Photographer Talks about LED Lighting and Adding Video To His Toolbox

Austin based Photographer Kirk Tuck has a pretty successful blog that I check in on every now and then. I like his conversational writing style and his pragmatic approach to photography. He has a new book out about using LED lights that sparked my interest. I’ve started paying a lot of attention to the new breed of LED’s that are currently hitting the market like the new Foton from PRG. The original crop of LED lights used off the shelf LEDs that were designed to glow in an instrument panel which didn’t need to throw light any real distance. This new crop of LEDs are designed for projecting light in pleasing patterns specifically for photo and video purposes. The market is maturing and even Chimera is making a soft box for LED light banks. For more info there’s a good article about LEDs over at HDVideoPro if you want to see what’s new.

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Olympus Heats Up Micro Four Thirds with OMD-E5

It might be a hard time to make a living as a photographer but it’s the best time to be a camera gear junkie. Seriously, this feels like the renaissance of digital camera development with new and amazing cameras coming out every month. I’ve been a big fan of Micro Four Thirds and was using a Panasonic GF-1 as a carry camera. I sold it to buy a Panasonic GX1 but then was lured over to the Sony NEX-7 which isn’t shipping yet.

Now we have the Olympus OMD-E5. Until now, the Panasonic GH-2 was the only DSLR like M4/3 camera and a lot of people swear by it. The Olympus OMD-E5 is heating up the high end of the M4/3 line up with a rugged professional build that is water and dust resistant with some really cool features that’s … Continue Reading

Nikon D800 Announced

Yesterday the Nikon D800 was officially announced and it’s pretty much what was expected. That’s not to say that a 36 megapixel camera is run of the mill, it’s just that a lot of info was leaked early and production was slowed down by the floods in Thailand. The ISO range seems less than exciting after the Nikon D4 announcement but it’s right in the ballpark for sub $3000 cameras. If you want extended ISO ranges you will have to pony up another $3 or $4 grand for the “pro” models of Nikons and Canons. … Continue Reading

Robotic Arms for HDSLR

I came across this site called ServoCity after following a link to a PT785-S pan and tilt servo head. This looks like a very cool and affordable solution at $350 for the arm mechanism with plug and play wired remotes starting at $50 and a wireless controller for $80.

This precision, closed-loop system is designed to manipulate cameras/devices up to 6 lbs even though the entire head only weighs a super-light 1.8 lbs. Each axis can operate up to 400° of … Continue Reading

Canon C300 at Samy’s DV & Edit

On Tuesday, February 7th from 11am to 3pm, Samy’s DV & Edit is proud to welcome our special guest Pulitzer-Prize and Cannes Lion winning photographer / filmmaker  Vincent Laforet to help us introduce you to the new game-changing Canon C300 Cinema EOS . Seats are sure to go quickly,  reserve your place now!

We’ll fill you in on all the new features and operating specifics of this revolutionary new camera. A full size Super 35mm chip in concert with great design, utilizing Canon’s long history in elite photography, make the C300 the first camera in its class that can get your movie to the big screen with no compromise whatsoever. Choose between your Canon EF lenses or PL Mount glass; either camera will provide stunning Cinema-Quality HD footage.
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Tascam iM2 iPhone Recorder

There are a lot of cool gadgets coming out right now and we’re usually pretty selective with the “look at this” type of posts here on PCN but since I’ve covered using an iPhone as an audio recorder in the past I thought this would be of interest to our readers.

The Tascam iM2 attaches to an IOS device (iPhone or iPad) giving you a serious recording tool. I really like the idea of carrying a microphone to use with my iPhone around instead of another full sized electronic device in my laptop bag. Here’s a video from Tascam:
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