VizWorld.com

All of you Canon T2i 550D owners have something new to think about this weekend.  If this video is to be believed, then this weekend there will be a new firmware out for you Canon hackers to try that enables 4k video.  Granted, you can only record 6 seconds of video on a 32G card, but still.. it’s 4k video. Sounds like it’s a bit complex, but could be huge for folks doing video on DSLRs.

Update: Here’s some more details.

Update 1/3/2011: It’s a Hoax.

QA: You Can run your Magic lantern at the same time. Although Qscale cannot be used. AGC on Lantern can be used with this firmware.

You must, and I mean MUST..get all of your iso, fstop settings and what not…ready. Then you have to input the same settings into our firmware before you do anything.

There’s a feature in our fimware called memory card control. The firmware will adjust the bitrate(constant) to whatever class memory card you are using. There are 3 brands of memory card that work with this firmware and that’s after testing over 50 other memory cards. Sandisk Extreme III class 10 8gb and above. Transcend class 10 16gb and above and Lexar Pro class 10 32gb. Class 6 cards will work, but only up to 3k filming. 4k just won”t happen. Just stick with the same brands.

Using a Sandisk Extreme III class 10 32gb card gave these results.

2k: 175mb/s = 91 seconds of footage

3k: 175mb/s = 32 seconds of footage

4k: 175mb/s = 6 seconds of footage.

Note: Lowering the bitrate for 4k does not give you extra recording time. This is something that we have to work out. Also, you will not be able to shoot 4k in 45mb/s. It must be 65mb/s and above.

For those of you worry about heat…trust me, at first that was an issue but now… It’s not. We’ve actually put our own limiter in the firmware so that way everyone doesn’t brick their cameras.

I’ll be answering more questions through out the day.

Here’s their “demo video”, which is unfortunately more hype than substance.

via YouTube – 4k Firmware for the Canon T2i 550d on 1/1/11.

Hardware 4k, canon, dslr

Today Canon showed off an ‘engineering prototype’ of a possible 4K Camera under development, and while they are careful to state that this will probably never see the light of day without extensive rework, the various opinions around the device are heavily polarized.  This was just too interesting to pass up.

First, Gizmodo loves it, which is no surprise since they love just about any gadget.

I really hope Canon makes this concept compact 4k camera one day, even if it says it’ll never come out just like this. It’s like the looming future of cameras sculpted in black plastic, a photon blaster-cum-camera.

A mere 5.5 pounds, this working concept model shoots 4K video at 60 frames a second using a single 2/3-inch CMOS sensor.

Then, ProLost takes one look at it and struggles to hold back the vomit.

There’s so much wrong with this “concept camera” that I hardly know where to begin. It’s an atrocity of aesthetics and ergonomics. It has a fixed, not-very-special 20x zoom lens. The sensor is only 2/3”. It shoots 60fps. Nothing about this camera reflects any awareness of what digital cinematographers want. It’s as if Canon brass lifted the internet ban on the engineer’s dungeon just long enough for them to visit to RED’s web site, and then shut it down again after they’d read as far as “4K.”

Finally, Philip Bloom takes a look and gives us a more balanced response.

It was actually working and was crisp as hell…This concept camera had  a fixed 2/3″ 20x Zoom lens as the chip itself is 2/3″. I am not sure what the idea of it is, they mentioned something about medical something or other. It’s obviously not a cinema concept camera due to the fixed lens. The image out of it was actually really really nice. As I have said and I and am sure you all want to,  is to see an APS-C chip in camera like this and use all the current Canon glass or PL lenses…but Canon have a different marketing strategy to someone like RED. RED announce their road map and make it very public. Canon keep things close to their chest. If there is a cinema camera coming out or a new improved DSLR for video there is no way they would show a concept camera of it and show the competition what they have up their sleeve.

So all three of them are speaking of the same camera, but so many different views.  Those who love technology, those who use cameras on a daily basis, and those who cover the companies.  So, what do you think?

Hardware 4k, camera, canon

Ford Motor Company has recently upgraded the Powerwall in their Electronic Design Presentation Room (EDPR) and Advanced Visualization Center (AVC) with Sony 4K Projectors, thanks to help from IGI.

The Powerwall at Ford’s EDPR is 60-feet wide. It is equipped with three projectors, model number SRX-S110, which produce 10,000 ANSI lumens each, and produce 8.8 million pixels per unit. The company also uses two additional SRX-S110 projectors for two separate screens in its AVC, which are used for full-scale viewing of vehicle designs.

They say it give stheir engineers better visualizations of their designs, but I think the real purpose is merely to make a great demo to guests.

via Sony’s SXRD 4k Projectors Help Keep Ford Motor Company In The Passing Lane.

Hardware 4k, ford, igi, powerwall, sony