(continued...) 5. The electronic shutter in an HD camera is capable of many more “shutter angles” than even the most advanced film camera. The base exposure time for 24 fps 35mm film and 24p is 1/48th of a second. In a film camera a spinning disc with 180° shutter opening achieves this 1/48th exposure. An electronic HD shutter can be set very accurately from 1/24th to 1/7000th. This is similar to 360° (no shutter) all the way down to .05° – both impossible in film cameras. This means that any effect that was achieved with shutter effect in film can be done in HD – from enhanced motion blur to staccato effect. The 360° or 1/24 feature increases apparent motion-blur and also gains one full stop of light. Light gain and loss characteristics are identical to those shutter settings possible in film. These shutter capabilities also enable low frame rate looks like (6, 12, 18, 20 FPS) Some thought this was only possible with Panasonic but it can be achieved with the F900 as well. The advanced functions of the electronic shutter also enables clear images to be made of computer monitors. 6. Many people ask what makes better slow motion... Panasonic’s 60p (100 Mb/second) or Sony’s 60i (180 Mb/Second). Sony’s HD 60i scans an image at 60 times per second in fields, a slow motion effect can be created from 60i by treating the Sony HD field as a frame. The result is equivalent to shooting at 60 fps on film and doing a simple transfer to video. Because no two frames are the same, the result is very similar to film that was "over-cranked" to achieve slow-motion. SLOW-MOTION PICTURE INFORMATION COMPARISON Data bit rate per 60th of a second (approximate) Panasonic’s DVCPRO HD 60p 1.66 Mbit (1280 x 720 pixels) Sony’s HDCAM 60i 3 Mbit (1920 x 1080 pixels) The Panasonic camera always records the image in 60p. To make 24p and other frame rates, this camera flags the frames to tell a complicated conversion box how fast to pay back the information. The Panasonic format also uses about one half of the digital bandwidth used by Sony. Both formats surpass NTSC’s ability to display the picture information. 7. The Sony Cine-Alta is designed for cinema. Over the last 100 years most films have been made using a film rate of 24 fps with a 180° shutter. That means that cinema camera’s usual exposure time of one frame is 1/48th of a second. The Cine-Alta uses an electronic shutter instead of a mechanical one. The electronic shutter can be used for creative purposes that would be impossible in a mechanical film camera. This ability to control motion blur and exposure time using this electronic shutter is great asset to digital cinematographers. It can even buy a full stop of light if the sun went down and you need one more shot. ELECTRONIC SHUTTER SPEED = FILM SHUTTER ANGLE When calculated using a 24 fps base (strikethrough means the angle is not possible in film cameras) 24p HD Electronic Shutter 1/24th 1/30th 1/36th 1/42nd 1/48th = = = = = = Film Shutter°Angle 360° 315° 270° 225° 180° Stop Gain or Loss +1 +3/4 +1/2 +1/4 0 Normal 1/72nd 1/96th 1/144th 1/192nd 1/288th 1/384th 1/576th 1/768th 1/1152nd 1/1536th 1/3072th 1/6144th 1/12288th = = = = = = = = = = = = = 135° 90° 57.5° 45° 33.75° 22.5° 17° 11° 8.25° 5.5° 2.75° 1.37° .68° -1/2 -1 -1.5 -2 -2.5 -3 -3.5 -4 -4.5 -5 -6 -7 -8 LENS FIELD OF VIEW COMPARISONS FOR 35MM FOCAL LENGTHS 35mm Academy 1.85:1 vs HDTV Full 1.85 (Calculations are approximate) 10 mm in 35 12 mm in 35 18 mm in 35 20 mm in 35 25 mm in 35 35 mm in 35 40 mm in 35 50 mm in 35 63 mm in 35 88 mm in 35 100 mm in 35 180 mm in 35 280 mm in 35 400 mm in 35 600 mm in 35 1089 mm in 35 1306 mm in 35 2177 mm in 35 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = HD 4.6 mm HD 5.5 mm HD 8.3 mm HD 9.2 mm HD 11.5 mm HD 16.1 mm HD 18.4 mm HD 23 mm HD 29 mm HD 40mm HD 46 mm HD 83 mm HD 129 mm HD 184 mm HD 276 mm HD 500 mm HD 600 mm HD 1000 mm Horiz 92° Horiz 82° Horiz 60° Horiz 55° Horiz 45° Horiz 33° Horiz 29° Horiz 23° Horiz 18° Horiz 13° Horiz 11° Horiz 6° Horiz 4°18' Horiz 2°59' Horiz 2°0' Horiz 1°6' Horiz 0°55' Horiz 0°33' Vert 58° Vert 50° Vert 34° Vert 31° Vert 25° Vert 18° Vert 16° Vert 12° Vert 10° Vert 7° Vert 6° Vert 3° Vert 2°16' Vert 1°37' Vert 1°5' Vert 0°36' Vert 0°30' Vert 0°18' HD/FILM DEPTH OF FIELD 2/3" CCD (HD)    1.85:1(Academy 35mm)    2.40:1(Anamorphic 35mm) 0.8 1.1 1.6 2.2 3.2 4.4 6.4 F-STOPS 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22 Anamorphic Hawk 70mm on 24p HDCAM       Spherical 85mm Zeiss Super Speed The doors to innovation are open. These images are part of my recent tests of anamorphic and 35mm lenses that help maintain vertical resolution in film out and also regain the depth-of-field of 35mm film. For most of us film is our heritage, the photo-chemical process is part of our creativity. We have by no means given up on film but have embraced another and sometimes more liberating way to tell a story. If you have any questions on how this information relates to your project, call us at (888) 247-3456