A 4K Future

Forget about 2K! 4K is going to be the new standard. It's been around in the professional film world for a while now in the form of RED cameras (most famously used by Peter Jackson to shoot The Hobbit) but now it's arriving in our homes in the form of 4K televisions, projectors, and now a new prosumer camcorder from Sony.

The Ultra HD 4K camera, the Sony FDR-AX1E, was announced today at IFA 2013. It represents a new era in video production because you no longer have to have a film budget to buy a super high resolution camera. It houses a 1/2.3 Exmor CMOS sensor which captures the 4K 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution. There are 2 XLR audio jacks, dual memory card slots for Sony's XQD cards allowing you to switch out cards while shooting, and my favourite, built in ND filters.

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I for one am extremely excited to see this hit the market next month. I'll be putting away the pennies to save up for this beautiful piece of technology. I can see this particular model going down in the history books, and it will undoubtedly be a massive asset to N8 Video and our clients.

What are your thoughts on this new breed of camera? Would you consider owning a 4K camera for shooting your home movies, or is it excessive? Leave a comment below!

Nate

***UPDATE

I've just spotted that Sony also announced the Z100. It has the same chip and body as the AX1 but boasts a much higher bitrate (500/600 Mbps compared to 150Mbps) and color sampling of 4:2:2 whereas the AX1 is only 4:2:0. It obviously sits at a higher price point. Can the extra cost be justified? Here's a link to the Engadget article.