2009's Most Usefull Gear

Here's my list of the gear I used or saw used the most and to best effect in 2009. This is not a list of NAB future-ware, but a list of innovative gear people are actually using to make films and video's. To qualify, the equipment did not have to be released in 2009, but was implemented and able to purchased at accessible pricing.

1. AJA Ki Pro: It didnt ship until late in the year, but people immediately grabbed units and used them for deck replacement in live productions, on-set Pro Res capture, and general swiss-army-knife style hardware SD/HD conversions.

2. Panasonic HPX-170: this camera came out in late 2008, but really hit its stride in 2009 as cam-ops and filmmakers needed a 4:2:2, I-Frame, CCD'based HD camera under $5K.

3. Blackmagic Intensity Pro: I think this card has been out since 2007, but since its only $199 now - you cant really argue with a cross platform, open-SDK, capture and output card that fits in plenty of workflows.

4. Letus Extreme/ Elite: Letus seems to have take the market on the low cost 35mm adapter. The pricing and availability of options for different cameras make these as popular as they are. Since Letus has added their relay lens adapters they can now play in the same space as the PS Technik

7. Canon 5D MII, Canon 7D: The popularity of these cams this year has given birth to a whole sub-industry of widgets and accessories designed for rigging video use; its also given a re-birth to the concept of double-system sound since on-board audio recording on the Canon's isnt quite up to snuff. The DSLR-evolution isnt for every type of production, but if you can find a need for low-light and shallow depth of field shots for only a few grand it might be worth all the production/post hassle.

5. Matrox Compress HD: this H264 accelerator is available via standalone PCIE card or as part of one of the MXO2 boxes. Either way, its easy to implement encoding acceleration for Blu-ray, Flash, Ipod and any other web codec that can utilize H264.

6. CamBLOCK Motion Control: This low-cost, super-portable motion control system has been in development for years and used by its inventor for several high profile projects. The CamBLOCK system finally became available to mo-co and timelapse operators in 2009. DP's all over the world have been picking them up for use with timelapse control of Canon and Nikon SLR's as well as the RED. Other shooters are using them with Panasonic P2 cameras that have their own timelapse funtionality.

8. Zeiss SLR Lenses: the ZF manual iris Nikon lenses are the perfect fit for 35mm adapter rigs like the Letus and full frame video DSLR's like the Canon 5D MII. Watch out for the crazy fast 50mm and 85mm (both F1.4, giving you excellent DOF and low light performance). Zeiss is currently in the process of tweaking this line-up for the slighty more expensive ZF.2 lenses which add some auto-electronics for Nikon cameras. Get the well priced ZF's while you can.

9. ProRes 4444: included as part of the Final Cut Studio upgrade released last summer, Pro Res 4444 (pronounced by Apple as ProRes "Four-by-four") is now part of most RED/FCP workflows as well as FCP/After Effects workflows in lieu of the old Animation codec.