Tons of DSLR and filmmaking tools from Cine Gear 2010 (part 1)
The 14th annual Cine Gear Expo took place this past weekend in Hollywood, and this year's event undoubtedly included more low-cost film and DSLR accessories than any of the previous thirteen. I'm combing through all of the excellent event coverage by folks who were actually there, and sharing it here:
Cinema5D interviews Jacek from Optitek, who has a very interesting DSLR rig designed to defeat one of the main problems with DSLR rigs: front-heaviness. His rig has an electronic viewfinder, HDMI splitter, and baseplate that powers the camera from a full-size battery (which serves as a counterbalance). The setup isn't cheap and doesn't look to include an actual shoulder support pad, but it's one of the more innovative and feature-rich rigs I've seen:
DV Culture interviews Stephan Ukas-Bradley of ARRI about their new RED-killer ALEXA. Ukas-Bradley demonstrates the camera's ability to record ProRes straight to SxS cards:
Cinema5D interviews Canon's Tim Smith about their forthcoming "traditional" video cameras (as well as their DSLRs). "Should everything ever made be shot on a Canon 5D? Of course not:"
DV Culture interviews Alan Hoff of CineDeck. CineDeck is basically a monitor and SSD hard drive recorder in one, and would make sense on larger shoots where sizable (and hefty) monitors fit into the workflow. For example, on a shoot I was on yesterday we used a Panasonic BT-LH9000A, which is an 8.4" monitor with an Anton-Bauer battery mount on the back. The combined weight of monitor and battery was at least 10 lbs, so it wouldn't work on a handheld shoot, but as we were using it on the dolly cam, it was fine. This is the kind of situation the CineDeck is designed for:
Cinema5D interviews Kim Heath, who has created what basically amounts to a camera on a boompole (instead of a mic), which allows for great maneuverability. Because of the small size and light weight of DSLRs, "wherever you can put a boom mic, you can put a camera."
Could you see yourself using this on one of your productions? More to come from Cine Gear.