LAS VEGAS – While Sony is still very high on 3DTV (it so far has been the only manufacturer to heavily feature 3D so far here), 4K, or ultra high-definition video (four times the resolution of HD) looks to have a more immediate future.
Playing a few minutes of M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming feature film After Earth, which is being shot entirely with Sony’s F65 4K camera (released earlier this year, a $60,000 product), one can see how drawn many video makers and consumers will be to 4K. Shyamalan was quoted saying he would never have thought he’d move away from film, given he likes to shoot his movies so dark and that only film gave him the depth he loved – until he used Sony’s new camera.
What looked even cooler was Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo’s 4K production of February’s Rio Carnival using the F65. It was some of the clearest, highest resolution video these eyes had ever seen – and, no one needed any glasses…
However, the company will also launch a next-generation camcorder, the NEX FS700, which shoots 960 frames per second and is destined for sports and reality TV show sets. That camera, far cheaper than the F65, won’t be out until 2013.
– Greg O’Brien
