Millennium DXL2
16 Stops. 35 Megapixels.
1600 Native ISO.
Panavision’s DXL2 8K camera with the RED Monstro sensor offers 16bits of color across 35 million pixels at up to 60 frames per second. One of the quietest signal-to-noise ratios on the market, Monstro delivers unprecedented dynamic range and color with unmatched sensitivity. DXL2 and Panavision large format lenses offer the optimum system for creating the unmatched aesthetic of large format cinematography. Attributes such as a shallower depth of field, greater magnification and a wider field of view produce a softer, pleasing, more natural image—an aesthetic closely attuned to the way the eye sees.
Explore the Millennium
DXL2 Ecosystem
The Millennium DXL2 ecosystem offers full end-to-end solutions from 8K capture, customized large format optics, and proprietary color management to streamlined 8K and proxy workflows. Achieve, maintain and realize your vision from production all the way through post.
DXL2’s unique look was developed by collaborating with cinematographers, creating a new palette that blend the digital and celluloid worlds. With a 16bit imager, DXL2 presents two forms of color which are easy to apply in-camera and replicate in post. Light Iron provides variations on 33 and 65 point cubes for use in camera and post.
Panavision is renowned for our full line of top-quality optics. With the biggest selection of large format lenses and anamorphic glass, cinematographers have more choices than ever before to create their signature look. All Panavision’s large format optics are designed for optimal performance with the 8K DXL2 sensor.
The simplicity of the DXL2 ecosystem is just as important as the quality of the images created with it. Working with 8K is fast, easy, and inexpensive due to the simultaneous online and offline capture process. Along with an 8K RAW file, users can capture ProRes or DNxHR on the same SSD for use in speedy transcodes or even direct-to-edit files.
DXL2’s 46mm sensor has over 35 million pixels which enables it to translate all resolutions regardless of the exhibition format. From cinema screens to smartphones, the benefits of supersampling ensure almost every component capture in 16bit large format 8K is visible when scaled down to any exhibition format.
When you take an 8K image and super-sample it, it only gets better. It’s absolutely beautiful to look at. For me, the Millennium DXL2 is a no-brainer. It’s something I would use on anything. It does it all.
— John Schwartzman, ASC
Millennium DXL2
Rethink what a camera can be
John Schwartzman ASC talks about shooting with the DXL2
Experience the First
Modular Electronic Camera
DXL is the first camera with built-in electronic and interchangeable Flexible Modules that allow you to customize the body shape, design, and function.
DXL2 includes integrated and interchangeable MDR modules for wireless lens control. By partnering with the leading FIZ control companies the DXL2 creates a completely integrated system that delivers all the functionality
and control with standard MDR systems in a virtually invisible module.
DXL2 was designed as a modular camera with independent electronic functions. The Comms module compartmentalizes the elements of communication and isolates them from video, power and menu, and uses full-size ports instead of adapters. The SDI module can be configured for different monitoring paths. The monitor matrix page offers easy viewing of configuration choices.
The DXL2 Hot Swap Module offers 2x 24v and 3x 14v and USB. It also contains a secondary power port (an additional power port lives on the camera body) as well as color-coded LED indicators and a battery elevator. In conjunction with the Hot Swap
Module, DXL2 offers built-in power negating the need for external power supplies.
The cheek pad module allows camera operators to remove one menu and replace it with a soft pad for extended hand-held work. With the combination of cheek pad, battery elevator, and 360-degree eyepiece, DXL2 consistently receives high marks for
hand-held flexibility and comfort.
DXL2 Control is an iOS app that allows DXL2 full menu access including RUN/STOP from a smartphone. A real time visual histogram may be accessed, as well as the ability to remotely program up to eight shortcuts. DXL2 Control can be tethered to a single camera or control multiple cameras from a single device. Available free on the iTunes App Store.
Explore Ergonomic
and Efficient Design
Create Your
Signature Look
Primo 70 offers a rounded, defined focus, natural down-scaling, pleasing flesh tones and uniform bokeh across the field of view.
Sphero 65 offers a moderate focus roll-off with subtle aberrations; blended layers of contrast; pleasing flesh tones and rounded out-of-focus properties; and classically soft, glamorous images.
System 65 offers organic focus roll-off; pleasing flesh tones; rounded bokeh; and warm, contouring “classic” 65mm images.
Super Panavision 70 offers a distinct focus roll-off; low contrast; a uniquely contoured bokeh; glamorous, softer "vintage" images with a smooth texture.
Ultra Panavision 70 offers an ultra-wide 2.76:1 aspect ratio; organic focus roll-off; anamorphic artifacts, flares, and elliptical bokeh; and soft, glamorous, classic-looking images.
Download all large format lens specifications
Panavision is renowned for our full line of top-quality optics. With the biggest selection of large format lenses and anamorphic glass, cinematographers have never had more choices to create their own signature look. And all are designed for optimal performance with the 8K DXL2 sensor.
Introducing the Primo Artiste Series
The Primo 70s and new Primo Artiste lenses combine form and function with fast, wireless, motorized mechanics and, when married with our new anamorphic glass attachment, produce the signature anamorphic flares and bokeh on a spherical lens.
True 4K Anamorphic
Resolution is one of the most important attributes for creating images with a smoother look and greater transition, dynamic range, and gradients. DXL2’s large format 8K sensor is taller and wider than 35mm sensors with a pixel density that delivers the highest resolution anamorphic capture possible.
DXL2’s 8K V V sensor elevates classic Panavision 2x anamorphic lenses to new heights by covering 25mm x 21mm giving a total pixel count of 5182 x 4320 (22MP). Panavision Ultra 70 lenses use a 1.25x squeeze which allows for the entire sensor to be sampled during photography, providing a true 8K anamorphic image (35MP)."
Brett Pawlak on DXL 4K Anamorphic
The 8K sensor and large format lenses actually get creamier and have a smooth silky texture. Combined with older glass, especially the Ultra Panavision lenses, it just starts to look like magic.
— Kramer Morgenthau, ASC
DXL2 8K Sensor
Smooth 8K Resolution
When starting with an 8K resolution image, magnification increases. With increased magnification, perspective cues become more pronounced and a wide dynamic range allows greater transition from highlights to shadows within the scene. This allows for a more gradual blending of complex colors. With greater color transition and increased dynamic range, contrast is reduced and the resulting image appears smoother and less sharp.
With a native base ISO of 1600, DXL2 gives ultra-clean low-light sensitivity without compromising clarity, dynamic range, or undesirable noise.
Pixel Pitch
The number as well as the size of the pixels, is what differentiates DXL2 from other large format cameras. The smaller the pixel, the larger the number of pixels that can be packed together. This combination of size and number eliminates the edge sharpening seen in lower resolution cameras. With a 5u (micron) pixel pitch, DXL2 has over 35,000,000 tiny pixels that work together to create an 8K image similar to large format still cameras.
The sharpness or softness of an image can now be controlled through Panavision’s vast inventory of large format optics.
Sensor Size
DXL2’s 8K sensor is 40.96mm wide and 21.6 millimeters tall capturing images at nearly twice the area of standard S35 sensors. There are three main benefits that a larger sensor size offers:
- Larger sensors decrease depth of field. With shallower focus planes, cinematographers have more control with z-depth cues.
- Optics are able to contract with faster T stops. Panavision has lenses faster than a T1 which further decreases depth of field.
- Images have an increase in magnification. The larger sensor allows for a more magnified perspective which creates more dimension.
Dynamic range
The more pixels that are used to capture an image, the more dynamic range can be applied to each area of the frame. Sensors can only apply a portion of available dynamic range to the areas they can fully resolve. This is why sensors with fewer pixels deliver fewer levels of transition from light to dark. With DXL2’s 8K sensor, over 16 stops of dynamic range can be applied to subtle areas of the same frame, allowing for improved skin tones with less binary transitions from light to dark.
Bit Depth
Similar to dynamic range, sensors can apply all their color to only the areas of the frame they can clearly resolve. DXL2 comes equipped with a 16bit RAW imager which allows for more color to be applied to finer areas of the frame. The best skin tone is achieved through complex tertiary color transition. The combination of 16bit sampling, 16 stops of dynamic range, and 35,000,000 pixels allows for the best color reproduction and the most flexibility in color correction.
PX Pro
A custom color correction filter made with a high-precision design and manufacturing process, PX Pro provides a significant increase in color separation and greater color precision. The filters provide an infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) cut that improves color clarity and reduces noise and IR contamination. The characteristics are most notably demonstrated in lens flares and highlights, resulting in a cleaner image that enables for more creative control. The optical and electronic elements of the PX Pro work together with the Panavision glass, RED V V sensor, and Light Iron Color 2 to create a look completely unique to DXL2.
The Relationship with Resolution
If you imagine the elements that make up an image in the form of a wheel, resolution lives at the core. When higher resolution is met with larger sensor size, sharpness, dynamic range and perspective are all magnified providing better control of each individual characteristic.
A Formula for Sharpness
Perspective, Magnification, and Resolution are the three corners of an equilateral triangle that work together in order to create the most expressive looks. By customizing Panavision optics and tuning them to the sensor, unique signature looks can be achieved. Perspective, Magnification and Resolution are the elements that provide the most differentiation compared to cameras with smaller sensors and fewer pixels. These tenets all scale down perfectly, regardless of the final exhibition resolution.
Super Sampling
8K capture is not about higher resolution exhibition formats. The laws of supersampling teach us that higher quality capture will always produce a longer lasting, more flexible end result. DXL2’s 46mm sensor has over 35 million pixels which enables it to translate all resolutions regardless of the exhibition format.
Down Scaling
From cinema screens to smartphones, the benefits of supersampling ensure almost every component captured in 16bit large format 8K is visible when scaled down to any exhibition format. The magnification, depth of field, dynamic range, bit depth, and smoothness of the 8K image on the left seamlessly scales down to a 1K image on the right.
16 Stops of Usable Dynamic Range
With a native base ISO of 1600, DXL2 offers the flexibility of ultra-clean low-light sensitivity without compromising clarity, dynamic range or undesirable noise.
Illuminate Your Image
with Light Iron Color 2
DXL2’s revolutionary image mapping process, Light Iron Color 2, delivers a rich cinematic look right out of the camera. Feast your eyes on film-like density, neutral shadows, and natural skin tones. Light Iron Color 2 deviates from traditional digital color matrices by following in the footsteps of film stock philosophy instead of direct replication of how colors look in nature.
Explore the DXL2’s Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut
Wide Gamut. Wider Vision
DXL2’s unique color palette is built on top of RED’s image processing pipeline version 2 (IPP2). This allows DXL2 to better capture and control the intensity and subtlety of colors.
Light Iron Specifications
16 bit files
RAW image capture
ACES Compatible
REC2084
Transforms available for: REC709, P3, 2020, 2084
DXL2 Image Processing Pipeline
Using RED’s Image Processing Pipeline, users can reliably view matching images in the camera, through a DIT station, in dailies and in DI. Panavision supplies the all the Light Iron Color 2 3D lookup tables in camera to users on the set or in post for a perfect match.
Workflow Any Way
You Want It
8K for all projects and budgets
As resolution continues to increase, the need for efficient and cost-effective storage becomes even more important. This is one of the key reasons Panavision teamed up with RED and licensed REDCode into DXL2’s image capturing architecture. RED’s patented compression technology affords users the largest array of pixels without the penalty of larger file sizes. A perfect balance between speed and quality is available through REDCode, making an affordable 8K workflow possible.
RAW
8K
- REDCode
- 8K RAW
- 5:1 vista vision
- 60fps
- 72@7k
- 80@6k
- 96@5k
RGB
4K
- ProResHQ
- ProResLT
- ProRes Proxy
- DNxHR
- DNx220x
2K
- ProRes XQ
- ProRes444
- ProResHQ
- ProResLT
- ProRes Proxy
- DNxHR
- DNx220x
DXL2 is a dual-recording system allowing proxy files a faster and more streamlined workflow for editorial. DXL2 has 3 options for recording codecs so users can decide exactly which file type fits their editorial pipeline. When editing is complete, proxy file metadata matches RAW file metadata for a simple and streamlined final conform in 2K, 4K, or 8K.
RAW Power with ProRes Speed
8K RAW
16bit REDCode RAW
1 TB per hour @ 24fps
60 fps max 8K framerate
4K RGB
ProRes / DNxHR
500GB per hour @ 24fps
60 fps max 4K framerate
2K RGB
ProRes / DNxHR
250GB per hour @ 24fps
120 fps max 2K framerate
Simultaneous Dual Workflow
Dual workflow enables RAW to go to the RAIDS and LTO while Proxy goes to editorial and web. This happens simultaneously on the OUTPOST cart and makes 8K acceptable for projects of all sizes and budgets.
Outpost
Outpost is fast and equipped with ColorFront rendering tools optimized for DXL2
A full post laboratory that goes wherever you go.
Configurable & Customizable
LTO7 Robot
24/7 Support
Ships in a standard case
Download, archive, processing, upload
VFX
DXL2’s internal gyro and accelerometer measures XYZ in orientation and movement through Z space.
In addition, DXL2 is equipped with the industry standard "smart" lens /i communication for metadata tracking in RAW image capture. Metadata is captured on a per-frame basis and a database can be output that shows the performance for use in post-production. No more guesswork in post.
Timecode
DXL2 is the first camera to have a built-in Ambient lockit box and wireless timecode using the ACN system.
No more external lockit box. Track more metadata. Keep all your cameras in-sync with no drift slip-sync free dailies. The ACN antennae eliminates the need for TC jamming. It is a constant, consistent pulse delivered from the Master Lockit.
DXL2 Magazine
- The efficiency of data management is key in the DXL2 ecosystem.
- SSDs are able to capture 8K RAW with a ProRes or DNxHR proxy file on the same magazine.
- 1 TB mags hold up to 60 minutes of 8K or 5 hours of ProRes HQ 2K (24pfs).
- Download using OTS RED SSD readers over USB-C for inexpensive and readily available data management.
Technical Specifications
- Sensor Type
- 16-bit, 35.4 Megapixel CMOS - DXL2
16-bit, 35.5 Megapixel CMOS - DXL - Resolution
- 8192 x 4320
- Sensor Size
- Large Format: 40.96mm x 21.60mm (Diagonal: 46.31mm)
- Dynamic Range
- 16 Stops - DXL2
15 Stops - DXL - Max Frame Rate
- 60 fps at 8K Full Frame (8192 x 4320), 75 fps at 8K 2.4:1 (8192 x 3456)
