Hasta La Gadget!

Panasonic has released more details of its upcoming Micro Four Thirds (M4/3) camcorder, the mysterious AG-AF100, which was originally announced back in April. And while we have no price or firm launch date (we’re still looking at the end of the year), there is a lot for videographers to get excited about.

Most important, the camcorder will work with all of Panasonic’s G-series lenses, those made for the existing M4/3 stills cameras. This, by extension, means that you’ll also be able to use the available adapters to put just about any 35mm lens on the front.

Then come details of the shooting formats. The AF100 will shoot AVCHD video in 1080 and 720-line sizes, at frame rates of 59.94, 50, 29.97, 25 or 23.9p (this last mimics the frame rate of traditional film cameras). Up to 12-hours of footage can be captured to the twin SDXC card slots, and the camera will talk to microphones and other video hardware via standard XLR and HD-SDI sockets.

For a (presumably) budget-friendly price, a large-sensor camcorder with access to thousands of great lenses is a sweet prospect. It might not have the flexibility of video-shooting DSLRs like the Canon 5D MkII, but neither will you need to bolt on so many accessories that it ends up looking like a Borg. The (PDF) link to the product details is dead right now, but in the meantime you can read a little more at the intermediary DP Review page.

AG-AF100 details (PDF) [Panasonic via DP Review]

See Also:

• Panasonic Announces Micro Four Thirds Camcorder
• Hi-def

In every geek’s life, the time must come when he or she steps away from the pocket-friendly compact point-and-shooter and straps up with a hefty DSLR to do real photography with. Or such was the received wisdom until not too long ago. It’s still the case that lenses, bound by the laws of physics, will protrude more than most of us want them to, but mirrorless Micro Four Thirds shooters from Olympus and Panasonic, along with Samsung’s NX series, have shown that prosumer camera bodies don’t always have to be that bulky. This is the stage upon which the NEX-5 enters, with Sony predictably aiming to outdo everyone using an ultraslim magnesium alloy body that delivers 1080p video and 14 megapixel stills. Join us after the break to see what we thought of the Japanese giant’s latest product.

Continue reading Sony NEX-5 preview

Sony NEX-5 preview originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone is made of aluminosilicate glass. Apple says it’s “chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic” and it’s “ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever.” Still not enough to survive a 3.5-foot drop. More »

The HTC EVO, “America’s first 4G Android Phone”, is getting an HDMI dock. The dock, which will let you hook up the cellphone to watch hi-def video the same way you hook up an iPhone to play music, will be on sale “soon” in Best Buy.

Don’t get too excited, though. The folks at PC Mag were “quite disappointed with the HDMI experience on the Sprint EVO 4G” when they tested the output straight through the cable: A Viewsonic TV only saw the a 480p signal instead of the EVO’s actual 720p output, and an H.264 clip watched on a Samsung TV “displayed horrible artifacting in any scene with much movement.” Ouch.

Still, if you plan on watching a lot of video piped from the EVO to the big screen, a dock is certainly convenient. The price is to be confirmed, but as a cable alone will cost $17 up, don’t expect it to be cheap.

Micro HDMI dock for Sprint EVO coming to Best Buy [Android and Me via Engadget]

Hands On: HTC EVO 4G’s HDMI Cable [PC Mag]

Oh yeah, things just got real. Sharp has announced an industry first today, with its 720p-recordin’ 3D camera module. Intended for mobile devices like smartphones and point-and-shoot digicams, this miniature wonder will be sampling in July and hitting mass production before the end of the year. Not much else is known about it at this point — we can guess it’ll cost a pretty penny when it debuts — but Sharp has penned an effusive press release, which you may explore just past the break.

Continue reading Sharp busts out world’s first 3D HD camera for mobile devices

Sharp busts out world’s first 3D HD camera for mobile devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 02:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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