Sony drops a bombshell! Announces the NEX-VG10 camera

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Sony has announced an interchangeable lens video camera today based around the sensor from their new NEX camera series. This has surprised a few people, myself included! We all figure Canon is working on something like this, we know Panasonic is because they have officially released prototype drawings of it, called the AG-AF100 but Sony always seemed a little bit behind in the race because their Alpha line of SLR cameras is really the only major SLR lineup that currently does not feature video recording. It seems then that Sony just decided to skip the intermediary stage of creating an …

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Battle of the 300s. 300mm F4 IS Vs. 300mm F2.8 IS

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This past winter I decided to purchase a 300mm f2.8 L IS.  My dream lens.  At the time I was using a 300mm f4 L IS to shoot skiing with and whilst I was never disappointed with the quality of the shots from that lens on its own, I wanted to see a little more from it when used with teleconverters. After buying the 2.8 I still had the f4 for a couple of weeks before I sold it on so I took the opportunity to shoot a few tests to compare the two.  Details of my testing were as …

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Canon 300mm f2.8 L IS + 2x Teleconverter – Real world usage how good is it ?

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Sometimes I get in the mood to do big technical tests on gear and lenses. I have a few of those in the works right now but for this one I’m going to keep it simple. Teleconverters have a fairly bad reputation and my first foray into their use was with my original 70-200 2.8 L IS. I picked up a 1.4x II thinking that it might be useful for getting me near the 300mm mark on the cheap. Long story short, I tried it a couple of times and then swore never to put a teleconverter anywhere near my …

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Quick video tip – Fast tilt

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Everyone who shoots with DSLRs for video knows the problems with high speed panning, the dreaded “jello vision” or rolling-shutter effect. This is caused by the way the camera’s sensor records the information, top to bottom. As you pan, the image that the sensor starts to record at the top, is shifted slightly to one side by the time the sensor has finished recording the data at the bottom so the subjects appear to bend to one side. But this does not really effect your video if you want to perform a tilt at high speed because relative to the …

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Sequences re-visited from SBC Skier magazine

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Apologies for the lack of updates in the last couple of week, it’s been busy times here in Whistler.  Today I’d like to post some sequences that were shot last year for SBC Skier magazine here in Canada.  The first four were to be used for “Trick Tips” , where a pro skier describes how someone would go about performing that trick.  The fifth sequence was not shot for that purpose, but it was run as a double page spread so I thought I’d throw it in the mix too.  For anyone wanting to know how to create a sequence …

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ThinkTank Hydrophobia 70-200 Flash rain cover review

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NOTE: The reviewed version of the Hydrophobia 70-200 has now been replaced by an updated, improved version. Details of the new version can be found here. Many things have changed, and the prices have been reduced, so this review is no longer relevant. Torrential rain or prolonged periods of snow do not generally go hand in hand with photography and camera equipment. Sometimes it has to be avoided to prevent damage to equipment, but sometimes it cannot be avoided while on assignment to cover a particular event. If you find yourself in that situation you might want to think about …

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Ski photo slideshow for 2010 Olympics in Whistler

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Before the 2010 Olympics kicked off in my home town of Whistler, BC, I was commissioned by the local arts council to produce a slideshow of some of my skiing images. The slideshow was played on TVs and giant screens around the Olympics during the breaks between events. Check it out below and click through to Vimeo if you want to watch it in HD. Whistler Core Shots Olympic slideshow from Dan Carr on Vimeo.

Adobe finally releases Lightroom 3.0

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The day has finally come , and now the clock is ticking for those of us who are running the beta version of lightroom 3. The beta will expire on June 30th and after that point you will have to purchase a copy of Adobes flagship image organizer to continue to use it. Like a lot of people out there I have been testing LR3 for some time and it is a vast improvement over LR2. Earlier in the winter I tried out Aperture 3 as well, but for me Lightroom’s file organization was much better. I don’t profess to …

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Z-Finder Jr Review and comparison to Z-Finder Pro

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100601_1908_dancarrIf you have taken more than a passing interest into the video capabilities of your DSLR camera then you will probably have thought about getting some sort of viewfinder for the LCD screen. With the DSLR cameras lacking the ergonomics of traditional video camera design, such viewfinders are probably the most useful accessory to aid video shooting. Not only do they permit easier manual focusing with a clear view of the screen, but they also add stability to hand held shooting with an extra point of contact to your body.

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Separate audio syncing just got easier with new DualEyes

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If you shoot video with a Canon DSLR you already know the audio sucks. Or even if you don’t, maybe you have read my guide to audio and microphones for these cameras ! Recording your audio separately is without a doubt the way to get the highest quality audio track but it adds a couple of daunting extra steps to your production. Firstly the simple process of making sure you record the audio and not just the video while you are shooting, 2 record buttons to press! And secondly syncing that audio to your video track in post-production. I guess …

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New Zoom H1 audio recorder. Multimedia journalists dream ?

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Samson Tech stumbled onto something great with the ubiquitous Zoom H4N audio recorder. When the DSLR video craze kicked off, people quickly realized that whilst the video was stunning to look at, the on-board audio sucked. All professional films use separate audio recorders though, and the HDSLR crowd quickly fell in love with the full featured Zoom H4N. Built in stereo mics and 2 XLR inputs meant 4 track recording was possible in a device that was only $300. Samson was in the right place at the right time with the right price, the H4N was and still is everywhere. …

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Manfrotto 503 HDV tripod head review

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100531_1686_dancarrManfrotto tripod heads are perhaps the most prolific video heads around. They are easily available and offer a solution for every budget and nearly every type of camera. I have touched on the lightweight, DSLR friendly 701HDV before but I recently had the chance to try out it’s bigger brother. The 503 HDV. The 503 skips over the middle sibling, the 501HDV and adds quite a few extra features and improved weight capacity.

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