Quick Links

Sony’s PMW-150 and PMW-200 camcorders meet European Broadcast Union standard for HD Broadcast Production | Sony
Sony today announced that its latest XDCAM HD422 50Mbps camcorders, the PMW-200 and PMW-150, have met the standards the European Broadcast Union (EBU) recommend for long form video production. Both cameras were independently tested by Alan Roberts in accordance with the EBU camera test guidelines.


Testing Your Camera’s Latitude | Shane Hurlbut | Hurlblog
Let’s begin with over exposing. This test shows you how it handles the highlights. Set up your grey card and color chart on the same focal plan as your model. Frame a shot that is a medium size frame so that the charts are just in the left and right sides of the frame. There are many ways to light this test. We used a very frontal light source that was very bright so we could start at a high f-stop and then work our way down in 1/3 stop increments.


Apple slashes price on Thunderbolt cable, releases additional shorter model
| Mark Gurman | 9 to 5 Mac
Apple has reduced the price of its 2.0 m Thunderbolt cable from $49 to $39. The Thunderbolt cable, which can be used for data transfers and for display attachment purposes, was originally released in mid-2011.


Canon May 'Bring the Might of Its Legal Team' if You Modify 1D X or 1D C Firmware | Joe Marine | NoFilmSchool
Another explanation is that the 1D C has a larger heat sink; it's possible they are worried about people frying their $6,000 1D X trying to run the 1D C firmware on it...
The big reason that people might want to mess with the firmware of the Canon 1D X is because at the moment, that camera only costs $6,800 vs. $12,000 for the 1D C. A $5,000 difference would be a hefty savings for people who wanted the 4K functionality of the 1D C, while still retaining all of the other great features of the 1D X. The other possible changes that could happen in firmware could be related to the HDMI output of the 1D X, which, to my knowledge, cannot be recorded cleanly without cropping (if at all). Another slight difference between the two cameras is a missing headphone port on the 1D X.


Sony HXR-NX30U Camcorder-Projector Review | Mike Houghton | VideoMaker
You now, I somehow missed that the HXR-NX30 has a built-in projector. Why do you even need that?! I mean, how good can it be....
The coolest feature by far, however, is the tiny projector on the back of the LCD screen. It literally projects recorded video and pictures onto any surface; from a white napkin to a lightly colored wall. It doesn't do well under bright lighting or long distances, but in a reasonably dim room or close up it's a whole lot of fun. It feels like you're screening your own work in your very own theater.


A Hands-On First Look at the Android-Powered Polaroid iM1836 | Michael Zhang
| Peta Pixel
I don't really want a camera with iOS in it either...
Our first impression when handling the camera is that it feels cheap. It looks strangely similar to Nikon’s 1 Series J2 mirrorless camera, and feels similar in the hand. However, the iM1836 doesn’t just feel light and plasticky like the J2 — it also feels creaky, and therefore cheap.


Looking ahead to 2013 in post-productionSome random bullet points about the year ahead | Scott Simmons | ProVideoCoalition
You, me and all the professional editors you know will continue to use Final Cut Pro 7 at some point in 2013. Many by choice, others by the choice of someone else. It will continue to work and produce the great results it always has. We will all live in fear of some Mac OS or Mac hardware release from Apple that finally signals the true end of Final Cut Pro 7.


Weapons of Mass Production: Action Cam Showdown | Kevin Good | CrisisLab
The image quality of the GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition is in a class of its own against other action cams.  I went with the Panasonic TS4 in this test because some other recent comparisons I saw showed the GoPro significantly outperforming it's rugged video competitors.  And with the stills-focused Panasonic now getting AVCHD, it told me they were taking video seriously.  Well the image quality really isn't up to GoPro levels.  But the form factor is much more usable.  If someone would mash these two cameras together, and make the manual mode not suck, we'd have a huge winner on our hands.


The Toughest Scene I Wrote: Tony Kushner on Lincoln | Jennifer Vineyard
| Vulture
I wrote, literally, about a hundred different versions of the scene. Long versions, short versions, involving different things that happened or may have happened on the buggy ride. We kept shifting back and forth until we finally found the one that I could live with and Steven and Daniel and Sally liked. Am I happy with the way it turned out? They play it so beautifully, so yes.


Director Rian Johnson Explains The Difficult Path to ‘Looper’ | Jack Giroux
| Film School Rejects
The diner scene. That scene was a real beast. Even leading into production I did a lot of work on it. I ran it over with Joe and Bruce over and over before we shot it. Then we honed it, trimmed it, added stuff, and took away stuff. Actually, I recently released the script online, so anyone can look and see how different the finished scene is from what was originally written.


Lionsgate teams up with Samsung to convert more films to 3D, starts with Gamer, Crank and Bangkok Dangerous | Sean Buckley | Engadget
I thought that yesterday we agreed that 3D was dead?!
Using Sammy's proprietary 3D processing technology, the two firms will dimensionalize a handful of films from Lionsgate's catalog, starting with Gamer, Bangkok Dangerous, Crank, and The Descent. More title are on the way too, slated for future release on DVD and Blu-ray. Groundbreaking? No, but worthwhile for 3D connoisseurs. 

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