Cameras used to shoot Atlantis and SG1?

[roxics]

I'm having a bit of trouble finding this information. I would like to know which HD cameras were used to shoot Atlantis and seasons 8-10 of SG1. Also lenses if you happen to know that.

I know seasons 1-3 were shot on 16mm film (with FX shots done on 35mm) and seasons 4-7 on 35mm film.

I would love if SG1 could be scanned to 4k and transferrred to blu-ray and the new 4K blu-ray which is coming. But I seriously doubt that will happen. 16mm will make a good transfer to HD but supposedly won't hold up as well for a 4K scan. Plus with the last three seasons shot in HD those don't have any more resolution to be pulled out of them. Best you'll get is HD. Even if they are upscaled to 4K there is no gain doing so.

Obviously the biggest problem is that the CGI would all need to be redone and that is where the highest cost would come from. So we would be lucky to even get 2k (HD) releases of seasons 1-7. But at this point if they're going to put the time/money/resources into it, it would be great to have a 4K scan for seasons 4-7. I just don't think it would make much sense though, considering the shooting formats of the first three and last three seasons.

[Gen. Chris]

4K isn't a big enough market right now (at least in my opinion) to warrant such an effort. Blu-ray on the other hand...People are clamoring for one.

[knowles2]

That be the kind of question ask Joe Mallozi on his blog.

[JosephGracey]

Yeah does anyone actually know anybody that has a 4k screen i mean come on you want a 4k scan for a tv show that you will end up just watching on a 40" HD display

[roxics]

I'm not saying I need a 4K version. I'm just saying that at this point in time it would be wiser to do a 4K scan. Think of the time and money involved to rescan all that film. Why not scan it at one of the higest qualities you can when you do it? Plus 4K footage downsampled to 1080p looks better. Why do you think Sony is doing 4K scans for release on blu-ray?

Then they always have the option of later on releasing a 4K version if they want to.

[roxics]

Plus I think you guys are just thinking about what you want right now. What happens in 10 years when 4K TV's are $500 or we have wallpaper displays that are 8K? Whatever scan they do next will probably be the last scan they do for SG1. The show is getting dated. That is if they even do another scan which I seriously am doubting.

[knowles2]

Yeah does anyone actually know anybody that has a 4k screen i mean come on you want a 4k scan for a tv show that you will end up just watching on a 40" HD display

They been coming down quicker than HD TV did,you can pick one up for around £3,000, just 2 years ago you were looking at 20,000 ground. It likely they will in the sub 1000 in the 2 to 3 years, if not sooner.

4K is happening fast, 8K and 16K will happen a lot faster than people think, we will probably have 16K by the end of the decade, not that anyone with a normal size living will actually benefit from having 16K screens but that will not stop televisions companies from selling them and it will not stop consumers from buying them.

I expect the first phones and laptops will start shipping with 4K screens sometime in 2014, 2015 at the very latest.

But why we will have all these new fancy screens around us, content will take a some time to catch up, especially live broadcasts. Cameras able to film 4K are still rare. 8k and 16k cameras are still in prototype stage. In fact I think I heard that portion of London olympics were film in 16K and they had bought in every 16k camera in existence to film it.

An we are only getting 4K screens this fast and this cheap because two new technologies that companies were would shift higher end TVs Smart TVs and 3D Television both failed to take off.

[roxics]

NHK in Japan filmed part of the 2012 London Olympics in 8K.

Amazon is already selling a 39" 4K TV for $500
http://www.amazon.com/Seiki-Digital-...pr_product_top

So yes they are already here at a low enough price. Why we need anything beyond 4K (or even 4K displays at home) is debatable. But a 4K scan of seasons 4-7 is still a smart move.

[Gen. Chris]

Eh. I've only just within the last year started switching to blu-ray and HD tvs...If I have to start upgrading again in the next few years I'm gonna be pissed...Lol.

Though I did see lately that Samsung(?) is selling a 110 inch TV...Only a tad bit ridiculous.

[meo3000]

The problem were facing is not resolution, its content distribution.

How in the hell are we suppose to afford FTTH connection, illimited, when we can barely afford 20-30 Mbps cable with less than 500gb of bandwidth per month? Then theres the medium for those who want hard copies, standard blurays aren't enough. We need something that will be large enough for 8k too, and fingers crossed, backward compatible with future 16k players eventually.

Maybe if MGM could get their act together, we could get a special 20th anniversary remastered edition of SG1 in 2017. They've been making good money in the last few years, im sure they could afford it. Lets also hope they haven't shelved Stargate and have plans to revive the franchise soon. Can you imagine a brand new 4k kawoosh...

[knowles2]

The problem were facing is not resolution, its content distribution.

How in the hell are we suppose to afford FTTH connection, illimited, when we can barely afford 20-30 Mbps cable with less than 500gb of bandwidth per month? Then theres the medium for those who want hard copies, standard blurays aren't enough. We need something that will be large enough for 8k too, and fingers crossed, backward compatible with future 16k players eventually.

Maybe if MGM could get their act together, we could get a special 20th anniversary remastered edition of SG1 in 2017. They've been making good money in the last few years, im sure they could afford it. Lets also hope they haven't shelved Stargate and have plans to revive the franchise soon. Can you imagine a brand new 4k kawoosh...

That America problem through, in the UK I have fiber to the home, at 30mb, at £22.50 a month, they are upping the prices and speed over the next year, £25 quid and upping the speed by 20mb. And that unlimited download to.

[roxics]

Alright, after a lot more digging I've turned up that the cameras used on Stargate Atlantis were the Sony F900 and the last couple of years they switched to the Panasonic HDX900s using FireStore FS-100s. They also used some Panasonic HVX200 cameras as C-cameras during that period.
[Source 1][Source 2]

Quote from source 1 - Producer John G. Lenic

Firstly, from a logistical stand point, we used to shoot SG-1 on 16mm film, then in season 3 I think, we went to 35mm film and then in season 8 we went to the Sony F900 HD cameras and then on the last couple years of Atlantis, we went to the Panasonic HD cameras and now on SGU, we are using the Genesis HD system. You must realize that there are so many idiosyncrasies with working with each camera system. We had to adapt to each one both on set and in postproduction. All of the above had some pitfalls. The best one to work with thus far is the Genesis system. Although expensive to rent, the picture looks fantastic, as close to a film look as you are going to get in the digital domain. Film still is from a look perspective and in my opinion, the best looking format to shoot on. We extensively tested 9 different camera systems over a two-day period prior to settling on the Genesis system for SGU. The only reason that we didn’t go film is financial. Film still is roughly $18,000 more per episode then digital as you have all the developing and transferring of the film to do after it is shot.

[knowles2]

The genesis system only record below 2/3 2k, so I don't see any point in them producing a 4K version, which would only really have CGI done in 4K. I rather they spend the money on producing a new show or at least investing SG video games and novels.

[roxics]

Plus I think you guys are just thinking about what you want right now. What happens in 10 years when 4K TV's are $500 or we have wallpaper displays that are 8K? Whatever scan they do next will probably be the last scan they do for SG1. The show is getting dated. That is if they even do another scan which I seriously am doubting.

It's now 2020 and I'm watching Atlantis again. I decide to search google for the cameras used to shoot the show. I come across this thread. I'm reading it and agreeing with the guy who says the above quote, without even looking at the name. Then I log in to reply and suddenly notice the person that started this thread and that I'm quoting... is me. lol I'm getting old.

I'm just going to pull a McKay and say I was right. Except it wasn't even 10 years for 4K. I've got a 55" 4K TV sitting in my family room right now that I bought in August of 2018 for $600. I've had a 4K Blu-ray player for just as long. Four and a half years after this thread. Crazy how fast things move.

But unfortunately we still don't even have an HD release of SG1, let alone a 4K scan of the negatives.
What I didn't suspect at the time was HDR. But even then I don't think any of these would get a 4K HDR release. I still think it's best to scan them at 4K or above, but I think at best we're still looking at a Blu-ray release. But even that is unlikely to happen it seems. Otherwise I think it already would have been done by now. But you never know. That is a lot of footage to scan and remaster though.

[Falcon Horus]

What I didn't suspect at the time was HDR. But even then I don't think any of these would get a 4K HDR release. I still think it's best to scan them at 4K or above, but I think at best we're still looking at a Blu-ray release. But even that is unlikely to happen it seems. Otherwise I think it already would have been done by now. But you never know. That is a lot of footage to scan and remaster though.

It was brought up by Xaeden (I think) in another thread, making the comparison with CBS remastering some of their Treks and the cost is enormous. Considering MGM doesn't seem to be in a habit to spend money on anything Stargate related these days, I'd say the chances of a remaster are zero to none.