Sony Venice Rialto

Have you ever been asked that loaded question “does this make my bum look big?” We’ve all been there and the only safe answer is an emphatic no (even if it makes the bum look huge) It’s a human thing, being hunter gatherers, our eyes are on the front of our heads and that’s great for looking forward but useless at seeing what’s behind let alone checking out the state of our own rumps. Wouldn’t it be useful if we could just remove our heads and get a different perspective on things?

I’ve tried to find an example of this in real life but failed I’m afraid to say, Inspector Gadget could do it, Vyvyan from the Young Ones had a go with the aid of a passing train, Worzel Gummidge could swap his heads as I recall but they were all made of turnips so none were of much use and Ozzy Osbourne tried to do it with a bat but that didn’t work out too well for the bat. However, for the rest of us our heads have to stay firmly in place connected to our bodies leaving us with a limited view.

I think someone at Sony may have experienced the changing room question as they seem to have come up with an answer. Well for the Venice camera anyway, it’s now to the best of my knowledge the only professional video camera that can check out its own butt.

So, what is Brucie on about this time you may be thinking, let me put you out of your misery.

I’m talking about our new remote sensor block for the Sony Venice camera.

I must admit I didn’t even know this existed until I walked through the camera arch and saw it, my first reaction was that someone had broken one of the Venice cameras so I stopped and took a look. What I found impressed me I must say. A simple idea and a beautifully engineered resolution by Sony for a problem I didn’t even know existed.

So, what have Sony come up with. In very simple “Brucie” terms the Sony Venice Sensor Block Extension is a removable sensor that allows for the camera body and sensor to be separated from each other with only a single lead between them. This enables you to shoot behind the scene images from within the scene, I guess. Seriously though by removing the camera body from the sensor and lens means you are removing much of the weight and bulk.

By removing this weight and bulk the Venice becomes suitable for use with Steadicams, gimbals and even drones (tethered) and can also be mounted in restricted or confined spaces such as in a car. The important thing is that even with this extra flexibility the Venice still behaves exactly as if the sensor and camera were all together in the one unit, functionality and image quality remain the same and you can use all the features we have grown to love with the Venice such as its 8 stop ND filter system and duel base ISO.

The sensor block has a profusion of screw holes in all of its surfaces to allow for multiple mounting options, it also adds a HD_SDI and a 12 / 24 v output for use powering lens motors, monitors and the like.

I guess the important thing is the length of the cable, well its 9 ft and comes with a 9 ft extension so I make that 18 ft or 5.48m.

Now I’ve not actually done it myself but apparently it’s a simple 4 screw operation to change the Venice from normal to this configuration or back again, so no need to hire 2 Venice cameras just because you need this for one shot it can be swapped over during a short break on the shoot without the need for a specialist camera tech.

I know I’m a child but it strikes me with this kit and a well-placed monitor you could film yourself, filming yourself, filming yourself, filming yourself and so on ad infinitum now how much fun would that be lol. I’m sure many serious uses are springing to your mind but for me it’s always the frivolous or stupid things that dominate, sorry.

So, if you are looking to change your field of view, the angle of dangle or even need an endoscope for your pet elephant then the Venice Sensor Block may be the perfect tool for you and if its good enough for James Cameron to shoot the Avatar sequels with then its good enough for anyone.

I’m giving it a 9 out of 10 for my coolness rating and I’m only taking a point off because of its awful name “CBK-3610XS” can anyone think of a better name please how about a “inspector gadget mount”