The HR1 is a cool new product from Sony. It’s an XDCAM field recorder, which we’ve seen in the past, but this records to the high quality XDCAM 422 50mb codec and also supports the lower bit rate XDCAM HD formats and SD formats. It is 1080/720 switchable and support 23.98 recording and playback. All this support means that it will record from just about any camcorder including the Sony CineAlta line and Panasonic P2 VariCams. The HR1 can upconvert and downconvert footage on playback as well.

The unit has a built in 9″ LCD and full playback control with built in jog wheel. On the back you’ll find HD-SDI In/Out, SD-SDI In/Out, Composite Video In/Out, and a Gigabit Ethernet port for downloading clips.

Seems like a great product to bring high quality recording to a number of different systems and for video assist on set. Read the Press Release here.

Sony had a few pre-NAB releases this week. The first is the HDVF-C30WR, which is the upgrade to the original HDVF-C30. Sony  released a C35 model a while back, which was physically larger, but some of you may have noticed that it didn’t exactly fit the F35 or F23 with a prime lens on. The C30WR has some big improvements over the original. Here is some info from the press release:

…continue reading Pre-NAB Release: Sony’s C30WR Viewfinder

It appears that the Sony EX cameras exhibit the same form of IR sensitivity that the Sony F35 and the Panavision Genesis do. Therefore the best filter for these cameras is not an IR Hot Mirror but instead a Tiffen IR ND non-Hot Mirror filter. This filter set was created for the F35 and Genesis. It is also less expensive than the Hot Mirror type filters such as the Formatts we sell for the RED.

Please note that different types of cameras and sensors require different type of filtration. The Formatts remain the recommended solution for the RED but the Tiffen non-Hot Mirror product is best for the EX1/EX3.

Art Adams over at ProvideoCoalition.com is doing an IR Filter Shoot Out to see how filters from three manufacturers work with the RED, F35 and EX Cameras. You can check those tests out here.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working on a five-part video series covering Sony’s latest XDCAM optical disc camera, the PDW700.

In each of the segments, I give a through overview of the camera, introduce supporting XDCAM devices, present work flow examples, and discuss the XDCAM disc as a backup format.

This series is ideal for anyone who wants to get acquainted with the new PDW700 camera or learn more about working with the high-end XDCAM professional disc format. Follow the link below, we will be releasing a new chapter each week.

Sony PDW700 XDCAM Camera Tour

A few months ago, we were introduced to a company called 1Beyond. They have been creating custom editing machines and storage systems for a while, and now they have taken aim at the P2 market with the P2 Wrangler. If you’ve been keeping up with the latest Panasonic products you may have read about the P2 Rapid Writer, which is a fast download box with a built-in hard drive RAID and five P2 card slots. The P2 Wrangler Portable is the same idea but at a reduced cost and with greatly expanded possibilities.

Looking at the Wrangler Portable you might think it’s a laptop computer from 1985, but it’s in fact a high-tech piece of gear with a lot of function that you normally only find on a desktop machine. On the left side you’ll find four P2 Card slots, various connectors (USB, firewire, and VGA), and an LCD displaying battery life. On the right side is a DVD-RW drive and two removable drives. These drives are called GoHDCart disks which are hot-swappable, shock resistant drives and 320GB each. The front cover folds down to reveal a 15″ LCD and a full keyboard with trackpad.

…continue reading 1Beyond P2 Wrangler Portable

These two devices work great together, but there is one little trick that’s good to know. The RED has a slightly unique way of carrying the video signal over HD-SDI. You must manually adjust the signal frequency of the video. It’s not a big deal and in fact most monitors will self-compensate for it. But the carrier signal of the Cam-Wave cannot (it doesn’t know it’s supposed to because it is just a carrier, not a display or recorder).

Why does this matter and what do you do about it? It’s really simple: If you’re shooting at 24fps or 30fps, then the video frequency must be set to 59.97i. If you are shooting at 25fps then the frequency must be set to 50i. I get this question all the time on rental jobs where people have a strange rolling image from the Cam-Wave. Every time it turns out they are shooting 25fps but never switched the camera to 50i.  Here’s the menu path to adjust this on the RED:

SYSTEM — MONITOR — HD-SDI — 50i/59.97i.

Takes just a few seconds once you know where to look.

In the past, wireless reference monitoring from the camera meant a fuzzy standard definition image that was prone to interference. Now with the IDX Wevi CW-5HD Cam-Wave (that’s a mouthful so I’ll just call it the Cam-Wave), uncompressed HD transmission is available in a lightweight, small, camera-mounted solution. Both transmitter and receiver have male & female battery plates so they will fit between a camera (transmitter) and battery or monitor (receiver) and battery. Cam-Wave can also use outboard 12v or AC power. Units lock to one another automatically, and multiple receivers can connect to a single transmitter. The signal is rock-solid and perfect with a 150+ foot range. Oh, and it can handle standard definition SD-SDI as well. Abel rents the Cam-Wave in Anton Bauer mount with optional V-lock adapters or it can be purchased in V-lock (and Anton Bauer adapters are available).

The Cam-Wave is available from Abel to purchase or rent.