The Thomson Viper FilmStream Camera is a

digital movie camera A digital movie camera for digital cinematography is a video camera that captures footage digitally rather than the historically used movie camera, which shoots on film stock. Different digital movie cameras output a variety of different acquisi ...

produced by Thomson Multimedia (now

Technicolor SA Vantiva SA, formerly Technicolor SA, Thomson SARL, and Thomson Multimedia, is a French multinational corporation that provides creative services and technology products for the communication, media and entertainment industries. Vantiva's headq ...

). Introduced in the early 2000s as makers of feature films were turning to

digital cinematography : Digital cinematography is the process of capturing (recording) a motion picture using digital image sensors rather than through film stock. As digital technology has improved in recent years, this practice has become dominant. Since the mid- ...

, the Viper influenced subsequent HD, UHD, and HDR cameras.

History

The Viper FilmStream was announced in 2002 by Thomson after being developed by its

Grass Valley A grass valley (also vega and valle) is a meadow located within a forested and relatively small drainage basin such as a headwater. Grass valleys are common in North America, where they are created and maintained principally by the work of b ...

subsidiary which it had purchased earlier that year. It followed early

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

CineAlta CineAlta cameras are a series of professional digital movie cameras produced by Sony that replicate many of the same features of 35mm film motion picture cameras. Concept CineAlta is a brand name used by Sony to describe various products in ...

cameras and preceded the

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

by less than a year. The Viper could replay takes immediately after they were shot, something early Genesis versions and other cameras of the era could not. Films shot on the Viper include

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ...

's ''

Collateral Collateral may refer to: Business and finance * Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan * Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Collate ...

'', ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...

'', and '' Public Enemies'' and David Fincher's ''

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...

'' and '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''. Cinematographer

Dion Beebe Dion Beebe A.C.S. A.S.C. ( ; born 18 May 1968) is an Australian-South African cinematographer. Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 1972. Dion studied cinematography at the Australia ...

described the Viper as the "primary camera" on ''Collateral''; on both ''Zodiac'' and ''Collateral''

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

was used only for overcranking. ''Zodiac'' was the first digital feature film made by a major studio without using

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...

compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...

in its capture or editing. Fincher became interested in using the camera on a feature film after shooting commercials for

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and

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with it. In 2017, Grass Valley received a Scientific and Technical Award from the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

for its Viper.

Specifications

* Sensors: : 3 x 2/3" HD-DPM 9.2 million pixel CCDs * Effective pixels: 1920 (vertical) x 4320 (horizontal sub-pixels); aspect ratio 16:9 (1.77:1) in 1080 and 720 line modes, or 2.37:1 in 1080p mode * Bit depth: 12-bit linear A-D conversion, mapped to 10-bit logarithmic signals for downstream processing * Power: 12V DC nominal (11.5 – 17V); ~44W (including 2" viewfinder and FilmStream adapter) * Mount: Standard B4 lens mount for popular digital cinematography prime and zoom lenses * Weight: 4.3 kg including 2" viewfinder and FilmStream adapter * Overall dimensions: 197mm x 117mm x 349mm * Optical filters: f1.4 prism system; first filter wheel clear, 2-stop, 4-stop, 6-stop ND; second filter wheel clear, 4-point star, 6-point star, soft focus * Formats and Frames per second: ** 1080p at 23.98, 24, 25, and 29.97 fps ** 1080i at 50 and 59.94 Hz ** 720p at 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 50, and 59.94 fps. * Multiple field recording options: ** Solid-state, on-camera RAM recorder for cable-free operation ** High-capacity field recorder with exchangeable disk packs ** Third-party field recording support

References

{{reflist Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners Digital movie cameras Technicolor SA