The NULL Lens has begun shipping. We are fulfilling pre-orders first and expect to be caught up before the end of August.

The NULL Lens is an optical collimating tool for the RED One camera. Attach the NULL Lens to the PL lens mount, loosen the clamp screws on the side of the camera’s mount, point at something far away (150’ / 50m) and adjust until the image becomes sharp. It really is that simple. Properly adjusted, the NULL Lens can set the RED One’s mount accurately to within five microns. To see how easy the NULL Lens is to use, please check out our new online instructional video.

…continue reading NULL Lens Now Shipping

Apple has just released a new version of Final Cut Pro and updates to several other programs in Final Cut Studio including Compressor, Color, Motion, and Soundtrack. There are so many updates that you’ll need to go over to Apples site to read about them. Visit their What’s New page for the details. Here are some of the big updates in FCP 7 that make me happy…

…continue reading Final Cut Pro 7 Released

The Lumix GH1 is a new digital camera from Panasonic that can not only shoot excellent still photos, but 1080 24P & 720 60P video too. In the video, I show off this little camera and how you can put a PL mount lens on it with the new Hot Rod PL Mount Lens adapter. And to make this combination even cooler, I put a brand new Zeiss Compact Prime on the setup. Check out the video, and come by our office to get your hands on it. Also check out our new HDSLR Specialty Shop, which is growing by the minute.

Doug Percher from International Supplies was nice enough to bring by the Nexto Video Storage Pro unit the other day and let us try it out. In the past, Nexto had shown us their eXtreme ND 2700 and other models that provided a OTG (on-the-go) way of downloading CF, SDHC cards, Memory sticks, and a variety of other flash memory. It’s basically a portable hard drive unit with some memory slots. The card goes in, and with a few clicks, the card is downloaded to the internal drive. This was a great unit for the DSLR market, Red One users, and AVCHD camera owners. But the Video Storage Pro brings this idea to a whole new level. It’s a must have for any tapeless camera owner, P2 & SxS included!

…continue reading Nexto Video Storage Pro

Panasonic has posted several new pieces of firmware and software on their support desk. These are big updates so get them right away if you use P2 products. You can find them all at the Panasonic AV Support Desk. Here is the list of the updates:

1) Firmware for the HPX170/HVX200/HVX200A to enabled full support for the E-Series cards.

2) Mac Drivers for working with P2 Cards – everyone needs this.

3) A new AVC-Intra Decoder for Final Cut Pro

4) Mac AVCCAM Viewer for playing back AVCHD footage. (Also downlaod the AVCCAM Transcoder & AVCCAM Restorer while you are at it).

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Setting the correct depth on the lens mount of Digital Cinema cameras is a critical and precise task. The new Red Null tool makes the process quick and easy. Everybody should have one in their kit. Watch the video to see how it works and how simple it is to use.

For more information, visit ibe-optics.com.

From my perspective, if there were themes to NAB this year, it was 3D and 35PL glass. There were a multitude of 3D rigs on display; some of them quite clever, some rather old school and some, well, shall we say… “logically challenged”.

Then there were a few groundbreaking solutions aimed at the masses. Panasonic showed a concept camera that essentially looked like an HPX170 with binoculars on the front. Affordable HD 3D. Years away from reality, but a sign of things to come. Neat. This camera was a component of a top-to-bottom 3D initiative announced by Panasonic. Here’s the press release.

There were plenty of 3D display systems from other manufacturers as well. Sony showed a very nice 3D LCD panel that attracted quite a crowd.

…continue reading Reflections on NAB 2009