I really wanted to go this year and had pencilled in a trip taking my son Alex. In the end, it was just not to be and we only got as far as London for BVE. BVE is a good show but it doesn't have the international draw that NAB does. One of the big attraction of NAB is getting meet people who otherwise live only on the interwebs in Twitter, Facebook and blogs, not only from the US, but from across the world.
So whilst I promised myself I would stay at home and be productive, what I really do is get thoroughly distracted by every NAB tweet and post and slowly get dragged into Pacific Daylight Time. If you missed all the excitement, then I recommend paying a visit to Newsshooter.com whose coverage really rocked this year.
So which have been the biggest distractions from the show for those not in Sin City. This is my own personal top 5 in traditional reverse order:
#5 Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 10
DaVinci Resolve 10
Blackmagic Design have developed a real talent for the surprising over recent years. Any suspicion that these are merely headline grabbing publicity stunts has been largely put to bed by a history of delivery (with a few notable exceptions) and a real sense of purpose from their CEO Grant Petty.
Resolve has been a consistent example of their philosophy. Since they purchased DaVinci it has progressed from being a megabuck workstation solution through affordable Mac tower solution to free laptop solution in its Light form. This would be understandable if Blackmagic were letting development slide but they are still cranking out new versions. Resolve 10 has two stand out features: a built in NLE and Live grading. The cost for upgrading - free and the free light version gets most new features too. Why Mr Petty, you are spoiling us.
#4 Freefly Movi
Movi M10
With a pre-NAB spotlight shone on them by Vincent Laforet, the Movi was sure to be a show hit. Vincent at hinted at something "game changing" before he showed his Movi short. "Game changer" is such a loaded term these days that everyone knew Vincent would not use it lightly. I got the impression from the interwebs that many folks went through the same journey I did. Phase 1 was guessing what this new thing was going to be. Phase 2 was mild disappointment when it turned out to be a rig instead of a 4K hover car for $1000. Phase 3 was enjoying the video but not quite getting the significance. Phase 4 was watching the BTS and say "Wow, thats so cool" a lot.
Nothing I saw in the show demos and interviews has dislodged it from Sub Zero on an NAB Top Gear style Cool Wall. It's not a game changer for me yet because I can't get close to justifying the $15k for the first model. Rest assured I will be watching this area closely from now on.
#3 Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q
I own an Sony FS700 which I would have had in this countdown a year ago. Its usp is definitely its high speed modes but its main attraction was that it was a good all-rounder for the money. It fixed many of the flaws of the FS100 which is good but the feeling amongst my FS owning mates is no-one has quite nailed the picture profiles yet so that the FS100 still has a nicer look. Another major difference of the FS700 over its little brother was that it was 4K ready. Like many, I have a deep distrust of the word "ready" in a tech sense and this has not been helped by the trickle of vague information coming out of Sony. Well, they have opened the sluices a bit and the we now know a lot more apart from the 2 critical bits of when and how much. My mate Den Lennie has done a nice summary of what will be coming. In terms of outputs we have got much more than we could have hoped. Along with 4K, we are getting some arguably more useful 2K RAW options plus an unanticipated continuous high speed recording option. The downside is the known cost of the Sony hardware required. This isn't a surprise as much of it comes from Sony's very nice F5/55 line but the FS700 requires an additional interface unit.
Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q
So this is where the 7Q enters into our story. The Odyssey units are effectively a very nice monitor with a recorder built-in. This is the opposite approach to my Ninja 2. Convergent have announced a deal with Sony which will allow you to record both 2K and 4K from the FS700 onto the 7Q onto its twin SSD drives. It doesn't exactly match the Sony solution exactly, but it is close enough for most for what we expect to be less wonga. Convergent and Sony will still need to sort out their full pricing first before we will know the exact amount. As I need a field monitor, the 7Q is an attractive option. It stings a bit that it is likely to cost more to upgrade than Blackmagic's new 4K for $4k production camera does outright but the FS700's merits are extended and enhanced. Tony Reale from NextWaveDV recorded this great interview with Juan Martinez (Senior Product Manager) from Sony. Sony's new found enthusiasm for supporting third parties is encouraging. I think its clear that Sony understands that ending up with an FS700 that costs F5 money is pointless and they need to carry the fight to cameras like the Scarlet and 1DC by making alliances.
#2 DJI Phantom Gimbal
The DJI Phantom is not a new item having been high on my gadget lust list since Christmas. The original standard GoPro mount made it the go to Cine Quadrocopter for those whose construction skills stopped at Lego (and not Technics either). It was a great My First copter but the film clips were always a bit lacking. The problem was rolling shutter effects caused by prop vibration and wind shear. DJI's solution is to pair the Phantom with a downsized version of their Zenmuse stabilised gimbal. DJI have specifically designed the gimbal for the Hero3 as it locks in like a GoPro backpack. As well as smooth, jello free shots, you now get the ability to tilt the camera in the vertical axis from the remote. If you don't mind holding the Phantom and looking like a child playing with a Corgi copter, you can even use it as a budget Movi. It is not necessary to make wumpa wumpa wumpa noises as you move it.
#1 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera
Blackmagic hit us with, not one, but two new cameras at NAB2013. Many would have chosen the 4K for $4K Production Camera as the star. Not only is it stealing RED's abandoned tagline but it also brings the much requested S35 chip too. If I didn't already have an FS700 I may well have made this number 1. However, I do, so my 4K aspirations are headed in that direction.
"Properly small" I call that
The Pocket Cinema Camera was the more surprising camera. If you read my earlier posts you will know that I have an Micro Four Thirds system built round the Olympus OM-D EM-5. I love shooting stills on the Oly, but a GH3 stomps all over it for video. I had considered getting a GH body, but it didn't really fit in with my nimbleness ethic. I could have traded in the EM-5 for a GH3, but it doesn't have the same appeal as a stills camera. So now in the Pocket we have a lightweight Olympus Pen sized body, supporting active MFT lenses and SD Cards with even better codecs and dynamic range than the GH3 offers. Its not perfect - its 3x (to FF) crop is great for using classic S16 lenses (if you own any) but not so good using MFT, especially at the wide end. It doesn't have the GH3's articulated screen, but it is usefully large and I am hopeful that, not being touch screen, it will be less mirror-like than its big brother's. We also have not seen any footage but chief tester John Brawley reckons its very close to the BMCC. It is still such a good companion for the EM5 that it has tempted me.
Buttons rather than a touchscreen
The original Cinema Camera has been the blot on Blackmagic's copy book in terms of delivery for well documented reasons. Blackmagic have given us new delights before managing to deliver on last years. Many folks are understandably hacked off about this. I have a pre-order deposit bet on them having learned from this. We shall see.