Hasta La Gadget!

Redrock Micro makes accessories for movie cameras, and lately it makes add-ons for the latest movie-shooting SLR-cameras. The latest addition is a range of “Nano” kits which turn your stills-cam into a film-making rig, and they do it on the cheap.

SLRs are obviously designed to shoot single photos, and access to the various exposure controls is the premium consideration. A movie camera needs to be focused and moved around as you shoot, which is tricky if you’re using two hands just to hold it up.

The new Redrock kits come in three main flavors: A grip, which is a simple handle that screws into the tripod-mount, a pair of chest braces which let you hold the camera with one hand and focus with the other, and a couple “low-down” kits which put handles on the top and sides so you can carry the camera like a briefcase or an underwater-style rig. The chest rigs come with eye-pieces for the rear LCD-screen to allow live-view-shooting outside.

The prices run from just over $100 to just under $500, depending on how many rods, grips and pads are hanging off the stick-insect structures. This might not sound inexpensive, but in the overpriced world of movie-cameras, it’s an almost dirt-cheap bargain. Available now.

Nano DSLR Rigs [Redrock Micro via Photography Bay]

See Also:

• MicroRemote Uses iPhone to Keep Movies in Focus
• RED Takes Aim at DSLR Market, Photographers Salivate
• High-Resolution External Display for DSLRs

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

We had a feeling we’d be seeing the well-leaked Nikon D3100 this week after the Coolpix S1100pj and S5100 were officially launched on Tuesday, and here it is, right on cue. Just as we’d heard, the big news is the addition of a 1080p/24 H.264 AVCHD movie mode with continuous contrast-detect autofocus, complete with face detection and subject tracking. That’s a major first in the DSLR world, although we’re extremely curious to hear how much focus motor noise you can hear in the clips — we’ve definitely had issues with other continuous autofocus systems in the past. That new focus system carries over to regular Live View and the 720p movie mode, which shoots at both 24 and 30fps, and the new 14.2 megapixel sensor can be boosted from its native max of ISO 3200 up to 12,800 for some low-light action. Around back there’s a three-inch screen, and Nikon’s also beefed up the Guide mode, which the company says was extremely popular on the D3000 — it shows you how to use the various features of the camera, complete with comparison shots showing the effects of different settings. The D3100 will run $699 with the usual 18-55mm VR kit lens when it hits in September — we’ve got grand plans to put that video AF system through the wringer when we get one, but for now check some pics in the gallery and PR after the break.

Continue reading Nikon D3100 gets real, adds 1080p movie mode with continuous autofocus

Nikon D3100 gets real, adds 1080p movie mode with continuous autofocus originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Loaning out your precious DSLR to a friend who doesn’t know shutter from aperture? Got a classroom full of trainee photographers whose lesson requires they be set to a particular mode? Canon’s hoping you’ll drop an extra $129 on a version of the critically-acclaimed EOS 7D that lets you control how your lackeys fire off shots. The $1,829 EOS 7D Studio Version adds four tiers of password-protected locking controls, plus an optional barcode and data transfer kit (to organize and commit large photo sessions to databases) using a custom version of the company’s WFT-E5A wireless transmitter for just $770 more. We can’t say we know anyone who’d use these features, but hey — if enough corporations spring for the advanced model, perhaps the original will drop in price. PR after the break.

Continue reading Canon’s EOS 7D ‘Studio Version’ features parental controls, barcode mode

Canon’s EOS 7D ‘Studio Version’ features parental controls, barcode mode originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’re a photographer: Imagine being able not only to walk around your subject, but to whisk yourself away and shoot from anywhere you choose, however high your want, like James Cameron guiding his virtual cameras in Avatar. With Anthony Jacobs’ new autonomous camera-copter, you can.

The new rig is the sequel to the HD video-camera we saw swept into the skies of New York by a remote-controlled quadrocopter last year. Jacobs, the photographer and inveterate tinkerer behind that setup, is back, and this time he’s using GPS and lifting video-shooting DSLRs into the air. Jacobs is pitching this new platform at photojournalists, and here’s why:

Say you are on the ground at a natural disaster site (or perhaps BP’s heavies are trying to prevent you from grabbing your shot). You fire up the four-rotor copter and fly your camera into position. Hit a switch and the GPS-control kicks in. Combined with the inherent stability of a quadrocopter and its gyroscopes, the platform stays exactly where it is, even in wind.

The photographer can now drop the remote and concentrate on taking photos or video. A live video-feed is sent back from the camera to an 8-inch LCD-screen for composition, and a three-axis gimbal, controlled by another remote, allows the camera to be swung independently into position. This allows the photographer to capture shots otherwise impossible to get, or too dangerous to shoot by hand. It could also give amazing perspectives on sports games (although we guess it could all be brought down by an unlucky football).

And when you’re done, you just hit the “home” button and the camera will fly itself right back to you. But there’s more: Are you an indie-filmmaker looking to add some expensive looking boom-shots and fly-bys to your movie? Check this out:

With one person piloting and the other working the camera, this is a lot cheaper than renting a helicopter. For the photojournalist working alone, the whole thing packs into a single Pelican case, making it portable and tough enough to take anywhere. As Jacobs says in the email he sent me, “I believe this […] would make a lot of readers drool!” He’s dead right.

Canon 5D Mark II Aerial Drone – Autonomous GPS Position Hold [Perpective Aerials. Thanks, Anthony!]

See Also:

• Flying Copter-Cam Swoops Over New York City
• Helicam Combines Toy Helicopter and Camera for HD Videos

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Can’t say we’ve ever seen anything like this before… well, aside from those cameras of old that forced you to look down into the viewfinder while cradling the camera against your gut. In fact, that’s exactly the experience that Yaniv Berg is attempting to recreate here, with his Digital Reflex Camera concept shaped more like a periscope and less like a camera. In theory, at least, all of the hardware would be encased in a tube, and if you flip the camera, the LCD turns into a display, creating an undercover spy device of epic proportions. Naturally, there’s probably no hope that this will ever hit retail, but feel free to check back a few score from now to see just how close this was to predicting the future.

Digital Reflex Camera concept puts the viewfinder on top, everything else in a tube originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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