If you’re on set, you have the choice of A) bringing a whole bunch of batteries or B) bring less bulk and –if possible– charge your batteries as you go. Weight vs. time, so to say. Time is a precious good on a packed shooting day and you can’t afford waiting for those batteries to charge up. That’s where the new Core SWX Fleet FF charger comes in. Four fully charged batteries for your MōVI Pro gimbal in just 45 minutes! This compact 4-bay charger takes the pain out of charging up batteries for the MōVI Pro. Usually you’d use the provided single-bay chargers from Freefly to juice up the 25.2V Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries. Since the gimbal is powered by two batteries simultaneously, most of the MōVI Pro bundles come with two batteries and two single-bay chargers. Core SWX Fleet FF Charger This newly developed charger takes four of the MōVI Pro batteries and charge all of them in about 45 minutes, which is pretty impressive since the original charger by Freefly takes around one hour to charge one single battery. The Core SWX Fleet device charges the batteries independently, so it makes sure to provide each and every battery with the correct amount of charge current. This is actually important since LiPo batteries tend to be pretty delicate devices demanding for careful treatment. Having just one compact device for charging 4 batteries simultaneously seems to be much preferable than setting up a heap of cable clutter and multiple chargers. The Core SWX Fleet FF (as in Freefly) charger provides up to 2.5A charge current while accepting 90-240V AC 50/60Hz as an input voltage. The unit is 10.9″ x 4.9″ x 3.26″ (27,7 x 12,5 x 8,3 cm) in size and it weights 2.1 lbs (0,95 kg). Freefly MōVI Pro battery and charger. Pricing and Availability The Core SWX Fleet FF charger is obviously more expensive than the original Freefly charger. It’s even (way) more expensive than 4 of the Freefly chargers. But, and that might be important here: As we’ve discussed earlier, time is a precious good on the set, so being able to quickly recharge four batteries could potentially top the premium price. Especially if you’ve already paid serious money for the gimbal itself. Of course all of this only applies if you’re using the MōVI Pro gimbal system on a regular basis. But if you do, you don’t want to wait for some extra batteries to charge up, do you? Links: Core SWX Website What do you think? Would you consider deploying such a device on set? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Back in 2016 Miggo, an Israeli company, introduced the Pictar One. A hardware device for controlling and enhancing the iPhone’s photo and video abilities. Now, a little over two years after their first campaign, Miggo are back on Kickstarter with a new and improved version of their neat device: The Pictar Pro. This new version sports a metal body, improved (and larger) controls, a built-in battery for wirelessly charging the phone (if the phone supports it), and, most importantly, advanced video capabilities over the original Pictar One. It works with all recent iPhones (from 6 to Xs including plus and max models) and a number of leading Android models. Pictar Pro Camera Grip This device turns your phone’s camera into a fully-fledged pro camera with all the hardware buttons and dials you would expect on a DSLR camera. Four external controls, several mounting points for accessories and the ergonomic shape of the unit itself let you operate your phone’s camera like the real thing. The magic ingredient, however, is the app that connects seamlessly with Pictar Pro. Combined, these two parts unleash the full potential of that tiny lens on the back of your phone. The Pictar Pro only comes in one version that fits all compatible smartphones. You don’t have to choose between the original and the plus model for larger phones anymore. Once you insert the phone into the Pictar Pro camera grip you’re all set. You don’t have to wait for a Bluetooth connection whatsoever because there’s no Bluetooth involved here. The device emits a short, very high-frequency audio signal, one for each control element. These sounds can’t be heard by humans but your phone’s mic will pick it up and sends it off to the Pictar app. Inside the app these tones are being translated into control commands for the actual camera. That way battery life is increased and the frustration of wacky Bluetooth connections is decreased. This new model sports a number of new features targeted at video shooters. A 1/4 20 tread is located at the bottom of the unit, a cold shoe mount on the top. Furthermore, you can open up a tiny flap on the side of the Pictar Pro in order to connect an external microphone directly to your phone. Pro Video Features A really cool feature is the ability to use a dedicated viewfinder rather than the bare screen of the attached phone. Once the little (and foldable) viewfinder is attached to the Pictar Pro the app will shrink the screen to just a tiny portion of the actual display to fit the viewfinders field of view. This is cool when shooting in bright sunlight! The new zoom rocker can be used to smoothly zoom in and out while in video mode. The original Pictar One used a dial instead of a rocker which resulted in not so smooth zooms. The zoom speed can be adjusted, of course. The new app, in conjunction with the Pictar Pro, now even features video stabilization and you now can control the frame rate of your videos App Features In order to use the Pictar Pro you need the dedicated Pictar app (available for iOS and Android). This is the brain and master of the hardware attached. In conjunction with the hardware controls you really get a serious camera. Pressing the shutter button only halfway through to lock exposure/focus and reframing your shot afterwards? Not a problem (and you can’t do that on your phone). Snapping photos in RAW or TIFF format? Sure! In terms of video, the app lets you pull off things you simply can’t do with the native camera app of your phone. Such as controlling the zoom speed, displaying a histogram, increasing the shutter speed, controlling ISO, manipulating the frame rate or using manual focus rather than wacky auto focus. Furthermore, since the phone’s camera section is unobstructed by the Pictar Pro you are free to use whatever clip-on lenses you like. Specifications The Pictar Pro is 110 x 95,4  x 35 mm (4.33 x 3.75 x 1.37 in) in size (L x H x D) and weights 225g (0.49 lbs). IN the box you’ll find the Pictar Pro unit itself, a viewfinder, a wrsit strap, a neck strap, a carrying case, a charging cable and the owner’s manual. And you’ll need to download the free app, of course. Supported phones (as of Aug 1st 2018) are the following: This list will be updated regularly so if you don’t find your phone on it, check the Kickstarter campaign page for updates! Hint: The new iPhone Xs, Xs max and Xr are supported, too. Pricing and Availability Pictar Pro is available through Kickstarter, which means you can’t buy it but have to financially support their campaign and then get a Pictar Pro as a reward once it’s successful. Said campaign runs for almost 2 months from now. Pricing is $119 (early bird) or $129 (regular Kickstarter price) for the Pictar Pro only. Several kits are available, too. Shipping should start around March 2019. Please keep in mind that Kickstarter is not an online shot but a crowdfunding platform. Anything can happen including the total loss of your “investment”. Since the original Pictar One campaign was a huge success, though, I think it’s safe to say that the guys behind it have a solid reputation of delivering a quality product in time. Links: Kickstarter | mymiggo.com What do you think about the Pictar Pro camera grip? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Pomfort’s Silverstack Offload Manager might be considered as a trimmed down version of the full Silverstack / Silverstack XT software – a professional Data backup and managing software for DITs. Silverstack Offload sports the same offloading and verification engine as its bigger brothers, but without some extra features you might not even need when working on smaller projects. And since this is a streamlined one-purpose software, it’s fast, robust and more affordable. Streamlined UI, attached media on top and tasks both pending and completed below. Imagine you just shot that once-in-a-lifetime take, only to realize back at the hotel that every file from your backup drive is corrupt or missing and the original media has been reformatted multiple times since then. You might have experienced this kind of scenario once. Hopefully only once, because from that point on you would install some kind of professional backup software for offloading your footage, right? Silverstack Offload Manager is exactly that: A professional software for backing up data to multiple destinations, complete with dedicated verification and reporting. It uses the same core engine as the full Pomfort Silverstack suite of applications, trusted by professional DITs for years. Silverstack Offload Manager While designing Silverstack Offload Manager, the goal was to create a streamlined and easy-to-use, yet powerful and trustworthy companion for creating backups of footage on set. The interface is pretty much self-explanatory: Choose your source, select one or more destinations, done. The underlying Silverstack copy and verification engine takes over and does the heavy lifting for you. It’s a two-step process and each step is clearly visible within the user interface: A blue checkbox indicates a completed copying process, the green checkbox next to it gives you some peace of mind, due to the successfully completed verification process. All kinds of camera formats, including RAW sequences as well as photos, sound files, and other production documents are being supported. Furthermore, the software automatically creates comprehensive offload reports to document all copy jobs for that given day. In terms of data verification, the Silverstack Offload manager relies on the company’s proven verification engine, which sports checksum methods such as xxHash, MD5 and SH1. According to Pomfort the copying process is as fast as using the Finder (on a Mac). The only thing that takes a little bit of extra time is the hashing process for verification. Multiple sources from different USB / Thunderbolt ports or card readers can be copied to multiple destinations at the same time. The app takes care of balancing the load across all tasks. In addition to just copying files, Silverstack extracts all of the camera’s metadata in the background, offering you the possibility to export your project to Silverstack XT or Silverstack Lab, in case  you need to further work on that footage before entering post production. That very metadata is also being used to create not only comprehensive but human readable reports. The software recognizes the camera, the format, things like color sub-sampling, frames per second and other very useful metadata. Just like Silverstack XT, all kinds of camera makes and models are being supported: From GoPro all the way up to Alexa LF. Back Up that Footage Offloading camera footage safely is a very important part of acquiring footage and you really should take it seriously. Back in the days, we had film reels or video cassettes. These were kept and archived so no real backup was needed. Now we have SxS cards, SD cards, SSD drives, CFast cards and whatnot. All these media share one thing: They are intended to be used over and over again. You will format them and reuse them in-camera. You probably will do this on set, so you’ll really need a secure and trustworthy backup and verification solution in order to safely transfer all of your footage into post, as opposed to ending up with missing and/or corrupt files. The Competition There are lots of backup solutions out there. The Silverstack Offload Manager clearly aims for those more affordable one-purpose solutions such as RedGiant Offload or Hedge. Both are available for around a $100 and for that amount they are yours to use and keep. Silverstack Offload, on the other hand, relies on a temporal license model (one year, one month or 14 days). That might seem expensive, but since you have the ability to export projects from Silvestack Offload Manager to the more advanced apps, it integrates nicely into existing DIT workflows. This is something the others do not offer, so you’ll have to decide if you need that kind of flexibility. Silverstack Offload Manager UI All three competitors offer multiple backup destinations and checksum verification, so all three are way more secure than just copying over some files via your operating system’s file manager. Pomfort’s Silverstack Offload Manager is available as a 1-year license for $139 (119 €), or as a project license: 14 days for $35 (29 €) or one month for $49 (42 €). You can activate each of these licenses on the exact day you’ll need them, so you won’t waste any days if you buy a license in advance of an upcoming project. If a given license has expired you’re still able to open existing projects in read-only mode. A 10-day free trial version is available for download. Links: Pomfort Website Do you use some kind of backup software while on set? What do you think of this new Silverstack Offload Manager? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Remember the Skydio R1 drone we reported about a couple of months back? Well, it’s alive and kicking! Even better, the guys behind it just released a massive software update, a SDK, for the R1 drone. So if you happen to be a developer, you now can program your own skills and even mobile apps for the Skydio R1! Oh, and it’s getting more affordable, too. The Skydio R1 looks like a normal drone but it really isn’t. It’s more like a flying robot with plenty of AI (artificial intelligence) built in. It sports a total of 13 cameras, 1 of them is the main, front-facing, 4K-capable camera which is on duty capturing your actual footage, the other 12 are there to help the R1 navigating itself autonomously through any environment while tracking a moving object (or subject) of your choice. That’s cool but it gets even better. Skydio has just announced a massive software update sporting a full-blown SDK (software developing kit) for the R1 drone. Skydio R1 SDK The Skydio R1 employs quite a bit of computational power in order to avoid obstacles, track objects, keep itself in the air smoothly and record video. The brain of the drone is the so-called Skydio Autonomy Engine, a platform that uses cutting-edge computer vision and machine learning algorithms to see and understand the world around it and to plan and execute its own movement. Neither a controller nor a human operator is needed to fly this thing. It will track you autonomously while you pull off that awesome BMX stunt. A camera crew in your pocket, so to speak. A total of 13 cameras sense the environment. All these calculations rely on clever algorithms, programmed by the company’s own engineers. With this new software update, you have the chance of becoming a R1 developer yourself. A few lines of Python are required so you should be familiar with this programming language. All kinds of skills can be programmed using the same tools the company’s own engineers have access to. Developers can employ relevant, comprehensive R1 telemetry signals: takeoff-relative position, speed, distance from ground, location, user location, battery levels, temperature, and more. CEO and co-founder of Skydio, Adam Bry, puts it this way: The Skydio R1 is a new type of drone, built on breakthroughs in subject tracking, path planning, mapping, scene understanding, and collision avoidance.With the release of the Skydio Autonomy Platform, our core technology can be accessed by third party developers to add an infinite number of additional Skills for a wide range of use cases. We are really excited to see what developers will do. Building on the Skydio Autonomy Platform means harnessing the full weight of the state of the art in AI and robotics to solve your problem. The new Skills SDK ​allows developers to create new skills for Skydio R1 in a few lines of Python via a rich set of APIs. Resulting skills can be easily shared with other Skydio owners via the Developer Console. This could potentially lead to a whole community of R1 users who share their bespoke set of features. Pretty cool, indeed! Skydio’s AI at work sensing the environment. Furthermore, a Mobile SDK allows developers to control the Skydio R1 from within their own custom apps for both Android or iOS. In order to test new algorithms, developers can use Skydio’s simulator ​which allows for quick iteration by running your skills on a simulated R1 in a virtual 3D environment, all from a web browser. Even More Skills Since our initial coverage, the drone’s software already got some updates, such as the ability to track cars. Watch the video below for some example shots: This new SDK-related software update not only sports the brand new SDK but also a number of pre-programmed skills to get you started right away: Cable cam​ ​- allows users to pilot R1 to specific positions and orientations and then reliably retrace the flight path between each point, all while maintaining full obstacle avoidance, and optionally tracking a subject. New Skills focused on single-shot actions, including Dronie, Boomerang, Vortex, and Rocket. These new skills are quickly triggered and give you unique shots without any effort. Lower Pricepoint Since its initial release the Skydio R1 was only available as a limited so-called Frontier Edition. Now the company has streamlined their production capabilities, resulting in a lower price for the drone. The price has dropped from $2,500 to a more reasonable $1,999. One thing that would be really cool and would complement the upgradable software of this drone would be an upgradable main camera for capturing the actual footage. We’ll take a closer look at the new cinematic functions and test the camera capabilities in our upcoming review soon. links: Skydio.com | our initial coverage (for specs) What do you think of this autonomously drone? Would you use it or do you prefer controlling a drone by yourself? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Although the summer seems to be almost gone, the heat is not over yet! Hot on the heels of Nikon’s new Z6 and Z7, Canon releases their own take of a full-frame mirrorless camera, the Canon EOS R. This is it, the Canon EOS R. It is the company’s first full-frame mirrorless camera and it has plenty (but not all) of the features one had hoped for. 4K video? Check! Dual Pixel autofocus? Check! Swivel screen? Check! Alongside this release Canon shows four native lenses for the new RF mount. And these lenses come with some impressive specs! A 28-70mm f/2, anyone? The Canon EOS R The Canon EOS R is the first camera to feature the new RF lens mount with a 12-pin connection, flange back distance of 20mm and a wide 54mm mount diameter. According to Canon this enables a greater flexibility in lens design. We get to the four new native RF lenses in a second. First, watch the video below in order to get started with the new EOS R ecosystem: OK, let’s take a deep breath and sort this out. A new RF mount? EF glass only with an adapter? Yes, but that adapter comes with a twist! There are actually three different models of that EF – R mount adapter. A plain adapter, a adapter which sports a control ring (just like the control ring on the new RF lenses) and a version for drop-in filters. Your choice of a polarizer filter or a variable ND filter. The camera sports some new features when compared to the full-size DSLRs. On the rear there’s a new so-called Function Bar which is highly customizable. You can map whatever you want to it and control it conveniently with your thumb.  Furthermore, the camera body features a built-in EVF with 3.69 Million Dots, a swiveling touchscreen LCD and a dot-matrix LCD Panel on the top for all relevant information.   For stills, the EOS R shoots CR3(RAW/C-RAW) and supports dual pixel AF in RAW. The CR3 is Canon’s new RAW format for stills. The whole body is of course weather-sealed and dust resistant, just like you would expect from a Canon camera. Video Capabilities In terms of video the new EOS R does record either 1080p up to 50/60p, 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) in up to 25/30p. It’s also capable of recording 100/120p but only at a less than desirable resolution of 1280×720. The recording codec is MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 and video is recorded internally in 8bit 4:2:0 only in Rec.2020 or Canon Log (1). We’ve been told that the will operate in crop mode when shooting 4K UHD. That’s unfortunate but, and that’s a good thing, the EOS R features HDMI 422 10bit out in either Rec.2020 or Canon Log. So no real high frame rates (except for 720p) to be found here. Sony’s a7 III does 1080p in up to 120fps. Same is true for the new Nikon Z6 and Z7. According to Canon the EOS R is just the first body for their new ecosystem involving the new RF mount, so this might be only the beginning. For us video shooters the above specs seem a bit disappointing but I think we should wait just a little longer and don’t judge a camera solely from its specs. Let’s see how the actual footage looks like. What the Canon EOS R lacks is this: No IBIS (in body image stabilization). The New sensor does not offer any built-in IS features such as the Sony a7III or the new Nikon Z’s do. Furthermore, the EOS R sports only a single SD card slot (just like the new Nikon Z’s). New RF Lenses Along with the release of the EOS R body, Canon also releases 4 new lenses which support the RF mount natively. The four lenses include these models: RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM RF 28-70mm F2 L USM RF 50mm F1.2 L USM RF35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM The 28-70 f/2 is a world’s first in terms of fast aperture. All these lenses make use of the new RF lens mount design which offers greater flexibility when designing lenses. The rear elements of these lenses can be bigger when compared to EF glass. This results in more compact lenses while still be able to design very fast lenses. The RF lenses sport a new Control Ring which can be programmed to several functions such as iris or ISO control. That way you can hold the camera with both hands while conveniently controlling all the functions you need right now without fiddling with buttons and dials. The Competition The so-called mirrorless war is really heating up! Sony has been king of the hill in this market segment for some years now, but competition is growing. First Nikon Z, now Canon EOS R, Panasonic also seems to have something up its sleeve. And of course, one question remains unanswered: When do we see a Sony a7s III? EF-EOS R adapter with variable ND filter.Adapter Canon’s signature dual-pixel autofocus is probably the best autofocus system for videos we know and it’s a great selling point for the new EOS R camera, I’m sure. Pricing and Availability The camera will be available from early October on. The body will sell for 2,299$. Pricing for the adapters and the lenses still remain unknown at this point  Pricing is now available, see below for all the details. Apart from the basic EF-R adapter, the other models will arrive a little later this year or beginning of next year. links: canon.com (press release) What do think of this new camera which actually opens the door for a whole new ecosystem? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Are you a proud owner of a Samsung T5 SSD and do you think that the reading speed of 540 MB/s is fast? Think again! The new Samsung Portable SSD X5 is about 5 times faster than the T5 and with a reading speed of 2,800 MB/s, this Thunderbolt 3 powered Samsung X5 is nothing but fast. Really fast! The look of the new Samsung X5 SSD differs a little from its predecessors, the Samsung T5 and T3 portable SSDs. Personally, I like the appearance of the T5 and T3 better, but that’s just a matter of taste, I suppose. It’s the interior of the Samsung X5 where things really get interesting. And fast. And expensive. Samsung X5 – A Portable SSD on Steroids Inspired by a red and black racing car, Samsung decided to let the industrial design of this SSD speak for itself: Raw force (red) and unprecedented speed (streamlined outer body). But despite what it looks like, here’s a fact: This thing reads files at an incredible speed of 2,800 MB/s and writes the same files at 2,300 MB/s (2,100 MB/s for the 500GB model). With a size (W x D x H) of 4.68″ x 2.44″ x 0.77″ (11,9 x 6,2 x 2 cm) the unit is a little bit bigger than its predecessor, the T5. The Samsung X5 sports a full-metal body with a glossy finish and non-slip bottom mat in racing red. The unit weights around 150 g / 0.33lbs depending on its capacity. It comes in 500GB, 1TB or 2TB. The heart of this Samsung X5 line of portable SSDs is its NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory express) protocol based flash memory. In order to get the most out of this speedy memory the Samsung X5 only features (and only supports) one connection protocol: Thunderbolt 3. Although the connector itself looks just like an USB3.1 (or 3.2) Type C plug, don’t be fooled here! The Samsung X5 supports Thunderbolt 3 only. An adapter to Thunderbolt 2 won’t work, same is true for that USB 3.1 (or 3.2) Type C cable. So make sure that you have a computer or laptop which supports explicitly Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 3 supports up to 4o Gb/s which translates to 5 GB/s. Thunderbolt 2 only supports 20Gb/s (2.5 GB/s), so that one is just too slow for the Samsung X5. Same goes for USB 3.2, only 20 Gb/s. That’s the reason the Samsung X5 needs that Thunderbolt 3 connection. One downside is the absence of another Thunderbolt 3 connector in order to daisy chain this drive to other devices. It’s All About Speed This SSD offers quite a bit of performance, maybe too much to share the Thunderbolt 3 lane with other devices. A 20GB-sized 4K UHD video file transfer is done in about 12 seconds. That’s pretty impressive, especially in our data-hungry line of work, right? This drive is fast enough to edit straight from it without copying any files over to your main machine. External hard drives being the bottleneck of a system’s performance might be a thing of the past with this tiny SSD. Just like with the T5, Samsung offers AES 256-bit hardware encryption for the X5 which adds an additional layer of security. This feature is not to be underestimated since a portable SSD is designed to be carried with you when you’re out and about. The Samsung SSD software is available for both the T5 and the Samsung X5 SSDs on a Mac or a PC, however a tiny footnote on the product page states that firmware updates for the X5 are only available for Windows PCs. That’s kind of a bummer and I hope this changes over time. The unit itself is protected against drops from up to 2 meters (6.6 ft). A shock-resistant internal frame and the metal housing help avoiding damage when hitting the ground. A heat sink plus a so-called Dynamic Thermal Guard technology prevent the Samsung X5 SSD from overheating. If it gets too hot, transfer speeds drop and prevent the unit from further damage. Pricing and Availability The Samsung X5 line of portable SSD comes in three flavours: 500GB, 1 TB and 2TB. All three models will be available from September 3rd, 2018. Since this is kind of cutting-edge technology, these X5 labeled SSDs are far from cheap: the 500GB model sells for $399.99, a 1TB version clocks in at $699.99 and a whooping $1,399.99 hole is burned into your pocket for the 2TB SSD. The good thing? A Thunderbolt 3 cable is actually included. Links: Samsung What do you think of this new SSD? Something you would consider implementing into your workflow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

There are loads of different motorized sliders out there. Big ones, small ones, complex ones, you name it. And yet, the guys at Smart View Intl’ thought that something is still missing. That’s why they’re introducing the Smartta SliderMini, a seemingly versatile and easy-to-use motorized slider for everyday use. The Smartta SliderMini really is, just as its name suggests, mini. But it seems to be very capable, too. It’s app controlled, or, if you wish, by the press of a hardware button on the unit itself. It can carry up to 15kg (33 lbs), it fits into your pocket and the built-in 1500mAh Li battery lasts for about 48 hours. Sounds decent! Smartta SliderMini The company behind the SliderMini, Smart View, was just established recently and its first brand name is Smartta. Their social media pages went live around June 2018 and their first product, the SliderMini, is being heavily featured there. Since we at cinema5D are very into clever filmmaking tools which makes our lives (and daily jobs) easier, a review unit was requested (which will arrive soon!). So say tuned for a full-fledged review following this first look. The SliderMini is just 26,2 cm (10.3″) in length and the resulting maximum camera travel is only 20,3 cm (8″) but I can tell you from experience that these 20 cm will make a difference! I used to own a giant 2 m (almost 80″) motorized silder so that thing was huge! And heavy! As a result, I barely used it on set and if I did, the actual camera travel almost never exeeded 50 cm.. I sold it in the end. So, 20 cm might not be a lot but in order to get that cinematic movement into your shot, it’s more than enough, most of the time. The good thing is, this tiny slider can live in your bag all the time and you won’t even notice it. And if you need it, it’s right there. The max load capacity depends on the incline of your given shot. Pulling off a flat movement with a camera up to 15kg (33 lbs) isn’t a problem, and that’s quite the payload! For more angeled shots, the load capacity decreases drastically, but, and that’s pretty cool, you still can pull off a vertical slide with a light (1kg / 2.2lbs) camera package. The whole unit consists of CNC machined aluminum with some stainless steel parts. In terms of speed the SliderMini is capable of very slow moves (6 µm/micrometer per second) up to its maximum speed of 1 cm/0.4″ per second. The slider just weights about 0,6 kg (1.25 lbs). Controlling the SliderMini The unit can be controlled in two ways, basically. If you’re a minimalist you can control the slider with nothing but a small button on the unit itself. Basic A/B moves and timelapses can be configured that way. For more advanced features you’ll need the Android/iOS app which connects via low-energy Bluetooth. Programmed moves can be repeated, different timelapse modes can be loaded/tweaked/stored and moves can be transformed into stop-motion moves. The app seems to be pretty non-nerdy and easy-to-use. The beauty of such apps is their future-proofness: Features can be added over time, custom moves can be stored for later use and the slider will stay away from obsolescence a little longer. A 3/8″ thread for mounting the slider on a tripod is located on the bottom of the unit, a camera (or smartphone holder) can be mounted via 3/8″ or 1/4″ screw to the top of the sliding carriage. Pricing and Availability We’re approaching the twist of this story. Although the company claims that after a comprehensive research on motorized camera sliders in the market, SMART VIEW found that most products were too expensive, bulky, complex and not user-friendly, there’s no pricepoint defined for the SliderMini, yet. Instead, the Smartta SliderMini will be the subject of an imminent Indigogo crowdfunding campaign. If you’re interested, you can join a waitlist over at ismartta.com in order to receive a limited 50% off (!) discount once the campaign has launched. UPDATE: The campaign is now live and the pricing looks interesting, indeed: Early Bird: $199 (that’s the aforementioned 50% off), regular campaign price: $259, MSRP once the campaign is over: $399. Since other solutions seemed to be too expensive for the creators, this quite low price point is really impressive! For reference, the well-established Edelkrone SliderOne PRO is about $700. So this SliderMini is less than half the price but, to be fair, Edelkrone is a long-term innovater in the market while Smart view is a relatively fresh startup. Links: ismartta.com | Indiegogo campaign page What do you think of this new slider? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Last week, we reported about the supposedly very first cage for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (BMPCC 4K) from 8Sinn. Now, hot on the heels of that release, Italian designer and cinematographer Dante Cecchin of LockCircle releases his take on a perfect camera cage. Meet the LockCircle HiPock cage for the BMPCC 4K, a camera that’s due for a hopefully soon release.  The HiPock labeled camera cage is actually not just one cage but a whole  system of three different versions. The minimalist version just consists of a small “Minimal Plate” for mounting additional accessories to the camera. A more extended “Essential Plate” covers the whole top side of the camera and the most complete setup is called the “System Cage” which adds a baseplate. LockCircle HiPock Cage System Whether you just need some additional mounting points or a full-blown cage for the yet to be released Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K: LockCircle has you covered. Three flavors of their new HiPock are available to choose from in order to get started: Minimal Plate, Essential Plate or System Cage. All three versions share the same top plate but although the concept looks kind of modular, it’s actually not. You have to decide which plate you incorporate as a starting point for your rig. The Minimal Plate sports plenty of 1/4-20 threads and even two 3/8-16 threads. You can add things like top handles, cold shoe mounts, articulating arms or monitor holders, you name it, really. The whole system is made of CNC machined aircraft grade aluminum. That way all parts are pretty lightweight while maintaining heavy-duty grade strength. The HiPock cage system is available in either Dark-T (Black) or Amber-T (yellow-orange-gold) velvet surface anodized finish. Several optional parts can be added for maintaining compatibility with devices such as Metabones Speedbosters or Novoflex mounts. The so-called MicroMega 15mm baseplate is a perfect match for the HiPock cage, as well. The famous LockCircle MultiPort HDMI/Audio port savers with connector locking also fit perfectly, of course. Even the biggest member of the HiPock family, the System Cage, is actually only a half cage and that’s a good thing since its shape complements the ergonomic design of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. Pricing and Availability The HiPock series of cages should be available by the end of October. The prices are not yet set in stone, but do not expect a super low price for these cages. LockCircle is known for its quality products. This applies both to the quality of workmanship and to the design of their products. This is not a off the shelf product, but a well thought-out, bespoke cage for the BMPCC 4K. Three versions of the HiPock cage (the top handle is optional) Included in the System Cage version is a a titanium grade 5 camera 1/4-20 screw. Let’s hope that Blackmagic will deliver their new Cinema Pocket Camera 4K on time then! Links: LockCircle.com What Do you think of this cage? And even more importantly: What do you think about the yet to be released BMPCC 4K? Share your thoughts in the comments below!