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NAB 2015
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  • @SuperSet if BM is suddenly bought out by Belden, Sony, JVC, Arri, Samsung.. then we'll know for sure

  • GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRO), enabler of some of today’s most engaging content, today announced the launch of HEROCast™, the smallest, lightest, and most cost-efficient wireless HD micro transmitter to hit the broadcast market. Developed with Vislink, the HEROCast transmitter enables professional broadcasters to deliver engaging, live content with immersive POV footage and unique perspectives that are synonymous with GoPro. HEROCast integrates with GoPro cameras and its ecosystem of mounts, and delivers the most versatile, mountable broadcast solution available and transmits high definition 1080/60fps and 720/60fps video using H.264 encoding with low glass-to-glass latency.

    http://gopro.com/news/herocast-puts-viewers-in-the-action-of-live-events

  • Nikon speakers

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  • Visited Panasonic and the main thing of note was yes, they are demoing a rigged out GH4 running a v-log firmware with the in-cam showing on the camera monitor and corrected footage on external monitor, looking very nice of course. From anonymous sources I have been allowed to say the delay on releasing v-log is probably internal discussions as to whether this is a big enough capabilities upgrade that this firmware option should be a paid one. And if so what price? Apparently figures from free to $300 USD are being bandied about.

    Pictures later.

  • Went by the FreeFly booth and had to be careful as so many people were walking about testing gimbaled cameras or driving remote control cars with mounted cams. Pics to follow.

  • DJI ... watched the demo of the 4K new model and it's quite interesting considering it's under $1500 USD and includes the camera. Pics later. The coverage here chokes on trying to upload pics.

  • Talking with Jose Hernandez at Schneider Kreuznach optics their one item of note will be an 18mm full frame lens that is scheduled for 1st quarter 2015.

  • Panasonic's GH4 firmware that includes v-log output was being demo'd by a fully rigged out GH4 to a recorder that displayed a corrected version ... here's the back of the camera, yes ... it's coming, as noted above, perhaps as a typical firmware update, perhaps at a slightly higher fee. There was quite some interest about this to put it mildly.

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  • DJI wasn't the only company wowing with copters, but the new pair of models was getting massive interest. The Phantom 3 Advanced model shown sitting with it's control panel (complete with holder for your tablet) was announced as $999, and shoots 1080p up to 60fps. The Phantom 3 Professional is listed as $1259 USD, and shoots 4k at up to 60fps. Both come pretty much complete ready to shoot, and include a free training app. The man in the cage is flying and the tablet is the view from the cam of the Pro model.

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  • Canon ... massive booth. One of the more impressive parts was the behind-the-glass area where two techs were repairing Canon gear for show attendees ... one was repairing some mechanical difficulties with a Cine lens, and this fellow was just putting a C300 back together. Fascinating to watch.

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  • Atomos can pull a crowd ... especially for a pre-announced give-away of a Shogun. No, I didn't get there in time to get my name in the hat ... and amazingly, about the first 10 names they called were for people not present. But when they called the name of a guy who was, there, everyone knew it. IF you are lucky & present, there is a lot of good gear given away like this during the show.

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  • Redrock Micro makes some fine gear, and the two main featured were the newest re-working of the One Man Crew, a long motorized slider on a curve with many automated features including the ability to run it from a tablet, so you can even be in the shot as the woman doing the demo showed. Also their Halo auto-focusing system, which can be of course worked from a tablet, showing depth of field and all sorts of other data for the subject/lens details. Price of a few G's is out of my league, but for some things this would be an awesome piece of gear.

    Their gimbaled camera setups are both getting more capabilities and naturally coming in with lower prices ... the "full" Ronin goes for $1900 to $2700 depending on options including whether it's a cabled or wireless control unit. The new Ronin Jr. will be out soon with many of the capabilities ... for under $2000 USD. And then there's the Ultracage Scout, a mini-cage for Sony A7s, designed to protect the camera, mount a monitor, AND offer focus control for the index finger of the left hand in the nifty grip.

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  • Motion9 has a good selection of mounts, sliders, lifts, and many "connector" parts. Demo'd (but not yet released) are a pair of sliders that are counter-weighted and will be motorized by release time. Particularly slick was the way the entire camera mounting block comes out swift & easy yet is solidly locked in place for operation. Pricing on everything seemed very competitive, and the new motorized slider is expected to be under $300 USD. They also have cages for the Shogun monitor that even allow for sitting it on a table with the monitor tipped up at about 45* besides mounting it to cages on-camera.

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  • Ruige had a good selection of monitors, from the small to the 17.3" "Carry-On" unit. It's so named as the monitor is mounted to the inside of the top of a hard-synthetic carry case, with the "guts" for it in the base of the case. And naturally, it has every feature every known to grace a monitor, and they're quite proud of it, as for field shooting this puppy is good. Yes, battery operated ...

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  • Skier had quite a few cages, several jibs, and their new "Vari-Arm" ... that had so many people swarming I couldn't get a clean pic of it in the booth! Beautifully machined work. I did get to work with a jib for a bit. Sweet gear.

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  • Aputure ... oh wow. US Sales Manger Ted Sims had a blast showing off their newest toys to me. Yes, the VS series monitors are still being sold ... but the other new toys lead off their booth, and Ted insisted that these are all SO MUCH FUN to use that they should be called toys rather than tools.

    They have a new handle grip that can be used alone or mounted to the arm of a tripod/dolly, and connects to their DEC adapter that mates Canon glass to M4/3 cameras, and also works on Sony mounts. With that connection ... you have focusing control for the lens under your finger on the controller handle. Total cost for the grip/control unit AND the DEC lens adapter ... $389 USD.

    Not shown but in the works is a speed booster/focus control for $599 USD expected price.

    They have a new 1K LED light shown (but that I forgot to pic!) that's a "typical" size LED block ... but with 1536 lights mounted in a honeycomb array to pack 'em in tighter, all fixed with a machined aluminum body with the entire back finned to dissapate heat, VERY bright, and with a demonstrated CRI of 98. This uses a corded remote control and can run on AC or battery ...around $600 USD when they start shipping soon.

    There is a "half-block" mini unit of this, same features, but with a beam spread of 120 degrees that will come out at around the same time. This half-block is the one shown in the video this above a few posts.

    They've a nice field monitor with false color, peaking, AND yes, the kitchen sink ... including some decent scopes (RGB wave, histogram, and Vectorscope were showing on it) AND SDI in and out, for USD $600. That's in the pick with Ted.

    Also ... a 60 ghz wireless transmitter and receiver that can send a full uncompressed video signal with zero latency to a remote recorder or monitor. They were using this with an A7s and a small gizmo attached with a cord to the HDMI out ... sending to a similar gizmo with HDMI to a 27" monitor ... very nice tool. Expected price of $500 USD, and it runs on the good ol' small Sony batteries.

    All their new toys will ship within 3 months.

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  • And finally for the day, the Lanparte booth. Not the cheapest but a sheer joy to handle their gear. Well designed, finely machined, and that focus puller was smoooooth. Rigs shown here for a BM cine camera and a GH4. Sales manager was very proud of their workmanship ... and as someone with my own shop, this was metal that was a joy to touch.

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  • thank you rneil. Keep them coming. Before your summary, I hadn't seen that much cool new stuff(other than Blackmagic).

  • Thank you @rNeil. Can you find out from Blackmagic if they plan to bring tools on their new video assist monitor? ie focus peaking, vector scope, zebra, false color etc etc. Could you also ask if it could be a later firmware update or even possible available at lunch?