Vendors at 2015 NAB Show brings debut Thunderbolt drives, camera remote accessories, more
With the National Association of Broadcasters' annual trade show under way in Las Vegas, accessory makers have announced a number of new products designed to serve the needs of media professionals wielding Macs and iOS devices.
Viper Pro, top and right; Envoy Pro mini, lower right
Well-known Mac storage maker OWC revealed two new high-speed external storage solutions with the Viper Pro Thunderbolt 2 external drive and Envoy Pro mini USB 3.0 thumb drive. Both units feature internal SSDs.
The Viper Pro sports dual Thunderbolt 2 interfaces that OWC says can transfer data at up to 1,350 megabytes per second. With an aluminum enclosure designed for desktop use, the Viper Pro will be available this summer in a 4-terabyte capacity for $2,999 or an 8-terabyte configuration for $4,799.
The Envoy Pro mini is a small, aluminum thumb drive that will sustain transfer speeds up to 433 megabytes per second. OWC calls the Envoy Pro mini's internal SSD "desktop class," and units are available now --?120 gigabytes will run buyers $119, while 240 gigabytes bumps the price to $199. A 480 gigabyte model is coming soon, and will cost $599.
Tripod manufacturer Manfrotto showed off its new Digital Director, a device that lets photographers turn an iPad into a remote control for SLR cameras. The Digital Director features a small, dedicated CPU that attaches to a Canon or Nikon camera via a USB cable as well as a metal mount for an iPad Air or Air 2.
Users can then connect their iPad to the Digital Director wirelessly, and use Manfrotto's Digital Director app to remotely control the camera. Features include live view; access to settings like exposure, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, focus, image quality, camera modes, and battery status; as well as the ability to share images directly via FTP.
The Digital Director will be available next month for $499, and can be pre-ordered through Manfrotto resellers like B&H Photo.
Camera maker Blackmagic Design introduced its new Micro Cinema Camera, a miniature Super 16mm digital film camera. It features a micro four thirds lens mount, and is designed for use on set and in action shots or tethered to a drone.
Available in both 1080p and 4K variants, the Micro Cinema Camera also sports a new expansion port with PWM and S.Bus connections that cinematographers can use to control the camera from a standard model aircraft remote. Images can be recorded in 12-bit log CinemaDNG RAW or Apple ProRes.
In addition, numerous existing accessories can be connected to the DB-HD15 connector.
The Micro Cinema Camera will be available in July starting at $995, while the 4K variant will begin at $1,295.
Blackmagic also debuted a lighter URSA Mini camera capable of 4.6K recording, expected to launch in July for $4,995 with EF lens mount or $5,495 with PL lens mount. A 4K URSA Mini version is also expected to ship in July for $2,995 with EF mount or $3,495 with PL mount.
Viper Pro, top and right; Envoy Pro mini, lower right
Well-known Mac storage maker OWC revealed two new high-speed external storage solutions with the Viper Pro Thunderbolt 2 external drive and Envoy Pro mini USB 3.0 thumb drive. Both units feature internal SSDs.
The Viper Pro sports dual Thunderbolt 2 interfaces that OWC says can transfer data at up to 1,350 megabytes per second. With an aluminum enclosure designed for desktop use, the Viper Pro will be available this summer in a 4-terabyte capacity for $2,999 or an 8-terabyte configuration for $4,799.
The Envoy Pro mini is a small, aluminum thumb drive that will sustain transfer speeds up to 433 megabytes per second. OWC calls the Envoy Pro mini's internal SSD "desktop class," and units are available now --?120 gigabytes will run buyers $119, while 240 gigabytes bumps the price to $199. A 480 gigabyte model is coming soon, and will cost $599.
Tripod manufacturer Manfrotto showed off its new Digital Director, a device that lets photographers turn an iPad into a remote control for SLR cameras. The Digital Director features a small, dedicated CPU that attaches to a Canon or Nikon camera via a USB cable as well as a metal mount for an iPad Air or Air 2.
Users can then connect their iPad to the Digital Director wirelessly, and use Manfrotto's Digital Director app to remotely control the camera. Features include live view; access to settings like exposure, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, focus, image quality, camera modes, and battery status; as well as the ability to share images directly via FTP.
The Digital Director will be available next month for $499, and can be pre-ordered through Manfrotto resellers like B&H Photo.
Camera maker Blackmagic Design introduced its new Micro Cinema Camera, a miniature Super 16mm digital film camera. It features a micro four thirds lens mount, and is designed for use on set and in action shots or tethered to a drone.
Available in both 1080p and 4K variants, the Micro Cinema Camera also sports a new expansion port with PWM and S.Bus connections that cinematographers can use to control the camera from a standard model aircraft remote. Images can be recorded in 12-bit log CinemaDNG RAW or Apple ProRes.
In addition, numerous existing accessories can be connected to the DB-HD15 connector.
The Micro Cinema Camera will be available in July starting at $995, while the 4K variant will begin at $1,295.
Blackmagic also debuted a lighter URSA Mini camera capable of 4.6K recording, expected to launch in July for $4,995 with EF lens mount or $5,495 with PL lens mount. A 4K URSA Mini version is also expected to ship in July for $2,995 with EF mount or $3,495 with PL mount.
Comments
$2,999.99 for 4TB TB Drive?? and i was wondering why Thunderbolt isn't taking off after nearly 4 years of its debut.
That Blackmagic camera sounds really hot. It should be rather popular. The addition of remote control via model airplane controllers is an interesting development.
They make some exceptionally cool things.
$2,999.99 for 4TB TB Drive?? and i was wondering why Thunderbolt isn't taking off after nearly 4 years of its debut.
Apple was the main one to adopt it. That certainly didn't help.
I think you missed the 'SSD' part.
NAB looks like being fun this year. The new FCPX was released for that of course. I bet Apple has a very strong presence via third parties although I doubt will be there in person. FCPX It certainly is a lot faster on my nMP. The slo mo rendering for all qualities is like lightening now and Motion has really improved in all areas.
I will have to check out Digital Director. Last time I checked the free software Canon ship is OS X only. Maybe Canon have an iOS version now ... Snag with all the various methods I've tried is they are pretty slow to react and limited to JPEG most times for any sharing for obvious reasons, although that's fine if you should both RAW + JPEG. For studio work this sounds like a great solution. Same is true for an iPad screen for a video camera, seeing that large image can be really beneficial.
$2,999.99 for 4TB TB Drive?? and i was wondering why Thunderbolt isn't taking off after nearly 4 years of its debut.
Were talking ssd not a normal hard drive here actually 2999 is really a decent price considering the 1350 MB transfer rate and thats not theoretical, that is real world. You obviously have not looked at professional raid systems for video there very expensive. I have on my 2013 mac pro a Promise Pegasus 2 R4 with thunderbolt 2 and it is super fast, but will set you back 1400.00 for the 8 terabyte version with western digital RE4 enterprise drives. The drives are matched and burned in for 100 hours to make sure there solid from the get go. Were not talking a cheap USB 3 drive you pick up at best buy that has the lowest quality hard drive with a 2 year warranty you can get.