We went to NAB this year and had a blast checking out all the new cameras, lighting, and accessory technology. There were so many new tools and announcements that it can be overwhelming to keep track, so we decided to put together a list of the highlights. Here’s what we think you need to know from NAB 2013.
Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic has one of the most buzzed-about announcements for the second year in a row at NAB. Last year, the big news was their 2.7k Cinema Camera for a budget-friendly $2995. This year their most exciting announcement is their new Super-35 4k Production Camera with global shutter. The use of a global shutter is exciting as it delivers a smooth image when panning and when there’s a lot of motion within the frame. The Blackmagic 4k Production Camera will retail at $3995. Like the BMCC, the Production Camera offers 12 stops of dynamic range, records to SSDs, and will include a copy of Davinci Resolve.
Speaking of Davinci Resolve, Blackmagic also released some exciting information about its new version, Resolve 10. The new Resolve Live feature allows color grading direct from the video input live with full creative power such as primaries, secondaries, power windows, custom curves and more. Grades can be stored and then relinked when the camera files are loaded. It also has a number of new editing features including full multi-track editing with 16 channels of audio per clip and unlimited video and audio tracks in the timeline.
Other new features can be seen on their website.
RED
Not to be overlooked by Blackmagic, RED showed off by performing Dragon 6K sensor upgrades on Epic cameras in front of attendees. The new Dragon sensor enables 6K shooting at 6144 x 3160 pixels and up to 100 frames-per-second, offering three additional stops over the Epic MX.
Red also announced the new Motion mount for Epic and Scarlet cameras which eliminates the much complained about rolling shutter effect of the CMOS sensor. The Red Motion mount also has an 8x electronic ND filter adjustable to 1/100th of an f-stop. The mount itself will, however, cost you a stop even when the ND is off.
The motion mount is slated to ship this fall at $4,500.
ARRI
The new ALEXA XTs were the pride and joy of ARRI this year at NAB. The new ALEXA XT has some exciting new features over the original XT including an XR module that allows in-camera ARRIRAW recording up to 120 fps onto XR Capture Drives.
We went over to ARRI a few weeks ago to check out the new cameras, watch our video below to get a closer look at the Alexa XT.
Movi
A few days before NAB the internet exploded with excitement about the Freefly Movi. That excitement continued over at NAB and it was one of the hottest new camera accessories at the show.
The Movi is a three-axis stabilized camera gimbal. It is a substitution for Steadicams that you can use with lightweight cameras. It offers an extremely smooth camera stabilization and is very easy to use. The current model is expected to cost $15,000 and ship in the fall. Another smaller $7500 version is also on the way.
Redrock Micro
The RedRock One Man Crew is a very useful tool for anyone who shoots behind the scenes documentaries or interviews. On shoots like this crew is usually limited and shooters are always looking for ways to up the production value on a dime.
The One Man Crew slider is great for this as it is a parabolic slide the provides elegant cinematic movements while keeping the subject both in focus and in the frame. It is also completely automated, thus earning its name “The One Man Crew”.
Priced at $1495, we believe it will become standard on any corporate, documentary, or BTS interview shoot.
We hope you enjoyed our NAB 2013 recap, and we can’t wait to do it again next year!
