We haven't heard much news about the KineRAW S35 since pre-orders began back in August. The Chinese-made 2K camera capable of shooting a few different flavors of RAW video to SSDs will come in well under $10,000 for a working package, and could make some noise once it finally begins shipping in the States sometime in 2013. It has already begun shipping in China, and Dan Chung over at DSLR News Shooter got his own recently, and he has some news about what Kinefinity has planned for the camera's future.
First, if you haven't seen it, here's one of the latest videos showing off the camera is from DSLR News Shooter's own Matthew Allard (some highlights were blown intentionally as he mentioned in our comments previously):
Taken from DSLR News Shooter, here is Dan Chung on the new developments for the S35:
Like the Red One when it was launched, the KineRAW is undergoing continual improvement even after launch. The newer firmware versions are said by Kinefinity to be more stable with image quality optimised for 640 ISO and its multipliers (1280, 2560 etc.) Firmware version 7997 was made available to download this week – this is an essential update for users.
The other big news is that they have an electronic EOS mount with aperture control in the works. This should be due in January and is said to work with most EOS lenses, with aperture control via a control knob on the camera body. The aperture value will be displayed on the camera’s LCD screen. The adapter is powered and controlled via the camera and is connected with a lemo connector on the front of the body. Sadly, image stabilisation will not be supported. But for shooters with a lot of EOS glass this adapter makes the KineRAW a much more attractive proposition.
They are also working on an iPad app that will allow you full control of the camera's settings. Here is the Chinese version, but there will also be one in English according to Dan:
Since the camera does not include any monitoring devices onboard to start with, Kinefinity is going to be working with Cineroid to bundle their Retina EVF with the camera for a lower price than purchasing separately, as well as a more budget-friendly non-Retina EVF:
It definitely looks like they are serious about firmware updates, and will be improving the camera regularly as well as adding new features when possible. It seems they also have a way to lessen the rolling shutter in the camera, but this may lower the image quality slightly and also lose you about a stop in dynamic range. Either way, this camera and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera may finally put some pressure on the big camera manufacturers to get really serious about their camera options under $10,000.
What do you guys think? Is the S35 still interesting to you, especially with all of the recent camera developments?
Link: Kinefinity
[via DSLR News Shooter]
