We have just had the email confirmation come through from Canon New Zealand, that we are now appointed New Zealand's local dealer for the new EOS C300 Digital Video Camcorder. How exciting! 

From today - A2Z Technologies will handle the sales, service support and integration for the EOS C300 / C300 PL and related lenses. 

“The launch of the Cinema EOS System is a historic event for Canon and marks our full-fledged entry into the film and TV production industry,” says Yusuke Mizoguchi, Canon New Zealand’s Managing Director. “Given the significance of this opportunity and the specialised needs of the market, it was critical to partner with a recognised leader in providing solutions for cinema, TV, and broadcast fields. A2Z Technologies distinguished themselves and we are proud to be partnering with them.”

Any questions please don't hesitate to give us a call on (09) 375 3085.

Need a handy mains adapter for your USB devices? Sick of charging your iPod or iPhone off your laptop? Why not simply plug it into the powerpoint to charge whenever you need? 

The main feature of the Powertech model is you don’t waste a power point as it plugs straight over the top and sticks out just over the top not over any adjacent plugs.
 
And it has two USB ports with 500mA each, so you can charge two devices or your GoPro or GoPro2! 

Buy it here!

Please note: this will not charge an iPad

Following the success of Philip Bloom's sold out 2011 DSLR Workshop Tour, RØDE Microphones is very excited to be bringing Philip back in 2012 for six exclusive filmmaking workshops across Australia and New Zealand.

The day-long workshops will focus on both DSLR and the latest large-chip camcorders, and include a dedicated audio segment with Australian sound icon Ric Creaser.

There will be prize packs and give aways at each session, as well as the opportunity to meet with and learn from the experiences of two highly respected creatives. Book here!

Philip Bloom
Cinematographer, DOP, DSLR Guru
Arguably the world's foremost authority on Digital SLR video, Philip Bloom is truly a multi-skilled filmmaker having over twenty years experience as a cinematographer, director, editor and sound engineer.

His short films have garnered international acclaim, and commercially he has worked for Lucasfilm, Discovery, Sky News, Fox, BBC, Apple and Microsoft amongst many more.

As a pioneer in the DSLR video revolution Philip has been responsible for guiding hundreds of thousands of filmmakers through the pitfalls of DSLR video, helping them obtain previously unimaginable results from such compact and affordable cameras and accessories.

Visit Philip's blog at www.philipbloom.net.

Rick Creaser
Broadcast Sound Engineer, Audio Guru

With a resume that includes such iconic and successful television programs as Willessee at 7, Beyond 2000, Water Rats, The Great Outdoors, 60 Minutes, The 7:30 Report and Top Gear Australia, Ric Creaser is truly one of the country's most succesful and respected broadcast audio engineers.

Ric has spent over 25 years specialising in documentary and reality style recording that requires a "run & gun" approach, without the luxury of second takes or a large sound team.

His audio talents don't stop there however; Ric is also a microphone inventor, having designed the innovative RØDE PinMic microphone, now used in professional film and television production.

At the 2012 DSLR Workshop Tour Ric will be complementing Philip with a dedicated 90 minute audio curriculum, guiding the audience through the basics of audio, different approaches to recording sound, and practical demonstrations of common audio scenarios from pre to post production.

The Workshops
Covering all aspects of DSLR & Large-Chip Camcorder filmmaking. 

Philip's workshops will cover a wide range of content, making them suitable for filmmakers of all skill levels, including corporate and wedding videographers, documentary makers, students, hobbyists and photographers looking to make the leap into high quality video.

Topics include camera selection and setup, accessories, best practices for workflow, overcoming hardware limitations and post production tips and techniques.

A dedicated audio component will cover all relevant aspects of audio in an easy to understand format, complete with practical interactive demonstrations.

Each workshop venue has been specially selected for a cinema-like presentation, allowing for full appreciation of the image quality of the latest generation of DSLR and large-chip video cameras.
Of course there will be a stack of the latest camera accessories and RØDE Microphones on hand for you to see as well!

With great RØDE products to be given away at each workshop and a gift bag for every attendee, this is an event not to be missed.

Book your tickets now! 

This from Peter Donaldson of JUPE Productions Australia - spoken to Miller Tripods Australia.

For the past four years, I have been making a major documentary retracing the explorations of Sir Joseph Hooker, a great botanist, major contributor to the Theory of Evolution and  a significant Himalayan and Antarctic explorer.  The documentary aims to bring to light to the importance of this little known 19th Century scientist as well as show how his work on how plants vary with climate is particularly relevant to todays rapidly changing world through Climate Change.

I have had access to all of his meticulous notes and sketches of the eastern Himalayas which are in the Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew UK, and using them it is possible to see how the country has changed over the past 160 years. By delving deeply into his relationship with his best friend, Charles Darwin, I have been able to gain an insight into what I call Good Science. That is the testing of ideas with an open mind even when they may not agree with the personal beliefs of the scientists themselves. As an ex-scientist this aspect of the project has been probably of the greatest interest.

When he was in the Himalayas, Joseph Hooker discovered over twenty new species of rhododendrons and I have used these as a vehicle to show how plants change with altitude. As I wanted to gain an insight into the man I needed to first film in the Himalayas under the identical conditions and time of year that he experienced which was postmonsoon with winter approaching and then revisit  premonsoon when it was warmer, and moister and when the rhododendrons were in flower.

The first expedition was to the very remote Gunsa valley near Mt  Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain. This expedition involved a crew of four plus 21 sherpas and porters covering 350 km on foot during  a  six week shoot. To get to the starting point at Suketar, the gear was trans shipped several times by air through very rough airports and then finally by Twin Otter STOL aircraft. After that the gear was carried by porter in  open head  baskets the entire way. At night it shared my tiny tent. The major issue was power and two 60 W solar cells were carried with an inverter and recharging was done during the lunch stop each day. Two laptop computers were used with the data being backed up daily onto ruggedized external hard drives. As hard drives are not guaranteed to work above 4000m one of the laptops was fitted with an older 80 Gb drive that had a large air gap between the head and the disk to cope with the reduced air pressure at high altitude. There was tremendous interest in the laptops from the porters and local villagers who had never seen themselves on video.   The equipment was set up several times per day in conditions varying from –20 Deg C to + 35 Deg C, so very rapid unpacking and packing of gear was the norm.

The only problems we encountered apart from the cold were that one of the crew got shingles and we had a porter collapse at high altitude. Both made full recoveries.

The subsequent Himalayan expedition encountered conditions varying from, hot and cold premonsoon in Sikkim (+ 40 Deg C ) on the lowland plains of India to below freezing in the very high regions bordering Tibet. Following that filming was done at the Botanic Gardens in Kolkata (+45 deg C and extremely humid monsoon).

A third expedition to the Great Atlas mountains in Morocco encountered dusty, hot weather.

Finally a fourth trip to the very windy  subantarctic Auckland and Campbell Island groups 700 km south of New Zealand’s south island was done to film beautiful unusual plants called megaherbs that Joseph Hooker had found there and also to cover his participation as Botanist on the Ross Antarctic Expedition. These island groups are amongst the most oceanic and windy islands on earth with constant Roaring Forties and Howling Fifties westerly winds, drizzle and snow showers.  Other filming has been done in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

Weight, simplicity, and build quality of the equipment as well as unobtrusiveness due to security issues in some areas were  major factors in my choice of the DS-10 head and carbon fibre Solo tripod for the early Himalayan expeditions.

To counter the high winds in the subantarctic the tripod was anchored with suspended rocks. The rigidity of the carbon fibre legs was quite sufficient, even on western  cliffs which receive the full blast of the Southern Ocean winds. In the windiest locations I did not extend the bottom third section of the tripod legs to eliminate any wind vibration.  The ability to widen the legs right out was also extremely useful when shooting plants low to the ground.  Even shooting in sandy conditions in Morocco did not produce any issues and in fact no problems were encountered with the Miller equipment at any time.

The cameras used were a Sony PMW-EX1 and a Canon 5D Mark 2. As well as normal sequences using a presenter, extreme close-ups of plants as well as long exposure time lapses and pans of mountain scenery were successfully gathered.

On my return I heard about the new Miller Compass 12 head. This interested me for the following reasons. I was intending to use a heavier setup such as a large Autocue and wanted to be able to do very controlled pans particularly whilst on a dolly. I also wanted to do some very slow closeup pans of plants, and  details in rare books and paintings.

I have now used  the Compass 12 head in those situations and have been completely satisfied with the results.  In particular I am extremely happy with the smoothness of the tilt and pan mechanism.  The ease of adjusting the drag through the dials is a great advance and the easily adjustable counterbalance dial also makes setup much faster.
I will continue to use the DS-10 head when weight is a critical consideration, particularly when combined with the Canon 5D in “guerrilla” type shoots in security prone areas. When additional smoothness of pan plus extra weight handling capability is more important then I will use the Compass 12 head. So for most daily uses the Compass 12 head will now stay on the tripod.

I congratulate you on making such wonderful equipment which is perfect for  mobile requirements such as mine and would definitely choose Miller equipment again.

Peter Donaldson
Director
JUPE Productions Australia
www.jupeproductions.com

About Jupe Productions
JUPE Productions specializes in quality documentaries preferably combining expeditionary format with historical scientific content. Present plans are to extend the Hooker project to other great exploring scientists.