The Sony Z280 is a great camcorder for single-to-small-crew shooters who are being asked to create 4K content. In this blog, I touch on some of the key features of the camcorder and shoot some test footage.

In this video, I set out to experiment with different ways of moving the camera in order to see how each compare in a single scene. We shot a scene with a dancer in four different ways: on a tripod, on a slider, handheld, and on a gimbal (the MōVI Pro). What I discovered was that the different methods give very different effects and there's a place for them all, as long as you understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of each.

The Canon CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 Servo Zoom is lightweight and versatile, making it a great choice when you're shooting in ENG mode. In this blog, I go through the steps you'll take in order to set back focus on this lens.

Shooting talking heads is a fundamental skill of cinematography that's always in demand. Here we'll talk a little about what goes into creating a professional looking interview setup.

New from Atomos is the Shinobi, a lightweight 5.2” on-camera HDMI monitor with a touchscreen and 1000 nit maximum brightness level. Just 1” thin and weighing a mere 7 oz (without battery), the Shinobi takes square aim at the under-$500, thin and light on-camera display market, while packing some serious pro-level heft. Equally lightweight is Shinobi’s price: only $399.

The Fiilex Matrix II RGBW is a compact and highly versatile LED light. While there are many lights out there that have preset Kelvin and custom color features, what sets the Matrix II apart is the attention Fiilex engineers have paid to the construction of their LEDs and the reflectors. A series of 192 check points are built into the way light is emitted to ensure not only color fidelity but also adjustments to green and magenta shifts.

Recently, AbelCine’s Matt Livingston came up with a stunning way to show off the new Angenieux Optimo Ultra 12x FF/VV, a night flight over Manhattan.

Panasonic continues to add significant functionality to the feature set of their entry-level digital cinema camera, the EVA1. With the release of firmware 3.0 today, EVA1 owners can now record 10-bit files all the way up to the camera’s maximum frame rate in 4K, 60p (or 50p for those in formerly PAL countries). This is due to the inclusion in the new firmware of HEVC (for High Efficiency Video Codec), also known as H.265.

Sony has just announced that firmware version 3.0 for their flagship camera, the full format VENICE, is now available. If version 2.0, released in June of 2018, got the VENICE fully firing on all cylinders, this update seeks to refine the camera’s ease of use while nicely expanding its capabilities. We got to take a look at what’s included in the update—and there’s a lot—so let’s dig into the details.