IBC 2011: IKONOSKOP – the 16mm digital cinema camera – 7700€

by Sebastian WöberSeptember 22^nd, 2011

I’ve been looking forward to posting this interview with Peter Gustafsson from a Swedish company called ikonoskop, the developers of what I would call THE 16mm digital cinema camera.

I wonder why these guys haven’t received more press yet as this camera is extremely interesting in the realms of affordable cinema filmmaking. Maybe it’s because the 16mm format / style is something mostly popular in Europe and we Europeans tend to be very slow when it comes to picking up new stuff.

The Ikonoskop DII records uncompressed RAW 12bit with up to 30fps.
It saves the files onto a 80gb (15 minutes) or 160gb (30 minutes) flash drive.
There are numerous lens mounting options including Canon EF, FD, C-mount, PL mount, Leica, f-mount, bnc….

One of the great things about this camera besides its quality is that you can use your Canon mount lenses. On top of that there are many many great 16mm film lenses being sold on

as 16mm film is meeting its doom. Here, for example, is a very high speed

for 800€. There are

c-mount f1.4 cctv lenses starting at $10, but I guess they suck (?). The reason for the diversity of mounting options is that it optionally comes pre-equipped with a P+S IMS mount.

A portion of the interview video above was shot on the Ikonoskop DII itself starting at 2:44. The Ikonoskop guys converted the image to ProRes and did a basic color correction (light amplification), as it was very dark everywhere at IBC. You can find high quality screenshots directly from the footage on the left hand side of this article.

A downside to this camera might be the RAW format it records to. Albeit offering uncompressed quality these high data rates can considerably slow down your workflow. A lot of time might go into relocating and transcoding the data to reuse the expensive flash drives.
A solution is offered in the form of an SDI output that enables you to record to a device like the new Atomos Samurai disk recorded we reported about last week, that saves directly as ProRes HQ. If you choose this option however you will lose the outstanding lightweightness of the Ikonoskop DII (1.6kg or 3.5 pounds)!

The camera body itself costs 7700€ and a flashdrive is 590€
It’s available now. Order via the Ikonoskop website.

Below are two short films that have been shot on the Ikonoskop DII camera:

B&H has provided these exclusive phone numbers for you if you have questions or require assistance:
US: +1 877 502 5839 and INTERNATIONAL: +1 212 465 0114