IBC 2017— New Releases, Rumours and More!

Europe’s biggest tech-petting zoo is about to open its doors once more and play host to all of your favourite manufacturers. 1271 exhibitors are expected to be showcasing their latest offerings this year—so many that even if you do manage to stay for the whole five days and negotiate the ample distractions that Amsterdam has to offer in the form of legal narcotics, boats and hos (always wanted an excuse to use that line), you’re still very unlikely to see them all. And therein lies the problem. Nobody wants to be wasting time staring open mouthed at a data management infrastructure stall instead of what they actually came to look at. We’ve compiled some top tips and places to visit whilst you’re there, so you don’t have to. Buckle up.

Earlier in 2017, Atlas announced that they were going to produce an affordable range of anamorphic prime lenses with a vintage aesthetic. Shut up and take my money, right? Even though they won’t be shipping until early 2018, you can head over to their stand and get your hands on them. No doubt they’ll have RED and Arri options rigged up to test.

Back at BSC 2017, whilst Cooke had announced that they were putting these old-come-new throwbacks into production, they were only able to offer a 3D rendering for us to gaze upon. Now they have working models. These lenses claim to take the blueprints from the hugely iconic Speed Panchros of the 1920s-60s, and incorporate Cooke’s modern build quality, combining the two into a set of cine primes that have the functionality of new lenses, but the look of the oldies. Mmmm, lens flares. According to Cooke they’ll be available in focal lengths: 18, 25, 32, 40, 50, 75, 100, 152mm.

Everyone’s most loved (and sometimes loathed when it goes wrong and you have to call them) Chinese manufacturer DJI have been busy developing the second iteration of their 3-axis stabilisation rig, the Ronin. I’m not entirely sure how they got away with making a unit that looks so similar to the MōVi Pro that at a distance they are indistinguishable, but it’s going to have to perform as well—if not better—if it wants to compete with MōVi, especially after a massive price hike sees it more or less identically priced. Time will tell.

Part of the fun of going to expos is joining in on the gossip that circulates about potential new releases prior to the event. Not all of the below are confirmed, but they are a lot of fun, especially when you try and rumble the staff manning the exhibition stall. Those guys hate keeping secrets….

A sudden price drop on B&H website, and Sony’s reputation of churning out camera models just as the “new car smell” wears off of their current ones can only mean one thing: It’s new model time. We are also of course waiting to see if Sony announce the a7S mk3 too! There are also rumours in the wind of a new 8K CineAlta camera, but that remains to be seen.

It’s been 4 years since BMD announced the mk1 at NAB 2013. Surely after it’s popularity and success it’s time for a second iteration of the unit. I know from experience that Black Magic are absolute bosses when it comes to keeping secrets. I was asking about a new URSA mini back at BSC, and the rep there didn’t even blink as he continued to listen to my gripes with the current model, unbeknownst to me they would release the Mini Pro a few days later.

Prior to NAB back in April, there was a supposed leak by a Canon rep revealing that the C100 mk3 would be announced soon. Sadly there was no mention of the camera at NAB, and so here we are, almost six months on. Could IBC be the location of Canon’s announcement? Probably not. I’m not sure I’m that bothered about this camera to be honest. It’s like buying a Porsche Boxster when you know you could have worked that little bit harder and got a 911. Anyway, we’ll have to wait and see.

For those of you who know me and are reading this blog, you’ll already be familiar with my ongoing feud with ARRI regarding some t-shirts that were promised to myself and my co-workers by a certain Mark Dollery. It’s been nearly 3 years since the original promise was made, and yet here we are, still t-shirtless.

I’m so convinced that these t-shirts don’t even exist, that if anyone can bring me one from the ARRI stand at IBC, I will buy them a beer of their choice.

So there you have it, if you’re making a flying visit, or are there for the whole week and just looking for inspiration, I hope this article gave you some food for thought. I’ll be out there from the 17–19th, along with the rest of the S&S crew, so feel free to hit me up or Instagram or Twitter: @lewis_jelley