Five cool things I discovered at the BSC cinematography show...

We've covered a lot of big cinematography camera news recently, not least the new Nikon Red Z-Mount cameras, but that wasn't all I saw at BSC Expo (British Society of Cinematographers) show. The event continues today in West London, a short walk from the revitalised Battersea Power Station.

Inside (once I'd surrendered my rucksack to the unusually officious security staff), I soon found myself able to get my hands on the new Nikon Z-mount friendly Red Digital cameras, sporting their striking gold mounting rings.

I enjoyed listening to the Komodo-X's backstory again, but it is a camera a very long way away from a 'crash camera' now for many creatives.

Discretely over the corridor from the Red booth could be found their new masters Nikon, also attracting a fair bit of attention with their, well, let's say 'cinema adjacent' lens arrivals, including the very handsome Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ lens which simply looks cinematic, and has as many as four ways to control the zoom operation (depending on body, and if you've got one of Nikon's MC-N10 remote grips). When I visited, the 35 / 1.2 S seemed to be getting most attention:

For cinema shooters using Sony's Burano 8K camera, Sony's Daniel Listh was happy to tell DCW readers that new firmware is coming which will release full frame 4K 120fps and 240fps cropped HD shooting. These features are, he told me, already in testing and, he hinted, potentially as soon as the end of this month.

There will also be connectivity improvements to the HDMI & SDI so monitoring is easier, as well as more anamorphic previews. For a little more insight, check the TikTok clip below.

I was able to take control of the ILME-FR7 camera rig – which has a payload of up to 1.5Kg for the lens – using not only one of Sony's joystick controllers but a tablet app which made for very snappy focusing and preset controls too. Actually the snapiness of the focussing can be reduced, for artistic sake, I was told, but if you were covering sports it'd be pleasing as is!

@digitalcameraworld

♬ Akon's Beautiful Day - Akon

Finally, since I love the best 360-degree cameras, I was struck by the Brownian booth, where – sat atop a vehicle – was a strange assemblage of Arri cameras and behind a monitor showing a demo reel. This was able, I was told, to act more or less like a giant version of the Insta360 8K but combining the resolution to nearer 80K and, to my surprise, retaining the character of the Arri or Red cinema cameras chosen to form the 360-degree arrangement.

Movie directors no longer have to point their cameras before the take to line up their shots, which – I've got to admit – rather spoils my childhood image of a person in a cap labelled 'director' on a fold-out chair using opposing 'L' gestures with both hands to frame shots!

This, though, is just a taster of what can be found, as I type, in Battersea. Some, too, will no doubt make its way to The Photography and Video show next month.