Rumors seem to be indicating that we might see the Nvidia RTX 5000 Blackwell cards in 2024. We certainly hope this is true. Not much is known about these cards yet although we are seeing several sources say there could be a 40% generational improvement which would be quite significant.
Admin
Nintendo Switch 2
Some updates about the forthcoming Nintendo Switch 2:
- Nvidia SoC using Samsung’s 8nm technology
- Better than expected performance
- Delayed until 2025
- Can output 4K with reasonable image quality
- Like 12GB of ram
Discuss on the Gear Rumors Forum
MSI CLAW A1M Handheld Game System
The MSI CLAW is already available in some places but will be coming to most of the world in later March. There will be 3 versions available:
- Entry level MSI Claw A1M featuring an an Intel Core Ultra 5 135H CPU with integrated Arc graphics and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD. $700
- Intel Core Ultra 7 155H APU version with 512GB of storage. $750
- Intel Core Ultra 7 155H APU version with 1TB of storage. $800
They all have the same 7-inch screen with 120Hz VRR, Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port, a microSD card slot and a power button with a fingerprint reader. The ergonomics look decent and we’re looking forward to this unit.
Comment on the Gear Rumors Forums
ZEISS Nano Prime High-Speed Cine Lenses
As mirrorless becomes more dominant and relevant to filmmakers, manufactures have started to produce more lenses for their platforms. Mirrorless mount physics should make possible a better quality of lens than what was possible before.
Zeiss has released this interesting set of lenses with 6 focal lengths all at T1.5: 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm. It’s $26,000 for the set which works out to $4,333 a lens. These lenses are “initially available for the Sony E-mount” but we expect that the Canon R-mount is just around the corner.
ZEISS Nano Primes are cinema lenses designed for modern full frame mirrorless cameras — initially available for Sony E-mount. Lenses for everyone looking for highest performance and cinematic look in a small package. The six focal lengths all feature a consistent high speed of T1.5, come with a small and robust real cine lens housing with professional cine ergonomics and have an interchangeable mount.
Nano Primes are lenses for all cinematographers. No matter if up-and-coming or seasoned DP. For all budgets. No matter if small or big. For all projects. No matter if for commercials, documentaries or music videos, for series, independent or features films. Lenses that check all the boxes when it comes to look, ergonomics, size and weight or lens data workflow. Lenses that you can afford. Lenses that won‘t let you down.
ZEISS Nano Primes are the go-to lenses for everyday: True Cinema. For All.
Visit Zeiss’s website for more information.
Comment on the Gear Rumors Forums
AMD Zen 6 Ryzen Medusa CPUs
It looks like we’re finally going to see a significant architecture change (new 2.5D interconnect tech) with AMD’s Zen 6 generation that will lead to better bandwidth, latency, better scaling, and power efficiency. This will increase cost, however. AMD is on a roll and have been able to consistently produce meaningful generation over generation performance increases. Zen 5 itself is already claimed to have a nice performance increase. We’re still waiting for more leaks and benchmarks for Zen 5 which should be coming out any day now.
Comment on the Gear Rumors Forums
Nikon Z6 III
This camera is really overdue. Nikon’s doing well at the high end with their Z8 and Z9, but their mid-range camera bodies have been lacking for quite a while, especially on the video side.
We’re starting to get excited about this camera though as it’s looking to be decently video oriented and full-featured. Really, like with the Z8, it seems like Nikon is throwing everything at this camera to make it all you need as long as you can live with the 24MP sensor.
Some key specifications that intrigue us:
- 6K video with strong codecs
- Significantly improved IBIS
- Strong dynamic range and low-light performance
- N-RAW video
- Improved AF
- $3000
Comment on the Gear Rumors Forums
AMD Navi 44 and 48 Video Card Information Leaks (RDNA 4)
Finally some reliable information has come out about AMD’s next generation of video cards.
What we’ve learned:
- Monolithic dies via TSMC 4NP (all this really means is that they got slightly better dies than NVIDIA has right now)
- We’re seeing boosting of between 3.0-3.3 GHz
- FP8 and matrix hardware now present
- RDNA 4 will be ready for Q4 of 2024, however the marketing team will decide when these will ultimately launch (possibly 2025)
- Navi 41 and 42 to have GDDR7 memory
We’re always happy to see anyone compete against NVIDIA as they’re the kind of company that needs competition to keep them from bad behavior.
Comment on the Gear Rumors Forums
Sony A9 III Global Shutter Mirrorless Camera
This $6000 camera is expensive but it’s also the king of action capturing full-frame cameras. The global shutter is most valuable for video but also helps with sports and wildlife when you’re shooting in bursts and don’t want any distortion to your image from a rolling shutter. There is a trade off, however, in that the low light performance is reduced on account of global shutter. This is expected behavior when a global shutter is involved.
We were sad to see the 10bit 422 at 500Mbit codec of the Sony A1 missing on this camera as that was our favorite way to shoot video.
The reviews are out for this camera so do take a look at some:
Comment on the Gear Rumors Forums
Samsung Galaxy A55
Some leaks about the Samsung Galaxy A55 appeared on TENAA website. This indicates an imminent release, likely in the summer. This phone looks a bit different with rectangular features and a key island for controls. It features triple rear cameras and it looks like it will equipped with a Samsung Exynos 1480 processor and a nice, large 5,000mAh battery.
We don’t know much else at this point.
Comment on the Gear Rumors Forums
ASUS ROG STRIX XG259QNS 1080P 380 Hz Monitor
The ROG Strix XG259QNS was announced on February 5, 2024 by ASUS. This 24.5″ 1080P IPS panel monitor is clearly target at gamers with its refresh rate of 380Hz and a response time of up to 0.3ms. The brightness is adequate but not amazing at 400cd/m². We wish it had HDMI 2.1 instead of 2.0.
The price is not known yet but the current XG259QN monitor with very similar specifications sells for $450 presently. We also don’t know the release date but we expect it soon.
See ASUS’s specification page about this monitor for more information.