NAB Show

[Steven Davis]

Hey all.

I'm researching the possibility of going to NAB in 2014. The main reason is I want to touch and feel cameras since I'm in the market to replace my Z1u and nothing in my area gives me that ability. The last time I went to BH I wasn't really impressed.

So NAB. I figure it'll run me around 1700.00 to go with the wife. Since I've never been, I'm assuming all the major brands will have their latest and greatest, so I could see a lot of cameras, etc and have a thorough window shopping experience?

Also, I'd like to look at sticks/heads as well.

[Swen Goebbels]

Steven,
it's great from time to time to visit some shows. What I noticed during my first shows, was that I learned a lot about this industry. Until that point I mainly focused on cameras, but on the shows I found that there are a lot of other gear you should use (things I never thought about, or solutions for problems I had every day). So it improved the quality of my work and equipment a lot.

However, I'm nearly every year at the IBC (Amsterdam) and/or the NAB (Las Vegas)..... now it's not so new for me anymore. I'm honest, just to get my fingers on one camera I would never spent 1700 for it. You get a lot of gear for this money. But if you have never been at the NAB before, you should do that at least one time in you life. It's fun, and Vegas is an amazing city.

I'll be there too.... but it's just 0,5 miles away from the place where I live so it doesn't cost me that much money :-)

[Steven Davis]

Originally Posted by Swen Goebbels

I'll be there too.... but it's just 0,5 miles away from the place where I live so it doesn't cost me that much money :-)

Hey Swen,


Thanks, that's something to think about. But if we come, we're staying at your place! hehe.

[Shaun Roemich]

NAB is far more sprawling and awesome than you could EVER imagine until you have been. I go every year (this will be my fifth) with a list of booths I NEED to hit and I use up about 12 - 15 hours on the floor over 2 and a half days...

There is now a VERY useful mobile app that I used for the first time last year... it even "warns" you when free beer is being given away...

[Chris Talawe]

I went to my first one this year and I was amazed at the booths and the amount of gear that's available. I definitely expected to play with some of the gear that I was looking to get but it was a surprise that most booths had specials and discounts. I ended buying more gear for cheaper price. I might go again next year. Look out for vendors and companies giving out free NAB tickets. Also, the hotels are fairly decently priced, even the very good ones. They have buses that shuttle you back and forth to the event so you dont really need a car.

[Dave Allen]

And don't forget the other major highlight of NAB: The buffet Pass good for all you can eat for 24 hours, so that could mean breakfast lunch and dinner, then breakfast, lunch and dinner again on the 23rd hour.

You can bet i know which buffets have snow crab legs you have to crack open, which ones are already sliced open, who has peeled shrimp or unpeeled, and who has king crab lags.

These are important things to know and do sandwiched in between seeing the latest cine gear. ;)

[Bill Strehl]

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

Hey all.

I'm researching the possibility of going to NAB in 2014. The main reason is I want to touch and feel cameras since I'm in the market to replace my Z1u and nothing in my area gives me that ability. The last time I went to BH I wasn't really impressed.

So NAB. I figure it'll run me around 1700.00 to go with the wife. Since I've never been, I'm assuming all the major brands will have their latest and greatest, so I could see a lot of cameras, etc and have a thorough window shopping experience?

Also, I'd like to look at sticks/heads as well.

I've been going quite a few years now and I find it worthwhile every year because I look for different "things" each year. If you are just looking for a new camera, then save yourself a lot of money and go back to B&H (which I think is the best overall one stop shop). With so many people now covering the show and putting up info on the web, you'll know what the latest and greatest announcements are as fast, and sometimes faster than those who attend (because the show is so big).

If you are determined to go and you want to have time to have the max amount of hands on, consider staying until the show ends on Thursday when all the booths have plenty of time to talk to you almost indefinitely. On Monday, when the show opens, the well know vendor booths are packed and you'll have a long wait just trying sometimes to get close to seeing something, let alone touch it.

Even on Tuesday you'll find booths with hot new items packed, like the Black-magic booth was this year.

I know someone has posted tips on how to see the show, but here are my suggestions:
1. Find a vendor who offers a free pass to the show. Often times people will post codes on this and other forums. After your first show you become an alumni and get emailed a code for free expo pass from the show itself.
2. Make airfare reservations early as non-stop flight prices to to go up, although I fly Southwest from BWI and I have actually seen wild price fluctuations. So far the prices are much lower for 2014 than they were for this year.
3. Use the show website to book your room. Since I go by myself, and would rather put my money into gear, I stay at Circus Circus which is about $45-55 a night.
4. Determine which booths you want to visit and map them out. There something called myshow which helps you do that.
5. Most cameras and tripods are in Central Hall, except Red and Blackmagic which are in lower South Hall so this is where you will spend the bulk of your time. I prefer to start at the back of these halls where the more obscure vendors are, and often have really great gear and work my way toward the front over the course of several days.
6. Many booths, like Canon and Adobe, have theaters where people present at set times, so look for this info as I find it very educational.
7. Because it's Vegas, maybe you'll win your dream camera at one of the daily raffles at which you have to be present to win. GoPro, Adorama, Tiffen are just a couple I know of.
8. Consider signing up for the LACPUG meeting which is usually at the Rio on Tuesday evening. Some people go for the educational sessions, some for the vendor display and some with dreams of wine the big raffle items.
9. In case you end up broke, there is a free shuttle from the show to the airport (at least on Thursday), so I bring my luggage over from the hotel on the shuttle bus and check it at the Fedex office at the front of Central Hall (which is also where all the buses are located).
10. Unless you wife is into going to the NAB show, you probably will be going to some of the other shows on the Strip. There are a number of locations where you can get discount tickets on the day of the show. I know Circus Circus has one of the places and I know there are other locations.
11. Some vendors have parties in their booth at the end of the day and some have them offsite. Some are easy to get and other more difficult and or coveted like the AJA party. Parties tend to get mentioned on the various forums and at eventbrite.com in the early Spring.
12. Some vendors offer show specials which are good for a certain period of time after the show. This is not the case for camera companies, but perhaps through vendors like Adorama and B&H.
13. Where comfortable shoes and clothes and bring water to stay hydrated. I also bring a light weight cloth bag where I can put my water, a jacket on the off chance it is cold and stuff I pickup at the show. Many vendors also give them away. The bags at TV Logics booth are my favorite because I can sling the strap across my body.
14. If you like reading the trade mags, stop at the front of Central Hall at the end of the day and pickup the mags and bring them back to your hotel. I tend to do that on Monday and/or Tuesday as occasionally they run out.
15. Depending on where you stay, you might want to buy a pass for the bus that runs along the strip and for the Deuce which stops on Paradise Rd in front of the center and covers most of the Strip plus downtown and the Mall that is South of where most hotels are located.

Good luck!

[Jacques Mersereau]

I've been going to NAB since '96.
It is the one place where you can see almost everything you might want to purchase,
so I would very much recommend it.

For first timers, be prepared for sensory overload.
There is so much that one can easily get a headache - really.
It is nice to go with someone who is knowledgable to bounce all the input off of.

Good shoes are a MUST. Buy new running, walking or X trainers about three weeks before so they are totally broken in and comfy, because you'll be on and in them for 16 hours a day and almost always on the move.
Hotel for a first timer - you won't be in it much except to sleep, but watch out for bed bugs and dangerous areas. Mid price - I stayed at the Excalibur and it was fine. High end - MGM has the first stop of the monorail that goes right to the convention center. The Monorail is a cheap, fast and easy way to get there.
Moderate price - Circus Circus as recommended, but the time I stayed there I had to endure tons of screaming kids which is not my bag.
That said, about a mile walk to the convention center.

HTH and YMMV.

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

Hey all.

I'm researching the possibility of going to NAB in 2014. The main reason is I want to touch and feel cameras since I'm in the market to replace my Z1u and nothing in my area gives me that ability. The last time I went to BH I wasn't really impressed.

So NAB. I figure it'll run me around 1700.00 to go with the wife. Since I've never been, I'm assuming all the major brands will have their latest and greatest, so I could see a lot of cameras, etc and have a thorough window shopping experience?

Also, I'd like to look at sticks/heads as well.

I've got a simple solution to cutting your $1700 budget.


Leave the wife at home. :)