Paul D

Canon EOS 5D Mark III Clean HDMI Out Firmware Announced!

Nine months ago, in a piece about the just announced Nikon D4, I wrote “Chief amongst these features is a clean, uncompressed 4:2:2 HDMI feed with simultaneous output to the D4′s rear monitor…a clean uncompressed 1080p output…[is] MAJOR news, both in terms of what the Nikon D4 can offer filmmakers and because it could force Canon to reverse its decision not to provide a clean, uncompressed HDMI output on the 1D X. In fact, it could mean, dare I say it, a clean, uncompressed HDMI output on the Canon 5D Mark III…” Well nine months later, Canon has given birth to (the announcement of) a new firmware update that will provide the EOS 5D Mark III with a clean uncompressed (8 bit) 4:2:2 HDMI output. Continue reading “Canon EOS 5D Mark III Clean HDMI Out Firmware Announced!”

Kinefinity KineRaw S35 Raw Digital Cinema Camera

Last year I posted about the KineRAW S35, a Chinese Alexa that Guardian photographer and DSLR News Shooter, Dan Chung, had discovered at the BIRTV trade show in Beijing.

At the time it was, essentially, vapourware, but now it seems that the launch of this camera is just weeks away…and at a projected price of approximately $6000 for a 2K (down sampled from 4K), 12 bit raw, S35mm camera, than can take PL, Canon & Nikon lenses, could turn out to be a very significant development.

Dan Chung has posted a 20 minute interview with JH from the camera’s developer, Kinefinity, and is currently testing the camera. If it fulfils its promise, then the combination of the KineRAW S35, Blackmagic Design’s new $3000, 2.5K raw shooting M43 Digital Cinema Camera and the crowd funded S16 Raw shooting Digital Bolex, might just be the catalyst for Sony, Canon & RED, to produce competitively priced raw cinema cameras…and if it is not, apparently Kinefinity has 4K raw, S16 raw & S8 raw cameras in development…

Adobe Lightroom 4 Public Beta

Adobe Lightroom is one of my all time favourite applications. I have been using it almost religiously since version 2 was first released, so when the public beta of Lightroom 4 became available three days ago, I downloaded it with some excitement. Although it seems both remarkably stable and feature complete, it is, nevertheless, a beta, so if you decide to download it, you do so at your own risk, should backup everything first and are well advised to import and work with COPIES of your media (and Lightroom catalog). This beta will co-exist with earlier installations of Lightroom, does not require a serial number or activation and will remain fully functional until the final version of Lightroom 4 is released. Continue reading “Adobe Lightroom 4 Public Beta”

And so it Begins… Nikon D4 HDSLR Announced!

I recently wrote “..if you thought 2011 was an important year for cameras, photographers and filmmakers…you ain’t seen nothing yet!” Well we’re only 6 days into the new year and one of the most important cameras of 2012 has just been announced…the Nikon D4! Continue reading “And so it Begins… Nikon D4 HDSLR Announced!”

New Cameras in 2012

2011 was an important year for cameras, photographers and filmmakers. In the wake of the HDSLR revolution brought about by the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, manufacturers finally got the message (more or less) that what independent filmmakers want is a large sensor, interchangeable lens camera, with a professional feature set, at an affordable price and responded with the Panasonic AG-AF101, Sony PMW-F3, Sony NEX-FS100 and Red Scarlet. But, it wasn’t just about large sensor camcorders. Panasonic understood the need for a small(ish), full HD, broadcast quality camcorder and released their answer to the 8 bit 4:2:2 Canon XF305 – the 10 bit 4:2:2 AVC Intra AG-HPX 250. On the stills front, Fuji realised that real photographers want real cameras in small packages and released the retro styled Finepix X100. However, the much anticipated and widely rumoured Canon 5D Mark III, Nikon D4 and Nikon D800 were nowhere to be seen and the Sony A77 and Sony NEX-7, though announced, were delayed by floods and earthquakes. So what can we expect in 2012? Well given that it is both a Photokina and an Olympics year, a fair bit Actually. Continue reading “New Cameras in 2012”