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BRC-AM7: Sony’s Newest 4K PTZ Camera Targets Broadcast and Live Events
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Viltrox AF released 16mm F1.8 Z: new ultra-wide-angle lens for Nikon Z mount
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New Apple App to Offer Advanced Video Features on iOS Devices
360 Seconds. Broadcast News & Commentary is a weekly program on Youtube about the latest equipment for broadcasting and film. Explained by experts – practitioners directly working in the field of cinema and television.
Hosts: Philip Grossman, host and co-producer at Visionaries, and Maria Kholodova. Production – TKT1957 LLC.
Airing on May 13, 2024
BRC-AM7: Sony’s Newest 4K PTZ Camera Targets Broadcast and Live Events
Maria: Sony has unveiled its latest camera technology, the BRC-AM7, a PTZ camera that promises to enhance video production quality with its state-of-the-art features. This camera is particularly suited for broadcasting, live events, and sports productions.
So Philip, tell us more about this?
Philip: Yeah, you know, we always hear the statement, “we have to do more with less.” This is one of those products that allows companies, especially small burgeoning companies or even large ones, to do more with less—meaning fewer people. The AI technology, I know that buzzwords gets thrown around a lot, but the AI really seems to be very focused on the framing, which is fantastic. That enables you to remove the person needed to operate the camera, and in the sports world, just add way more cameras to a system where you wouldn’t have enough people to move them all robotically and to have them track people. I think it’s pretty amazing.
It has, the back side of it looks like a cheeseboard; it’s got every connection imaginable, which is fantastic. It even has NDI in it. It does not have SMPTE 2110, although there is an SFP on the back of it which would enable them to potentially include SMPTE 2110 in the future. Overall, I think it’s a great product. It’s got a larger than two-thirds-inch sensor, which is your typical sensor for television. It’s got a one-inch sensor, so it does provide a lot in a small package.
I don’t know what the price is; I couldn’t find the pricing at this point as it was just announced. Hopefully, it’s priced competitively, and you’ll start to see lots of organizations pick this up, especially high schools and colleges with lower budgets wanting to really raise their production value. This would be a fantastic product for them.
Viltrox AF released 16mm F1.8 Z: new ultra-wide-angle lens for Nikon Z mount
Maria: Great, thank you. Now, moving on to Viltrox. With its robust feature set and competitive pricing, the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 is marketed as an attractive option for photographers and videographers using Nikon Z-mount systems, looking for a versatile wide-angle lens.
So Philip, more camera talk—tell us about this.
Philip: Yeah, I love wide-angle lenses; that’s my go-to lens, my favorite. I have a 16-35mm Canon, and I also have a 14-18mm. Viltrox is really starting to produce some quality lenses. I’d like to see what the breathing is like—that’s usually the biggest issue. On a photo lens, it’s not an issue, but on a video lens, it is an issue as you’re focusing in and out, the image changes size, which is called breathing. It would be interesting to see how the breathing is on that particular lens, but I think it’s a great wide lens.
I’m excited to see more lenses coming for the Z-mount. With Nikon’s purchase of Red and the technology transfer that’s going to happen between those two companies, I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more Z-mount based lenses. I’m sort of hoping we find some EF to Z-mount adapters—there are a few on the marketplace, just to save me some money during the transition.
Overall, it looks like a fantastic lens. It’s a fast aperture at 1.8 and has a wide field of view at 16 millimeters, which is about as wide as someone would want to go on a full frame. Any wider, and you start to see distortions in people’s faces and other elements around them. But in general, I think it’s a great product. I’d like to test it out and see what the focus breathing is like.
New Apple App to Offer Advanced Video Features on iOS Devices
Maria: Great, thanks. Now, moving on to our last news item of the day, Apple is set to release a new app, Final Cut Camera, designed to enhance video recording capabilities for iPhone and iPad. This app will allow users to monitor and control video feeds live when using the Live Multicam feature in Final Cut Pro for iPad. So, Philip, tell us a little bit about this.
Philip: Yes, so I’m still trying to wrap my head around why people would want to edit on their iPad. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, but I get it—my best friend said, well, you know, Gen Z and the Millennials, they just don’t want to do big monitors. I prefer a big monitor, but it’s an interesting technology. The fact that a lot of people have an iPad, and you may have one or two iPhones, allows you to do multi-camera live. It’s sort of getting into the live switcher recorder space.
I can see this being extended potentially. Apple’s really big at creating ecosystems, like the Lightning cable, the MagSafe, and this might be that next thing that pushes camera manufacturers into that Apple world or ecosystem that can communicate with Final Cut on the iPad. And of course, this will eventually, I think, make it to the desktop, if it’s not already there.
It’ll be interesting to see where these developments go. Again, I don’t see people editing on the iPad, but now, all of a sudden, it turns the iPad into a live switcher, being able to control multiple cameras. Granted, those are iPhones and iPads right now, but I can’t see a day where someone’s not going to develop some type of interface to allow any camera to communicate. These types of tools just enable small production companies to take their production to that next level, as they say, and really produce fantastic quality. It’s really a set of tools that helps small to midsize organizations. So, I’m excited to see what Apple does. I’m an Apple fanboy, so I have to say that.
Maria: Great, thanks. Many thanks to our expert, Philip Grossman. Don’t forget to comment on the news that we’ve discussed. We’ll see you next week at the same time!
360 Seconds. Broadcast News & Commentary
The weekly show, focusing on the latest products and solutions in the global TV and film industry, features insights and analysis from top experts. Released every Monday within the TKT1957 network, the program can be found on the YouTube channel, social media groups, and the tkt1957.com website.
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