Digital Bolex D16, An Unusual Camera
I first heard about Digital Bolex in the far 2012 when the Los Angeles CEO of Polite in Public, Joseph Rubinstein, successfully attempted a Kickstarter campaign to build his own side project, The Cinema D16 Camera.
After rising approx US$ 260k from their Kickstarter campaign and after working very hard for a year, Digital Bolex started selling this very peculiar camera in December 2013.
The Digital Cinema D16 is a very cool camera. It does have a peculiar retro look and it packs a Super 16mm sized sensor that allows 2K filming in RAW CinemaDNG format that capture 12 stop of dynamic range.
The Digital Cinema D16 camera is not a Japanese camera designed to satisfy a World of people. The D16 is an ergonomic and easy to use camera that allows you to focus on what you create. It comes with a interchangeable mount system that let you use C-mount, Arri PL primes, Canon EF or Panasonic M23 lenses. It is small and it records audio.
Because of the CinemaDNG storage format, the D16 is absolutely great in post allowing you to color your footage (remember the 12 stop of dynamic range?), change sharpness, color balance and contrast.
Unless you are filming a 1000fps sports event, the Digital Bolex D16 could very well be the perfect camera for your feature film. If you really want to know everything about this camera, you want to watch Philip Blum doing his 40min review of the D16.