ProVideo Coalition.com: Camera Log by Adam Wilt | Founder | Pro Cameras, HDV Camera, HD Camera, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, RED, Video Camera Reviews

Hoodman was selling the WristShot, an arm-mounted camera support, after showing it at last year’s NAB and then spending the intervening year refining it. WristShot straps to your wrist, providing an articulated arm on which the camera is mounted via the supplied quick-release plate (a quick-release adapter for your tripod is also provided). Once so mounted, the camera is supported at both its handgrip and its tripod socket, so it won’t sag to the left. I found that even the side-heavy HVX200 was tamed by the WristShot—it was still a heavy li’l bastard, but I could at least move my left hand around between zoom & focus rings and the 200’s various other controls without risking the sideways slump. $200.

Unannounced RED prosthetic?

Bob Sliga wandered past the Hoodman booth with various RED cohorts, and upstaged the WristShot with his own RED-branded BrokeArm (tm).

Sony’s OLED viewfinder

That Sony viewfinder I mentioned Sunday night? Dang, it was gorgeous! Between it and the FED demo (more details here), it’s clear that we may not be stuck with the limitations of LCD displays for too much longer.

Codex Digital Portable and disk pack

The Codex Digital Portable at BandPro‘s booth, seen on its side. Note the organic curve, to hug the body when hung from a shoulder strap; the elegant UI; the transilluminated buttons. The glowing blue ring glows in different colors depending on the mode: recording, playback, standby, etc. I want one… can a disk recorder be cuddly?

Segway? Steadicam? Seggicam?

Handsfree Transporter is its official name, but we wound up calling it the Seggicam as it zipped past us from time to time. The Steadicam arm mounts to the vehicle, so that’s a load off your back (and knees), and vehicle control is mediated through the knee paddles, so your hands are free to aim the camera. I want one on these, too; perhaps I can rig the Codex Digital Portable to it… (grin)

Time, like an ever-rolling stream...

The HDW-700A was a $65K camera in its day, and it still shoots darned nice 1080i HDCAM video. But this forlorn 700A, being flogged at a booth in Central Hall, attests to the fleeting attraction of all the bright and shiny toys that NAB dangles in front of us. (Sadly, I don’t remember whose booth it was, but they were very pleasant folks with lots of battle-tested gear looking for new homes. If anyone remembers who these folks were, post a comment or drop me a note so I can credit them.)