Bosma 8K Camera Gets Real
Chinese manufacturer Bosma showcased an 8K camera at CES 2020 thinking they would soon introduce it for around $5K. It has taken some time, but the camera looks to be more real now as respected Japanese equipment maker Astrodesign will now resell the camera. Astrodesign has several 8K products and often manufacturers them for other brand names. This resale deal definitely puts a stamp of legitimacy on the new Bosma camera dubbed the G1 8K.
The G1 8K is a box camera that uses a micro four-thirds imager chip. This is the same sized chip that is in the Sharp 8K camera debuted some time ago but was never introduced. It was being developed in cooperation with Astrodesign (Astrodesign also developed Sharp’s 3-chip broadcast 8K camera) so maybe Astrodesign helped with the Bosma camera as well.
The Bosma camera captures 8K at 30 or 25p at a bitrate of 200Mbps, and 4K at 60, 50, 30, 25 or 24p at 100Mbps, with continuous recording times of up to 30 minutes. Both 8-bit and 10-bit recording is offered, using the H.264 or H.265 codec for MOV or MP4 files. An HDMI 2.1 port is included for playback, with streaming applications via an RJ-45 jack with IPV4, RTP, RTSP or SRT protocols support. There is even a Wi-Fi transceiver.
Astrodesign has their own box camera, the AB-4815 that can capture 8K at up to 120 fps using a super 35mm sensor. This is a more professional camera with interface options like 12G SDI, so aimed at a different audience and price point. The Bosma model will be aimed at enthusiasts, video bloggers, consumers, photographers and others where 24/30p is acceptable and a lower price point is needed.
Specifications for Bosma G1 8K
| Image sensor | |
| Image sensor | 4/3 inch pixel count 7680 x 4320 8K CMOS image sensor |
| Number of effective pixels | Approximately 33 million pixels |
| method | Single plate type |
| Sensor size | 18.84 mm x 10.60 mm |
| Optical system specifications | |
| Lens mount | MFT |
| Recording specifications | |
| resolution | 8K 7680 x 4320 30p 4K 3840 x 2160 60p |
| frame rate | 8K 30/25 / 24fps 4K 60/50/30/25 / 24fps |
| Continuous recording time | 30/15/10/5 minutes |
| Bit rate control method | VBR / CBR |
| bit rate | 8K30p up to 200M 4K60p up to 100M |
| Compression method | H.265 / H.264 |
| Encoding method | H.265 Main10 profile H.264 High profile |
| tone | 10 / 8bit |
| Voice bit | 24 / 16bit |
| Audio sample rate | 48 / 44.1kHz |
| Voice codec | AAC / PCM |
| file format | MOV / MP4 |
| Supported protocols | IPv4 / RTP / RTSP / SRT |
| Recording mode | Normal shooting / time-lapse shooting |
| Shooting specifications | |
| Exposure compensation | Auto / Manual -3.0 to 3.0 (only for auto) |
| Aperture | Set on the lens side |
| ISO | Auto / Manual (160-25600) |
| shutter | Speed: Auto / Manual (1/30 to 1/156 250s) |
| Angle: Auto / Manual (1 ° to 360 °) | |
| White balance | Auto / Manual (2500K-10000K) |
| Image adjustment | Brightness / Contrast / Saturation / Sharpness |
| noise reduction | Off / Manual (0-255) |
| HDR | SDR10 / SDR8 / HDR10 |
| Color gamut | BT.709 / BT.2020 |
| Input / output terminal | |
| HDMI | HDMI 2.1 (maximum 8K 30p) 1 output |
| USB | USB3.0 (for external storage connection) 1 I / O |
| voice | 3.5mm plug 1 input, 1 output |
| 5 pin LECO (XLR microphone 2CH) 1 input | |
| Built-in stereo microphone installed | |
| Ethernet | RJ45 connector 1 Input / output Streaming compatible |
| Wi-Fi: IEEE802.11b / g / n / a / ac compliant 2.4GHz & 5GHz band compatible | |
| Video recording media | CFast2.0 card 1 slot exFAT system compatible |
