This year at NAB 2013, Manfrotto announced the new MVH500AH Video Fluid Head which sits as an entry level product in their Bridging Technology line of Video heads. The new video head may be the most affordable Video Head that uses actual ball bearings and fluid cartridges to provide smooth pan / tilt operation. One small change i'm excited to see is the ability to drop in the quick release plate (instead of sliding). This makes it easier when working with video rigs instead of leaving additional clearance required for sliding quick release systems.
The MVH500A & MVH500AH Video Fluid Heads will be available separately (Head Only), bundled with a 755 Half Ball Video Tripod (carbon fiber or aluminum), and even available with a Fluid Foot Video Monopod (replacing the popular 561BHDV). Check out the new MVH500AH Video Fluid Head following the links below.
The H6 Handy from Zoom is a portable handheld recorder and USB audio interface that features an interchangeable microphone system. The recorder ships with both XY and mid-side microphone modules and optional modules can be purchased for expanded functionality.
The H6 Handy allows for versatile recording techniques, giving you several options right out of the box. The included XY microphones are intended for capturing accurate, phase-correct stereo audio for field recording and similar applications. The XY module can be switched out for the mid-side stereo microphone, which can be used to make recordings that allow for added control to the width of your stereo image.
In addition, the H6 is also equipped with four XLR/TRS combo inputs for connecting external mic/line sources such as microphones or mixers. It allows you to record up to six channels at once and stores them to SDXC memory cards up to 128GB in size. The unit also doubles as a 6-in/2-out USB audio interface and it can be used with your computer running DAW software.
Optional Mics and Inputs
Optional interchangeable modules are available, including a shotgun mic, as are additional XLR/TRS inputs
Hot Shoe Mount Add-on
Add the optional hot shoe mount to attach your H6 to a DSLR video camera
20 Hour Battery Life
Over 20 hours of operation using four AA batteries
Professional Sound Quality
Records audio of up to 24-bit/96kHz
Most cameras save a highly compressed file to SD or Compact Flash media cards. One option that is available on higher end cameras is the ability to capture from a clean HDMI signal so that you can use an external recorder to save your video into a higher quality file format.
Originally the Canon 5D Mark III lacked the ability to capture clean video from it's HDMI output. Over at NAB 2013, I was able to check out a few companies who were already testing the firmware upgrade. One booth was Convergent Design displaying it with a new Odyssey 7/7Q monitor, and the other was at the Atomos Ninja booth.
Canon 5D Mark III with Odyssey 7 / 7 Q OLED Display + Recorder
Hopefully we'll see this firmware release very soon and with this unlocked feature that adds a new option to capture from the HDMI output of the Canon 5D Mark III (making the camera better than it already is), I'm sure this will drive further demand to this camera body. Most places right now are listing the Canon 5D Mark III for $3300 dollars, but you will often find ebay Deals on the Canon 5D Mark III listing for $2899. Might be worth taking a look (click here).
The new BlackMagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera was announced here at NAB2013. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera
sports a Super 16 size 1080HD sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range. They are saying that the images look virtually identical to the current BMCC EF mount cinema camera. Featuring a Micro Four Thirds™ lens active mount so you can use low cost lenses, but also Super 16 cine lenses via an adapter.
A small and attractive design with built in stereo mic's, LANC, micro HDMI with overlays for monitoring, solid grip handle that holds a removable battery and built in recorder to SD cards. It records lossless CinemaDNG RAW and ProRes 422 (HQ). The BlackMagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera is available for pre-order and should ship in July 2013 (pre-order now here)
[Update] Give Away is Closed. Follow me on Twitter for more FREE Gear @Cheesycam
NAB2013 has already leaked some interesting new products which i'll try to post about during my time here, so make sure to follow me on Twitter as I try to publish some interesting gear throughout this week.
New & Improved - Carry Speed VF-4 LCD Video ViewFinder
Another great reason to follow me on Twitter is i'll be choosing one person every day while i'm out here at NAB to receive a new Carry Speed VF-4 LCD View Finder - not yet available online. The best part is, you don't need to be here at NAB to be selected. Here's what you need to do to qualify to receive one of these Freebies:
Vincent Laforet just posted up this video BTS of a new Hand Held Stabilized System from FreeFly that allows you to operate a video camera with smooth results. When this becomes available, this will truly be an awesome product, but retail prices for such a product are looking to be floating around $7,000-$15,000 US dollars. That actually sounds like a great deal if it comes complete with a way to stream HD Video out for a remote operator to maintain framing.
It really is an amazing tool to use that will free you from Cranes/Jibs/Sliders/Track Dollies, etc. Not to take anything away from FreeFly, but my guess is this system is strongly based on what is known as 'Brushless Gimbals' used in Ariel Photography/Video. In fact I just received an email a while back about how the technology for brushless pan / tilt stabilized systems have become more affordable and is a trend in the DIY RC Groups. Brushless motors are used in place of noisy and slow Servos.
Normally these DIY Brushless Gimbals for cameras are designed to mount under Quadcopters and stuff, but here's a couple of DIY project videos showing these brushless stabilizers in action over the past year.
There's a variety of these 'brushless gimbal' systems on the market, including many for the GoPro Hero Cameras. You can find some small systems for under $200-$300 bucks. Here's a ready made off-the-shelf product from DJI called the ZenMuse that looks pretty good. They claim to have very fast response time which is important to keeping your video shake free as you move about.
DIY Wireless HDMI & Wireless Follow Focus
So then there's the question about working with a remote operator or maybe two remote camera operators? One operator on a system like this would be in charge of framing or keeping the subject in focus. You'll need a wireless video stream from the camera. If you're moving about with a shallow depth of field, then someone needs to be in charge of what should be in focus.
This oddly segways into a video I just uploaded last night specifically for a remote camera operator, showing a DIY wireless HD video stream from a GH3 camera, and testing a Wireless Follow Focus system (below).
Thanks to Patryk for pointing out this small Nyrius ARIES Prime Digital Wireless HDMI System for me. I've in the past used the Asus WiCast (old article here) but the transmitter was a bit large and required too many amps which meant I had to use a large battery. This Nyrius ARIES Prime Digital Wireless HDMI transmitter can operate on 1A and is powered via mini USB, so i'm able to use a very small USB battery pack. The receiver still requires 5V/2A, so right now i'm just working with the Tekkeon battery pack on the receiver end.
Another reason why i'm excited to build this project is because of the GH3 camera! Canon DSLRs will lose the lcd display if you plug an HDMI cable in, so that meant that aside from my Wireless HDMI, I was required to plug in an LCD monitor with HDMI passthrough for the cam operator to see. The GH3 camera can continue to output a 1080HD signal through the HDMI without dropping the LCD display on the camera - (c'mon Canon get it together).
For controlling focus remotely, there are many different Wireless Follow Focus systems on the market, but right now i've been testing out the Senna All Recall Wireless Follow Focus system that was sent to me (below). I am still putting it through it's paces, and will have more information about the product on a later post. There are a few quirks about the design, but so far the performance of the unit has been great and I haven't had any issues.
For those who can't afford the popular Canon versions (or maybe you just don't want to pay those price), these two alternative 90mm and 70-200mm Tamron lenses have just arrived at B&H. The 90mm F/2.8 Macro with VC would be a similar style lens as the Canon 100mm F/2.8L IS Macro, but is about 25% cheaper.
The Tamron 70-200mm F/2.8 with VC is about $1000 dollars cheaper than the Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L IS. I use the Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 quite a bit in studio because i'm able to blur out backgrounds and narrow my field of view when shooting on 9ft backdrops. I sometimes find myself wanting a second 70-200mm lens for a second angle, and this new Tamron is looking like a good option.
Over at WPPI Benro displayed some of their new Benro Video Tripods along with their new S2, S4, and S6 video fluid heads. The unique bit about each video tripod is a half bowl leveling base that sits above the center column. Much like a bowl mount tripod, this gives you the ability to quickly level your shots without bending over and fussing with individual legs. This feature is much appreciated when you have a heavy rig thrown on your tripod. The benefit to the Benro design of course is to still retain the raised center column that gives you extra height without adding overall length when the tripods are folded up.
These new Benro leveling tripods look pretty good, but unfortunately according to Benro the new Video Tripods come as a kit and can't be purchased separately from the heads. Of course, if you wanted to achieve this leveling base with your existing tripod, you could add on this Manfrotto 438 compact leveling base (found here).
Manfrotto MVH500A 60mm Half Ball Fluid Head
