Redrock Micro has your solution with the new Redrock|Ops product line. Made to survive anything you can through at it and available in modern camouflage.

Now this totally makes sense for a embedded DP covering the military like Danfung Dennis did for Frontline but something tells me you’d get some strange looks on a commercial shoot.

All the specs and prices can be found here: http://store.redrockmicro.com/Ops

Here’s the Press Release…

Redrock Micro Brings Redrock|ops to Light: a New Concept in Cinema Rigs

Camo-style camera rigs for video DSLR cameras fuse form, style

Hollywood, CA – Redrock Micro, the recognized leader in affordable professional-quality cinema accessories, today announced the new Redrock|ops line of accessories and rigs for video DSLR cameras. The Redrock|ops line is an entirely new concept in cinema equipment that fuses the durability of professional cinema equipment with modern camouflage styling.

Redrock|ops rigs are limited edition versions of existing Redrock cinema rigs that employ a camouflage coating on the rigs. The camouflage coating is a chemical process that infuses the patterns into the materials, resulting in gear that is both attractive and wear resistant. In addition the professional matted finish is “movie set safe” and does not reflect any light.

The first Redrock|ops rig delivered was a modified Field Cinema Deluxe Bundle handed to Shane Hurlbut, ASC at the Hurlbut Visual’s DSLR Bootcamp. The Bootcamp is a first-ever of its kind to teach high-end filmmaking techniques using HDSLR to all-comers during an intensive weekend-long seminar (for more information see hdslrbootcamp.com).

“I love the idea of the Redrock|ops rigs,” said Mr. Hurlbut. “The rig embodies the style of shooting I love to do: rugged, down-and-dirty, out-of-the-ordinary.”

“Redrock|ops was developed in response to the growing interest of filmmakers to personalize their equipment,” said James Hurd, Chief Revolutionary for Redrock Micro. “In addition to the obvious use for camouflage and outdoors shooting, filmmakers want to infuse a sense of style to their own equipment. The response has already been overwhelmingly positive.”

Pricing and Availability

Redrock|ops rigs are currently available directly from Redrock Micro’s online store and are priced at a slight premium over standard versions of the rigs. Due to the already high demand and limited edition, Redrock|ops rigs have a delivery lead time. More details and ordering can be found at Redrockmicro.com/ops

About Redrock Micro

Redrock Micro revolutionized independent film production in the early 2000s with the M2 Encore cinema lens adapter, and reinvented digital filmmaking in 2008 with HDSLR cinema rigs and accessories. Today, Redrock Micro continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning depth-of-field adapters, support rigs, focus controllers, and advanced cinema accessories. More information can always be found at redrockmicro.com.

About Shane Hurlbut

SHANE HURLBUT, ASC is an accomplished cinematographer who graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor of Arts in Film. The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) nominated Hurlbut’s first feature, The Rat Pack, directed by Rob Cohen, for Best Cinematography in the category of Motion Picture, Miniseries or Pilot Television. Hurlbut recently finished shooting the feature “Men of Valor,” which details the covert operations of the US Navy SEALS. Directed by Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy for Bandito Brothers and Legendary Pictures, this highly anticipated film was shot primarily on the Canon 5D Mark II camera and will be the first HDSLR full-length feature released by a major studio.

Hurlbut’s versatility, passion, work ethic and expertise give him the opportunity to work within any production budget. Of the 15 features Hurlbut has lensed, “Terminator: Salvation,” directed by McG, was the largest in scope and marked a visual reinvention of the Terminator franchise. Hurlbut and McG first collaborated on the sports genre film “We Are Marshall”; that film showcased the true events following a plane crash at Marshall University in West Virginia. “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” directed by Bill Paxton, was a period golf story that incorporated new age camera movement to jazz up the typically laconic sport. “Drumline,” directed by Charles Stone III, featured college show-style marching bands in the south competing for the Bayou Classic.

After all the hub-bub back in May about the licensing of H.264, many people were worried about the future of the latest HD cameras using the MPEG4 compression. There was even talk of development of other codecs that would be more “open source.”

The MPEG Licensing Association announced yesterday that they are putting a permanent moratorium on licensing fees of H.264.

According to ARS Technica:

“Today’s announcement by the MPEG LA extends the time period of the moratorium for the life of its “AVC Patent Portfolio License,” effectively making free-to-view H.264 encoded video royalty-free indefinitely. The MPEG LA noted that licensing fees will still be in effect for video that consumers pay for, such as AVC-encoded Blu-ray discs, on demand services like Hulu+, and pay-to-download services like iTunes.”

I guess we can all keep shooting away in MPEG4 now…

Read the story on ARS Technica.

ZDNet’s story on this.

In just a few weeks, IBC begins in Amsterdam. The European version of the Vegas Broadcast show isn’t as monstrous as NAB, but still sneaks in a few exciting announcements.

The latest news from Panasonic includes a new camera model – the HPX3100. Basically they shoved a 2/3″ chip of the HPX3000 in the body of an HPX-300. So large image sensor, smaller camera. Sounds interesting to me. Especially if the price is closer to that of the 300.

No news on price just yet, but stay tuned.

Read more about it here…

The “ticket price” is reasonable – the talent is superior – and the city is gorgeous.

b-roller of the YEAR, Darren Durlach along with Kurt Austin, Adam Tischler, John Sharify, Doug Burgess, Boyd Huppert, Anne Herbst, and John Sharify are all scheduled to speak. If I’m lucky, I’ll be there, too…

According to the website…

“Helping journalists tell compelling visual stories is the heart driving the NWVW… The focus will also shift from a multiple day hands-on workshop and adopt a single-day, jam-packed conference making it easier to attend. “

Check it out here…

Thanks to Adam Tischler for letting me spread the word…

UPDATE:

Back in May, we saw the drama begin when freelancer Jud Morris, sold video of alleged police brutality to a competing station. This raised a lot of questions on who owns the video shoot by a freelancer.

Now the situation has turned to: who owns that camera you have in your apartment.

According to published reports, the same freelancer, Jud Morris, has now been arrested for theft when multiple cameras owned by the Seattle Fox Affiliate were found in his home.

The story gets more interesting every day.

Maybe he woke up with amnesia. Or is really an evil twin. Or some other cliched Soap Opera plot…

The b-roll.net FORUM discussion is here…