Type Digital cinema camera Image sensor type Digital Image sensor maker CMOSIS | Sensor CMV12000 Image sensor size "APS-like" Maximum resolution 4096×3072 pixel | |
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AXIOM is an open hardware and free software digital cinema camera family of devices being developed by a DIY community around the apertus° project.
Contents
History
In 2006, people on the DVInfo.net forums started experimenting with adapting Elphel open hardware camera devices for film production in a forum thread entitled "High Definition with Elphel model 333 camera". The thread grew fast as people joined the effort and provided their own customizations. By early 2009, over 1000 posts had been submitted to this thread. The community realized that it was going to be impossible to maintain overview in this way and started setting up a dedicated website for the project. In 2012, the plan to create the AXIOM camera hardware from scratch - overcoming the limitations of the Elphel hardware - was announced at the Libre Software Meeting in Geneva.
AXIOM Alpha
AXIOM Alpha is a digital cinema camera proof of concept prototype. Only two units were built in 2013 and the second revision model was presented at the Metalab (Vienna based Hackerspace) in spring 2014. The main components include a Zedboard using a Xilinx Zynq-7020 System on a chip (SoC) and a 4K Super35mm image sensor designed by the Belgian company CMOSIS.
Technical specifications
The CMOSIS CMV12000 Super35/APS-C video image sensor has a resolution of 4096×3072 pixel, a color depth of 12bits/pixel and is able to capture at a maximal frame rate of 300 frames/sec in 10 bit mode. It is connected to the ZedBoard over FMC. The Xilinx Zynq Z-7020 combines a Cortex-A9 dual-core with a FPGA. The ZedBoard contains the Zynq Z-7020 and all the necessary interfaces.
The image data comes rolling out of 64 serial LVDS channels at a maximum rate of 300Mbits/sec per channel.
Software
The operating system is Linux kernel-based and composed entirely of free and open-source software[source?].
AXIOM Beta
Successor of the AXIOM Alpha and the first 4K open hardware camera, which' development was financed through an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, that exceeded its funding goal.
AXIOM Beta is initially intended for software and hardware developers and once it matured will also target general users. It utilized the same 4K super 35 image sensor as the AXIOM Alpha. The lens mount is a passive e-mount with Canon EF or Nikon F mount adapter. The first prototype of the AXIOM Beta was presented at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas.