My dream has come true: a GoPro with interchangeable mounts.
Thanks to Radiant Images and View Factor Studios, this now exists!
I was talking to the Drone Dudes at Maker Faire and saw this camera amongst all their other awesome gear. It is a sweet little piece of kit.
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The groundbreaking Novo digital cinema camera, available exclusively at Radiant Images, is the ideal solution for cinematographers who are enamored by the capabilities of the GoPro Hero3 but held back by the Hero3’s cinematic limitations.
The Novo, developed and engineered by View Factor Studio in collaboration with Radiant Images, is a completely re-engineered GoPro Hero3 making it a much smaller and more robust cinema camera with the flexibility to allow more creative choices.
Key new enhancements include a C-mount lens system with adjustable back-focus which allows for extreme macro shooting. As well as exposure control capabilities that open up a wide-range of artistic possibilities for cinematographers and camera operators. An internal CPU interfaced to the camera permits users to disable the auto exposure feature and then adjust the aperture manually via the lens. This feature gives a cinematographer the control to set a desired exposure and stops.
The lightweight aluminum housing itself is 20% thinner than the GoPro Hero3 and includes three 1/4-20 and two 10-32 mounting points. Also, four buttons on the front (REC, PWR, WiFi & AUX) are assignable to several functions depending on the application. The Aux button turns the auto exposure on/off, but in the near future will also be utilized for other functions, such as digital zoom, a tool to check critical focus.
The Novo offers more robust features while retaining all of the key functionality and accessories of the GoPro Hero3, such as the LCD touch screen, power backpack and WiFi connectivity for wireless camera control.
The Novo addresses the needs of cinematographers without compromising the power and versatility of the most advanced GoPro ever.
Like the GoPro Hero3: Black Edition, the Novo is capable of capturing cinema-quality video at 2x the resolution frame rate of previous models while delivering twice the performance in low light. – 1440p 48fps, 1080p 60 fps and 720p 120 fps video and 12MP photos at a rate of 30 photos per second, plus the ultra-high resolution 2.7KP-30 fps and 4KP-15 fps video modes.
Radiant Images offers rental packages that include the Novo, custom geared C-Mount lenses and all the required accessories.
Comments
I like where you guys are going with this. I also really dislike the GoPro shape. I really don't understand why they did it this way. The only thing it's good for is a chest rig. Sucks for everything else.
Just about every other action camera has a better shape. I have a ContourHD which is pretty good. I actually started on a brushless gimbal for it yesterday. It's insanely easy. I'd love to see yours John, just to compare.
Exactly. I think the C mount is a good choice for the base camera body and there are plenty of adapters from C to "X" mount.
Actually there seem to be lots of very high quality C-mount small lens's for machine vision that look like they would work quite acceptably.
Admittedly the Schneider Cinegon the Novo is using is a tad pricey at something like $1500.00 but I am sure it is a very nice lens.
Lots of others in the $150.00 to $500.00 price range with great depths of field and really good orthogonality.
Might be possible to have adapters for the small metric mounts too though.
According to iFixit the GoPro Hero 3 uses a Sony IMX117 sensor so at least it is not a specialty item such as a RED sensor.
Regarding the gimbal, I will post a page about my home made gimbal for my ContourHD and you will see it is indeed very compact.
Good thoughts John,
C mount lens probably a good format, probably could even find some off the shelf ones that could work.
Sort of sets a minimum diameter for the camera body at possibly 1.2" or so.
Possibly the battery could simply be an add on cylinder that plugged into the back of the camera cylinder.
And you could have alternate battery packs with varying capacities.
The 4 K sensor makes the 3 stage 1080P no loss digital zoom feasible and allows up to 4K video so why not.
Actually 3 zoom levels digitally selected are a lot easier to deal with than continuous zoom especially in a remote application.
Also nice would be an ability to have simultaneous real time broadcast grade normal 480I (NTSC) for realtime FPV or live no delay preview (especially if it could be scaled to current "zoom" level.)
Joshua mentioned a gimbal as well.
Probably a really good second or add on product, because you could make a really slick and compact one for a camera with this form factor.
Personally I'd like to see high IR sensitivity and a capability for built in binning, but either or both of those may not be practical and are for a whole different set of applications anyway.
Definitely worth thinking about, my guess is the basic 4K sensor and camera circuitry are the hard part.
You know a Kickstarter project is a great idea. Maybe we should start a thread with a RFC on the design.
- Cylindrical is a must.
- Interchangeable lenses is a must.
- Selectable zoom is a terrific idea...maybe via a receiver (servo) channel on three position switch?
- External battery sounds good, but internal has potential for other markets. Let's say external power connector?
- 1080p at 60 FPS is a good minimum capability. A 4K sensor like the GoPro Black seems doable.
- Maybe standardize on a "C" mount lens?
What are we mice or DIY'rs,
This is a GoPro Hero3 Black with an interchangeable lens mount.
It's not rocket science, come on get out there and void those warranties.
BTW John I agree that the form factor isn't ideal for us.
We really need a dedicated no internal battery, internal SD card cylindrical, interchangeable (maybe even selectable zoom) camera. I'd settle for 1080P at 60hz but higher would be nice too. And lets not forget decent low light performance. (And of course that is just video.
One of the things I like about the GoPro Black is its ability to take full resolution 1080P pictures at 3 zoom levels simply by cropping its internal sensor.
So maybe no loss 3 level digital zoom and interchangeable fixed lens's could work pretty well.
Conventional photos require a rethink of course.
Thinking about it a little more I am not really a fan of the GoPro design format. It is still a box and is always a kluge to install in most airframes and not aerodynamic at all. I think the ReplayXD cylindrical design has a lot more potential, especially in aerial videography. Now if ReplayXD made a camera with 4K and interchangeable lenses like the Novo...that would be a winner. Imagine a pure cylindrical camera and the mounting possibilities for aerial photography. All lenses are cylindrical so why not the camera itself?
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