Digital Cameras

As smartphones with built-in HD video cameras become increasingly commonplace, the stand-alone pocket camcorder looks like it could be on its way to obsolescence. That’s certainly what Cisco Systems seemed to think, at least, when it recently stopped production of the market-leading Flip camcorder. One company that apparently doesn’t share this viewpoint, however, is Philips – today, the electronics manufacturer announced its new ESee pocket video camera. While there’s certainly some overlap with many camera phones, the camcorder sports several features that might keep it from ending up in the bargain bin anytime soon. Read More

Panasonic has announced a new addition to its LUMIX family, the 3D1 compact camera. It's a point-and-shoot snapper featuring a couple of 25mm ultra-wide-angle lenses, that allow users to shoot both stills and videos in 3D. The twin-lens system can also shoot 2D stills and videos simultaneously. Read More

It would be hard to imagine a greater contrast between today's launch by Canon of its EOS C300 digital cinema camera and the launch of RED's long-awaited Scarlet. Canon's event was huge and long-winded with a string of cinematography heavyweights on stage. At the RED gathering half an hour later, an ad hoc bunch of the faithful turned up at RED studios, ostensibly just to watch the same web page update as the rest of the world. Alas it didn't quite work out like that. Read More

The fact that Canon chose to release its new camera on the Paramount lot in Hollywood should be a big clue as to how it is positioning it's new baby. Scorsese was there! Ron Howard was there! Though it records to the same video codec as previous Canon cameras (50Mbps 4:2:2 Canon XF) 'video camera' would be a misnomer. Digital cinema camera would be more appropriate with the S35-sized 4K sensor designed to appeal to budget film makers and episodic TV producers. Canon sees an opportunity to sell the equivalent of an Arri Alexa for a third of the price and compete with Sony's CineAlta F3 large sensor offering. Of course Canon has a bit of a psychological advantage in this regard. Read More

Video cameras now routinely offer features such as full 1080p high-def video, night vision mode, and stereo sound ... if you're one of the people who reads that and thinks "Big deal, that just means people will have nicer-looking home videos," perhaps you would appreciate a camera that's focused less on the latest tech, and more on the art of moving pictures. Well, Lomography's new LomoKino Super 35 Movie Maker should fit the bill. Paying homage to the original Chaplin-era movie cameras, users hand-crank 35mm film through the box-like device, while a fixed-focus lens captures all the jittery, grainy action. Read More

Fujifilm's 3D cameras have been using a glasses-free lenticular system for a while now, but the company's 3D image viewer has had to wait until the latest version before incorporating the technology. The new FinePix REAL 3D V3 digital image viewer has also been treated to an HDMI input for direct connection to cameras like the Fujifilm FinePix REAL 3D W3, big screen TVs and other 3D-enabled devices. Read More

Two young men who spend their time together building Mad Max-esque vehicles and weapons see their lives and friendship thrown into violent disarray when one of them meets a girl - that's the premise of Bellflower, an independent American film that has been hitting the festivals and arthouse theaters since it was released this August. It's a simultaneously brutal and poetic movie, which writer/director/star Evan Glodell wanted to reflect in the look of its onscreen images. While he perhaps could have tried simply applying some digital effects in post production, he decided to ingrain the film's look on a deeper level ... so he had it shot with cameras that he jerry-rigged together himself. Read More

For most people at this time of year, a giant wearable camera would not be the first design to spring to mind when the invite arrives for the neighborhood Halloween party. Leaving the ghoulish and monstrous creations to other party-goers, photographer Tyler Card's amazing costume isn't just capable of capturing images of the party in full swing, it will also display the photos in real time on the LCD display at the back. Read More

Although the LCD screens on most cameras are sufficient for reviewing your shots, wouldn’t it be even better to be able to check them out on the larger screen of an iPad? You can already do so, but it involves running a USB cable from the camera to the computer (via an adapter), then transferring the photos across. It would be a lot quicker and simpler if you could just slip the camera’s memory card into the tablet, but unfortunately iPads don’t have built-in card readers. You can, however, buy the next-best thing: a plug-in CF or SD card reader, designed specifically for the iPad. Read More