Camera industry in the 21st-digital-century... vs smartphone market's advent

New SSD's from Samsung (256GB for $200, and 512 GB for $350, read speeds up to 2.5 Gbps, write up to 1.5) and and Intel (1.6TB, 3.2TB, 4 TB, read up to 5 Gbps; write up to 3 Gbps). Samsung 950 Pro claims 4 times the read and 3 times the write speed of its 850 Pro predecessor. Samsung 850 Pro line has been approved by the Convergent Design for use on Q7+, so having a 3X write improvement is welcome news. Intel's drives are even more capable, though prices have not been announced.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2987956/solid-state-drives/intel-samsung-launch-their-fastest-ssds-with-up-to-5gbps-speeds.html

 
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I recently shot a family get together with my new iPad Mini 3 just for fun. Since I carry it around a lot, I also shoot photos with it. The HDR mode is interesting.
I have installed an audio recorder utility and used it to record ambient sound double system for my D16 with a small shotgun mic attached. It is not a bad audio recorder, but I have yet to give it a hard frame sync test.
Performance issues:
1. Video records at variable frame rates within shots under changing low light conditions. NLE's do not play well with VFR footage and it is difficult to maintain audio sync in edits. The footage has to be transcoded to a fixed frame rate. Minor audio sync issues on long shots will still exist.
2. Sucks at low light levels. Nowhere near as capable as my D16 at 200 ISO, much less higher.
3. Pain in the ass to hold and shoot for anything but casual use. Holding a camera of any kind at arms length so you can see the screen is not conducive to stable shots
4. Even with HDR mode on it doesn't come close to usable DR of the D16.
5. It does shoot superficially good quality web video under good conditions and it is convenient to carry around.
6. There is already a feature film out that was shot on iPhone 6. It can be done. Why anyone would deliberately inflict such a tortured compromised production process on himself and his crew is the question.

For contrast, I spent a day shooting casual footage at an arts and music festival in Georgetown SC last weekend with my D16 and an Angenieux 12-120. All handheld using the handle because I forgot the quick release plate for my tripod. 7 pounds all up. But I shoot with the camera against my body looking down at the built in LCD, one hand on the lens and one on the handle. Despite the weight it is not as tiring to the arms this way as the iPad at arms length. I found various objects to brace against for stability, trees, lightposts, fences. Shot a very dynamic performance art show by Squonk Opera. Lots of shaky shots, but more than enough stable segments out of an hour to cut a dynamic 5 minute piece. Try hand holding a DSLR sans shoulder rig with a 200mm+ lens sometime to get a feel for what the D16 is like at 120mm zoom.
 
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This is from the C-Net article on a Phase One model. I'll highlight the interesting portion.

The XF-IQ3 combination costs $48,990 (€38,990, which converts to about £28,600 or AU$61,900). I tried the camera system with four Schneider Kreuznach lenses: the LS 80mm f/2.8, the 75-150mm LS f/4.0-5.6 Zoom, and two new ones, the 120mm LS f/4.0 Macro and the 35mm LS f/3.5. These two new lenses are geared for future sensors with 100-megapixel resolutions, but they're priced high, too: $6,490 for the two new ones (€5,490 / £4,000 / AUS$8,700).
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http://www.cnet.com/products/phase-one-xf-iq3/
 
Short film I shot Saturday and edited yesterday morning to test Lightworks 12.5 release version handling and grading of Cinema DNG raw footage. All hand held, no in camera or post stabilization. 16-80 Schneider zoom.
 
I found this last night on Sony Alpha Rumors which quotes/refers to FDTimes.

The pertinent part of the interview with a Zeiss VP -

“I’m convinced that in the near future the relevant innovations and improvements will be made with Full Frame sensors. With the huge number of FF still picture cameras being sold, these sensors will be available for attractive prices. Canon started with the 5D MKII and was, according to my understanding, surprised that the community used the still camera for motion pictures. Sony has the a7RII and a7S which is dedicated for motion pictures. I’m convinced we’ll see more and more cine cameras with Full Format sensors.”
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http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/zeis...re-and-sony-was-surprised-by-e-mount-success/

Zeiss will reportedly also be unveiling a 21 mm Loxia lens tomorrow.
 
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Chromecast+2015+Teardown/50189

This is from the iFixit Chromecast 2015 tear down -

We spudger up the motherboard, only to find it held in place by... bubble gum?
  • On closer inspection that's actually thermal paste—a lot of it.
  • Hopefully that means this Chromecast won't have the overheating issues that plagued the original.

    Lifting away our first EMI shield reveals more Hubba Bubba thermal paste!

    And even more underneath the second EMI shield. That's three—count 'em, three—gum-sized dollops of thermal paste, in a device roughly the size of a silver dollar. ...
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So, thermal paste, huh? What is thermal paste or grease, as it's often called?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_grease


 
I'll just post to say thanks to DLD for all these somewhat-related-but-not-quite updates.

My phone is a xiaomi (great hardware, awful software, I installed cyanogenmod), and my gopro-clone is a xiaomi (great image, awful software when I got it, an update fixed all the issues). Maybe my next TV will be theirs as well, but I don't need it to be 4K, I want it bigger (>75").
 
I figure this became a potluck thread for all the items that are fairly pertinent to the industry as a whole but didn't deserve an individual thread of their own. Unlike that sixteen lens smartphone. Which got three.

And, as a small addition to the point, at the recently concluded CEDIA, there were several new 4K projectors. JVC's Faux 4K (pixel shifting) from around $10,000 to Sony's laser light source HDR/P3 piece for around $60,000. Projectors prices fall off rather rapidly, btw.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/2015-...0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--
 
This thread has moved away from its original title. Anyway, since the recent discussion is on xiaomi, they have also bought Segway. Their company ninebot now owns segway and is making lower priced handsfree scooters which can be remote controlled from a smartphone. Guess we will see more stories of cameramen crashing into athletes like the chinese guy who bumped into Usain Bolt and knocked him down during an event.
 
I was waiting on a friend yesterday and saw a local kid riding one of those e-scooters. No hands. His father must have picked him up from school, as the father was walking.

And another tidbit - Bloomberg is reporting SanDisk is putting itself up for sale with Western Digital the likely dancing partner. There's been a lot of changes in the memory business lately. I assume much of it is owed to the latest advancements such as the 3-X Point tech from Intel/Micron and so on.
 
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...racts-33-6-million-total-views-130531268.html

Yahoo and the NFL announced on Monday that Sunday's exclusive live stream of the Bills-Jaguars game from London attracted a huge global audience: 15.2 million unique viewers and 33.6 million total views.


Those viewers streamed over 460 million total minutes of the game with over 33 percent of the streams being used by international users across 185 worldwide. It was the first time that international viewers were able to access a NFL game without cable or satellite...
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As the "broadcast" moves toward the online distribution, this is a major step forward. Yahoo almost automatically started the stream once you hit its front page and definitely showed off its marketing muscle. It was an early Sunday morning game and getting ~ 10 million US residents to tune into the stream is a major achievement. Plus, you know, it was the Jags vs. the Bills, not exactly a marquee attraction.
 
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