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New Vision3 stock


Jon Kukla

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Kodak 5207 - 250D Vision 3. Confirmed this morning to me by a very apologetic Russian representative who was offering to let me use their first rolls this week (due to a possible manufacturing defect with the batch of V2 we ordered). It is officially going to be introduced in April, apparently.

Edited by Jon Kukla
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I shot a roll of it last week and scanned it today. I was very impressed with it. It's quite finegrain and I was really impressed by the latidude. Kodak says that one of its qualities is that it good at mixing daylight and tungstenlights but I didn't try it. I tested it for an upcoming 20-minute short that I will shoot in two weeks. I've decided to shoot all daylight interior scenes on it.

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Listen up, Kodak and Fuji: we don't need any new stocks - we need cheaper stocks! Why pour R&D into improving something that's already pretty darn good? Pour money into finding a way to do it cheaper instead.

 

We're fighting a losing battle here, and soon there won't be anyone left to introduce new improved stocks too since we'll all be shooting digital. If film could come down 50% in price, then it would have an edge and a longer future. As it is now, it has the same future as an LP record - yes, still available but nobody but club DJ's buy them.

 

Shooting on film has dropped easily 50% for me in just the last year. 16mm virtually gone. 35mm still holding on at the top level, but getting a tremendous beating from all flanks now - it won't be able to hold much longer. And in a recession to introduce yet another even more expensive stock.....

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Listen up, Kodak and Fuji: we don't need any new stocks - we need cheaper stocks! Why pour R&D into improving something that's already pretty darn good? Pour money into finding a way to do it cheaper instead.

 

We're fighting a losing battle here, and soon there won't be anyone left to introduce new improved stocks too since we'll all be shooting digital. If film could come down 50% in price, then it would have an edge and a longer future. As it is now, it has the same future as an LP record - yes, still available but nobody but club DJ's buy them.

 

Shooting on film has dropped easily 50% for me in just the last year. 16mm virtually gone. 35mm still holding on at the top level, but getting a tremendous beating from all flanks now - it won't be able to hold much longer. And in a recession to introduce yet another even more expensive stock.....

 

Well, they are going to have to raise the prices no matter what. Silver is still very high, and prices for movie film are still far far less than if you were buying C-41.

 

So the R&D is more to justify their price increases. They'd have to raise the price even if there were no improvementsw with them.

 

 

But, I am curious, film defect? What kind? Did you shoot the film in the camera? Or was it a defect in the last batch they made?

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I shot a roll of it last week and scanned it today. I was very impressed with it. It's quite finegrain and I was really impressed by the latidude. Kodak says that one of its qualities is that it good at mixing daylight and tungstenlights but I didn't try it. I tested it for an upcoming 20-minute short that I will shoot in two weeks. I've decided to shoot all daylight interior scenes on it.

 

thanks for the screenshots

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Well, they are going to have to raise the prices no matter what. Silver is still very high, and prices for movie film are still far far less than if you were buying C-41.

 

So the R&D is more to justify their price increases. They'd have to raise the price even if there were no improvementsw with them.

 

 

But, I am curious, film defect? What kind? Did you shoot the film in the camera? Or was it a defect in the last batch they made?

 

Well, Agfa had a long ongoing research about trying to eliminate silver altogether from film and from what I understand they succeeded. I wonder what happened to those chemists and R&D people? Probably silenced by either Fuji and Kodak or the silver producers...

 

Also, there must be less silver in a slow stock, no? How come there's no price difference......?

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Well, Agfa had a long ongoing research about trying to eliminate silver altogether from film and from what I understand they succeeded. I wonder what happened to those chemists and R&D people? Probably silenced by either Fuji and Kodak or the silver producers...

 

Also, there must be less silver in a slow stock, no? How come there's no price difference......?

 

Interesting, I'd like to know more about that conspiracy (this isn't sarcasm, I am geniunely interested).

 

Also Adam, there actually is a price difference between the slower stocks and the faster ones, as seen on Kodak's motion picture catalog (you can download it here: http://motion.kodak.com/US/en/motion/Produ...ation/index.htm )

Price of 1000' roll of 5219: $642.41,

Price of 1000' roll of 5201: $623.70.

 

Wow, Kodak. That's a real dealbreaker if you ask me. That's 1 extra roll of '19 I can buy for every 35000 feet of '01 I purchase. Great. Great. They definitely need to put some more R&D into constructing/designing materials that would allow for a cheaper filmstock. If film is continually seen as a luxury, I don't see how it can maintain a profitable future. Hopefully I'm wrong.

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It is not just the price of the neg.. consider the Transfer itself. If the idea is to equate obtaining an image by popping an HD tape out of a camera or transferring files - to having Film on a Tape or in some Codec, then the more obvious place to save is in inexpensive Quality Transfers and Data Management... though that will never happen as those artists deserve their wage... as well does their equipment... Seriously though, 16mm neg pricing is fine.. processing doesn't break the bank.. 35, well, most 35 projects have a 35 budget... sure half price would help as Adam mentioned... In the end, it is the $5 - $20k USD for a :30 spot (extra - Film to Tape/ Data Transfer) ) that hurts when trying to get a (smaller) client to go for Film instead of Digital and it is those (smaller) client projects that could really pick up Kodak's Market Share as there are far more (smaller) projects done every day as compared to high end projects.... foot for foot. Maybe we need a super low cost One Light Only Transfer House - FILM BURNER - that can turn your 1,200ft of S16 around to ProRes HQ on hard disk in less than an hour for under $100 :lol: ... ya, including sync sound... mixed... Live or Die by your Color Chart :P... for the brave only!

 

Both formats usually go through a Color Correction Session so that evens out. The only differences are neg cost (16mm is nominal though 35 coming down as Adam stated would help!), processing ( both nominal).. Transfer ?... ouch :o I shoulda bought a RED.... NOT!

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I do hope this becomes a Super 8 release, I'm already rather impressed with the VISION 3 500T. :)

 

how is the vision3 500t super8? have any uploaded footage?

im not sure if this stock will meter correctly with a nizo 801 or canon 1014 xls, anyone know??

Edited by tom doherty
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how is the vision3 500t super8? have any uploaded footage?

im not sure if this stock will meter correctly with a nizo 801 or canon 1014 xls, anyone know??

 

 

If they don't read it at 500, then either 400 or 250 I suppose. Which in either case is ideal. I have not shot the 19 in super 8, but plenty of the 18. That stock was great in super 8. Rather tight grain, given the format and speed. I suspect the 19 is even finer grained. The 07 would be nice, but you already have the 17 which is more than adequate for exterior use. I would like to see the 01 in super 8 from Kodak.

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Well that will be OK, I like the 7205... I guess the 100T & 200T will be next to be upgraded, but the 7201 is based on V3 technology so will probably stay for a while. 7201 is what I'd like to see in S8. That's fine they are improving the latatude and grain of the neg stocks, but I keep sayong they should come out with some more specialty stocks. Stocks that have cool looks out of the gate, as opposed to having to put a bunch of english into it. A new 160T reversal would be a lot of fun... something with intense colors, really sharp, prime for cross processing. They should make a film that wants to be film, instead of playing the HD race with super low con, flatter stocks.

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The problem is also in the transfer, as mentioned.

 

Now, let's be clear - there isn't a post cost difference between shooting film and HD in theory. It costs the same to grade Red footage in a color suite as it does film. However, in the real world, what happens on the cheaper productions is that the Red/HD footage gets taken into the production companies edit suite and some PA/Runner/Film Student (who's shown that he knows where the on/off switch on the computer is), gets to be in charge of the whole post, including the coloring! This happens a lot more than one thinks.

 

Now, it would be perfectly possible to transfer film as a RAW-all-the-info-there one light to a hard drive and let you have that to play with. Problem is that the telecine machines that can handle HD are always owned by higher end post houses - and they're not keen on giving up their coloring business to some nutjob in a basement. And the telecines that should be doing it - in labs around the world - are sadly old URSA's and Mark III's that can barely do SD.

 

There have been some solutions along these lines (Bono Labs etc), but normally the quality hasn't been that good and they built their own gear that hasn't been up to spec.

 

If someone bought a Northstar or a Spirit 4K and offered to transfer film to normal HD, they'd make a killing.

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how is the vision3 500t super8? have any uploaded footage?

im not sure if this stock will meter correctly with a nizo 801 or canon 1014 xls, anyone know??

 

V3-500T Meters perfectly in my 1014XL-S, and the results are stunning really. I have some (though fairly compressed) footage here:

 

http://www.vimeo.com/3021850

 

You may want to download the original (lower right). Performs great in lowlight, and razor sharp in daylight.

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If someone bought a Northstar or a Spirit 4K and offered to transfer film to normal HD, they'd make a killing.

 

It's funny you say that because the DI company I work for in Chicago is seriously starting to consider offering affordable (possibly beating Spirit hd rates) 16mm/35mm 2k dailies straight to QuickTimes, prorez or uncompressed (with one-light or scene-to-scene grading in our Baselight). We hate seeing our scanner go unused. The problem is our Arriscan, despite the amazing quality it gives, isn't exactly synonymous with "fast turnarounds" which is the only area where telecine wins out. I just always hated having to settle with telecine quality when I was in filmschool. Even with student discounts it got ridiculously expensive. Anyway sorry for the plug. We'll certainly be advertising on this site pretty soon.

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It's funny you say that because the DI company I work for in Chicago is seriously starting to consider offering affordable (possibly beating Spirit hd rates) 16mm/35mm 2k dailies straight to QuickTimes, prorez or uncompressed (with one-light or scene-to-scene grading in our Baselight). We hate seeing our scanner go unused. The problem is our Arriscan, despite the amazing quality it gives, isn't exactly synonymous with "fast turnarounds" which is the only area where telecine wins out. I just always hated having to settle with telecine quality when I was in filmschool. Even with student discounts it got ridiculously expensive. Anyway sorry for the plug. We'll certainly be advertising on this site pretty soon.

 

hi, what company are you working for?

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I'm sure they will. the 500T is available in 16mm. Really looking forward to a 50D stock in this series.

16mm usually follows 35mm stocks pretty close... With the exception of 5260. V2 50D will probably linger for a while since it came very late in the V2 series and consists of V3 technology. I'm sure V3 200T will be next, then 100T.

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V2 50D will probably linger for a while since it came very late in the V2 series and consists of V3 technology.

 

Considering that EXR 50D was seventeen years old (and had no Vision [1] equivalent) when they axed it, I'd say that you'll probably need to wait at least a decade for a replacement. Vision4 50D anyone? ;-)

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Question for the New Yorkers here:

 

Does anybody have details regarding the 5207 demo screening supposedly happening in NY this week? I ignored a notice I was sent regarding this, but my schedule has opened up and I'd love to attend. Google, apparently, is not my friend today.

 

Thanks!

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