Well NAB 2015 is upon us again! It’s only day one and there’s been a lot of exciting news bursting out of Vegas! In NAB 2015 roundup – day 1, part 1, we highlighted the pre-show products launches and leaked info. Now let’s catch up with the news from day one of the actual show.
Panasonic
Several new cameras announced by Panasonic this year. The AG-DVX200 is the DVX100 rebooted – with a smattering of 4K for good measure. It features a 4/3″ sensor with a fixed 13X image stabilised lens and at under £3,500 + VAT, it’s likely to be popular with self shooters, documentary makers and low budget productions.
Other cameras announced include the AJ-PX380, the AK-UB300, the AK-HC5000 and the AK-UC3000 4K-ready studio system. The AJ-PX380 is presumably a successor to the popular AG-HPX370 – a 1/3″AVC-Ultra shoulder-mount ENG camcorder. The AK-UB300 is a remote/box camera with a 4K one-inch MOS sensor. The AK-HC5000 4K studio camera, is capable of output up 200fps. The AK-UC3000 is another 4K studio camera featuring a 2/3″ B4 lens mount. That’s now all the major players – Sony, Grass Valley, Ikegami and Hitachi – with 4K studio/OB system cameras. 4K just went mainstream…
Blackmagic Design
Well, as you’d expect of Blackmagic these days, they came out swinging! Their pre-show press conference on their stand created a stir on Twitter – lots of blurry photos of Grant Petty showing images of their new products on a screen behind him. And what of the new products? Well, as we mentioned in our last post – NAB 2015 roundup – day 1, part 1 – Blackmagic have a thing this year for making things smaller! We had the URSA Mini, the Micro Cinema Camera, the Micro Studio Camera 4K and the Teranex Mini. There was a further 10 new products / product updates, including a new version of Resolve 12, and Video Assist. As usual, there’s some potential game-changers in there. The URSA Mini is Blackmagic’s first run-and-gun camera. What does this mean for the Sony FS7? What does this mean for all the other ENG cameras out there? The Micro Cinema Camera is clearly aimed at the ‘action’ market and comes with the tagline, “the world’s smallest digital film action camera.” So what does that mean for GoPro? Up until now, GoPro have pretty much owned ‘that’ space. Up until now. Watch this space. Another company who should watch out is Atomos. Blackmagic’s new Video Assist – a monitor and recorder in one – is suspiciously similar of the Atomos products. The Video Assist doesn’t handle 4K, so the Shogun’s safe for now, but a 4K version of the Video Assist is bound to be in the pipeline. Resolve’s another one to watch. With improved multi-cam editing, better media management and nested timelines, it’s pitched as a complete NLE now and could tempt users away from FCP and Premiere.It’s goes without saying that the price point on all of Blackmagic Design’s new products is outrageously low!
Aframe
In collaboration with Adobe Anywhere, Aframe’s new offering ‘will enable broadcasters and content producers to edit large-scale video projects remotely and securely and eliminate large capital outlay for infrastructure and equipment.’ Looks good – and whether the industry is ready to embrace it yet, it’s the future. One to watch…
RED
Proving that 4K is so last season, RED have brought out an 8K, 8192 x 4320 sensor – the RED Weapon 8K Vista Vision.
AJA
Lots of updates to their Io and KONA products, plus some new 4K and fibre mini converters.
Atomos
A quiet NAB for Atomos. They’ve announced a new ‘Bare Bones’ pricing model on all their products. Same models, but with less accessories. A new Power Station looks good for indie filmmakers and there’s some free firmware upgrades to the Shogun including support for RAW and specific cameras.
Cinedeck
A modular approach to ingest, playback and transcoding from Cinedeck, handling SD to 4K workflows.
Well, it’s only day one of NAB 2015, what can the other three days bring?!