When the Canon R5 was first announced on July 9, 2020 I was excited to see that the rumors were more or less confirmed. Canon was finally giving us a compact and relatively affordable camera with impressive specs. It was like it was 2005 all over again and Canon just added 24p recording to the 5D MkII. The R5 has features like 10 bit 4K video recording at up to 120 frames per second, 8K RAW, IBIS, and all with their fantastic autofocus. “This could be my new camera”, I thought. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though.

Atomos has release a firmware update for the Ninja V monitor/recorder that enables up to 5.8K ProRes RAW recording from Z CAM cameras. Z CAM joins other camera manufactures such as Nikon, Panasonic, and Sigma in outputting a ProRes RAW signal that can be recorded externally to an Atomos device. In addition, camera features can be controlled through the touchscreen interface of the Ninja V with a special LANC serial to USB cable. This Atomos firmware release was expected in June, so it's late by just one day.

Z CAM has announced the E2-M4, a new digital cinema camera with a Micro Four Thirds sensor and interchangeable mount. Part of the E2 series of cameras, it shares the same body as the flagship E2-S6, E2-F6, and E2-F8 cameras. This new camera was first leaked by a Z CAM dealer and a link was shared to the Z CAM E2 Facebook Group. Members of the group were initially skeptical whether this camera was even real until an official announcement was made by Z CAM CEO Kinson Loo.

Holiday Matsuri is an anime convention that really stands out to me. First of all, it's a holiday-themed convention held in December. You get all of the great cosplay like at other anime conventions, but the cosplayers cleverly add holiday elements like Christmas colors, decorations, and string lights. This adds an extra element of fun and makes this con look and feel unique.

I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some of the different conventions I've attended in the past year. My intent is to share some photos, video, and information about the cost in order to help people decide whether they should attend. It takes time and money to go to a convention and you want to have some confidence that it will be an enjoyable experience. My perspective is that of a photographer and videographer of course, so my interests may be different from yours.

As someone who attends a lot of conventions, I am keenly attentive to conventions cancelling. The concerns around COVID-19 are really starting to affect conventions, including three that I have been planning to attend (Emerald City Comic Con, Sakura-Con, and NAB). I assume that most conventions consider attendee safety their number one concern, even though you probably won't see it listed in any of their documentation. It's assumed that safety is a number one priority, so what happens when a convention is cancelled to meet that priority?

Epidemicsound.com is a music licensing service that allows you to use high quality music in your video content. There are many music licensing services out there - Artlist, Musicbed, Musicvine, Audiio, Soundstripe, etc. However, there's a distinct advantage to a service like Epidemicsound - no copyright claims.

Three New Cameras: E2-S6, E2-F6, and E2-F8

The PortKeys LH5 HDR monitor is a lightweight, low cost, yet high quality monitor. It offers many of the features found on more expensive monitors without sacrificing performance. I put this monitor up against the $700 Atomos Ninja V and it held its ground.

Yeticon is nestled up against the ski slopes of the Blue Mountains, right near Lake Huron. The location is both picturesque and unique. It's the only anime and geek culture convention that I know of with a ski lift and mountainside roller coaster-type thing.