Sony Builds Anticipation for A7s with "Detailed Hands On" Video!

In the video below, Sony builds anticipation for the world's first full-frame camera with UHD ("4K") output. This camera records internally at up to 1080/60p and 720/120p compressed to 50mbps - a relatively low bit rate by modern standards. What really sets it apart, however, is the ability to record video at up to ISO 409600 (!). With this kind of light-gathering capability and external UHD recording, this camera should be the low-light/high resolution king. Here's the video:



I went to NAB very excited to see this camera - especially since I wasn't able to be there until Day 2 of the show. I watched the big Sony press event online on Day 1 and couldn't wait to get over to the Sony booth and get my hands on the camera. When I arrived, I was fortunate enough to get a chance to handle it and talk to a couple of Sony reps who had flown in from Japan. The high ISO sensitivity is real - and it produced great output on the show floor - but we'll have to see what the footage looks like once it's in the hands of shooters who don't work for Sony.

For those who need extreme low light sensitivity and the full-frame "look", but don't mind buying or renting an external recorder for UHD and don't need: 4096x2160 4K; 1080p slow motion; or 1080p bit rates beyond 50mbps, this may be the camera you've been waiting for. If it is, you can pre-order it for $2498 at Amazon or Adorama.

On the other hand, if you don't make movies in the dark, want to record 4K internally, and want 1080/96p slow motion and 1080p bit rates at up to 200mbps, you might be better off saving yoursefl $800 and ordering a $1698 Panasonic GH4.

And you'll probably have your camera sooner.

Studio Ring Light or Ring Light for your Rig? The F&V R-300 is Both!

Last month at NAB, I was a "one-man band" - shooter, gaffer, interviewer, sound person, editor etc. I learned a lot about shooting events solo - enough to know that I had almost the right rig for the job.

If I ever do this again, I will need the Panasonic 12-35 f2.8 lens or some other fast autofocusing, low light glass. The focus motor on the old Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 just isn't fast or accurate enough (you'll see that in the interview at the bottom of the post with F&V North America Manager Connor Hartnett).

That said, my DIY rig worked well - especially the new ring light I bought for the show.

That light is the $199 F&V R-300, and it is easily the best lighting investment I've made in 35 years of video and moviemaking. I love my Stellar Ring Light - but the F&V is better - because it is dimmable, has easy-to-use magnetic clip on filters for both diffusion ($25) and tungsten color balance (included) - and it is powered by one $8.50 Sony FP-V550 battery (or by 12V input from an AC adapter if you want to plug it in).



The R-300 is smaller than the Diva and much more portable - both in the studio and in the field.  Here it is on the front of my DIY rig, attached with the $40 F&V rail mount.



This setups gave me great light and lots of flexibility. It was also a lot more convenient than having an LED mounted on top of the camera. Several folks stopped me on the show floor to ask me about the R-300 and I sent them over to the F&V booth. Here's the interview with Connor, where he talks about the R-300, a new R-300 softbox as well as some of their other new products:



As usual, if anything here has helped you to make a buying decision, please shop using the links above or the display ads below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will keep these blog posts coming. Thanks!

Blackmagic Studio HD Camera Now Shipping for $1995 from Adorama!

I saw Blackmagic CEO Grant Petty demoing the new Blackmagic Studio Camera at NAB - and it produced fabulous images in a studio setting (which is what it is for). For low budget web, cable and broadcast production, this camera is an incredible value for the money. With a couple of these cameras lenses, mics and a switcher you'll have the basics of a live production setup for around $10,000 - a fraction of the cost of a single traditional broadcast camera, such as the $87.5K Sony HCD 2000 Studio Camera.

It is interesting that Blackmagic has been able to start shipping the Studio Camera so soon after NAB. This augurs well for an early (or, at least, on time) ship date for the Blackmagic Ursa - which I am much more interested in, as an amateur cinematographer.

It will also be interesting to see whether prices on traditional cameras start coming down in reaction to this camera. The big manufacturers in this market have already seen their profits in this market segment decline over the past few years. This will probably drive a few of them out of this line of business.

If anything here has helped you to make a buying decision, please click on one of the links above or the display ad below to order your Studio Camera. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these blog posts coming. Thanks!

Making "Big Hollywood" Production Values More Accessible - Exclusive Interview with Eric Kessler

The place for the cool people to hang out at NAB this year was clearly the well-stocked bar between the Zacuto and Kessler booths.

The biggest crowds I saw at the show were at GoPro - the most ostentatious displays were at Sony, Canon, Blackmagic and RED - and the Vegas showgirls were at the booths of companies I'd never heard of (which is why the showgirls were there) - but if you wanted to see Philip Bloom holding forth or see Steve Weiss showing a shoulder rig to Vincent Lafloret or meet Eric Kessler, this was the place to be.

I didn't get a chance to meet Phil or Steve or Vincent, but Eric Kessler took a few minutes with HCR to describe some of their latest products and talk a little about Kessler's mission.





I was really impressed by what I saw at the Kessler booth.  I've been saving up for a slider and thought about settling for one of the low-end models.  But my conversation with Eric convinced me that it would be better to wait a little longer and buy something that will last a lifetime.

If you're in the market for a high quality slider, jib or camera support system - and anything here has helped you to make a decision to buy Kessler products, please visit the Kessler Crane Storefront on Amazon or click on one of the display ads below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help keep posts like this coming.  Thanks!

New Product from NAB - Affordable Multi-Axis Stabilizers from Big Balance

So I see a gentleman in Flava Flav-style white framed sunglasses racing around the show floor in a motorized wheelchair, followed by another guy "flying" a very small handheld gimbal. Okay, so my interest is piqued.

I start following these two to see where they're going. Turns out they're headed back to the booth for Big Balance Technology - an exciting new player in the multi-axis gimbal market.

With the introduction of the $15K MoVI 10, the $5K MoVI 5 and the $1.8K Defy last year - plus the proliferation of brushless gimbals we're starting to see on 'copters (such as the Zenmuse Z15), there are lots of gimbals at NAB this year. For years, I've dreamt of smooth, gimbaled Hollywood-style motion from a 2 or 3-azis stabilizer, but I hadn't planned to stop by any of the gimbal manufacturers' booths this week, because there was no way I could afford a powered stabilizer - or so I thought.

Enter Big Balance. A new Hong Kong company with a presence in the US and Europe. They saw the opportunity to bring multi-axis gimbal technology down from the high-end to smartphones, action cams, small and large interchangeable lens cameras - and this year they're at NAB, planning to ship their products in June. Prices start at an unbelievable $220 for their "Gazelle" 2-axis smartphone stabilizer.

Here's my interview with Larry Reich from Big Balance with a demo of the $995 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera on a $750(!) Big Balance Gorilla stabilizer. I was so impressed,I forgot to pay attention to holding focus on Larry:




For smartphone and action cam filmmakers, this is a no-brainer. They should buy the Husky and the Mustang as soon as they are available.

For compact cam and DSLR/DSLM filmmakers, it's a little more money - but still worth it - especially for BMPCC owners (like me) who are frustrated by how hard it is to hold the camera steady.

If you have been on the fence about buying the BMPCC because you have been concerned about image stabilization - it may be time to pull the trigger.

Bear on the loose - no, it's not the Russians, it's the Blackmagic Ursa!

This morning at NAB, while I was still enroute, Blackmagic dropped their latest bombshell. Two new cameras, the Studio Camera and the Ursa, for the pro TV and cinema markets. Hard to believe that the Ursa is $6495 for the PL mount version and $5995 for the EF mount version. Global shutter, Super 35 sensor, 12 stops of DR, a built-in 10' monitor, and dual CFast RAW or ProRes recording.

Unlike some other bloggers, I am not upset that they didn't fix their existing cameras first. Disruptive companies disrupt. That's what they do. I have a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera - it is an imperfect camera, yes - but for the image quality it produces, it is still a great value for the money.

That said, unfortunately for Sony, the specs on this camera sound a lot like the specs on the $29,000 F55.

Between the A7s' externally recorded 4K and the Ursa, it has already been a bad week for Sony - and it's only Monday.

I am waiting to see the price for the HDMI Ursa - the DSLR/DSLM "dock" that will turn cameras like the Panasonic GH4 and Sony A7s into cinema production cameras.

If you want to get on the waiting list for the Ursa (and knowing Blackmagic, you want to get on the list early, because it is likely to be a long wait), please click on the links above or the display ad below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help keep updates like this one coming. Thanks!

Final Rig Configuration for NAB 2014

The last piece of my "Frankenrig" arrived on Saturday - so here's the final configuration I'll be using for interviews and B roll on the show floor at NAB.

Instead of a static picture, as in my first post on "Frank", I shot a short video to point out all the pieces/parts - and try out my new Audio Technica AT8004L handheld mic (on sale for $89 plus shipping right now at Adorama).

This setup is for shoulder-mounted work and not really for mounting on a tripod, due to oscillation. But the ability to mount it on the tripod will still be convenient for interviews (and for giving my shoulder a rest).

And, given that it's NAB, there will probably be plenty of people with huge cameras and tripods walking around - so I won't look too strange.

If you have a mirrorless camera with an EVF, and you'd like to build your own in-line rifle style rig, the parts list is in the display ads below - or you can go directly to the video and order from the links in the "About" section.

Hope to see you at NAB!

Sony Announces 4K Full Frame A7s - How Does It Stack Up Against the Panasonic GH4?

Sony unveils the A7s - a full frame, interchangeable lens 4K video camera

This is a big turnaround for Sony. A couple of months ago, in an article entitled, "Sony: Consumers aren't quite ready for 4K recording", Sony executives were quoted as saying, "Some competitors have already introduced 4K recording models so it is a point of differentiation that we don’t have at the moment but we see the need for it."

But with the firestorm of interest around the new Panasonic GH4 (and Sony's own FDR-AX100 4K camcorder), Sony seems to have changed its tune. At the end of today's press event at NAB 2014, Sony unveiled a new full-frame, interchangable lens camera based on the A7 - the A7s (high level specs on the slide below):



The headline number is clearly the ISO. In fact, the "s" in A7s stands for "sensitivity".  It is clear that Sony is going to make the case that low light shooters should buy this camera instead of the GH4.

But the rest of the specs aren't really competitive.  An optional XLR input doesn't match an optional quad 4K HD-SDI output. The A7s' slow motion will be a relatively lo-res 720/120p against the GH4's full HD 1080/96p.  The A7s' XAVX-S 50Mbps will certainly look nice, but if it is 8-bit 4:2:0, it won't grade as well as the GH4's 100Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 HDMI output.  As for shooting LOG, the GH4's CineLike D will at least give S-Log2 a run for its money.

The elephant in the room, however, is price.  How much will this camera cost?  If, like the A7r,  it is a few hundred dollars over $2000 - I don't think they'll sell a lot of them.  If, however, it is closer to the price of the A7, the GH4 may have a fight on its hands.  Of course, that will kill A7 sales and create a lot of angry A7 owners.  It will be interesting to see what Sony does.

Really looking forward to getting to Vegas tomorrow!

EDIT: Just saw that DJ over at DSLRFilmNoob is reporting that the A7s cannot record 4K internally and that the price will be $2500.  If true, I don't think they're going to sell a lot of these cameras.

EDIT 2: The press release seems to confirm that the camera records 3840x2160 to an external recorder and 1080p to the internal card.  For cinema shooters who want DCI compatible 4096x2160 and prefer to record internally, this is a non-starter.  It looks like the GH4 is the winner on resolution, internal 4K recording and price.

EDIT 3:   Here's the first video shot with the A7s.  Compressed for YouTube and not downloadable:



 EDIT 4: Andrew Reid at EOSHD is reporting that Atomos has announced the Atomos Shogun external recorder for the A7s.  It will be "less than $2000" and will record the A7s' 8-bit 4K output as 10-bit ProRes.  So you'll need to add a ~$2000 recorder to the A7s' estimated $2500 price to get 10-bit 4K (transcoded from 8-bit).  That's a lot of money for a transcode.

If you've been waiting to see what Sony would do before deciding to pre-order your GH4, and this post has helped you make a decision, please pre-order through one of the links above or the display ads below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these updates coming. Thanks!

A Reminder of What Has Sony (and Canon) Worried - Adorama Reviews the Panasonic GH4!

Panasonic DMC-GH4 with DMW-YAGH Pro Audio-Video Interface - $3298
Click Here or on the Photo to Order 

While we wait for Sony NAB 2014 Press Event (less than an hour away as I write this), here's a reminder of why Sony is (may be) in such a rush to introduce a 4K interchangeable lens mirrorless camera - the enthusiastic reception that the 4K $1698 Panasonic GH4 is getting.

Adorama TV has just released another positive GH4 review - with example scenes from different shooting scenarios - to include recording to an Aja Ki Pro Quad (with the usual caveat that you can't tell a lot from YouTube compressed video).

And there's a lot more on the DMW-YAGH audio video interface (which the reviewer calls a "breakout box") and on the camera's ergonomics when it is combines with the YAGH and an external recorder.

Here's the video:



This is a great reminder of the high bar that Sony will have to clear if they want to compete with the GH4. With any luck, I can get my hands on both cameras at NAB and tell you all about it.

Please subscribe to the blog to stay up to date on the latest from NAB next week - and support our sponsors - they keep us up and running and make our NAB coverage possible.  Thanks!

World's First Full Frame 4K Camera? Watch Sony NAB Announcement Live!

Sunday Night, April 6th, at 2PM Pacific, 5PM Eastern and 10PM London time, Sony will hold its annual NAB Press Event. The rumor sites are pretty much all reporting that the company will announce an "A7s" 4K full frame video/still camera.

Full frame is nice, but we'll have to see whether the new camera's codec and connectivity measure up to the GH4's.

Sadly, I don't get to Vegas until Monday night, but Sony will live stream the event - so we can all watch it right here on HCR!


EDIT: Okay, okay - it's the world's second full frame 4K camera (after the very expensive Canon 1D C). That said, it is likely to be the world's first full frame 4K camera that many people can afford.

My GH3 Rig for NAB

I finally broke down and bought a set of rails. I'll be doing some one-man band interviews and B-roll with my GH3, Sigma 18-50mm constant f/2.8 lens, Audio Technica AT835b mic and Hosa MIT-156 XLR to 3.5mm transformer adapter at NAB next week, and since I'll be putting a new F&V R-300 LED Ring Light in front of the camera, I needed a set of rails.

The least expensive option I could find was a set of $21 40cm/16-Inch rods with end caps, a $30 camera mounting plate, a $30 quick release, a $23 RainbowImaging pistol grip, a $7.50 Pixel remote cable for Panasonic cameras and a $35 convertible shoulder pad/shotgun rest.

Please subscribe to the blog to catch my updates from NAB next week - and I'll definitely let you know how the new rig works out!

Panasonic VariCam 35 4K RAW Camera/Recorder Announced!

The new Panasonic VariCam 35 4K RAW camcorder

Finally! Panasonic comes up with a follow-on large sensor, interchangeable lens camcorder and enters the Super 35 game with a 14 stop 4K RAW modular camera and recorder. The Press Release (link below) says, "Ultimate Image Production for Cinema or Episodic Drama". The price is still TBD, but sources say it will be over $10K. It had better not be much over $10K if Panasonic wants to be competitive with the newly marked down $20K Canon C500.

The recorder can also be matched with a new VariCam HS 2/3" camera head for broadcast.

Both cameras will have 4 card slots - 2 for full size P2 cards, 2 for microP2 cards (the same cards used by the GH4).

The venerable Panasonic AG-AF100

A lot has happened in the four years (!) since Panasonic shook up the camcorder world with the first-ever large sensor interchangeable lens camcorder under $10,000, the AG-AF100.

With the passage of time, it may be a little difficult to remember how revolutionary this camera was - especially in the wake of successive rollouts of Super 35 interchangeable lens cameras from Panasonic's competitors - the Sony FS100, F3, FS700 ; quickly followed by the Canon Cinema EOS Line; the Sony F5/F55 and, most recently; the $2995 UHD Blackmagic Production Camera.

The VariCam 35, with its true 4K/120fps and HD 240fps slow motion, wireless capability, and other unique features is clearly a bid to regain Panasonic's leadership in the large sensor camcorder world.

If Panasonic can make this camera price competitive with the C500, it is likely find its way onto lots of movie and TV sets. If Panasonic RAW color is anywhere close to ArriRAW, it may even find itself competing with the big dogs. Welcome back, Panasonic. Here's the Press Release.