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Thank you China: KineRAW S35 cinema camera for $7000-$8000

September 1^st, 2011

by Sebastian WöberSeptember 1^st, 2011

(unfortunately video is locked to Dan’s website, you’ll have to visit vimeo to see it)

It’s about time someone came out with a truly affordable piece of cinema camera that would follow up on what the DSLR’s kicked loose.

DSLR News Shooter Dan Chung visited the BIRTV 2011 convention and found this creation that will hopefully awaken some people in the west.

Here’s what Dan wrote:
(…) It offers what the manufacturer calls Dual RAW as it can record in 12 bit to either DNG, for CinemaDNG based workflows, or GoPro-Cineform RAW on removable SSD drives. The lens mount can be PL, Oct19, Nikon or Canon EOS (although possibly not with any electronic control of the lens). Support for 3D LUT look files is also promised.

Audio is handled with a pair of XLR inputs at 24-bit depth. For monitoring there is a pair of SDI ports and a single HDMI port. The camera setup and controls are accessed through a side panel with simple push buttons. A lot will depend on the sensor and the manufacturer was understandably secretive about who actually makes it, but said that its base sensitivity is 400ASA. I also was told that the final production body will be smaller.

It is designed and made by a small Beijing-based company and they already have a working prototype. Trials are apparently underway and I am hoping to see actual footage soon. Before then I can’t speak of the quality and it is still essentially vapourware.

The company itself comes from a background of making cameras for astronomy so they are not novices at camera engineering. They told me that they hope to ship a product in about six months, but whether they can actually do this is anyone’s guess.

Here’s the spec sheet from Dan’s website: