Camcorders

Meet the D-Can, a concept camera that resembles a military-grade spotting scope equipped with long-zoom capabilities.

Straying from traditional camera designs (though it's somewhat similar to the Lytro camera), designer Jean-michel Bonnemoy believes the form factor of today's cameras should be updated to a cylindrical design for better ergonomics.

This concept snapper features an ISO range of 100 to 6,400 and comes with a long-zoom lens coupled with image stabilization capabilities. Its lens cap doubles as an electronic flash--capable of firing an AF-assist beam at the same time. … Read more

Great discussion yesterday on the subject of CDs! Lots of you are still very passionate about them; others prefer modern streaming and download options. Thanks for weighing in!

Back to business. It was less than a year ago that Kodak unveiled the Playsport Zx5, its second-generation waterproof pocket camcorder.

A lot has changed since then. Main competitor Cisco pulled the plug on the Flip Video line, and Kodak itself just announced plans to exit the camera business. Sad.

The silver lining: cheap deals on Kodak goodies. For example, today only, and while supplies last, Bedeals has the refurbished Kodak Playsport Zx5 pocket camcorder for $79.99 shipped. … Read more

Apple updated its Final Cut Pro X software two weeks ago support footage from multiple videocameras, and now Singular Software has followed suit with its PluralEyes plug-in that's designed for just that scenario.

PluralEyes lets video editors synchronize multiple video and audio tracks by analyzing each track's sound, and it's become widely used as a way to ease the tedious, important, but sometimes difficult chore.

"The latest update of Final Cut Pro X added new multi-camera editing features, and these are now fully supported by PluralEyes," said Singular Chief Executive Bruce Sharpe in a statement … Read more

At this week's CP+ show in Japan, Sony unveiled its road map for the next couple years' worth of NEX E-mount lenses. Hint: it's light on the heavy glass.

According to the plans Sony unveiled at the show, photographers with Sony's Alpha NEX series of cameras have eight new lenses to look forward to over the course of the next year and a half or so. These include:… Read more

Because of its lack of video capabilities and its relatively low resolution, the Nikon D700 never attained the level of buzz the Canon EOS 5D Mark II did, despite being an excellent camera. With the D800, Nikon looks poised to catch up to, if not overtake, Canon in the hearts and minds of full-frame devotees.

With all the information about the D800 having leaked in advance, it's easy to tell what's been most attention-grabbing: the high-resolution sensor and the D800E sibling model, which incorporates a modified low-pass filter system that results in little to no antialiasing. There's no doubt that the combination should appeal to professionals like studio and wedding photographers.

However it's notable that the sensor's pixel size is 4.88 x 4.88 microns (compared to 6.4 x 6.4 for the 5DM2) and hits a comparatively low maximum sensitivity of ISO 25,600. That said, cameras for this target market don't need the really high, gain-pushing ISO sensitivities of more action-oriented models; they need the highest clean setting. And Nikon has a history of clean high ISO images for its pro models. But even if the D800 manages impressive video, I suspect that the D800E will be less video friendly--aliasing can be a real problem in video and it's much harder to correct in post-production, so you need that low-pass filter. Medium-format cameras and AA-filter-free models like the Fujifilm X100 usually don't support video or don't produce professional-quality results.

Here's how the current full-frame landscape looks for Nikon's product line and the competitive Canon:… Read more

Kazuo Hirai is becoming Sony's new chief executive, replacing Howard Stringer on April 1, the Japanese electronics giant announced Wednesday.

Hirai led Sony's PlayStation gaming business and more recently took over a growing electronics group, and Stringer said in a statement he recommended him for the CEO post:

Three years ago, I started to work with the board on succession plans, and in February 2009 we named a new generation of leaders to be my management team. Among them was Kaz Hirai, who had distinguished himself through his work in the PlayStation and networked entertainment businesses. Kaz is … Read more

Google has released "Duclair," the new version 1.0.0 of its VP8 technology that the company says does a better job encoding video and faster job decoding it.

And it's a good thing, too, because VP8 is taking on not only the incumbent H.264, but also a sequel called High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) from the same group that's well under development.

VP8 and H.264 are codecs, technology for compressing video for more compact storage or for more efficient transmission over a network. But the two come from very different backgrounds. Google hopes … Read more

If you've always wanted to achieve the precise focusing seen in the movies, perhaps it's time you invested in a follow focus. However, with professional systems costing anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus is a more affordable alternative for videographers on a budget.

The brainchild of Wiley Davis, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus is made in his homemade CNC (computer numerical control) mill and consists of the follow focus body, a pulley and a rubber-toothed belt. A user-adjustable spring built into the system of Teflon washers in the follow focus allows users to fine-tune the amount of friction needed when focusing a lens.

Crafted from durable, heat-treated aluminum, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus comes with a re-positional handle, which lets users set their lens at different positions at specific marker lines. Finally, a toothed-belt and pulleys of different sizes can be swapped to fit different lens sizes. … Read more

SD cards now have a patent spat of their own.

During CES, Toshiba and the SD Association made a couple of announcements that flew under my radar: a new specification dubbed Wireless LAN SD, aka iSDIO, (PDF) and a formal announcement by Toshiba about its FlashAir card, the first to support iSDIO.

Friday morning, Eye-Fi issued a statement on its blog expressing its displeasure over the SDA's announcement. In its statement, Yuval Koren, CEO of Eye-Fi, claims the announcement was premature, issued before the draft consideration process was complete, and that it runs the risk of violating some of … Read more