Recently, Apetus announced the start to their crowdfunding campaign for the Axiom Beta camera, which might be one of the most affordable 4K cameras yet.
At the rate of speed new cameras were hitting the market, I was worried, as a backer, that the Apertus Axiom Beta camera might be too little too late. Thankfully, I was wrong and the group of volunteers behind Apertus have put out one of the more interesting cameras to date. The only camera that resembles the Axiom Beta's potential is the URSA.
PRICE
On their Indiegogo site you can buy the camera, except the sensor, for $390 to $450. This is their cost to assemble the camera. Then, as the campaign ends, Apetus will buy all the sensors in bulk and sell them to backers at cost. The sensor is the biggest cost in the equation. Once the campaign has ended the total cost of the camera will land more around $3500 for the Super 35mm sensor and $2900 for the Micro 4/3 sensor.
AXIOM Beta's planned features include :
HDMI Full HD (4:4:4) output at up to 60 FPS
4K raw output via experimental HDMI formats
Capture full resolution, full bitdepth raw still images to MicroSD card
Remote control of all camera functions from smartphone, tablet, laptop
Power management and monitoring (e.g. voltage, current, temperature)
Highly customizable via modular I/O addons (e.g. SDI)
Accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope e.g. for image stabilization
Different lens mount options (e.g. Nikon F-mount, EF and M4/3)
Wide input voltage range (5-40V)
Very lightweight and compact ~110x60x50mm
Embedded Linux (e.g. Raspian, ArchLinux)
LUTs, matrix color conversion, FPN compensation, false color display, overlays, dead pixel compensation
Using Microzed board (instead of Zedboard used in AXIOM Alpha)
UPGRADE PATH
Much like Blackmagic Design's URSA, the Apertus team wants their cameras to be upgradeable. More sensors, more framerates, and a lot of lens mount options.
CHANGE HOW WE VIEW CAMERAS
Apertus might just start a revolution for camera owners/operators. As the Axiom Beta takes the open source ideology and runs with it I think, more hope, we will see a shift in camera manufacturer's ideas about selling propriety cameras that require a brand new purchase every two years. What we want is a camera we can upgrade and make our own.
For more information on what I think is the better sensor option, Cmosis CMV12000, here is their video describing the features found in the sensor.
