Digital Video - February 2008 - (Page 32) BEST OF 2007 30 TOOLS INDIE FILMMAKERS LP-MICRO Litepanels, litepanels.com Lightweight, cool-burning, battery-powered with standard AAs, daylight-balanced and fully dimmable, the LP-Micro LED fixture is a unique and useful addition to any kit. As an onboard camera light, it adds precious few ounces; as a utility lamp for highlighting details or backgrounds, it’s a gem; as a tabletop light, it’s a keeper. — David E. Williams AG-HPX500 Panasonic, panasonic.com/broadcast Versatility might be my theme this year. This is a camera package that crosses many borders. With four P2 slots, off-speed shooting, native 24p, and the best focus-assist I’ve ever seen, this is a fantastic camera system at an unbelievable price. — Jay Holben FOR LH2600W Panasonic, panasonic.com/broadcast Hands down, this is the most impressive LCD monitor I’ve seen. A 26” widescreen, multi-format production monitor with pixel-to-pixel mapping, it offers built-in waveform, very wide viewing angle and contrast and color to compete with CRTs. A great tool. — Jay Holben images out of the camera. Part of the innovation includes software tools that Red has created to move its RAW files through post. Furthermore, these are available as a free download. For the first time, a video camera facilitates a workflow in which the entire look of the image is held in metadata until the very end — and can be easily changed along the way. Red’s software tools are still in early development, but will likely blaze a path that many other manufacturers will follow as part of their own future development. — Oliver Peters AG-HSC1U Panasonic, panasonic.com This tiny cam caught our eye at NAB. The pint-sized HSC1U weighs only 1.1 lbs. and records 1080i images in 16:9 in the new AVCHD format onto an SDHC memory card. Featuring an F1.8/2.8 12X Leica Dicomar lens (35mm equivalent 38.5 462mm) with Optical Image Stabilizer, the camcorder has a 3” widescreen (16:9) LCD monitor and a five-microphone 5.1-channel surround-sound recording system. The unit comes standard with a portable 40GB media storage unit (featuring a built-in rechargeable battery) for off-loading content from the 4GB SDHC memory card. — David E. Williams MAGIC BULLET LOOKS Red Giant Software, redgiantsoftware.com Magic Bullet has done a total “rethink” on how a plug-in should be designed. The newest version of Looks offers a cross-section of color-grading and effects tools that are intelligently structured in a way to parallel the production process itself — from in-camera and lens tools to lab and postproduction tricks. Looks installs as a plug-in into a variety of NLE and compositing hosts, but also includes the standalone LooksBuilder application. LooksBuilder can be used to create custom Looks files on location and in post, that can be freely interchanged with any Looks user. Few effects plug-ins offer such a wide range of filtering and grading tools in one low-cost package. — Oliver Peters QUAD PODS Quad Pod, quad-pods.com An economic answer to camera support, Quad Pods can work as handheld, tripod, or body-mounted supports. Each pod includes two sets of handles so you can use it for more angles — the back grips really help with overhead shots. Plus, the neck strap helps with maneuverability, and a new Swivel Pod feature offers a waist support pod for improved support with less fatigue. — Mark J. Pescatore FSB-6 Sachtler, sachtler.com Designed for miniDV and HDV camcorders, the FSB6S fluid head supports 2.2 to 13.2 pounds (1 to 6kg). It’s engineered to offer low-mass cameras the same smooth pan and tilt movement that operators have long enjoyed with larger camera packages on heavy-duty fluid heads. The FSB6S has three dampening steps in both pan and tilt directions, a zero setting that deactivates dampening, a 10-step counterbalance system, and a tilt range of +90/70 degrees. — David E. Williams www.dv.com RED ALERT! AND REDCINE Red Digital Cinema, red.com/support The Red One is the first digital cinematography camera to offer a true RAW camera workflow. The camera’s uniqueness and the brash marketing assault of the founders have attracted a vocal indie following, but all would be pointless if you couldn’t get the 32 dv february 2008 http://www.litepanels.com http://www.panasonic.com/broadcast http://www.panasonic.com/broadcast http://www.panasonic.com http://www.redgiantsoftware.com http://www.quad-pods.com http://www.sachtler.com http://www.red.com/support http://www.dv.com
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