Anyone gone to the Grass Valley stand?

[Simon Wyndham]

Just what is happening with Infinity?

[Chris Hurd]

Ship date said to be around the August time frame at $26K. Unregistered members who can't view the images attached below can grab them instead from www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007

[Chris Hurd]

some more pics... click to see 'em big

[Chris Hurd]

Video clips -- apologies for the quality in some of them; there are some out-of-focus moments as I had my digicam in macro mode most of the time, and there are some spots where I was too far away for macro focus to kick in properly. So they are very much of the "quick and dirty" variety.

www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007/gvi-clip1.wmv 0:33 - Xensium processor and 2/3rd-inch CMOS
www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007/gvi-clip2.wmv 1:13 - Rev Pro carts & other recording media
www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007/gvi-clip3.wmv 1:00 - Various I/O connections
www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007/gvi-clip4.wmv 1:41 - Viewfinder, LCD panel, controls
www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007/gvi-clip5.wmv 0:24 - HDMI output for EVF
www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007/gvi-clip6.wmv 0:51 - More on Rev Pro & CF cards
www.dvinfo.net/media/nab2007/gvi-clip7.wmv 0:40 - LCP400 PDA software

[Paulo Teixeira]

I forgot to ask this question a few days ago but did they ever show any video footage from this camera at the NAB? If they did, how was it?

[Chris Hurd]

There were several Infinity cams along with the rest of the GV camera line in a shooting gallery at their booth; you could view the live feed, but I don't recall seeing anything on playback (not to say they didn't have any though).

[Scott Webster]

The touch screen menu interface was a thing of beauty.

[Simon Wyndham]

Wireless logging via the PDA is a very good idea for some shoots (could have used this the other day actually). And yes the screen does work quite well.

The only drawback with the touch screen though was that you have to remember to turn the 'lock' function on each time you finish using it otherwise it is at risk of being brushed against. They do allow the screen to be controlled via knobs and buttons as well though.

My other concern is with the cooling. They have solved the problem of blowing warm air onto the operators neck by adding some cheap 'sharkfin' style vents that redirect the flow. I wasn't happy with the build quality and could see these coming off fairly easily after time. But the main issue with the cooling is that the air intake is behind the shoulder pad. If the shoulder pad is put all the way back then the air vent is blocked!

[Greg Boston]

The word 'heavy' was also used to describe the camera. Watching the camera being adjusted via a wireless PDA interface was intriguing, to say the least.

-gb-

[Simon Wyndham]

When I held the camera earlier this year it was around the same weight as my PDW-510.

I think though that GV's lack of experience with field ENG/EFP cameras shows. Perhaps Chris could entice one of their reps on over here. There's one over on the Cow, but it would be good to hear more from the horses mouth over here.

[Chris Hurd]

Good idea. There is one person in the GV camera division that knows me. I'll see if he's willing to come aboard.

[Brian Drysdale]

The brochure claims 10.4lbs without a lens, although that doesn't seem to have been updated for a awhile.

I'd imagine the build standard is very good, if these cameras are going to survive the hard use that you get inside broadcast companies, they need to be tough. The lighter Sony DSR 500/570 series aren't that great build wise compared to the Betacam SP, Digibeta and SX cameras. For example, you can easily lose a monitor out BNC on the DSRs.

[Paulo Teixeira]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

There were several Infinity cams along with the rest of the GV camera line in a shooting gallery at their booth; you could view the live feed, but I don't recall seeing anything on playback (not to say they didn't have any though).

Showing prerecorded footage would have been a very good idea so that they can prove that the image quality is as good as the specifications indicate. Three 2.4 million pixel CMOS chips in a 26,000 dollar camera is pretty impressive and that’s without including the PDA functionality. With this camera they can finally be a huge contender against Panasonic and Sony.