News From Here & There

Panasonic AG-AF100 Review
Jay Holben reviews the Panasonic AG-AF100 for dv.com. He praises the image quality and sharpness, as well as the HDMI and SDI ports, though he finds a few drawbacks:
Micro 4/3” is the smallest entry in the “large-sensor” category. At 17.8 mm x 10.0 mm, it is 53% smaller than the Canon EOS 5DmkII sensor, 28% smaller than a 1.78:1 extraction from Super35mm film, 27% smaller than the RED One’s sensor and 24% smaller than Canon’s APS-C HDSLR sensor (EOS 7D, Rebel T2i, Rebel T3i).
and he's disturbed by the use of AVCHD as a compression format. He also doesn't like the ergonomics of the body;
...it falls in a frustratingly odd middle ground where it’s not a palm-style camcorder and it’s not a shoulder-style design
He concludes by saying that at $5,000 it's not an HDSLR killer, but that it really strikes at the higher-end large sensor cameras.
dv.com: In Review: Panasonic AG-AF100



A Time And A Place
Evan Luzi at The Black and Blue blog recounts the one time a practical joke went wrong on-set:
A lot of filmmaking is common sense and you’d be surprised at the amount of people who fail at the most basic sensibilities, including myself.

Most people call this making mistakes and say they’re happy to learn from them.

But let’s not sugar coat it — sometimes it’s just being damn stupid.
The Black and Blue: The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Done On Set



Production Internships
Michael Essany, author of Reality Check: The Business and Art of Producing Reality TVsuggests that getting a job as a production intern can be a great way to gain experience:
The downside, of course, is that production internships are typically unpaid positions. Yet the experience gleaned and the opportunity to meet the movers and shakers who could end up hiring you one day are well worth the gratis servitude.
He also offers suggestions about how to find internships.
MasteringFilm: Become a Production Intern



The end of the F/X business?
David Cohen at Variety notes problems in the F/X business, with tightening budgets and schedules, and work moving overseas:
Hollywood isn't a single buyer with monopsoly power, like Walmart, but the studios are constantly pressing vfx companies to cut prices and schedules while demanding ever more complex effects, in larger quantities. And we're seeing the same result: California's vfx industry is contracting, and work is shifting abroad to regions with major tax incentives or to lower-cost regions such as India and Southeast Asia.
Variety: F/x biz in throes of the Walmart effect



The future of TV
Ron Frankel is the CEO of Synacor, and he's written an article about the future of TV. Are things as bad as everyone thinks for network TV?
The way we interact with content continues to evolve, and technological innovation is at the center of the transformation. The next few years will probably see consumers adapt to a hybrid of these viewing options. While some consumers may “cut the cord” and continue to gravitate towards Netflix and Hulu, there are compelling reasons any mass movement is unlikely. A broad TV Everywhere initiative will give consumers a complement to their viewing experience that brings all of their favorite content to multiple devices without increasing their existing cable bill or require them to pay incremental fees to Netflix or iTunes.
He goes on to say that:
Industry [have] have been working together on a simple way to authenticate consumers so they can view the TV content they are entitled to at any time and on almost any device. Promising authentication tech is already in use, and improving all the time.
Of course, Synacor happens to be "a leading provider of authentication technology to cable, telecommunication and satellite providers," but the article is worth a read.
Mashable: The Future of TV: Why Broadcast Needs to Adapt



QuickLinks




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sony GV-D200 review

Image
Sony GV-D200 I've been using a Sony GV-D200 deck to transfer old Video8 and Hi8 tapes. Some of these tapes are over twenty years old, and no longer having a Hi8 camcorder that worked I was concerned that if I didn't do something about transferring them to a more modern format soon, I might never be able to. While Sony no longer make camcorders that use these tapes - that I know of - Sony does still sell the GV-D200 deck (or Video Walkman, as it's sometimes labelled.) They also offer the GV-D800, which is almost identical but adds a small LCD screen for about $120 more. I didn't think I'd need a screen since I was using this to capture to the computer, but you will need an external monitor when you first set it up. Physically, the device is small. At 5 7/8" wide, 5 3/8" deep and 2" high, it's the smallest video deck I've encountered. I used to have a Video8 deck that I thought was small; and it was twice as deep and twice as high. The t
Read more

Response: Which iPhone to Get?

Image
In response to my iPhone musings, I got the following reader email which actually sums up a lot of my second and third thoughts too: You might have a point about the fancier camera, but otherwise I would buy the smaller model. Its screen is about the same size as that of my Nexus 4, and I don't feel at all like it limits me with a too-small screen. But I do sometimes stretch to get my thumb the reach to the other corner of the screen. It is plenty big for a phone. A phone is a pocket thing. (Well, in my case it lives an ancient REI soft sunglasses case that I have on my belt.) Ubiquitous, handy, convenient, almost always with me. Small is crucial for all of that. Certainly a large screen is cool, but you need a place to put it: don't break a fundamental feature of a pocket phone by getting too big. That is what your small tablet is for. I have my phone with me almost always. I have my Nexus 7 tablet with me nearly as much. The bigger screen is great, yet it fits in some
Read more

Should you buy the Sony NEX-FS100 Kit Lens?

Image
The Sony NEX-FS100 is available in two configurations: B & H : NEX-FS100U Camcorder only $4,999 B & H : NEX-FS100U (with 18-200mm lens) $5,599 But what does that extra $600 get you? It get's you this: Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens for NEX Camera This lens is also available separately for $799.99, so at $200 off you'd think everyone would be jumping on it. But not so fast... In his article about switching from the Canon 5D Mark II to the Sony NEX-FS100 , Paul Antico  at Need Creative says of the kit lens: 7) Its 18-200 F3.6-6.3 kit lens absolutely sucks and should be avoided (thankfully, you can order it without one) [ 1 ] But is it that bad? At B & H 's site, 43 reviews give it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. That's not a bad rating, though many of these people are using it for stills, and the most common complaint noted is how large and heavy it is. Of course this feeling of size would be exacerbated when you put it on a tiny camera
Read more