close to your subject. Because the Pro35 pops off as if it were just another B4 lens, going back to the stock lens was as fast and painless as a lens change. Obviously the colorimetry between the two is quite different so my workaround was to paint a scene file to match the EX3 lens as closely to the Zeiss on the Pro35 as I could. When you're super wide, you aren't really taking advantage of the depth of field characteristics anyways so I found that by matching a color chart on the stock lens to the lens adapter and taking out some detail, the match was actually quite close and changing between the two was fast a normal lens change.

Given that with a lens adapter you're usually trying to create as much depth of field as possible, maybe this rig's telephoto effect is actually an advantage? For this project it was a great solution and got me images that made me and the client very happy. Will definitely be using this package again.

Digital Motion Picture Sweeps The Oscars

Digital Motion Picture Sweeps The Oscars

The lovely Slumdog Millionaire found the same success at The Oscars as it did at The Bafta's and Golden Globes, taking home the top honors - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. This is the first (mostly) digitally acquired feature film in the history of The Oscars to win Best Picture and Best Cinematography. Not bad for a small independent shot with a relatively new and radically different digital cinema camera. I think this is the greatest possible success for next generation digital cinema companies like RED and Silicon Imaging - makers of the SI-2K Mini with which Slumdog was mostly photographed with. It is a massive confirmation that film isn't the end all be all in quality and that digital imaging is not going to get in the way of audiences recognizing a wonderful story. It's very cool to be working in the business during this paradigm shift. There is a lot of great energy and excitement as the tools of the trade are becoming more accessible and affordable to people with big ideas. When a film like Slumdog Millionaire can win the highest American industry accolades it should give independents and people working outside the mainstream a lot of hope that their work can find its audience and earn worldwide recognition.

Regarding the film's cinematography; when I first saw the film I noticed what I thought was sensor noise in the game show scenes. Since then, I've heard from numerous folks that this was an intentional look done in the grading process to match the grain of some other materials (mostly Day Ext's) originating on film. I also read Anthony Dod Mantle saying that the SI-2K images picked up a lot of noise as they traveled through the post pipeline. I'm still looking into this but if it's the case that it was done in the grade, the effect might have been pushed a little too hard. Don't get me wrong, it didn't wreck the scenes but one of the points of this blog is to evaluate the quality of digital images and if there are noticeable issues in a widely seen film such as this, they will be commented on. Other than that, I think what's really strong about the film's cinematography are the great angles and fluid movement that are only possible with a tiny, discrete camera like the SI-2K. The film's camera language has this great "fly on the wall" observational quality that I think is the most successful aspect of its storytelling.

Another aspect of the cinematography that I really like is the slightly rough around the edges, almost handmade quality of the images. In an era where "perfection" is the norm in motion pictures, it's really refreshing to see something so different than what we're used to seeing be so successful. It just goes to show you at the end of the day audiences want a great story more than they want perfect hair and makeup and perfectly consistent exposures and prefect camera moves. I don't want my movies to look like they were made by highly skilled robots. I want the human touch and Slumdog has it!

Go read this on ProLost >>> I failed to mention the film's very effective use of 12fps material. Stu has some great points about cinematic motion and some current industry trends that are a little disheartening.