Another “Digital 35″ Camcorder Enters the Field

Once upon a time, “digital 35mm” was at best an expensive pipe dream and at worst an oxymoron. That may seem ridiculous to contemplate now, given how far both sensor and compression technology have come in the past few years and how economies of scale have sent that technology hurtling toward the mass market. Based on the entire RED product line, the advent of HDSLR and the successful recent launches of Sony’s “Super35″ sensors and other more affordable cine-style camcorder technology, shooters now expect to produce film-like images with pixel counts in the millions, work tapelessly in a file-based pipeline and do it all without taking out a second mortgage. The latest to play off the “digital 35″ buzz is the soon-to-be released PS-Cam X35 from P+S Technik. Billed primarily as a “reliable all-purpose camera” it features, if we assume correctly from its name, resolutions similar to 35mm and all the advantages we’ve come to expect from smaller-scale digital cameras. The first image of the camera, released this morning (above), certainly shows its modular similarity to Sony’s F3, ARRI’s Alexa and Alexa M, and the evolving RED army of cameras. But that’s all we know about the camera, unfortunately. P+S Technik will only say that the design resulted from “years of research and development.” The German company, however, has created a slick-looking launch site, though you won’t find any more details there beyond some nice images and a live clock that counts down to the camera’s official unveiling at Cine Gear Expo on June 2 in L.A. I couldn’t find much else in the Twittersphere, either, except for one wise poster who points out how P+S Technik, with its mysterious build-up to the launch, has taken a page straight out of the RED play book. I do like the launch site’s photo-illustrations, even if, with no video attached, they are a bit of a tease. They remind me of what we did on past covers and spreads of Studio/monthly during its print run from 2005 – 2009.