Re: Vs: [Leica] digital experience(very long)

["Steve LeHuray" <icommag@toad.net>]

> Steven,
> 
> I went along to a Sony presentation day last week where they were
> demonstrating their latest digital Hollywood (type) camera, the 24P. The P
> stands for a 'Progressive', shutter rather the current video standard of
> using interlaced scans, this gives a more filmic look though there is the
> option of transferring the footage over to 35mm for editing and/or
> distribution if desired.
> The quality of video footage transferred to 35mm for projection was at
> least the equal of 35mm quality originals but when we then went to digital
> projection the quality was staggeringly different altogether. Most would
> say better, no grain, no dust flicker etc, but some would (a little like
> me) not be totally enamoured with bland stretches of screen showing nothing
> but smooth detail without the rippling undercurrent of granular interplay.
> Horses for course of course and the nice thing is here you can have your
> cake and eat it!
>
> Wim Wenders, the German director has shot half of 'Million Dollar Hotel' on
> 24P and will do all of his next movie on it, he loves being able to see the
> takes after shooting them, previously having had to trust his cameraman.
> Ah! The joys of video.
>
> Jem


Jem,

About one year ago I had an invitation from ABC to attend a special
screening in New York of Monday Night Football, captured on HDTV and shown
at ABC headquarters on a 60" Plasma screen. The image was so sharp it almost
hurt my eyes. I cannot imagine any audience around the world accepting this
kind of image for theatrical viewing.

I agree in part about what Steven says in his post (below) that film will be
going away. It already has in most forms of distribution such as
documentaries, educational films, etc, etc. Talk to any film lab and they
will tell that print sales are dead replaced by video tape and now DVD.

As far as the New York Times and Steven saying that film capture will soon
die they could not be more wrong. But first let me say that I have some
pretty significant contacts in the Hollywood film community and Kodak,
Arriflex, Aaton and Panavision, Sony, Panasonic are all clients of mine and
I have access to the top people. I am also connected with the DGA (Directors
Guild 0f America), ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) and I have
three close friends who have won Oscars.

The big reason that film will not go away (in my lifetime) is what you
capture today on video or digital will not be the same capture or
distribution system 5, 10 or 20 years from now. So what this means for the
camera rental companies (nobody in feature films owns cameras, they are to
expensive) is constantly having to restock their inventory with whatever the
latest camera technology is. Back in the early 80's the death of film was
predicted when Panavision and Panasonic jointly developed a hybrid camera
which and they called it Electronic Cinematography. Today you could not
shoot your wife's birthday party with that camera. Technology has passed it
by. Now Sony and Panavision have developed a similiar camera.

Another problem for digital camera generally overlooked by just about
everybody is that Hollywood is NOT the largest maker of feature films, India
is. And a significant number of feature films are made in other places
arould the world; South America, Japan, The Phillipines, Europe, Canada,
Australia. All shot on 35mm film. The trouble with replaceing film is the
HUGE infrastructure already in place for film and the constant obselesence
of new technology.

Distribution is the easiest part of converting film over to digital and even
that is laden with problems.

The future of film interestingly is not going to be 35mm (except for still
photography) rather it will be that in the future feature films will be shot
on S16mm. Which economically makes the most sense. It is also very important
to thing of the latest film stock as 'software' meaning that putting a film
made in 2000 in you camera that was made in 1960 effectively gives you the
latest thing. With digital you will not be able to upgrade what you bought 5
years ago. So because film will continue to be the format of choice for
movies film, as Steven is happily claiming, will not be going away.

Yes I know that for news and other venues where expediency is important
digital still cameras are the way to go as I saw last Sunday when I was
photographing a NFL game (a project i am doing on NFL Films, whose newest
16mm camera by the way is about 15 years old) at least 50% of the
photographers on the sidelines had digital cameras. There will always be a
demand and need for film cameras and Leicas in particular.

Steve
Annapolis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steven Alexander [SMTP:alexpix@worldnet.att.net]
> Sent: 06 December 2000 14:15
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: Vs: [Leica] digital experience
>
> Lugnuts:
>
> As a looong time silver process imagemaker I just want to say;  I just had
> an awakening.  I saw results from several new top of the line, pro,
> semi-pro
> digital cameras and I predict  one thing...get accustomed to not finding
> your favorite film (not just Kodakchrome) waiting you at your local camera
> shop.  Film is dying, if not yet dead, sorry I thought I would never say
> that.
> Following the article in the NY Times two Sundays ago on how major motion
> picture production is drifting into digital capture and distribution, the
> recent report from PMA that digital camera sales have passed film camera
> sales this Xmas season and the fact that most newspaper/magazine
> photography
> is now digital, I have been converted.  Look at the number of our members
> (surely we are among the most conservative camera enthusiasts ) who have
> abandoned the silver darkroom for digital reproduction, why not the silver
> camera, if it produces, as the darkroom, equal or better results, please do
> not tell me your 11x14 prints can not have the same quality and the 4x6 are
> certainly as good.  I have seen equal quality, by eyeball, maybe not some
> esoteric paper filled with numerical description of the image.
>
> Let the collectors reign, the shooters will soon become converts to new
> technology with different countries of origin , pre visualization will be
> accomplished on an LCD and batteries will replace filters as the major
> topic
> of discussion.
>
> Happy snaps or is that now,
> Good pixels,
>
> Steven Alexander
>