Dan Carr The Australian company Aquatech are best known for their underwater camera housings but over the last few years they have been slowly releasing a range of very well thought out accessories for photographers and in particular, long lens shooters. I have an assignment coming up in June that will see me carrying my longest glass around on my monopod for a whole week whilst putting in some serious leg work. While looking over the B&H website last week I noticed this new monopod wrap from Aquatech and thought it might come in handy. It also coincided with some shooting I
Panasonic just took the wraps off the new G3 micro fourthirds camera and boy has this one been on a diet. Somehow they have managed to squeeze a viewfinder and a flip out screen into a camera the size of the GF1. Quite remarkable!
Product Highlights
The re-branded PMA trade show Cliq, the largest photo trade show on the 2011 calendar, has been cancelled and moved alongside CES in January 2012 in Las Vegas.
I use the 300mm f2.8 a lot for my work and on a 1.3 crop 1dMKIV it’s often just right. I can see Canon moving to full frame 1-series cameras next year and it got me wandering whether I would need to switch to a bigger lens. 300mm is 390mm equivalent on the MKIV so I might need to start thinking of saving up for a 400mm! I was curious to see how all the new Canon Super Tele Lenses compared, and in particular where the new Canon 200-400 f4 fitted into things so I grabbed the press images and
Arri are better known for their cinema lenses and big production cameras like the Alexa but they also make acessories for filmmakers and with the rise in popularity of smaller cameras like the Panasonic AF-100 and the Sony F3 they now have smaller items to suit those cameras. New for NAB 2011 was the MMB-2 Matte Box. The premise of the MMB-2 is a modular design so you can add as much or as little to it is you require. You can buy a complete kit, or all the parts individually. Interesting add-ons include foam covered handles which mount right
Redrock Micro gave us a glimpse of this product last year but at NAB 2011 they finally announced a release date of June 15th for one of the most talked about DSLR film making accessories. The system consists of several different parts so you can build up a solution that suits your needs. Those people running a shoulder mounted run and gun rig will want the wired option and others using steadycam rigs or tripod mounted systems might want to use the remote system with the aid of the microTape. To understand the system have a quick look at this
The guys from Small HD have produced some great looking LCD screens over the last few years and at NAB 2011 they bought an interesting addition to their lineup, the DP4. The DP4 is a 4.3″ LCD screen that can be used with the additional eye piece to create an EVF similar in function the Zacuto EVF that I previously posted about. It features all the necessary functions such as peaking, zebra stripes and full screen scaling to ensure that DSLR output signals are filling the screen entirely. From the Small HD website: Each DP4 Field Monitor Ships With: LP-E6
Priced at $45,000 each. Canon PL Mount Cine zooms both feature good ranges. The wider of the two is a t2.6 lens constantly, where the longer one ramps from t2.9 to t3.7 I believe.
This little camera was announced a few months back and is now shipping. I was initially surprised to see so many of these floating around the show, they were everywhere! People were using them to report on the show and many exhibitors had them on their stands demonstrating their gear such as head, LED lights and pretty much any other excuse they could find to have one on their stand. So what gives ?! I had to have a play….. The XA10 is TINY ! Even next to the relatively small x100 or x105 and it weights just over 1lb.
Zacuto have been drip feeding information and videos about this EVF for months, so the product is not new per se. But this is the first time that the masses have gotten their grubby fingers on one and color me quite impressed. The 800×480 resolution looks super crisp on such a small screen and I liked the “flip” version which quickly allowed you to have a look at the screen (pictured below). The EVF will also be available in another option that simply allows you to attach your current Z-Finder to the screen. There is an extensive list of features
This video head was announced a while back I believe but this is the first time I have had my hands on it. Sachlter are known for their quality fluid heads and although this Cine DSLR model sits at the bottom of their lineup it looses nothing in quality compared to the bigger FSB 6 and FSB 8. Ingeniously the quick release plate feature a special anti twist mechanism to prevent the DSLR from spinning on the plate when a follow focus is used. It’s designed for a payload of between 1 and 11 lbs. I’ve only ever used Manfrotto
Now granted this is not a lens that many people outside of rental houses can afford but I couldn’t resist taking a look at it. Angenieux cine zooms are acknowledged as amongst the best PL mount zooms in the business, if not THE best. Lightweight (relatively speaking) and compact they are a hit with many DPs. This week at NAB sees the introduction of the new 45-120mm t2.8 Optimo zoom which will set you back a whopping $55,000. If you’ve never held or felt a proper cine zoom then you are probably wandering how it can be worth that much money. These things are made to a standard that you can’t even begin to imagine until you see and feel it for yourself, truly incredible. They had it mounted to a Red Epic and it was a perfect match for size and weight, fantastic for a steadycam rig.
They also have 1.3x and 2x teleconverters/extenders to go with it for approx $4000 each! (Pictured below)
