Hollywood Reporter had this vintage Batman clip on yesterday

Worth watching.

Panasonic Canada Presents The New EVA1

Panasonic Canada had a launch event for their new EVA1 camera this week. DV Shop was there and we met Mr. Takahiro Mitsui, the lead VariCam engineer was on hand.  You can see some pics from the event on our Instagram. Learn more about the EVA1 here.

Remembering Gord Downie

One of DV Dude's favourite bands singing a great song in a great music video.

Thanks for the great music Gord. You can finally rest now.

Shot on EVA1 | Short film “Radio 88”

Coming early November, Panasonic EVA1, more info here.

AtomOS 8.4 for Shogun and Ninja Inferno

AtomOS Firmware 8.4 adds lot’s of new features to the Atomos Shogun Inferno and Ninja Inferno including some new features that will bring gaming features to a new level!
8.4 Release Details for Shogun and Ninja Inferno
Features:
• Added support for Panasonic Varicam LT 10-bit RAW 2kp100/120/200/240 to ProRes & DNX.
• Added support for Panasonic Varicam LT 12-bit RAW to CDNG up to 4kp30.
• Added support for Panasonic Varicam LT 10-bit RAW 2kp100/120 to CDNG.
• (Ninja release doesn’t include Panasonic RAW updates)
Added an option to embed Analog audio into the loop out signal:

• Turn on “Embed Analog audio” in the Audio menu.
• Select which channel to embed by clicking on the “A” button.
• The embedded channel will replace the existing channel on the loop out.
• Audio meters will continue to show the input signal.
Added correct metadata to .mov files for Rec.2100 modes (PQ and HLG) when ATOM HDR monitor mode is enabled.

“Auto HDR” option added in the ATOM HDR options (Support for PQ/HLG and BT.709/BT.2020):

• Enable this option when using a PQ or HLG workflow (eg. PS4 Pro and Microsoft Xbox).
• The HDMI input will decode HDR info frames and automatically configure the gamut and gamma.
• The HDMI output will transmit the correct HDR info frames to the downstream monitor for PQ and HLG.
• In playback the .correct HDR mode will be automatically configured based on the .mov file metadata
Added HDR support for Red Log3G10.
Added HDR support for Hybrid Log Gamma for Sony FS5.

Complete release information, including other fixes on this 8.4 AtomOS release, can be found on the Atomos.com support page Firmware download and Release Notes.
https://www.atomos.com/firmware

Things Can Get Crazy At The DV Shop

We get a lot of unexpected visitors. You can check out the action on our Instagram.

Gear in Action - C300 MK II with Canon CN-E Primes

Our friends over at Archipelago Productions shot a spot for Google using the Canon C300 Mark II with Canon CN-E Primes! They were very impressed with the accuracy of the Dual Pixel AF for the dolly shots.

More of their work can be found here: http://archipelagoproductions.ca

Gear in Action - Panasonic G85

Another excellent video from Attilio Ruffo.

Toronto Film and Video Forum on Facebook

Toronto Film and Video Forum is a Facebook noticeboard where actors, writers and filmmakers can post events, meet-ups, screenings, performances, workshops etc.

Another Friday Afternoon At The DV Shop

One of our customers came in to test out the iKan Beholder camera stabilizer and he had quite a bit of fun in our store. Check out the video on Instagram.

Saying Good-Bye To A Longtime Friend Of The DV Shop

It is with great shock and sadness that we learned of the passing of Equilease founder and President Allen Abbott. He passed away on Saturday, July 29th. He leaves behind his wife and two children.

Many of our customers have arranged their leasing through Allen and Equilease over the years, and everyone knew he was "the guy" for leases for computer, photo and video equipment in Toronto.

From the time DV Shop opened in 2001 and throughout all of the 16 years that we've been open, we've always appreciated the support Allen extended to our business and the many thoughtful Equilease gifts we received at Christmas, especially in those lean early years. There was never a happier sound back in the early days of the DV Shop than Allen's voice on the telephone saying he'd completed another lease for us.

DV Dude actually met Allen in 1989 just after graduating from film school while arranging his first lease for an Apple Mac Classic and Laser printer combo back in 1989.  That old Mac Classic still boots and is still on display at the DV Shop.

Leasing people are often very reserved and corporate to deal with but not Allen. He was certainly a character, with a big personality. Everyone at the DV Shop enjoyed their conversations with him over the years - he had a great sense of humour, and loved to tell stories. He was a hustler, always pushing, always trying to get the deal done. A true mensch.

Memorial donations can be made to the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

SIGMA CEO DROPS BY THE DV SHOP

We had the great pleasure and honour of having Sigma CEO Mr. Kazuto Yamaki visit us yesterday. He was in Toronto on a fact-finding mission, to see the market potential for the new line of Sigma Cine lenses that was launched this year at NAB. The Cine market is new for Sigma, and he is trying to gauge what the market wants, hence the reason for his visit to Toronto.

Mr. Yamaki has transformed Sigma since taking over the company from his father, who passed away in 2012. What is remarkable is how quickly he was able to re-make Sigma in his image, pushing Sigma into a top-tier lens manufacturer, competing with the best of the best.

We had a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion on lenses and photography with him. Did you know it costs about US $1.5-2 million dollars in R&D to design a new lens?

In person, Mr. Yamaki is humble and gracious. In stark contrast to most other photographic executives, he is honest, open and unguarded. One can have a real conversation with him, without having to endure empty talking points and corporate speak. And he is the same in the media interviews he gives. Under that gracious exterior, we did sense someone who is driven and focused though. 

If I were Zeiss, Angenieux, Fujinon, and Canon, I'd be worried. Sigma's coming for you.

BEST DRONE FOOTAGE OF THE WEEK

You may think you're a good drone pilot, but after you watch this video taken on Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, you realize you have a lot to learn. Kudos to Robert McIntosh, the Jedi Knight of Drones. 

Enjoy! And be humbled.

Canon Announces The C200

On May 31st, Canon announced their latest Cinema EOS camera - the 4K C200. We'll see it in August, with body price coming in at $9,999. The video above gives a good overview of the new features.

Learn more here.

4K Video Test Sony PXW-X70

4K Test Sony PXW-X70 from Tommy Paulsen on Vimeo.

Learn more about the Sony PXW-X70 and 4K upgrade here.

Preview of the New Sony a9

We posted some photos on Instagram of our new Sony a9 display model available for testing in the store.

Learn more about the Sonya9 here.

Sony A7S and Ninja Flame Go To 78,000 Feet

Most people do conventional things with their D-SLRs, but these crazy folks in Fairbanks, Alaska decided to attach their Sony a7s and a Ninja Flame to a weather balloon, and send it up 78,000 feet and shoot the Aurora Borealis!

Now that's filmmaking! Way to go Night Crew Labs!

And yes, everything survived.

And here is the very detailed behind-the-scenes movie on how they did it. 

Happy Sweet Sixteen: We've Come A Long Way Baby!

Another year, another anniversary for the DV Shop.  Hard to believe it's our Sweet Sixteen. 

From humble beginnings at our old store...

To our new fancy pants location with our very own vault.

It's been a wild ride so far and we're all looking forward to many more anniversaries in our future!

To keep up to date with all our DV Shop shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Instagram.

NAB 2017: Just Outside Vegas

DV Dude took his rental car out for a spin after NAB closed, and fled the city. His travels took him north up to Mount Charleston. This tiny  little town is a tourist area a mere 45 minutes from the strip, off Hwy 95.

Mountains, clear air, winding roads - all good for the soul, and a good antidote to Las Vegas.

 

NAB 2017: UP UP AND AWAY!!

DV Dude has been meaning for a while to take a ride on the High Roller,  the 550 feet ferris wheel that overlooks the Las Vegas Strip.

 It is the tallest ferris wheel in the world.

 The view at night is quite spectacular.

NAB 2017: Final Notes, Thoughts and Observations

AB 2017 seemed more quiet this year, on both announcements and attendance. NAB claims 103,000 attendees, but the show felt more empty this year. As for the announcements, there were a lot of "pre" announcements this year, coming weeks ahead of NAB, so that might have contributed to the feeling of less announcements. But there was also some holding back from companies that normally would use NAB to launch new product. For example, the photo above is of a mystery camera that Panasonic will announce at CineGear in June. Canon will more than likely also announce a new camera there as well. Red didn't have a booth this year at NAB, instead wanting to exhibit only at CineGear. Mmm… is there some conspiracy against NAB amongst the camera companies?

Other notes and observations:
- The Go Pro booth was the quietest I have ever seen it at NAB. Normally you have to fight your way in there - this year, no problems.
 

- The enthusiasm quotient seemed low this year. People weren't hyper excited about anything. We are in a period of refinement now, not breaking new ground.
 

- NABs can have a dominant theme - drones, 3D, gimbals, 4K, 360 VR, etc. This year had no theme to it. We've seen everything already. We're just making it better.

Anyway, saw some cool new things, made new contacts that will bear fruit in the next month or so, so there will be a lot of new product coming to The DV Shop for our 16th Anniversary.

NAB 2017: NHK Still Dreaming In 8K

Every year those crazy engineers at Japan's NHK show off their advances in 8K technology, just to drive all of us nuts who are still struggling  with 4K. So this year they showed off 8K wireless transmission, and Fujinon showed off an 8K lens (it was massive with very little focal range). NHK is dreaming of giant screens in every home showing 8K, and this was their demo of it.

As a token effort to get Canadians aboard the 8K train, NHK showed off some 8K footage of hockey. It wasn't particularly a good hockey game (in fact it was pretty terrible), but this Canadian appreciated the effort.

NAB 2017: Cool Camera Mounts

 

NAB always has interesting tools that the vast majority of users will  never get to use, but make for great eye-candy. This modified SeaDoo has  a nice big camera mount on the back of it, perfect for your next water  shot of the kiddies on the lake.

Here we have a nice big arm on the front of a motorbike.

But the coolest camera mount was on this beauty that had not one, but two mounts going at the same time. Everyone needs one of these. Everyone.

NAB 2017: Where DV Dude Was This Morning

Even though I have been to Vegas over 20 times, I have never taken a photo of the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign. Well this morning at 5:30 I hopped into my rental car (a Porsche Panamera but that is a whole other story), and got to the sign at sunrise. Mission accomplished. And the first bus load of tourists arrived about 20 minutes later.

NAB 2017: 360 VR Is Still Alive

Did the North Hall first as I normally do, and the 360VR Section was there. While there wasn't quite the same excitement and crowds as last year, there were crowds, and a lot of new product. One thing that caught my eye was this small 360VR camera for your iPhone - the Insta360

A very cool remote camera dolly from a British company called Motion Impossible. This is the Mantis 360 Plus, and you mount your 360VR camera on it, and control it remotely.

There were a lot of 360 camera rigs at the show, usually for smaller cameras such as a Go Pro. But this was the real deal - 8 Alexa Minis sandwiched in there.

NAB 2017: Walk Down Memory Lane

Wth NAB being a show all about the new, it was nice to see the old being on display as well. The Museum of Broadcast Technology has a small corner in the hallway outside the North Hall, where they are showcasing some very old RCA video cameras.

These RCA cameras would have been State of the Art in their day. I do think cameras have become better looking - that drab, industrial, almost Soviet Bloc styling doesn't age well.

How's that for a zoom lens? A Zoomar 58mm to 175mm f/2.8, with the serial number 039. Made in Glen Cove, NY.

DV Dude Has Landed At Nab 2017

Just Arrived At The DV Shop

The all new Panasonic GH5 has arrived!

Check here for pricing and availability: http://www.dvshop.ca/digcamera/panasonicGH5.html

URSA Mini Tested

Toronto Auto Show 2017 - Coolest Car at the Show

DV Dude ventured down to the Metro Convention Centre this week to check out the annual Auto Show, and as usual, there were many nice vehicles on display.

But this one stood out - a 1951 GM LeSabre concept car, on loan from the General Motors Heritage Collection. It was GM's first post-WWII concept car, and was inspired by the F-86 Sabre jet fighter. Very cool.

Zeiss LWZ.3 Visits The DV Shop

We had a chance to test out the new Zeiss LWZ.3 21-100 Light Weight Zoom!
http://www.dvshop.ca/lenses/zeisscinemazoom.html

Overall first impressions were very positive! The T2.9-3.9 ramp is linear and is very hard to detect while zooming. The focus throw is well dampened and the markings are precision calibrated. We conducted our in house tests using a C300 Mark II with an EF mount.

The LWZ.3 uses Zeiss’ IMS system, meaning the end user can change the lens mount between EF, PL, MFT and E. Weighing in at 4.4lbs this lens doesn’t upset the balance of the camera package on a strong video head. We used the Cam Gear DV6P kit for this setup.

Corners are sharp and there didn’t appear to be any barrel distortion. Has the traditional cold Zeiss look and is coloured to match closely to Master and Ultra Primes.

Aiming for a summer 2017 release date.

Zeiss enters the affordable zoom market with this nicely ranged standard zoom lens for Super 35 sensors. While the picture above makes the lens look big, it is only 8.9" long. Manual focus and manual zoom. Parfocal lens design (so focus doesn't shift as you zoom like they do on photo zoom lenses). Splash proof. Features the interchangeable lens mount system (first seen on the CP.2 lenses), so that regardless which mount you buy today, you can always change it down the road. 11 Aperture blades for nice bokeh.

Sensor Coverage: Super 35 (not full frame)
Close Focus: 2'8"/80cm
Front Diameter: 114mm
Length: 8.9"/23cm

Check out this video shot using this lens:  

Zeiss, "The Recipe" from Bill Bennett, ASC on Vimeo.

 

FUJINON CABRIO INTRO MOVIE

The DV Shop is now an authorized Fujinon Cabrio dealer! And we have a demo Cabrio 20-120 T3.5 in the store to play with on your PL-mount camera.

The Cabrio line has become famous for their high quality optics combined with servo zoom. Above is the launch movie for the new 20-120.

Check out the entire Cabrio line here.

Panasonic GH5: Set, Game and Match?

Panasonic just announced the replacement for the highly-regarded GH4 camera. A detailed 15 minute video from The Camera Project runs though the features of the new camera.

Panasonic is certainly not resting on their laurels on this camera. Can't wait to get them in at the end of March!