UPDATE: What are the ‘cine-style’ lenses Canon say they will exhibit at NAB?
With just over a week to go until NAB 2011 and the start of a new financial year we can look forward to some new product releases. (Although NAB is not a consumer photography event like Photokina, there is a large DSLR video presence there).
It’s Canon I believe we should be looking to for the biggest news.
If they are ever going to get their large sensor interchangeable lens video camera out of the door, NAB 2011 is the place to do it. With both their main competitors Sony and Panasonic having entered the market around the $6k point with the FS100 and AF100, Canon simply must compete it is not a matter of ‘if’ rather ‘when’ and at what price.
It will be interesting to see what lens mount they use for their camera. Sony have a combination of their new mirrorless E-mount and PL mount, Panasonic of course also used their consumer Micro Four Thirds mirrorless mount. Canon don’t have a mirrorless mount and the flange distance of EF mount lenses doesn’t make sense for a video camera since it would disable PL mount compatibility.
I’m expecting a new mirrorless mount from Canon and adapters for both EF lenses and PL.
Codec wise it will be Canon’s XF codec at 50Mbit 4-2-2, anything less for $6k – like AVCHD – is a possibility but won’t please broadcasters.
Sony of course we know about, will they have anything more accessible and affordable for aspiring filmmakers at NAB or will it just be for the industry only in the form of the FS100 and F3?
Probably industry only.
What I am really interested about from Sony is actually their up-coming consumer cameras. The NEX-C3 is going to be announced shortly, which is rumoured to feature ‘more advanced control’ and better usability – basically an enthusiast’s version of the NEX-3.
I am REALLY interested in this camera.
I have been begging Sony for a long time to add just basic full manual control in video mode like the NEX-3 and 5 are already capable of in live view mode for stills. We also need 24p and since the PAL version’s sensor already does 25p but wraps it in an interlaced format, that too is a simple firmware adjustment like on the GH1 which a certain Russian was able to achieve without even having access to documentation or proper tools.
What I am hoping for is that they put a creative movie mode in the NEX C3 with manual controls and 24p, they could do this in 1 day’s work if they chose to. The big question is will they?
If they get the C3 right it will be a true GH2 competitor and genuinely exciting, since the NEX-3 already has a better sensor than the GH2 and it’s a larger APS-C imager. It’s also mirrorless so we have all the same interesting lens choices (although the Voigtlander 25mm F0.95 vignettes on the NEX-3 when adapted). This is a huge opportunity for Sony to enter the DSLR video enthusiasts market and get some EOSHD love. There are a few other things they need to fix – if the C3 has a better image processor (which I am expecting since the NEX-3’s is based on quite primitive hardware compared to the GH2) then I’m hoping the moire of the NEX-3 goes away and that they sort out the ridiculous 25% crop which applies to the NEX-3’s movie mode!
(The NEX5 and NEX3 are the same camera, just different firmware and body design).
Of course we cannot forget the NEX-VG10 camcorder – will they update that at NAB too? Unlikely since it’s only been out 6 months.
Sony’s really lucky number doesn’t come up until later in the year – it’s all about the 7 series. The A77 and NEX-7 are true successors to Sony’s current generation, and feature a next generation APS-C sensor which Sony hope to overtake Canon with. It is basically their answer to whatever Canon is going to put in the 7D Mark II and 700D. It has an enormous pixel count though, 24MP – which I am not sure is the right thing to do at all – but despite that is is meant to be one hell of a cutting edge sensor with fantastic low light performance.
Nikon, well they are passing on video for now it seems, having had their fingers burnt with a rubbish Coolpix camcorder a few years ago. This time around they have a genuine chance to make something special with their own CMOS sensor and interchangeable lens mount but consider themselves only a stills photography company. Incidentally that is the same reasoning which lead Nikon to turn down the purchase of Photoshop in the early 90’s. “We’re not a software company”.
NAB 2011 is shaping up to be a fantastic time, and keynote speakers include James Cameron.
The next two weeks are going to be interesting.
