Thomas Chatelet

Well, actually, I asked him but his answer was pretty vague and off the record... Too soon to talk about it. So, it's not in the video. What I can tell you is that he has a little plan for that part, a good one I guess. Anyway, he won't be able to avoid the question at the NAB! ;)

Hello, I made a , during the last Micro-Salon in Paris.He talks about the 4K D-Magazine Aäton is developing. It will be shown at the next NAB. The interview is in french with basic english subs in a weird automatic option (if the subs don't show up, clic on the little red-arrow button "watch the video in a new window" at the right of the video tittle, it should work that way). Enjoy!

It sounds a bit like a fixed idea, don't you think ? With 1.85 35mm/2perf, the wast of negative area is obvious, but, compared to 1.85 super 16 mm, the ratio 'gain of image quality / raise of cost' can largly be discussed. An AFC cinematographer has just published (in french) a technical/cost study about shooting in 2perf for HDTV (so an even smaller frame : 1.77). Briefly, he says the gain of 35/2p negative area (comprared to 1.78 s16 one) and the increase of the 'native' dynamic range of the scans' sensor magnify the 4.4.4 RVB 10 bit quantification of the image signal... For the money part (technical cost only, as camera rent, lab and complete post workflow ?editing and sound part included) , an french HDTV show of 90 minutes cost 133,000 ? in S16, 154,000 ? in 35/2p and 172,000 ? in 35/3p. The gap is not that wide, isn't it ? Well, a DI is still a lot of money and an non essential step workflow for many films. I was glad to hear that Arane (french lab in Paris) was studying a complete optical 2 perf chaine.

Thanks for those points, Mitch.

Q1 08 would be more realistic. That's what F. Fisher from Aäton told me last march. I'll say 50-60.000 ? for the body, right at the middle between an XTRprod and a 35-III price. Just supposing... 24 dB at 3 perfs I hope. If so that's not much quieter than the 35-III (which is supposed to be around 24-26 dB at 3 perfs). Have they manufactured a new viewfinder ? The one we can see on the new picture ? I thaught it was a (new) PSTechnik one.

Oups, I didn't finish my point... If all of this come to reality (light, silent, modular, etc.), Penelope will be an efficiant A camera on sets. Well, definetly on my set... ;)

Modifying a camera in 2 perf doesn't seem to be a real problem. I realy think the main purpose of the penelope is to provide a light, silent, modular (2, 3 or 4* perfs) and cheap tool. I don't know if they're still going to price it like their 16 mm camera, but that's what JP Beauviala claimed in the beginning of the penelope's developpement-odyssey. *On a french forum, K. La Vaullee made me notice that, on this new picture, the viewfinder is probably a PSTechnik one (historicly used for anamorphic shots) and that the mount was in PV. A clear sign to say that the 4 perf option hasn't being forgotten, isn't it ?

Hi there. A picture of the (almost) final iteration of the Penelope has just been posted on Aäton website. It now realy seems like a 35mm XTR/Xtéra, doesn't it ?

You almost had it : Pour ce que ça vaut ;) Thanks a lot, Mark !

Yesssssss ! So it might be possible. 'Hope Eclair (a big lab near Paris) will do it soon also. PS : by the way, what means "FWIW" ?

DI post is good but still expensive. I hope that the optical blow-up process (2 perf neg to 4 perf print) will be propose by labs. It would be still the cheapest option for shorts.

Wow! Ok, my mistake, I forgot to realy convert in $ but still... That's not the prices I have. From a basic price list (july 2002) given by Aaton themselves : ?66,666 ( :rolleyes: ) for a 35-III and ?36,680 for a XTRprod, bodies only of course. Inflation in France is around 1% per year.

Hi everybody. Ok, here's my bet : between 45 and $50,000. JP Beauviala wanted the price of the penelope to be at the level of a super16 camera (~$35,000) but with the lateness of the shipment and the cost of extra development, I suppose they won't be able to do it anymore.

Hi there, here is a link to the Xterà's leaflet (in english) : http://www.afcinema.com/IMG/pdf/Xtera-Sept-2006.pdf I'm a bit confused because they claim Xterà to be an upgrade of Prod but I noticed some heavy changes : the Stop/test/start jog is supposed to have switched over side (by the way I can't see that in there picture)... Regarding the Penelope (and at random) : - the shipping seems to be delayed to late 2007 at least ; - cinematographer Raymond Depardon is testing a beta Penelope near Grenoble ; - Aäton still considers 4 perf as an option for special demand, not as a standard built on every camera. But it still may evolve... ; - 2 perf workflow conclusive tests ?involving Aäton, Kodak, the french lab Eclair and a documentary project shot in the south of Spain? have been made last spring : with a 35-III modified for 2 perf ; a sound recorder Cantar ; no clapper, just AätonCode ; and AudioLink installed on the Keycode reader of the Eclair's Spirit telecine machine to resynchronize the rushes. Thomas

Hi, I finaly found a picture of the Penelope exposed at NAB 2006 (don't you -lucky guys that went to the nab- ever take pictures of what you see !! :rolleyes: Can't be true, come on, share it !) on that DP's blog. As expected, the video assist looks like what we can already see on the xtrprod2, with "a twin battery power supply prevents accessories and lens control motors from interfering with the camera's power requirements" Nice ! Thomas

Okay. I give you an "as accurate as I could" transalation of the interview of JP Beauviala when he talks about eventual modifications on the Penelope. Interviewer (Benjamin B) - We didn't talk much [during this interview] about the 3 perf thing, I know it's your hobby-horse regarding the future of the film cinema... Jean pierre Beauviala - The answer of Aäton is clear : Penelope will perform only 2 or 3 perf even if it means making some modifications for the chinese and a few others addicted fellows to 4 perf. But just keep in mind that the spirit of Aäton is proposing. And the Penelope is still an advanced prototype... So, Jonathan, Aäton is in Grenoble (East-South of France), 3 hours by train from Paris, they are very freindly and open mind people. If you want to see and talk about the camera, you won't make them more happier ! They helped me on my last short film (shot in super 35 mm ...4 perf, damned labs) but I'll tell you more about that story later. It's time to sleep for me, now. Thomas.

Does anybody have some pix from the NAB of this new camera ? It's on booth C 7737. Come on ! :)

Hi wendell Do you have any link to give ? I don't find any informations on Arri's web site. Thomas.

It definitly whothwhiles but I'm not sure it's been translated in english... but it may be not not a problem for you to read french. ;) Ciao Thomas

By the way, what he exactly said about the price is that it should be close from a 16mm camera price. He didn't mentioned the XTR prod specifically. That was a short cut of mine. And the Core Duo thing is also a speculation. Just to be clear... And sorry for the no sense part : "Beauviala is expecting a lot from the holographic storage technology" is better english... :rolleyes:

Sorry keith, but there is no direct internet link. I'm taking those informations from an interview that Beauviala gave to Lumières - Les Cahiers de l'AFC #1 2006, published last month. You'll find and order it on the AFC web site. Thomas

Hi, I have more informations about this camera. It will be sale at the same price of the XTRprod ! And it may become an hybrid camera, runing with 35 mm ...and HD mags. One day, you'll be able to change from one "world" to an another by a "simple" switch (Beauviala -aäton CEO- said it may take 2 minutes to switch a HD mag by a 35 mm mag... He didn' say but I guess switching from a 35 mm mag to an HD mag would be a lot more hard to be done that quickly). Any way, this option will arrive far later after the shipping of the Penelope, he also said, the CMOS and CCD chips are not ready yet, the portative storage technology is too young (he's is very expected by the hollographic storage technology), and the processors that could fit with the Jpeg2000 codec greed are just rising (a CoreDuo in a HD mag ?), he said. For all those reasons, he'd rather wait and see a bit more. Exciting, isn't it ?

Hi everybody sorry for my first post (I just deleted), it has been edited accidentally. I was saying that, depending of your shooting calendar the new aäton Penelope coming in july might be an option. It's a dead quiet 35 mm camera, 3perf and 2perf, very light, instant 400 foot magazine ...and priced like a 16 mm camera ! Beauviala (aäton CEO) added (in "Lumières - Les cahiers de l'AFC", #1, 2006) that there certainly will a 4perf "special edition" for the chinese market and for whom will ask for it. And there is more. He also said that this product will be baroque. Understand hybrid. But this is off the subject and I'll tell you more about what I learned in the topic Why hello, Miss Penelope... Thomas Chatelet