But isn't the point of this to be able to hack it and add things that you need for your use case? Nobody said the arduino or raspi was meant to replace your day to day compute. This is targeted as a hackable base system to learn about the technology and stimulate innovation. Right now hacking cameras requires insanely niche knowledge and reverse engineering skills.
If the point is to hack, you totally should buy an Arduino. (I just bought my college-age EE brother one. He's messing with it right next to me. It's cool.) It is also orders of magnitude cheaper.
But for video and video specifically, a "hackable base system" is not a raison d'etre to exist beyond the niche-of-a-niche hacker community who's not going to pay you materially for the thing in the first place. This stuff is expensive! Near as I can tell, something like this needs a reason for videographers, and not computer people, to pay for it to get the traction needed to allow it to expand and progress. The set of people who need to "add things" to a video camera for their use case is small because there are few use cases that are not better undertaken by getting the highest quality, cleanest raw footage you can (which is not helped by adding, like, inline color correction), storing it in the least-lossy format you can, and then taking that output and transforming it down-the-line either in post/editing for recorded media or in your better-equipped visual mixer for live.
The most interesting "hardware hacks" I can think of for cameras would be in the focus/image stabilization arena, but I don't think you get much insight into that with the passive E-mount (could be wrong, I don't use Sony) as opposed to an active E-mount or Panasonic's Power/Mega OIS stuff in the MFT. For Power/Mega OIS in particular, my understanding is that the sensors are in the lens but the brains are in the camera--could be some novel things to do there.
This is opinion, but opinion from a passionate cine nerd:
Good stabilization techniques don’t happen in the lens and passive E mount is perrrfect for this camera.
Stabilization is a mount’s job, and not really a hack. Most camera hacking these days is done with SLRS which are not “real” video cameras, for lack of a list of technical explanations. Magic Lantern is a popular DSLR hacking tool and it’s problematic to use. Think trying to use Windows as if it were Linux.
For a traditional cinema camera, I agree that a passive E mount makes total sense. For a video camera where the focus is "hacking" on it, I disagree, because it reduces the breadth of "hackable" bits of the thing. This gap goes back to my original "I don't know who this is actually for".
I would, however, contest that stabilization is just the job of the mount--optical stabilization relies on the lens, and it's pretty valuable to me. I've broadcast with both Panasonic's Power OIS lenses and non-OIS lenses and the difference is pretty stark. (And given that live broadcasts pretty often just use Panasonic GH's or BlackMagic's Pocket or Micro cameras, it's basically the same tech and thus something to consider.)
Further edit: 'bprater made a good point elsewhere in the thread: an active mount would allow for driving focus through software, too. I don't mean autofocus, but rather the ability to automate focus. For example, I wrote an application to control my video mixer to better be able to do a one-man show and my GH3/GH4 have decent mobile apps for one-man control. Being able to have the camera remember correct focus settings when I'm moving between standard spots in my studio would actually be a pretty useful thing to be able to trigger without getting behind the camera! Which, once more, goes back to "hey, so who is this SSH-capable, 'hackable' camera actually for?".
Overall, I think your point is well-made. The SSH capabilities are something like tone-deaf considering the market. But, I'll answer who the camera is supposed to be for.
It's for me, and other nofilmschool.com readers. But, I'm not going to buy it. I've awkwardly transitioned to using CGI as my medium, but if I were still using camera, I might be considering a purchase of one of these.
It's the latest in a chain of attempts at upending the big companies who lock features on the cameras and have single handledly held back indie film production by miles, for years.
None of these attempts really get off the ground. RED gave the sight of being a savior many years ago, but RED's plan all along was just to bit off the opportunity and ultimately side with the camera nazis.
As for the mount, I never even learned to use focus electronically controlled by the body, or zoom, or stabilization. I would have no use for any of them. Passive E-mount does everything I could conceive of needing.
When somebody who this camera is for wants to control focus wirelessly, they rent a Preston system or one of the newer ones like a Lenzhound.
