The yearly IBC – International Broadcasting Convention exhibition and conference is once again taking over the Amsterdam RAI in the Netherlands this week, hosting some 50,000 visitors from around the globe from 13-17 September.
Some of the biggest names in broadcast and imaging will be there at IBC 2019, including camera manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Sony and Panasonic, along with software and accessory brands like Adobe and SanDisk, and camera phone giants such as Samsung and Huawei.
Hot on the heels of IFA 2019, we still expect some big new reveals and announcements to take place from the heart of Amsterdam.
What is IBC 2019?
Billed as "the premier annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment", IBC is operated by a partnership of six leading international broadcast bodies: IABM, the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society, the Institute of Engineering and Technology, the Royal Television Society, the Society for Broadcast Professionals, and SMPTE.
In addition to its huge exhibition area, its comprehensive conference program encompasses everything from the technical side of broadcast technology to cinema screenings of Game of Thrones episodes with a panel by the production team.
With 6K video having fast become a staple of cinematography discussion, and the rapid relevance of 5G in the broadcast and technology sector, we're expecting some very exciting things to find their way onto the show floor…
IBC 2019 announcements
Irix shows wide 11mm T4.3 Cine lens
Following on from the Irix Cine 150mm T3.0 Macro 1:1 lens, Irix is now introducing its second cinema lens. The ultra-wide-angle Irix Cine 11mm T4.3 is designed to work with full-frame sensors and will be available in Canon EF, Sony E, Micro Four Thirds and Arri PL mounts. Read the full story…
Viltrox shows three fast primes
Viltrox is to introduce three new prime lenses later this year. All three will be designed for APS-C sensored cameras, and will be available in Canon EOS EF-M, Fujifilm XF, and Sony E mounts. The three autofocus lenses will have focal lengths of 56mm, 33mm, and 23mm – and all of them will share the same fast f/1.4 maximum aperture with a nine-bladed iris. Read the full story...
Rotolight Titan X2
Unveiled to for the first time at IBC, the Rotolight Titan X2 is the first non circular light from the innovative British LED lighting specialist. With its industry-standard 2x1 rectangular shape it goes head on against models such as the Arri S60 and Litepanels Gemini.
Claimed to be "the brightest 2x1 soft light ever made", the Titan X2 offers an unprecedented level of granular control over lighting properties such as diffusion, focus and spread. Some 16.7 million colors can be summoned and dialed-in on demand, removing the need for gels.
The device also offers high speed sync flash for stills photographers, as well as a suite of cinematic lighting effects to improve workflow on cinema and video projects.
Godox S30 Focusing LED light
Godox showed off a new LED light that replicated the fresnel spotlight strobes of yesteryear. The Godox S30 Focusing LED controls the spread of light from spotlight to floodlight in order to help photographers and filmmakers create theatrical effects. It will be launched shortly with optional accessories - including SA-P Projection Attachment which is designed to give a hard circle of light, or to project patterns of light across the frame using patterned 'gobo' stencils.
Read more...
Nikon Z6 Essential Movie Kit
Nikon has unveiled it's all-in mirrorless moviemaking set-up: the Nikon Z6 Essential Movie Kit, built around the video-friendly 24.5MP full-frame 4K Nikon Z6 body.
Comprising filmmaking essentials such as the Atomos Ninja V monitor, SmallRig camera cage and spare batteries, Nikon describes the Movie Kit as "providing the pure essentials to get rolling quickly, with all the core tools to make high-quality movies," while "leaving filmmakers free to customize further components to suit their personal preferences."
The Nikon Z6 Essential Movie Kit pairs nicely with the recently announced firmware that will make the Z6 and Z7 the first consumer cameras to officially support raw video output.
Sigma fp
We've been fascinated by Sigma's full-frame mirrorless camera ever since it was announced, so were really pleased to finally get a Sigma fp review at the show.
The Sigma fp (which apparently stands for "fortissimo pianissimo") the new camera will feature a 24.6-megapixel sensor and it will use a classic Bayer color filter array, not Sigma's own multi-layer Foveon technology as we had originally believed the company to be working on.
Designed to be the smallest and lightest full frame mirrorless camera ever, it will take interchangeable L-Mount lenses (including three new L-Mount lenses launched at the same time as the Sigma fp) and is designed to break the pattern of current camera design. Sigma's idea is "how a camera can be", not conforming to current categories and hierarchies.
New for IBC will be an additional converter for the L-mount lens roadmap that will allow PL-mount cinema lenses to be use on L-mount cameras, such as the Panasonic S1H, upcoming Leica SL2 and the Sigma fp. Sigma is already producing Canon EF and Sigma SA mount converters for the emerging L-mount family.
Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini
Fast on the back of launching the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K camera, the innovative Australian company had a big presence at IBC. Our pick of the new products at the show is the ATEM Mini - a live production switcher that enables multi-camera switching when live streaming on YouTube or Facebook. This links up four cameras and comes with a selection of effects – and most importantly at a $295 price that will appeal to many vloggers.
Read our full news story here.
Also launched at the show were two new video monitor/recorders. The Blackmagic Video Assist 12G units are designed to give you a better view of your image as you are filming, whilst recording your footage to the drive. There are 5in and 7in models available from $795.
Canon Cinema EOS C500 Mk II
IBC was the first showing of Canon's latest member of the Cinema EOS range. The Canon C500 Mark II offers 5.9K video and makes the switch from CFast memory cards to the recently introduced CFexpress cards. It will go on sale in December for £16,999.99 / $15,999. See our full story...
Sirui 85mm f/1.4 & 50mm f/1.8 Anamorphic
Sirui unveiled two new lenses for mirroless cameras. The $400 Sirui 85mm f/1.4 ASPH is a manual focus full frame lens for Sony E-mount. The 50mm f/1.8 Anamorphic lens is specifically designed for shooting video Sony E-mount (APS-C format), Fujifilm X-mount and Micro Four Thirds mount.
Read more...
Sigma Classic Cine lenses
Sigma already has an impressive range of cine lenses designed for use with professional cinema cameras - but at IBC it is introducing a new range of FF Classic Prime Line primes. These are designed to work with the ongoing move to shooting in 8K - and also offer full compatibility with Cooke i-Technology - which allows extended metadata to be recorded from the lens as the camera records.
CFexpress cards take off!
The big news at IFA was the birth of a new memory card format. We had known that this super-fast format was in the wings for ages - but in Berlin Sandisk officially launched and put on sale the first CFexpress cards. At the same time, there or thereabouts, Canon launched the first camera to use this type of card with the unveiling of the Canon EOS C500 Mark II.
We hoped that other card manufacturers will release their CFexpress cards now... Sony, Lexar, Delkin and Prograde Digital are already signed up and committed to the format. The one company that did join the CFexpress high-speed party was Austrian memory specialists Angelbird. Angelbird is releasing two different speeds of CFexpress cards, with four different capacities... including a one terabyte CFexpress card. It also unveiled a card reader for the new memory card format. Read more...
We also hoped we'd get announcements of firmware updates that will allow cameras with XQD cards to be adapted to use CFExpress. Companies with cameras that use XQD cards include Nikon, Panasonic, Sony and Phase One. But this did not materialize.
In the end, we only managed to get our hands on a Sandisk CFExpress card (see proof above!).
Sony FX9 and Sony Z750
The star announcement for Sony at the show was not the A7S III as we had hoped (see below), but for a new flagship XDCAM interchangeable lens video camera. The Sony FX9 features a full-frame sensor and can shoot in 6K. It borrows color science from the its top-end Venice camera (used to film the new Downton Abbey movie), but also inherits autofocus technology from the Sony Alpha mirrorless camera range.
Also making its first public outing was the Z750 flagship shoulder-mounted ENG camcorder that shoots 4K video using a triple 2/3in CMOS sensors.
Feiyu Tech Qing
Gimbal specialist Feiyu Tech was again showing off Qing – a motorized pan/tilt head that can take the weight of a full-frame DSLR. The exciting bit here is the remote control that has a built-in LCD screen for precise, smooth control of movements. There is also a body worn sensor that allows the Quing and your camera to track a vlogger as he or she moves during a recording. The availability of this item, and its price, have still yet to be finalised.
IBC 2019 rumors and predictions
Sony A7S III
Rumors are ricocheting all over the place about what Sony is up to next, with the Sony A9 II apparently set to be revealed in early October. The signs still point towards the Sony A7S III being announced before the end of the year – and with the A7S II being revealed at IBC 2016, we hoped that this could also happen again here. But this turned out not to be one of the new products it announced here.
The closest thing to be revealed was a new E-mount cine widee-angle zoom - FE C 16-35mm T3.1 G - which will go on sale next year.
Sony's video-oriented A7S II is dearly in need of an update, with its aging 12.2MP sensor looking pretty creaky compared to the cutting-edge 24.2MP Panasonic S1H and 33MP Sharp 8K Video Camera.
And of course, with Sony about to go all-on on 8K throughout its line of TVs and electronics, it would be nice to see it crack the 8K barrier with the A7S III…
Huawei Mate 30 Pro
We know that the Huawei Mate 30 will launch on 19 September in Munich, but there's a chance that the company will have the handset on show (perhaps by invitation only) at IBC 2019.
Huawei has confirmed leaks that the camera phone will use its new Kirin 990 processor, which promises better 5G functionality and lower noise in its photos. And Huawei's HarmonyOS operating system might have some heavy lifting to do, since the Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro are both rumored to be launching without Google support.
The phones will feature a circular quad-camera array and an extreme waterfall display – we can't wait to see what kind of sensors they're packing!
Samsung Galaxy S11
Samsung should have a big showing at IBC 2019, as the company has been behind some enormous imaging innovations recently.
If you've been keeping up with the latest smartphone news, you'll know that it has announced the Samsung Isocell Bright HMX 108-megapixel image sensor. We know that this sensor will make its debut in a 108MP Xiaomi Mi handset, which will have the power of a medium format camera phone.
However, the Samsung Galaxy S11 is also anticipated to feature the new sensor. The South Korean giant usually announces the S line in January but, given the seismic developments in smartphones this year, we wouldn't rule out seeing the S11 make a surprise appearance in Amsterdam.
We'll be keeping this page updated with the latest news, announcements and hands-ons throughout the course of the show. So make sure to check back over the rest of the week to see everything that happens, as it happens, at IBC 2019!
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