NAB Day 3

Whew! They always say be careful what you wish for. I wanted to see the exhibits and today I most definitely did. NAB can make your eyeballs explode there’s so much to look at it. It’s like a media explosion and the best way to contain it is just to take your time, collect as many brochures as you can stuff in your bag and for pete’s sake, wear comfortable shoes.

One of the main differences from this year to last year was 3D. Last year, you couldn’t turn your head without seeing a 3D solution. This year, the big push was in small form factor, hi-resolution digital cinema cameras. Panasonic’s offering is the AF-100.

The thing I love about this camera is it gives you an incredible image comparable to the Canon 5D but with a slightly larger form factor, it gives you the types of control that are perfect for pro video including XLR audio inputs, zebra patterns, and ND Filters, just to name a few. It also allows you to record extended periods using two SD card slots in the back. This is one of the things I hate about the 5D is it’s limited recording time so Panasonic may actually have the “DSLR Killer”.

Here’s a pic of one of the sets all the camera companies had to showcase their cameras. It’s really fun to get your hands on the camera and see out it performs with talent in a lit environment.

Here’s my first look at the Arri Alexa Digital Cinema camera. It has a great image but honestly I wasn’t blown away by it like I was some of the other models. I gotta say, though, it sure looked nice with this massive zoom lenses attached.

3D wasn’t completely dead. In fact there were a lot more competition in terms of getting 3D into the hands of consumers. Look at this 3D handicam from JVC that shoots to dual SD cards much like Panasonic’s $20,000 model. This one comes in at $2,500 and actually made a really nice 3D image.

This was a cool rig that I’ve been considering trying to mock up for a future production. It allows you to capture a moment from a multiple number of positions. It was made famous in the Matrix films.

If there was one piece of equipment that I really wanted it would probably be this baby. A mini helicopter with a gyro mount for your HD camera. The footage I saw was super slick and let you get into places that you’d never get with a full size chopper rig.

The award for equipment that I would never in a million years want goes to the Zoom Crane. The demo was really bad. The camera shook all over the place as it extended out. Some guy beside me asked the rep if the unit came with a boxing glove on the end. That would have made it a lot more impressive.

One of the big showcases of NAB was the Epic from RED. I’ve been following this baby for a while now and it was really cool to get to see it up close. RED’s booth was crazy. Here’s the line of people just waiting to get in. I thought it was really funny how they had these “Security Guard” around the booth making sure you didn’t breath on the camera too much.

I did manage to snap a shot of our EVF that we’re waiting on. I tried to convince them that we had already paid for one so I could just take this one with me but the “Security Guards” put me in an arm-bar and escorted me to the Alexa booth.

I absolutely love these geared tripod heads from GearNex. They control your pan and tilt with levers and it’s silky smooth.

Another cool rig was this one that utilized the IPad’s video camera on a shoulder mount rig. I also saw rigs that used the IPad as a teleprompter.

This device from SideKick digital is a portable recording device that connects via HD SDI or HDMI and records natively in Pro Res 422. This would allow us to shoot long form productions on the Canon 5D and record files that were ready to edit in Final Cut Pro.

Today was a long and exciting day and I look forward to spending some more time in the Post Production exhibits tomorrow.

-Matthew