Hardware News

Canon Vixia HF M40 | Jim Feeley | Macworld
A short but fairly thorough review of the Canon VIXIA HF M40 [Amazon $596.87] It features a 1/3-inch, 1920 by 1080 sensor, which should improve video quality, though does mean you can't shoot high resolution stills:
Even in dim light, the HF M40 captures a high-quality video image; it doesn't sacrifice color accuracy or overcrank gain and consequent noise. Under normal lighting conditions, HD video shows excellent color and sharpness, very good exposure control, and smooth motion. The camera's impressive dynamic range preserves detail in both shadows and highlights rather than quickly clipping to black or white.


Vixia HF R21 Camcorder Review | Jeremy Stamas | Camcorderinfo
Camcorderinfo does a full on review of the Canon VIXIA HF R21 [Amazon $449.00], an entry-level HD camcorder  Though larger than your Flip's and Bloggies, it offers better image quality, but fewer manual controls than you'll find on the HF M40:
The audio controls are fantastic for an entry-level camcorder as well, with the R21 offering full-fledged audio level adjustment in addition to including an external mic and headphone jack
[...]
If you’re looking for extensive manual controls, like the ability to adjust shutter speed or aperture, the Canon HF R21 is not the camcorder for you.
Another important detail is that the battery compartment is fully enclosed, so you can't use a longer-life battery with the camera.



Shooting with the New Panasonic HPX250 AVC-Intra 100 Camcorder | Mike Sutton | Rule Boston Camera
A short post on shooting with the new Panasonic AG-HPX250:
Panasonic has nicely laid out the key features with quick and easy access to buttons on the operator side of the camera. Everything you need — like focus assist, ND, audio controls, scene file, waveform, etc., is nicely placed in plain view.
More specs on the camera: Early Sneak Peak at the Panasonic AG-HPX250



UnderWaterRealm Blog Week 29 | The Under Water Realm
A video showing the construction of a BIY kino flo-style light that is battery operated and fully submersible.



Review: Fancier FTV-50 DSLR Video Shoulder Rig | Abel | Pixtus
Lots of pictures and a review of a $140 DSLR rig. From the look of the pictures, and the written review, this looks like a pretty good bargain. You can even buy it at Amazon: Fancier FTV-50 DSLR Rig Movie Kit Shoulder Rig Mount
This rig offers the utmost adjustability in regards to left and right placement and even the up and down placement of the camera mounting plate itself. The vertical adjustment can be done by simply loosening the blue thumb screw and then locating the camera and camera plate height to how you see fit and then tighten the thumb screw back down.


Episode 28: CineMover Camera Slider | DSLR Video Shooter
Video review of a budget table dolly, the $80 CineMover.



Movie Mount improves iPad2 video camera | Cameratown
This doesn't seem to be available yet, but it's a mount for putting an iPad2 on a tripod. Of course, why you'd want to do that considering the low quality video that the iPad2 captures, who knows? Hopefully the iPad3 will have a better video camera...



Intel's upgraded Sandy Bridge-E may ship November 15 | electronista
Could this mean that Apple will update their MacPro's?
Apple doesn't usually opt to use mid-life Core processor updates but might go for their Xeon E5 equivalents expected at the same time. The Mac Pro​ hasn't been updated for over a year and has seen Apple wait on Intel for the workstation-oriented processors it needs. Apple has inadvertently hinted at a 16-core Mac Pro that would need the E5's expected eight-core processors to make real. [via VR-Zone]



G-TECHNOLOGY By Hitachi Showcases Its First 4TB Hard Drives | VideoGuys
Thunderbolt devices continue to appear.
Not only does the G-RAID Thunderbolt demo showcase the fastest interface you can find with data transfer rates up to 10 Gbps, it shows amazing sustained throughput for handling multi-stream compressed HD workflows including REDCODE, DVCPro HD, XDCAM HD and ProRes 422
It's expected in October.




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