We had an unexpected surprise last week when Mark D’Addio from Focus Enhancements dropped in to give us a special sneak peak look at the new FS-5 version 2. WOW! Many times we get to see a new technology come along that takes an already existing product to the next level. FS-5 Version 2 is a perfect example of this. The engineers at Focus have knocked this one out of the park!

From the first time we saw the FS-5 at last years NAB2008 show, one though dominated our minds and those of many others – can we watch the video on the LCD screen? At the time the answer was “No, but we are working on it”. Work on it they did – the FS-5 not only allows you to watch the video on the screen; you can add your metadata notes while you view from your!

Video Previews
The FS-5 captures your footage while you shoot in either DV or HDV. Using D.T.E. (Direct To Edit) technology the footage is captured into the format that your NLE application works best with. Regardless of the format you choose the video plays back perfectly on the LCD screen. Smooth, crisp and clear. With an iPod Touch and wireless network adapter you are able to control the video (play, pause rewind etc.) and log any production notes as metadata. Later on when you get back to the edit suite and you import the footage into your NLE, all that metadata comes in as well. This will save you ton’s of time and means you can log your footage just about anywhere, without a computer! FS-5 also gives you thumbnail images for each clip.

We’ll be updating our FS-5 FAQ with even more info after the NAB show when we get the chance to update our FS-5 to version 2 and put it through some real-world tests.