Remember when we last reported about the Digital Bolex Kickstarter project? That was almost a year ago. For the past year, it was pretty quiet about the project. However, recently, the team behind the digital 16mm 2k video camera have announced not only the camera’s final design, but also three dedicated lenses to go with it: a 10mm, an 18mm and a 38mm f4 lens.
According to nofilmschool.com, these are some of the changes from the initial design:
- Steel to Carbonized Aluminum
- User Removable Optical Low Pass Filter
- Analog Volume Knobs and 24 bit 96k Sound
- Weather Sealing
- HDMI Port with a 1920 x 1080 Output
- 4 Pin XLR 12V Power Output
- Future HD-SDI Module Possible
- USB 3.0
- Doubled the Battery Capacity from 2 to 4 Hours
- 2nd Tripod Hole
- Measuring Tape Post
The basic specs remain the same: a Super 16mm-format Kodak CCD sensor capable of delivering 2k HD video, a classic C-mount that accepts not only all legacy 16mm lenses, but also modern CCTV lenses, and uncompressed Adobe Cinema DNG output for greatest possible post-processing latitude.
The three lenses that are being made specifically for the Digital Bolex camera feature focal lengths equivalent to roughly 30mm, 50mm and 100mm compared to 35mm full-frame. Interestingly, their apertures are fixed at f4, which means they cannot be further stopped down. On the other hand, this promises that they are already optimised for maximum performance at that aperture.
Another interesting trait of the lenses is that they do not feature a focus mechanism themselves–in fact, the focus mechanism is inside the lens mount (via an electronic adapter that has to be purchased separately) and can be controlled via a crank. This means that the camera effectively has a follow-focus built in. Pretty neat, huh?
While the Digital Bolex camera itself will probably be retailing for about US-$ 3000 according to nofilmschool.com, the lenses are going to retail for about $200-300 each. The electronic focusing mount will set you back another $500-600. We don’t know yet though when the camera and lenses will start shipping.
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