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Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Trapezist Portable Mini Jib

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Trapezist Portable Mini Jib

The Trapezist Portable Mini Jibis a new, lightweight and budget-friendly jib from Light Craft Workshop.

The telescoping jib arm allows the package to collapse down to roughly two feet and pack away in an included bag.  It looks to set up quickly without tools and offers over a 4-foot reach in addition to the tripod height.

The jib has four 1/4″ screw threads and a magic arm that allows user to attach different kind of accessories for access on the user end, such as an external monitor, USB follow focus, audio recorder and other accessories.

The jib retails at $339; however, there is a special launch price $299. More details on Light Craft Workshop’s website.

Check out the quick overview video below. [Read more…]

 

indiSLIDER at NAB 2012

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indiSLIDER

The indiSLIDER is a camera slider that I’ve been intrigued with after seeing its ridiculously low prices online a few months back.  I had my doubts about how smooth such a cheap product would actually perform.  Those doubts were alleviated after handling a few samples on the NAB 2012 show floor.

While it’s still not a high-end product from the likes of Kessler and such, it performs amazingly well for the price.  Check out the video below for a little overview  of the indiSLIDER system.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs7Mp7Pv0v0&w=640&h=360]

The indiSLIDER starts at just $99 for the barebones 24″ model and goes up to $215 for the 4-foot model with legs.  More robust “pro” models start at $399.

Canon EOS C500 is a Pro Level 4K RAW Cinema Camera

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Canon C500

The Canon C500 was announced today alongside the Canon EOS 1D C.  Both offer 4K video capture; however, the C500 is clearly targeted toward the higher-end Hollywood user.

The C500 supports 4K-resolution video and outputs as a 10-bit uncompressed RAW data stream with no de-Bayering.  The C500 can shoot 4K at 1-60fps.

The camera will also output quad full-HD (3840 x 2160), 2K (2048 x 1080) and full HD (1920 x 1080).  The C500 offers a 12-bit RGB 4:4:4 signal format during 2K output, which can be selected to operate from one to 60 fps. The C500 can capture 120 fps when switched to a 10-bit YCrCb 4:2:2 mode.

In addition to the external video output options, the  C500 simultaneously records in-camera a 50 Mbps HD proxy video to a CF card.

Like the C300, the C500 features a Super 35 format CMOS sensor and will be available in EF-mount and PL-mount options.  Pricing (rumored to be around $30k) and release dates are yet to be confirmed.

More info and images for the Canon C500 below. [Read more…]

Zeiss 15mm T2.9 and 135mm T2.1 CP.2 Lenses Announced

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Zeiss CP.2 15mm T2.9

Zeiss CP.2 15mm T2.9

Zeiss has unveiled two new compact prime lenses – the CP.2 15/T2.9 super wide angle lens and the CP.2 135/T2.1 lens.  The new CP.2 lenses offer full frame coverage in multiple mount options – PL, EF, F, MFT and E mounts.

Zeiss CP.2 135mm T2.1

Zeiss CP.2 135mm T2.1

The lenses will retail at $5700 each and will have their official coming out party at NAB 2012.

More info in the press release below. [Read more…]

RED Scarlet Gets Sub-$10K Price, Canon EF Lens Mount, 4K Motion

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RED Scarlet

Following Canon’s announcement of the new EOS C300 cinema camera, RED announced details that the long-awaited Scarlet will be getting a 5K sensor, but will only capture 4K motion up to 25fps.  The price is $9750.

To be clear, the Scarlet has the same sensor size and dimensions as the EPIC.  The processing power, however, is where the limitations lie at.  If you are shooting cinema at 24p though, this is the cheapest and highest resolution you’ll find by a long shot.

[Read more…]

5D Mark II Film ‘Act of Valor’ Gets Official Trailer

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Act of Valor

The first official Act of Valor trailer is out.  We’ve been hearing Shane Hurlbut (Act of Valor’s cinematographer) talk about this film for many months now.  Back in June we learned that Relativity Media picked it up for $13 Million.

(Push the resolution up to 720p and full screen the trailer below…)

This film was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II along with [Read more…]