Hasta La Gadget!

Canon’s prosumer line just got a little better, with the 18 megapixel, 1080p recording 60D hitting stores and, now, getting recommended reviews. Photo Blog and Camera Labs have weighed in so far, and both have positive conclusions, most notably regarding that movie mode. The camera will kindly record in 1080p24 in addition to 1080p30, but the autofocus while filming is panned, called “fairly useless” thanks to only happening when you half-press the shutter button, and then taking a few seconds to figure things out — but that’s just like the EOS 7D and T2i. Overall the 60D scores highly and easily bests the 50D it replaces, but the real competition is Nikon’s D7000, which interestingly is busting out at retail already, offering a similar price point, similar capabilities, and a magnesium alloy chassis, versus the plastic one on the Canon. How will they compare? We’ll just have to wait for the next round of reviews to find out.

Continue reading Canon’s 60D impresses reviewers, but a challenger approaches (video)

Canon’s 60D impresses reviewers, but a challenger approaches (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The header says it all folks. We just ran some tests on the AppleTV’s playback limits by streaming 1080p movie trailers in iTunes and managed to verify murmurs saying the device can accept 1080p content. Unfortunately, output is a different story, since it downscales the image back to 720p on your display. Yes it’s a little frustrating — especially since it’s predecessor was up to the challenge — but it should at least comfort those with a massive library of 1080p videos who were worried about reconverting for their new black box. Considering the hardware gems discovered in the AppleTV teardown however, we’re still holding out for the jailbreak community to let us play our 1080p files, and display them too. Oh, and if they could get to work on Super-Hi Vision support at some point, well, that’d be just dandy.

Confirmed: Apple TV can play 1080p content from iTunes, but still only outputs 720p originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Say hello to the latest additions to Sony’s lineup of SXRD projectors announced at CEDIA 2010, the VPL-VW90ES and the VPL-VWPRO1. Previously introduced at IFA, the VPL-VW90ES is not only Sony’s first projector to wear the Elevated Standard brand and include all the custom installer tidbits that go with that, but it’s also the first to do 3D. The MSRP for all that high end construction, 240Hz framerate and 1,000 ANSI lumens brightness is a buck under $10,000 when it ships in November. Just in case you don’t have that in your couch cushions, it’s also introduced a new 2D-only model at the lower end of the line, the VPL-VWPRO1 has a higher brightness rating than its more expensive cousin, but a lower contrast ratio and price of $3,400, available in October. Check the press release after the break for all the specs available or just peek in the gallery for our hands-on pics.

Continue reading Sony’s VPL-VW90ES 3D projector priced and dated for the US

Sony’s VPL-VW90ES 3D projector priced and dated for the US originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s press event kicked things off here in Cologne, and Photokina 2010 just wouldn’t be Photokina 2010 without oodles of talk about mirrorless cameras. After talking up its NX100 for the better part of an hour, the company took a moment to answer a few questions from the crowd. The biggest news, however, was the unveiling of the price point. Up until now, Sammy has remained mum on how much its latest and greatest compact would run, but we were told the 20-50mm bundle would ship at some point in the near future for $599 (we’ve confirmed that it’ll ship in October), while the 20mm pancake lens bundle would go for $649.

In related news, last year’s NX10 will be gaining a huge level of functionality thanks to an October-bound firmware update, which will add full support for the company’s range of i-Function lenses. You heard right — the NX10 you splurged on last year will soon be able to play the same tap-and-scroll settings game as the NX100. Speaking of lenses, Samsung also confirmed that it would be willing to “provide technical information” to other companies in order for third-party i-Function lenses to be created. We didn’t get the impression that any other outfit had come forward with interest, but we couldn’t be happier to hear that there’s no walled garden surrounding the technology — particularly with how impressive it was during our initial NX100 hands-on.

Lastly, the company admitted that it’s hoping to have a 1080p model ready at some point in 2011, and it’s also hard at work on an APS-C sensor that’s better geared for low-light situations. Music to our ears, to say the least.

Samsung NX100 priced at $599+ for October release, NX10 gaining i-Function lens support in October originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP‘s just outed a new camcorder, the 1080p loving V5020u. Among its other attractions, this camcorder boasts full HD 1080p video recording at a resolution up to 1920×1080, a built-in gyroscope for image stabilization, 10x digital zoom, a 5 megapixel sensor, a motion detector, a 2-inch LCD, and an SDHC slot for extra storage capacity. This bad boy, which we think is pretty good looking, will be available in October for $159.

HP V5020u camcorder does 1080p in style originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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