One of the largest product introductions at the show and maybe one of the largest bits of excitement in Hollywood this year is Freefly's MoVI. It's a solid state gyro stabilized handheld camera rig. As shown in the picture it's mostly made of carbon fiber composite, so the price isn't for the faint of heart. ...and yes, you can operate it alone. There are two modes: one with a second op on a joystick; the second where the stabilizer slowly adapts to where you are moving the camera - essentially smoothing out your handheld shaky-cam.
I saw Q from Revolution Cinema the next day and he was trying to get one for Shane Hurlbut. Sounds like the folks from CSI and JJ Abrams are already starting to put it to work. As soon as these rigs become prevalent around Hollywood the Steadicam is pretty much dead. I also caught up with my friend Blair on Sunday and he said his Steadicam operator friends are all swearing up a blue streak (not in a good way) after seeing this rig in action. What they need now is a way to comfortably get the camera up into shoulder mount position. Trying to lift a 15lb weight above your head all day isn't going to be user friendly. That would be like trying to operate a 15lb Steadicam all day without the vest. Ouch!
Just like a Steadicam you're going to have to invest in a wireless follow focus and a wireless HD transmitter. Freefly hasn't integrated those items just yet. I saw a Bartech wireless follow focus ($10k!) attached to the demo unit.
I know the last report talked about camera porn...well, say hello to crane porn. Yes, every super-jib-techno-extender-vendor on planet was there to show off their 30-50ft cranes. It's awesome to see these precision machines fly a camera around like it's nothing. I have to give a shout out to Sara in the Kessler booth (4th photo below). She kept me from accidentally bonking Rodney Charters on the head while demo-ing the new Kessler Pocket Jib (shown in pic). That would have been a very sad day indeed. I don't need to be known as the guy who sent Rodney to the Las Vegas hospital with a concussion.
The fifth photo shows the new Kessler Cinedrive system attached to their motorized head. Somehow it seems inadequate to match their computer controlled system with a low end DSLR, but they need something to demo it with. For small camera computerized movement this system seems light years ahead of the other vendors.
Ikan was showing off their new wireless HD transmitter and receiver. Oh, how I could have used one of these many times. As you can see on the price tags it's not cheap, but so far no one has a cheap real time HD transmitter system. The competitors are Teradeck and Boxx - both high end solutions. It's intriguing from a technology standpoint. Maybe we'll have to get one in the shop and see how well it works.(?)
Audio! ...the forgotten and abused red-headed stepchild of video production. I haven't forgotten you. Audio was my first entry into film making and I don't like to compromise when it comes to audio quality. Bad audio just says "I don't care about the quality of my work." The Sennheiser booth was buried in a small hard to find corner of the showroom floor. Despite the show organizer's best efforts I found it! They were showing their new MKE 600 shotgun mic.
More importantly I found their new SK9000 wireless lav kit. The new transmitter has a lithium ion battery pack that lasts 10-12 hours (their rep's claim). So no more changing out AA batteries during a day long shoot. ...and for the audio tech who feels that a simple receiver doesn't impress the boss, there's the 9000 series rack mount receiver. The rep said this setup just went on the road with Harry Connick Jr.
Last, but not least are our friends at Tenba. I personally bought their made in the USA tripod bag and was looking for a lens/camera case. That's Peter, their sales rep, over on the far left demonstrating a case. Victor Ha was also working at the Tenba booth as part of the Mac Group. Victor is holding a class at Video Gear in two weeks on DSLR video, so it was good to pre-meet him at the show.
The bag I like and intend to buy is the Roadie II Large. It will fit my camera plus all my lenses, filters, and a few other goodies in one small carry-on size suitcase. Video Gear sells Tenba, plus Kata and Cinebags. Stop by the showroom if you'd like a demonstration.
That's it for this year. I know we have a lot to talk about internally at Video Gear. There are many great up and coming products that deserve attention. Our intention is to get many pieces of the gear mentioned in this three part NAB report and see what it does in the real world. Video Gear rents what we sell and sells what we rent. If you're interested in any particular item mentioned here just give Jeff a call at the shop.
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