Continuing my quest for knowledge about the world of digital cinematography today, i hunted down Dalsa’s president, Rob Hummel. Rob’s a breath of fresh air in these discussions in the sense that he cheerfully concedes his own product(s) are not yet perfected, and that there are lots of valid opinions besides his own regarding the ongoing debates over 4k, form factor, sensor engineering, and so forth. At the same time, he’s breathing optimism right now about the coming year and Dalsa’s prospects for further infiltrating the feature film world at long last.

To sum it in a nutshell, Rob concedes he had to spend much of his first year and a half on the job reorganizing what was called Dalsa Digital Cinema. He says he simply folded the unit back into Dalsa Digital Imaging in order to eliminate scientific, political, and development barriers between the entertainment side of the company and the rest of Dalsa’s imaging business.

Second, he concedes what much of the industry has been saying ever since the original Dalsa Origin camera was announced a few years ago, which is that the Origin camera, although capable of superb 4k-style imagery that holds up to great scrutiny, is simply too large for most types of feature film applications. It will have a niche, he insists, and he is currently exploring opportunities for large-format production work. He also points to LeVar Burton’s upcoming movie, Reach For Me, which was shot with Origin. Hummel suggests viewing the images Burton will be putting on the screen to evaluate the potential of Dalsa’s philosophical approach and engineering. He also reminds the system is being used for visual effects work on the upcoming James Bond film.

And therefore, Hummel points with optimism to Dalsa’s Evolution project–the company’s attempt to build a streamlined camera capable of the same kind of imagery that is more practical for basic production applications. Due to the reorganization of his division, Hummel insists it is now possible for him to feel “very confident” about the company’s development schedule for Evolution at long last. He told me he expects to have 12 production-ready Evolution cameras ready by the third quarter of this year, and another 12 by the fourth quarter, meaning he expects to have the camera in the hands of eager cinematographers sooner, rather than later.

Hummel admits even he is tired of the ongoing industry debates over 4k, and what really is, or isn’t, 4k from a capture point of view. He chuckled that when experts watch material shot on film, they often want to know what stock was used, but they rarely are very interested in the chemical breakdown of the physical film negative. “All these technical discussions,” he sighed. “I think people should look at the images. That’s the best way to make up your mind. Seeing, as they say, is believing.”

–MG