Genesis (camera)

The Genesis is Panavision's high-end digital movie camera, which uses a proprietary, full frame 35mm-width, 1.78:1 (16:9) aspect ratio, 12.4-megapixel RGB filtered CCD. It was first used by a feature crew to shoot Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" and was shortly followed up thereafter by the World War I film "Flyboys". However, the CGI-heavy nature of these two movies meant that ultimately the comedy "Scary Movie 4" was the first theatrically released feature sourced primarily from the Genesis camera. Genesis has since been used by cinematographer Dean Semler for shooting "Click" and "Apocalypto".

Background

Unlike the 2/3" 3-CCD RGB imaging system used in the CineAlta HD-900F (used in ""), the Genesis uses a single 12.4 megapixel CCD chip with the same width as a Super 35mm film frame. The "Panavized" CineAltas didn't use Panavision's existing range of 35mm film lenses and have different depth-of-field characteristics.

Most photographic lenses designed for film cameras cannot be adapted to work on 3-chip video cameras. In many cases, the prism block simply leaves no room for the rear element of the lens. In cases where the lens does fit, the resulting optical aberrations created by the prism (primarily spherical) would destroy image quality. Apart from this, the sensors on a "2/3 inch" video camera are closer in size to a 16mm film frame and so would produce a similar depth of field.

Panavision originally tried to overcome this problem with optical adaptors that fitted between the cine lens and the video camera but these have all produced an unacceptable drop in image quality. Most productions using the Sony HDCAM cameras therefore used lenses of Zeiss, Angenieux, Canon and Fujinon.

Apart from this, there were a number of operational problems with both the lenses and cameras used for "Attack of the Clones", and so for "Revenge of the Sith", George Lucas severed his long-standing relationship with Panavision in 2003, obtaining newer-model Sony HDC-F950 cameras and lenses from Plus8Digital instead.

In an attempt to address these and other problems, Panavision followed this up in 2004 with the Genesis, a camera with improved colorimetry and sensitometry-related specs and, probably most importantly, a Super 35 mm film-sized recording area, thus making it focally compatible with regular Cine Primo lenses and giving a true 35 mm depth of field.

Technical specification

The Genesis uses a 12.4 megapixel CCD chip, arranged in a 5760x2160 horizontally RGB filtered array. The vertical resolution is cut in half to 1080 by pixel binning, so the final output pixel resolution is 1920x1080, about 2/3 the resolution of a 2k film scan. The chip has an HDTV-style 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio, similar in size to Super35 3-Perf film. The CCD active area is .930 in. x .523 in. This is a significant breakthrough in that it allows just about any Panavision spherical 35mm cine lens to be used. However there are as yet unanswered questions about the resultant color quality, since single-chip NTSC and PAL color cameras using the exact same color-stripe sampling technique have always performed poorly compared to equivalent 3-chip models. The main imaging module of the Genesis is made by Sony, but the exact relationship between the two companies is unclear, since their joint partnership was dissolved in 2004 with Panavision's re-purchase of the 8% shareholding Sony bought in 2000.

The Genesis can record in a custom Panalog color space, which is a log color space that it is also 4:4:4 unlike traditional HD. The tone-curve is different than the Cineon log format used for film post-production, but preserves highlight detail that would be lost with typical video gamma correction.

There have also been numerous complaints about the small black and white viewfinders available, which are virtually useless for critical focus. To address this, Panavision uses the Sony HDVF-C30W TFT color LCD viewfinder (960x540 pixels), which is compatible with both the CineAlta and the Genesis cameras. Digital cinema camera competitors to the Genesis the DALSA Origin and D-20 incorporate a reflex optical viewfinder to address this concern.

Filmography

Feature films shot with Panavision Genesis include: [http://www.imdb.com/SearchTechnical?CAM:Panavision%20Genesis%20HD%20Camera Retrieved 2007-10-22]
*"Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
*"21_(2008_film)" (2008)
*"Apocalypto" (2006)
*"Asterix in the Olympic Games" (2008)
*"Balls of Fury" (2007)
*"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (2007)
*"The Comebacks" (2007)
*"The Condemned" (2007)
*"Click" (2006)
*"Deja Vu" (2006)
*"" (2007) (limited portions)
*"The Ferryman" (2007)
*"Flyboys" (2006)
*"Grindhouse" (2007) (Planet Terror only)
*"His Majesty Minor" (2007)
*"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" (2007)
*"The Lookout" (2007)
*"La Maison Du Bonheur" (2006)
*"Next" (2007)
*"The Other Boleyn Girl" (2008)
*"Reign Over Me" (2007)
*"Slipstream" (2007)
*"Scary Movie IV" (2006)
*"Superbad" (2007)
*"Superman Returns" (2006)
*"A Tiger's Tale"

Television series shot with the Panavision Genesis include "Night Stalker", "Conviction", "What About Brian", "Justice", "3 Lbs.", and "Cranford" (BBC TV Series).

Some television pilots shot with the Genesis include "Faceless", "In Case Of Emergency", "Brothers & Sisters", "52 Fights", and "Protege".

Competitors

Panavision has many competitors. Several competitors have very similar features and some are already in wide use by the film industry.

* Arriflex D-20 (35mm sensor size, 1080p output)
* Dalsa Origin (35mm sensor size, 4K output)
* [http://www.gsvitec.com/index.htm GS Vitec noX] (1.2", 2K output)
* RED ONE (35mm sensor size, 4K output)
* [http://www.siliconimaging.com/DigitalCinema Silicon Imaging SI-2K] (16mm, 2K)
* Thomson Viper FilmStream (2/3", 1080p output)
* [http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/minisites/cinealta/shoot/f23.shtml Sony F-23] (Sony CineAlta) (2/3", 1080p output)
* [http://www.visionresearch.com/phantom65.html Vision Research Phantom65] (65mm, 4K)
* [http://www.visionresearch.com/phantomHD.html Vision Research PhantomHD] (35mm, 2K)

In development

* [http://www.colorspaceinc.com/ Colorspace True35] (35mm, 2K)
* Sony F-35 (announced 2007, late 2008 release in the U.S.) (35mm sensor size, 1080p output)
* [http://www.drachenfeder.com/aktuelles/drake_hd_en.htm Drake camera] (2/3", 720p)

Further reading

For detailed information on the Genesis, see the page on the WikiBook.

References

External links

* [http://www.panavision.com/ Official Panavision site]
* [http://media.panavision.com/ Official Panavision Media Center & Reference Library]
* [http://media.panavision.com/ScreeningRoom/Screening_Room/Demystifying_Part1.html Panavision / Canon presentation on digital camera specs]
* [http://www.panavision.com.au/News/SupermanGallery01.htm Superman Returns Photo Gallery]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/jbpearman/AfterEffects/ Panalog After Effects plugin]
* [http://www.doubleultra.com/?page_id=33 PanaLog4Lin macro] An Apple Shake macro for transforming an image from PanaLog4 space to 'Linear to Light', and back again
* [http://pvdocs.com pvdocs.com -] Download current documentation on the Genesis camera : user manual, FAQ, how-to Quicktime, interactive menu simulator, white papers...