Camera Systems and Sensors
How digital cinema cameras work, from photosite to file: sensors and noise, color filter arrays and aliasing, sensor formats and equivalence, resolution and MTF, frame rates, shutter and flicker, ISO and dual gain, in-camera processing and log, recording formats and media, mounts, monitoring, timecode and power, and building and testing a camera package.
CINE-201 Year 2 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 6 min
Offered by HSM University · Cinematography
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Describe the signal chain and systems of a digital cinema camera and the main categories of production cameras
- Explain how image sensors convert light to data, including quantum efficiency, full-well capacity, noise and readout
- Explain color filter arrays, debayering, sampling theory, aliasing and the role of the optical low-pass filter
- Compare sensor formats and apply crop factors, equivalence, lens coverage, aspect ratios and anamorphic capture
- Distinguish pixel count from resolved detail using MTF, diffraction, oversampling and viewing conditions
- Choose frame rates for delivery and creative effect, including fractional rates, timecode and slow motion
- Apply shutter angle, explain rolling and global shutter artifacts, and avoid flicker under 60 Hz and 50 Hz lighting
- Explain ISO, exposure index, native and dual native ISO, and manage noise, temperature and black shading
- Explain white balance, color spaces, display gamma, log encoding and highlight roll-off in camera processing
- Select recording formats and media and calculate data volumes for a production
- Configure lens mounts, monitoring, timecode, audio and power systems, including battery run times and transport rules
- Build, document and test a complete camera package and data management plan for a project
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 6 min total · final exam
- 1 Anatomy of a digital cinema camera 25 min · quiz
- 2 How image sensors work 25 min · quiz
- 3 Color filter arrays, debayering and aliasing 25 min · quiz
- 4 Sensor sizes, formats and aspect ratios 26 min · quiz
- 5 Resolution, detail and sharpness 27 min · quiz
- 6 Frame rates and temporal sampling 24 min · quiz
- 7 Shutter angle, motion blur, rolling shutter and flicker 28 min · quiz
- 8 Sensitivity, ISO, gain and noise in practice 26 min · quiz
- 9 In-camera processing: white balance, color, gamma and log 25 min · quiz
- 10 Recording formats, codecs and media 24 min · quiz
- 11 Lens mounts, monitoring, timecode, audio and power 25 min · quiz
- 12 Building and testing a camera package 26 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
How digital cinema cameras work, from photosite to file: sensors and noise, color filter arrays and aliasing, sensor formats and equivalence, resolution and MTF, frame rates, shutter and flicker, ISO and dual gain, in-camera processing and log, recording formats and media, mounts, monitoring, timecode and power, and building and testing a camera package.
Part of the Film & Photography stream, typically taken in year 2.