While portable HDDs are turning up on HDV camcorders around the show floor, the promise of portable 4K field production came a bit closer with the pending release of Codex Portable from Codex Digital. Now on display in the Band Pro booth, the Portable (scheduled to deliver this June) is shown capturing 1080p, 4:4:4 data from a Sony F23 camera. The lightweight disk recorder– a pricier solid-state version will also be available at some point this year– is about the size of the toaster and records HD, 2K, and 4K from Sony, ARRI, Panavision, Panasonic, Thomson, and Dalsa cameras.

In what the company claims as unique, the deck can record from two 4:4:4 cameras simultaneously – either independently for A and B camera shoots, or locked together for 3D stereo projects. Other combos include the ability to record from four 4:2:2 cameras simultaneously, and even–this is rather excessive though, isn’t it, as these are six figure devices?–a setup in which six Codex Portables can be tied together to create a virtual 24-track video, 48-track audio-recorder. There’s more at www.codexdigital.com

Codex has competition from the next town over, as S.two Corporation of Reno, Nevada is shipping the DFR4K 4K digital field recorder. Unlike the Codex Portable, which employs multiple smaller HDDs, the DFR4K uses a single compact DMAG4 disk magazine. For more, visit www.stwo-corp.com.