New Year New Gear

Sony HDR CX 580 now available for checkout 

In the past month I’ve shot four times with this camera and I cannot stress enough how GREAT this little guy is.  It shoots wonderfully well in low light conditions, and it is very easy to hold, without the fatigue that can lead to shaky footage.  The last time I used it, I used a light kit and I was amazed at the resulting images. Here are the features that make our latest upgrade so great:
 
Super Fast Upload & Built-In Memory
No…Tape…No Tape…No Tape. One of the numerous BEST features of our new camera is that footage no longer has to be imported in real time.  The camera has 2+ hour of internal memory, resulting in superfast upload compared to tape, which operates in real time. A tip for all producers: purchase your own SD card.  A 64 GB SD card will give you more than 7 hours of recording time in HD, and you still have the internal memory for emergency backup. 
 
Light, Lens, Sound
The camera has a G lens, which is a very wide angle lens perfect for those tight shooting areas, and it has built in 5.1 surround sound.  It has a 1/8 inch mini port, which can be used to add a transformer and 3-pin professional XLR microphones.  The built-in camera light is more than adequate, meaning that you don’t have to use a light kit in order to get a fantastic image.  The camera also has incredible depth and contrast.  On the 60p or 24P film speed settings, you can shoot on 1920 x 1080.
 
Touch-Screen Zoom
The touch screen focusing system allows you to change the focus in the frame in an instant with a simple touch.  This baby focuses so fast!  This camera is so good that I’m confident setting all of its functions (exposure, white balance, focus, shutter speed etc.) to auto.  The response mechanism is fast and accurate.  This is the most awesome camera I have ever used in my almost 20 years of production.