ripupthehwy
Well-known member
There was alot to look at this year. I hadn't been to NAB in about 7 years. After hearing how the economy had effected attendance in some recent years, I can say it sure didn't seem to be an issue this year. The place was packed and I think every electronics manufacturer was represented this year..except Apple (even Microsoft and Nvidia had big booths). GoPro had a huge booth, showcasing their Hero 3 cameras, with footage from just about any angle imaginable, including from a camera mounted on a pelican's bill !
I was anxious to see the GH4 from Panasonic. I was suprised they only had 3 working models at the show, but did manage to get my hands on one of them. The product reps there were from the consumer division, and irritated me a little bit by constantly correcting me and reminding me this is a Consumer camera, not a professional camera. Hmmm. With all it's features, including true 4k rez, and 10bit 4k output via the hdmi (and a host of others via the optional expansion unit) I think alot of pro shooters will disagree with them.
The images it produced were pretty sharp. I'd seen the footage on youtube shot with this camera and can tell you, it doesn't do it justice. Seeing it there at the show on a 4k monitor was nice, and definitely made the $1700 price tag seem a steal.
Sony had there answer to the GH4 with their own 4k DSLR. It's 35mm sensor size, as opposed to Panny's micro 4/3rds. My only concern to the GH4 was how more difficult it will be to get that shallow, filmic DOF. Even with their new lenses, playing with the cam I wasn't convinced the GH4 would give me anything near the shallowness of a 35mm sensor, so Sony wins the battle there IMHO. Also with their bigger sensor, the Sony camera had INCREDIBLE. I mean REALLY INCREDIBLE low light sensitivity WITHOUT noise/grain. However the Sony only outputs 8bit 4k signal via it's HDMI, so Panny wins on that. Overall I'd say the GH4 has more features, better look, and the history of success with the GH line behind it, meanwhile the Sony has better shallow DOF and Low light/noise.
This little light was very impressive to me. Made by IKAN for about $500, Not yet availble but I'd love to have a couple of these for interviews and still pictures. No longer having to bring lights with softboxes to a small shoot! They are battery powered and about the size of a dinner plate, and as thin as one too!
Davinci Resolve will release a new version WITH a full non-linear editing functionality. It did look quite impressive. It will cost as much as the free color correction Resolve costs now
A lot of buzz (again) over a new camera from Blackmagic (again). It's very feature-rich (and very heavy at 16lbs, body only) and has a 10 inch monitor attached. I gotta admit I don't think I like that huge monitor and could get it the way (or get broken) on a busy production shoot or during run & gun work. Btw, this camera is NOT designed for run & gun, but for 3 or more people to operate it at the same time! Theres a monitor on both sides of the cam (smaller, stationary one on right side) and those HUGE audio meters and XLR (finally) inputs on the side. So you could have a camera operator, camera assistant, and audio tech all working on the camera simultaneously. BMD says the camera will be available this July...uh..ok...yeah...we'll see. BMD says the sensor is easily removeable and upgradeable in the future.
Speaking of sensor, I understand from other people's reports that the new cion camera from AJA has the same sensor as the Blackmagic. An APS-C (not 35mm size, But close) 4k sensor. There's not much footage out there yet to compare or evaluate these two cameras, but honestly I liked and felt better about the AJA. It weighs less than half that of the Blackmagic (6lbs i was told). I tried it on for size and it felt like a professional, shoulder mount ENG type camera. The rep said its a film camera in a super-16 film type body.
They also touted this camera as being different that the Blackmagic and others because it maintiains 12 bit data from end to end (not 8bit, not 10bit, but 12) and they tried to explain to me it doesn't need to record in a RAW format because of the 12bit linear approach. I admit this was confusing to comprehend how you could get same color correction flexibility as you would with a Raw image, but anyway. we will see when footage comes out in the future. They say this camera will ship this summer. It will be interesting to see who ships first. Blackmagic or AJA. anyone wanna make bets on this? Both cameras record internally (BMD with C-fast type, readily availble flash cards, while the AJA uses AJA storage cards, similar to SSD's. The cost for storage on both of these cameras will be quite significant, as the 4k image they produce eats up alot of storage. One downside is neither camera records high frame rates.
Atamos wins the prize for hottest models at the show. lol. They gave away prizes of their own in fact. Ninja Blade & Samurai Blade recorders were given away in a drawing at end of each day. Their new product, the Shogun will record 4k with an HDMI input. This will be a big seller to buyers of the Panasonic GH4 and Sony A7s cameras.
Another booth I spent some time at was SHAPE. They make alot of shoulder rail systems and gadgets for DSLR shooters. One item in particular was their underwater housings for cameras. While many housings sell for over $1000, SHAPE makes ones for just $400 to fit the Canon 5D, and Nikon D800, and others. It is rated for up to 30 feet underwater!
JVC is entering the 4K arena with some new cams, but only had mockups availalbe. so nothing to comment here. Also to note, Panasonic showcased their new 4k Varicams, competing with the likes of the Sony F55. Arri also had their AMIRA, a 2K ENG type camera version similar to the Alexa for less $$.
Canon had a large booth with an impressive Media stadium setup with their cameras and other brands as well, attached to CANON lenses. No new cinema cameras, just the C100,300 & 500. They do have a couple one piece 4k camcorders on display, and so did Sony.
However the HPX 270 from Panasonic, IMHO is a clear winner with it's fully mechanical attached lens. Nothing irks me more than these one piece cameras with terrible zooms that you can't ramp up/down the speed and get a smooth start/stop like an ENG lens. It just screams prosumer/novice shooter. Panasonic is the first company to crack this flaw with a one piece camcorders. it's also 60p and shoots on micro P2 cards.
Several copters were flying around.
livestream is now making an all in one portable switcher unit, much like the newtek tricaster.
that's all for now. Time to head home.
I was anxious to see the GH4 from Panasonic. I was suprised they only had 3 working models at the show, but did manage to get my hands on one of them. The product reps there were from the consumer division, and irritated me a little bit by constantly correcting me and reminding me this is a Consumer camera, not a professional camera. Hmmm. With all it's features, including true 4k rez, and 10bit 4k output via the hdmi (and a host of others via the optional expansion unit) I think alot of pro shooters will disagree with them.
The images it produced were pretty sharp. I'd seen the footage on youtube shot with this camera and can tell you, it doesn't do it justice. Seeing it there at the show on a 4k monitor was nice, and definitely made the $1700 price tag seem a steal.
Sony had there answer to the GH4 with their own 4k DSLR. It's 35mm sensor size, as opposed to Panny's micro 4/3rds. My only concern to the GH4 was how more difficult it will be to get that shallow, filmic DOF. Even with their new lenses, playing with the cam I wasn't convinced the GH4 would give me anything near the shallowness of a 35mm sensor, so Sony wins the battle there IMHO. Also with their bigger sensor, the Sony camera had INCREDIBLE. I mean REALLY INCREDIBLE low light sensitivity WITHOUT noise/grain. However the Sony only outputs 8bit 4k signal via it's HDMI, so Panny wins on that. Overall I'd say the GH4 has more features, better look, and the history of success with the GH line behind it, meanwhile the Sony has better shallow DOF and Low light/noise.
This little light was very impressive to me. Made by IKAN for about $500, Not yet availble but I'd love to have a couple of these for interviews and still pictures. No longer having to bring lights with softboxes to a small shoot! They are battery powered and about the size of a dinner plate, and as thin as one too!
Davinci Resolve will release a new version WITH a full non-linear editing functionality. It did look quite impressive. It will cost as much as the free color correction Resolve costs now
A lot of buzz (again) over a new camera from Blackmagic (again). It's very feature-rich (and very heavy at 16lbs, body only) and has a 10 inch monitor attached. I gotta admit I don't think I like that huge monitor and could get it the way (or get broken) on a busy production shoot or during run & gun work. Btw, this camera is NOT designed for run & gun, but for 3 or more people to operate it at the same time! Theres a monitor on both sides of the cam (smaller, stationary one on right side) and those HUGE audio meters and XLR (finally) inputs on the side. So you could have a camera operator, camera assistant, and audio tech all working on the camera simultaneously. BMD says the camera will be available this July...uh..ok...yeah...we'll see. BMD says the sensor is easily removeable and upgradeable in the future.
Speaking of sensor, I understand from other people's reports that the new cion camera from AJA has the same sensor as the Blackmagic. An APS-C (not 35mm size, But close) 4k sensor. There's not much footage out there yet to compare or evaluate these two cameras, but honestly I liked and felt better about the AJA. It weighs less than half that of the Blackmagic (6lbs i was told). I tried it on for size and it felt like a professional, shoulder mount ENG type camera. The rep said its a film camera in a super-16 film type body.
They also touted this camera as being different that the Blackmagic and others because it maintiains 12 bit data from end to end (not 8bit, not 10bit, but 12) and they tried to explain to me it doesn't need to record in a RAW format because of the 12bit linear approach. I admit this was confusing to comprehend how you could get same color correction flexibility as you would with a Raw image, but anyway. we will see when footage comes out in the future. They say this camera will ship this summer. It will be interesting to see who ships first. Blackmagic or AJA. anyone wanna make bets on this?
Both cameras record internally (BMD with C-fast type, readily availble flash cards, while the AJA uses AJA storage cards, similar to SSD's. The cost for storage on both of these cameras will be quite significant, as the 4k image they produce eats up alot of storage. One downside is neither camera records high frame rates.Atamos wins the prize for hottest models at the show. lol. They gave away prizes of their own in fact. Ninja Blade & Samurai Blade recorders were given away in a drawing at end of each day. Their new product, the Shogun will record 4k with an HDMI input. This will be a big seller to buyers of the Panasonic GH4 and Sony A7s cameras.
Another booth I spent some time at was SHAPE. They make alot of shoulder rail systems and gadgets for DSLR shooters. One item in particular was their underwater housings for cameras. While many housings sell for over $1000, SHAPE makes ones for just $400 to fit the Canon 5D, and Nikon D800, and others. It is rated for up to 30 feet underwater!
JVC is entering the 4K arena with some new cams, but only had mockups availalbe. so nothing to comment here. Also to note, Panasonic showcased their new 4k Varicams, competing with the likes of the Sony F55. Arri also had their AMIRA, a 2K ENG type camera version similar to the Alexa for less $$.
Canon had a large booth with an impressive Media stadium setup with their cameras and other brands as well, attached to CANON lenses. No new cinema cameras, just the C100,300 & 500. They do have a couple one piece 4k camcorders on display, and so did Sony.
However the HPX 270 from Panasonic, IMHO is a clear winner with it's fully mechanical attached lens. Nothing irks me more than these one piece cameras with terrible zooms that you can't ramp up/down the speed and get a smooth start/stop like an ENG lens. It just screams prosumer/novice shooter. Panasonic is the first company to crack this flaw with a one piece camcorders. it's also 60p and shoots on micro P2 cards.Several copters were flying around.
livestream is now making an all in one portable switcher unit, much like the newtek tricaster. that's all for now. Time to head home.Attachments
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