Sandisk has announced their line of SxS ExpressCards, which Sony has spec’d for the new XDCAM EX1. They will be available in November in 8 GB and 16 GB varieties at $500 and $900 MSRP, respectively.

Thanks to Anthony for the link!

Sachtler will be showing their FSB Cell battery at IBC this year, a tripod or shoe-mounted battery pack designed to power small compact HD cameras for up to eight hours on a single charge.

“SB CELL is a powerful 7.2 Volt lithium ion rechargeable battery that fits directly below the camcorder. When used with Sachtler’s new FSB 2 or FSB 6 fluid heads, a stabilizer system or hand-held, it adds a carefully positioned 1.4 lb. (0.65kg) mass facilitating smooth pans and tilts that may otherwise be challenging with lightweight camcorders.

To facilitate optimum balance, the FSB CELL offers a sliding range that expands to 225mm. The FSB CELL is compatible with popular lightweight camcorders from Sony, Canon and Panasonic via optional adapter cables. The system comes complete with the global FSB CELL charger (90 – 250 VAC 50/60 Hz input).”

The FSB Cell is available at B&H for $210, a adapter cord for your specific camcorder will run you just under $80. It reminds me a lot of the Anton Bauer ElipZ battery pack system, also available at B&H for around $330 (with camera adapter).

Who hasn’t always wanted to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle, complete with onboard video camera? Well now you can, and on a tight budget. For $250 you can buy the ROV-in-a-Box Project Kit, a DIY project pioneered by the fine folks at Carl Hayden High School that “includes all the parts needed to build a working underwater robot: a frame, motors, underwater light, camera, 50-foot tether, operator control box, and a dry-cell battery.” You simply add the labor to build it and a monitor display. Sweet! Doubtful about it’s performance? Check out a video of the ROV in action below.
Continue reading ‘DIY Underwater ROV for $250′

Just got a Levelcam handheld stabilizer in the other day, and have been playing with it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the unit so far, it does a decent job of helping smooth out camera shake for lightweight camcorder handheld work. Might be a good fit to add some mass to your new Canon HV20. It works especially well in low-angle shots below the waist, and would be very useful for fast moving action, extreme sports and shooting from a moving vehicle. It is constructed of a hard plastic material, has multiple mounting holes for different cameras and accessories, and includes elastic tie-downs for anything you pile on the rig. Not bad for $50. You can get yours in two colors, Blue Ice or Black Mamba. I’ve included a few images of the unit below, mounted to a Sony FX1 and TRV-25.
Continue reading ‘LevelCam Handheld Camcorder Stabilizer’

NBC announced the other day they they will be pulling their TV lineup from the iTunes catalog, citing Apple’s resistance to “better piracy controls” and the inability to bundle shows instead of the iTunes ala carte model. Scott Kirsner covered this over at CinemaTech. So NBC decides not to renew the contract in December, and Apple just upped the ante by dropping the shows now…

“Apple’s agreement with NBC ends in December. Since NBC would withdraw their shows in the middle of the television season, Apple has decided to not offer NBC TV shows for the upcoming television season beginning in September. NBC supplied iTunes with three of its 10 best selling TV shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales.”

The best coverage by far I’ve read on this whole debacle is by Phill Ryu…in a article entitled “Welcome to Zuckerland” he picks apart NBC’s complaint with Apple, their ensuing followup damage control statements, and highlights “…the distinctive mix of paranoia, confusion and fear that is the mark of a corporation that doesn’t understand its customers, is backed into a corner, and is too chicken to fess up and apologize.” Foot, meet bullet. Bullet, meet foot.

In yet another blow to the Blu-ray disc format, Canadian electronics manufacturer Venturer announced their forthcoming $199 HD-DVD player. Finally, the all-important sub-$200 number. This is the sort of player that WalMart might carry. The SHD7000 plays 1080i via HDMI, supports Dolby TrueHD audio, and has Ethernet and a SD DVD upscaler. Expect it this holiday season at major North American retailers.

In the meantime, Toshiba has a 5 disc HD DVD rebate offer on all their hidef players. Buy any Toshiba HD DVD player and they’ll give you your choice from a limited selection of discs. More details and the rebate form below. Continue reading ‘The first $200 HD DVD player, eh?’

LFIHD noted today that the Motu V3HD has been released. We first mentioned it not too long ago. It has a staggering number of features and capabilities, and looks like a very useful tool for Audio and Video ingest and monitoring (and much more). If you’ve been eyeballing this one, you’ll be happy to hear that Bimi & Herschel has the V3HD in-stock and listed for just under $3000. And if you aren’t familiar with the new magic box from Motu, read on…
Continue reading ‘Motu V3HD Magic Box Now Shipping’

Total Training is running a promotion until August 5th, they are offering Buy One, Get One Free on any of their DVD training series or online subscription products. “How to Redeem: Add your selected products to the shopping cart. Next, enter SAVEBOGO in the promotional discount field and select “Apply Discount”. The discount will automatically deduct from your total.”

Sony Vegas 8.0 was announced recently and is available now. There are a number of improvements noted, and the software now features AVCHD support for Sony camcorders only. Thanks for the vendor lock-in, Sony. Movie Studio Platinum Edition is priced at $129.95 USD. Here’s the press release with all the juicy details.

Final Cut Pro 6 and Motion 3 have a new 16-bit architecture for plugins called FXPlug, and the latest version of Boris Continuum Complete now supports that framework. As always, Boris has a number of very interesting and useful plugins in the set. One new addition that caught my eye is UpRez, a filter to facilitate using SD material in a HD sequence without the weak uprezzing capabilites of the host application. There is a 14-day trial available, as well as a tutorial on the UpRez filter.

Sony is currently running a number of mail-in rebate promotions on HDV products, the most notable being a $300 USD rebate on the HVR-V1U HDV camcorder. The offers are effective on purchases made 4/1/07 through 9/30/07. There is also a $100 rebate on the HVR-M25U HDV deck for that same time period. And finally, a third offer is the $100 mail-in rebate on the purchase of the LMD-2030W 20″LUMA HD monitor, or combo $150 bonus rebate for purchasing the LMD-2030W monitor and the HVR-V1U camera or HVR-M25U VTR.

We have provided convenient B&H purchase links below, lest you injure your clicky finger in your haste to locate a Sony authorized reseller and cash in. Yes, the links were created for your benefit…that and the fact that any purchases made via these links directly supports FreshDV (and should leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside). Buy early, buy often.

1. Purchase the Sony HVR-V1U camcorder at B&H. Get the Rebate form here.
2. Purchase the Sony HVR-Z1U camcorder at B&H. Get the Rebate form here.
3. Purchase the Sony HVR-A1U camcorder at B&H. Get the Rebate form here.
4. Purchase the Sony HVR-M25U deck at B&H. Get the Rebate form here.
5. If you are still shopping at this point, seek professional help or a support group.

Continue reading ‘$300 Rebate Offer on Sony HDV Camcorders’

My review of Alexis Van Hurkman’s excellent “The Encyclopedia of Color Correction” instructional and reference manual is in the July issue of DV Magazine and online now at DV.com.

“Final Cut Pro users wishing to hone their color skills need look no further than the Apple Pro Training Series title Encyclopedia of Color Correction…..Subtitled “Field Techniques Using Final Cut Pro,â€? this excellent 552-page resource offers detailed FCP-specific instruction on a host of common color-related issues and procedures….From the basics of reading and monitoring video scopes, to advanced step-by-step tutorials on how to achieve specific looks, there is something for everyone here. The included companion DVD contains example project files and media referenced in the text.”

I have personally learned a lot about color correction from this book, and recommend it very highly. Suprisingly, the principles taught easily transfer over to other platforms and NLE’s…this is not just for FCP editors. It is available as part of the Apple Pro training series at Amazon.com for under $40.

One of the curses of cheap cost-effective “consumer” camcorders is the bottom-loading tape transport. It forces you to unscrew your tripod plate from the camera to swap tapes, which is a complete deal-breaker in some situations. For instance, long-form event shooting often requires multiple tape changes which renders these low-cost camcorders a lot less viable.

Fortunately, there are a number of accessories that can ease the pain of a bottom-loading camcorder. This company offers a number of shims and plate adapters for a wide variety of consumer camcorders that make it possible to load a tape without removing the camera from your tripod. And they are pretty reasonably priced too. Check ‘em out.

Thanks Mitch!

We mentioned Hitachi’s 7K1000 1TB hard disk announcement earlier this year. The drive utilizes Perpendicular Recording Technology to achieve the necessary high areal densities (take that, Superparamagnetic Effect). Here are two reviews of the drives, from Anandtech and Extremetech. Also, here is a RAID specs update from Anandtech on the drive. Prices are currently hovering around $400 for the drive, or 0.40 cents/gb.

A nearest-sized competitor the new Hitachi drives would be Seagate’s 750GB Barracuda 7200.10 drives, which are currently around $250 at Amazon (approx 0.33 cents/gb).

Two new mass-storage options on the market. The Mercury Elite triple interface 2TB array is a $1100 solution in brushed aluminum with a Mac-inspired cheesegrater front grille. And Buffalo ups the ante with their 3TB TeraStation at a cool $2,499. Read on for all the juicy details.