Today Canon announced two new camcorders, the XF105 and XF100. These two small cameras are part of the new Canon lineup of memory recording cameras, which also includes the XF305 and XF300. The new cameras share many of the same features as their bigger brothers, including the same 1/3″ CMOS chipset, and recording to the Canon XF Codec (MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps) on Compact Flash cards.

Surprisingly, the XF105 comes complete with HD-SDI output, Genlock, and timecode inputs/outputs, which makes it one of the most capable small cameras out there. The compact form factor, 3.5″ LCD, and 10x lens are the big factors that differentiate these cameras from their larger brothers. However, those are the only real differences – exciting news for anyone in need of a small camera. Additionally, Canon has integrated their infrared low-light feature, enabling the capture of HD video in complete darkness. Finally, they have also added a feature that allows two of these cameras to be linked up for 3D capture. Details of this feature have not yet been released, but it probably will be some form of synchronized lens control and recording. Both the Canon XF105 and XF100 are scheduled to be available in the first quarter of 2011, but pricing has not been announced yet.

Read Canon’s official press release here.

Panasonic has just announced the new lightweight HPX3100 P2 Camera, which features a 2/3″ CCD sensor at full 1920×1080 resolution. Panasonic has taken the lightweight design and slim form-factor of the HPX300/370 cameras and added the 2/3″ chips found in the HPX3000. The camera has two P2 card slots and can record in AVC-Intra (100 & 50), DVCPRO HD, and standard definition formats. A new version of AVC-Intra 100 is also included that supports 24-bit audio. Standard frame rates are supported including 1080 60i, 50i, 30p, 25p, and 24p. However, like the HPX3000, 1280×720 resolution is not supported. With the new slim body design also comes lower power consumption, which is now only about 34 W. This is very low for a 2/3″ 1080P CCD, and can significantly improve battery life. Two brand new features of the HPX3100, are wireless meta-data input and a new high-quality proxy record option card. The wireless meta-data option will allow clips to be tagged with meta-data over a wifi connection, which makes it much easier to name clips on the fly. The new proxy card will produce better quality proxy clips which are compatible with Final Cut Pro. The price of this camera has not been announced yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated as more information is released. Read the press release here or download the brochure here.

The Panasonic HPX370 has excellent noise reduction technology which utilizes both 2D and 3D reduction methods, and Panasonic has just released new firmware for the camera that adds an important adjustment option for its optimum use.

While 2D noise reduction analyzes an individual frame and reduces noise where it can, 3D noise reduction looks across multiple frames to reduce noise. 3D noise reduction is very effective, but too much can produce smearing if there is motion in the image. Therefore, Panasonic uses both methods together by increasing the amount of 3D noise reduction in a static image, and decreasing it when there is movement in the images. There is some pretty sophisticated computing behind this technology, and the effect is quite good. However, the change in noise level between static and moving images is sometimes noticeable, so Panasonic has released a firmware update to address these situations.

…continue reading New Firmware for the Panasonic HPX370

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The Switronix Powerbase-70 is a new battery system for the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 7D. It combines a 70 Watt-hour V-Mount battery with a Canon power adapter that plugs right into your camera. With 70 watts of power the battery will run the camera for 6 times longer than a normal Canon battery. Additionally, the system features two P-taps, a battery gauge, and shoe for direct camera mounting. This is a great way to get longer record times on your HDSLR, and at the same time power multiple accessories. Check out the video above to learn more. The Powerbase-70 is now offered at a special introductory price of under $300 – an incredible deal on any V-mount battery. Also check out the various accessories I mention in the video: the P-tap charger, BlackMagic adapter, the AJA Adapter, the Zacuto Z-Cage, and the BlackMagic HDMI-to-SDI converter.

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The lucky guys over at Mercedes-Benz Digital Media get to shoot promos for all of the newest cars, and these promo videos appear on television and in Mercedes-Benz dealerships across the country. Recently they approached us to test out the Sony SRW-9000 on one of their shoots. With its 4:4:4 recording, extreme dynamic range and the high quality of the HDCAM SR format, the camera made for an easy choice. I traveled out to Lompac, CA – a city near Santa Barbara that boasts incredible views of the Pacific – with two cameras packed into a small rental car. Once there, I met up with DP Robert Campbell, Production Supervisor Kyle Smith, and the whole Mercedes team. They put one SRW-9000 on a special camera car rigged with a crane, and another on sticks for pass-by shots. Additionally, they used the CamTram system for some tracking shots. Fujinon provided several lenses, and Mercedes already owned the amazing HA13×4.5 lens with built-in precision focus. Robert, the DP, really liked having the ability to change frame rates up to 60P in 1080, and especially appreciated that the camera could ramp the frame rate while shooting. The shoot went smoothly and Mercedes-Benz captured some beautiful footage of several cars, including the new SLS. Check out the video above to see some of this footage, as well as some behind the scenes shots. Notice how well both highlight and lowlight information is preserved, especially during the sunset shots; we also ramped several shots so keep an eye out for those as well.

ARRI’s ALEXA camera offers several recording options, including recording directly to SxS cards in Apple ProRes format. This is called the Direct-To-Edit (DTE) option, and it makes for a very simple workflow. ProRes has proven to be a high quality and robust video format that is widely used in the industry today. The ALEXA has an uncompressed video output, but I believe many productions will choose to record in ProRes directly in the camera. Here is a 3 step guide for how to import ALEXA footage into Final Cut Pro.

…continue reading Simple ALEXA Workflow with Final Cut Pro

New firmware for the Nexto Video Storage Pro (NVS2500) was recently released, which adds several new features to the product. These updates include preview support of AVCHD clips, preview support of the new Canon XF300/305 video format, and greatly improved data protection and backup options. One of the new backup options includes the ability to copy data back to Compact Flash and SDHC cards. It may seem a bit odd to backup video footage shot on one memory card to another, but there are some advantages. Compact Flash and SDHC memory are relatively inexpensive, easy to find, and fast to download. So if you are working with P2 or SxS cards, the Nexto can copy them to its internal drive, and then to another card for delivery or storage. Or if you are working with CF or SDHC, the Nexto can be used to make a copy. Why walk away from set with one memory card when you can walk away with two? Because the Nexto is not capturing video in real time, you could even utilize cheaper cards with slower read/write speeds as backups. Download the latest firmware here, and make sure to read Nexto’s workflow document to learn about their new data protection and recovery options.