» Posts Tagged ‘cameras’
Philip Bloom's Camera Shootout Features the Latest Large Sensor DSLRs and Camcorders
I was waiting for part two to post this, so now that it’s live, here is Philip Bloom’s latest camera shootout pitting the Canon C300, Sony NEX5N, Panasonic AF100, Panasonic GH2, Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 7D, Sony FS100, Sony F3, and Nikon D7000 against each other in a variety of real-world situations: More »
So the just-announced Nikon D4 features an uncompressed HDMI output. This means you can take a wonderfully capable still camera, hook it up to an external recorder, and now you have an uncrippled video camera with a full-frame sensor. Pretty damn appealing! I found this 7-minute video on YouTube and haven’t seen any other information about it, so I’m not sure if external recorders were used, but go ahead and click “1080p” and enjoy the first Nikon D4 video: More »
The new full-frame Nikon D4, as rumored, brings with it a bevy of new video features. It will do 1080p at 30/25/24 frames-per-second, and up to 60 FPS at 720p. It will ship with a microphone input and dedicated headphone jack (both with adjustable levels), and supports the new XQD memory card format. And while the h.264 codec is only 24Mbps, to complain about the bitrate would be to ignore the biggest new feature: a clean, uncompressed HDMI output. Nikon has finally gotten serious about video. More »
Supposedly we’re in for an official unveiling in the next couple of days, but that didn’t stop one site from posting the official Nikon D4 spec sheet. The camera will be a competitor to the Canon 1DX, coming in at a similar $6,000 price point, and and it looks like the D4 will actually beat the 1DX to market by a month. The specs, which back up the earlier rumors: More »
Rodney Charters needs no introduction (he’s best known as the DP of 24), and along with Drew Gardner and Lan Bui he recently got his hands on the Canon C300. The camera is absolutely the post-DSLR camera of the moment in the sense that it uses the DSLR form factor in a way that the Sony F3 does not, and also in the sense that it is convenient like a DSLR in a way that the RED SCARLET is not. But “camera of the decade?” Sure, if the decade was 2000-2010. 2010-2020… I’m not so sure. Here are their very informal behind-the-scenes videos: More »
Phil Holland (who gave us some very handy RED crop factor and data rate sheets) shot the following tests on his Al Canon-mount RED SCARLET. Graded in REDCINE-X Pro and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, the tests include low light and 3K/48FPS tests. If you have a high-resolution monitor, you can even view them in 4K resolution (select “Original” if you’ve got the screen real estate): More »
Here’s an excellent test/review of the Canon C300 camcorder by Paul Steinberg. He shoots a number of low light shots with the camera but also manages to “break” the 8-bit codec, in his own words. It’s hard to make out what is C300 compression and what is internet h.264 compression, but in Paul’s words “you can see a ton of quantizing little blocks” — even when viewed on a TV. No matter how good your 8-bit implementation is… it’s still 8 bits. Is this a deal breaker for you? More »
Preproduction Canon C300 cameras have been floating around for a while, and now DSLR/video maestro Philip Bloom has released an excellent video review. As Bloom notes, the camera is a hybrid: the C300 is the answer to the question, “what would happen if a Canon DSLR and Canon XF camcorder had a baby?” Check it out if you’re interested in the C300, which rumor has it will retail stateside for virtually the same price as the Sony F3 (currently $14k), substanitally less than the originally-quoted $20k. Here’s Philip’s review: More »
Cameras have been getting more and more sensitive, so it follows that low light tests are a nice showcase of the latest in camera technology. Here, Sebastian Wiegärtner pits the Canon C300 against the Sony F3 (with S-Log) and Canon 7D: More »
I don’t own or shoot on a Panasonic GH2, but whenever I cover its hacked firmware releases the installation instructions always sound a bit daunting. Now EOSHD has released new patches and “film modes” for the camera, which offer similar functionality to existing GH2 hacks but (possibly?) easier installation. Says EOSHD’s Andrew Reid, “I believe them to be the most optimal patches and film modes for the best image quality currently possible on the GH2.” More »
A 30 minute short film sponsored by Canon and shot on the Canon C300 and 5D Mark II, When You Find Me premiered on YouTube this week and will reportedly go offline tomorrow morning. So I figured I’d share it while it lasts — if the full film has been taken down, the trailer is below. Executive produced by Ron Howard and directed by his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, here it is in full here is the trailer (the full film was taken down according to schedule): More »
Just a rumor… disclaimers apply… etc. The Nikon D4, which should compete with the Canon 1DX, is supposedly landing in January, with “improved” video (read: 1080p) and an uncompressed HDMI output. It’s also slated to be “only” 16 megapixels, which, along with its maximum ISO of 102,400 should make it a low-light beast. Is this the DSLR that has Nikon catching up or surpassing the video capabilities of offerings from Panasonic or Canon? More »
How do the Canon C300 and Sony F3, pictured respectively at left, compare? Mario Feil, director of the just-posted C300 short, has released the following comparison video. There’s also a Canon 1D Mark IV thrown in, which quite frankly looks awful at these high ISO levels: More »
I’ve said that for all intents and purposes the RED SCARLET-X and Canon C300 are the same price and shipping at the same time, and even though production units of the SCARLET-X started shipping first, it’s interesting that there’s a lot more C300 footage out there than there is SCARLET stuff. This is partly due to the fact that the first SCARLET units are likely in the hands of pro RED acolytes like Steven Soderbergh, David Fincher, Peter Jackson, and Greg Williams, and those guys are too busy to post camera tests or reviews — but Nino Leitner has just posted a C300 review and a short. Here ’tis: More »
One of my more embarrassing on-set moments happened when, years ago, I had been hired as a camera operator on a multi-camera shoot. Sometimes talking your way into a position can you get you into trouble, and I wasn’t really qualified to be operating a full size camera, which I discovered when the backfocus was off. I didn’t know how to adjust it, given at the time I’d only shot on Sony DV camcorders, and had to call on another camera operator to do my job for me. The horror! So here is a tutorial for setting back focus from The Complete Guide to ProHD Volume I, which applies to many videocameras (not just the JVC on which it’s demonstrated). But first, what is back focus? More »
The Panasonic GH2 is beloved by many because of its small size, small price, and, um, large hackability. It has always had 24p, but until now never had 25p or 30p. Thanks to a new firmware released by Panasonic, GH2 users will be getting one or the other (but unfortunately not both): PAL GH2 users can now get 25p embedded in a 50i stream, and North American buyers get 30p embedded in a 60i stream (both at 24mb/s AVCHD). Here are the rest of the details: More »
Continuing their head-to-head matchup, manuals for both the RED SCARLET-X and Canon C300 cameras have been released. Neither of these cameras are available widely yet — the SCARLET-X is just beginning to ship in volume (including my own), whereas the C300 has another month or so before it’s shipping. Therefore one of the ways to get a virtual hands-on with either camera is to RTFM. More »
I was just saying something about how the Canon C300 is looking better and better… and now there’s an “awesome” (and funny) camera test further bolstering the case for the initially-maligned shooter. I was actually just doing some scripting for a humorous camera test of my SCARLET-X, but I think by the time my camera arrives in Brooklyn there will have been so many tests that it will be old hat. Still, I’m always a fan of tests that add some humor or story or something to the shot list, and Jonathan Yi’s test demonstrates many of the ways the C300 is superior not only to its cheaper HDSLR ancestors but also to the RED (check out the high ISO tests): More »
With all the news about the Canon C300 and RED SCARLET-X lately, it’s easy to forget that both of these cameras are out of the price range of most DSLR shooters. What many were looking for from either company was an announcement at the price point of the Sony FS100, which, though it has some ergonomic quirks, is a very nice camera for $5k. It looks like it will be getting nicer in early 2012, with a firmware update from Sony that makes it a global camera — adding PAL recording rates to the North American model (and presumably vice versa) — as well as some nice other free feature additions. Here’s the list of expected upgrades: More »
Tongue-in-cheek headline aside, the more time passes, the better the Canon EOS C300 looks. Vashi Nedomansky, Vincent Laforet’s editor on Mobius, stopped by to share how far the 8-bit codec of the C300 could be pushed. I don’t regret my decision to order a SCARLET-X — one major reason being the upgrade path that the camera has — but if you’re looking to shoot guerrilla projects with available lighting, the Sony FS100, F3, or Canon C300 would probably be a better choice given you can walk into a room with natural light and more easily shoot at high ISOs than you can with a RED. For my purposes (shooting a narrative feature film), we’ll be using lights, and that’s a different situation. Here’s the latest on the somewhat controversial Canon C300: More »
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