NAB 2014: All The Rest
NAB 2014: Honorable Mentions from TheCameraForum on Vimeo. There were all those tasty tidbits from the NAB 2014 Show in Las Vegas, NV, that were not in their own right worthy, sufficiently compelling, or sufficient information available for their own separate stories; or items who’s stories I have already told but not to be forgotten. I call these my NAB 2014 “Honorable Mentions.” Canon XF-205 Not everybody at NAB 2014 was introducing amazing new products and not everybody was grabbing current headlines, but there were still several things worth seeing and mentioning. From Nikon: the new D4S seemed to be
Read moreNAB 2014: Carl Zeiss
SOURCE: NextWaveTV Carl Zeiss was not absent from the scene at NAB 2014. In fact, Carl Zeiss came with some exciting news other than the announcement of their latest entry into the compact cinema zoom lens category. In what can only be called the first “official” confirmation, Zeiss is in fact hard at work developing at least three more lenses in the OTUS family. When designing the Otus 1.4/55, Zeiss had one line item in the product brief: make it the best lens possible. Representing the pinnacle of over a century of optical and technical expertise, these Zeiss OTUS prime
Read moreNAB 2014: Kessler CineDrive
NAB 2014: Kessler CineDrive from TheCameraForum on Vimeo. The Kessler CineDrive is a revolutionary multi axis camera motion control system designed by the Kessler engineering team to put the emphasis on filmmaker creativity, solving the how to do it problems. I’ve never seen any one system with the power,versatility, and multi axis control that is configurable enough to meet my needs as a filmmaker in the studio and in the field. The Kessler CineDrive does. Excellent fabrication, quality components, high reliability, and iterative design improvement are what Kessler products are all about. According to Kessler: “Whether for live-action, time-lapse or
Read moreNAB 2014: Libec Allex System
Like it or not, every serious video production requires “sticks” and a slider. Normally, these two components are separate, transported separately, and for the slider, should you wish to raise it, you need to carry a separate tripod. Add all these separates together, two tripods, two heads, etc. and you end up toting a lot of weight around. Too much weight to handle comfortably along with a camera, lenses, and often lighting. This is where the genius of the new Libec Allex System comes in. Libec has artfully and magically combined all of the elements a hybrid storyteller will
Read moreNAB 2014: Leica Cine Lenses
Leica Summilux-C Prime Cine Lenses. Otto Nemenz, Leica, and Band Pro got together and said, “Let’s make some cinema lenses, baby” And so they did, which proved very interesting to cinematographers always looking for alternative looks. At nearly $200,000 per eight lens set, these lenses come in very competitively priced with other ultra high quality cinema lens offerings. The Summilux designation on a Leica lens denotes an f/1.4 speed rating, as that is an integral component of the brand. As you would expect for this kind of a price, the lenses are spectacular. The Leica Cine Lenses are truly, the
Read moreNAB 2014: Jigabot AIMe
Few things I have seen at this year’s NAB 2014 show impressed me as much as the Jigabot AIMe. What an incredible idea! Simply put, the concept is you attach an electronic “sensor” to your body or the subject you wish to track, mount your camera onto AIMe, and Tada! AIMe tracks your every movement. Wow. Sort of artificial intelligence for your camera head. All kinds of possibilities open up for many creative uses for this, but by far and away, this is a product designed for fathers-I speak from my own point of view; I readily admit, the roles can
Read moreNAB 2014: DJI Innovations
NAB 2014: DJI from TheCameraForum on Vimeo. When I started writing this series for TheCameraForum.Com a year and a half or so ago, DJI was just ramping up. I never expected to have a special category of camera for DJI Quadcopters. But here we are only eighteen months later with that new category. The whole “drone” quadcopter, or unmanned aerial vehicle field has positively exploded. Many for fun, but also many are now looking into the commercial possibilities of using these vehicles for many more purposes. One of these uses is as a replacement for expensive and difficult to setup/operate camera
Read moreNAB 2014: Atomos
Atomos-HD 720p from TheCameraForum on Vimeo. Atomos Global Pty Ltd, Level 1, 36 Park Street South Melbourne, Victoria 3205 Australia, the creator of the award-winning camera-mounted recorders Ninja-2 and Samurai, and the pocket-sized Connect converters, is an Australian hardware design/manufacturing company few have ever heard of. However, that is rapidly changing. In just a couple of short years, Atomos has risen to an installed base of over 45,000 digital field recorders. A remarkable feat, from a remarkable company. I myself use one of their Ninja 2 digital field recorders. What is a digital field recorder, you ask? Well, think of it as an external
Read moreNAB 2014: Introducing The Sony A7S
Introduction Of The Sony A7S from TheCameraForum on Vimeo. The world premier of the Sony A7S introduced on Sunday, April 6, 2014, at the NAB 2014 Show In Las Vegas by Mr. Shigeki Ishizuka, Sony Executive Vice President. I had planned to attend the NAB convention in Las Vegas, but I had not anticipated being there for the world premier of the Sony A7S introduced on Sunday, April 6, 2014 by Mr. Shigeki Ishizuka. I got the invitation for the event and, driving like a mad man, got to Las Vegas in time for the “big show.” Shigeki Ishizuka serves as Sony
Read moreNAB 2014: AJA CION 4K/UHD and 2K/HD Production Camera
AJA entered the digital cinema camera market with the announcement of their AJA CION 4K Production Camera, capable of recording both DCI and UHD 4K, as well as 2K and HD resolution video. From its sleek, elegant 6.4-lb magnesium body to the contoured suede shoulder pad, the camera is both aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically functional. But what’s going on inside a camera is what really counts, and this is where the CION rubber meets the road. The CION features an APS-C sized 4K CMOS image sensor with an electronic global shutter, 12 stops of dynamic range, and a PL lens mount
Read moreNAB 2014: BlackMagic Design
Leading off our NAB 2014 coverage we will start with Blackmagic Design. This year at NAB 2014, Blackmagic Design is rolling out a whole new range of Ultra HD products such as converters, routers, DeckLink cards, and more. They are introducing the first 12G-SDI Teranex Express with 12G-SDI in their new cameras. They even have a new Cintel film scanner! The new products they are announced at NAB 2014 are: Blackmagic URSA Camera DaVinci Resolve 11 Blackmagic Studio Camera ATEM Camera Control ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K Smart Videohub 12 x 12 and Smart Videohub 20 x 20 Mini Converters
Read moreZeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 for Fuji Field Tests
Here are some additional field test images from the Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8. We used the lens (loaner from Zeiss) with our X-T1. Some initial thoughts: Very good sharpness as we expected A focal length of 32mm (48mm at 35mm equivalent) proves to be good for general street photography (at least for us). AF not really fast, needs good edges to lock on f/1.8 is not ultra fast but ok for us If this lens would have image stabilization or the X-T1 IBIS (in body image stabilization) the lens would be even more useful The quality seems to be in
Read moreUsing Iridient Developer and Lightroom Together
Using Iridient Developer and Lightroom for Processing Fujifilm X-Trans Files from Thomas Fitzgerald on Vimeo. This fairly lengthy video tutorial shows Thomas Fitzgerald’s process and workflow for working with both Lightroom, and Iridient Developer to get the optimum quality from Fuji X-Trans files. This is the same workflow that I use myself, Iridient Developer for the heavy RAW processing conversion, then Lightroom for the finishing and catalogue/ archiving functions. The video demonstrates how to send files quickly to Iridient Developer, some common settings that Thomas and I use and how to send files back. Thomas walks you through his
Read moreThe Panasonic GH4 Is In My Future
Panasonic GH4 24p C4K ‘Cine-D Profile’ Skintone Quickie test from Nick Driftwood on Vimeo. First you can ask the developer & product director of the Panasonic GH4 your questions here;- http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/10019/ask-developers-of-the-panasonic-lumix-gh4-plus-answers-about-the-m43-format/p1 Now the video: Here’s a quick test Nick Driftwood put together from a string of new footage he’s shooting for the first of his Panasonic GH4 run-through videos. This is a 4096 pixels × 2160 Full 4k (cinema 4K) 4:2:0 8 bit internal (non YAGH) recording with the sound replaced. Profile: ‘CineLikeD’ 24p full 4K 8 bit 4:2:0 100Mbps (Fw 0.5) f4, 50 ss, 200ISO, Panasonic 35-100 f/2.8 zoom
Read moreLET US ROAM: Ray Barbee
LET US ROAM – Ray Barbee from Let Us Roam on Vimeo. Ray Barbee is a legendary professional skateboarder from San Jose, California, who now resides with his wife and two children in Long Beach, California. He made his first appearance in the skate film “Public Domain.” First available in 1988, Public Domain rocked the skate scene and raised the bar with its 60 minuets of tricks, crashes, interviews, and randomness. Frankly, I didn’t particularly care for the production values of “Public Domain” though the subject matter interested me greatly. That is not the case with Ray Barbee’s latest
Read moreMake Your Own Pancake Lens
DIY Pancake Lens from Mark Toal on Vimeo. Panasonic Rep and great mirrorless pancake lens photographer Mark Toal recently got an inspiration for all of us who yearn to make our own hand built pancake lens. Mark uses conventional store bought Aunt Jemima brand frozen pancakes in his pancake lens construction. I personally prefer nothing but genuine organic home-baked frozen pancake lens products myself. My wife always likes to make everything from scratch. So I enlisted her help for this challenge. We started with her grandmother’s pancake recipe we modified for the freezer. Let’s get started! HOMEMADE FROZEN PANCAKES 1
Read more