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Last week we posted a great video of Digital Cinema Society‘s James Mathers interviewing VRI’s Rick Robinson about Phantom Flex. In another installation from their NAB 2010 series, James talks with Mitch Gross at the Abel booth about the new Schneider Cine Xenar prime lenses. These lenses come standard in PL mount, but are also available in Canon and Nikon mount. Check out the video for more in-depth info from Mitch (and a guest appearance by the HDx2!)

Panasonic is now shipping their single card P2 reader, the AJ-PCD2. This is a must have for anyone who is a P2 camera owner. The device itself is small and very light weight. On the front, you’ll find the single card slot, and on the back there are two USB 2.0 ports. Why two? Well, one is for transferring data and the other is for power. The standard USB port has a limited power output, but with two ports there is enough power for the device to work without a battery or power supply. After downloading the drivers from the Panasonic website, I tested the PCD2 on my MacBook Pro. The device works as advertised without any hitches – gone are the days of the buggy Duel Adapter solution. Unfortunately, USB 2.0 is not as speedy as the ExpressCard interface, but I was able to download a full 32 GB card in about 15 minutes. Transfer speeds may vary depending on the drive you are copying to. I was using an external RAID 0 drive connected with FireWire 800. I also tested the PCD2 on a PC laptop running Windows XP, with very similar results and no headaches at all.

Panasonic also released a new AVC-Intra encoder plugin for Apple’s Compressor. This plugin allows Compressor to export video files encoded in the AVC-Intra codec. AVC-Intra is a high quality compression, and with Final Cut Pro 7, it is supported natively. So with this new export option, AVC-Intra can be used as a high quality deliverable at a relatively low data rate. The Compressor utility allows for files to be created in QuickTime format or in original P2 format. In P2 format, the video can be transferred back to a P2 card using a devices like the PCD2, PCD20 or PCD35, and metadata can be entered. While a P2 card is far from a common deliverable, productions and news networks that have adopted P2 will greatly appreciate the new option. Download the new plugin here. Note: Final Cut Studio 3 is required.

At NAB this year, Sony released several major updates to their XDCAM camcorders. This includes new firmware, hardware, and software that can change all aspects of the XDCAM workflow. Sony has announced updates to the PDW-700/F800, a Wifi adapter, Live Logging, new XDCAM browsing software, decks, and archiving solutions. Keep reading to learn more about these updates.

…continue reading The Latest XDCAM Updates

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A couple of weeks ago, we posted a blog introducing Vision Research’s new camera, Phantom Flex. At NAB this year, our friend James Mathers, President of the Digital Cinema Society – a nonprofit educational cooperative – interviewed Vision Research’s VP of Marketing, Rick Robinson to get an up-close look at Flex, as well as the new Phantom Remote Control Unit. To see more great videos from NAB 2010, please visit the Digital Cinema Society’s official site at www.DigitalCinemaSociety.org

At this year’s NAB Show there were countless 3D rigs, monitors, and image processors. 3D capture technology is evolving at an extraordinary pace, and in many different directions. Mitch and I got to check out some of the smaller, more affordable 3D devices that could make a big splash in 3D production.

First up is the Panasonic 3D camera, the AG-3DA1. This little guy was first revealed at NAB 2009, and is now only a few months away from being released. Watch the video to see the camera up close in the Panasonic booth:

Keep reading to learn about some new 3D recording options.

…continue reading 3D in the Palm of Your Hand

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We would like to thank everyone on the Abel team, as well as all of our associates from the great group of manufacturers we represent, who helped make NAB 2010 such a great success! If you couldn’t make it out this year, check out our gallery of images of some of the people and gear that made Abel’s booth shine. (Photo credits: Mark Forman & Joe Guilfoyle)

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Earlier this week we posted “The Bicycle” – the short film shot by DP John Inwood to test Zeiss’s Compact Primes. Check out the gallery above for some behind the scenes shots of the crew working with the RED One, the Lumix GH1, and of course, the Zeiss lenses. Additionally, you can click here for more info on Zeiss’s new CP.2 lenses.