GEAR BUYERS’ GUIDE
It’s the time of year when gift buying is bigger than ever. So, here’s some cool gear to treat yourself to GIFTS YOU REALLY WANT!
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
I f you’ve ever been gifted some awful socks, a hideous sweater or pungent aftershave, you’ll know the festive time of year is prime for people spending money on tat that’s unwanted. Let’s make 2020 the year you get something you want!
Some of it is brand new to the market, some has been around for a while but makes an awesome buy and all of it is equipment we’d love to own. Without a single novelty neck tie or cheapo pair of slippers in sight!
Whether you can persuade a loved one or one of your friends to buy some filmmaking kit as a gift, or you decide to treat yourself as a great end to this tough year, our guide is here to show you the kit that’s on the market right now.
PANASONIC LUMIX S 85MM F/1.8 LENS £600/$599 panasonic.com
aberrations. The lens is designed to work well for video, with a mechanism that suppresses focus breathing. The filter diameter is 67mm, with a nine- blade circular aperture blades. The remaining three f/1.8 lenses - 24mm, 35mm and 50mm - are expected to have the same dimensions to make it fast and easy to use on rigs. The 85mmm f/1.8 lens weighs just 355g and has a rugged, dust- and splash-resistant design. It’s on sale now.
Panasonic has revealed yet another lens for its full-frame range. It’s a large-aperture, medium-telephoto fixed focal length lens called the Lumix S 85mm f/1.8 and costs £600. It’s the first of a range of four more affordable f/1.8 lenses and a 70- 300mm telephoto zoom lens that Panasonic plans to unveil for the L-Mount system. The 85mm f/1.8 lens has nine elements in eight groups, with the use of two ED (extra-low dispersion) lenses to suppress
RODECASTER PRO £619/$599 rode.com
on-board audio processing and eight programmable sound pads are ideal to give your shows that professional edge. Separate smartphone, USB and Bluetooth channels make podcasting with remote guests easy, and automatic adjustments provide echo-free audio. You can record tomicroSD or a computer in stereo or inmultitrack for editing in post-production. It’s easy to use and has various features, withmore being added regularly, courtesy of firmware updates.
If you want to start podcasting or upping your audio game for a YouTube channel, the RodeCaster Pro is a powerful all-in-one solution. It features four microphone channels with Class A circuitry, as you’d find in the world’s best broadcast recording consoles, ensuring pristine audio. Powerful
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PRO MOVIEMAKER
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