Friday, April 28, 2017

NAB 2017: Final Notes, Thoughts and Observations


AB 2017 seemed more quiet this year, on both announcements and attendance. NAB claims 103,000 attendees, but the show felt more empty this year. As for the announcements, there were a lot of "pre" announcements this year, coming weeks ahead of NAB, so that might have contributed to the feeling of less announcements. But there was also some holding back from companies that normally would use NAB to launch new product. For example, the photo above is of a mystery camera that Panasonic will announce at CineGear in June. Canon will more than likely also announce a new camera there as well. Red didn't have a booth this year at NAB, instead wanting to exhibit only at CineGear. Mmm… is there some conspiracy against NAB amongst the camera companies?

Other notes and observations:
- The Go Pro booth was the quietest I have ever seen it at NAB. Normally you have to fight your way in there - this year, no problems.
 
- The enthusiasm quotient seemed low this year. People weren't hyper excited about anything. We are in a period of refinement now, not breaking new ground.
 
- NABs can have a dominant theme - drones, 3D, gimbals, 4K, 360 VR, etc. This year had no theme to it. We've seen everything already. We're just making it better.

Anyway, saw some cool new things, made new contacts that will bear fruit in the next month or so, so there will be a lot of new product coming to The DV Shop for our 16th Anniversary.