Please turn CC on for English subtitles. Canon 8K technology was demonstrated with a prototype camera body during Inter BEE 2018. We talked about it with Toshiyuki Akimoto from Canon who is responsible for the development of 8K monitors and cameras. 8K resolution is slowly making its way in the line-ups of camera manufacturers. During Inter BEE 2018 we saw an interesting 8K camera concept from Astro. RED of course has already had working 8K cinema cameras for a while with their MONSTRO and HELIUM cinema cameras. Panasonic claims to have an 8K capable camera for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. Now Canon also presented their 8K cinema camera concept. The Canon 8K camera concept presented at Inter BEE 2018 has quite a compact body very similar to the Canon C300 Mark II. It will have a super 35mm sensor and an 8K processing unit inside and mind you that recording will not be done internally. You will have to find and attach an external 8K recording solution. According to Canon, the purpose of this demonstration is to research the market and to gather the customer’s opinion regarding future 8K demand. Since this 8K camera is still only a prototype and future technology demonstration, there is no detailed explanation of its functions or ergonomics yet. The presented camera, however, looks to being very close to the production stage. Canon has in fact already demonstrated the same system at the “Canon Expo” in 2015. It seems that Canon has had 8K technology for quite a while already. We can only guess the reason for not releasing a Canon 8K capable camera til now was because the 8K market has not grown enough yet. 8K is being promoted mainly in Japan – there were very few 8K demonstrations at international trade shows like NAB or IBC. As Akimoto-san describes in the above video, Canon is observing the market and they are also trying to find other markets than the broadcast and cinema divisions. Even though creating a beautiful image with high resolution shooting is the straight forward usage for a Canon 8K camera, there are other areas that can benefit widely from the ultra-high resolution. For example in the scientific or security field 8K can be very beneficial mostly because of the additional flexibility to zoom-in the picture after it was recorded. Finding a specific person in a crowd would be a typical example of the usage in the security field. In a similar manner as Panasonic, Akimoto-san mentioned the Olympic games in Tokyo in 2020 as a possible time for the release of a Canon 8K camera. We can probably also expect more affordable 8K consumer displays to be available by then. What do you think of the Canon 8K concept camera? When do you think we can expect a real 8K boom in the broadcast and cinema industry? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

At Inter Bee 2018 we met with Astrodesign Inc. to discuss their new take on 8K acquisition. What we found on display was not a ready-to-use product but a very interesting concept which looks a lot like a proper cinema camera. Let’s look at the future in the shape of this new Astro 8K camera concept. 4K video is pretty much here, at least in terms of acquisition. It’s the legit successor of (Full)HD and nobody will deny its superior look and feel over aforementioned HD. So what’s next? For many manufacturers of camera gear the future is in plain sight: 8K! We met with Carly Mary Haden from Astrodesign Inc. to discuss their latest concept: A new Astro 8K camera with all the controls onboard. Astro 8K Camera Concept Astrodesign have done 8K cameras in the past but this concept is the first one to feature dedicated controls built into the actual camera body itself, no need for a bulky external CCU (camera control unit) and remote control. Since 8K is still a bit of a cutting edge technology, the upgrade from a camera head / camera control unit combo towards a compact one-box package is actually a pretty huge leap. HD vs. 4K vs. 8K (image credit: Astrodesign) Since this new Astro 8K camera is still in development it is far from a feature-locked product. As Carley points out, they are actively gathering feedback and suggestions from professionals who will actually work with such a camera in the field. While you can spot a bunch of familiar controls on the prototype, such as a 6-button menu screen complete with a push dial, assignable buttons and switches and even internal ND filter controls, nothing is set to stone here. The Astro 8K concept features a custom color science although the sensor itself is not being developed by Astrodesign but licensed from a third-party company. There will be a flat gamma log recording mode and the camera will support HDR recording. Pricing The pricing of this camera calls for a dedicated sub-heading here. While this Astro 8K camera concept might look appealing for a lot of our readers (including myself), the asking price might kick you back to reality: We’re looking at around $100,000. Again, nothing is set to stone, so this could change, even a lot, but in terms of ballpark pricing this Astro 8K camera seems to be out of reach for the average indie filmmaker. Better think of it as a rental house or big broadcast company item. Links: Astrodesign Inc. What do you think of this 8K concept camera? Any suggestions you’d like to add to the mix? Feel free to reach out to Astrodesign with your feature request and share your thoughts in the comments below!

MARUMI is a Japanese company known as a classic circular filters manufacturer. At Inter BEE 2018 they presented a new interesting product which is a bit different. It is called MARUMI magnetic square filter system and it makes it possible to easily mount (or even stack) square ND or GND filters in front of the lens. We talked to mister Akihiko Sato from MARUMI about the new system. Heart of the MARUMI magnetic square filter system is the M100 magnetic attachment adapter (filter holder) which makes it possible to quickly attach or detach 100mm square filters to the front of basically any photographic lens. The M100 adapter is made out of aluminium and features ultra slim design of just 10mm. That enables mounting the filters as close to the front element of the lens as possible to prevent vignetting on wide angle lenses. MARUMI claims there is no vignetting even with 16mm focal lenght (full frame) lenses. Installation of the system. Source: MARUMI The filters itself have a metal border which even allows stacking more filters on each other in case a combination of more filters is needed. Furthermore there is a thin layer of foam around the opening on the magnetic filter holder to protect attached filter and prevent light leaking. There are multiple size holder rings included in the package – 82mm, 77mm and 72mm. For mounting the filter holder on smaller diameter lenses, additional step-up rings need to be screwed on the lens. The filter holder can rotate independently. MARUMI offers a variety of filters for their magnetic system. All of them are made in Japan and their low-reflection anti-scratch surface is anti-static and water/oil repellent. The line-up includes: ND filters (100mm x 100mm). Available as ND4, ND8, ND16, ND32, ND64, ND500, ND1000,ND4000 and ND32000. Graduated ND filters (100mm x 150mm for up/down movement). GND filters are available with three different gradient versions. Soft gradient (for scenes without clear horizon line), hard gradient (for scenes with clear horizon line) and reverse gradient (for sunrise or sunset scenes). All of them with GND4, GND8 and GND16 strengths. GND filters adopt high definition Schott B270 glass and have double-side coating for low reflection and easy maintenance. Circular PL filters. These circular filters can be attached before mounting the magnetic holder. Transmittance graphs for the filters. Source: MARUMI It seems to me this filter system could suit perfectly the needs of frequent timelapse shooters for example. In terms of pricing, the M100 filter holder will sell for $120,- USD, ND filters for $190,- USD and GND filters for $200,- USD. What do you think of the MARUMI magnetic square filter system? Do you see the need for such a product? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

During Inter BEE 2018 we talked with japanese filmmaker Katsuhido Masuda, who is using a very tiny toy drone with 1080p camera for his video productions. As drones are getting smaller and tiny cameras better, are they going to be the future of filmmaking? Drones are getting smaller and their cameras better very quickly. A good example would be DJI with their Mavic Pro, Mavic Air and Spark line of drones, which can all be considered quite small. Maybe it is still not small enough though. As capable camera units get smaller (smartphones be the evidence), I believe there is still plenty of room in miniaturizing camera drones. During Inter BEE 2018 we met and interviewed japanese filmmaker Katsuhiko Masuda, who is runing a video production company producing for example VR content for Oculus. He built a very tiny toy drone with FPV camera and uses it now for his productions. He flies the drone often in interiors and through considerably tight spaces to give another perspective to his images. Impossible Drone Fly-Through Shots The concept of using a very tiny toy drone for filming is not new. You might still remember the impossible drone shots from Robert McIntosh, who used his great drone piloting skills to promote his own After Effects stabilizing plugin ReelSteady. In case you did not see them or you want to refresh your memory, here are the links to our older articles – Impossible drone shot I and Impossible drone shot II. The resulting videos are very impressive thanks to the multiple very tight fly-throughs. Robert used a very tiny toy drone and attached a stripped of Gopro HERO4 camera to it. The takeoff weight of the whole setup was only 120 grams including the LiPo flight battery and foam roll cage. The battery had to be tiny so the drone could carry it and therefore the flight time was only couple of minutes. The footage straight out of the GoPro was of course not stabilized, but ReelSteady plugin managed to get a smooth resulting clip. The point is – this is the most interesting thing about filming with such a small drone. It can fit in very tight spaces and it usually is more agile which is vital for filming in interiors. Very low weight is on the other hand not so great for exteriors as even the slightest wind will affect the micro drone. Operating the micro drone with the FPV Goggles. Source: Videosalon.jp According to the japanese website Videosalon, the micro drone which Katsuhiko uses for his shooting is a slightly modified racing drone Nano Vespa 80 HD DVR. The camera unit used on the drone is capable to record 1080p video in up to 60fps and save it to micro SD card. Unfortunately no info about the bitrate or codecs. The overall weight of the setup is 68.4g. Drone operator can fly the drone with FPV goggles. Comparison: left side – Robert’s Drone with the GoPro, right side – Katsuhiko’s drone. Both micro drones (Robert’s and Katsuhiko’s) look actually quite similar and have similar size. The camera unit used on Katsuhiko Masuda’s drone definitely is much smaller than the stripped down GoPro HERO4, but it logically also offers lower video quality. Katsuhiko told us it is a 1080p FPV camera. He also stabilized the footage, so the resulting resolution is probably a bit les than full HD. In my opinion the image quality is sufficient, but there sure is lot of space for improvement and image-quality-wise I am still more convinced by the stripped down GoPro (which on the other hand was bulkier). Disadvantage of these small toy drones is the flight time. It usually does not exceed few minutes, because the battery cannot be too heavy to keep the drone compact and agile. Katsuhiko’s drone can fly for only about 2 minutes. Such a short flight time requires a certain workflow and lots of practice as every mistake means replacing the battery and taking-off again. Important part of design of the micro drones is that the propellers are protected with guards. Without them close flying by the actors would increase the danger of injury. Physical Gimbal or Electronic/Post Stabilization? I am looking forward for the very tiny cameras to get better, add high bitrate and 4K capabilities. I don’t think this should be a big issue – flagship smartphones already have such a technology in their camera modules. Putting them in a smaller package on the back of a tiny toy drone should be possible. In terms of stabilization – I don’t think physical gimbals can be the right future for very tiny drones. I would say it will rather be some kind of good electronic stabilization, like for instance the hypersmooth in the GoPro HERO7 black. For non-stabilized footage there is always the option to do it in the postproduction. ReelSteady seemed to do a good job, but there are other options too. In this case it is vital for the small camera modules to get higher resolutions as post stabilization eats up some part of it. What do you think of the footage filmed with the tiny toy drone? Do you see it being used more in the future? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

Zoom – the Japanese company famous for their portable audio recorders – just announced an upgrade to the Q2n audio-video recorder: the Q2n-4K. This device looks like a musician’s best friend, let’s take a look at what improved. Don’t Change A Winning Team The first Zoom Q2n was already a big success for Zoom. The Zoom Q2n-4K keeps the same form factor while adding 4K recording capabilities. This camera is made primarily for musicians and not filmmakers, allowing them to capture their stage performances, rehearsals and even make small music videos in 4K without having to lug kilos of audio and video gear. It could have been an excellent camera for vlogging, but it lacks a flip-out screen. 4K All-In-One Device Let’s dive a little deeper into the technical specifications of the Q2n-4K. The camera features a wide-angle (150 degrees) F2.8 lens, a digital zoom, auto gain control, HDR technology, and automatic exposure adjustment. It records MPEG-4 (MOV) files onto microSD / SDHC / SDHX card and can capture images in 4K up to 30 fps (as well as 720 and 1080p). You’ll have the choice between five different FOV options if you want to make your shot wider or tighter. Also, the camera offers 12 predefined scenes to help novice users to better adapt to different lighting. Thanks to two microphones configured in X/Y (120 degrees) that overhang the lens, you’ll be able to capture stereo sound. The microphones are pretty robust as they can handle loudness up to 120 SPL dB. If you only want to record the audio, you can do it in WAV up to 24bit/96kHz. The Q2n-4K is Mac and iOS compatible as an audio interface, and 4K webcam on macOS. Also, you can live-stream on social networks. Simple Ergonomics On the back of the Zoom Q2n-4K, you’ll find a 1.77″ (160 × 128) LCD. Don’t blame it; it’s only for framing purposes on-the-go and menus I suppose. On each side of the screen, there are six buttons in total: 3 for the video settings on the left, 3 for the audio settings on the right. Each button gives you access to the corresponding sub-menu: Video/FOV/Scene and Lo-Cut/Audio/Auto-Gain. At the bottom of the screen are three buttons for the essentials Play/Record/Stop functions. On the left side are the headphones control, a 3.5mm jack input, and output. On the right side, you’ll find the micro-HDMI output and the micro-USB port that you can also use for powering the device. Speaking about power, the Q2n-4K runs on 2 AA batteries, that should provide power for around 2 hours. A mono speaker is integrated, in case you need to check that you recorded the sound, but don’t expect a proper quality sound from it. The device is relatively small, measuring only 58.7 mm x 68.5 mm x 83.0 mm for a total weight of 124g. Optional Accessories When purchasing the Q2n-4K, it only comes with a lens hood, the lens cap, and two AA batteries. A wide range of accessories is already available to expend the device usability, including: BCQ-2n battery case to improve the battery life up to 4X WSU-1 universal hairy windscreen HS-1 hot shoe mount MA2 tripod to mic stand adapter AD-17 AC adapter ACM-1 action cam mount SCU-20 universal soft shell case MSM-1 mic stand mount (ACM-1 is required separately) The Zoom Q2n-4K should be available this month, and you can already pre-order it. What do you think about the specs of the Zoom Q2n-4K? Do you think it’s useful for musicians? Let us know in the comments down below!

At this year’s Inter Bee show in Tokyo, our own Johnnie Behiri met with Blackmagic Design in order to discuss their latest updates for both DaVinci Resolve 15.2 and firmware version 6.0 for URSA Mini Pro cameras. We already reported about the updates to DaVinci Resolve 15.2 and Camera 6.0 in detail here. Here’s a round-up including the interview with Blackmagic Design. With version 15 of their popular editing/grading/audio mastering/delivery suite Blackmagic Design added a new tab to their one-app-for-all approach: Fusion FX. Now, just a few months later, Resolve 15.2 hits the streets and it comes with a lot of improvements to almost every aspect of this software. One part of Resolve to which special attention has been paid is the Edit tab. DaVinci Resolve 15.2 Improvements Blackmagic Design really pushes hard in order to get the editing part of their software right. In Resolve 15.2 the editing timeline renders much faster, resulting in a smoother look and feel. Also, a lot of animations within the UI have been improved. As a general improvement the part of DaVinci you are currently working in is being highlighted which makes it easier to keep track of what’s going on. Speaking of visual feedback: You now can easy track down bits of the timeline which contain duplicate frames (pieces of footage you actually have used before within the same timeline). Furthermore clips in the media pool show a visual indication if (and which parts) are being used in the current timeline. You now can load a second timeline or compound clip into the source viewer and send clips straight to the active timeline. This should increase the speed of your workflow! Two bins now can be viewed and accessed at the same time as well. Another nice improvement is the freshly implemented keyboard shortcut manager which is now a visual tool just like in Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro X. You even can emulate keyboard settings to the aforementioned NLE’s. Furthermore you now can assign items from contextual popup menus to keyboard shortcuts. New FX Plugins & Audio Tools Additionally DaVinci Resolve 15.2 features new FX plugins such as Beauty (Studio version only) or Blanking Fill. More advanced plugins for the color page include ACES transform and Gamut Limiter. Edits and transitions applied to audio clips on the Edit page now can be further tweaked on the Fairlight tab of Resolve 15.2. Furthermore you now can edit multiple audio clip at the same time. A cool new feature is called Stereo Fixer. It helps you map your audio to the appropriate channels in order to avoid bad audio mixing. Common mappings such as stereo, reverse-stereo, mono and others are built right in. There are really a whole bunch of new features and a lot has already been covered by Nino in this article. If you want to dive deeper in all the new features make sure to watch the following intro video by Blackmagic: It’s Still Free Although Blackmagic tries hard to convince users to buy the Studio version by limiting certain features such as noise reduction or the new Beauty FX plugin, you must not forget that DaVinci Resolve 15.2 is still free to download. This is actually pretty incredible. You get a full-fledged piece of post-production software which gets frequent updates for no money at all. If Blackmagic maintain their current development speed, this suite of tools might get pretty dangerous for a lot of other (paid) NLE’s out there pretty soon. While it might not be the first choice for serious editing work right now, let’s wait and see how Resolve 15.2 will impact the market. I’m really curious what future versions of Resolve will bring. How about you? URSA Mini Firmware 6.0 This new firmware adds two important new features to the URSA Mini Pro camera: Blackmagic RAW and ISO 3200. Read all about this new RAW format in our initial coverage here. The new ISO doubles the current limit of ISO 1600 and should be a useful tool when shooting in difficult lighting conditions. When does the new Blackmagic RAW codec hit the popular Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (BMPCC4K) you ask? The answer is: It will but it’s not yet certain when. That’s not exactly what we wanted to hear but at least it’s coming! Need a refresher on this new RAW format? Watch Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty’s introduction here: CinemaDNG might be cool but you’ll end up with lots of GB worth of data and it really demands for a mighty powerful computer to cope with it so Blackmagic RAW might be the better choice offering a very good balance between quality and size. Plus it offers a much more modern approach to metadata handling. Links: Blackmagicdesign.com (DaVinci) | URSA Mini Pro | Blackmagic RAW Are you digging the all-in-one approach of Resolve? Or do you prefer Adobe’s take of individual software tool working together? What do you think about v6.0 for URSA Mini Pro? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Back in September, we reviewed FUJIFILM’s flagship mirrorless camera, the X-T3. The development team at FUJIFILM listened carefully to customer’s feedback, and they are back with V2.00 firmware. Let’s take a look at what it brings. FUJIFILM X-T3 – Photo credit: Arturs Slosbergs No more 4Gb Clip Limit One of the significant change and improvement in V2.00 firmware is probably the removal of the 4Gb clip limit. Previously, when the recording exceeded the 4Gb limit, the movie clip was split into two (or more) files. With the update, as long as your memory card is 32Gb or higher, the clip will be recorded as one solid file. Unfortunately, if your memory card is smaller than 32Gb, the 4Gb file split limit will still apply. Movie recording will continue without interruption when the file size reaches 4GB; however subsequent footage will be recorded to a separate file. However, please note that the 29 minutes recording limit does not change. Simultaneous Video Output With Different Profiles With the new firmware, you’ll be able to simultaneously display Film Simulation on the camera while outputting F-Log via the HDMI port to your external recorder. It’s a nice addition, as some shooters prefer to shoot and view through the integrated camera monitor, while the AC or the client can look at the footages on the recorder. The only downside is that you can’t do it in 4K 60p due to a hardware limitation. Also, you can still record F-log internally and externally at the same time, as well as record F-log internally and sending a Film Simulation over HDMI externally. 4K HDR Recording Last but not least, the new firmware will add support for 4K HDR video recording in the Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG). Note that it’ll only be compatible with H.265 (HEVC) internal recording. Of course, you’ll be able to output HLG via the HDMI port to your favorite recorder and record in whatever format you prefer and supports it. The V2.00 firmware is a free update and will be available in December 2018. FilmConvert Profile Is Ready The team at FilmConvert continue to add camera profiles to their amazing color correction and film simulation software. They just released a FUJIFILM X-T3 profile, that you can download for free at FilmConvert. What do you think of this firmware update? Do you use it for shooting video? Share with us your thoughts in the comment section below.

Litra, the company behind the popular LitraTorch (the ever popular little light that is compact, rugged and waterproof) is now introducing the LitraPro. The larger LitraPro brings the same ruggedness to the table, but is larger, bi-color and also waterproof. Here’s what you need to know! The LitraTorch became so popular in adventure filmmaking circles at one point, that tutorials were popping up on Youtube, about how to light whole scenes with just a number of theses small lights. This was due to their hight output (when judging by their size), easy operation with just one button and their hand size, making possible to use them in basically any way the filmmaker chooses. The LitraPro tries to hold on to the LitraTorch’s strengths. It is roughly four times the size of its smaller predecessor, but features the same rugged build and is waterproof up to 90 feet. The big new feature here is that the LitraPro is actually bi-color, and can be set from 3000K up to 6000K. It is also dimmable. Litra is trying to keep the operation simple here as well. The unit has five buttons total, one power switch and two +/- pairs to adjust temperature and output. A display on top of the unit shows the current settings. The right side of the LitraPro has a USB-charging hatch, the left and the bottom feature 1/4″ mounting points. The output at 1200 Lumen is not as high as the LitraTorch’s 2200 in Strobe-Mode, but this is to be expected with a bi-color light. The LitraPro comes with a pouch, a USB charging cable, dome diffuser and mounts for coldshoe and GoPro. Now where the LitraPro really shines, is that the Light can be fully controlled with a smartphone via Bluetooth. Litra’s website is a little thin on specifications here, but from the looks of the app it seems like you can not only power the light on and off or temporarily black it out, but you can also control brightness and color temperature, as well as group multiple lights and trigger the same high-output mode from the LitraTorch, called “Strobe”. Here’s an overview of the specs: 6 oz / 170g 2.75″ x 2″ x 1.2″ / 7cm x 5cm x 3cm 1200 lumen output 95 CRI 70 degree beam angle Adjustable color temperature 3000K – 6000K 45 minute run time at max output, 10+ hours on low output 2 industry standard 1/4 20 mounts Waterproof up to 90 feet MIL-SPEC 810 tested Bluetooth control OLED Display 0-100% fully dimmable Accessories Litra also has some nifty accessories for the LitraPro in store: A set of 2 honeycomb grids (no beam angles specified) Barndoors to limit light spill and shape the light A soft box with reflective interior, that comes in a pouch and increases the source size by roughly 6 to 8 times A set of color filters All these accessories are the snap-on kind. The LitraPro and all its accessories are available now. How do you like the LitraPro? Have you used the LitraTorch before? Do you see the need for this kind of light in your arsenal? Let us know in the comments!