by Felix Esser on March 19, 2012
Remember the good old days when video was shot on film? Acually, those days are long gone. But as late as the 70ies, when VHS was not established, yet, every amateur videographer would use either an 8mm or a 16mm camera to record their holiday video. And even professionals were using the 16mm format, as it offered the best compromise between size, cost and quality. Today, most amateurs use their digital still cameras for video recording, while professionals use HDSLRs or full fledged Super 35 digital cameras like the Red system. The legacy of the age of 16mm film videography — the various lenses in 16mm format — lives on, being used for both still photography and videography on mirrorless cameras like the Micro Four Thirds models. Now comes another option to bring those old lenses back to their intended use: the digital Bolex, which records 2k HD video using a digital sensor the exact same size of the old Super 16 film format. Read on after the jump! [click to continue…]
by Felix Esser on March 7, 2012
Corel today introduces the latest iteration of their popular video editing software VideoStudio Pro. In version X5, VideoStudio Pro now supports HTML5 for easier online video embedding, stop-motion recording with Canon DSLRs, 50p/60p video editing and the integration of multi-layered PaintShop Pro graphics into the video. Additionally, VideoStudio Pro X5 now comes with screen recording capabilities and multi-core acceleration for even faster editing and processing.
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by Chris Gampat on March 1, 2012
Today, Hasselblad announced a deal that makes their already pretty sweet cameras and lenses even sweeter. Now, when you purchase a camera, you’ll get Adobe Photoshop Lightroom bundled with it. The press release isn’t very specific on which version though as we’re all very sure that Adobe Lightroom 3 will be replaced by 4 soon. Hopefully, that means that when Lightroom 4 does come out (already leaked), you’ll get the latest version. Who knows, maybe the next Hassie cam may shoot video?
It doesn’t seem like a retroactive deal though: as they also state that current Hasselblad customers who buy H4D bodies will also get the software with their new purchase. Indeed, the camera is quite tempting for studio work.
So does that mean that the Phocus software is being phased out? No. Phocus still offers high-end capabilities some highly specialized tools and remains an integral element of our Multi-Shot cameras as well as our Phocus Mobile application, which enables wireless connectivity for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Update: I received the following email from a reader
Dear Chris,
Maybe you can add an update to your article that only H-System lenses are supported right now and all the excellent Zeiss-Lenses for the V-System have no lens profile within Lightroom (which is a shame!).
With this comment you would help to build up a little bit pressure for Hasselblad to not forget the many users of their old V-system cameras with digital backs.
Please contact Hasselblad to verify my information. I tested it myself and even in the beta of Lightroom 4 Hasselblad V-System lenses are spared out!
Best wishes,
Reader
It seems that Hasselblad also really wants users to upgrade their lenses.
by Chris Gampat on February 12, 2012
After reviewing the Sony NEX C3, I have been dying to get my hands on the 5N (5n). Though initial reviews have shown the earlier versions to have clicking problems when recording video, my version did not seem to have that fault. I have already done a hands on review of the Rokinon 8mm f2.8 fisheye lens using the 5N, and I’ve also compared it to the Canon 5D Mk II in a real life situation.
So as Sony’s middle child (with the C3 being the low end and 7 being the high end) can the 5N really prove to excel above some of the competition?
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by Chris Gampat on February 4, 2012
Andrew Reed over at EOSHD loves the Panasonic GH2; he well should due to the fact that he is a professional videographer. He also has used the camera at super high ISOs in black and white while still achieving a film-like quality to the video. Because I dabble in street photography and have a video background, I have a love for Kodak Tri-X and the smaller Micro Four Thirds bodies like the venerable Olympus EP2: still considered by me to have some of the best image quality of all the models made. But even though the old camera doesn’t have the video capabilities of the newer GH2, it can still look quite nice providing that you use it correctly.
Here’s how to make your videos look like they were shot with Kodak Tri-X video film.
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by Chris Gampat on January 31, 2012
DXOMark rates camera sensors, and they’re considered the standard in the industry though many will argue their findings at times. When Sony sent me the NEX 5n, I looked around the internet to try to find information about it. Everyone had compared it to Canon’s 5D Mk II due to the video capabilities. However, I didn’t see much when it came to Nikon comparisons.
Let’s get one thing straight: Nikon’s D5100 and D7000 have essentially the same video modes and therefore also would almost never be usable for most pros. Though Chase Jarvis uses the D7000 to create some great video, I have to agree more with Andrew Reed’s findings in that the auto-exposure adjustment override absolutely kills me. I really highlighted this in my D5100 review. Indeed, the T3i is a much better camcorder as we concluded.
But this test is about the still image quality between the Sony NEX 5n vs the D5100. Sure one is a DSLR and one is a mirrorless camera, but they’re both APS-C sized sensors. So can you tell which photo came from which camera? Take a look at our informal test to see.
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