Thanks to Sennheiser for sponsoring our
NAB 2017 coverage, learn more about the
MKE 2 elements GoPro microphone and
their other audio for video products at
the link in the video description.
NAB 2017 is well underway so let's check
out our top five camera accessories from
around the show floor. Starting us off at
Sennheiser MKE 2 Elements, this is a new
new microphone Sennheiser has made in
partnership with GoPro. The microphone
uses Sennheiser MKE 2 capsule and uses a
rubber base to prevent vibrations from
affecting sound in all the various
mounting situations you may face. The mic
is omnidirectional and is designed to
withstand extreme cold and the wettest
environments you could throw at the
hero4. The mic itself is an ipx7 rating
and was recently taken first bin in
various wet environments by Linus in his
full review here. Sennheiser is also
working on a version of this mic for the
Hero 5 that will be coming out soon. Our
second accessory in this roundup is from
Spider Holsters newest addition in their
lineup of products the Spider Light. Now
some of you may know that I've been
using Spider Holsters Black Widow to
carry my xt 2 for a while now. The Spider
Light attempts to improve on the Black
Widow's design, it sports an all-metal
body with a smaller footprint than its
predecessor as well as a new clip system
that makes it easier to put on and
remove from your belt.
Unlike the Black Widow where in order to
take it off you have to remove your belt
entirely. Spider also includes a new and
improved plate for your camera that
doubles as an ARCA Swiss plate for
tripods that use that standard with the
added bonus that this plate can also
have a different tripod plate added to
the bottom thanks to its quarter-twenty
thread. Spider has also added an optional
accessory that allows use of the Spider
light on a backpack strap for those who
travel with backpacks often. A nice
addition since I constantly find myself
carrying a backpack when traveling. Next
up is Manfrotto's new nitro tech fluid
head. Manfrotto has designed this head
with a nitrogen piston in the middle
which may sound a little weird but it
allows for a continuous counterbalance
without the need to reset the head to
neutral tilt. Unlike on their previous
video heads the nitro tech has a payload
of 17.6 pounds to accommodate mid-sized
production cameras and both the pan and
tilt friction adjustments have been
improved to be more grippy than previous
heads in their lineup. Moving on we have
the Freecast Universal, a wireless
transmitter and receiver system.
the Freecast Universal works with any
camera that has an HDMI out allowing you
to stream from your camera to any iOS
device or monitor that can take an hdmi
in. When transmitting the Freecast
Universal has a range of 500 meters and
can be powered via their rechargeable
batteries or the USB input on each
receiver and transmitter. Audio wise you
can use audio going directly into your
camera or for those who want to use an
external microphone the free catch
Universal Translator sports a 3.5
millimeter audio input allowing a wide
variety of mic solutions currently on
the market.
Along with monitoring your camera from
multiple devices the Freecast can
stream live directly to different social
media platforms; currently free cast only
offers support for YouTube or Facebook
but the company says that they'll be
adding twitch and Instagram Live support
among others when they do the full
release of the Freecast Universal later
this year. Lastly we have Syrps new genie
2. Building on their existing motion
control systems for time-lapse and video
production, the Genie 2 adds a new pen
and tilt head that supports a heavier
payload of 5 kilograms and is also much
quieter than its predecessor. The Genie 2
is also available in a kit with their
new linear drive module which uses a
rope system for controlled horizontal
movement on nearly any slider on the
market. Syrp has also opted for type C
charging on the Genie 2, these ports
also double as a way to power cameras
like Sony's a7s2 that have less than
optimal battery life for time-lapse. The
Genie 2 can be controlled with Syrp's
existing app for the rest of their
products or with the hardware buttons on
the device for less complicated movement.
With other motion control systems on the
market getting more complicated, Syrp is
striving to keep usability as
streamlined as possible allowing
creatives to focus on the other
challenges of their work instead of
worrying about gear and approach that I
can appreciate.
So thank you guys for watching, let me
know what your favorite accessory in
this roundup was in the comments down
below and thanks again to Sennheiser for
sponsoring our coverage of NAB 2017.
Check out the MKE 2 elements GoPro
mic and the rest of their audio lineup
which you can learn more about at the
link in the video description.