nofilmschool » aaton

Aaton to Be Taken Over by New Owners, Shifting Focus to New Documentary-Style Digital Camera

Joe Marine — Sat, 04 May 2013 23:27:56 +0000

We reported recently that French camera maker Aaton was in financial trouble thanks to issues with sensor development on its Penelope Delta digital cinema camera which has yet to see the light of day in any real numbers. Confirming these issues, Jean-Pierre Beauviala, Aaton founder, explained in a statement what’s happening with the company, and what they plan to focus on going forward — which includes a new audio recorder and a new documentary-style digital cinema camera. (more…)

Aaton, Maker of the Penelope Delta Camera, is in Financial Trouble, Plus a RED DRAGON Update

Joe Marine — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:05:10 +0000

We’ve mentioned the Aaton Penelope Delta a few times, not only because it is a seriously impressive piece of machinery, but also because it comes from a long line of well-designed cameras from the French-based company. While certain manufacturers are going small and/or modular, a few — namely Aaton and Arri — are still making cameras that are well-balanced and can be thrown on your shoulder right from the factory. Unfortunately, the company has faced a few setbacks with their still unreleased camera, and now it looks like those issues have put them in serious financial trouble. We’ve also got an update about the RED DRAGON sensors, and why we’ve yet to see any footage (even though the hardware is done). (more…)

Panasonic's Revolutionary New 'Micro Color Splitter' Sensor Filter Doubles Light Sensitivity

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:02:38 +0000

The most common way we get color images with digital cameras is with a Bayer pattern CMOS sensor, but there are plenty of variations on that design being used today. The upcoming Aaton Penelope Delta uses a Bayer pattern over a Dalsa CCD, for example, while the RED EPIC-M Monochrome uses the MX CMOS sensor foregoing color filtration entirely. By their very nature, though, color filters of any kind cut down the amount of light transmitted to the sensor. That’s why Panasonic is developing a brand new type of color filter that will employ diffraction to split up the color spectrum, instead of filtration, and thus will be capable of doubling the light sensitivity of the sensor. (more…)

Aaton's Penelope Delta Camera: Innovation, 3.5K RAW, and Time Travel (Sort Of)

Dave Kendricken — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:08:32 +0000

Upon its eventual release, the Aaton Penelope Delta just might be the most innovative digital cinema camera on the market. The Delta features 14 stops of latitude, onboard 3.5K RAW recording in CinemaDNG (with simultaneous proxy recording ability), the world’s first optical viewfinder for a full-res internally-recording camera, an ISO 800 base sensitivity, a mechanical shutter able to reduce that sensitivity by 3 full f-stops, a revolutionary sensor package that simply boggles the mind, and all within a quiet, operator-friendly body. This machine means business — and it’s not going to be cheap, either — but the specs and design plainly speak for themselves. Read on for the full details. (more…)

Why Can't We Have Beautiful Digital Cinema Cameras?

Joe Marine — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:50:37 +0000

The very notion might be preposterous for many individuals. Cameras are tools, why should it matter what they look like? Does one choose a particular hammer over another because of its aesthetics? Not usually, often with any tool, style gives way to performance. For the longest time, personal computers were nothing more than grey boxes. Apple was a big part of the movement away from boring, grey boxes. Not to give them all of the credit, however, since there is a large modding community in the computer world that feels the same way — and they’ve been creating beautiful PC cases for years. But what about cameras, specifically the digital cinema kind? The Yolk Y2 Digital Cinema Camera aims to address that pesky function over form notion, and truly design a camera that is aesthetically pleasing and functional. (more…)

NAB 2012: Final Recap - Was This Really the Year of 4K? (Blackmagic Proves Otherwise)

Joe Marine — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:43:54 +0000

I’m still trying to catch my breath from this year’s NAB show, but all this week I’ll be posting more videos and a few more thoughts on what I saw there. This had been dubbed the year of 4K by many, but I’m not so sure we can call it that. 4K is still a couple more years from becoming mainstream, but there’s no doubt that manufacturers are pushing their televisions and cameras into the world of 4K2K and QuadHD. Even though there were a few devices capable of shooting in that frame size announced at NAB, none of them are currently shipping (though the FS700 is the closest – even though it won’t technically be shipping as a 4K camera). It was a big year for announcements, but a few companies stood above the rest, while others missed the mark. (more…)

NAB 2012 is Underway: Canon, Sony, and RED are in a 4K RAW Battle (Panasonic and Aaton Aren't Far Behind)

Joe Marine — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:07:25 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when companies reveal what they’ve been working on for the past year, and quite a few prototypes that aren’t quite ready to see the light of day. A few have already thrown down the gauntlet for camera superiority, namely Canon and Sony (though Sony still might have one more surprise for us at the show). We’re still waiting on RED’s (and Panasonic’s) response to these new 4K RAW ready cameras, and Jim Jannard has been making some noise on the REDuser forums, showing his excitement for what they’ve got coming next. Hopefully we’ll get a glimpse of “Dragon” at NAB, but we’ve been told in the past on those same forums that we won’t see any new products until they are shipping. (more…)

From NAB: Some really expensive cameras

Ryan Koo — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:00:38 +0000

FreshDV is Johnny-on-the-spot this year at NAB (actually, they are every year), so for their complete coverage head on over to their site (and stay tuned to their twitter for the latest from the show floor).

Here are two digital solutions from two companies (ARRI and Aaton) transitioning from film to digital. Yes, their pricing is stratospheric compared to DSLRs (and even RED), but they’re priced-to-rent rather than priced-to-own. The question is, will either of these cameras offer appreciably better image quality than a cheaper RED package? (more…)