Clint Milby & Jake Fruia
The holiday season is upon us once again! So whether you’re shopping for the shooter in your life or if you’ve decided to spend that Christmas bonus check on yourself, here are some products you just can’t beat. We’ve broken down our list into different categories from cameras, lenses, support gear, post production apps and storage solutions.
Cameras
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera
“The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is a true high dynamic range film look camera in an extremely portable size, so now you can shoot cinema quality in situations never before possible! Imagine shooting a documentary, episodic television production, television commercial or independent film in the true quality of digital film. With its extremely compact size, you can covertly shoot important and historic events such as wars, protests and other conflict in cinema quality and get a more realistic record of the event. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is a true revolution in how you can shoot digital cinema!”
Price: $995
Blackmagic Production Camera 4K
“The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is a complete self contained solution for shooting extremely high resolution Ultra HD 4K content! You get a large Super 35 size sensor with professional global shutter combined with precision EF mount optics, visually lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW and Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)™ file recording and 12 stops of dynamic range, as well as a 6G-SDI output! Monitor in high resolution on the built in touchscreen, plus change menus and enter metadata. Includes sun shield, power supply, carry strap, UltraScope waveform monitoring software and a full version of DaVinci Resolve software for Mac OS X and Windows.”
Price: $2,995
Sony A7s
“The α7S, the world’s smallest full frame interchangeable lens camera. Images and video come alive with a breakthrough 15.3 stops of dynamic range. ISO sensitivity up to 409,600 reveals astonishing detail and color even in the dead of night. Video excels with Full Pixel Readout, a 4K-optimized sensor and uncompressed 4K output via HDMI.”
Price: $2,499
Canon 7D Mark II
“Optimized to make even the most challenging photographic situations effortless, Canon’s EOS 7D Mark II has a winning combination of cutting-edge operations and a robust, ergonomic design. A sophisticated 20.2 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, Dual DIGIC 6 Image Processors – plus a host of new and refined capabilities helps make the EOS 7D Mark II the perfect camera to bring your imagination to reality.”
Price: $1,799
GoPro Hero 4
“Capture your world in an all-new way with HERO4 Silver, the first-ever GoPro to feature a built-in touch display. Controlling the camera, framing shots and playing back content is now ultra convenient—just view, tap and swipe the screen. HERO4 Silver captures 1080p60 and 720p120 video with lifelike clarity, plus 12MP photos at a staggering 30 frames per second. HERO4 Silver combines versatility and pro-quality capture with the convenience of a touch display.”
Price: $399-$499
Lenses
Carl Zeiss Otus
“With the unrivalled performance that sets all Otus® lenses apart from the rest, the Otus 1.4/55 is the absolute measure of perfection when it comes to standard lenses. Now you never need to settle for less again. Experience the quality and look of medium format photography – with the ZEISS Otus® 1.4/55. No matter whether you shoot in daylight or at night, close up or more distant subjects, people, objects or landscapes, this lens will simply take your breath away with its high resolution and outstanding sharpness in every photographic situation. In short – it’s the best standard lens in the world.”
Price: $3,990-$4,490
Carl Zeiss Compact Primes and Zooms
One of the most important aspects of a successful production is the competence and diversity of your team. Whether you’re shooting a commercial where exquisite color rendition and high contrast is important, or a tense, dramatic sequence in low light situations for a feature film, Compact Prime lenses offer you the performance you need to get the scene right. With a wide range of focal lengths, full-frame coverage, fantastic image quality, great flare suppression and precise focusing through the large rotation angle, Compact Prime lenses give you a flexible set of tools to make your film shine. With its long history in both photo and cine lenses, ZEISS is dedicated to supporting filmmakers and allowing you to benefit from the highest possible image quality in any situation.
Price: Variable
Metabones Speed Booster
Mounted between a mirrorless camera and a SLR lens, Speed Booster® increases maximum aperture by 1 stop (hence its name), increases MTF and makes lens wider by a factor of 0.71x. Optics designed by Caldwell Photographic in the USA. Sony NEX Speed Booster® Adapters are NOT fully compatible with full-frame Sony A7, A7R or A7S. When the Speed Booster® are used with Sony A7 or A7R, the camera is required to be used in the “APS-C Size Capture” mode.
Price: $399-$659
Support Gear
Redrock Micro RetroFlex
The Retroflex rig evokes a retrostyle of filmmaking, when it was all about the film, and production was stylish. Now with the modernflexibility of digital filmmaking, a modular cage system, and expandable rig, the Retroflex rig makes shooting both a nostalgic joy and a modern technical delight.
Price: $495
Syrp Genie and Magic Carpet
The Genie! A simple, affordable and extremely easy to use device used for motion control and image capture for Time Lapse Photography + more. For more information about the product click the sub-headings above. The Genie is now IN STOCK and shipping worldwide.
Price: $790
The Magic Carpet is a simple, elegant and durable slider for producing silky smooth professional tracking movements. Beautifully designed and engineered with you in mind, it’s the perfect lightweight solution for manual tracking shots as well as being motion control ready. With quick release adjustable legs, a counter weight roller for vertical shots, and high precision ball bearing rollers, the Magic Carpet is ready for quick setup and professional film making.
Price: $299
Atomos Ninja Star
The Ninja Star is the world’s smallest, lightest Apple ProRes recorder (130g/4.6oz). Small enough to fit in your pocket and light enough to hang from a quad-copter – the Ninja Star is the go-anywhere recorder. Take your consumer camera to a truly Pro recording device. Avoid the internal MPEG compression & go from sub 30Mbps MPEG to 220Mbps ready to edit 10-bit 422 Apple ProRes HQ.
Price: $295
Atomos Shogun
Record straight from the camera’s sensor in pristine 4K Apple ProRes or Cinema DNG Raw over HDMI and 12G-SDI. Seamlessly switch between 4K cameras with HDMI to SDI and SDI to HDMI conversion. For HD recording, the Shogun is our most advanced product to date. Boasting 10-bit Apple ProRes recording, high frame rate 1080p120/60/50 and 2-way conversion between HDMI and SDI. The HD world is not forgotten with Shogun.
Price: $1,995
Iographer
The iOgrapher Mobile Media Case for iPad 2/3/4 is the first all purpose filmmaking case for the full size iPad. Made from high grade polycarbonate, iOgrapher is extremely tough and durable enough to withstand any shooting environment – from your high school football game, your kids’ birthday party to that pro shoot you may be prepping for your next big film.
Price: $69.95
LCDVF is the missing link of the hybrid “photovideography” era. It is an essential accessory that enables today’s photographers to take advantage of the video features of the new generation DSLR cameras like Canon 5D MKIII, Nikon D800 and many others. It’s like viewing a 42″ screen from 140cm (4.6 feet).
Price: $140
DJI Inspire 1
Capture 4K video and take 12-megapixel still photos from the air with the DJI Inspire 1 Quadcopter with Integrated Camera and 3-Axis Gimbal. Forgoing the fixed landing gear design found on many earlier quadcopters, the Inspire 1 features a retractable arm system whereby the underside of each prop motor has a foot to act as a landing pod when the arms are lowered. In-flight, the arms lift up to provide the camera an unobstructed 360-degree view.
Price: $3,399.00
AirjibMini
indiSYSTEM introduces the 2nd Generation AIRjibMini. Built on the concept that light, sturdy, and affordable are not mutually exclusive, the AIRjibMini packs features that blow the competitions over-priced wobbly rigs away!
Price: $289
Storage
Akitio PalmRaid
Fastest, smallest and highest capacity bus powered Thunderbolt™ device in the world. With its tethered Thunderbolt cable and the ability to run on bus power alone, this drive is designed specifically for speed and portability.
Price: $649, on sale until Dec. 31st for $629
Akitio Thunder Dock
The Thunderbolt™ dock links past, present and future technology to your computer with just one Thunderbolt™ cable. The Thunder Dock allows you to access your data on both legacy and future storage drives by providing multiple host ports for USB 3.0, eSATA and FireWire 800. It also has two Thunderbolt ports for daisy chaining additional Thunderbolt devices and storage.
Price: $269, on sale until Dec. 31st for $199.99
Akitio Neutrino Thunderbolt
Experience the awesome speed, performance and flexibility of Thunderbolt™. Slim, compact and simple to use, this portable drive is designed for speed.
Price: $249
Post Production
Adobe CC – Membership
With new, connected Creative Cloud apps and services, you have all the tools and assets you need to create amazing work across desktop and mobile devices. There are plans for everyone, including students, photographers, and small and medium business.
Price: $9.99-39.99 per month, depending on subscription option
Davinci Resolve 11
DaVinci Resolve 11 combines the world’s most advanced color corrector with professional multi track editing, so now you can edit, color correct, finish and deliver all from one system! Davinci Resolve is completely scalable and resolution independent so it can be used on set, in a small studio or integrated into the largest Hollywood production pipeline! Only DaVinci Resolve features the creative tools, compatibility, speed and legendary image quality you need to manage your entire workflow, which is why it is the number one solution used on Hollywood feature films.
Price: $995
That Studio’s Indie Essentials & Atmospheres
Indie Essentials is a high-quality, downloadable, Practical Visual Effects suite built by That Studio, through a strategic alliance with Rampant Design Tools.
Price:$349
That Studio’s ‘Atmospheres’ is a set of 50 custom-created atmospheres for film and television, by award-winning composer, Jesse James.
Price: $99
*If you haven’t yet purchased Indie Essentials, you should do it NOW. After December 1, 2014, the price changes and the bundle becomes That Studio Effects and That Studio Atmospheres. As an Indie Essentials owner, you get the new bundle for FREE.*
Shutterstock Subscription
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in New York City, Shutterstock is a leading provider of digital imagery licensing, operating in more than 150 countries and 20 languages. As a two-sided marketplace, our mission is to connect creative business professionals with the best photos, vectors, illustrations and video from thousands of contributors around the world.
Price: Variable
RedGiant Universe Subscription
A toolset created to solve your Post-Production challenges that normally require extensive workarounds and time better spent being creative. Easily convert your color space and switch out your gamma with the Universe Color Gamma Conversion tool.
Price: FREE, $10/month, $99/year, or a $399 one time fee, each with varying levels of access
