Visuals

Convergent Design are one of those companies that have very few products, but are really good at what they do. Their recorders have become industry standard on pretty much any shoot involving a Sony FS700/FS7 or Canon C500 when 4K recording is required. The Convergent Design Odyssey7Q family of 4K recorder/monitors lead by their flagship 7Q+ model have been 4K production favourite tools for quite some time now.

The NAB Show is big! I mean, really big. Nearly 950,000 square feet of the latest and greatest in professional video, audio, post-production and broadcast technology at the heart of the Nevada desert – Las Vegas. 26,000+ international attendees from 159 countries - all fixated on the latest cameras, lenses, lighting equipment, and broadcast transmission infrastructure that money can buy today. Just like prior years, it's the place for big announcements, and there were a few. It's the best time of the year for manufacturers, dealers, distributors and end users to share a roof and get together for an unforgettable experience.

The big pre-NAB announcement this year was definitely the much anticipated Canon C300 Mark II. The latest EOS cinema camera from Canon is packed with a ton of advance features including in-camera 10-bit 422 4K recording up to 30p in the new Canon developed XF-AVC codec as well as slow motion in 1080p/2K up to 120 frames per second. At the heart of the new C300 Mark II lays a brand new 8.85MP Super 35 CMOS 4K sensor capable if the phenomenal 15 stops of dynamic range.

NAB is off to a flying start with thousands of eager audio and video professionals flocking to the dessert oasis that is Las Vegas. And just like in the previous three years Aussie gear maker Blackmagic Design unleashed numerous new products, and of course a few new cameras. Something they've been doing for the past few years and surely become a standard. Whether that's a good thing, and we think it is, we'll let you decide.

Sony kicked-off NAB with a big announcement the Sony HDC 4300 – a new and first of its kind 4K systems camera with 2/3 inch true 4K sensors. Targeting high-end sports capture in 4K, Sony is also offering an 8x slow-motion option in Full HD to capture those unforgettable moments in sports history. 4K is where the broadcast industry is going at least for sports and big live events, and the fact that Sony, who have a solid and proven long-standing heritage in the broadcast world is the logical progression off from the world of HD we're so used to. Read more about this technological marvel from Sony in the following paragraphs.