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Jody Lipes

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Jim Murdoch
Does anyone have eperience with the Genesis? Digital Camera System from Panavision?

 

Apparently not. I've instigated quite a bit of heated discussion about this myself in the "General" forum, hopefully you can access it

here.

 

I'm becoming suspicious that despite all the hype about the Genesis, we never seem to hear from anybody who has actually had a chance to use it! A lot of people kept referring me to to the "set piece" made for PV by Alan Daviau, but it's never been shown anywhere convenient to me. Not everybody was overly impressed with it either, not even Daviau himself!

 

The trouble is, I have a rather long memory, and this is really "Sony: The Death of Film III". The things they're saying about the Genesis now aren't too different to what they were saying about the CineAlta/F900 six years ago, and their laughable "Hi-Vision" analog HDTV system ten years before that!

 

The Genesis is supposed to be a Digital HD video camera that you use like a 35mm film camera. It can output 1920 x 1080 on standard HD Beta which can be accepted just about anywhere in the world, so why aren't they putting it on a roadshow where everyone can have a hands-on look at it? I don't doubt that the thing will take pictures, the question is what sort of pictures?

 

Personally I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't just another John Farrand* era dead end project that the PV upper management are trying to string out as long as they can! (PV are currently shedding staff faster than my dog sheds hair in the Summertime, so I wouldn't want to be associated with any sort of boondoggle enterprises)

 

The CineAltas were a flop as a movie making camera, but they're still in demand as straight HDTV cameras, not surprising since that's all they really are. I think the best-case scenario for the Genesis is that it will probably find a similar niche but with the advantage of being able to use the bulk of Panavision's vast range of 35mm lenses.

 

*The recently fired and extremely unlamented CEO of Panavison!

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I went to Panavision to see a screening with some filmmakers and since I've talked to several other filmmaking teams about the camera.

 

I think the overall reaction was this: It is not a "film killer". It is definitely a better image than previous HD offerings. It is priced right now at a point where unless you are planning on shooting excessive amounts of footage or even more so an excessive amount of footage in a short period of time - it's not necessarily a less expensive option than film - so unless some of the other benefits serve your purpose and the number one goal is to "look like film" - you're going to need to shoot on film. If the rental price was the same as the 900 is today I'd have been blown away by the option. But that's the supply/demand thing isn't it? Panavision is just as happy to rent you some film cameras until they have a surplus of these Genesi sitting around.

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