2010: Year in Rewind

2010 was an exciting and interesting year. The year where HDSLR's went from strange oddities to acceptance in television and film work. We saw many firsts, including the first TV episode shot on an HDSLR, the first consumer 3D video cameras, and the first iPads. Not all the action was in the budget and consumer end of things, with the arrival of products like the ARRI Alexa, Zeiss CP.2 lenses, and AutoDesk Smoke.

But it wasn't all clear sailing for manufactures, with RED having problems trying to keep ahead of increasing competition, while several manufactures - Redrock and Tiffen to name two - announced products and then seemed unable to ship them.

The consumer electronics industry wanted this to be the year of 3D, but it truly was the year of HDSLR video. And now with Panasonic and Sony poised to release new large sensor video cameras, we may be in for even more changes.

An amazing year. Here are some of the highlights:


January 
  • Sony adds support for SD cards to their consumer video and still cameras; the world still spins on it's axis
  • Sony says goodbye to HDV and reveals new pro HXR-NX5u and semi-pro HDR-AX2000 videocameras recording to AVCHD
  • 3D is big, big, big at CES!
  • Tiffen announces a Steadicam for the iPhone and Flip; the Steadicam Smoothee! But the end of the year arrives and there's still no sign of it
  • Adobe starts talking about the cool new features to come in Premiere CS5, especially the Mercury Playback Engine

February

March
  • If Sony can support SD cards, then Canon can go ahead and do something mind blowing too; a firmware update for the 5D III to support 24fps. Many people are stunned
  • OK Go does another amazing video
  • Panasonic announces the G2
  • 9 out of the 10 documentary features at the Oscars are edited on Final Cut Studio
  • Canon rolls out the Final Cut Pro EOS plugin for importing Canon HDSLR content into Final Cut
  • With interest in DSLR's in film and video gaining steam, books and training classes start to appear: From Still to Motion released
  • Zacuto puts together an impressive comparison of HDLSRs to film cameras in the web series: The Great Camera Shootout








April
  • Apple rolls out the iPad
  • The 3D backlash begins when Crash of the Titans turns out not to be Avatar II
  • Canon says good bye to HDV and announces their own 3-chip video cameras,  XF300 and 305 which record 4:2:2 video, though they cost quite a bit
  • After months of leaks, hints and previews, Adobe Creative Suite 5 is officially pre-announced
  • The end-of-season episode of House is shot on the Canon 5D
  • Steve Jobs says the next version of Final Cut Pro will be awesome
  • PluralEyes for Adobe Premiere announced

May

June
  • Small portable digital recorders get smaller and cheaper when Zoom announces the Zoom H1
  • Apple releases iMovie for iPhone: Unlike the iWork Suite for iPad, it's shockingly underwhelming
  • For those looking to sync audio to video but don't have an editing app that supports PluralEyes, DualEyes is announced.
  • I do a car review
  • Boston SuperMeet is held, Rodney Charters speaks.

July

August

September

October

November
  • With the expected shipping of the Panasonic AG-AF100 just a month away, Sony rolls out its own professional large-sensor camera, the PMW-F3
  • And for those on a budget, they also announce the NXCAM 35mm, though no firm details or price yet
  • Final Cut users get restless, and start thinking of Premiere Pro.
  • Amazon rolls out Amazon Studios to mixed-reviews
And that's just some of the highlights!!
Let's all take a breath over the holidays to absorb it all. And then on to 2011!






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