A new cinema camera has been announced by cinematographer Pawel Achtel ACS. The ACHTEL 9×7 is a mini cinema camera that can shoot freaking ultra-huge resolution of uncompressed 18.K RAW (65 MP), armed with a global shutter APS-H sensor, and is dedicated for IMAX filmmaking. Read on.

ACHTEL 9×7: A pocket cinema camera for IMAX productions

Now, before I’m getting a call from IMAX, it needs to be emphasized that the ACHTEL 9×7 was not invented by IMAX. It can shoot for the huge canvas but it’s not related to the IMAX brand. After clarifying that, we can say that the ACHTEL 9×7 can replace IMAX cameras when you need a more compact form factor than the MSM beast to shoot in tight places. Or, it is used as a complementary B-cam in IMAX productions. This camera was developed to deliver to the huge canvas, as its inventor specializes in IMAX filmmaking.

The ACHTEL 9×7, designed specifically for IMAX and Giant Screen production, has almost twice the resolution of RED Monstro cameras and over twenty-six times their maximum data rate.

Pawel Achtel ACS

Pawel Achtel ACS: The inventor of the ACHTEL 9×7

Pawel Achtel ACS has been specialized in underwater cinematography for almost 30 years. For almost a decade Pawel’s focus has been on 3D cinematography for IMAX and Giant Screen cinema. Pawel is a member of the Technical Committee at Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) and the Australian Cinematographers Society Technical Committee. Pawel has been working on the ACHTEL 9×7 for the last couple of years and today he officially announced it. The goal: To allow filmmakers the privilege of shooting extreme-ultra high resolution for sharp images that can be screened in an IMAX theater, within an insane compact form factor. In short: To invent a mini, pocket-sized IMAX camera. As tested by Pawel: “The ACHTEL 9×7, designed specifically for IMAX and Giant Screen production, has almost twice the resolution of RED Monstro cameras and over twenty-six times their maximum data rate”.

Check out the Vimeo below for a glimpse of this new motion picture camera:

Resolution of 18.6K (260 Megapixels)

The ACHTEL 9×7 offers unprecedented image quality, high frame rates, high dynamic range, and resolutions up to 18,688 x 14,000 pixels (260 Megapixels), and thus sets a new benchmark for the motion picture cameras. 9×7 Digital Cinema Camera is designed specifically for VFX, VR, Giant Screen, and IMAX Cinema productions. It features a native 4:3 aspect ratio, 65 Megapixel resolution sensor, and records uncompressed RAW footage up to 10GB/s – approximately 30 times more than other high-end digital cinema cameras. 

The ACHTEL 9×7 offers unprecedented image quality, high frame rates, high dynamic range, and resolutions up to 18,688 x 14,000 pixels (260 Megapixels).

APS-H sized sensor with global shutter

The 9×7 Camera features a back-side illuminated (BSI), APS-H sized sensor with a global shutter, and capable of high frame rates (HFR) up to 70 fps at full resolution. This latest, Back-Side Illuminated sensor design features true Global Shutter readout, Wide Colour Gamut, high color accuracy, low noise, light sensitivity, and high frame-rates. According to the specs, the sensor delivers 14 stops of DR.

Uncompressed RAW 65 Megapixel (30 GBytes/s)

By keeping every pixel at maximum, RAW quality all the way from its state-of-the-art BSI sensor to the camera uncompressed RAW recorder, the quality of the images is unmatched by any other camera. All processing that usually is done on the camera is left to post-process during conversion to DNG file format that can be directly used in most NLE systems. The data throughput is quite an achievement: currently, there is no interface that can carry this amount of data at nearly zero latency. The recording bandwidth is about twice as much as Thunderbolt 3 at full capacity. The processing bandwidth is even higher and exceeds 30 GBytes/s, all of which to preserve an incredible image fidelity that 9×7 has been designed for. According to the Pawel, a great deal of attention has been committed to color accuracy and wide color gamut. 9×7 also offers sophisticated features, such as custom and user-defined camera color profiles and color science, giving the cinematographer full control over color fidelity, accuracy, or artistic expression. For the first time, the cinematographer can change the way the camera sees the colors giving the ultimate control of the final look. Patel claims that the color fidelity is among the top 5 best large format cinema cameras on the market. You can examine some footage samples from this link.

A great deal of attention has been committed to color accuracy and wide color gamut.

Pawel Achtel ACS

Heat management apparatus: 5 fans!

The camera runs very coolly in standby mode but, because of its high performance and data rates, requires extreme cooling during operation, especially when shooting at maximum frame and data rates. It features a (removable) cooler module that bolts under the brain. The cooler is only about 13mm thin and features two fans cooling the solid-state storage. This is in addition to twin fans actively cooling the main processing unit and another big fan on the back of the camera head: 5 fans in total.

Unlimited Lens Mount Options and form factor

9×7 Digital Cinema Camera features an exchangeable, large-aperture lens mount system. Available lens mounts include LPL, PL, Nikon F, Canon EF, Leica M as well as underwater Nikonos and Nikonos RS. According to Pawel: “Finding lenses sharp enough for the ACHTEL 9×7 is one of our biggest problems at the moment…We’re constantly testing all the best lenses on the market today and are finding that only a few, select lenses maintain the maximum quality attainable with this camera.”

Advanced Features

The 9×7 camera features on-screen tools, such as 1:1 magnification with a customizable region of interest, IMAX and Giant Screen framing overlays, RAW histogram as well as numerous enhancements, such as template-based file format allowing flexible naming conventions including nearly all camera settings. Nearly everything can be adjusted and configured using a configuration file (JSON format), including the inner-workings of the camera making it easy to fine-tune the performance without the need to upgrade the firmware.

Explore the full spec list below (click on the image for a full resolution view): 

Price

The cost of the camera is around $143,000 USD. It’s supposed to be utilized as a motion picture cinema camera that can replace IMAX. FYI, IMAX renting is about $15,000 per week, and the film costs around $1,500 for 3 minutes of shooting. However, IMAX has its own strengths like a huge sensor that grants shallow depth of field, more organic imagery, and unique quality. Nevertheless, the form-factor of the 9×7 can’t be bitten.

Final insights

The  ACHTEL 9×7 Digital Cinema Camera constitutes as a major breakthrough and disruption in the filmmaking industry. However, there is an elephant in the room, which is an enormous data rate. There is no NLE that is capable of handling efficiency the data…yet, which makes this camera an overkill for post. But, it will be solved. We’ll keep you posted regarding this fascinating camera so stay tuned.