Last month’s Blue Ocean Film Festival featured and industry and technology trade show, and we’ve finally updated our article to comprehensively cover latest in underwater gear and marine conservation that was on display. Better late than never, hopefully. Special thanks to Jason Bradley, Eric Cheng, and Jennifer Penner for their photographs of the trade show.
As 3D has been a major theme of this year’s festival, one of the exciting developments was to see the latest developments in cameras, housings and display equipment for 3D imagery. Be sure to read Eric Cheng’s previous post on the 3D products on display, and their implications for this emerging medium.
Tommy from Panasonic with 3D glasses standing next to the Panasonic AG3DA1 camera. This cool and relatively affordable camera will open the door to 3D-HD to a new wave of underwater shooters.
Front view of the Panasonic AG3DA1 3D-HD camera
3D on display at a booth showing Blue-Ray in 3D.
Gates’ President John Ellerbrock next to the new Panasonic AG3DA1 3D-HD housing.
Gates is unveiling their first line of video lights. The smaller light is the VL8 and the other the VL24, with the number signifying the amount of LED’s per light. The VL8 is approximately 2300 lumens and the VL24 is approximately 7000 lumens and each light can be purchased with daylight or tungsten color temperatures, or if you want custom color, they can do that, too. The price for these lights is still under wraps, but John Ellerbrock (Gates’ President) promises competitiveness and that they’ll be on the shelves in time for Christmas.
Fred Dion and Jim Decker of Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo, with an array of HD video solutions ranging from the Canon 5D Mark II to premium Gates housings for the RED and Panasonic Varicam.
The Gates HPX3700 Housing for Panasonic Varicam cameras with an external monitor on display in the Backscatter booth. The Varicam along with the RED are considered to be included in the gold standard for underwater digital cinema and broadcast production.
Gates underwater housing for the Panasonic POV camera. The system houses a Panasonic AG-HMR10 Recorder and HCK10 Camera, allowing the user to monitor the action from a distance of up to 20m. Gates offers four different port options, with an angle of view up to 90 degrees. HD-SDI out for surface monitoring and recording is also an option. In the configuration shown above, the user can use the POV system as a standalone camcorder.