Film cameras no longer being made...

[daveh]

It looks as though film cameras will soon be a thing of the past, though I'm sure things shot on film will continue to be produced for the forseeable future...

http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/14/the-wo ... m-cameras/

Thanks,
David Hawksworth

[Zool]

Blast!

Interesting for me to read this after I found our old film camera. With all the lenses too! Now I have to find a place that sells film. Nothing like the *click* and instant capture of those old fashioned camera.

[Derek Gee]

It looks as though film cameras will soon be a thing of the past, though I'm sure things shot on film will continue to be produced for the forseeable future...

http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/14/the-wo ... m-cameras/

Thanks,
David Hawksworth

This "news" is two years old. Perhaps I was the only one who read the press releases back in 2009? Now that it's back in the news, Panavision released this statement on their Facebook page:

"Panavision
As a rental company, Panavision is committed to supporting our customers worldwide by providing them a wide range of camera equipment which includes film cameras. We continue to support our fleet of film cameras, and that includes ongoing major refurbishment, which in many cases means almost a complete rebuild of existing product. There is still significant demand for film equipment in many of our key markets, including studio feature film productions. So, while our ongoing focus is the transition to future products in the digital world, the implication that we’ve quit the film business isn’t accurate."

It's not like there is a shortage of cameras for rent. I think the more important issue is whether film production continues over the next few years. People need to be reminded about the ways film is still superior to digital. The URL below has an interview with Cinematographer Wally Pfister where he explains why he likes film:

http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Products ... /index.htm" target="_blank

Derek

[All Darc]

I hope they don't be stupid of stope chemical film manufacture before the digital cameras get the same dynamic range of chemical film.

[Changsham]

I hope they don't be stupid of stope chemical film manufacture before the digital cameras get the same dynamic range of chemical film.

Given the high quality of pro film cameras I would not be surprised if they outlast the final demise of film manufacture by a century or so.

There was a digital camera made that came close to dynamic range of film. That was the Fujifilm S3 and S5 Pro based on a Nikon body. I have a couple myself. Sadly they are not being made anymore. Discontinued since 2008. High price for its unique sensor and lack of megapixals for modern tastes. Still plenty of good used examples on the market.

[All Darc]

Well, if we take for example the newest film stock for shhoting, and a IMAX format, we can conclude the digital still have a long run until replace chemical film.

And digital movie cameras for live shooting, of moving images, have only HD or 2K, I think. They have not a system to capture 24 fps in 20mega pixels.

About dynamic, I think it's just need to sensor, one for very low exposure and one for high expose, capturinf the image at same time, and creating a great dynamic range final image. With a beam splitter prism it would not be dificult. The prism would split the image inb two, one for each sensor.
A algorythm would specially compose the two imagwes, from each sensor, to create the best image.

[Changsham]

About dynamic, I think it's just need to sensor, one for very low exposure and one for high expose, capturinf the image at same time, and creating a great dynamic range final image. With a beam splitter prism it would not be dificult. The prism would split the image inb two, one for each sensor.
A algorythm would specially compose the two imagwes, from each sensor, to create the best image.

Thats like the camera I have been talking about. The Fujifilm S3/5 SuperCCD sensor is approx 6 megapixels high sensitivity and 6 megapixals low sensetivity. The camera processor combines both sets of pixels to produce a high DR image. This camera is very popular with wedding photographers as it can expose properly a white bride's dress next to a dark grooms suit plus giving excellent skin tones.

This technology has now been abandoned for commercial reasons and not because it didn't work. In fact it works very well but only for still images at far as I am aware. As Fuji is one of the biggest players in cinema technology and maker of expensive new lenses used for digital and film cinema cameras there may be a possibilty the HDR sensors may be revived one day for still and moving images as they already have the technology to do it.

[Derek Gee]

About dynamic, I think it's just need to sensor, one for very low exposure and one for high expose, capturinf the image at same time, and creating a great dynamic range final image. With a beam splitter prism it would not be dificult. The prism would split the image inb two, one for each sensor.
A algorythm would specially compose the two imagwes, from each sensor, to create the best image.

Thats like the camera I have been talking about. The Fujifilm S3/5 SuperCCD sensor is approx 6 megapixels high sensitivity and 6 megapixals low sensetivity. The camera processor combines both sets of pixels to produce a high DR image. This camera is very popular with wedding photographers as it can expose properly a white bride's dress next to a dark grooms suit plus giving excellent skin tones.

This technology has now been abandoned for commercial reasons and not because it didn't work. In fact it works very well but only for still images at far as I am aware. As Fuji is one of the biggest players in cinema technology and maker of expensive new lenses used for digital and film cinema cameras there may be a possibilty the HDR sensors may be revived one day for still and moving images as they already have the technology to do it.

Perhaps Fuji discontinued it because everyone is doing that in software now?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging" target="_blank

Derek

[Changsham]

About dynamic, I think it's just need to sensor, one for very low exposure and one for high expose, capturinf the image at same time, and creating a great dynamic range final image. With a beam splitter prism it would not be dificult. The prism would split the image inb two, one for each sensor.
A algorythm would specially compose the two imagwes, from each sensor, to create the best image.

Thats like the camera I have been talking about. The Fujifilm S3/5 SuperCCD sensor is approx 6 megapixels high sensitivity and 6 megapixals low sensetivity. The camera processor combines both sets of pixels to produce a high DR image. This camera is very popular with wedding photographers as it can expose properly a white bride's dress next to a dark grooms suit plus giving excellent skin tones.

This technology has now been abandoned for commercial reasons and not because it didn't work. In fact it works very well but only for still images at far as I am aware. As Fuji is one of the biggest players in cinema technology and maker of expensive new lenses used for digital and film cinema cameras there may be a possibilty the HDR sensors may be revived one day for still and moving images as they already have the technology to do it.

Perhaps Fuji discontinued it because everyone is doing that in software now?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Derek

Yes it is being done with software and is great for special effects but is a lot of work. I have HDR software myself but I don't use it when I can get a natural HDR rendition straight out of the camera without any extra work. HDR from software requires thee multiple exposures of the same image to be combined. Reminds me of the days of Technicolor.