Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:37 pm
3 chip cameras aren't bayered; they don't need to be, each chip is a color.
On single chip cameras with a bayered filter the recorded resolution is about 75% ish of the original resolution. There is some magic math which happens which can bump that lightly, but 3.2K approx real resolution is a good starting point to understand.
BUT
Who cares?
Whether it's really 4K or 3K or what have you, the point being is that it is still, when you think about the Modular Transfer Function of the whole imaging system (lens/sensor/codec/output/projection/screen/eye) it all becomes pretty moot if the images themselves look good. I don't hear people complaining, say, of S16mm not looking sharp enough when they're watching it (at least none of the S16mm I've shot), or the problems of the Star Wars Prequels being over 1080p in a theater (or Tron Legacy for that matter).
Numbers are nice to look at to roughly compare two systems, but mean nothing really if the images these systems make look "appropriate," for what you're after. I won't say good, because that indicated kind of a universal. What matters is if you and the clients/director are happy with what you're fliming.
And hell, even on the RedOne/EPICX I never shoot with a naked lens because actresses/makeup hate it and it complicated their jobs.
Adrian Sierkowski
Director of Photography
http://www.adriansierkowski.com
adrian@adriansierkowski.com