The TRUTH about building a Digital IMAX camera

[@FrameVoyager]

Would you use this Digital IMAX for your next wedding video shoot? 😅😅😅 ============================= 💭Join our Discord Channel💬 ► discord.gg/3aeNPU7GHu 🐦Twitter ► twitter.com/frame_voyager 📷Instagram ► instagram.com/framevoyager/ 🎵TikTok ► www.tiktok.com/@framevoyager =============================

[@A10Jedi]

I’ll stick to my blackmagic ursa pro cameras.

[@FrameVoyager]

I've got 2! 😂

[@SchardtCinematic]

@@A10Jedi I just got the Canon R7 and also use my Canon 90D as my 2 primary cameras. That works plenty well enough for me.

[@jannejohansson3383]

Sony Pd170p \□/ It's weird how good video even dslr cam's could took, no matter that those never meant to be for video recording..

[@damaster692]

Awesome video, the Achtel guy knows what he's saying. Imax doesn't want to admit that a 2,000 camera with a high end lense will look sharper than Imax , photographers know this fact, > sensor size has nothing to do with sharpness, if you crop a 150mm image from a top lens and compare it to a 300mm budget lense the image will look similar or better om the 150mm lens crop. This Is the same effect as stretching an image on a larger screen. I say IMax is about 8K BUT!!! That's only if the Lens used on imax was made in recent years. OLD LENSE ARE AWEFUL.

[@TheLingo56]

The projection issue is honestly the biggest one. I love the idea of large formats, but basically no theatres around me can even get regular format 35mm to look *and* sound as good as my home theater lmao. I’ve been to a local theatre that projected 15 perf 70mm. It looked incredible, but the whole experience was kind of tainted by the fact that the speakers were old and blown out.

[@kamikaze2613]

Poor guy. You need to hit up a better theater

[@SplicesAndCelluloid]

A good 35mm print projected properly can easily look better than 4k. If they can't get 35 to look good, they either have a bad print with lines through it, or they don't know what they're doing.

[@TheLingo56]

@@kamikaze2613 Wish there were better options around Vancouver! Tried many different theatres and all of them are missing something.

[@TheLingo56]

@@SplicesAndCelluloid The few times I've seen properly projected 35mm it looked good, but usually the sound was lacking.

[@oneofthedreamers]

Unless it was IMAX You didn't see 15/70. They're the only ones that do that. Also part of the IMAX experience is good sound. They have their own sound system. So you probably just saw regular 70mm. Was it the Music Box? They have notoriously bad speakers...idk why they don't upgrade them...

[@bide7603]

The irony that the camera quality experts interview was such a low frame rate was hilarious

[@umaraleem3476]

think it was a connection issue…

[@samuelchan699]

Great explanation of why the IMAX format is so special! The first IMAX movie I saw was about the pyramids in Egypt, and I felt so real that I could have reached out and touch the stones. My sister has a friend who came out of "retirement" to operate the IMAX projector when "Dunkirk" was released because he was the only person in town that knew how to operate the system. We were given a tour of the projector room, and to see it in real life is mind blowing. The scale of everything is so much bigger than what you imagine from looking at the pictures. We had to leave before he started the projector because he said it is as loud as a jet engine, and a fire extinguisher was kept nearby because if the the film stopped in the projector, the heat from the lamp would instantly melt the film with a potential of causing a fire! Sadly, it was the last film movie to be shown at the theatre as it was replaced with a digital IMAX projector a few months later. I'm glad I got to see it off with such an amazing movie.

[@JoshuaC923]

Cool story, thanks for sharing

[@nnnnnn3647]

All technology created by men, but the girl with the nose piercing has to tell the story. Disgusting times of exclusion.

[@CockatooDude]

@@nnnnnn3647 Christopher Nolan transitioned and got a nose piercing?

[@NoCluYT]

In my city we have about 2 theatres capable of projecting IMAX film, but one time I went to one for some school trip and we saw a documentary. I didn't care what the documentary was about, but seeing true IMAX was absolutely insane. At times it felt unreal. At this point it was like 10-15 years ago and I've suddenly had an urge to watch every movie I can in real IMAX just because.

[@SKRUBL0RD]

i saw top gun maverick in dolby cinema and imax and the dolby cinema completely blew away the imax experience. cramming everyone in to view a slightly taller 4:3 image of yesteryear old tvs is not a pleasurable experience whatsoever.

[@KarlRock]

I’ll probably never get to see a 15/70mm film… So I guess 8K will have to do 😊

[@Rocketoryx]

Dude ur doing research about imax ive seen ur commments on quit a few videos related to imax

[@VoltageFilms]

There are theaters that play film 35mm and 70mm everywhere

[@janvalis727]

there are a few. Look up which imax cinemas screened 70mm copy of oppenheimer and there you have a list. 2 in europe, several in US, several in Asia.

[@VoltageFilms]

@@janvalis727 There is also a difference between 70mm IMAX and normal 70mm screenings

[@TroyUlysses]

Try harder

[@nidiot37]

Pawel invents the best camera in the world, can't get his webcam to work

[@VariTimo]

Things the video didn’t get right: Says 15/70 film, shows a strip of 5/70. The last movie finished in 15/70 was Tenet. It only got about 13 prints world wide though because of the pandemic. Filmconvert is an insufficient film emulation since it only uses grain overlay and doesn’t have halation. Or like half the stocks actually used in modern movie productions. Film emulation is more than color and grain and Filmconvert doesn’t really put any effort into doing any kind of scientific emulation, which is very much possible. You can emulate at least 35mm film, by mathematically analyzing it and making a film emulation as a visual effect. You can mathematically translate the colors, write an algorithm that creates RGB grain in response to the light, build a halation algorithm to respond to light, build a gate weave simulation. Even Filmconvert nitrate is a joke in the world of real film emulation. Also emulating IMAX film with digital is much more complex than having a high enough resolution source. The Alexa 65 has about the same scanned resolution of 15/65 Kodak Vision3 500T (5219). The issue then is that the pixels are larger than some grain would be. Same for 8K. No 8K cameras has a low enough signal to noise ratio to be actually able to resolve the grain. Also no digital projection, even IMAX dual laser, can really resolve the fine detail a pice of 70mm film can. That’s also why Roma was released in 70mm. Talks about 15/70 projecting and shows digital laser projectors. Btw an 8K digital camera doesn’t have the same resolution as an 8K scan from a an IMAX frame would have. All digital movie cameras that record color now use a Bayer filter to achieve color. So the only real 6.5K Alexa 65 or 8K RED cameras are the black and white and only versions of these cameras because the don’t have a Bayer filter. If you want to know the actual resolution of a digital color recording camera, take the resolution and multiple it by 0.7. So a RED V-Raptor has an effective resolution of 5.6K at best. That is if you assume you won’t get any reduction in resolution from other factors in the cameras image pipeline like sensor noise or compression. All the lenses he shows when talking about a digital 15/65 camera. The lenses used for 15/65 are already resolut enough. They’re excellent medium format Hasselblad lenses. Alternatively, Leica-S or Schneider Kreuznach digital medium format lenses should be able to be adapted for a digital 15/65 sensor. Again, Filmconvert is not a high end film emulation tool, like at all! The 9x7 guy is wrong about depth of field. 65mm IMAX is the shallowest motion picture format in existence. Resolution or micro contrast have nothing to do with blur circles and depth of field. The tolerance for the circle of confusion might be lower on a higher resolution camera, but that doesn’t change the physical depth of field. You’d need to shoot on a 19mm T0.75 to achieve the same maximum shallow depth of field as the 50mm T2 on IMAX 65mm has. That’s a 25mm T1 in full frame terms. You might be able to come close with longer lenses on full frame but not on APS-H. Look at the first time Batman appears in The Dark Knight Rises, you can see the lights in the tunnel being blurred even though the subjects 3-5m away from the camera at times. And all that on a 25mm equivalent. So maybe there’s a way with speciality lenses to achieve a shallower depth of field, but not with standard cinema lenses. He’s absolutely right that resolution is not the most important factor. IMAX film both for capturing and projecting is important because it’s an absolutely unique experience. The colors and contrast on a photochemically finished print (like Nolan still does) are more beautiful than anything else and the level of detail that is being able to be perceived on an IMAX screen is so far unmatched by dual laser projection. It’s important because it’s the most premium format we have that when used right gives us something we don’t get from digital. IMAX film is not something to be pursued to be digitally recreated, but to be kept alive in the few places it still exists. I’m very grateful that Nolan still shoots and finishes he’s films in IMAX 15 perf and that he keeps pushing it. Next year with BW large format photography for the first time ever.

[@FrameVoyager]

✍️✍️✍️

[@FrameVoyager]

Btw, in the video we are not suggesting that this actually happen. More of an exercise in if it's even achievable and if it is, is it even worth doing it? Thanks for your response though!

[@GammabitFilms]

interresting part abbout resolution and grain size. i didnt think about that. would add to the coulour reading and actuall resolution part, that different cameras read a different ammount of combined pixel of the sensor. 8 Bit 4.2.0 (one pixel saved = 4 pixels on the sensor combined) like consumer cameras, phones and the videos we look at on KZbin etc.) 10 Bit 4:2:2 (one pixel saved = 2 pixels on the sensor) like Sony, RED 12 Bit 4:4:4 (one pixel saved = 1 pixel on the sensor) like ARRI RAW i think, you could translate this for example to 2,7K ARRI RAW got a higher actuall resolution than 4K RED RAW

[@BobbyGeneric145]

Why aren't you doing better as opposed to pointing out the flaws of others?

[@Geoff_Dearth]

@@BobbyGeneric145 Because why should someone be immune from being told they're getting shit wrong just because they're on KZbin? Too many people worship too many KZbinrs and other social media "stars" without doing any kind of thinking or research for themselves. Deflecting an excellent reply with "do better" is whataboutery at its finest.

[@mysticmarble94]

I think the problem will always be that digital sensors do not have the insane highlight rolloff abilities of film. Where digital sensor blow out the image, film is able to maintain information. Unless that part is solved ... having bigger sensors is kinda pointless cos you still won't get the true organic film feeling.

[@FrameVoyager]

That's true! Though with dynamic range we are definitley getting closer every year. But your totally right

[@DennisSchmitz]

@@FrameVoyager ARRI Alexa 35 should be there, 12 usable stops of latitude, 15 stops of measured DR SNR=2.

[@FrameVoyager]

True!

[@Dennis94913]

Highlight rolloff depends on how you process the image in post, but yes digital sensors do have a bias of being cleaner in the shadow area which is usually muddy on film, as long as you light a scene properly, digital sensor can compete toe to toe with film.

[@DennisSchmitz]

@@Dennis94913 decent cameras without tons of NR with dynamic range measured 12 stops at SNR=2 can easily be underexposed to prevent that nasty digital clipping indeed. With some post the roll-off of film can be emulated for sure :)

[@Sacto1654]

The fact there are very few film processing labs that can process that special IMAX film is why movies like _Oppenheimer_ could be very niche projects. Especially now that within a few years we could get extremely high quality digital IMAX cameras that meet the standard proposed by the video.

[@SteelShirt99]

Exactly. At the end of the day this is just an indulgence that most can’t afford and one that seems rather pointless in terms of ROI for both filmmaker and the viewer.

[@GFMstudios]

And that’s a 10/10 on how to incorporate a sponsor to a video. I’m aware it’s hard to get it to work with most brands or products but this one was a great execution 👏🏻 Really enjoyed the video, thanks. Now I want a video of the Achtel 9x7 camera! I wasn’t aware of it

[@FrameVoyager]

Appreciate it! Yeah it's so freaking rare to actually have a sponsor that can contribute actual value to your video. They were great!

[@8lec_R]

It is like 150k lol

[@derrekvanee4567]

GRRR no sponsor. Kickback referral program.

[@SlapbackGOD]

Honestly, I enjoy watching movies adapted to digital IMAX just fine. Theatres usually are way bigger than normal, the sound system its also better and to top it off its the amount of extra frame and detail that can be seen. I remember watching Endgame in normal theatre and enjoyed it. When I went to rewatch the movie a week later there was only IMAX available and I never had seen IMAX before so I went for it and oh boy, ever since I try to watch as much movies in IMAX as I can

[@TechnoBabble]

The DoF thing is nonsense. Sure, you might have a smaller circle of confusion because of the high resolution, but the background blur and subject separation is entirely to do with the lens focal length and aperture. Doesn't matter how high resolution your APS-H sensor is, it's going to have a "deeper" focus than a 35mm sensor or larger with the same angle of view at the same f-stop.

[@Dennis94913]

True, but i prefer smaller sensors since you can shoot at wider apertures and not sacrifice DoF.

[@TechnoBabble]

@@Dennis94913 Assuming equivalent sensor technologies used in manufacturing, there isn't really a difference. You can simply stop down the larger sensor to match the DoF and increase the ISO to match the exposure, giving you a nearly identical image.

[@hbp_]

@@Dennis94913 I have been recently liking B4 because of this. Going the full circle, because I first went to EF S35 from MFT. However, B4 lenses are much nicer physically than anything you can mount on MFT :)

[@hbp_]

But there is kinda empirical fact to that focus with high resolution lens + high resolution sensor is "harder" to nail. Obviously it's just perception(?) and a bad lens is technically equally hard to focus but it will always look more blurry. This is very easy to test either way, using a low quality lens or a low resolution sensor. The latter makes you feel kinda incredibly stupid because you know that there should be that super sharp sweet spot but you can never hit it :D

[@TechnoBabble]

@@hbp_ Correct, that's what the circle of confusion is. The higher your resolution the harder it is to get "perfect" focus. But the amount of background/foreground blur, thus the "separation" that you see, is the same.

[@alexanderleutloff1719]

First of all, fantastic video- so well researched and detailed But for me the whole discussion is a bit nonsensical, the filmmakers that shoot on IMAX film today are smart enough to know that people won‘t see the movie as intended, they don‘t shoot on IMAX for the pixels, Tarantino doesn‘t shoot on film for the grain, they shoot on film and IMAX film because they want to and wouldn‘t shoot on the best digital camera in the world even if they had it Part of the fun there is that you know that YOU are the one person shooting a movie on real IMAX that particular year, people love you for the effort you put in and the hard work and dedication Nolan, Peele, Bird and Fukunaga aren‘t shooting on IMAX for the resolution but because no one else is shooting on IMAX, because the spectacle is rare and it‘s to difficult imagine if everyone could shoot on a comparable format, then these movies couldn‘t fascinate us anymore „When everyone is super, no one is“

[@FrameVoyager]

Thanks! And totally agree. Not trying to say we need this camera, more of a question of "what if" We noted this question was highly debated in our discord about how it would actually have to work. So highly engaging content to make with a fun question! But totally agree. I don't want IMAX film to die 😅

[@krane15]

They do it to get people onto theaters. That has always been the intent.

[@ChanonWangtrirat]

4K-8K are already enough for me, The thing I wanted to have is dynamic range and color. It's only Alexa, Alexa35 currently that could capture film like dynamic range which make such pleasing HDR mastering. Those sharp imagery with poor color and ugly clipped highlight are unbearable to me.

[@FrameVoyager]

They really are plenty! This video was merely an exercise in what if you just built one? haha

[@ChanonWangtrirat]

@@FrameVoyager So bad that the only one theatre here in Thailand already move to digital bc that film projector broken too frequent, BTW Dunkirk in real IMAX 70mm is insane!!!

[@A10Jedi]

So the Blackmagic Ursa pros aren’t good cameras? Have you compared them to Arri? I’m so tired of the Arri fan boys.

[@FrameVoyager]

No I own a couple of URSAs and love them 😂

[@krane15]

The point is to get folks back into theaters by giving them something they can't get at home. That's always been the intent since TV was introduced. Resolutions have gotten higher, and screens have gotten larger. But no home theater can match IMAX. That's still somersetting you can't recreate at home.

[@ryankramer]

Even the ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) doesn't have resoultion in the top three most important image quality characteristics. (It ranks 4th.) Color volume, brightness, and contrast all matter more. It's why I'd probably rather see a movie in a Dolby Cinema. Better contrast makes a bright image feel brighter, and while the screen size isn't quite as big, all of the other qualites (Typically better sound, better seats, and better overall image quality) make it an on average better experience for me vs an IMAX presentation. The video is still a fun thought experiment though!

[@FrameVoyager]

Oh, totally agree! I think some people missed that this video was just like... "What if you could just build it to the max?" Just for fun haha

[@MrRathel]

In a nutshell: it’s not easy to reproduce the real world.

[@chrisogrady28]

That guy lost all credibility when he outright lied about the depth of field of his small sensor compared to IMAX film. Using the same aperture, field of view, and distance to subject you cannot just invent a shallow dof using "microcontrast"

[@IEBATechThoughts]

Very surprised to not see any mention of Omnimax domed screens as opposed to IMAG square screens. A domed screen stretches that same 70mm frame a LOT further than a big square screen, and keeps more of it closer tot he viewer. Making actual recorded resolution, and edge to edge sharpness more important than with a big square screen 2-3x further away.

[@novelezra]

Whilst I love these deep dives into the most expensive and unwieldy cameras ever created. I'd love to see some videos on the polar opposite. Films that were made with the lowest end equipment such as movies like Tangerine that were filmed on an iPhone S5 or Inland Empire that was filmed on Sony DSR-PD150

[@FrameVoyager]

Sure! I did one a while back on everything everywhere all at once. But I'll probably be doing some of that again in the future

[@novelezra]

@@FrameVoyager Oh! Sorry I didn't watch that one because I didn't want to get spoilt for the movie haha. I will watch it now.

[@forbiddenera]

@@FrameVoyager that movie was awesome and now I have to go find this video 📹

[@CNC-Time-Lapse]

These videos are always done with such high quality editing. You could seriously put these videos on other streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and others. I love the quality of your videos and the editing work. Amazing stuff. We are spoiled on KZbin. :)

[@FrameVoyager]

Appreciate it! These kinds of videos are always interesting edits haha. LOTS more to come like this!

[@MihneaIrimia]

I'm a dude who likes to shoot large format. ON a $1000 scanner I can easily get 200 megapixels from a 4x5 inch scan. An 8x10 inch scan is a monstrosity that exceeds 500 megapixels and I don't expect to see this level of detail from a digital camera in my lifetime.

[@zr_1234]

Not at those megapixels but the computing power exists for such a camera that can output 8x10 or 4x5 level of detailed video. Someone just needs to build it. Storage is really the issue. edit: To clarify the camera that exists are called Lightfield cameras. The problem is the storage of course.

[@Drpftnst]

But "large format" on video side is only the size of 120 film.

[@MyPartytime69]

Me too! I get about 320 megapixels out of my Howtek on a 4x5 sheet. I think the only way we’re going to see something comparable out of digital is if we keep buying Betterlight scanning backs and they make an 8x10 back. And hopefully then it’ll be USB-C or better because the time to copy 1GB over USB2, your film is out of the fixer.

[@stevenlang7709]

​@@MyPartytime69do Betterlight still exist?

[@peachulemon]

Hennessey with the MF DOOM shirt 😍

[@mike95826]

Then you ad in "Showscan" which is a process developed by Douglas Trumbull where the 70 mm film is photographed and projected at 60 frames per second (twice the normal speed). I have seen it twice. Once at a theatre at the top of a chairlift in New Zealand displaying a film about the country. A second time it was being used as the display for a simulated scifi world ride in Las Vegas. It IS A VERY STUNNING visual experience.

[@Rymdkakor]

Working in tech and thus having a fairly good understanding of what can be done, to me it sounds like they could definitely build a 15/70-equivalent digital IMAX camera if they wanted to. I think we have the technology to build it already, and I hope IMAX does so sooner rather than later. I mainly want this so that distribution and projection will be less complicated, so that I can actually get to see IMAX in the incredibly high resolution I'm longing for as seeing Oppenheimer in an IMAX theater in digital 1080p (I could clearly see the pixels) was a major disappointment to me. I think camera manufacturers, as most tech companies, are deliberately holding back technology so they can make more money. Why sell an 18K camera now when they can instead sell 8K cameras, and then 10K, 12K, 14K and 16K before that? They'd lose out on all the sales leading up to the "ultimate camera".

[@rsr789]

Not that I disagree, i.e. milking the cow until it's dry, but I think at the moment the issue is probably not making a say, 16K sensor, but being able to make a robust enough storage capacity system that can easily store all of that information, (part of the 15/70mm issue: a single reel can only film like 3.5 minutes at a time, then needs to be swapped) that can also be used over and over and over again, without degradation. RED right now charges $1500 for a 4TB SSD. "One hour of 8K RedCode Raw 75 amounts to 7.29 TB. That's 121.5 GB per minute for raw 8K footage." So, a 16K sensor, which is 4x the pixel count would require 29.16 TB for one hour of footage (or 486 GB per minute): Which means with a 4TB SSD, you could shoot about 8.23 minutes of 16K RAW footage before you need to swap out the drive. That's A LOT of data, and that's going to be an expensive proposition, considering for a movie with say 150 minute runtime, up to hundreds of RAW hours can be shot before it's edited down to a viewable film.

[@Rymdkakor]

@@rsr789 If I'm not mistaken 486GB per minute should mean you need about 64.8 gigabit per second. There are to my knowledge network cards with at least 100 gigabits. If you build a portable raid ssd server connected to the camera over fiber optic cable you should at least be able to record at 16K RAW. Edit in an intermediate lower resolution format and render it all on a render farm.

[@meanmarine24]

At the mentioned 10GB/s rate, i agree it's quite possible. But it would not be a solution similar to other digital cinema cameras with plug n play SSDs. Maybe a fiber channel from the camera to an external recorder (backpack or nearby cart). 10GB/S is beyond common interfaces, but a purpose build solution would handle this easily. The recorder could be as simple as a PC with PCIE gen4 BUS. 1-2 fiber interfaces on the PCIE bus that offloads 10GB/S to the CPU which splits the 10GB/S into 2 x 5GB/s or 4 x 2.5GB/s streams. As it's just data (cineDNG images) that can be sorted without decoding. Now you're looking at 4 x 2.5GB/s, which can easily be handled by gen4 NVME SSD's (as they top out of 5-8GB/s atm). Highspeed enterprise grade SSD's hover at around 150usd per TB. At 10GB/s, 1TB gives about 100seconds of filming. That's already a lot cheaper than using film, and unusable footage can be deleted immediately. An array of 20 x 16TB discs would cost 40.000USD, that would allow over 8 hours of filming. That's peanuts for a large film production, especially considering it's not a consumable medium like film A storage PC like this could fit in a pelicase. Easy to just have a stack of cases with 8 hours of storage in each. Alternatively, by using some of the most modern gen5 enterprise SSD's, it could be possible to squeeze past the 10GB/s requirement. Connected directly to the camera's PCIE bus, this would take 10GB/s directly without need for fiber converters or extra PC's. The SSD's would cost 1500-2500usd each and contain 26 minutes of recording (though it can be wiped and re-used quickly). Honestly i think bandwidth and storage requirements is not the issue.

[@bradymillersk8]

The closest I’ll ever get to imax quality might be a short (expensive) time lapse shoot with my tlr medium format film camera. Also Fantastic explanation on everything!

[@markhormann]

My local cinema (IMAX Melbourne, Australia), just happens to be the only IMAX location in the Southern Hemisphere to run both 1570 film & twin 4K laser projectors... I recently saw 'Dunkirk' 1570 (which was epic) & I'm booked to see 'Oppenheimer' 1570 on the 6th August - can't wait!

[@marcelobulhoes6180]

How was it to see Oppenheimer there?

[@markhormann]

@@marcelobulhoes6180 what a movie & what a difference it makes to viewing resolution in 1570 - AMAZING!!!

[@marcelobulhoes6180]

@@markhormann I watched it in digital imax here, sadly there isn’t imax with film in Brazil

[@n3d.studio]

yes depends on all those other variables. I've scanned in a ton of 35mm film and I used around 40mb scan setting which is a little more than 8k resolution and I found that a 10 mp camera with 1/2" size sensor was sharper and yielded better resolution than the 35mm slides. I would say 35mm is definitely 4-5k or 8-10 mega pixel but not much more. 70mm or medium format film, I haven't scanned a lot of it but given it's so much larger I would say it's at least 8k or 35mp but 16k I doubt even close to that. The big difference like they mentioned is digital sensors are naturally sharper.

[@barelyinfo]

I don't understand the argument about needing to make new lenses that would have an image circle big enough for the sensor... What lenses do they use to shoot on current IMAX film? Wouldn't the image circle be the same size and we could just use the same lenses? I probably missed something in the video but I can't find it.

[@rzlorlnd]

You are not missing anything in fact you are 100% correct

[@saiishii4155]

The MF Doom shirt is pretty cool.

[@BaghaShams]

To determine IMAX's spacial resolution, why not film a frame of an optometrist's Snellen chart at a certain distance, and then compare it to digital images of the same chart at various resolutions? In my mind, this is will pretty convincingly determine the spacial resolution where details can be resolved.

[@FrameVoyager]

I would if I owned an IMAX camera 😅

[@krane15]

Because apples and oranges. For example, we measure EV using hp. Which isn't exactly true. And since you brought it up, neither is an ICE an equivalent to hp. Its all really arbitrary. A 200hp car is not the equivalent of having 200 horses. Is it?

[@natashatziakis1506]

That Hennessy is real cute

[@NickWilson99]

Came here to say this 👌

[@FrameVoyager]

😅😅😅

[@Elusive_Pete]

The 9x7 camera guys are based about 40 minutes drive from my place!! I gotta jump in and see them sometime.

[@FrameVoyager]

I'd love to see the camera in action 👀

[@mikemiller659]

im sure they'll welcome U with open arms

[@Psycandy]

i once claimed that digital resolution would never match film resolution because film resolution is determined by the size of silver halide crystals, which varies by sensitivity but is nonetheless molecular. Fast films have large crystals to respond quicker but slow films have a density close to an AgBr molecule. Fortunately, with motion picture, you don't need the full resolution, but storing the data would require a serious system.

[@peterbuckingham]

IMO…the most important aspect of creating a digital version of IMAX is the sensor size which directly affects the apparent DOF. Special lenses dont need to be made…they already exist. We’ve been shooting with them for a 100 years all the way up lenses that cover an image size of 20x24 inches(polaroid 20x24). All that grain/resolution talk has really such minimal input into why IMAX looks the way it does. Its all about the focal flange distance.

[@FrameVoyager]

True! The only reason I would say we would need to make new lenses is with the backend elements of the lens itself. A lot of time the one's created for formats like these wouldn't fit on a digital sensor because the backend elements go in too far on the mount. Which is fine for film but not for sensors. They had a lot of issues with this early on converting from film to digital. Especially George Lucas and the Attack of the Clones movie.

[@janvalis727]

Why would you need new lenses for digital IMAX instead of using already existing IMAX lenses? Also why would you film IMAX anamorphic as mentioned at 7:00 ? And lastly you don't need film convert to process digital IMAX - A) you can hire a colorist to process the image B) you don't have to make it look like film but make something new, find a new way

[@BasketOfPuppies]

Dunkirk was tedious and an utter waste of time, on a decent sized home screen/4k/hdr. It would have been prettier on an Imax, but it'd still be boring. Nolan is hit-or-miss. Hope Oppenheimer is good. Trailer looks great. But man when he misses it's just a big pretentious splat on the screen.

[@maikonor7140]

Maybe I missed it, but I don't understand how the lenses would be a problem for a hypothetical 70mm sensor. Since there's already IMAX camera's shooting on 70mm film wouldn't the same lenses be able to be used?

[@jschoonj]

What does Achtel mean exactly when he says he can achieve a shallower depth of field than than 15 perf 70mm film? DOF is a combination of F-stop and sensor size. So I assume he means the 4/3 ratio format sensor his camera uses is covered by lenses that have wider apertures than are available in 70mm, even taking equivalency into account? Theoretically 15 perf 70mm should always be able to achieve narrower depth of field.

[@Steph.98114]

Holy shit I just realised that my local IMAX is the one in the video and that we have a 1570 projector

[@FrameVoyager]

👀 lucky

[@matheusbastosdp]

Great video! I wish you got a little more into the concept of IMAX as a capture format vs finishing a film in IMAX as a display format, like the use of Super35 Alexa Mini’s and XT’s for films shown in IMAX, which is usually just a 1.9:1 or 1.43:1 aspect ratio. Nonetheless, I know this is about IMAX Cameras. Great work!

[@FrameVoyager]

For sure! Yeah, videos like these are so hard because it's SO MANY rabbit holes you could go down. So we really focused on "what would it take to make this." But yeah, this video could have easily been 2 hours long 😅

[@jamescaldwell5]

Great video. When it comes to the resolution max of film I think the limiting factor is not the film but the lenses used. I have a 60mp full frame camera and I quickly realized that none of my lenses maximize the resolution. One of my clearest lenses is rated at about 42 megapixel max.

[@DigitalAndInnovation]

18:32 This guy cant even record an interview at a reasonable frame rate- I'm not really buying he can do the things he claims...

[@TimHunold]

I worked for IMAX as part of the PV (Playa Vista) crew. I've never worked with people who are actually passionate about their jobs as the Millennium office. Just wish we had more office screenings.

[@FrameVoyager]

I bet! Can imagine that's a pretty cool place to work

[@jakubbenko4150]

17:40 What does resolution have with depth of field?

[@Drunken_Hamster]

A 40x60mm sensor should be enough. Basically Medium Format+ a bit of width. It's even almost the same aspect ratio as standard IMAX, PLUS if you throw a 1.5x anamorphic on it, it'll be a 2.25:1 aspect ratio image, which is perfection IMO, unless you wanna count 2:1 Univisium, which can be achieved with a 1.33x anamorphic.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

When talking about the 8k in IMAX film, you are talking about real 8k, not bayer sensor 8k that is only 1/3rd of 8K with a lot 2/3rd being purely interpolated data leading to mushy image with poor color data.

[@FrameVoyager]

💯

[@cb_2887]

I saw plenty 70mm IMAX movies at ONE theatre close to where I used to live the last one being Dunkirk and it was beautiful! IMAX is still great but I do miss the classic auditoriums with the big square screen. Most IMAX theatres now are just regular movie auditoriums converted to "IMAX" but instead of having a square screen it's more rectangular. the seats are also further away - the TRUE IMAX auditoriums have seats closer to the screen.

[@andrewdubose9968]

I have next to zero knowledge about photography, cinematography, etc., but this channel is still fascinating.

[@FrameVoyager]

Appreciate it! We try to make the content interesting for people in the industry and outside of it! It's all pretty fascinating even if you're not into it

[@bananasandbass]

Yo @gxace, maybe take that new Fujifilm GFX100 II, slap on an anamorphic lens, film in 8K, upres it. Apply the grain she's talking about. and get digital IMAX approximation?

[@Lion_McLionhead]

Resolution estimates never factor in how digital cameras all use bayer patterns to detect color, so the color resolution is much less than the number of pixels.

[@UNLouise]

Thank you for this video: I’d love a follow-up interview with Achtel and his camera. The tech itself and the insight he can provide on all this is 🙏

[@FrameVoyager]

For sure! We had more to the interview and will definitely cover it in the future!

[@graealex]

@@FrameVoyager Don't forget to ask him to increase the framerate a bit next time...

[@cjkalandek996]

We used to have an IMAX theater at The Henry Ford. But after 2015 or so, they converted it to the "Giant Screen Experience" and they very rarely show anything new there. All they show nowadays are just documentary movies.

[@FrameVoyager]

Oh that's sad... Tbh, I really like IMAX theaters for the sound system 😅

[@cjkalandek996]

@@FrameVoyager IMAX for me was a whole other experience than that of normal theaters. It felt like the kind of screen that movies like _Star Wars_ and _Lord of the Rings_ should be viewed on.

[@DeanHarringtonimages]

Filmconvert will not have to wait too long for the 17k Blackmagic camera to be out... then, we will find out how it all comes together... exciting times!

[@idadru]

three words... imax. street. photography. 😆

[@FrameVoyager]

👀👀👀

[@Dennis94913]

can already do it with a 120 format film camera

[@TimButt2]

Yeah, that's a medium format film camera, also known as 120 format. Since Film Photography is on the rise again a lot of people are getting the 120 Film Cameras. I repaired my old 35mm Film Camera and have been using it. Love using film again, and would love to upgrade to a medium format film camera.

[@newpzcreative]

My DIY "mini IMAX" is handheld and shoots 60fps uncompressed raw. Not saying its completely stealthy. Larger than a 6x9 120 negative.

[@FordFourD-aka-Ford4D]

You wouldn't need custom lenses. You could also make a focal expander/extender that sacrifices a stop of light to fill the sensor frame.

[@Mr89netrom]

the cinema experience for me, is not so much about that MEGA screen. The cinema systems i choose have max 120 and 75 seats. It has dolby atmos, the Master image 3D system, plenty for me. There is another hall, with 500 seats, but it got another lazer system and no atmos, and the seats are older.

[@AL3XFPV]

you could use the same lenses as with the 70mm film with a digital sensor as long as the flange distance to the film/sensor is the same so thats not an issue I guess, but the massive bandwidth is a nightmare

[@VarunGupta3009]

Being an IMAX connoisseur, this video helped me internally organize a LOT of information I knew about the facts and even the possibility of an ideal digital IMAX camera. Superb stuff!

[@cubertmiso]

excellent stuff but a bit jealous of you, I have never been even close to IMAX theater, you must have giant OLED panel at home?

[@VarunGupta3009]

@@cubertmiso I personally have never been to an actual IMAX theater. Just a couple LieMAX ones (Xenon IMAX). But I'm super passionate about it and want to visit one some day. (I live in India so that's close to impossible for now). Regarding the OLED panel, I've been watching movies on a 15 year old 32" Samsung LCD. But again, very passionate about technology and OLED. Just dreams... :)

[@TigeroL42]

Everyone stuttering and drooling about resolution and forgetting the fact why film is still alive and why it's superior to digital... the looks. Colour dynamics, exposure dynamics, the way it uncovers detail subtly through the magic of grain. Then there are fools like this guy on the video who took an astro sensor and slapped a lens on it and calls it an amazing cine camera... right.

[@FrameVoyager]

Well I will say that in his marketing he clearly states this camera is not meant to replace actualy cinema cameras but is a specific use camera. Even getting it to film at 18.7k comes with a TON of limitations like motion blur. So I don't think he would call it a cine camera to be fair. But his was the closest thing out there to what we were trying to conceptually build even though it's limited in nature

[@meanmarine24]

Maybe a fiber channel from the camera to an external recorder (backpack or nearby cart). 10GB/S is beyond common interfaces, but a purpose build solution would handle this easily. The recorder could be as simple as a PC with PCIE gen4 BUS. 1-2 fiber interfaces on the PCIE bus that offloads 10GB/S to the CPU which splits the 10GB/S into 2 x 5GB/s or 4 x 2.5GB/s streams. As it's just data (cineDNG images) that can be sorted without decoding. Now you're looking at 4 x 2.5GB/s, which can easily be handled by gen4 NVME SSD's (as they top out of 5-8GB/s atm). Highspeed enterprise grade SSD's hover at around 150usd per TB. At 10GB/s, 1TB gives about 100seconds of filming. That's already a lot cheaper than using film, and unusable footage can be deleted immediately. An array of 20 x 16TB discs would cost 40.000USD, that would allow over 8 hours of filming. That's peanuts for a large film production, especially considering it's not a consumable medium like film A storage PC like this could fit in a pelicase. Easy to just have a stack of cases with 8 hours of storage in each. Alternatively, by using some of the most modern gen5 enterprise SSD's, it could be possible to squeeze past the 10GB/s requirement. Connected directly to the camera's PCIE bus, this would take 10GB/s directly without need for fiber converters or extra PC's. The SSD's would cost 1500-2500usd each and contain 26 minutes of recording (though it can be wiped and re-used quickly). Honestly i think bandwidth and storage requirements is not the issue.

[@henryatkinson1479]

None of this really matters when you cannot project the image. An IMAX GT Dual Laser system is required to match a GT 15/70 in terms of screen size and brightness. A GT Dual Laser installation costs in the 7-figure range. No theaters can afford to install that - and that's assuming that IMAX will give them one - right now they're incredibly cagey with it. Dolby Vision doesn't come anywhere close, and more "normal" laser cinema projectors (ie Barco SP4K series) cap out at 4k and bring with them color fringing issues. Film remains the ideal medium for presenting a movie. 35mm scope can already match digital "resolutions" and beats its contrast ratio by an absurd margin (250,000:1 on Kodak 2393). 5/70 does all of that while adding in even more detail and bringing the brightness ceiling up to above what any current non-IMAX laser system can manage. 15/70 stands head and shoulders above even 5/70 or GT Dual Laser in terms of brightness and ability to fill a screen. There is a reason that the near-death of 15/70 in the 2010s took OMNIMAX down with it - you cannot fill a screen that big with any other system.

[@izzieb]

So, when will you be getting vetted to use IMAX cameras? Waiting for the Fran 8K redemption arc on IMAX.

[@FrameVoyager]

In IMAX school right now!

[@NikolaosSkordilis]

The Achtel 9x7 is super high res but has a much smaller sensor than the Alexa 65. Packing so many pixels in an APS-H sensor should increase noise significantly, particularly in low light shooting. And if they employed aggressive noise reduction they would blur the image. I mean APS-H? Not even full frame? As for a digital large format 18K IMAX sensor how much would it cost to design and fab? A lovely idea, but would it be practical? And would Hollywood adopt such cameras?

[@martindoppelbauer7738]

Imax format (71 x 52 mm) is about four times as large as full frame (36 x 24 mm). With full frame film, a resolution around 10 to 12 MP is achievable, so IMAX should reach about 50 MP in the best case. And that would be almost 10K - as stated in the video. Anything more is just a fantasy.

[@GammabitFilms]

hm.. idk, feel like the focus is too much on the resolution. bigger film/sensor size gives you a different depth of field and i think can capture better the "large" waves from red light.

[@FrameVoyager]

For sure! but also comes with other issues as well. Resolution was a big focus because it's so hard to determine what the effective resolution of film is because there are like 100 variables and then you're converting a chemical process to a digital one. So we wanted to be thorough on that front!

[@FroschBube]

I find the need for resolutions beyond 4-8K highly questionable. There's only so much detail you can see, I doubt you would see a big difference between 8 and 16K footage, especially if it's on a TV. On a PC monitor you would probably not even see a difference between 4 and 8K. And you export projects in a lower bitrate anyway, then if you upload it to streaming platforms, it gets compressed down even further. When I did my presentation about IMAX, I read that the film may record in up to 18K, but the output in the theatre is still 4-6K on screen most of the time. I would definitely like to go see a 70mm IMAX movie at least once, but such high resolutions are more of a pricy gimmick than anything else imo.

[@FrameVoyager]

Oh, totally agree! After a while you don't need that resolution size except for specific use cases.

[@FroschBube]

@@FrameVoyager I don't even use the highest 4K setting on my Sony FX3, I use the medium S-I 4K since it's the best balance of image quality and data quantity for me, I don't even see a point in shooting RAW and investing in the gear needed to do so, even many high-budget productions don't see the point in RAW. If S-I 4K 10-bit already uses this much data and requires expensive CF-Express cards, the returns you get from even higher settings and resolutions start to get less and less. Especially in the online sphere, 4K is enough and still not as widespread, then there is also the issue of bandwidth, many users don't have enough of it by far to fluently stream 8K videos. Full HD doesn't even look bad when you export it from your editing software in a compressed codec like h.264, it starts looking mushy once you upload it to KZbin...

[@StevenBradford]

But we are not talking about what is suitable for home TVs. We're talking about what is suitable for five story screens. The question then is, was 16/70 Imax as good as we want for that?

[@krane15]

Unless your home tv is 8 stories tall, you would.

[@UXXV]

Love how Pawel’s B roll is at 10fps

[@FrameVoyager]

Yeah we had weird connection issues between the US and Australia 😅 might have to just go down there next time lol

[@UXXV]

@@FrameVoyager All good buddy - was just ironic about such an amazing camera being spoken of while being filmed on a potato lol

[@FrameVoyager]

@@UXXV 😂 right?

[@javixo1997]

Having used and scanned 120 film, I estimate that the real IMAX resolution (in terms of resolving the same amount of detail in a digital camera) is about 40Mpx. Beyond that, the scans only show the same grain but bigger.

[@nhanlenz]

For reference, 8K is 33.17 Megapixels.

[@jon4715]

Yeah, but how are you evening scanning your 120 film?

[@javixo1997]

@@jon4715 Mirrorless scanning. I have some updates, since then I got a Mamiya 7 and its lenses truly take advantage of all the resolution the film is capable of holding. So far a sharp frame requires a 10000x80000 scan to really show everything in there. Sadly I can’t compare it directly to a high resolution full frame camera, but maybe someday I will

[@jon4715]

@@javixo1997 I shoot a mamiya 6 cool

[@Dan_Yerlll]

What is this girl talking about? 1570 is never shot with an anamorphic lens. How would an anamorphic lens help someone to perceive an IMAX like image? It makes no sense.

[@mynameisben123]

Sorry what? Depth of field is smaller on the smaller sensor? I think this is backwards. He didn’t really explain this well enough. If you have the same shot with the same field of view and the same f number, a larger sensor will have a smaller depth of field.

[@zteam1000]

I'm interested to know more about how a higher resolution sensor can have a shallower depth of field even with a smaller frame than a large format sensor. It goes against anything I've learned, but it sounds plausible. I wonder if the bokeh is comparable or if it has more to do with discernable detail.

[@johndzwon1966]

IMO, it should be renamed the EYE-SMAX camera, because the format has such a powerful visual impact, that the audience leaves the cinema with swollen black and bloodshot eyes.

[@jonathonfriedl1766]

Someone get this man a show on Discovery channel.

[@FrameVoyager]

😅😅😅

[@igbatious]

watched dunkirk in 1570 at the universal city walk imax - one of the three true imax theaters left in california - then dune in digital imax in the same theater, and the digital projection doesn't even come close to look and feel of film. either we redefine what is highest possible resolution, or digital imaging still has a ton of work left to emulate imax film.

[@FrameVoyager]

Nope! Film always has that nice warm organic feel to it. But it's an interesting question to ponder

[@bobmorr2892]

Is IMAX quality digital even possible? It's a stupid question of course it is. Strap one of these things to a robot and send it to Mars instead of people. Faster safer cheaper smarter.

[@WithSeb]

As a noob literally everything the girl was talking about made no sense to me at all

[@jmalmsten]

While film folk love to tout the resolution of the original camera negative, we should always remember that in a cinema, evena 35 or 70mm one, we never look at the projected negative. Most of us have not seen a first generation print. By the time we see it, the image would have gone from camera negative, to interpositive, to internegative to maybe a release print. Can even be another couple of generations when international distribution is involved. This all assumes it's an all analog process. Each new generation copies over the grain and fuzziness that the last generation introduced. It's why VFX houses for decades opted to shoot VFX on higher gauge film so the added generations of the composites won't add unnecessary softness and grain compared with the regular footage. Take all this into account and I've read of tests that showed that a typical release print of 15/70 IMAX at best barely could resolve 4K of detail. A 35mm release print can sometimes be rivalled by a decently mastered DVD and even be succeeded by a BluRay. There are other things that make 15/70 IMAX compelling. Like the sheer projection size, the taller aspect ratio and the massive sound system. I also recommend Steve Yedlins writeups and videos that show that the size of the gate is not anything magical and that given the right setups and image chain you visually cannot distinguish 15/70 from an Alexa. Or as I've had as a mantra for a few years now... Treat your camera like an IMAX camera... And it will give you IMAX images. Or at least something so close we cannot really tell the difference. The real difference is in how you use the camera. Not what the camera is shooting.

[@SplicesAndCelluloid]

Unless you're doing something wrong, a DVD should not be looking comparable to a 35mm print. If you put lines through it or don't keep it clean then of course, but a clean print that is projected properly should never be looking that bad. A good 35 print in sharp focus through a good projector can be comparable to 4k. Lose the sharp focus or run it through a projector that isn't stable though and yeah, might be DVD quality.

[@krane15]

@@SplicesAndCelluloid There's a lot wrong because the supposition leave out enough information to fill a database.

[@krane15]

All true, but many of the stage are by passed nowadays, and you can scan the negative. What's really pertinent is the theaters project is in 2k. So anything above that is irrelevant.

[@d3xmeister]

How the heck an APS-H size sensor can match the depth of field range of 70mm film ? Unless the lenses are several times faster, I don’t see how.

[@Breonnick]

Your Thumbnail drives me insane. Because Nolan is such a film boomer who over fantasizes TF out of film. He would rather die then pose with a digital camera.

[@FrameVoyager]

😏

[@_nopestr]

Frames on a 70mm film are not 10 times larger than on 35mm. They're 3.5 times larger. Stop feeding people BS.

[@TheBigNegative-PhotoChannel]

7:02 8K+anamorphic+16kUpres+17mm grain=very close to perceived detail. Maybe but then you don't have the correct lens compression from shooting in actual medium format.

[@FrameVoyager]

True! Maybe swap out anamorphic?

[@ml.2770]

Digital IMAX will come and it will surpass film in quality and colour. Fight me.

[@JakePurches-Base2music]

I calculated that to fully realise the resolution of Imax film at 70 x 48.5 mm you would need a digital sensor of 8000 x 6000 pixels. This is based on the film resolution being no more effective than 3000 dpi in real terms. If you make it over kill at 4000 dpi then that would give a sensor requirement of 11,000 x 8000 pixels. Certainly nothing like 20K.

[@wdsongama]

I just don't get the point of emulating film grain when it's possible to have stupid high quality image with no grain.

[@fotochuck]

Imax isn't relevant today. Neither is 24 fps.

[@FrameVoyager]

👀

[@Adeloye1000]

Brave of you to give a well balanced a researched look into the topic. It would be a shame if someone misconstrued it to mean you think IMAX is dead 😈

[@FrameVoyager]

Haha appreciate it! And some do 😅 more just a fun "what if" video exploring it all. But yeah, I knew this video would get good engagement because everyone has an opinion 🤌

[@Adeloye1000]

@@FrameVoyager I think as the technology movies forward and people have more control over the image pipeline provided by digital technology, I think cameras, at least in the professional sphere will tend towards a very technical skill. In the past, it would be the guys that handled the chemical process would be the guys with a remotely clear view into the intricacies of the process. But now, because of the increasing quality and complexity of digital cameras and easily accessible high-end editing software, it's only natural there's a lot of questions. And thanks to your videos and others' like Yedlin, you clear the fog in a space rife with mistruths. So, thanks

[@JamesHawkeYouTube]

I need bigger screens and more resolution. I'm just not satisfied.

[@FrameVoyager]

hahaha

[@JamesHawkeYouTube]

@@FrameVoyager ;)

[@DennisSchmitz]

12:09 haha dude throwing shade at BMD URSA 12K. Thanks to BRAW filtering the camera indeed barely resolves 2000 lines, it's ridiculous. BRAW really needs a better replacement.

[@FrameVoyager]

Yep 😅 some shade at RED too in one part of the interview. He was great!

[@brown2840]

Disney just shot a feature film on the Ursa 12k called Rise. Apparently it’s good enough for them at least, but def get your point :)

[@Dennis94913]

Thats what you get with a compressed format.

[@DennisSchmitz]

@@Dennis94913 compression isn't the problem here. Even at Q0 the UMP 12K cannot resolve more than 2000 lines. Both the heavy spatial filtering and high radius unsharp mask are quite a mess and 12K are the minimum for proper looking 4K. With ProRes RAW I'd say 6K are more than enough to achieve the same while having an image that actually shows more low frequency texture as well.

[@Dennis94913]

@@DennisSchmitz interesting, does the spatial filtering low the detail in the shadow region?

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Some film snobs like Christopher Nolan (a genius, to be sure) will never shoot on digital no matter how good it is. That's a shame too because digital offers so many advantages over film, especially in post processing.

[@primitifsound]

dude is probably using ARRI camera on his zoom call, that explain the extreme tearing of the video lol

[@FrameVoyager]

😅😅😅

[@PurpleStormProductions]

The closest thing I can imagine to an """affordable""" IMAX type of camera is a Fujifilm GFX 100S. It's a $6000 medium format photography camera that can do 4K video and output 12-bit color. To come anywhere close to the resolution of actual IMAX film, you absolutely NEED a digital sensor that is the size of medium format still film and large format cinema film, and the GFX 100S comes close being slightly smaller than 645 still photography film, which is already much about 2.5X bigger than a 35mm full frame. I would absolutely kill to shoot video (and photos for that matter) on that camera and see the difference between 35mm and that medium format sensor.

[@stevenlang7709]

There is no need to use the word still with photography because it is assumed photography has no motion. Film editors grab stills from the moving image. And, film producers stupidly use the term 'still photographer' to not confuse them with the DP. They should say cinematographer and photographer if they are concerned with seperation. Rant over! 😂

[@PurpleStormProductions]

@@stevenlang7709 thank you “um actually” guy 🤓 I’m aware of the difference

[@JohnDlugosz]

I think the confusion is that one question is "What digital resolution would be required to capture the film grain of the IMAX film?" and that number is quite high to make out the grain details in a square pixel system. Another question is, "What digital resolution matches the sharpness and contrast of IMAX film?" and that number is rather modest. This value is where you can make out the same amount of detail in what was shot, but it doesn't _look_ the same. With an intermediate value, you can use software to convincingly fake the appearance of IMAX film. And according to the woman interviewed, with existing 8K cinema shot anamorphically, they could match the appearance and it would probably be sharp enough. At 12:47 we get the only scientific measurement answer in the whole video: Although it depends on the film base and lenses etc. a typical figure for Contrast MFT is 8K. I'm not sure if he said that this is in the short direction; what we normally call 8K video is 7680 in the _long_ direction. This means that an 8K cinema file _could_ have all the detail we wanted to capture, and a software process could emulate the film grain and other "look", but to save the result would require higher resolution. Now just because a 8K cinema file that you made via VFX with a solid black pixel next to a solid white pixel can exist, doesn't mean a camera sensor with that same resolution could capture such an image. The real scene could never align perfectly to the pixels, and you have diffraction of light. You would need to have this resolution but with an overall sensor size to match the IMAX negative. That is, the pixels are larger, so that the circles of confusion from the lens of one unit of detail can hit one pixel and not overlap several pixels. Doubling the linear resolution to 16K means that we don't have to worry about the test scene containing sharp fine black and white stripes lining up exactly with the image sensor pixels, either. So, that is consistent with what the woman said at the beginning: Given 16K cinema, their software can then emulate the look of IMAX film.

[@vlcheish]

It's not about digital resolution, it's simply about creating a camera that can use a digital sensor big enough to use the same medium format Hasselblad lens(with same FOV) that the current IMAX cameras use. That would require a massive CMOS sensor. They already exceeded this size with the new Big Sky camera which is 18k.

[@Spirit532]

The Achtel 9x7 claim is *complete bullshit* - he's using a CB654CG-GP-X8G3 machine vision camera from Ximea stuffed inside an orange frame, which has a 9344x7000 pixel sensor from GMAX, the GMAX3265, and is 29.9x22.4mm in size. The highest commercially available pure high resolution image sensor you can get(besides beyond-diffraction soapboxes from Samsung and niche science stuff) is the Canon 2511C002, which is 13272x9176, at a maximum frame rate of only 9.4 fps.

[@Spirit532]

@froggy The new(ish) ARRI Alexa 35 still takes the cake, yeah. On a tighter budget(10% lol), Blackmagic stuff outperforms most.

[@Spirit532]

@froggy Well, ARRI has fanboys, but their reputation isn't unsubstantiated. On a budget, BMPCC6K Pro, or URSA Mini 4.6 Pro G2. ARRI's release cycle is *slow* so it's fine to buy a 35. If you have a spare hundred grand laying around.

[@Spirit532]

@froggy No, all old panavision cameras are significantly inferior in image quality.

[@lukapogo]

Something i don't understand is - lenses that cover the 1570 film already exist. So why would they not work on a same sized sensor? Is it because light has to hit photosites straight on? Also, I feel the DoF claim is misleading. How can an APS-H sensor have a shallower DoF at an equivalent aperture? Sure, as I understand it the higher resolution makes the focal plane that's in focus shallower, but the overall look of how defocused things are won't change. Microcontrast can't change how large a bokeh ball is, or can it? Another question about the 9x7. As far as i read into it, it's based off of a 65mp sensor with an effective photosite count of 9.3k * 7k.(hence the name 9x7?) Where does the doubling to 18k * 14k come from? Thanks in advance to whoever can answer these :)

[@FrameVoyager]

The lenses do exist but they are made for film cameras. They had the same issue converting panavision lenses for the star wars II for the first digital Cinema cameras used. The backend elements of the lens would hit the sensor because with film cameras you had a lot more room going into the camera. So basically the elements won't fit correctly and even converters don't work well

[@memphismadetez]

Hard to make digital imax sensor because more megapixels means more pixels.. more pixels means more noise in between pixels.. they would have to make a a #gigapixel giant pixels that reduce aliasing blur between the pixels

[@Ubya_]

i don't get why lens dimensions are an issue, don't film imax cameras use the same huge lenses?

[@WanderlustWonderscape]

The time and effort that went into making this is much appreciated.

[@SP95]

Kudos to you for talking about quality loss when it comes to 15/70 films where it's almost guaranteed that something is about to go wrong and never hit the theorical specs 👍 I love the idea about that digital TRUE IMAX digital camera, it was a wonderful adventure to follow 😯It took me entire weeks to investigate what you found in your condensed video therefore I should have been lazier and randomly stumble on your video so I wouldn't have lost so much time 😅 Too bad that 9x7 camera which indeed looks like the chosen one is in 4:3 aspect ratio again because I am personally not fan of anamorphic lenses.

[@FrameVoyager]

Haha glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah, film not being exactly repeatable in quality for every frame makes it very speculative with how to treat it in a conversion to digital. Which makes it a great topic 😅

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

There is a bigger quality loss on digital medium, the bayer sensor. Where 2/3rds of the data is interpolated and this interpolation can never be removed. This is why film scans look so good, as they are produced with scanners that create true 3 channel files. For 8k for example, you need 3x33MP. Scanners can produce these files. But bayer cameras only produce 1x33MP and then interpolate the missing 66MP worth of data.

[@peterneddo1665]

I love the thought experiment of digital Imax. I take some issue with purpose built lenese. If the digital plane has the same dimensions as the film plane, you could use the same lenses already used in Imax. Furthermore lenses from medium format cameras could also be used.

[@FrameVoyager]

Thanks! And for the lenses, I guess I was just thinking more of the backend elements of older lenses might go in too far. Maybe that's not as much of an issue now but I know early digital cameras had issues with lenses being to large and would hit the sensors

[@krane15]

Well, yes. In fact, that was the case during the first transition from film to digital. But the digital format typically requires a higher quality "digital" lens to match that capability.

[@weatheranddarkness]

@@krane15 a what now?

[@sweepingdenver]

Agreed, the only sensible way to design such a camera would be to have the same backfocus as IMAX cameras so that the lenses could be shared.

[@ndc5544p]

but, doesn't IMAX already have the necessary lenses for this format? I mean, you said 15:55 that larger lenses were needed, but also you said before that each IMAX frame is in the 70mm format. What gives?

[@FrameVoyager]

Historically, there have been issues with how the lenses are constructed for film cameras vs digital. When they first started to film digitial for phantom menace, panavision lenses were used but the backend elements of the lens would bump into the digital sensor. So I'm assuming similar problem here