IBC 2023 ended well over a month ago. We recently finished publishing almost 50 videos (and shorts) from the show including quite a few interesting products that did not get much exposure anywhere else online, so without further ado – here are our best of IBC 2023.
Lenses @IBC 2023
We have seen a LOT of new Chinese manufactured lenses from a whole range of companies some of them quite impressive and in a sense, this is a trend that we have been seeing for several years of more advanced and ambitious Chinese manufacturers developing high-quality optics.
Iddo – the new Nisi Athena line was maybe one of the most interesting, compact, and affordable lines of lenses that we have seen in IBC this year. This line includes 5 focal lengths – 25mm, 35mm,50mm, 85mm all with aperture T1.9. available with PL, E, RF mounts as well as a 14mm T2.4. Besides their compact size, the E/RF mount versions have a drop filter option and Nisi has several types of filters including VND, ND, polarizer, and mist. Pricing is fairly affordable at around $1200 per lens (less for a 5 lens kit).
The 85mm T.18 Nisi Athena with drop-in filters
Another interesting (lens-related) product was found in the Samyang booth. The company showcased a prototype of an Anamorphic adaptor for their VA-F line of AF “cine” lenses. We had a chance to talk to Samyang (the adapter was not around when we stopped by the booth so we couldn’t film it) but we saw some images it is kind of large but it will bring the option to add 1.7 squeeze Anamorphic to every one of the V-AF lenses which is very interesting, especially for a price of around $1000. This is still a prototype so it should be ready sometime in 2024.
Art – One particular lens that caught my eye at IBC this year was the Spirit Lab Zoom 70-300mm T3.2 this giat lens weighs in at 10.6kg and costs around $30K has no focus breathing and is parfocal.
Spirit Lab Zoom 70-300mm T3.2
Meike also showed some interesting Cine lenses and a whole range of adapters. One such new lens is the 12mm T2.5 (super 35) EF lens and they also have some new AF stills lenses.
The Meike 12mm T2.5 lens
Another noteworthy manufacturer is of course Venus Optics with their Laowa line. During IBC 2023 the company showcased its line of new Pro2be T8 lenses with an interesting spaceship miniature demo as well as the Laowa 65mm & 80mm 1.5x T2.4 Nanomorph & Anamorphic Adapter. We have covered the Pro2be several times here on LensVid Talk but this was the first time that we have seen it in action and we also had a chance to ask the company why it chose 3 different lenses instead of making a single one with different extensions (you can find the interesting answer in our video).
Finally, there was the new Cooke SP3 compact Cinema lenses which are super interesting and fairly affordable (when compared to other Cooke lenses of course).
Favorite accessories IBC 2023
Iddo – The first product we ran into during IBC 2023 was one we found by accident. It is called the Siker Actpro and it is a sort of rolling tripod that can be adapted easily to any angle or height. The general functionality looks similar to the Edelkrone StandPLUS but it feels more robust with the hydraulic mechanism outside and larger wheels.
The sliding Tripod
The second product is actually a camera but not a normal video or Cine camera but actually a live stream camera (which can also be used for normal videos of course) called the VenusLiv by Hollyland. We have already covered it both on a previous LensVid Talk 4 and on our IBC video but we feel that this camera has a lot of potential and we can’t wait to test it.
The Hollyland VenusLiv camera in IBC 2023
Art – from my perspective teleprompters were a big part of the show this year. The first interesting teleprompter that we saw was the Multifunctional Teleprompter 3646. The unit uses a 15mm rod but has an ace up its sleeve in the form of a silicone cover instead of fabric to prevent light leaks which is a great idea.
The Smallrig Multifunctional Teleprompter 3646 silicone cover
Moman also showed a teleprompter prototype called “the one-man band”. This unit has a different innovation in the form of a wireless transmitter which connects to a phone/tablet (iOS) and projects the image from the camera behind the text so you can see yourself while you are watching the text on the teleprompter – very useful.
A demo of the Moman new “self-displaying” teleprompter
One of our favorite tripods that we have seen in the show is the new Pineta Peak tripod from YC Onion. We covered it when it was released and in a video during the show and we are currently in the process of revising this tripod (and we had a chance to use it during the show itself during our Sony interview.
The Pineta Peak with a center column
Best Audio IBC 2023
Iddo – for most of the show we used the Hollyland Lark Max which proved to be fantastic with its noise reduction feature. We did have some interference in the show when working at a distance of more than a few meters but it is important to note that IBC is one of the most dense areas you can image when it comes to electronic signals of all types so we are not surprised. A review of the Lark Max should be up in a few weeks.
Art – Another interesting wireless mic system that we saw at the show was the Godox Virso and Virso S. The Virso S which we are currently testing is designed to work directly with the Sony smart shoe cameras without a 3.5mm cable (the regular Virso works via 3.5mm like most wireless mics).
Innovative lights IBC 2023
Iddo – Godox announced many new lights during IBC 2023, specifically several new members to its P600 family (we are currently testing the original P600 Bi color but at the show, we have seen both soft and hard RGB versions as well). Another interesting product announced at the show was the Godox Liteflow reflector system. While this looks similar to the Lightbridge CRLS which we have been using for years, it has some important differences including bumpers on the corners and a metal connector.
The Godox Liteflow reflector system (Godox image)
In this context, it is also worth mentioning the Dedolight Lightstream system which works on the same concept that we also saw during IBC this year with its many different types of holders (including some cool goosenecks) as well as the very interesting Dedolight eflect system which is flexible panels with lots of mirrors in silver or gold in different sizes which can create some very unique backgrounds.
Dedolight Eflect demo video
Art – Colbor showed their concept which is a very modular series of studio COB LEDs that includes a NATO rail that allows you to connect several lights together as well as attach accessories such as batteries or power bricks to the lights very easily. The idea is that you don’t have to pay a lot for lights that you don’t need – you can buy a 60W or 200W light and when you need more you add another one and you can use them together to produce even more output. They also showed a frame with a softbox for 4 lights so you can join a great deal of output (the company has 330W at the moment with 600W+ in prototype stages).
IBC 2023 Trends
Iddo – The biggest “trend” that we have seen on IBC this year was probably the push for electric generators. This is at least in part the result of the push of the car industry for smaller, more powerful, and cheaper batteries. The first product that we saw was the Aputure Delta Pro which we covered here a few months ago and is already selling. To us, it’s clear that this is a product that Aputure is selling (its basically a re-branded Ecoflow unit) to test the needs of the industry before committing to develop their unit.
Fxlion showed their own power station called the MAX2400. This unit is smaller (and less powerful than the Delta Pro) but very impressive with very fast charge time, daisy chain options, and all sorts of other useful features (it is not available yet but should be probably in early 2024).
Two FXLION MAX2400 units shown at IBC 2023
Art – Continuing with the same trend we have seen the BlueShape upcoming giant PG3000 AC power station. This waterproof case houses a huge battery pack designed for big lights and big productions with connectors on the outside and app support to monitor the battery status.
The PG3000 from BlueShape
Finally, there was the new Bastion 1600Wh battery which is still under development and supports a large number of outputs including dual 12V DC, 14V (XLR 4 pin), 26V (XLR 3 pin), and 48V (Speakon 15A) as well as USB-A/C ports.
Some of the ports on the Bastion 1600Wh battery
Our Favorite interviews
Iddo – With more than 40 recorded interviews throughout the show the most popular was hands down the one that we recorded with Sony’s Yann Salmon-Legagneur, Head of Imaging Products & Solutions Marketing, at Sony Europe (his title gets longer every year and we had a chance to interview his way back in 2010).
The big takeaways from this interview from our perspective aside from an interesting discussion about the new Burano camera (which we saw at the Sony booth) was that both the A7S III and A1 will get a new firmware update (now confirmed for March 2024) but also support for the new Cine app which is very welcome.
 The Sony Burano on IBC 2023
My favorite interview was the one we did with Nikolas Moldenhauer from the Media Division about new gear, old films, the creative process as well as Stanley Kubrick, and much more. Moldenhauer, is fun yet extremely nerdy (in a good sense) when it comes to Cinema and gear and our almost spontaneous sit-down interview was pure joy (highly recommend watching).
We also had a chance to talk to Cinematographer Alex Bercovitch (Aleksej Berkovic) in the Dedolight booth and although we didn’t record this talk it was one of the most in-depth technical discussions we ever had on lighting and we can’t wait to get a chance to talk to Bercovitch again and maybe do a video for our LensVid audience.
Art – This year I had a chance to interview Simon Hall from Blackmagic Design about some of the latest features of DaVinci Resolve, especially AI aspects and what might come next (Hall was not able to disclose too much for obvious reasons but it is clear that Blackmagic is investing a LOT into AI in DaVinci and we will be seeing the results in upcoming updates).
As a side note in this context, I want to mention two other AI tools that I have been testing. The first is the HeyGen voice cloning service. It allows the user to upload a video and lip sync to almost any language with automatic translation. Results are still not perfect from our testing but it will improve and it is a great example of what we should expect next in terms of video editing.
A different service that also does voice cloning although without the lip sync at this time is ElevenLabs and while the actual translation is not perfect (yet) the voice generator itself is fantastic.
Affordable surprises
Iddo – There were many amazing but very expensive pieces of gear on display at IBC but we also wanted to talk about some products which are much more affordable on display. One of them that we found to be very interesting was the upcoming Ulanzi production cart. This unit is not ready yet (should be available probably in early 2024) but is said to cost less than any comparable cart (probably below $1000).
Carts in general were very popular this year at IBC (last year we didn’t see even one so this was a huge change although production carts in general are of course nothing new) and we covered some of them including a high-end one from Digitalfoto that we also covered.
Art – Besides Ulanzi which showed not just the cart but also bags, tripods, and much more, we have seen a super affordable Lensgo fog machine called Smoke B (and a smaller one called Smoke S) which has versions that sell for between $130-$170 – super affordable compared to what we have seen to date.
Lensgo Fog machine official video
You can Check out all of the LensVid Talk videos here. If you want us to cover any specific topics or products in our upcoming LensVid talks please let us know in the comments or on our YT or Facebook pages.
Iddo Genuth 
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