Sony's CineAlta 24P HD (high definition video) Cameras are a series of professional digital video cameras that offer many of the same features of a 35mm motion picture film camera.

CineAlta is a brand name used by Sony to describe various products involved in content creation, production and exhibition process within digital cinema workflow. Now Sony's products branded by CineAlta include camera, camcorder, recorder, cinema server and projector.

CineAlta cameras record onto HDCAM tapes, XDCAM Professional Discs or SxS flash memory cards. They have the ability to shoot at various frame rates including 24fps and have a resolution of up to 1920 by 1080 pixels.

In 2000 George Lucas announced that Episode II of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy would be the first major motion picture to be shot 100% digitally. Sony and Panavision had teamed up to develop the High Definition 24P camera that Lucas would use to accomplish this and thus the first CineAlta camera was born: the Sony HDW-F900 (also called the Panavision HD-900F after being "panavised").

For Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith the more advanced Sony HDC-F950 was used, with higher resolution and better color reproduction than its predecessor. The film was cropped to a 2.35:1 aspect ratio from its native 16:9 frame. As a result only 817 of the 1080 vertical pixels were actually used; but there is an anamorphic adaptor lens from Canon, which allows shooting in 2.35:1 without losing any pixels. Manuel Huerga's Salvador (2006 film) is the first movie shot with this adaptor.

Russian Ark was recorded in uncompressed high definition video using a Sony HDW-F900. The information was recorded uncompressed onto a hard disk which could hold 100 minutes, thus allowing the entire film to be shot in a single 90 minute take. Four attempts were made to complete the shot; the first three had to be interrupted due to technical faults, but the fourth attempt was completed successfully. Extra material on the DVD release includes a documentary on the technology used.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Sin City [1]

Apocalypto

U2 3D[2]

Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams

Cloverfield

F-23

HDW-F900R

HDC-F950

HDC-1000W/1500L

PDW-F355

PDW-F335

PMW-EX1

In addition to F23, Sony has revealed some basic features of F35, a Sony version of Panavision's Genesis, which was equipped with a single S35 size CCD and PL lens mount. F35 is said to be available worldwide in the late fall of 2008 at a system price, not including lens, in the neighborhood of a quarter million dollars.

Besides, Sony has also announced that Cinealta 4K, a 4K production suite including a 4K digital cinema camera and recorder, is being developed. The results are still a few years in coming.

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Since its introduction in 2004, the Sony XDCAM™ series - made up of SD and HD camcorders and decks, has been offering tremendous benefits to workflows for many types of video productions. The optical disc-based XDCAM system utilizes blue-violet laser technology to achieve high data transfer rates and long recording times for day-to-day operations. Its file-based recording and random access capabilities not only remove the "linear-natured" barriers common to tape media, but also merge the AV and IT worlds by featuring the functions required for both domains.

In response to the rapidly growing HD trend, Sony announced an XDCAM HD product line expansion to meet the diverse requirements of video professionals. Sony will be offering a full lineup of choices - from entry level through to the top of the range.

Offering a networked HD product at an affordable price, the newest XDCAM member, XDCAM EX™ - is a powerful HD handheld camcorder with incredible feature sets that include three 1/2-inch CMOS sensors, amazing full 1920 x 1080 and 1280 x 720 HD recording capability plus flash memory recording. The high definition PMW-EX1 compact camcorder is ideal for customers from broadcasters through to independent videographers and film makers who want exceptional HD quality workflow at an affordable price.

The current XDCAM HD lineup has also been enhanced with two new camcorders, a new deck and a new drive unit. One of the most advanced features of the new PDW-F355 and F335 camcorders is the long recording time of over four hours of 1080i HD video. This is achieved by the newly developed dual-layer disc, the PFD50DLA, which has an extremely large storage capacity of 50 GB. The new PDW-F75 recording deck that touts a full range of interfaces and can handle both the PFD23A single layer disc and the new PDF50DLA dual layer disc joins these camcorders. Packed with many other powerful new features, this lineup provides greater system flexibility and operational conveniences for all types of production. What is remarkable in this new lineup is the addition of a new PDW-U1 drive unit, which offers a compact, mobile and highly cost effective solution for many applications. It serves as an external PC drive connected via USB.

Sony will round out the XDCAM family with high-end additions that include two premium products: The PDW-700 camcorder and the PDW-HD1500 deck. They will offer striking quality HD recording at a data rate of up to 50 Mb/s using the MPEG HD422 compression technology. The PDW-700 is equipped with three 2/3-inch type CCDs - a newly developed "Power HADT FX" progressive CCD with 1920 x 1080 effective pixels, which can handle 1080i as well as 720p recording. Stunning-quality HD images can be captured by this high-resolution CCD and advanced digital signal processing. The PDW-HD1500 is a half-rack-wide recording deck equipped with a range of interfaces including HD-SDI, SD-SDI, i.LINK, and Ethernet. This will be ideal for both video-based installations and file-based nonlinear operations.

With more choices, the new XDCAM family will provide solutions that further expand the world of HD systems for all types of production.

(Courtesy: http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.events.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-latest-xdcamoverview.shtml )

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Bringing together the advantages of digital technology with film-style operability, the F35 expands the “production toolset” available for high-end digital cinema and prime time program production both today and tomorrow. The new F35 digital cinematography camera offers a Super 35mm-sized CCD sensor and PL lens mount for cinematographers who have passion for 35mm film lenses.

The F35's newly developed Super 35mm-sized CCD sensor provides breathtaking picture quality, an extensive range of depth-of-field controls, dynamic range, and F23-equivalent wide color gamut. The PL lens mount of the F35 allows flexible use of the vast majority of 35mm cinema lenses, which greatly expands creative possibilities. The F35 is designed with the same platform as the F23, providing similar capabilities such as SR Motion and over- and under-crank. The F35 also provides an ergonomic design that allows direct docking with Sony's SRW-1 portable HDCAM-SR™ recorder. It's also possible to use an F23 and the new F35 in combination, for even more creative freedom.

Highlights:

Super 35mm Single CCD Imager

Full Resolution 1920 X 1080 RGB

Select Frame Rate of 1 – 50 fps (4:4:4 or 4:2:2 Recording)

Accepts 35mm PL Mount Lenses

Integrated Camera System with SRW-1 Recorder

14-bit A/D converter and advanced DSP LSI

Versatile gamma settings including unique S-LOG gamma curve

(Courtesy: http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadcastcameras/cat-cinealta/product-F35 )