Month: August 2016

Garmin Enters the Action Cam World

This new action cam, the Garmin VIRB Ultra 30, surprised us.  As always, we’re happy to have competition and downward price pressure on the GoPro line.

This camera features:

  • 4K at 30FPS
  • Voice control
  • A better mic (whatever this means)
  • 3-Axis image stabilization
  • Elevation and air-time features
  • LCD touch-screen
  • GPS data
  • A price that is probably higher than we will like (but not necessarily unreasonable)

 

Some Thoughts For and Against the Canon 5D Mark IV

canon_5d_mark_iv_4k_video

Noam Kroll, a film maker whose posts we usually enjoy, has written an article titled 3 Reasons Why The New Canon 5D MK IV Might Not Suck. We are happy to see many points of view on the same subject so this is a welcome post about the Canon 5D Mark IV (which we still strongly do not recommend for video purposes).

And this meme was bound to pop up quickly and regardless of whether or not you like or hate it, it did accurately summarize the main grievances against this new release:

 

Panasonic GH5 10-Bit Internal Recording

panasonic_g7_back
Panasonic G7 Back

Several sites have reported that the Panasonic GH5 will have internal 10-bit recording and some are reporting no crop in 4K. 120FPS 4K has long been reported.  Our one reliable reporting source for all things Panasonic has not been able to confirm this from us.  The comment we did find interesting is a Panasonic rep stating that there will be significant improvements (see this blog post for more information: Panasonic GH5 Will NOT Have a Sensor Larger than Micro-Four-Thirds

Canon Announces the EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR

Many of you have been waiting a long time for this camera. Canon tends to be conservative in their updates but they did change more than usual with this iteration. Again, we are sad to see the absence of 4K 60P but it’s not really surprising.

canon_5d_mark_iv_4k_video

Specifications of note:

  • New 30.4 Megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor for versatile shooting in nearly any light, with ISO range 100–32,000; expandable up to 50–102,400.
  • 4K Motion JPEG video (DCI cinema-type 4096 x 2160) at 30p or 24p; in-camera still frame grab of 4K 8.8-Megapixel images; multiple video options include Full HD up to 60p, and HD up to 120p.
  • Superb Dual Pixel CMOS AF for responsive and smooth AF during video or Live View shooting; LCD monitor has full touch-screen interface, including selection of AF area.
  • Excellent performance — up to 7.0 fps continuous shooting speed with high performance DIGIC 6+ Image Processor for improved speed and excellent image quality.
  • 61 AF points with expanded vertical coverage with 41 cross-points, and AF possible at all 61 AF points with many lens + extender combinations effective at f/8.
  • 150,000-pixel RGB+IR metering sensor helps provide precise exposure metering, helps detect flickering lights and allows for enhanced scene recognition and face detection capabilities.
  • Dual Pixel RAW, in-camera Digital Lens Optimizer during JPEG shooting and Diffraction Correction technologies.
  • Built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity provide easy sharing to compatible smart devices, select social media sites and the Canon Connect Station CS100 device.
  • Built-in GPS provides geotag information including auto time syncing with Universal Time Code (UTC) via satellites.
  • $3,499