Few people have heard of it, yet many consider John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 to be the first commercial personal computer.
An Affordable Super 16 Movie Camera
By James Grahame
Professional movie cameras are extremely expensive precision gadgets. It's not uncommon for them to cost more than a nice luxury car. Amateur and independent filmmakers often have to rent forty year-old Arriflex, Bolex or Eclair 16 mm cameras while making their breakout films on a shoestring budget. Shooting Super 16 (wide-screen) usually isn't an option.
Swedish newcomers Ikonoskop decided to tackle the problem head-on by producing the smallest, lightest, least expensive Super 16 camera possible. They did away with luxuries such as a through-the-lens reflex viewfinder and built-in video tap. The result was the diminutive A-Cam, priced at €4,950 ($6,250).
The A-Cam is designed to be hand held and accepts industry-standard 100 foot (30 m) daylight film spools. To keep costs down, it accepts common interchangeable c-mount lenses. This little camera isn't quiet enough to shoot synchronized sound, but thanks to built-in crystal timing it can easily be used to shoot music videos, commercials, and experimental films. The picture quality is well matched to the demands of HD television. Be sure to check out the DVD-quality sample footage.
Hopefully, camera rental houses will make these available to budding young filmmakers at decent prices. Just remember me when you're famous.
A-Cam Super 16 movie camera (Ikonoskop)
