Nothing has made as big a noise at NAB in the past few years as the latest camera technology, specifically in the high-definition field. But the innovation did not stop with the debut of Sony’s 24p HDCAM at NAB2000. This year, local equipment suppliers, DOPs and post folks will return to the desert to see the state of the art of image capture.

Ken Kurz of Toronto hardware sales and service shop Precision Camera will be attending NAB with three staff members in search of HD cameras and accessories, including new viewfinders. Sony, a manufacturer that Precision carries, has announced the availability of a color viewfinder for its groundbreaking HDW-F900 camera. Kurz will also be checking out products from Machine Vision, a U.S. line of solutions for hardware inspection.

Kurz notes a bigger push toward digital capture since the last NAB, and anticipates more growth. ‘Especially after NAB,’ he adds. ‘It’s time for some new product and everyone’s been waiting for it.’

Hamilton, ON-based supplier Hill’s Video Systems reports 50% more HD shoots in the last year. The shop now even has a mobile HD studio – a bus-turned-traveling workshop that holds gear for a single camera, including track and HMIs. Shop head Rob Hill will be at NAB2003 looking for both HD capture and editing products, with eyes specifically on Panasonic’s offerings.

James Tocher, head of Vancouver video-to-film transfer expert Digital Film Group, is likewise eager to check out Panasonic’s new AG-DVX100 24p miniDV camera as well as JVC’s HD miniDV camcorder [see story, p. 18].

Panasonic says it’s even more eager to promote the AJ-SDX900 DVCPRO Cinema Camera with 24p capability to the production community. It represents the next step up in film-like video from, say, the 480p DVCPRO format used on the now-defunct series Paradise Falls.

‘There are a number of major editing manufacturers that have non-disclosure agreements with Panasonic to provide the 24p capability within their next generation of nonlinear editing systems,’ adds Gord Stephen, Panasonic Canada’s product manager, broadcast and security systems.

Tocher anticipates that France’s Thomson Broadcast Solutions will be the big trendsetter. He reports that the manufacturer has been developing an HD camera with resolution equal to that of 35mm film. Up until now, HD has been more on par with 16mm.

Rob Sim, president and cofounder of Toronto’s Sim Video, has been supplying HD gear for five years now, and will be shipping four staffers off to NAB in search of cameras, lenses and accessories as well as editing equipment, decks, sound equipment and lighting gear.

Sim’s HD credits include numerous MOWs and 10 seasons of episodic drama, including the Vancouver-shooting Mysterious Ways, Toronto’s Starhunter 2300 and Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict and LEXX, which shot in Halifax.

There are even more shows that shoot in 35mm and are then mastered onto 720p HD for HD broadcast, such as ABC’s NYPD Blue and The Practice. This should generate interest in HD-capable post and broadcast systems on the Vegas show floor.

Sim Video has 26 post systems from Avid, and Sim is expecting the nonlinear editing giant to make some major announcements, but says the company has thus far been tight-lipped.

Sim’s reps will also be keeping their eyes peeled on Sony, which is primed to unveil a new HD camera that bypasses videotape and captures image with a blue-violet laser on a DVD-size phase-change optical disk.

‘We’re also on a widget hunt for the small companies that may have designed something really clever,’ Sim adds.

Although NAB has experienced a drop-off of about 10% of the numbers it drew just a couple of years ago, it remains an important event to Canuck industry types.

‘You can’t network anywhere the way you can at NAB,’ says Kurz, while Tocher chimes in that ‘there are very few places where you can witness the convergence of digital and film in one place.’

Hill adds that NAB stands out because ‘the real players are going to be there, not the tire-kickers.’

-www.pci-canada.com

-www.hillsvideosystems.com

-www.digitalfilmgroup.com

-www.simvideo.com