Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K

The “world’s smallest Ultra HD live studio camera”, the Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K, has been launched by Blackmagic Design. The tiny Ultra HD and HD camera will be available in July for $1,295/£929/€1,545.

Although it will work at no more than 30 frames per second in Ultra HD, which would make it rather poor at capturing sports action (which is where Ultra HD will inevitably make its initial impact for live production), it would be useful for studio programmes, such as chat shows, and its combination of size, facilities and price will make it a great buy for HD production, particularly as its UHD capability should give it a longer life.

Panasonic AG-DVX200 4K camcorder

The new Panasonic AG-DVX200 is a sub-$5,000 4K compact camcorder that offers up to Ultra HD 50/60p recording, and a V-Log L gamma curve (with 12-stops of dynamic range - which doesn’t compare favourably to the new Blackmagic Ursa Mini 4.6K, which has 15 stops for about the same price - or even the cheaper 4K Ursa Mini, which has 13 stops).

Atomos cuts costs to Bare Bones

Anyone buying a recorder from Atomos has always got a lot for their money - including various accessories, such as a case, batteries, etc. For the $1,995 Shogun, there are more than $500 of accessories included (HPRC hard case, AC adapter, SSD media cases, D-Tap adapter, 5200mAh battery, battery charger, XLR breakout cable and SSD docking station).

If you already have an Atomos system, you may not need all of these items, which is why Atomos is adding a complete range (in May) of “Bare Bones” models, which reduces the price of the Shogun (with just an SSD media case, AC power supply and a soft case) to $1,695, the Ninja 2 to $395, and both the Ninja Blade and Samurai Blade to $795. The complete suite of Shogun accessories will also be available for $395, and $195 for Ninja Blade and Samurai Blade.

Blackmagic Ursa Mini 4.6K camera

Blackmagic Design’s new Ursa Mini is a much more compact and lighter weight version of its large Ursa Super 35 digital film camera, and should appeal to a wider range of users, with prices starting at $2,995/£2,149/€3,519 for the 4K EF-mount model. It can also come with a 4.6K image sensor, with either EF or PL lens mounts, switchable global or rolling shutter, up to 15 stops of dynamic range, a 5-inch fold out viewfinder and dual Raw and Apple ProRes recorders.

Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera

Blackmagic Design has announced what it claims is “the world’s smallest digital film action camera.” It also boasts an “innovative remote control”. The Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera has a Super 16mm-size sensor (12.48mm x 7.02mm) with 13 stops of dynamic range plus a new expansion port that provides access to many of the camera’s functions via widely-used wireless remote control systems, such as those for model aircraft. It will be available in July for $995/£709/€1179.

The expansion port features PWM and S.Bus connections that are used on model aircraft remote control gear for connecting to servos to control the aircraft. Such systems cost little as they are consumer hobby products and feature multiple “channels” that can be connected direct to the camera itself. These channels can be mapped to any camera or lens setting (such as iris, focus, audio levels, and start and stop recording) and then remote controlled via the radio controller. Because a standard, easy-to-solder DB-HD15 connector is used, even simple wire cables and switches can be created for controlling the cameras.

Sony HDC-4300 Ultra HD camera

Sony's new HDC-4300 system camera, aimed at sports and events broadcasting, is touted as “the world’s first camera to use three 2/3-inch 4K image sensors” [the Hitachi SK-UHD4000, which is already in use, has four sensors: one red, one blue and two green for extra sensitivity].

The HDC-4300 also offers up to 8x Super-Slow Motion in HD (at frame rates up to 479.52/400fps), which will make it a useful HD camera to have for today’s mainstream productions. It can do 50/60p in Ultra HD. Both the 4K and 8x capabilities are on a paid-for license (which can be bought on a weekly, monthly or permanent basis), so if you don’t need them from the start, you don’t need to pay for them until you do. It comes standard with 2x and 3x HD recording.

New Canon EOS C300 Mark II + XC10 4K/Ultra HD cameras

Canon has announced two new cameras, the EOS C300 Mark II 4K (4096x2160) and Ultra HD (3840x2160) camera (pictured above), and the XC10 compact UHD model (pictured below). Both use Canon’s new XF-AVC recording format.

The £11,299 + VAT (almost $17,000) C300 MkII will boast up to 15 stops of dynamic range, when it ships in September.

For the full story, head over to our Canon XF Notebook blog...