I knew the first day of my 26th NAB was going to be a rough one. The day before NAB began, I was in Florida for my mom’s wedding (guess who did the video) and got back home in L.A. at 1:30 a.m. to do laundry and get 4 hours of sleep, re-pack and hit the road to Vegas. After smooth sailing all the way, I got within 3 miles of the Sahara offramp, when I got stuck in a horrendous traffic jam that Waze didn’t detect. So I got to the show a bit later than expected but, fear not, I still found a few interesting products to talk about.
Datavideo NH-100 Nighthawk Ultra low light box camera
Marc Franklin
Datavideo NH-100 Nighthawk Ultra low light box camera. Its low-light capability blew me away when I pointed it at the dark ceiling of the convention center. I’d done that test with many other cameras over the years, bur the detail that the NH-100 revealed was amazing. I never realized the ceiling was covered with what appears to be a “cottage cheese” texture. It outputs a 1080 25/30p 12-bit or 1080 50/60p 10-bit HDR signal to an external recorder such as an Atomos Ninja. The micro 4/3 CMOS has an ISO of 409,600, which is pretty insane. It sees way better than the human eye. It has one HDMI and two HD-SDI outputs, two XLR audio inputs, RS-232/RS-422 for control and Wi-Fi control though an app. The USB 3 port on the back will allow a high quality SD signal to be streamed. By adding accessories such as the Atomos recorder, viewscreen, and a shoulder rig, you should be able to run-and-gun in the forest while chasing Bigfoot in the dark. MSRP $2800.
Lumantek VS-10 Switcher
Marc Franklin
Lumantek VS-10 Switcher. This will be a step up from the VS-4 switcher Lumantek introduced last year at NAB (reviewed here). The VS-10 will feature eight HD-SDI and two HDMI inputs, (two HD-SDI and two HDMI inputs are scalable) and six HD-SDI and two HDMI outputs. Each input can be switched from the live input to be a still frame buffer. There is also a built-in monitor with a touchscreen for controlling different functions. MSRP under $3000.
IKAN Pivot Gimbal. With a load capacity of 8 lbs, the Pivot gimbal has the largest payload for a single-grip gimbal. I tried it with a Canon C200 on board. It has points for mounting accessories such as a monitor in a place where it won’t weigh on the mechanism, increasing battery life. MSRP $749; Dual-Grip Handle $84.95; wireless follow-focus $499.
Sharp Electronics 8K-B60A Production Camcorder
Marc Franklin
Sharp Electronics 8K-B60A Production Camcorder. The last time Sharp put out any sort of camera, it was a consumer “DV Viewcam” nearly 20 years ago. I remember reading an old ad for a pro Sharp camera from the 1970s, so Sharp getting back into the pro camera business is a bit surprising. Sharp said they got back into the camera business as Japanese broadcaster NHK was looking for companies to help ready them to broadcast the 2020 Olympics in 8K, so they joined a consortium of other companies to make it possible. The camera section of the camcorder is OEM’d by Astra Design.
The recorder section records 8K 60p to 2 TB and 4 TB SSDs in proprietary caddies. You can get 40 minutes on a 2 TB SSD. While most similar cameras will allow you to set the recording resolutions and frame rates from HD to 8K, this camera will only record 8K 60p. It does, however, record “broadcast quality proxies” at 1080p to an SD card. MSRP $77,000 (without lens.)
PRL Lighting Lustra 50
Marc Franklin
PRL Lighting Lustra 50. Lustra L50 is a lightweight, super-bright LED light that is sold alone and in several configurations with accessories and multi-light kits. The Lustra L50 puts out a lot of light for its size, and works with common Sony L-series batteries or an included AC power supply. The small size allows a lot of flexibility as far as placement. You can fit a three-light kit in a small backpack (stands not included), that would easily fit in an airline overhead bin. MSRP for the Lustra L50 $335, Lustra L50 Kit with softbox and three filters $399; Lustra L50 3-Lite Kit includes 3 x Lustra L50s for $1099.
Today I will be in South Lower all day, so you can look forward to the latest
in (mostly) post-production and edit systems.
