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5 Trends From NAB Show 2019
NAB 2019 has come and gone once again and left behind many new trends and gadgets that has everyone in the video production industry buzzing. Here’s the inside scoop from Crews Control DP Matthew Pessoni, who attended this year’s show.
RGB LED Lights:
According to Pessoni, just about every lighting manufacturer in attendance was showing RGB LEDs. While these lights are not new, this is a continuing trend at NAB, yet unique to a majority of the audience. “We typically don’t use RGB LED lighting due to the fact that we are mostly shooting faces in a business environment,” Pessoni said. “For music videos, of course, they would be extremely useful.” Some of the newest RBG LED lights showcased at NAB are the Lightmat Spectrum from Litegear, the Area 48 Color LED RGBWW from BB&S Lighting and the Aputure RC LED Light.
Lenses:
Last year at NAB, Canon announced the Full-Frame C700 FF with a full-frame CMOS sensor for higher-resolution rates. This year there is continued expansion of larger full-frame sensors creating a need for new lenses. “There’s a new push in that direction,” Pessoni said. New lenses continue to enter the market for these full-frame sensors. There was a lot of hype around Sigma’s expanded Cine Lens Collection before NAB even begun.
Industry Consolidation:
The industry continues to consolidate. For instance, Pessoni noticed that Teradek, Wooden Camera and SmallHD were all at the same booth. Like in past years at NAB, a lot of small brands continue to merge or are being acquired. It’s no surprise this is reflected on the NAB floor. Another acquisition that was actually announced right before NAB was Vizrt acquiring NewTek.
8K Cameras:
There was a lot of 8K buzz on the floor. 8K is an interesting technology that was teased at CES in January and has been growing in demand. “We’re seeing manufacturers expressing interest in producing pro and consumer cameras in 8K, but our clients are still focused on HD with an occasional request for 4K,” Pessoni said. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Odds are we won’t see a lot of 8K anytime soon, but the 8K buzz at NAB does raise a few questions; Where will 8K be in 5 years? Is it the new 4K? Is 8K even necessary?
One of the 8K cameras debuted at NAB was the Panasonic 8K Multi-Purpose Camera. “I see 8K as being useful on very large screens, or to allow flexibility in post production similar to punching-in with 4K, but after seeing 8K output in person on standard-sized monitors, I was hard-pressed to differentiate it from 4K,” Pessoni said. “The human eye can only resolve so much detail.”
Blackmagic Design:
“My associates and I were very impressed with Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2,” Pessoni said. “They seemed to have really nailed it with that camera” This camera is the newest version of the popular URSA Mini Pro and brings some new features to life such as:
- Super 35mm 4.6K sensor with Blackmagic Design Generation 4 Color Science
- Built-in dual C-Fast 2.0 recorders and dual SD/UHS-II card recorders
- A project frame that rates up to 60 fps and of-speed slow motion recording up to 120 fps
“I felt it was a bit heavy but well-balanced from my limited time with it on the show floor,” Pessoni said. “Blackmagic has become a serious contender with this camera.” The Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 is only available for preorder at this time.
Overall Thoughts:
Another NAB is in the books and now all we can do is wait until this new, highly anticipated equipment is actually available for purchase. Overall, NAB appears to be heading in different direction that is also changing the industry. “It seems like the industry is not making the same giant leaps in technology/quality year to year as it did in the past,” Pessoni said. Equipment is being subtly altered and remodeled to iron out the kinks of previous models, rather than tech companies completely starting from scratch on new gear. “Improvement seems to be more incremental,” Pessoni said.
If you attended NAB this year, we are dying to know what you thought of the latest equipment to come out at the show! And if you want to work with a great crew with all the latest and greatest gear, just let us know, and we’ll get you a quote.
I think you nailed it when you stated that the eye has its limits. The only reason to spend the money on it is if you have a contract to do large screen IMAG or playback, which my the way has to be 8K too.