In about two weeks, they plan to start to ship the first produktion run of 1000 units of their Canon EF mount adapter.

here is the newsletter:


At NAB Birger demonstrated functioning concept models of a new lens mount system for both the Sony NEX-FS100 and the Panasonic AF-100 cameras.  These concept systems demonstrated electronic control of the focus and iris on Canon EF-mount lenses.  This email is an update on those products specifically for the Broadcast market.  Updates for the Industrial and Scientific; and Military, Security and Surveillance markets will be coming in the near future.

The AF-100 version of the product will come first, followed soon after by the Sony PMW-F3, Sony NEX-FS100 and the Arri Alexa.  As we did the initial work for these cameras, it became clear that we needed to make some changes to our new generation of lens control platform, to economically develop and manufacture these additional variants.  

It became clear from our conversations at NAB that an economical (and unobtrusive) wireless solution was important.  We will be coming out with a hot-shoe mounted radio receiver (approximately 30mm cube) that will not require a separate power connection or battery, to remain powered from the lens mount, even during lens changes.  Fortunately we realized the importance of this module prior to releasing the first adapters, as it would not have been possible without some small changes.

This talk of change generally raises questions of price and schedule.  While we are adding significant flexibility to the system, I am happy to say there will be negative effect on price.  We are finalizing some of the design and manufacturing issues to get ready for a volume release of the AF-100 EF-mount Adapter, and when we have the last details worked through, we will announce that we are ready to begin full scale production.  At this point we will first show the final version of the product, announce the dealers, and be about two weeks away from volume shipments.

Those that have expressed (and wish to express) interest in selling our products should know that we feel it most important to attend to the product related issues first.  We will be releasing more information on the dealer program, contracts and a closing date for orders for the initial production build in the next few weeks.  We will not be accepting any deposits, orders or payments until the product is ready for production - and we have done a public demonstration.  All orders at that point will require prepayment, so we can fairly allocate inventory worldwide.  We are planning an initial build of 1000 units for the AF100/EF product.

We have an active beta program for the AF100 and the FS100 products, and have been floating hardware on some very large (and some not so large) productions.  This has offerred us invaluable ergonomic information on the forth coming remotes, as well as access to footage and real world testing.  In the coming weeks we expect to be able to talk about prductions using both the AF100 and FS100 focus systems.

We are excited for the future of Birger in the Broadcast industry.  We are even more excited to get this product released in the short term.  There is no one that wants these new products out in the field more than I do.




Regards,
Erik.

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Erik Widding
President
Birger Engineering, Inc.

(mail) 38 Chauncy St #1101; Boston, MA 02111
(voice) 617.695.9233 x207
 (fax) 617.695.9234
 (web) http://www.birger.com