2011 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, a giant earthquake near Japan causing untold death and disruption to the Japanese lifestyle, then to compound things even further floods in Indonesia later on the same year caused many video and photographic products to cease production causing a worldwide shortage of cameras, lenses and media in general.
A worldwide recession didn’t help matters alongside banks not lending money for small businesses and the worst year to date for refused credit loans has hit many people looking to upgrade to new equipment.
On the other hand despite the terrible tsunami that befell Japan they still managed to their credit to export 14 new camcorders over the last twelve months so what can we expect during 2012.
Looking into my crystal ball I predict the following…
1. Panasonic : I think they will bring out a fully featured AF301 mFT camera with 10bit processing, 4:2:2 and AVC Ultra, the collective name given to Panasonic’s group of professional AVC based codecs, represents a single workflow destination for professional users working at many levels in the production cycle. As a unified, seamless group of codecs based on the H.264 standard, AVC Ultra offers enhanced flexibility for both high-end and mainstream production through its support for a wide range of data-rates from low to high quality.
2. Sony : I predict a NX7 camcorder with interchangeable lenses, 50MB/s, 4:2:2 and once again 10bit. This camera may take on the SxS media and be a direct competitor to the Panasonic HPX250 and Canons XF305. I also predict a hybrid of the F3 and the FS100 finally giving us neutral density filters and 50MB/s.
3. Canon : Will bring out their “C” DSLR dedicated to those of you who prefer the size and style of shooting the DSLR gives you. We may also see a C150 cut down C300 at the tail end of the year running at 35MB/s and XLRs built onto the camera itself.
Will we see 14 camcorders during 2012 if you want my opinion I doubt it. JVC are hoping to give us a 4K camera the size of their 150 with 4 SDHC cards but like a lot of JVCs ideas and formats its a non starter, as someone told me at IBC 2011 “what happens if one of the 4 cards gets corrupted”.
Alister Chapman predicts the demise of the shoulder mount camcorder and if you look at last years trend not one new shoulder mount camera was produced, the world of digital cinematography is downsizing, like it or not.
Canon need to get their finger out and produce a 10 bit C300 camcorder for as sure as night turns to day Sony and Panasonic are hard on their heals, 2012 will be the year of the 10bit camcorder as the 2011 Panasonic P2 HPX250 is only the start.
Many pundits are now questioning Canons decision to bring out such a relatively expensive 8 bit Super 35mm camcorder during a world wide recession when many companies are now pulling their belts in and making do with their 2 year old camcorder.
Blogging like this site does not help matters as I love to talk new technology but if I didn’t do it someone else would. You will always get an honest opinion from HD Warrior with over 25 years in the video production business we have a lot to offer and it all comes free with NO PAID advertising, thats the one fact I am very proud of not having paid adverts as once you start getting commission from adverts your opinion on that product is never as honest and thats a fact…my blog is not here to make me money.
While we are talking about blogging how about you lads and lassies sending me your thoughts on a video camera that you bought during 2011…User reviews always go down well so why not send me an email to hdwarrior@me.com and have a Happy New Year when it comes.
