It’s that time of year again!
NAB kicks off with less than a week to go and, as usual, there’s a lot of speculation about what we can expect to see at the show. This is going to be a very unpredictable year in many ways, and it will be interesting to see what everyone has in store next Monday.
In recent years, the types of new products we’ve seen at trade shows have seemed more predictable. For example, after Blackmagic made a huge splash with its BMCC in 2013, we knew there would be some copycats the following year. And – AJA CION.
When the Movi was released and received a warm welcome from the professional community, we knew there would be a slew of gimbal-based stabilizers at next year’s show. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.
But the industry is in a different place this year, and while we can expect the usual incremental updates from certain brands, it’s hard to predict what the big, compelling products will be this year.
One thing I can only assume we’ll be seeing a lot of is virtual reality technology. While I personally am not a big advocate of 360 cameras or VR (at least for filmmaking, they are fun to play with!), a big push for VR this year seems inevitable. Many film festivals are now showing VR content, and Occulus Rift will be delivered to customers this year. Overall, 2016 will be a year of popularization of VR technology.
In addition to VR, what can we expect from new cameras released by major manufacturers?
Of course, nothing will be known until next week, so I won’t speculate but instead share what I hope to see from some of the most famous camera brands at the show. This is what I want:
Canon
Canon’s booth at NAB has been somewhat lackluster over the past few years. They typically don’t make any big announcements at trade shows, choosing instead to showcase existing products to attendees. Realistically, I have to assume we can expect roughly the same from them this year. That said, I do believe there is a good opportunity 8K C500 is about to be releasedthis would be a fun toy, even if it’s overpriced – which it certainly is!
Still, I’d like to see a true movie camera from Canon. You might think that Canon already has a “cine” range, but while some of their C-series cameras are (or were) great, to me they don’t feel like true cine cameras at all. They’re really an intermediate step in bridging the gap between consumer digital SLR cameras and high-end digital cinema cameras, which is why they’ve found a home in reality TV shows, documentaries, and other low-cost productions that want high quality. Appearance, has the shape of a camera.
While Canon obviously doesn’t want to compete in the affordable cinema camera market, I’d at least like to see what they can do to address the high-end camera market. I’d like to see a production-ready, RAW-shooting, true cinema body that can compete with cameras like the Sony F55 or Arri Amira, rather than their current lineup, which competes with cameras like the Sony FS7. It’s definitely a long shot, but it would be a very interesting move if Canon did step up their game and integrate some of their powerful technology into a true cinema camera body.
black magic
Blackmagic has managed to steal the show at NAB over the past three years with new camera releases and I’m always excited to see what they have up their sleeves. Blackmagic is one of the most disruptive companies in the industry, which is why I personally love what they do.
Having recently launched the URSA Mini 4.6K camera that was announced at last year’s NAB, if I had to guess, I don’t think the focus this year will be on a brand new camera. That said, I do think their previous camera – the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera – should be updated, and would be interested to see what they can do with version 2 of that camera. The Micro Movie Camera is a great little tool that can be used as a replacement for a pocket video camera in many ways. However, having an onboard display on the Pocket gives it a lot more versatility for handheld work or other types of shooting scenarios, so it’d be nice to see a newer compact camera round out the line .
In terms of specs, I’d like to see a 4K-capable pocket camera with higher frame rates, better low-light performance, longer battery life, and a higher-resolution display. This may be wishful thinking, but if Blackmagic plans to update the Pocket Camera, I imagine at least some of these features will be included.
sony
Just like Canon, Sony isn’t necessarily known for making big announcements at NAB, as they seem to roll out cameras sporadically throughout the year. At the lower end of the spectrum, we can’t really expect any major announcements as the A7 series has been recently updated and many of their current products are still in the early stages of their life cycles.
That said, there are rumors that we’ll see some sort of upgrade to the F55, which is certainly interesting. The F55 is a very good cinema camera that gets better and better over time, and as Sony’s flagship product any new technology they are developing will likely help serve this camera. My guess is that we may see a new sensor (perhaps even a 6K or 8K sensor), as well as improvements to dynamic range and highlight rolloff, most likely all housed in the same body as the current F55 model .
Matsushita
Rumors about the upcoming Lumix GH5 have been circulating for a while, and while I’d love to speculate that we’d see it at NAB, it seems unlikely. Initial rumors suggested that the GH5 would be released at the Photokina show in September, So if they do have any factual basis, we’ll need to wait until the fall to see what Panasonic does with its popular GH series.
But on the other hand, I’d still like to see a replacement for the AF100. The original AF100 was a very good camera, but unfortunately was released during one of the most competitive periods in recent digital film history, and therefore was never really developed the way it should have been.
However, Panasonic has made huge strides with its higher-end cameras, the Varicam and Varicam LT, which gives us some hope in the long run. Even though the Varicam LT is Panasonic’s “low-budget” cinema product, it still costs around $16,000 and is clearly not designed for the masses. I’d like to see Panasonic integrate some of the same Varicam technology and resources into a sub-$10,000 camera to compete with the Sony FS7, Blackmagic URSA Mini, and other lower-cost digital cinema products.
red
It’s always hard to tell what RED will come out with, especially since they already have a large portion of the market cornered. They currently offer cameras for the ultra-high-end market (capturing up to 8K data on the Vista Vision Weapon) and the low-end cinema camera market (including the RED Raven and Scarlet-W). But with that in mind, all their cameras are designed the same way. They’re both modular boxes, allowing the user to build or dismantle them as needed, which works great for RED, but I’d also like to see something different from them.
If RED could develop a more traditional camera (with a body like the Arri Amira) then that would give them a lot of potential, at least in my opinion. There is a huge market of shooters who are looking for film-quality images, but also need to move fast. Journalists, documentary makers, low-budget narrative producers and a host of other content creators will benefit from ENG-style cameras incorporating RED technology. While it’s unlikely we’ll see anything similar in RED in the future, I certainly hope it’s possible to develop something similar.
Ari
Arri has a slower product cycle than most other brands on this list, and for good reason – their products stand the test of time and don’t require constant updates. If you bought the original Arri Alexa Classic 6 years ago, that camera still works perfectly today and still produces better images than 99% of cameras produced this year.
That said, I don’t expect any major announcements from Arri this year. They wowed us with updates to their Alexa Mini and Alexa full range last year, and while I’m sure they have some tricks up their sleeves, I’m not sure we’ll see any brand new cameras released. However, if we do this, here’s what I’d like to see –
Super 16mm Amira/Alexa. I’ve blogged about this before, and if Arri decided to release an Alexa (or Amira) with an S16mm size sensor, I’d jump at the chance to buy one – especially if the price was competitive. But from a more general perspective, I’d like to see Arri launch a more affordable camera. I know it’s easier said than done, as cameras with that level of performance are expensive to develop and produce… but if Arri could release an “Amira Mini” or something similar, probably priced under $20,000, that would be great Exciting. While its price tag is still higher than most filmmakers can expect to spend, it can still be a viable rental item, or used to purchase second-hand.
2016 Nationwide Bank
That’s all I have to say about speculation at the moment, and again – it’s all just wishful thinking. Here’s hoping it’s another exciting year for NAB and I’m sure there will be a lot to digest next week following the announcement.
I’ll be at NAB in Las Vegas next week covering the show for my blog and meeting some of my collaborators and partners. I have a number of speaking engagements scheduled, the first of which will be on Tuesday the 19th and Wednesday the 20th at 12pm at the Shutterstock booth.
For more information about my talk at Shutterstock, and to enter to win a DJI Phantom 4 drone, be sure to visit their website: http://www.shutterstock.com/blog/nab-2016
I look forward to sharing more with you throughout the show.
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