In this guest review, Osaka-based filmmaker Matthew Carmody takes a close look at the Hasselblad H6D-100c – a 100MP, 4K Raw-capable medium format camera. Intrigued? Read on for his hands-on impressions. I’m sure I’m not the only one who took a peak at Christoph Tilley’s write-up about medium-format video on the H6D-100C last year. The images had something special about them to my eye and I wanted to know more. But, to my surprise, after scowering the internet for days there wasn’t really much in the way of other detailed reviews or footage. This only served to fuel my interest, eventually leading me to chat with an old colleague that had recently started working at Hasselblad here in Japan. And, funnily enough, it seemed that I wasn’t the only one that wanted to see what this camera could do in the field. So, two full days of testing and two all-nighters to make workable rigs for my usual fast-paced shooting style later and I was ready to head out to the track to film a popular drifting event I originally intended to shoot with Blackmagic’s URSA Mini Pro. Here is a detailed description of what I discovered in the process. First Things First – Workflow & Technical Details The Hasselblad H6D-100C shoots UHD 4K video @24p to CFAST2.0 cards in a proprietary compressed raw format with a .3FV container. The 256GB CFAST2.0 cards I used held around 20 minutes worth of data. Why I say “around” is that it doesn’t tell you how much space is left on the card while you shoot, leaving you to guess and backup as you go. The whole width of the sensor is being used, with the tops and bottoms cut off to create 16:9 aspect video. I can’t seem to verify if it is using a method such as pixel binning, but nonetheless, this is quite amazing as it is converting that lovely medium-format look from the 12K sensor to 4K compressed raw video on the fly. As a result, prepare for noticeable rolling shutter effect, something I was ready for thanks to Christoph’s original review. Seriously don’t try and shoot handheld with anything over 24mm, especially if you are a heavy coffee drinker like me… Once you have shot something, you need to decompress the .3FV files into a flavor of ProRes or a cinema DNG sequence using Hasselblad’s Phocus software. You can name these sequences, or just output to the same name as the original compressed files. Beware that Phocus is very slow to decompress the files. I mean REALLY slow. It took close to 20 hours on my reasonably fast PC to decompress 930GB of .3FV files from the shoot. I put this down to it being optimized for single photos and not video. Hopefully this will change in a future version! Slimraw screen If you choose cinema DNG like I did, the decompressed 16bit DNG files take approximately 2.5 times the space of the original compressed .3FV files. These files are very processor intense even in Resolve, so I recommend creating DNG proxies with Slimraw ($49.00 USD) to compress the 16bit CDNG files into 12bit DNG with 3:1 or 4:1 etc compression for editing and grading in Resolve. This way the workflow remains the same in Resolve and you then just re-link the original 16bit CDNG when finished to output. NOTE: Resolve is the only software that currently reads these compressed DNG files. Other NLEs need a different workflow. This decompression process is kind of similar to what you have to do with DJI’s X5R footage from the Inspire 1 or DJI OSMO RAW. Anyone familiar with Blackmagic or DJI products will feel at home with these DNG files. I enjoyed the editing and grading process once everything was decompressed and proxies were created. The Good, The Bad, and the Audio I quickly worked out that there is no built-in microphone. You can attach an external mic via the 3.5mm jack on the left side.  I couldn’t find anywhere in the menu to alter or monitor audio levels. They appear fixed. As a result, I had to scrap all audio from the shoot as it was way too loud and noisy. A shame, as some of the engines sounded amazing… Once the mic is setup, the audio is recorded along with a 720p mp4 file that is put in the cinema DNG folder and called “audio.mp4.” Surprisingly these mp4 files are 25p, not 24p like the raw sequence. Even more surprising is that the audio.mp4 and corresponding raw sequence are different lengths and don’t match.  You could add something like a Juicedlink for better preamps, but the audio itself isn’t going to be easy to use even for scratch due to the differing lengths.   Rigging the Camera for Real-world Filming The first problem I ran into was that the camera body needs to be raised as the lens is lower than the body and will hit the tripod or gimbal plate in most cases. The viewfinder can be removed, so I did to streamline the build. In combination with the very compact 80mm lens, fitting it on a Ronin-M was reasonably straight forward.   80mm is equivalent to 40mm on a super 35mm camera like the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro or Canon C200, making it a perfect focal length for general shots. The built-in screen is less than ideal for anything other than seeing you have a picture when filming moving images. You absolutely need an external monitor to shoot video on the Hasselblad H6D-100C. Some other quirks associated with the built-in screen are a lack of metering/monitoring tools like a histogram in video mode, so you have no idea of your exposure. The built-in focus peaking is useful for manual focusing but will only work if you first go into photo mode and then back to video mode. It will then stop working as soon as you press record. Once you have an external monitor setup you will find the 1080p feed out from the mini HDMI out seems to have a heavy rec.709 LUT applied, making it difficult to judge exposure by eye. Not that one would ever judge exposure purely from a monitor by eye, but… To overcome this I used an IKAN DH5e 5″ external monitor with waveform to purposefully overexpose, ignoring the misleading super blown out look you get on the camera LCD screen. The reason for this overexposure is that the raw files have amazing highlight recovery. More on this later. Another area that needed some thought was power management. The battery in the hand grip only lasts around 30 minutes when using live view and shooting video. You could use a few batteries and recharge as you go, however the batteries take several hours to fully charge and I didn’t have time to do this during the shoot. To shoot a full day event I made a 12V D-TAP cable to get external power from the Ronin’s battery distributor for gimbal work, and a V-mount battery for tripod shots I didn’t have to change the hand grip battery once with this setup, making filming a lot less complicated. NOTE: You still have to have the hand grip battery inserted for the system to boot, so the hand grip itself can’t be removed. Continual power means heat and the sensor will overheat in continual live view mode after around 30 minutes on a warm day. I decided to leave the live view off between shots whenever possible, allowing me to shoot for over 8 hours straight with only one overheat resulting in 5 minutes downtime to cool off and backup data. On the topic of live view, the live view screen will go blank after every clip you record, requiring you to restart it and get everything setup again for each individual cut. This isn’t a big issue, but can be a slight hindrance if you want to shoot clips in quick succession. No built-in ND filters meant back to good old 4″x 5.65″ IRND for the 300mm and 24mm lenses, and a 67mm IR cut + Variable ND for the 80mm/2.8 and 100mm/2.2 lenses. Not a big deal if, like me, have filters lying around for other cameras without built-in NDs. Also, there is no way to remote trigger REC with something like a LANC cable. You have to press the small rec button on the touch screen, or press the shutter button on the hand grip. Needless to say, this makes recording a little cumbersome on a gimbal… Shutter Angle and ISO The Hasselblad H6D -100C is primarily a studio camera. After much research and several days of testing in various environments I found that you generally need to film at ISO 64 for the cleanest results, so I decided to fix ISO at 64 for the whole shoot. This camera is not designed for lowlight environments. At least not when it comes to video. One nice side effect of this is that you don’t need as much IRND during the day even at bright apertures.  The closets you can get to a 180 degree shutter angle is 1/45 or 1/60. There is no option for 1/48 or even 1/50. Slightly strange as it only shoots 24p. NOTE: ALL SHOTS IN THE VIDEO USED ISO64 and 1/60 SHUTTER. I could have chosen 1/45, but drift cars are fast and I wanted to cut stills for SNS from the video as well. The Raw Truth As soon as I brought the files into Davinci Resolve, I found the colors to be amazing even with a standard rec.709 LUT and basic grading applied. The grade you see in the video literally took 30 seconds to achieve. I just needed to tweak individual files from there and I was done. The next thing I discovered was that the highlight recovery of the 16bit raw files is very good. You can get back even the most severely overexposed areas to a point where the clipping doesn’t bother your eye. Quite amazing and much better than some other popular cinema cameras on the market. Highlight recovery BEFORE     Highlight recovery AFTER The catch is that the shadows can be quite noisy. You can see this in the wide angle slow push into the yellow car window. The bucket seats show a decent amount of noise.  It would seem that the compressed raw files favor the highlights at the expense of the shadows. “Shadow noise: exposure lifted heavily to highlight issue” One thing I can say is that if you look at the video as a whole you see it isn’t a problem with the majority of shots. Overexposing in light of the excellent highlight recovery can help solve this issue in most cases. Another thing you may also notice in the overexposed areas have a tendency to exhibit a purple tint. I needed to mask and fix a few shots in the video due to this. Check the wheel rims and other overexposed metallic parts in some shots. You can see a bit of this purple in the bright highlights. Medium-format Lenses This was a real shoot, so I decided to go with three main lenses that were all reasonably different and would cover wide, medium, and long shots. Starting from the wide end, the 24mm lens has noticeable distortion in the corners as it is apparently designed for a slightly smaller medium-format sensor. Check the wide shots in the video. Phocus apparently crops and corrects this for still images, however in-body correction of this distortion would be much appreciated for video shooters. It has a very unique look that is great for certain shots. Creating bokeh with such a wide angle is one reason medium-format is so intriguing to many people including myself. The 80mm lens is a great all-round lens that is super compact and features a bright F2.8 aperture. F2.8 for medium format is faster than it sounds. I used it as the main lens on DJI’s Ronin-M with a DJI follow focus system for control. 80% of the footage is filmed with this lens purely due to the convenience and speed this lightweight setup afforded. The early morning shots are at around F2.8-F3.5. Later on I used F5.6 for medium shots like the fake cop car with flashing lights. All apertures up to F8 were pleasing to my eye. The 300mm lens was naturally a tough one to shoot moving objects like drift cars. Rolling shutter can be a problem with longer focal lengths and moving objects. Most of the shots in the video with the 300mm (The blue drift car, guy waving green t-shirt) are shot at F5.6 with 1.2 IRND applied and the results look very pleasing to me. Resolving, but not sharp with creamy bokeh. Wide open, all lenses seemed to be a tad soft and creamy, while at the same time highly resolving. This is a character I really liked. They started fully resolving when slightly stopped down to F5.6 through F8. The bokeh and fall off from all the lenses (aside from the 24mm which I mainly used at F8 for this shoot) are absolutely beautiful. The subject in focus is very 3-dimensional and the backgrounds are soft and creamy to my eye. Watching the video should show this better than anything I write here. Summary This camera is not everyone’s cut of tea. However, working around its restrictions you can get very nice images in the right conditions. For me, the overall image quality and look this camera produces is special enough to outweigh the current list of cons, some of which I am sure can be easily rectified in a firmware update and future versions of Phocus. Hasselblad H6D-100c – Main Pros: (In no particular order) Full readout of the sensor width with no horizontal crop The amazing look the lenses give in combination with this massive sensor Lovely 3-dimentional rendition of subjects with superb fall off and creamy bokeh Beautiful colors out of the box Medium-format video in a compact form factor that even fits on a small gimbal Highlight roll off is pleasing even in heavily overexposed areas Recording to readily available CFAST2.0 media Hasselblad H6D-100c- Main Cons: (In no particular order) No way to see how much space is left on the CFAST card Noticeable rolling shutter in fast pans or fast-moving objects The audio is difficult to use even for scratch Shadows can show noticeable noise in some situations Overexposed highlights tend to have a slight purple tint The mp4 files are 25p and of a different length to the DNG sequences Live view resets and needs to be reactivated after every shot Phocus is slow to expand the compressed raw files into DNG files I hope some of this might be useful if you ever get your hands on a Hasselblad for video. Happy shooting!

Kinefinity has just realeased a major update for their Terra cinema cameras. The KineOS 6 update brings a completely overhauled user interface (UI) and a lot of new features, although surprisingly many of those are only available for the Terra 4K, not the 6K. You can download KineOS 6 for Kinefinity Terra 4K and Terra 6K right now as a free update. Both cameras will benefit from an upgraded UI but only the Terra 4K will get the whole package of new and improved (technical) features. Read all about these cameras here. Kinefinity KineOS 6 Update The layout of key parameters has been revamped in order to achieve a cleaner look and feel without having to search for the most frequent settings all the time. Here’s a list of all the new and improved UI fetaures: Interface redesigned: New layout of key parameters such as clip name, timecode and codec format. Key Parameters Tuning: Define shortcut buttons in order to change key parameters such as ISO, iris, color temperature, ND stops etc. A waveform exposure assistant is now available. New Setup Menu which is easy to read and operate. The Kinefinity Terra 4K is now able to record compressed RAW in cinemaDNG format. This feature is still in beta (‘test version’) but you can already try it for yourself. Choose between 3:1, 5:1 or 7:1 compression ratios and record compressed RAW cDNG directly in-camera. The Terra 4K inherits this feature from the MAVO. Note: Even though you can download KineOS for the Terra 6K, this compressed RAW feature is only available for the Terra 4K. Kinefinity offers some notes on this feature: 1) KineLog will be burned in when you record comressed RAW in cinemaDNG (which will be handled by DaVinci Resolve natively). 2) You will have to grade from scratch after importing the footage in DaVinci Resolve because cinemaDNG and ProRes footage require very different workflows. 3) Playback of cinema DNG footage will be very slow, the speed will increase in future firmware versions, though. KineOS 6 offers some new oversampling options. The camera uses all the pixels of the CMOS sensor and outputs 2K/Full HD footages which usually improves the overall image quality and reduces the noise level. Again, only the Terra 4K will support this feature. Another big improvement of KineOS is the ability to shoot anamorphic with the Terra 4K camera. You can choose between an anamorphic mode (3700 × 2700 pixels) and an open gate mode (full sensor -> 4096 × 2700 pixels). If used with a 2x anamorphic lens, the de-squeezed image will sport a whooping 7400 x 2700 resolution. When using either of these new anamorpfic modes the framerate is limited to 50 fps. You guessed it, only the Terra 4K will benefit from these new shooting modes. Other Improvements Apart from the major updates of KineOS 6, the company has squished a few bugs and polished some features. here is list of some minor improvements: Optimized In-camera LUT: more balanced color for fast workflow. Added project frame rate: 48, 50, 59.94, 60fps. Fixed the abnormal image when start up. Fixed freeze issue at some operations. Optimized black shading of TERRA 4K. Fixed system crash when adjusting ISO under certain color temperature. Fixed the mismatch of exposure compensation in menu setting. Optimized the highlight performance for TERRA 6K in some special case. Change the minimum frame rate of TERRA 4K to 6fps. The KineOS 6 update can be downloaded now for free over at Kinefinity.com. The Terra 4K is $3,999 and the Terra 6K is $5,999. If you can wait just a little bit longer, the $7,999 MAVO (read our initial coverage here) might be an option, too. Do you own a Terra 4K or 6K camera? What are your thoughts about this update? Let us know in the comments below!

At this NAB show, we caught up with Atomos’ Jeromy Young and he walks us through the brand new ProRes RAW format and everything there is to know about it. Let’s dive right in! ProRes has always been the go-to standard (on a Mac, at least) when it comes to NLE-friendly postproduction workflows since it’s not only an aquisition codec but an intermediate and possibly a delivery codec as well. The all-new ProRes RAW is no exception, it’s RAW for the masses. Apple ProRes RAW Atomos and Apple have teamed up to develop this new format. It’s designed to simplify and streamline the sometimes cumberstone RAW workflow. Every camera manufacturer has its own RAW format and you’ll need to adapt to all kinds of workflows here. The only exception would be cinemaDNG here but that’s not a very NLE-friendly format, too. ProRes RAW, on the other hand, has usability right built-in. It is designed to cover everything from capturing straight to editing and grading. It gets you the usability of ProRes combined with the flexibility of RAW. But keep in mind: Only Apple FinalCut Pro X 10.4.1 supports this new format for the time being. Others will follow, that’s for sure. Sensor data processed in-camera. Video cameras normally process the RAW sensor data (individual sensels in a Bayer pattern) internally and create RGB video pixels which are then being compressed to the recording codec. The processing is baked in and can not be manipulated afterwards. The ProRes RAW workflow on the other hand takes all the RAW data and records it straight to the ProRes RAW format. This enables you to manipulate the demosaicing within FinalCut Pro X. Since the ProRes format is NLE-friendly, no additional rendering or transcoding is needed. You can start editing, grading and fine-tuning right away. ProRes RAW workflow. Two flavours of this new format are available: ProRes RAW could be seen as the equivalent to ProRes 422 HQ in terms of data rate. And then there is ProRes RAW HQ, which is the ProRes 4444 XQ of RAW. We’re looking at a compressed RAW format here and this actually makes a lot of sense. Uncompressed 12-Bit RAW will urge the need of bringing vast arrays of very fast SSDs to your shoots in order to keep up with the data rate. If you want to dig deeper in to the inner workings of ProRes RAW, this whitepaper (PDF) created by Apple might be worth a closer look. Atomos, Apple & DJI The more recent Atomos monitors/recorders have ProRes RAW support built-in already. You can download new firmware versions which enable the support for ProRes RAW for the Shogun Inferno and Sumo 19 monitors/recorders right now. You can download these here. These firmware updates enable you to record very high quality RAW data up to 12-Bit (depends on your cameras’ capabilities, of course) straight to ProRes RAW. Furthermore the freshly announced Atomos Ninja V is at least capable of recording ProRes RAW, too. It’s not licensed for that yet but I guess it’s only a matter of time (and a matter of cameras being able to output RAW over HDMI). A bunch of cinema cameras capable of outputting RAW data. Is yours among them? DJI have some updates ready for their X7 camera, too. You’ll need to wait just a littler for this, though. It should be ready in May this year. I’d say compressed and ready-to-edit RAW straight from a very portable drone camera sounds pretty impressive! All in all ProRes RAW could be the solution for others to follow. No more different proprietary RAW formats for each and every camera and no more ridiculously large file sizes with uncompressed RAW formats. Let’s see where this is leading us in terms of RAW and HDR workflows. Links: Apple whitepaper (PDF) | Atomos.com | DJI.com What do you think of this move by Apple? Does RAW finally become mainstream? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The new EVA1 firmware 2.0 is finally here. We’ve met with Panasonic’s Mitch Gross here at NAB 2018 who runs you through all the new features of the Panasonic EVA1 cine camera. This firmware upgrade transforms the already very popular EVA1 camera into a whole new device. Read all about this update in our already published article here. Mitch Gross of Panasonic talks you through the whole thing – and it’s really a lot! Panasonic EVA1 firmware upgrade In order to get you up to speed, here is a list af all new recording formats the Panasonic EVA1 camera is capable of once it’s upgrades to firmware version 2.0: ALL-Intra codecs 4:2:2 10bits 4K/UHD up to [email protected] Mbps 2K/HD up to [email protected] Mbps 2K/HD up to [email protected] Mbps ALL-Intra codecs for High Frame rate 4K/UHD [email protected] Mbps 2K/HD [email protected] Mbps Broadcast codecs FullHD (1920×1080) – ALL-Intra 100Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 @59.94i/50i FullHD (1920×1080) – LongGOP 50Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 @59.94i/50i That’s it in terms of codecs, but there’s more. Panasonic now fully supports a lot of the popular Sigma lenses for the EVA1 camera. These are the latest additions to the list of supported lenses: 12-24 F4 DG HSM 24-70 F2.8 DG OS HSM 14mm F1.8 DG HSM 30mm F1.4 DC HSM 85mm F1.4 DG HSM 35mm F1.8 DG HSM As a final addition to this firmware update, Panasonic and Atomos have joined forces to enable RAW recording on Atomos monitors/recorders. In 4K you can either record to Apple ProRes / Avid DNxHR in up to 60fps or straight to CDNG RAW at up to 2Kp120 or 4Kp30. Slow motion, anyone? The Shogun Inferno can record the RAW output of the EVA1 at up to 240fps in 2k/HD, direct to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHR. Pricing and Availability The upgrade to version 2.0 is free of charge and you can download it right away. Head over to Panasonic in order to get your copy. If you’re unsure how to install the upgrade, please make sure to read this manual (PDF) for a safe and sound update process. Links: Panasonic | Download Firmware v2.0 | full changelog of firmware 2.0 | update instructions (pdf) Did you already update your EVA1? Any troubles with it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

No longer only a mysterious billboard outside NAB 2018, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is here and it shoots 12-bit RAW cinema 4K 60fps and full HD at up to 120fps — all at an impressive price point. The specs, pricing and more are below including an interview with Blackmagic Design CEO, Grant Petty:  Unlike its HD-only predecessor, the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera, the new 4K version shoots full cinema 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels) at up-to 60fps with a newly designed 4/3 (18,96 x 10mm) sensor. You’ll also be able to capture full HD 120 fps cropped (no info on how much of a crop) slow motion in both 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW and 10-bit Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) varieties. Unfortunately you won’t be able to shoot in the newly announced Pro Res RAW — at least not yet. The company promises a significant performance increase when it comes to low light capabilities and the camera tops out at 25,600 ISO, though time will tell how high you’ll be able to crank the cameras dual native ISO and still achieve “pro-level” shots. You can record to two slots using SD/UHS-II and CFast cards (they’ll switch over mid-recording if the second slot is fast enough) or record directly to an external drive through USB-C. The camera features a 5-inch LCD touchscreen (see above photo) that takes up nearly all of the real estate on the back of the body. URSA owners will find the menu system familiar as the pocket 4K runs on the URSA operating system. The camera uses the same lens mount as the original pocket allowing for EF, PL or C mounts to be used with an adapter. It may no longer truly be “pocket sized”, but the carbon fiber polycarbonate composite body feels solid to the touch. “Function” buttons on the upper right of the body are all customizable and you’ll be able to map your favorite tools (such as peaking, waveform etc.) to these keys. A high frame rate button on the back also lets you jump right to high speed modes quickly. 1/4″-20 holes are available on the top and bottom of the camera for accessory and tripod mounting. “If URSA is the camera you go and shoot other people with, this is the camera you shoot yourself with.” – Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design Notably, the camera is powered through the popular Canon LP-E6N batteries and not the Blackmagic lithium ion branded batteries of yesteryear. Another interesting power feature: when you remove the battery the camera will automatically safely power down and will power itself up once a new battery is inserted in the battery compartment. No intimidating warning message. The camera has four internal microphones and a mini xlr audio port for using your favorite external microphone system. You can also power that external mic through provided phantom power. This isn’t the only NAB 2018 news out of Blackmagic Design — the company has announced a significant update to Da Vinci Resolve which we’ll cover in a separate article and video interview with Grant Petty. Technical Highlights:  Shoots Cinema 4K at up-to 60fps, Full HD at 120fps Dynamic Range: 13-stops Ports: USB-C and standard sized HDMI Power: Canon LP-E6N or locking DC12 volt power connection Media: SD/UHS-II and CFast Bluetooth wireless camera control 3.5mm audio jack+mini XLR and headphone jack The camera is priced at $1,295.00 and includes a copy of DaVinci Resolve Studio normally priced at $299.00., While it is unfortunately not shipping until September the price point of $1,295.00 keeps the pocket 4K camera in a category of its own and being able to shoot RAW 4K potentially makes the camera an excellent successor to its HD little cousin. We’ll reserve judgement until we are able to do a full field review, but on paper the camera shows a great deal of potential. Price Point: $1,295.00 Shipping: September, 2018 Grant Petty holding the new BMPC 4K camera What do you think? Will you be picking up the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K when it ships later this year? Comment below and stay tuned to all of our NAB 2018 coverage throughout the week!

The newest version of FCPX (Final Cut Pro 10.4.1) includes a new video format called ProRes RAW which offers the optimum combination of both the compressed ProRes format and lossless RAW. Furthermore, the update finally includes a closed captioning solution.  FCPX users can work natively with ProRes RAW and ProRes RAW HQ files created by Atomos recorders. ProRes RAW – High performance without sacrificing quality  The major update is the introduction of the new ProRes RAW format. This format is a combination between Apple’s ProRes and RAW, which is a huge advantage as it can be utilized and maintain high quality footage with RAW data coming out from the camera sensor, without impairing the performance in the editing process.  As stated by Apple:  Editors can import, edit and grade pristine footage with RAW data from the camera sensor, providing ultimate flexibility when adjusting highlights and shadows — ideal for HDR workflows. And with performance optimized for macOS, editors can play full-quality 4K ProRes RAW files on MacBook Pro and iMac systems in real time without rendering. Apple claims that the ProRes RAW files are even smaller than ProRes 4444 files, which have the potential to facilitate workflow and archiving. and even edit RAW on a laptop, while still preserving the performances. FCPX users can work natively with ProRes RAW and ProRes RAW HQ files created by Atomos recorders. For now, ProRes RAW will be available as a free update for owners of Atomos Sumo 19 and Shogun Inferno devices, which opens it up as an acquisition format for many cameras that output RAW. The format will also be available as part of a forthcoming upgrade package for users of the DJI Inspire 2 drone and Zenmuse X7 Super 35mm camera system designed for aerial cinematography (separate post coming). For more info, read cinema5D article about Atomos as the first enabler for ProRes RAW Recording. Closed Captioning Tools Finally, FCPX now lets users import and edit closed captions for their videos without the need of third party software. Captions appear in the viewer during playback and can be attached to video or audio clips in the magnetic timeline, so they automatically move with the clips to which they’re connected. An all-new captions inspector makes it simple to adjust caption text, color, alignment, location and more. Pricing and Availability Final Cut Pro 10.4.1 will be available on April 9 as a free update for existing users, and for $299.99 (US) for new users on the Mac App Store. To sum it up, Apple has really been doing their homework with bringing Final Cut Pro X up to a very high standard over the past few years. As ProRes RAW will be only available in Apple’s NLE for the time being, this will be a huge selling point for FCPX that simply wasn’t there before. ProRes RAW seems promising as it allows editing RAW with the performance of the good old ProRes. What is your opinion regarding FCPX 4.1? Will you give it another try in case you’re a Premiere user who’s been plagued with instability lately? Let us know your thoughts. 

Apple’s newly announced ProRes RAW (to be covered in a separate article shortly) will immediately be supported by Atomos’s top-of-the-line recorders, the Shogun Inferno and the Sumo19 via free upgrades. What ProRes RAW actually is? Read on! What is ProRes RAW? ProRes RAW is a much more manageable and editable flavor of RAW, just like other ProRes codecs. ProRes RAW files can be imported directly into Final Cut Pro 10.4.1 for speedy cut, color, and polish on Mac systems. Atomos – the Enabler for ProRes RAW Recording The hills are alive with the sound of ProRes RAW, and Atomos has heard it. Apple has a new format, and it’s everybody’s darling. The malleable nature of RAW and the beauty and (and necessity of) ProRes are together at long last, and Atomos has you covered. The ProRes RAW update will be available free for the Atomos Shogun Inferno and Sumo 19 devices, and ProRes RAW will be exclusive on Atomos recorders in the beginning. You get an update…and you get an update! Atomos boasts the only monitor recorders to offer ProRes RAW, with direct from sensor, realtime recording out of Panasonic, Sony, and Canon cameras.    Of the announcement, Atomos CEO Jeromy Young said: “We are incredibly proud to be the first ProRes RAW enabled product in the market, and it’s free for our customers. The performance and flexibility of ProRes RAW means a huge leap forward for video production.” ProRes RAW – For which cameras? Eight cine cameras with  RAW output, that’s who. More to come, but right now, you’ll be happy to know that Canon C300k Mark II/C500 and Sony FS5/FS7/FS7 II as well as the FS700 are included. Also in that pack are the Panasonic AU-EVA1 and the Varicam LT – in case of the EVA1, that means ProRes RAW with a mighty impressive 5.7K resolution is supported, which is what that camera outputs. Upgrade your Shogun Inferno or your Sumo19, and you’ll watch and record ProRes RAW, this newly developed edit-ready compressed RAW codec easily (on Final Cut Pro X’s new update, to be released on April 8) ProRes RAW performance compared to other ProRes codecs A More Usable RAW, 12-bit Color Depth, Shorter Render Times If you’ve cut RAW in the past, you know the processing can be slow, but ProRes RAW via Atomos SSDs takes the clunk out of working with RAW.  If you own one of these devices, you know the time that those SSDs save you and the headache they remove from media management.  Now they’re all that much sweeter with 2 new compression levels: ProRes RAW (same data rate as ProRes 422 HQ) and ProRes RAW HQ (same data rate as ProRes 4444XQ), both allowing 12-bit depth to hold onto your dynamic range, so HDR finishing also gets a boost with this update. What also makes it more usable are shorter render times – it’s supposedly 5.7 times faster to render than Redcode RAW 3:1, and still 1.5 times faster than Canon C200 RAW Lite. Here’s some footage recorded in ProRes RAW: High Speed Recording Atomos can record ProRes RAW up to 2K at 240 frames a second, or 4K at up to 120 frames per second. Higher resolutions out of certain camera bodies are also supported, such as 5.7K from the Panasonic AU-EVA1. ProRes RAW in AtomOS 9 The Atomos  Operating System, AtomOS 9, fully supports ProRes RAW in a portable package. The Atomos devices paired with their OS changes your onset playback game.  As always with the Atomos recorders, simply pull the SSD out and dock to your Mac over Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C 3.1 for lightening quick post…only this time you’ll have ProRes RAW! When Can You Have it? Mere days! Download the free AtomOS 9 update for Shogun Inferno and Sumo 19 from April 9th from the Atomos website. A firmware update is also coming for the DJI Zenmuse X7 camera to support ProRes RAW (we will cover this in a separate post). Atomos however, will be the only company supporting ProRes RAW in camera recorders for the time being. Will you be upgrading your Shogun Inferno or Sumo19 to try out ProRes RAW recording? Or if you don’t have one yet, is this what you were waiting for to get a Shogun Inferno for your kit?

Cinema camera underdog Kinefinity has just announced the latest addition to its line-up. Say hello to Kinefinity MAVO! The new Kinefinity MAVO is a 6K-capable Super 35mm cinema camera building upon the legacy of the company’s previous line, the Kinefinity Terra. Although the MAVO offers plenty of professional features, its price of “only” $14,000 for a complete camera package with all accessories is still massively disruptive – a strategy that Kinefinity is clearly intent on keeping up. Kinefinity MAVO The Kinefinity MAVO is a modular system similar to what the manufacturer did with the Terra line. The camera body includes the brand new 6K CMOS Super 35mm sensor, along with basic I/O, headphone output, 2.5” SSD port, built-in mic and the port to attach the SideGrip – a side handle offering basic controls and battery compartment – and the KineMON – the camera’s proprietary monitor. Like the Terra, the Kinefinity MAVO becomes a much more powerful beast when attaching the optional KineBACK module at the rear of the camera body, which unlocks more professional features such as dual XLR inputs with phantom power, SDI outputs, V-Lock battery capabilites, D-tap power outputs, and timecode in/out. The new version – the KineBACK-W – seems a lot easier to attach, requiring only a couple of screws rather than fumbling around with a delicate ribbon cable, as was the case with the Terra. This means it is a lot quicker to go from a fully built-up camera to the compact 990g body-only, perfect for mounting on a gimbal. Wireless Capabilities This new version of the KineBACK, however, offers new integration for wireless functionality. It features a slot into which you can insert a new wireless transmitter card, unlocking a system capable of wireless video transmission with a claimed zero delay, as well as wireless lens control via the Movcam system, all this without additional cables or powering.  KineMOUNT The Kinefinity MAVO still makes use of the Kinefinity KineMOUNT system, a versatile mount that allows you not only to easily change between Sony, Canon, Nikon and PL mounts, but also takes the manufacturer’s proprietary EF or PL variable ND filter attachment and KineENHANCER (Kinefinity’s version of a Speedbooster). Additionally, the Kinefinity MAVO will feature a removable OLPF. This is significant, as the Kinefinity TERRA 4K – the company’s current entry-level option, which also offers very interesting features at a very low price – suffered from severe OLPF reflection flare issues when pointed directly at strong sources of light. This has been a cause of concern for many potential buyers doing their due diligence, so having the possibility to remove the OLPF altogether, or easily replacing it when new and improved versions become available, could be a good compromise. Kinefinity MAVO Image Kinefinity’s new camera offers a Super 35mm sensor, larger than the Terra 4K sensor which was halfway between Super 35mm and Micro Four-Thirds. This new 6016×4016 pixel sensor offers over 14 stops of dynamic range, and various maximum frame rate, resolution and sensor windowing combinations including Open Gate and 4:3 for anamorphic capture, as you can see in the graphic below. Despite the larger sensor, Kinefinity claims improved rolling shutter speeds, putting it in the same ball park as the RED 8K-capable cameras. Source: Kinefinity Live Stream In terms of processing, the Kinefinity MAVO also has some great improvements, with the addition of ProRes 422HQ, ProRes 444, ProRes 444XQ codecs to the previously available ProRes 422. Kinefinity’s own flavour of Raw has been updated to KRW 2.0, and now allows for an adjustable compression ratio from 2:1 to 10:1. Kinefinity previously offered a free software utility to transcode KRW to cinemaDNG, so what is even bigger news is that MAVO can record cinemaDNG internally at 3:1, 5:1 and 7:1 compression ratios. Pricing and availability Kinefinity MAVO will be available in four packages: Body Only: $7,999 Basic: $9,499 Pro: $10,999 Full: $13,999 If the Terra pricing scheme is anything to go by, the Basic package will also include accessories such as the KineMON, SideGrip, a couple of BP-U 30 style batteries, charger, KineMAG SSD and power cables. The Pro package will also include the KineBACK module, case and shoulder rig kit. I would guess the Full package includes all the necessary accessories to unlock the wireless capabilities of the camera. There will also be trade-in deals for owners of earlier Kinefinity cameras. We are still awaiting information regarding worldwide shipping dates, so stay tuned! New Large Format Camera Too? Kinefinity MAVO LF In the age of Sony Venice, RED Monstro and ARRI ALEXA LF, it is clear that there is a tendency towards large sensors at the very top tier of cinema cameras. Clearly, Kinefinity didn’t want to lag behind. During the live stream today, Kinefinity also announced an upcoming large-format cinema camera, the MAVO LF, which will pack a 36x24mm sensor, just a wee bit smaller than the ALEXA LF. This camera – which will no doubt become Kinefinity’s flagship after the now ageing KineMAX – will benefit from all the improvements of the upcoming Kinefinity MAVO, and will become available in August 2018. Source: Kinefinity Live Stream For more information about the MAVO camera line, head over to www.kinefinity.com/mavo. New MAVO Prime range of cinema lenses As if the announcement of two new cameras wasn’t enough, Kinefinity also announced a complete range of cinema lenses for the MAVO platform. The MAVO Prime lenses will cover 25, 35, 50, 75 and 135mm at T2 with full-frame coverage, and a price tag of around $12,000 for the whole set. So there you have it: a news announcement to shake up your Sunday. Also, NAB 2018 is just around the corner, so we look forward to seeing if Kinefinity will have a working MAVO to check out. NOTE: It seems that the updated Kinefinity operating system will also become available for Terra cameras. Bear in mind that not all functions will become available, likely due to hardware limitations. Have you shot on a Kinefinity camera before? Could the MAVO finally be this manufacturer’s breakthrough into the big leagues in the cinema camera market? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!