NAB
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Airbox Softens LEDs in a Small Package
Here’s another clever tool on the NAB floor that’s both small and handy. Airbox is a modifier that attaches to your LED light to give you a softer, larger source. It packs up flat but with a few quick blows it quickly inflates to attach to your light. It also has a clear sleeve in front to slide in gels. Also available is an attachable egg crate to focus the light’s beam. Available in three sizes, both with and without the egg crate, ranging in price from $39 to $115. Get more info at Airbox.
by Joey Daoud on Apr 10, 2014 -
iOgrapher Adds Support and Mounts to iPhones and iPads
It’s becoming more and more common to do quick shoots with iPhones and iPads. They’re inexpensive, they have great cameras, they’re connected to the internet. But they obviously lack certain elements of even the most basic camera. When high school teacher David Basulto was using iPads in his media arts class he was noticing a common theme – shaky footage with poor audio. This led him to create iOgrapher. iOgrapher is a simple plastic molding that now comes in three flavors – iPhone 5, iPad, and iPad Mini, with iPad Air on the way. The rig gives you two handles, […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 10, 2014 -
DaVinci Resolve 11 – New Editor on the Block?
Besides the new URSA and Studio camera announcements, Blackmagic announced some new updates to their popular coloring software DaVinci Resolve. While the newest version boasts over 100 new features, the vast majority of them are improvements to the editing capabilities. In previous versions the editing area of Resolve was more for making tweaks to an ingested timeline to correct any errors or drop in footage that didn’t import properly. Now it’s aiming to be a full fledged editor. The latest version adds a bunch of features you’d find in most NLEs – lots of timeline trimming options and keyboard controls, […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 10, 2014 -
VectorMount Adds Movement to GoPro Action Shots
I stumbled on an interesting GoPro mount in one of the far corners of the NAB showroom floor yesterday. Though it shares a striking resemblance to a weather vane, VectorMount is a mount for vehicles that adds movement to action shots. The camera is free to rotate with an aerodynamic tail extending from the back, straightening out the camera as the vehicle moves. What you get are some nice pans and movement from an un-operated camera mounted on a vehicle that’s a little more exciting than just a wide static shot. A weight on the tail rod let’s you adjust how […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 9, 2014 -
Small and Handy Grip Gear from Manfrotto and Matthews
With lots of one-man-band shooters out there and small productions, it’s always great to find small but effective gear along with gear that does double duty. Manfrotto released the new Nanopole Stand, a lightweight stand with a twist. The center column pops out of the legs, giving you a boom pole to quickly hold a small light or accessory overhead. Works great with their new Smart Tilt Head, a flexible cold shoe mount adapter. Another nice feature of the stand that is also appearing in other Manfrotto stands is a flexible leg that slides out, giving some adjustment room to […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 9, 2014 -
New Pocket Series Rigs from Edelkrone
Edelkrone has taken their Pocket Rig concept and broken it down to create an entire series of different pocket solutions so you can pick and choose what type of attachments you’d like on your camera. The first one that caught my eye was the Pocket Slider. While obviously you won’t get as much slide from this as a full track, this is a really neat rig to get a little camera movement in your shot from a device that can easily fit in your bag instead of taking up its own bag. For other movement options there’s the Pocket Skater. […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 9, 2014 -
Lowel Gives LEDs Some Glass
While cameras get most of the attention at NAB, I’ve been on the lookout for interesting lights and support gear. One that caught my eye is a new Fresnel lighting fixture from Lowel. The Lowel PRO Power LED gives you the equivalent of about 100w and has a telescoping feature with the outside of the fixture letting you spot or flood the light but with much finer control in between. It doesn’t have a page online but it’s the exact same head as the handheld GL-1 light, so you can check that out for comparable features. They’ll also offer their […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 8, 2014 -
The Two Big Camera Announcements at NAB – AJA’s CION and Blackmagic’s URSA
There were two big camera announcements at NAB yesterday. First up AJA is entering the camera market with CION. This is a 4K camera with global shutter that has the ergonomics and connections of a more traditional camera. It’s priced at just under $9000 for the body and a power adapter. However there’s some things to keep in mind. It’s PL mount only so the lens options will be pricier. It also only takes AJA PAk Drives which run about $700 for 256 GB and $1300 for 512 GB, so media will not be cheap. And you’ll need to get […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 8, 2014 -
DJI’s Ronin Hits Camera Stabilizer Arena at NAB – Big Features, Low Price
While today is the official day the exhibition halls open their doors at NAB, last night some companies got to release a sneak peek of some do their new products. Definitely the most exciting in the production field is Ronin, a new handheld gimbal stabilizing system that’s a direct competitor to the MoVI. Like MoVI’s manufacturer, Freefly Systems, Ronin comes from a company with a background in making aerial drones with gyrostabilizers, DJI. They’re probably best known for the Phantom, the GoPro aerial drone that’s made high altitude shots available to just about anyone. While Ronin and MoVI look pretty […]
by Joey Daoud on Apr 7, 2014 -
Back to the Future with 4K: Large-Sensor Motion Picture Cameras in 2013
A motion picture camera used to be a light-sealed box with a strip of film running through it. Was it easy to thread? Did it run quiet? How bright was the viewfinder? Today’s cameras are exponentially more complex. They are literal bundles of separate technologies, each lurching forward at a different rate. To understand today’s cameras, you must understand the parts to understand the whole. This is my third annual overview of digital cinema cameras for Filmmaker, and it is being written in the run-up to NAB 2013 in Las Vegas, the world’s largest trade show devoted to digital video […]
by David Leitner on Apr 5, 2013
