Sony unveils NEX-EA50EH pro camcorder with nary a dog or pony (video)

Sony is continuing to build out its NXCAM video camera line with the new interchangeable lens NEX-EA50EH, a surprise entrant that's aimed firmly at the run and gun professional crowd. It sports the same APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor as other cameras in the NEX line, and has notably added a rocker-style zoom lever for its brand new SEL18-200PZ 11x E-mount Servo Zoom Lens. That item is one of the first large sensor servo zooms we've seen, and packs continuous variable isis, auto focus and "Optical Steady Shot" active image stabilization. Another eyebrow-raiser is the model's still photo flair, with the ability to shoot 16MP RAW stills, a mechanical shutter with its own release button and a flash hot-shoe all squeezed in. Video is recorded up to 60fps at 1080P in AVCHD 2.0, presumably at 28 or 17 Mbps, toSD/SDHC/SDXC cards, Sony Memory Sticks or Sony's dedicated external SSD unit, which attaches to the camera. All that is topped off by an onboard shotgun microphone, a shoulder mount form factor and $4,500 price point (which has already changed twice on B&H). That means a lot of event or ENG pros who want large sensor results -- without all the DSLR foibles -- may be sorely tempted. See the PR and video after the break for all the details.

[Source: Engadget]

Panasonic AG-AC90 professional camcorder: three CMOS sensors in a handheld package for $2,250

While filmakers have gone gaga over huge sensor'd video cameras, there's still a need for smaller chips and pro features -- to that end, Panasonic has just announced the AG-AC90 AVCCAM. Destined for event and corporate users, it features three smallish 1/4.7-inch CMOS sensors ("3MOS" in company-speak), a 12X zoom, native 1,920 x 1,080 at 60p, 60i, 30p and 24p, and a five-axis image stabilizer. As for video quality, there's a new "premium professional" recording mode with 28 Mbps throughput at 60p, on top of 24 Mbps and 17 Mbps modes. With two memory card slots, the camcorder supports Panasonic's proprietary UHS-1 cards, and fortunately works with SDXC and SDHC to boot. It's slated to arrive in "late fall 2012," according to the company, and will ring the register at $2,250. So, if the first thing that pops into your mind is not DOF, but zebras, timecode and XLR inputs, check the PR for all those specs.

[Source: Engadget]

GoPro HD : GoPro Alaska Expedition

Shot 100% on the HD HERO2® camera from ‪‪http://GoPro.com‬.

GoPro recently partnered with Project Aether on an ambitious expedition to Alaska to conduct science experiments and record the first high quality images of the Aurora Borealis from the edge of space.

Project Aether is a non-profit collaboration between public school teachers and graduate students and is designed to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, explorers and dreamers.

Read more here: http://gopro.com/gopro-alaska-expedition-with-project-aether/

Music
Insightful "Sunlight"
Buy at: http://insightful.bandcamp.com/track/sunlight

Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera

Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera ... this company took the NAB audience by surprise & announced this new 2.5K video camera that captures direct to SSD & features thunderbolt. Check out this video for the full details.


Useful Links
Company website http://www.blackmagic-design.com

Apple Brings 1080p High Definition to New Apple TV

SAN FRANCISCO—March 7, 2012—Apple® today announced the new Apple TV® featuring 1080p programming including iTunes® movies and TV shows, Netflix, Vimeo, photos and more in HD. With iTunes in the Cloud, customers can purchase and play their favorite movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store® and watch them instantly on their HD TV. The new Apple TV features a simpler, refined user interface making it easier than ever to access your purchased movies, TV shows and music with iTunes Match℠ right from iCloud®. With AirPlay®, users can stream or mirror their favorite content from their iPad® or iPhone® 4S to Apple TV. 
“People are going to love streaming movies and TV shows in 1080p with the new Apple TV, and photos look beautiful displayed at the maximum resolution of your TV,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Apple TV is easier than ever to use with its new icon-based interface and the ability to access your purchased movies, TV shows and music right from iCloud.”
Apple TV users can choose from an incredible selection of programming including over 15,000 movies and over 90,000 TV episodes on the iTunes Store. Apple TV also offers great content from Netflix’s streaming catalog, live sports from MLB, NBA and NHL as well as Internet content from Vimeo, YouTube and Flickr.* 
With iCloud, you can buy movies and TV shows on Apple TV and watch them on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch®, Mac® or PC. iCloud also stores photos and pushes them wirelessly to all your devices including your HD TV via Apple TV. iCloud provides an incredibly easy way to get instant access to all of your content, no matter which device is being used. 
iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users can use AirPlay to stream music, photos and videos from their devices directly to their HD TV with Apple TV. iPhone 4S or iPad users can use AirPlay Mirroring to show the screen of their device right on their HD TV, allowing them to stream web pages, spreadsheets or even games.** 
Apple TV makes it easy to enjoy iTunes video, music and photo libraries from your computer right on your HD TV—and with iCloud you can instantly enjoy content that was purchased on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch as well. iTunes Match customers can now play their entire music library from iCloud—even songs they’ve imported from CDs. Users can also control Apple TV with their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch using the Remote app, available as a free download on the App Store™ (www.itunes.com/appstore).
Pricing & Availability 
Apple TV will be available on Friday, March 16 for a suggested retail price of $99 (US) through the Apple online store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Apple TV requires iTunes 10.5 or later. Apple TV requires an 802.11g/n Wi-Fi network or Ethernet network, a broadband Internet connection and a HD TV capable of 1080p or 720p and an HDMI cable that is sold separately. iTunes movie and TV show availability varies by country. Second generation Apple TV users can install the new Apple TV user interface via a free software update, available today. Third generation Apple TV hardware is required to play 1080p video.

Canon Launches New Legria (Vixia) Range

Canon today announced many new camcorders to their Legria (Vixia) range. Top of the tables is the new HF M52 which has some superb features. It sports Canons new HD CMOS Pro sensor, which has the exact number of pixels needed for 1920x1080 capture. This featured in some of last years models, including the top of the range and still current HF G10. They also added WiFi support to the HF M52, which allows for wireless streaming to supported devices. The 7.5cm touch screen is still very low resolution, which is a bit of a let down and there is still no 50P or 60P support. Check out the full details here.

LEGRIA HF M52 features:  
   • Wi-Fi with MP4 support 
   • Canon HD CMOS PRO sensor 
   • Optical Intelligent IS 
   • Audio Scene Select 
   • 10x HD Video lens, iris diaphragm 
   • Store direct to external HDD 
   • 32GB memory, SDXC slot 
   • Creative cinematic features 
   • 7.5cm touch screen 
   • Smart Auto (38 scenes), Face Detection, Instant AF

LEGRIA HF M56 features:  
   • Wi-Fi with MP4 support 
   • Canon HD CMOS PRO sensor 
   • Optical Intelligent IS 
   • Audio Scene Select 
   • 10x HD Video lens, iris diaphragm 
   • Store direct to external HDD 
   • 8GB memory, SDXC slot 
   • Creative cinematic features 
   • 7.5cm touch screen 
   • Smart Auto (38 scenes), Face Detection, Instant AF   
  
LEGRIA HF M506 features:   
   • Canon HD CMOS PRO sensor 
   • Optical Intelligent IS 
   • Audio Scene Select 
   • 10x HD Video lens, iris diaphragm 
   • Creative cinematic features 
   • 7.5cm intuitive touch screen 
   • Smart Auto (38 scenes), Face Detection, Instant AF 
   • SDXC card slot

YouTube NextUp Update

It would mean so so much to me if you vote for my video. YouTube really is my passion & I would love to win a place at their Creator's Camp which is fours days of superb training. Thank you to everyone for your support.

Please vote for me - Voting begins 1st July 2011 on http://www.youtube.com/nextup
It would make my day, my week, my year and my future complete if I could do this forever.

1. To vote simply go here: http://www.youtube.com/nextup 

2. Scroll to find my video.

3. My video is called: MAKE EVERY DAY A YOUTUBE DAY (by davomrmac)

4. Click my video.

5. Wait for the Vote Now to pop up.

6. Click the GREEN THUMBS UP button.

If anyone watching this could tweet this out, it would really help...
Please vote for Dave at http://www.youtube.com/nextup  the video is called MAKE EVERY DAY A YOUTUBE DAY by davomrmac (please RT)

Toss a Pancake for Sanyo

I hope you haven't forgotten, today is National Pancake Day! Now I was so tempted to make a video myself, as I love tossing pancakes, but I made a bunch and my kids scoffed the lot. So now it is up to you. To celebrate Pancake Day this year Sanyo have launched a competition to find Britain's Biggest and best Pancake Tosser. Take a look at http://pancaketoss.com and get you YouTube entry in for your chance of winning a Sanyo Xacti Dual Camera.

Panasonic’s New 3MOS High Definition Camcorders Are Here

Continuing to push the boundaries, Panasonic, the UK’s leading brand in High Definition Camcorder (1) , is pleased to introduce three new models to its award winning portfolio of 3MOS High Definition Camcorders. With technical specifications to be proud of - including full HD recording (1920 x 1080, 50 progressive scan), an ultra wide 35mm wide-angle lens, the well renowned advanced 3MOS system, and newly developed POWER O.I.S and Face Recognition – Panasonic’s HS700, TM700 and SD700 are streets ahead of its competitors.

Recording Format... The 700 series models differ by their recording format only. The hybrid-type HS700 records data onto both its large 240-GB HDD and an SDXC, SDHC, or SD Memory Card. The twin-memory TM700 records onto its 32-GB built-in memory and an SDXC, SDHC, or SD Memory Card. The SD700 offers SDXC, SDHC or SD Memory Card recording only – allowing a slimmer and more compact design. Users can select from the three camcorder types based on their preferred media.

Advanced 3MOS System... The newly developed, high-sensitivity 3MOS system provides effective motion image pixel count of 9.15 million (3,050,000 pixels x 3). This new triple image sensor separates the light received through the lens into the three primary colours - red, green and blue - and processes each colour independently. As a result, it offers beautiful images with significantly better colour quality, detail and gradation than the 1MOS sensor system. The large-diameter F1.5 lens, newly developed Crystal Engine Pro, and the high-sensitivity sensors have improved the light collection rate, increased sensitivity, and reduced noise by one-half to provide users with bright, low-noise recording even in dim lighting. 

The new models can shoot 14.2-megapixel still images (in Still Image mode) as well as to take 13.3-megapixel still images whilst a movie image is being recorded (simultaneous recording). Even with this high pixel count, newly developed technology increases sensitivity and reduces noise by one-half to achieve bright images with minimal noise when shooting under low light conditions. This maximizes the 3MOS features of excellent colour reproduction, high resolution, and rich gradation, and lets the user capture vividly coloured images in both bright and darkly lit places. Only Panasonic incorporates 3MOS for consumer HD models.

There is a lot more to read about the new series, so please check them out at the Panasonic website.

Sanyo VPC-SH1 - HD Camcorder with Style

Big news on the HD camcorder front. The second half of February should see the UK availability of the VPC-SH1 HD Dual Camera. I am bringing you this news early, as I am uber excited that I will be bringing you a series of reviews covering the product features and performance. This will be followed by my regular reviews being recorded with the SH1 so you get a good idea of what sort of picture and sound it delivers.

The VPC-SH1 is approximately 190cc in volume, 204g in weight, and 43mm in thickness. Its excellent portability dramatically expands the situations in which a video camera can be used. In fact, the actual dimensions are very small measuring just 42.8mm wide by 117.9mm long and 59.2mm high. It looks pretty snazzy to in black/silver or a black/silver/red combo.
It also sports something Sanyo is calling a "Double Sub REC Button"... what this basically offers is extra recording buttons (in addition to the regular ones) at the upper front part of the body. So you can hold the camcorder low down and still easily start/stop recording and take pictures from a creative angle.
It may be small, but it still captures full HD video at up to 1920x1080 pixels and at up to 60 frames per second. The bitrate is decent too, maxing out at 16Mbps. On top of this you get 10 megapixel still capture, which sounds pretty cool. All captured onto SD memory cards, with SDHC and SDXC support. A 35mm wide angle lens, with 23x optical and 30x advanced digital zoom, plus a 2.7-inch full colour screen round off what sounds like a very compelling package. I certainly cannot wait to get my hands on one. In the mean time, head on over to the Sanyo website to take a look.
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