At the 2016 National Association of Broadcasters conference, Condition One announced a new virtual reality camera appropriately named “Bison.”
This professionals-only rig has been specifically designed by the company with heavy durability in mind. Condition One is both hardware and production company making films primarily focused on outdoor subjects and capturing the natural world in high-quality, stereoscopic 3D.
Bison certainly seems to follow along with that ambition. Condition One’s CEO and founder, Danfung Dennis said that his company’s camera, “is built to be robust and reliable in extreme and difficult environments; we recently field-tested capturing jaguars in Mexico and grizzly bears in Montana.”
Bison’s internals were also revealed during the show and are listed in their entirety below:
Designed for near-field presence, “Bison” features 16 genlock synchronized cameras and captures 360-degree video in stereoscopic 3D at 48 frames per second. With a 5.7K resolution, the camera produces some of the highest quality VR footage currently available in the market.
Additional “Bison” features include:
High quality 3D positional audio
Two hour record time
2.0 minimum distance to subject range
Tablet control
Remote trigger up to 2,600 feet range
Thermal management system
Mechanically engineered aluminum rig
Carbon fiber tripod
It should be noted, however, that Condition One is not positioning Bison to be a commercially released product. When asked about pricing, a spokesperson for the company had this to say: “The camera will not be sold, but will be accessible to brands, media companies and filmmakers.”
An official release from Condition One provides more details as to the restricted release strategy for Bison:
‘Bison’ will only be accessible as part of production services for brands, media companies, filmmakers and activists looking to create high quality and industry-leading VR content; the camera will not be sold to the public. Condition One will offer end-to-end production services, from concept to final delivery.
Bison is the latest in a slew of VR camera updates coming out of NAB 2016.
