Tag: video

Review: The Flip Mino HD Video Camera

By John Watson
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I really like the Flip video cameras. I reviewed the original Flip Mino back in June and recommended it for anyone who wanted to shoot more than a couple of minutes of video at a time or who wanted to reserve the space on their camera’s memory card just for pictures. The Flip Mino is a handy, compact, easy to use video recorder. And the Flip Mino HD (Amazon) is virtually identical in every way except one—it records 720p HD video.

Everything I liked about the Flip Mino I like about the Flip Mino HD. The body and controls are identical. You can’t even tell them apart visually except for the “HD” logo on the back. They operate exactly the same and feel exactly the same in my hand. Everything I wrote in my earlier review about the Flip Mino applies to the HD version. So let’s get on to video quality.

The video and sound quality are quite good. Video is recorded in H.264 format at 30 frames per second. Audio is recorded in AAC format at 44.1 kHz. The average bitrate is about 9 Mbps which lets the Flip store about 60 minutes of video on its internal 4 GB memory.

… Continue reading Review: The Flip Mino HD Video Camera

Screencast: Creating black and white cutouts

By John Watson
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We ran an article last month called Black and White with a Splash of Color. In this video I’ll show you a few additional simple but powerful techniques that will allow you to easily reproduce that effect.

You should be able to use these techniques in any image editor that supports layers and masks such as Photoshop, GIMP, Seashore, and Paint.Net.

… Continue reading Screencast: Creating black and white cutouts

Reverie: Just in case you needed more convincing…

By John Watson
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…on the whole DSLR + video thing:

Click to watch: Sample Video: EOS 5D Mark II

This video was shot with a pre-production Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR. The files used to create this video were not manipulated in any way, only re-compressed for 1/4 resolution display on our website. To view Vincent Laforet’s comments and behind-the-scenes video on the making of REVERIE, please visit his blog: blog.vincentlaforet.com

… Continue reading Reverie: Just in case you needed more convincing…

Hey! You got video in my DSLR!

By John Watson
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Personally, I’m really excited about the Nikon D90, not only because it looks like a great camera and a nice upgrade to my trusty old original D70 (I must like odd numbers), but because it’s got this great high-def video feature. I’ve always liked video but I’ve always hated video cameras. I have a Panasonic DV camera around here somewhere… probably on the floor gathering dust. Too big. Transferring video from tapes. It’s a chore. But video in my DSLR? That can be recorded without the use of disposable media? At 720p? In a device I have with me everywhere already that can also record 12 megapixel stills? Heaven!

Of course, Canon announced video capability in their new Canon 5D Mark II. They’ll undoubtedly include it the next generation of their Rebel line as well. The Mark II is also a very nice camera and does 1080p. It’s just a bit pricier, though.

I can think of a bunch of fun things to do with a video camera with interchangeable lenses. I almost bought one today on impulse, the kit with the new 18-105 VR,

… Continue reading Hey! You got video in my DSLR!

Review: The Flip Mino Video Camera

By John Watson
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The Flip Mino video camera (www.theflip.com) could be the perfect complement to your digital still camera. I received a review copy of the Flip Mino this morning (sorry, no giveaway—it’s going back to Pure Digital soon) and within minutes I was making videos. See gallery and sample video at the end of this review.

Just about every consumer digital still camera I can think of has the ability to capture videos. And videos from the Mino aren’t going to wow you with their quality. What sets the Mino apart (I think it’s pronounced “minnow”) are it’s ease of use, size, and that it can capture up to 60 minutes of television quality video (640×480 @ 30 frames/second) onto a 2GB internal memory. It is a device laser-focused on doing one thing and doing it well: creating video for viewing on the internet. Think YouTube and mailing videos to grandma.

My Nikon D70 has no video capability at all and our Canon Elph, while respectable in the video arena, doesn’t have the juice to record a lot of video on a single charge. Plus, since video shares space with stills on the same memory card,

… Continue reading Review: The Flip Mino Video Camera

How camera lenses are made

By John Watson
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From the markings on the barrels, these appear to be lenses made by JML Optical. It shows how painstaking it is to make high quality lenses. I thought it was interesting to see the strange mix of high-tech (vacuum chambers and electron beams) and low-tech (wooden sticks and plastic cups) manufacturing methods used in the production of one lens.

via kottke.org

… Continue reading How camera lenses are made

Airsick: Short film from 20,000 still images

By John Watson
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Airsick

As part of its Earth Hour feature, The Toronto Star is hosting a short film created to highlight human impact on the environment and specifically on the air we breathe.

Twenty days. Twenty thousand still images. A single message. Toronto Star photographer Lucas Oleniuk captures the issue of global warming in a video created entirely by using still images.

Because it was made with still images, the entire film consists of time-lapse sequences. It’s a beautiful example of time-lapse photography. Photojojo recently did a good tutorial on time-lapse you should check out if you are interested in giving it a try.

Watch video

… Continue reading Airsick: Short film from 20,000 still images

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