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Canon DSLR: Improved Image Quality and Blazingly Fast Speed

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October 24, 2011
  • Canon’s latest high-end DSLR, the recently announced $6800 EOS-1D X, is expected to ship by March 2012.
  • Features include: 61-point AF system, 1GB Ethernet port, three DIGIC image processors, up to 12 fps RAW shooting, 18-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor.
  • “Images will supposedly be less noisy at extreme ISO settings and the improved processor system will reportedly offer truer colors and more natural contrast, even in low lighting,” reports Digital Trends. “Canon has included continuous Full HD video recording for longer movies sessions (nearly 30 minutes) and new compression files — one in an editing format and another completely compressed file.”
  • The post features a brief video from PetaPixel showcasing “what shooting an 18-megapixel image at 14-frames-per-second looks and sounds like.”

Hands-On Reviews: Striking New Sony DSLRs and Mirrorless Digicams

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September 27, 2011
  • Digital Trends takes four of Sony’s new digicams for a test drive — a pair of 24-megapixel DSLRs (the SLT-A77 and SLT-A65) and two compact mirrorless cameras (the NEX-5N and NEX-7).
  • The 3-day test period was conducted by recording more than 1,200 stills and dozens of short videos in rugged Southern California exteriors.
  • The review speaks highly of the DSLRs: “Sony really leaped ahead with this new pair by upping still resolution, the frame rate, video quality and incorporating a high-quality OLED viewfinder. Resolution is now 24.3 megapixels, the most of any consumer camera. Even with all the pixels, the A77 cranks off 12 frames per second at full resolution; the less expensive A65 does 10. Both also capture AVCHD Progressive movies, which are a beautiful 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second, rather than 1080i.”
  • In terms of cost: “The A77 costs $1,399 for the body only and is sold with an extremely sharp constant-aperture f/2.8 16-50mm lens for around $2,000. The A65 costs $999 with a more traditional 18-55mm lens. As a comparison, the 3.7 fps 18-megapixel Canon EOS Rebel T3i is $899 with an 18-55mm lens.”
  • Regarding the mirrorless cameras, Digital Trends comments: “Although the NEX-7 still requires a final production sample test, the early taste was quite fine. This could easily be the camera of the year given our hands-on experience. The buzz among the reviewers was pretty intense. As for the NEX-5N, although it’s a nice camera, it really paled in comparison to its big brothers and sisters.”
  • Pricing for the mirrorless models: “The NEX-7 has the high-quality finder built-in on the rear top left; the view is very good. We used the camera with an f/2.0 24mm prime lens, which added a cool $1,200 to the basic $1,149 price for the body. The NEX-7 will be sold with a cosmetically-matching black 18-55mm lens for $1,349. This outfit has a very Leica-like vibe and takes some pretty spectacular images… The NEX-5N has a 16-megapixel APS-C sensor (up from 14) and costs $699 with an 18-55mm kit lens.”

Pro Photographer Tests 2X Lens Converter with RED Epic Camera

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August 9, 2011
  • Photographer Vincent Laforet has been testing a new 2X Canon lens converter with his RED Epic camera.
  • Gizmodo explains that he uses a 600mm Canon lens “to effectively double focal length to 1200mm at a 4K resolution.”
  • “The results are nothing short of amazing,” reports Gizmodo, “but then, he is a professional, and had some beautiful scenery to work with.”
  • “This was shot with the yet-to-be-released RED Canon mount — which has full support of autofocus, image stabilization, digital aperture control, touch to focus, touch to rack focus, and distance readout. These are pretty amazing times to be behind the lens,” writes Laforet on his blog. “While long lenses are nothing new in the motion picture world — this type of resolution combined with Canon’s Image Stabilization technology is utterly impressive and should be a huge hit with wildlife and sports photographers around the world.”

Technicolor Rolls Out Cloud-Based ShareVUE Dailies Solution

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April 10, 2011

Technicolor announced its next-generation secure, cloud-based dailies solution for film and television studio clients. According to the press release, ShareVUE enables remote viewing, collaboration and sharing of dailies content on HTML5-supported web browsers, iOS and Android devices. Technicolor explains it is working with the Squeeze Solution Pack encoding technology from Sorenson Media to implement cloud-based scalability.

ShareVUE features include:

— A central hub to remotely view production materials while sharing time-stamped comments and playlists.

— A single encode that is transcoded and optimized “behind-the-scenes” to maximize visual quality for each supported device.

— Streaming-only model ensures media security, and includes content protection protocols combined with link encryption protocols, content scrambling and dynamic watermarking techniques.

Related Variety article: “Technicolor, Canon pact for cinematographers” (4/5/11)

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