Chinon (Japanese consumer manufacturer of low-end gear) have announced their coming production of a retro Super8 style, pistol-grip, 1080p Full HD camera with inter-changeable lenses – The Chinon Bellami HD-1. Info is scarce about the little beauty however, Chinon have released a single page teaser which you can view here, or look at the image below.
Chinon Bellami HD-1 teaser image.
The first we heard about this hipster’s dream cam was from the Personal View blog, where user IronFilm was able to translate some specs and pricing. Here’s what he had to say:
“At first I though maybe a cheap D16 / BMPCC competition? But nope, seems it will be a little too close to BMPCC pricing. Still, could be a good cheaper alternative for the hipsters lusting after a D16. But largely I’m mainly speaking 100% speculation here as info is very scarce on this.
This has the most info I’ve seen yet: [link]
About US$830 (80,000 Yen), which puts it too close to a BMPCC in price I think for this to be a competitive choice (unless Chinon manages something unexpected). Am hoping it at least has a CCD global sensor like the D16 which is its main competition? But I would take a guess it is more like to have a typical compact point and shoot camera sensor in it instead. Perhaps we should instead be expecting something more along the lines of the C mount modded GoPro in terms of what this Bellami HD-1 will be like?
Other info: Will go on sale in just a few weeks (mid March). Says D, C, CS, and M42 mount is supported? (with adapters)
The websites on this website illustrates just how tiny this will be in the hands of a user!
[link] [images below]
Additionally take a look at the top with the “T” & “W” buttons! 😮 Looks like zoom lenses will have this as a control, this kinda cancels out the thought this is going to be targeted at retro users with vintage lens? Instead more likely for the CCTV lenses that have this functionality? However, it could also be a digital zoom function. This is a cheap-stuff manufacturer after all”.
Below are the Superheads Tokyo images:
NoFilmSchool writer Joe Marine discussed the camera and had this to say:
“Chinon actually used to make these kinds of cameras years ago, but they have had an interesting past, and were actually owned by Kodak at one point. It seems to be a new company now that just shares the same name, but they are still involved with camera products — with the Bellami HD-1 being a return to the company’s roots”.
It’s currently unknown if the camera will be for sale outside of Japan, even so we can expect to see a number of these shooting indie shorts in the foreseeable future.
More Info:
