The IDX PowerLink line has been showcased at Inter BEE 2017 in Japan, showing off its 4-stack power feature as well as an 8-stack charge system. First announced in September and still under development, IDX has now demonstrated its new line of linkable hot-swap V-lock batteries. The new IDX PowerLink is an intelligent battery and pass-through power system. Mount one on the back of your camera/accessory and it will operate like a normal battery. Add another (or 2 or 3 more) to the stack and things get interesting; the closest battery to the camera passes through power from the last, meaning the battery that runs out first is the one on the end of the chain. Once the end battery runs out, the next in line will start to discharge. Dropping power on larger setups can be time consuming. Cinema cameras take time to reboot, and there’s always the fear of settings on certain cameras resetting or accessories working off the same power source needing rebooting (monitors/wireless/follow focus systems). The IDX PowerLink is an ingenious system that allows you to hot swap batteries – your camera won’t lose power as it always has a charge battery attached. Having a hot-swap power source like this that is compact in size can be therefore very useful. The IDX PowerLink comes in two sizes (respective of physical size and capacity): a 98 and a 150Wh. You can stack up to four batteries at any one time. This applies when powering your camera, as well as when on the dual charger, meaning you can charge up to eight batteries simultaneously (two stacks of four). It’s great to see IDX has gone with a lower profile, much better suited to the ergonomics of cinema cameras like RED, Sony F55 and ALEXA Mini much better than conventional tall V-lock batteries. The PowerLink system also works with existing IDX V-lock batteries, allowing you to mount a standard IDX on the end of your new PowerLink chain. I do think IDX has missed a trick here, though, as it would be great to see a really slim version of the PowerLink with enough capacity to allow the changeover of a conventional battery system without the risk of power drop out. Other features of the PowerLink are a small LED torch on the mounting side so you can see contact points in the dark. There is also separate LED to signify when a battery is discharging or passing through power, as well as standard 5-stage charge indicator. Pricing and release date of the IDX PowerLink is still to come, as this product is still under development. But IDX if you’re reading, how about that super slim version too?

At this years Inter BEE show in Tokyo, our own Johnnie Behiri catches up with Sae Nakatani on some new accessories for the brand new Panasonic EVA1 camera. Namely an exclusive EF-PL mount adapter and support for the Varicam viewfinder. Two things are new here at Panasonic’s Inter Bee 2017 booth. One of the announcements involves a completely new product which might raise some eyebrows since we’re talking about a somehow impossible adapter, the other one is about the existing Varicam EVF which has been made available for the Panasonic EVA1 camera. An EF-PL Mount Adapter First things first. The mentioned adapter is an EF to PL adapter which just sits between a PL lens and the native EF mount of the Panasonic EVA1 camera. No physical tinkering with the lens and/or the camera body is necessary. Wait a minute. Such a simple adapter should be impossible due to the different flange depth of the two lens systems, right? I’ll hand over to cine lens mastermind Matthew Duclos who explains the issue here. Angenieux Optimo 17-80mm T2.2 lens Surprisingly this new EF-PL adapter presented by Sanwa cine rental company for the Panasonic EVA1 seems to do the trick but there’s a catch. It only works with one camera/lens combination: you now can throw an Angenieux 17-80mm T2.2 cine zoom on to the Panasonic EVA1 camera. This fact leaves me a little confused to be honest but as we learn from Panasonic’s Sae Nakatani this camera/lens combination seems to match. We’ll have to wait and see for ourselves once this adapter hits the market I guess. Another downside of this might be the price for the mentioned Optimo zoom lens: That one sells for well above $66,000. Other companies already offer a solution for swapping the existing EF mount of the EVA1 for a native PL mount but since that procedure includes opening the camera housing, Panasonic makes very clear that this option will void the warrenty, of course. Varicam EVF for Panasonic EVA1 The second announcement for today surrounds professional monitoring. The Panasonic EVA1 camera ships with an LCD screen, but without a dedicated viewfinder. This seems to be common sense for many camera manufacturers these days, but such a device is critical if you’re shooting documentary style or if you’re out and about in broad daylight on a regular basis. Panasonic heard the user requests and implemented support for the their Varicam EVF. Just like the Zacuto Gratical Eye you’ll need two cables, one plain BNC video connection and one 2-pin power cable which requires an outboard battery via D-Tap. While this monitoring device seems to be a very capable one, you’ll have to fork over a significant amount of cash in order to put it onto your EVA1 camera. We’re talking about $ 5,400 here. Just for context: The Panasonic EVA1 camera is $ 7,345 right now. I’ll leave it to you to decide if that’s overkill or not. The mentioned Gratical Eye is $ 1,950. Are you planning on buying a Panasonic EVA-1? What do you think about these (pricy) updates? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Japanese audio accessory maker Tascam has announced a newcomer to their growing family of audio recorders, the Tascam DR701D. We’re at Inter Bee 2015 and took a closer look at the new unit. The uniqueness of this recorder is definitely a feature that lets you perfectly sync with the camera it is connected to by triggering the start/stop of recordings via HDMI connection. I’m sure you will agree it is a very smart move from Tascam to include such a feature as we all learned to hate pressing REC buttons twice (Not to mention the times we forgot to press the REC button on the audio recorder…) and sync audio and video files in post. As a sidenote: I was very curious to find out if sales of external audio recorders had declined because of the latest development of DSLR and mirrorless cameras, that achieve better audio recordings internally. I was very surprised to hear from several sources that sales have actually increased! The main features of the new Tascam DR701D audio recorder:  Record 4 Channels + Stereo Mix 4 XLR/TRS Inputs with Phantom Power Dual Built-In Omnidirectional Mics Stereo 3.5mm In for Stereo Mic 3.5mm Camera In/Out BNC In for Sync to LTC HDMI In Can Receive Timecode From Camera HDMI Out Can Send Audio & Incoming Video Records Up to 24-Bit/192kHz Mount to DSLR or Tripod The new Tascam DR701D is already available for pre-order and expected to start shipping in about two months.