What does Vincent Laforet Think is a Game Changer?

[Canon Rumors Guy]

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<strong>A teaser from Laforet</strong>
Apparently Vincent Laforet is going to share a product shortly that he calls a “game changer” for the video shooter. He swears it’s not a camera.</p>
<p>In case you didn’t know, Vincent Laforet did the “Reverie” video that changed the DSLR world when the 5D Mark II launched.</p>
<p><strong>Says Vincent…</strong>

<em>“I’m predicting that this device will follow a very similar path and will stir things up (in a positive way) in our industry.  I know it has already changed the way I shoot.  And while it will be more expensive than the Canon 5D MKII was, its price will pale in comparison to the current tools that it will come to compliment or perhaps even replace.”</em></p>
<p>I guess we’re going to know shortly.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2013/04/03/expect-an-announcement-on-this-blog-within-24-48-hours/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wordpress%2FjvaG+%28Vincent+Laforet%27s+Blog%29" target="_blank"><strong>Read the teaser on Vincent’s blog</strong></a></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[LOALTD]

Ok, I'll guess: an "affordable" steady-cam system!

 

[KyleSTL]

Fast 50mm epitomizes the "one device". My guess: Canon 50mm [f/1.4-2.0] IS USM. Heard it here first. Works perfectly with the release cycle of Canon's other IS USM primes:

24mm IS - Aug 2012
28mm IS - Aug 2012
35mm IS - Jan 2013
50mm IS - Apr 2013

 

[ddashti]

Since it's definitely not a sensor, the only thing I can see being revealed is a ground-breaking stabilization system or a lens with incredible stabilization functions.

 

[LOALTD]

Fast 50mm epitomizes the "one device". My guess: Canon 50mm [f/1.4-2.0] IS USM. Heard it here first. Works perfectly with the release cycle of Canon's other IS USM primes:

24mm IS - Aug 2012
28mm IS - Aug 2012
35mm IS - Jan 2013
50mm IS - Apr 2013

I was really excited when I read your suggestion, which is pretty much my dream lens! Then I read this part:

“And while it will be more expensive than the Canon 5D MKII was”

I really, really hope the 50mm f/1.4 IS is not that pricey. I’d have to be a 50mm f/0.95 IS for that price…

The way he is talking though, it really does sound like a lens. Imagine every time he says device/devices that he’s saying lens/lenses…it fits. I’m still going with some sort of lightweight, low-bulk, easy-to-use stabilizer though. Since this is supposed to be able “shooting how you want to shoot”

 

[SwissBear]

color-management?
RAW footage?

An IS-Lens seems too trivial, its not a game changer in my eyes...

 

[TommyLee]

I would guess
a small, effective, (relatively) inexpensive stabilizer system...

that would be very useful...

 

[AG]

Either that or it will be some kind of Gyro or Cage system that you can use on multiple camera bodies.

How much of a game changer that is im not sure about, but we will see.

 

[KyleSTL]

Fast 50mm epitomizes the "one device". My guess: Canon 50mm [f/1.4-2.0] IS USM. Heard it here first. Works perfectly with the release cycle of Canon's other IS USM primes:

24mm IS - Aug 2012
28mm IS - Aug 2012
35mm IS - Jan 2013
50mm IS - Apr 2013

I was really excited when I read your suggestion, which is pretty much my dream lens! Then I read this part:

“And while it will be more expensive than the Canon 5D MKII was”

Yeah, forgot about the part that it's $3000+. Maybe a 24-105mm f/2.8 IS? Sounds crazy, but Tamron made 28-105 2.8. Maybe wishful thinking, but I'm not sure I'd classify it as 'game changing'.

Could it possibly be a 50mm f1.2 IS? I think that could command 3 G's.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Ok, I'll guess: an "affordable" steady-cam system!

yeah, guessing some sort of insanely small and light steady-cam with very advanced features and controls and gyros for just over the price of a 5D2

 

[DavidRiesenberg]

My guess it will something way less exciting than anything we guess now.

 

[wayno]

My guess it will something way less exciting than anything we guess now.

yep

 

[TrumpetPower!]

He's making it pretty clear that this is as revolutionary for videographers as the 5DII was for videographers. That would rule out lenses. And he's calling it a device, and implying that it's something to be used on the shoot alongside the camera. And that it'll cost more than $3k.

A stabilization rig is a very reasonable guess.

I doubt it'll have anything to do with audio; you can already get superlative audio for as much as you currently have to spend on non-L primes. I'm thinking of the H4n, that sort of thing.

I also doubt it'll have anything to do with metering or color balancing or anything like that. You just don't need to spend big bucks to get top-quality results.

Similarly, I kinda doubt it'll be lighting equipment. $3k will get you a most luxurious Paul C. Buff studio with multiple Einsteins. I can't imagine the video hot light equivalents being radically more expensive.

So I think I'll go with the consensus of a stabilization rig (or something along those lines). Maybe even with a gyro? Like a whole-camera IS setup, using similar technology as the Segway? Now that could be interesting, even for stills photographers....

Cheers,

b&

 

[Policar]

Similarly, I kinda doubt it'll be lighting equipment. $3k will get you a most luxurious Paul C. Buff studio with multiple Einsteins. I can't imagine the video hot light equivalents being radically more expensive.

They are:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/417447-REG/Arri_563500_Arrimax_18_12_KW_HMI.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/417450-REG/Arri_562814_Arrimax_18_12KW_Electronic_Ballast.html

That's $34,000 for a single light that still needs more parts to turn on. A decent indie-level grip truck has half a million dollars in gear in it.

But more expensive than lights is renting a crew to operate them and a generator truck, etc. I'm not sure any one light could be that big a deal. Some LED kit maybe?

I think it's stabilization, too. I would love to be able to do the kind of moves I see on bigger productions with cheaper gear, but cheap gear is not steady... or handhold a camera without much shake.

 

[TrumpetPower!]

Similarly, I kinda doubt it'll be lighting equipment. $3k will get you a most luxurious Paul C. Buff studio with multiple Einsteins. I can't imagine the video hot light equivalents being radically more expensive.

They are:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/417447-REG/Arri_563500_Arrimax_18_12_KW_HMI.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/417450-REG/Arri_562814_Arrimax_18_12KW_Electronic_Ballast.html

That's $34,000 for a single light that still needs more parts to turn on. A decent indie-level grip truck has half a million dollars in gear in it.

Oh, I don't doubt but that there're insane amounts of money in video lighting. There are insane amounts of money in stills lighting, too, though perhaps not quite insane. And there're insane amounts of money in video lenses, more than in stills lenses, but both insane. And bodies and so on.

My point was more along the lines of that there are presumably less-expensive alternatives, similar to the Buff gear, that's already revolutionary. And you can pump the ISO quite a lot on DSLRs as well -- the high ISO performance is already the major lighting game changer.

But even the stupid-expensive pro Steadicam rigs still require a skilled and talented human operating it. And even then, they're not going to be as smooth as a dolly or a boom or what-not, even if they'll be much more mobile.

That's why I'm thinking an electronically motorized / stabilized support rig is likely. I could see one of those being made for the $3K - $6K range, and it would really be a game changer. Something that lets any drunken klutz make videos that look like they were shot from a dolly? Yeah, that'd be big.

b&

 

[that1guyy]

Is it "Bulletproof?" The thing that Magic Bullet guys are touting.

 

[FormerEnigma]

(Lung time lurker, I thought that I had registered a while ago ... )

I always though one mayor issue with videography is focus is always a huge issue. Getting it spot on, especially with erratically moving targets at close range, especially with short depth of focus is very tough. A game changer would be some way to make it much easier which would make it make it more affordable for smaller groups to be more creative while producing better output.

One possibility (which would be much more universal but would take quite a bit of work to implement ) would be to use a belt drive system hooked up the the camera lens autofocus. Sort of a follow-focus with possibility with counterweight as in car engines to prevent torque shift at high speed. The device would monitor the digital output of the camera's for critical focus and refocus based on lens profile. The area of focus desired could be selected via touchscreen, joystick, or even be pre-programmed. The speed would be limited mostly by motor speed. If you have a powerful motor (much stronger than one built into the lens, it would focus even faster than the lens' built in motor and more accurately than all but the most trained hands.

 

[deleteme]

While I am interested in this "game changer" of which he speaks I feel his role these days is that of a Canon sales person. Sales people often toss around the phrase "game changer" when trying to hype a new widget.
I truly cannot think of anything particularly radical that would merit the phrase but then again I am not particularly visionary.

 

[joshua-martin]

Look out for the name Frazier. This guy has been saying he has a game changing lens in development for a few years now.

 

[verysimplejason]

cheap lighting system.