An up-close look at new lenses, mounts, follow focus controls, rigs and filters unveiled at NAB

The sheer range of available or soon-to-be-shipping cameras on the market has unleashed an equally wide range of add-ons. This year at NAB, James Mathers tracked down an impressive inventory of lenses, mounts, plates, adapters, follow focus controls and rigs aimed at HDSLR cameras on up to 4K camera systems. "I'm extremely impressed with what some of the 'lesser' cameras are now capable of with the right gear," AbelCine Tech's Mitch Gross told him. "You can now build them up into real extreme machines." To prove his point, the folks at AbelCine worked with Sony, Element Technica, and others to outfit Sony's F3 for cinema-style shooting. See how they put it together, plus hear what ZGC's Less Zellan, Steadicam's founder Garrett Brown, ASC, and Canon's Larry Thorpe and others have to say about the new products coming from their companies.
Mitch Gross explains how AbelCine built up a Sony F3:








An Explosion of HDSLR Support Gear

Band Pro, Cinevate, POLECAM, Sachtler, Zacuto and many others showed gear aimed squarely at HDSLR shooters. Here, Band Pro shows how to operate HORSEMAN’s Tilt/Shift Pro, a lens mount suitable for any PL-mount or DSLR camera, as well as Micro Four Thirds cameras like Panasonic’s AF100:









Cinevate shows several of its new DSLR-based accessories, including quick-release plates and grip sticks:









POLECAM has added a DSLR-capable mounting system for its portable crane and jib system:









Sachtler gets into the HDSLR game with these new supports:









Zacuto shows off what the company is calling its first “form-fitting body rig,” a system that gives HDSLR cameras the weight, heft and control of much larger shoulder-mount camcorders:








Lenses and Adapters

Canon’s Larry Thorpe talks glass and optics in the new Canon 14.5-60mm to and 30-300mm lenses:









Schneider Optics has a newly developed line of prime lenses for 4K cinema cameras:









Les Zellan discusses the latest lens adapters coming from ZGC:









The Optimo 35 mm Zoom lens from Thales-Angenieux could be used for handheld or Steadicam shoots:









Fujinon is the only manufacturer currently making zoom lenses for PL-mount 4K cameras. The company’s latest set of four range from 14.5 to 400 mm:








Follow Focus

Tripod heavy OConnor shows off its new follow focus control for the RED EPIC:









Brian Valente talks about Redrock Micro’s new microRemote focus assist system:









Filters

Tiffen’s latest line of lens filters aims to offset the color problems that can result from CMOS-based cameras:









Schneider Optics intros filters for beamsplitter rigs used in stereo shooting:








More Rigs

Steadicam founder Garrett Brown takes a look at the the range in rig sizes now available from his company, from an iPhone 4 support on up to the monster Steadicams:









The Electron, Element Technica’s update to the Neutron, is a much sleeker support system:








Multitaskers

Some new and updated products are meant to do double or triple duty. LIBEC’s Jose Larios unveils the new universal camera plates that work with Sony, Panasonic and JVC cameras:









Digital Cinema Society’s Simon Sommerfeld talks about why he likes using the Petrol Cambio bag/camera support, introduced at last year’s show and used by Mathers and his team throughout their NAB coverage: