Sony FDR-AX100 4K Camera

Small enough for one-handed shooting, yet powerful enough to record movies in the revolutionary 4K standard, the remarkable new FDR-AX100 is packed with leading advances including Sony's massive 1.0 type Exmor R CMOS image sensor, which delivers stunning image quality, high sensitivity and gorgeous background defocusing. Also featuring a manual lens ring and ND filters, this Handycam camcorder opens the door to a wealth of image expression despite its compact body.

Learn more here

Fun With The Sony CX900

Flying Rocket from Anthony Hamlin (AKA Hamberphim) on Vimeo.



Funky Green Sofa from Anthony Hamlin (AKA Hamberphim) on Vimeo.

Cool Tokyo (Shot with Sony HDR-CX900)

Cool Tokyo (Shot with Sony HDR-CX900) from Mauricio on Vimeo.

Test Driving Gear At The DV Shop

When you visit the DV Shop don't be surprised if you see someone beta testing new products. 

This Ain't Your Grandaddy's Wedding Video

Produced by... The Lightsmiths on Vimeo.

Gear in Action : Rokinon 14mm, 85mm

Love is.. from Oleg Zayanov on Vimeo.

Panasonic DVX200: 4K Shooting On The Go

Back in the day, Panasonic's DVX100 was DV Shop's top selling camera and now Panasonic is bringing back the DVX vibe in a new 4K format that shoots to SD cards.

Info from Panasonic's press release:

The DVX200 is optimized for 4K/HD production, sharing the VariCam family characteristics of filmic tonality and colorimetry, with natural, subtle rendering of skin flesh tones, and a V-Log curve emulating the natural grey-scale rendition of the VariCam 35. The camera features a newly-developed 4/3” large-format MOS sensor and will record 4K (4096 × 2160) / 24p, UHD (3840 × 2160) / HD (1920 × 1080) 60p / 50p / 30p / 25p / 24p in either MP4 / MOV file formats. There are two SD card slots, facilitating backup and relay recording. For professionals working worldwide, the camera’s master frame rate is selectable between 59.94Hz (23.98Hz) / 50.00Hz / 24.00Hz.

The DVX200’s three manual operation lens rings—13x zoom (Cam driven), focus and iris—will provide a comfortable manual control similar to an interchangeable lens camera, but without the need for actual lens changes. The zoom ring’s solid feel and smooth action allow delicate ultra-slow zooming. In addition, the camera’s multi-step zoom control provides fast response and smooth zoom action, yielding the creative freedom every camera operator desires. The zoom control on the handle enables variable speed zoom, allowing fine zoom control even for low angle shots. The DVX200 also features an enhanced Image Stabilizer, including a five-axis Hybrid Image Stabilizer and 4x correction-area Image Stabilizer that produces clear images without blurring, and a micro-drive focus unit that improves focus speed, tracking and capture performance, facilitating 4K focusing and shallow focus shooting. 

Learn more here.

Manfrotto Digital Director: Taking Your iPad To Another Level

At NAB 2015, Manfrotto announced their new Digital Director, a system that transforms an iPad into a viewfinder for Nikon or Canon DSLR cameras that can be used either for photography or video shooting.

Digital Director is made up of hardware, software and firmware that allows shooters to connect via a USB cable from their camera to Digital Director which connects to an iPad Air to launch the Digital Director App—the first Apple Certified interface to work with DSLRs.

The Digital Director App offers Live View and audio monitoring through the iPad’s screen and the app provides the ability to control setting such as exposure, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, manual focus, WB, image quality, focus and drive modes and battery status.

Shooters can crop, adjust exposure, contrast and brightness within the app allowing them to monitor their work while shooting.

Digital Director is slated to start shipping in the US over the summer. No word yet on a Canadian release.

Shark Slider Review

iFootage S1 Shark Slider Review from Caleb Pike on Vimeo.

Learn more here

Wooden Camera Quick Cage

Learn more here

Spooky Trees

DV Dude sent us these pics from the road as he winds his way home from NAB 2015.

Coming Soon !! Small HD 502 HDMI/SDI Field Monitor

The 502 on-camera monitor is the sharpest and smartest SmallHD field monitor yet. Its 5-inch diagonal LCD has a 1920x1080p resolution with color reproduction capabilities that rival OLED technology.
New Features Include:
• Joystick + Back Button Navigation
• Integrated Zoom (2x and 4x image zoom with joystick)
• Pages: the fastest way to access image analysis tools
• High Resolution 3D LUTs (17-point LUTs)

Learn more here

NAB 2015: Wild and Wacky Edition

Now this is a real man's car mount. Must get one of these.

Here is an expansion chassis with 16 - yes 16 - nVidia video cards installed. Why would you want 16 video cards attached to your computer? Because you can.

Saw this in the Fashion Mall. Interesting marketing - aiming Las Vegas real estate at Canadians. Didn't think that many Canadians were buying real estate in Vegas, but I guess they are. Pricing is certainly better than here in Toronto.

And the person with the most degrading job at NAB 2015 would be Shark Guy, who had to sit in this little booth, wearing a shark outfit, begging people to tweet about him and the company he was working for. If you tweeted you could win a prize. What did he do wrong in a previous life to deserve such a fate?

That's it for DV Dude's NAB 2015 Wrap Up!

NAB 2015: Lighting Edition

F&V was showing off the R720 LED Ring Light, essentially a bigger version of their very popular R300 Ring Light. Coming this summer. Starting at around US$499.

 The crazy Esotian company KinoTehnik was showing off a prototype LED Fresnel light that was quite powerful. And it also can be controlled from your smartphone. Planning to ship this summer for US$699.  

I still remember the NAB that Litepanels made their debut - quite the sensation. And over time, their market dominance slipped as cheaper (and arguably just as good) competing LEDs came to the market. Then the competitors really started to shine, and Litepanels seemed to be asleep at the wheel, suffering from Avid disease - that is, we're the best, why would you buy anything else, go to hell if you don't buy our product. But Litepanels is back with new products, and they are being quite aggressive on pricing.

This little guy, the Caliber, caught my eye - a little fresnel that runs off AC or 6 AA batteries, is focusable and dimmable. It comes in a three light kit, with 3 Gorilla Pods, one light stand, and a carrying case. The price? US$999.

Also, their new line of 1x1 panels, the Astra E and EP, are also priced very aggressively, starting at US$699. Very interesting...  
 

Cyborg Shooter!

Newsshooter at NAB 2015: Tilta Armor-Man from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera

Newsshooter at NAB 2015 - Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 12: What's New

No Film School gets a demo of the new Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 12 at NAB 2015.

Blackmagic URSA Mini Overview

LinusTechTips reports on the Blackmagic URSA Mini from NAB 2015.

NAB 2015: New Cameras

 

Panasonic is trying to come back into the camera game in 2015, launching the new Varicam to good reviews, and now announcing the new DVX200. Yes, it is the successor to the extremely popular DVX100, which we sold tons of. Now with 4K, and a M43 sensor (an updated GH4 sensor). But with a fixed lens. But that lens is a Leica 13x zoom f/2.8-4.5 zoom and the camera features auto focus, power zoom, ND filters, 12 stops of latitude, V-log, 4k 60p, and records to SD cards. And 120 fps in HD. Coming in December for "under US$5000." Pretty sleek looking.

It wouldn't be NAB if Blackmagic didn't make a ton of announcements, and this is one of them. The Ursa Mini. Probably the camera that the Ursa should have been in the first place. Much much lighter than the Ursa, but the Mini still has some weight to it, being heavier than a C100 or a F5. Comes in around 7 - 8 pounds. EVF looks nice. We're already getting pre-orders, so it looks like this will do well. In theory shipping this summer, but we all know how Blackmagic is about making ship dates. 

Not as much buzz about this little guy, but like the Pocket Camera, what an achievement. Fits in the palm of your hand. Again - in theory, shipping this summer. I think this camera will get more attention as it ships. Think of it as a Pro Go Pro camera. Except it doesn't record internally.

We've already talked about in this blog about the C300 Mark II, so no need to get into detail again in this post.

What Everyone's Asking Us About This Week

People started calling DV Shop about the Blackmagic Ursa Mini within minutes of the announcement.

When The Cat's Away, The Mice Play Trap

DV Dude's taste in music runs to the milder side just shy of elevator music. When he goes out of town for business and Sean's in charge of the music at the DV Shop, we rock a little more to the wild side.

NAB 2015: Day One Report

DV Dude started in the North Hall, which is the quietest of the 4 halls NAB is in, as a way to ease himself into the maelstrom. For at least the 3rd year, NHK was showing off their 8K monitors and cameras. Here is the smallest 8K camera, the cube 8K.

NHK also showed off the world's smallest 8K monitor - a 13" OLED monitor.

This was a cool little item - a 360 degree rig using Go Pros from the company 360Heros.

Moving into the Central Hall, the DJI booth was packed. DJI announced the baby Ronin. Aimed at DSLRs. Shipping soonish for under US$2000.

Sennheiser showed off a new wireless mic system that will be more expensive than the current EW112P line. Offering a digital signal, auto-scanning, and auto-gain, it will ship by June for under $1000.

Sennheiser also showed off a iPhone-ready ME2 omni lav mic, with a lightning connector. It will ship in late May for around $200.

NAB 2015: Terminator

NAB 2015: And So It Begins...

DV Dude has safely arrived at NAB 2015, where it is sunny and a balmy 30 degrees.

NAB 2015 - C300 Mark II Announced!

Quick Walkaround Video:

 

New Stabilizer

Today is April 1st, that means all sorts of new product announcements!

 Here’s one from Playstation: https://youtu.be/KYrpfmRX1GM

Note: These products are not real, but it would be cool if they were.