Well, it’s that time of year again. NAB. All your gear will soon be outdated as every major company and startups alike announce their new gear. It’s amazing how fast a year can be. Its equally amazing how fast your “new F3” can be out dated (for us, it took about a year and a half). It kinda makes your head spin!
Nevertheless here are some companies to watch this year at NAB!
RED:
Obviously RED is always a “must watch” at NAB. But this year will be special. The new DRAGON sensor is right around the corner and its going to be crazy! adding almost 5 more stops of Dynamic range to the current EPIC and its Mysterium-X sensor it will practically see in the dark. NAB should be the time prices are announced, and I know that is what everyone is really anxious to know. Hopefully it won’t break the bank TOO much.
These guys make some amazing monitors. This year they discontinued their DP6 monitor and announced their new DP7 with a variety of flavors. LCD, OLED, and High Bright. The High Bright, or “Pro” model is supposed to be Daylight visible. I am gonna keep my eye on that one for sure!
These guys are making a huge push for the production world. With Final Cut Pro dead, and AVID losing money rather quickly, Premiere has staged themselves to be the next “industry standard” editing application. I will grant that AVID is still clinging to life, and Media Composer 6.5 is supposed to be a vast improvement to 6, but I am part of the group that saw the writing on the wall and ditched AVID for Premiere. It’s been great ever since. At this years NAB I am sure Premiere will see some major improvements as they keep fighting for more users.
With their new cameras the F5 and F55 on the street, I am curious to see what they announce at NAB this year. They will always hold a place in my heart. The F3 was amazing, and the 5/55 look great too. Can’t wait to see what’s next for them.
Field recorders are also becoming commonplace in the industry as well. Atomos and Convergent Designs are two of the top right now. Convergent Designs has announced their new 4K field recorder/monitor. It looks like it would pair really well with the EPIC. While Atomos has not announced anything I have heard of yet, I am sure they will release something that will enhance their already robust Samurai.
Thats just a handfull of things to watch. And obviously its geared towards the things we use on a daily basis. Other companies to keep an eye on are: Canon, Teredek, G-tech, Tricaster, ARRI, AVID, Black Magic Design, Lite Panels, Cineflex.
The list can go on and on for days, I’m sure.
Its always fun to look back at the “good ol days” of video production. Beta cams were the work horses and they weren’t going anywhere. To be fair, their shelf life outlasted any new camera to date. Obviously with new technology comes the ability to design and manufacture better cameras faster, and there will probably never be a camera that lasts as long as the beta cams did (although RED and ARRI look like they are trying to change that). While there are positives and negatives to this new age, case in point, my F3 being outdated so quickly, it is really an amazing time to be in video production. The possibilities are endless now, for everyone and for every budget.