Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
You might remember that a couple of years ago, Linus Tech Tips spent a somewhat insane $138,000 on a couple of 8K RED cameras & accessories. Well, like most of us after having a camera for this amount of time, they’re starting to notice some of the annoying quirks of their camera.
In this case, the loudness of it between takes as the fan kicks into overdrive. So, they decided to try and switch it over from fans to water cooling.
It has no name, right now, other than “8K Video Camera”, but this 8K Micro Four Thirds camera from electronics giant Sharp is currently on display in prototype form at CES 2019. It was spotted by Dave Altizer at Kinotika discovered wandering through the CES show floor. And he decided to make a short video to tell us all about it.
With all the talk of potential 8K Sony cameras recently, there have been a lot of cries of “Overkill!”, “Way too much”, “We’ll never need that!”. On the other hand, Japanese broadcaster NHK just launched the world’s first 8K TV channel. And it kicked off with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
We’ve already seen some stunning footage and photos from the International Space Station (ISS). But now, NASA’s had the science “scaled up” and has published a UHD video from the International Space Station. This is the first ever 8K video from the ISS and it gives you an insight into what it’s like to be inside the ISS and view our beautiful planet from there.
The old megapixel wars seem to have mostly died off when it comes to photography. But for video, companies are pushing for higher and higher resolutions every year, it seems. As soon as 1080p became standard, they started pushing 4K. Now that 4K has become more accepted, it’s time for 8K.
It was only a year ago that 8K would cost you $77K. But now the new Fran 8K brings that entry price all the down to below €8,000. At least for now.
Panasonic announced their new 8K organic sensor with global shutter back in February. Now, 8 months later, they’ve announced the first camera to contain the new sensor. Officially titled the AK-SHB810, this “8K multi-purpose camera” is scheduled to launch sometime in autumn 2019.
If there’s one thing that’s definitely not going away, it’s 360 VR cameras. And they’ve come a very long way in the last few years. It was only 2016, two short years ago, when the Ricoh Theta S was being lauded as one of the best on the consumer market – with 1080p video. But as the technology has become a little more established, demands have evolved.
Detu is answering these demands with the new Detu MAX. A 3D 360° VR camera that can shoot stereo video at a whopping 8K resolution. It’s also capable of shooting HDR 3D images and offers stills resolutions up to 12K. They’re launching the MAX on Kickstarter, with prices up to 40% off the expected retail price.
The release of RED’s new Hydrogen One holographic smartphone is drawing ever closer. We’ve known about its modular connectivity through the pogo pins on the back, but very little has been said about what they’re for. It’s been suggested that we’d perhaps see battery packs or small camera modules to use “real” lenses and that it may offer communication with RED’s range of cameras.
Well, the first of those cameras has been announced. RED has teamed up with a 3D VR camera company, Lucid on an 8K prosumer 3D camera. A camera not only shoots holographic content that can be viewed on the Hydrogen One but a camera which also uses the Hydrogen One as its “viewfinder” while shooting.
Well, it seems that Sony isn’t the only one with a global shutter CMOS announcement of late. According to a press release, Panasonic has also just announced a new global shutter CMOS sensor. This one, though, is capable of shooting up to 60 frames per second at 8K (36MP) resolution. Unlike Sony, which utilises a rear illuminated design with parallel DA converter, Panasonic’s uses an organic photoconductive film (OPF) to allow simultaneous readout of all the pixels on each frame.
It feels like only yesterday that the world was being convinced that 4K is the future. Now, at a rapid pace, we’re already being pushed toward 8K. I’m not complaining. The higher resolution the cameras & capture devices get, the more options we get in post – even if the final content is being created for 1080p or 4K display.
Sharp recently announced its new 8K broadcast camera a few days ago, and now Blackmagic have come along with their new DeckLink 8K Pro. A capture card that’ll work with SD, HD, UHD, 4K and 8K 12Bit RGB 4:4:4 signals. It can also handle 64 audio channels and stereoscopic 3D. And it does it in real time.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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