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Monday, March 10, 2014

The News

Last week the FAA's rule limiting commercial drone use was overturned, though as this piece points out you might want to be careful for the moment to see how it all shakes out:
Lawyers on commercial drone ruling: proceed cautiously | PBS
Adelman, chair of the Unmanned Systems Practice Group at the LeClairRyan law firm in Annapolis, said he would advise entrepreneurs to hold off on investing in production of more drones for at least a few more weeks.



Looks like the pricing for the Panasonic GH4 should be official today. The GH4 will be $1698 and the add-on box (the DMW-YAGH) will be $1998. The cost for the camera is impressive and you can save $399 by ordering the two together (though no that the camera on it's own is expected to be available prior to the bundle.)
Panasonic GH4 pricing official – $1698 body only, $1998 for the external 10bit / XLR box  | EOSHD
The bundle deal saves you around $400 and the GH4 body only is a full $300 less than I expected it to cost. Hope this translates well into British pounds and European euros when those prices are announced too.


Philip Bloom has reviewed the Digital Bolex D16, finding it an interesting camera, though he's not too sure who the target market is for the camera due to certain limitations.


The Digital Bolex D16 Review from Philip Bloom Reviews & Tutorials on Vimeo.

Digital Bolex offers their own perspective:
Philip Bloom Review’s the D16 | Digital Bolex
So that’s where we picture ourselves: part of a long history of cinema quality cameras, giving people an image worthy of projecting in a theater for the price of a DSLR, easier to use in real world situations than anything in it’s price class, the bare minimum you need to make a movie.


Canon Cinema EOS C100 Dual Pixel Upgrade Explained | CanonRumors
Dual Pixel CMOS AF is a sensor-based, phase-detection autofocus (AF) technology that’s designed to provide smooth, high-performance continuous focus in movies. It is a unique, Canon-developed technology, ideal for fast and accurate autofocus, helping filmmakers to create stunning footage which maximises the creative options offered by fast lenses and shallow depth-of-field.

VIDEO: CANON C100 DUAL PIXEL CMOS AF UPGRADE NOW AVAILABLE – WE TEST IT OUT | News Shooter
So far I can say that I am really impressed at how well the system works. The accuracy seemed very good most of the time and the set we used gave it no real problems. The AF is quick – sometimes a little too quick for a natural feel, but for news and documentary shooting I don’t see it as being a problem.


Canon say: “We need to respond to calls for DSLR video quality increase” | EOSHD
“For a long time people having been talking about stills and movies coming together as a single, fused function and maybe in the 4K era we will see stills and movies integrated into one. This fusing might become the driving force for the next revolution.”


Info on getting started on the ARRI Alexa (not the upcoming Amira)
The Complete Guide to Getting Started with the ARRI ALEXA | No Film School
Obviously, ARRI has released several variations on the ALEXA in the past two years, including the ALEXA XT line, which utilizes the full area of the 4:3 s35 sensor (allowing for native use of anamorphic lenses), among a whole bunch of other fantastic features which I’ll get to later.


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