Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Steadicam Curve Hands-On

By

Steadicam Curve

Tiffen launched its new Steadicam Curve at NAB 2013. The Curve is designed to work with GoPro HERO cameras.

I stopped by Tiffen’s booth to try out the Steadicam Curve and was instantly impressed with the usability of the device.

The Curve only weighs a half pound and is made to be operated with only one hand. It is the first Steadicam product that I have picked up and instantly felt at ease with it. For those who are intimidated by these stabilizer devices, this would be a great place to start. [Read more…]

 

Phantom Flex4K: Up Close and Sample Footage

By

Phantom Flex 4K-6

Vision Research unveiled its new Phantom Flex4K cinema camera at NAB 2013. The stunner feature is that it captures 4K RAW footage at 1000fps.

I stopped by the Vision Research booth to get a closer look at the Phantom Flex4K and to see some 4K demo footage on a 4K display. Before we get into the build and specs of the Flex4K, check out the below video shot with the Flex4K in 4K. [Read more…]

Panasonic 4K Prototype Camcorder on Display at NAB 2013

By

Panasonic 4K Camera

4K was certainly the big theme this year at NAB. Whether it was cameras, capture, post or delivery, 4K video was everywhere.

Panasonic 4K Camera-6

Of course, some manufacturers are further along than others in the 4K development pipeline. Panasonic happened to have a single 4K camcorder under glass. However, this was a working model that was pumping out a 4K signal via a single HDMI 1.4a cable to a 4K monitor next to the display. [Read more…]

Beauty Box Video 3.0 Offers Easy Skin Retouching for Video

By

Digital Anarchy Beauty Box

I took a quick demo yesterday with Beauty Box Video 3.0 here at NAB 2013. While I have seen it several times before, I never stopped to look at what it how simple it is to use.

Beauty Box is a plug-in for Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, After Effects and several other NLEs. There is also a version for Photoshop and Aperture. (No Lightroom yet. If you want to see it for Lightroom, I would suggest making some noise by emailing Digital Anarchy and letting them know you want it.)

Essentially, Beauty Box uses multiple algorithms to create a matte of skin tones and leaves alone facial details like teeth, hair and eyelashes. You can fine tune the matte for your given lighting conditions and skin tones; however, it’s a process that takes seconds even to fine tune it.

Hopefully, I’ll have a full review in the coming weeks; however, I wanted to pass along a coupon code that is valid only during NAB this week. Use the coupon code NAB2013 to get 25% any of the Beauty Box versions. The most common version for Premiere, AE or FCP is regularly $199; however, it’s only $149 this week with the code. You can see all the versions here on Digital Anarchy’s website.

You can get a nice overview of an older version of Beauty Box inside After Effects (still the same overall concept and workflow) with the following video. [Read more…]

RED is Building 6K Dragon Cameras Live at NAB in a Custom-Built Clean Room

By

Red Dragon Upgrade

In what is probably the wildest thing I have seen thus far at NAB 2013, RED has built a ridiculous clean room for its engineers to perform Dragon camera builds on the show floor – complete with windows for spectators to watch the magic happen.

Red Dragon Upgrade-4

For a little background, EPIC and SCARLET owners also have the option to upgrade their cameras’ sensors to the 6K Dragon sensor for around $10k. The upgrade program has finally begun with quite the spectacle here at NAB 2013. The EPIC-M Dragon starts at $29k.

Check out the rest of the images below for a closer look at this impressive process. [Read more…]

New Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and 4K Camera Available for Pre-Order

By

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

The new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K won’t be shipping until July 2013. However, the line to get one starts now.

I expect both of these models to be in high demand. I sat down with a representative earlier today and he said that while the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera will begin shipping in July, they are expecting a high demand that will lead to a hefty backorder log.

In short, if you want one, pre-order it now.

You can pre-order the Blackmagic Pocket Camera here at B&H Photo.

You can pre-order the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K here at B&H Photo.

Blackmagic Brings 4K for $4K to Reality with New Super35 Cine Camera

By

Blackmagic Production Camera 4K

Alongside the new Pocket Cinema Camera, Blackmagic announced its new Production Camera 4K today at NAB 2013.

The new camera is housed in the same body as last year’s Blackmagic Cinema Camera; however, the Production Camera 4K sports some fancy new innards, including a Super35 format sensor that captures high quality compressed CinemaDNG RAW and ProRes 422 (HQ) files in 4K resolution. It boasts 12 stops of dynamic range and includes DaVinci Resolve color grading software. [Read more…]