Meet the Digital Bolex 16!

[Dennis Hingsberg]

I just think its almost trendy enough that it could catch on by consumers, or even prosumers, not everyone wants raw or even knows what it is.

Boy do I miss that black textured plastic and really wish they had gone with that look.

[Gary Nattrass]

You just watch it will take sony and canon six months to get some retro looking video camera's on the market, they will work, be around £500 and sell like hot cakes!

Loads of my photog friends are loving the fuji finepix retro stills cameras and leaving their heavy DSLR's at home, they also love the fixed lens idea as it makes them think about framing more!

[Brian Drysdale]

I'm not sure about the location of those connectors, they'll be sticking out in front of most operator's faces.

[Gary Nattrass]

That lens just makes it look rather silly and out of proportion!

[Murray Christian]

There's an interesting quote on the blog post

"I have heard some people say “just give me a brick with a sensor in it”. And I understand that mentality, but as someone working every day to bring a product into this world, I’ll tell you, it’s not just about making a pretty object. It’s about the pride in your work, it’s about imagining someone caring for this object for years to come."

It's an attitude I like, in general. It's funny to think, though, that I know plenty who want the brick with the sensor too (BM already made one it seems), because if the picture is nice you'll make it work. But around here you'd get a pile of complaints about the ergonomics, it's lack of resemblance to some 20yr old shoulder mount camera that was just great back in the day or some such. Which is all jobbing pro considerations and entirely reasonable.
They're kind of straddling two worlds with this one, I suppose, and unlikely to make anyone entirely happy.
I'm all for things looking cool at the same time though.

[Gary Nattrass]

But sadly I bet it does nothing to make any content it shoots any better! ;0)

[Gints Klimanis]

Music, photography and cinema are often inspired by the technology used to produce them. Would 80s music exist as a genre without the exciting snappy sounds of synthesizers and drum machines ? Much of that vintage gear is treasured and holds its value on the used musical instrument market. At least, that's the case for the instruments that were based on analog circuits. Even a broken TR808 drum machine for parts is selling for $1000 while a functional box fetches upwards of $2500.

A limiting factor with past 16mm and 8mm film cameras was the cost of the film. Would all of the "snap movies" of the 1970s and 1980s before video be better if there was more footage and some sort of audio to accompany the film?

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

Music, photography and cinema are often inspired by the technology used to produce them. Would 80s music exist as a genre without the exciting snappy sounds of synthesizers and drum machines ?

Yep, I thoroughly agree -- and this actually goes as far back as when J.S. Bach helped develop the very first "synthesizer" -- the church pipe organ. With its stops, immense power and range, this breakthrough contraption simulated not just other instruments (flutes, etc.) but it also scared the poop out of the congregation (it was truly "God's music"). No doubt this amazing instrument inspired Bach to write all those kick-ass pieces. With that in mind, it's also easy to agree with a statement by another revolutionary composer, Iannis Xenakis, that, "music, by its very abstract nature is the first of the arts to have attempted the conciliation of artistic creation with scientific thought."

-- peer

[Brian Drysdale]

They also getting into the glassware for the camera, with some lenses and a turret:

The first set of Digital Bolex Lenses | digitalbolex.com

[Keith Rollinson]

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

Yep, I thoroughly agree -- and this actually goes as far back as when J.S. Bach helped develop the very first "synthesizer" -- the church pipe organ. With its stops, immense power and range, this breakthrough contraption simulated not just other instruments (flutes, etc.) but it also scared the poop out of the congregation (it was truly "God's music"). No doubt this amazing instrument inspired Bach to write all those kick-ass pieces. With that in mind, it's also easy to agree with a statement by another revolutionary composer, Iannis Xenakis, that, "music, by its very abstract nature is the first of the arts to have attempted the conciliation of artistic creation with scientific thought."

-- peer

Huh? The pipe organ existed for well over 100 years throughout Europe prior to J. S. Bach's birth.

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Keith Rollinson

Huh? The pipe organ existed for well over 100 years throughout Europe prior to J. S. Bach's birth.

Correct, but the pipe organ that J.S. Bach helped develop (with "non-binary" stops, etc.) was a huge leap forward from the original pipe organ -- something that also his music reflects: "We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us."

-- peer

[John Vincent]

Love the turret idea. True, ND filters and follow focus pretty well impossible (well, at least pain in the butt), but with a sensor that small, it's all going to be in focus any way.

Hope they pull it off.

And I agree totally with the notion that the gear affects the artist. I started in film - I literally used a hundred and twenty pound blimp to try and keep an Arri 16 quiet. Plenty of shots simply impossible with that gear on a tight budget. Now, with something that weighs a pound, I can shoot far better looking footage then any 16mm film camera was capable of in a quarter of the light. Of course that affects my shot selection and how I light it.

3D, then holograms the next "Bachian" leap forward in cinema. Hopefully I'm around to have my mind blown by those cameras too.

[Glen Vandermolen]

D16 with an M43 mount!

[Glen Vandermolen]

The D16 on rails:

[Brian Drysdale]

Here a video giving the background to this camera.

Digital Bolex: Behind the Scenes at Ienso on Vimeo