Phil's NAB Journal 2015

[Vedran Rapo]

gorgeous gear porn shots and a great write-up, Phil.

Adding another product which was overlooked, new to the market. Blind Spot Gear. I bought their Scorpion Lights on their Kickstarter, and this was their first year at the show. They were in a weird spot in the South Hall, so I don't think many got to see them. But their micro LED kit kicks ass on so many levels, it seems worth a plug. http://www.blindspotgear.com

you should try to track them down next year, Phil. great guys.

I always like ferreting out the lesser known gizmos and gadgets.

This is very interesting. Opens up a lot of rigging options...

 

[Matthew J]

Phil, you may want to fix where you have it saying that the Mole 900 watt LED is a 5k HMI replacement. It's actually a replacement for a 5k Tungsten and is equal to a 1200 HMI according to Mole.

 

[Phil Holland]

Phil, you may want to fix where you have it saying that the Mole 900 watt LED is a 5k HMI replacement. It's actually a replacement for a 5k Tungsten and is equal to a 1200 HMI according to Mole.

Fixed. Pretty sure that was the booth info that was wrong. Sorry. It's bright as hell though.

 

[Phil Holland]

Thanks Owen, Brandon, and all.

Hey Phil -I'm curious about the Top Handle with the placement of the new monitor...why is the handle over the camera? I always point it toward the lens because it's so much more balanced when carrying it, especially with a lens, matte box and FF...are the ergonomics going to be able to make my configuration work?

Yep. Always a battle on that front in terms of where the center of gravity and the handle are. In terms of quick setup, rigging, general camera movement, and compactness the placement works where it is. However if you have a Panavision 150mm T1.9 on the front of Weapon, you'll be dipping forward hard. That's a two hand endeavor. I do think with smaller lenses (small cinema primes and still glass) with a battery like I held at the show it's in a fine place and that's good enough to carry around.

gorgeous gear porn shots and a great write-up, Phil.

Adding another product which was overlooked, new to the market. Blind Spot Gear. I bought their Scorpion Lights on their Kickstarter, and this was their first year at the show. They were in a weird spot in the South Hall, so I don't think many got to see them. But their micro LED kit kicks ass on so many levels, it seems worth a plug. http://www.blindspotgear.com

you should try to track them down next year, Phil. great guys.

I always like ferreting out the lesser known gizmos and gadgets.

Ah. I've seen those. Pretty small and useful for smaller shoots and product stuff for sure.

To add to Phil's discussion on lenses, most production camera lenses have a curved plane of focus that extends out in a constant, spherical radius from the camera.
That curved plane does focus flat on the sensor.
An APO lens is specifically designed for a flat plane of focus in front of the camera. These APO lenses were typically used on animation cameras, optical printers, and are still in use with the graphic arts industry where flat artwork is photographed and/or projected.

It's an interesting topic. I remember Shane Hurlbut's Cooke/Leica Summilux-C quick test and he was rather enthusiastic about which was a "real cinema lens". That's his preference honestly. Though I like the Cooke look a hell of a lot, I love the Summilux-Cs too. Different beasts.

I'm fortunate to shoot with lots of glass and that's really help me understand the character and performance you can expect out of each lens. Last 6 months have been Master Primes, Ultra Primes, Schneider Cine-Xenar Primes, Leica Summilux-Cs, Zeiss Compact Zooms, and Canon Zooms. All are being used for different reasons and merits really. Heh. I'm just happy I've been that busy.

Nice to meet you at NAB, by my friend Ketch Rossi.
You are a concentrate of dynamite !!!
thank you for sharing your knowledge .

all the best.

Good to meet you too Thorn!

 

[BrendanLeahy]

Any word on when ET's Mini XLR Front Fan might be out? Their Facebook page hasn't been updated since 2014 and the website doesn't show anything in-dev right now!

 

[Phil Holland]

Any word on when ET's Mini XLR Front Fan might be out? Their Facebook page hasn't been updated since 2014 and the website doesn't show anything in-dev right now!

I'll ask. I'll likely speak to ET this coming week. Already ordered my V-LOCK Module for Weapon. A bit premature, but I want to be ready when Weapon lands for sure.

I might explore some AB mount stuff this time around too. Weapon is tiny and the form factor on the AB batteries is lower profile in general.

 

[BrendanLeahy]

I'll ask. I'll likely speak to ET this coming week. Already ordered my V-LOCK Module for Weapon. A bit premature, but I want to be ready when Weapon lands for sure.

I might explore some AB mount stuff this time around too. Weapon is tiny and the form factor on the AB batteries is lower profile in general.

Appreciated! Definitely happy they're working on additions/solutions for both "legacy" and "Weapon" bodies.

 

[Phil Holland]

Appreciated! Definitely happy they're working on additions/solutions for both "legacy" and "Weapon" bodies.

Anytime. Btw, there's nothing "legacy" at all going on here. It's more like two different lines of cameras and it will be for a long while.

 

[Jason Kraynek]

thanks Phil, ordering your book soon

 

[steve green]

Phil, you're the best.....thanks for all the time you put in to educate us!

 

[Maik Müller]

Great NAB-coverage as every year. Thank you very much Phil!

 

[Eric Santiago]

Jevus Phil I bumped into you outside not realising you did this much

Great stuff and thanks for the hello

 

[Phil Holland]

thanks Phil, ordering your book soon

Cheers Jason. Check out that section on GIO SCOPE. I'm loving that when I shoot.

Phil, you're the best.....thanks for all the time you put in to educate us!

Thanks Steve. It's also super useful for my own notes to document things I've seen because you end up getting a little lost of the sea of all the new shiny tools.

Great NAB-coverage as every year. Thank you very much Phil!

Thank you Maik!

Jevus Phil I bumped into you outside not realising you did this much

Great stuff and thanks for the hello

Heh. That was an epic bump in! I kept busy during the show meeting folks, checking out things, figuring out Weapon, etc... I love running into REDusers man. It's pretty much the 1 or 2 times I get to actually see people in person. It's nice to talk shop and hear what everybody has been up to all year.

 

[Tyson Benard]

Great rundown Phil. Nice to have a concise way to see a few of the things I missed, and get a little more detailed at the same time.

It was nice meeting you in person too. Thanks for all the hard work you do for the rest of us. Hoping to pick up your book sometime soon. Keep it up.

 

[Tim Morris]

Good Coverage!!

Good Coverage!!

Thx for all of the information. Especially the information concerning the Tilta Armour Man. I was considering buying this for my Ronin, but I may past. You are the second person that has suggested that I pass on this. It will be interesting to see how the new Ronin M works with a stripped down Epic.

 

[Ryan Skeete]

Hi Phil, regarding the Konova cineslider, is there the ability to mount the slider on to mitchell sticks/risers etc as well as accept mitchell based heads like a 2575 on the carriage?

Cheers

 

[Phil Holland]

Hi Phil, regarding the Konova cineslider, is there the ability to mount the slider on to mitchell sticks/risers etc as well as accept mitchell based heads like a 2575 on the carriage?

Cheers

You're thinking what I was thinking in a lot of ways. There is a small-ish cheese plate on the bottom of the slider and anything can be bolted onto that. I do think based on it's design you'll need some additional support at the extreme ends of the track if center mounting. They make these two extension arm things that you can bolt to either side of the track and support your ends however.

The plates are removable and you can put a Mitchell on top. I asked about payload and they didn't have a finite answer. I know the barrings and the track they are using. I'd say 100lbs might be possible. Maybe more.

 

[Kirk.Attard]

What is your favourite from the three Phil? Dana, Kessler or Konova. I suppose they are all in the same average price point. Was leaning towards Dana but I seemed to like the KEssler design mostly because it has some sort of drag built into it.

 

[Ryan Skeete]

Whats the length of the Konova? I've found that up to around 36" generally doesn't need end supports. I have the Dana dolly as well but I do like being able to mount a slider on sticks or on a dolly and having that extra room to save OTS shots. Fun fact, in Canada we call sliders, "overkeepers" for that very reason. A little cumbersome to use a DD for that purpose. Most pro sliders in the 3ft range are $5k or more so if this konova could be retro-fitted after the fact (or at the factory?)it might be a decent alternative.

 

[Phil Holland]

The Konova was about 4 feet.

What is your favourite from the three Phil? Dana, Kessler or Konova. I suppose they are all in the same average price point. Was leaning towards Dana but I seemed to like the KEssler design mostly because it has some sort of drag built into it.

For me the Dana Dolly is an essential piece of gear. I've rigged that thing every way you can imagine and it hold a ton of weight. You can use speed rail and I even kitted up with Dana Dolly's track because I was shooting remotely. So that's going to be one you'll need to pry out of my hands.

Kessler's is pretty new. It's got harder wheels. I even use my Cineslider still when it's needed. The Dana Dolly gets used the most though.