Coming on the heels of a busy NAB Show, Cinemartin announced on Facebook yesterday they have a new camera called FRAN, a new 8K camera in the works. This is great news for cinematographers who are looking to get into 8K shooting but haven’t quite made the move to 8K yet.
On first blush, there might be the detractors who say that the 8K camera space is too crowded already. Why? As a cinematographer don’t you always want more choices not less? I say bring on as many new and exciting products as the market will bear.
When you take a look at some of the specs for the FRAN 8K, I would say it would definitely be worth a long look. Of course, it's a little early because the shipping dates are slated for sometime in Fall 2018 and or early 2019. Let's get to the good stuff!
Specs
- Up to 8K (8000x6000) RAW / Uncompressed 12 Bits
- Global Shutter
- Sensor 4:3 - 37 x 27mm (Supports VistaVision 1:47 aspect ratio 7920 x 5388)
Supported Recording Formats
- Uncompressed sequence of raw or plain files (by default)
- Uncompressed 422p video (processing on camera)
- Prores 4444 (post processing by software)
- Prores 422 (post processing by software)
- Dng
Video Tools
- Histogram (monochrome, color), False color, Focus Assist
- Customizable software: Object count, automated magnification, face detection
- User-defined Color temperature, Auto White Balance, Sharpness
- LUTs
Global Shutter
Global Shutter means no deformations on recording on movement or recording things in movement. Global Shutter means all sensor readout at the same time, as opposed to Rolling shutter on the sensor is read typically up to down. Global Shutter required higher performance chip (FPGA / ASIC) in order to achieve 8K resolution at a one pass readout.
I will be anxious to see this camera as soon as it becomes available. If the camera is anything like the specs, I’m sure it will be something everyone wants to see. I’ll keep you posted!
What are your thoughts on this new camera? Let's talk about it in the comments!
