Camera paired with a Nanoflash

[Ron Little]

I want to buy two cameras specifically to use with a Nanoflash.
Can anyone make recommendations in any of three categories.

Cheapest, camera you would consider to pair with Nanoflash.
Intermediate, camera you would consider pairing with a Nanoflash.
High End, camera you would love to have paired with a Nanoflash. (not to exceed $10,000)

Thank you. Your experience and advice is very much appreciated.

[Garrett Low]

Cheapest - The Canon HV40 - Can get a good used one for around $600 to $700 and it does a very decent job paired with the NF. I have an HV20 that I use with mine sometimes.

Intermediate - Sony EX1r or EX3. Produces absolutely incredible pictures.

High End - Sony PMW 350 - 2/3" sensor and true shoulder mount cam
- Sony PDW F355, 700 or go crazy 800 - 2/3" CCD

I'm sure there are other cameras that would be great to pair with the nanoFlash too but these are ones that come to mind.

-Garrett

[Andrew Stone]

The Panasonic AF100, when it is released in December, will probably be a contender at $5000 USD but that is body only and assuming you want a shallow depth of field camera, a la Canon 7D or 5DmkII. Lenses range from $300 to a $900 for lenses matched (m4/3 lenses) to the AF100

[Michael Galvan]

Well I use a my Nanoflash with my Canon XL H1S and the image quality is really incredible.

A nanoflash will add value to practically any camera that can take advantage of it.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Ron,

From my position, I get to talk to lots of people who use the nanoFlash with various Cameras.

From a personal standpoint, I have personally used it with:

HV30, HFs10, XL H1, XL H1s, EX1, and EX3.

I own an XL H1, a friend owns an HV30, and another friend has an EX1.
And we have an HV30, XL H1, XL H1s, HFs10, and EX3 in our lab on a permement basis.

I recently participated in a Music Video shoot with the XL H1 + nanoFlash and the images were outstanding.

We also used a very wide variety of other modern cameras including DSLR's and the quality of the XL H1 + nanoFlash was widely recongized by everyone at the preview / wrap party for the band.

We have personall tested, in our lab, the HVX170, and HDX900. We may have tested the Varicam also.

It appears to me that the most popular cameras used with the nanoFlash are

EX1, EX1R and EX3.
HDX900

Cameras that are very frequently used with the nanoFlash are, in addition to the above,

XL H1, XL H1s,
HV30, HV40
F900 varieties (an outstanding addition to these cameas)
Varicam
Sony PDW-700, PDW-F800
Sony PMW-350, PMW-320
Other Panasonic cameras

Sony F35 (surprise), used for Steadycam shots on the set of NBC-Universal's Trauma.
Sony P10
Iconix POV
Hitachi POV

(Note this list is not in any particular order)


But, as Michael points out, the nanoFlash works well with any camera with HD-SDI, or clean HDMI outputs. There are many cameras that I did not mention in the above list that are commonly used with the nanoFlash.

The Red Camera is a special case as the nanoFlash cannot record the native resolution of the camera as the native resolution does not come over the HD-SDI output. But, the nanoFlash is used with the Red camera.

The nanoFlash is a Sony recommended accesssory for the SWR9000 and SRW9000PL cameras.

The nanoFlash is ideal for Proxy use for certain high-end cameas as well as the primary record for many 4:2:2 cameras.

Stay tuned for new DSLR's with clean HDMI outputs.

The nanoFlash is an ideal upgrade for the AF100/AF101.

Based on input from those that have tested the camera, including those who have tested the camera with the nanoFlash, we fully expect the pair to be very popular.

(Some of the above cameras cost way more than $10,000.)

[Ron Little]

Great information I think the Panasonic is very interesting I will be waiting to hear more about that cam as people start using it. You say “Stay tuned for new DSLR's with clean HDMI outputs.” I am intrigued! Do tell about these so called DSLR’s with clean HDMI.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Friends,

Multiple manufacturers have been working to incorporate a clean HDMI output.

The current generation of DSLR's have high resolution sensors, far higher than the 1920 x 1080 required for 1080 HD video.

In an ideal world, for video, then sensor would be approximately 1920 x 1080 or slightly larger, but the effective pixels would be 1920 x 1080.

The current generation has far higher resolution than 1920 x 1080, so pixels are skipped to get 1920 x 1080 or in some cases, something less than actual 1920 x 1080 for the HDMI output.

And the HDMI output sometimes has viewfinder information or something to make the HDMI output not recordable.

In an ideal world, if the sensor was larger than 1920 x 1080, then the camera manufactureres would combine pixels together to get, effectively, a larger pixel, and true, clean 1920 x 1080 output.

At least one major camera manufacturer has been working towards this goal.

Another manufacturer has been working to achieve similar results, and the result is the AF100/AF101.

Camera manufacturers have been hearing these requests for a clean HDMI output for some time now, and, of course, they see the advantages of such a feature.

Please do not under-estimate the effort required to produce a clean, full screen, HDMI output.

These are very interesting times.

The AF100/AF100 will be shipping starting December 27, 2010. The nanoFlash is an ideal companion for this camera. It was already been tested with the pre-production units.

Some may feel that the 21 Mbps average and 24 Mbps max AVCHD will be good enough. Of course, we feel that we bring a lot to the table with the nanoFlash, including being able to record up to 280 Mbps.

Then there is the camera that Sony briefly introduced at NAB. We expect that the nanoFlash will be popular with this camera when it is introduced.

Then there are the various DSLR camera manufacturers that have heard the calls for clean HDMI outputs.

And of course a nanoFlash may be used with one camera today, and another camera tomorrow, either HDMI or HD-SDI, or even SD-SDI.

And while there is definitely work being done by the major camera manufacturers to achieve a clean HDMI output, we either do not know when the products will be released, or we cannot say.

[Garrett Low]

I too am very interested in the clean HDMI DSLR's. Especially if Nikon will be coming out with some kind of full sized sensor (ala D700 not the D7000) with video and a clean HDMI. I'd love to be able to use it for double duty as a really good still and to pick up some specialty shots to match with my EX3+NF.

Dan, I'm also really surprised to know that they paired the NF with the F35.

-Garrett

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Garrett,

The Sony F35 + Recorder produces and excellent image.

The show, Trauma, involved a lot of Steadycam work.

The nanoFlash was considered as a way to reduce the weight of the camera for the Steadycam operators.

Our 280 Mbps I-Frame Only footage passed their quality tests and was used for the show.

When not on Steadycam, the usual Sony recorder was used.

[Garrett Low]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the info. It's great to know that the 280 Mbps I-Frame NF capture worked with the content captured by the Sony recorder. That thing is 4:4:4 and can go up to 880 Mbps I think. I just shot a Halloween flash mob using 220Mbps I-frame with my EX3 and I'm amazed at how great the picture looks even in low light.

Thanks again for a great product.

-Garrett

PS - any ETA on the next firmware update with hot swap ?

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Garrett,

We are working very hard on the next firmware.

We have sent a copy of our internal beta for the Flash XDR firmware to Mr. Mark Job.

We copy was not the final one as we had more work to do on MPG, which is only used by some. MXF and MOV are much more widely used.

We are also working on nanoFlash and nano3D firmware.

These will be very thoroughly tested releases.

We want to get these released just a soon as possible.

[Dean Harrington]

If you are interested in narrative or documentary work, I'd recommend the AF-100 coupled with a NanoFlash which are both 8 bit HD/SDI. Panasonic cameras produce stunning images right out of the camera and if you get a set of nikon or canon prime lens you can put this package together for around $10,000. That combination is quite nice and would keep you busy for some time.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Friends,

We expect Sony to provide more details about the camera they briefly mentioned at NAB soon.

In fact, we expect this to occur at 10 am UTC, thus, in a little over 5 hours from now.

This will be the introduction of the Sony PMW-F3K (With Three Lenses) and PMW-F3L (Without Lens)

Here is a link to one of Sony's websites: (Scroll down to the "Big budget filming without the big budget" section")


Sony : Sony's 35mm World : United Kingdom

[Ron Little]

OK, let the waiting begin.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Ron,

Sony's webpages are up for the new PMW-F3K (with three lenses) and PMW-F3L (without lenses)

Sony : Sony's 35mm World : United Kingdom (scroll down to see the links to detailed pages)

These cameras have outstanding sensors and will work very well the nanoFlash.

I am attempting to determine the US prices.

Delivery is scheduled for January, 2011.