Indecent Exposure 21: Inventive explorations
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Episode 21 |
Sorry, it'll be a while before the Burning Man photos are up.
Hi, I've been listening to your show since episode 1, having heard about it on Buzz Out Loud. I've been wanting to make the jump from my Canon miniDV to an HD camcorder for quite a while now, but I haven't yet done it. Aside from the fact that I keep waiting for the perfect camera to come along, one of the things that has always hung me up is the difficulty of sharing HD video. I have a MacPro and use FinalCut Express to do editing. I tend to put together videos of vacations and stuff to share with my family and friends around the country. I've found that the only sure-fire way to share with the people in my life who are less technologically inclined is to burn DVDs that they can pop into a DVD player and view on their TV. Whenever I think about getting an HD camcorder, I end up asking myself how I'm going to share the video. Nobody I know has a Blu-ray player, and sharing anything more than a minute or two of HD video over the Web is nearly impossible. Which brings me back to tried-and-true standard def DVD. Combine the sharing difficulties with the editing headaches I've read so much about with AVCHD, and why would I bother with HD? For me, the fun of video is all in the sharing. My question is, are there any advantages or disadvantages to shooting in SD mode with an HD camcorder. Or shooting in HD and down-rezing for standard DVD. Will the image quality be any better/worse? Would the higher resolution sensors in an HD camcorder make the SD image look better? Or if I'm going to stick with SD for a while, would I be better off just upgrading my couple year old miniDV for a higher end SD camcorder. Any thoughts or feedback you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks for a great podcast. Jason
Dear Ms. Grunin, I would like to thank you for your digital camera product reviews. Your videos and editorials have been very helpful to me. I am interested in purchasing my first DSLR camera. For more than the past few months, the primary concern for me has been the Canon versus Nikon question. However, my new concern, with the introduction of the Nikon D700 and forthcoming replacement for the Canon 5D is this: Will the smaller-sized sensor formats, such as the Nikon DX or Canon equivalent, be replaced by DSLR's with full-frame, 35mm equivalent sensors, thereby making the respective lenses obsolete? Though my present budget limits me to cameras such as the Nikon D90 or Canon 50D, I am more concerned with the investment in lenses since--correct me if I'm wrong--the lenses between the two sensor technologies are not interchangeable. In short, if I purchase Nikon DX format lenses today, will they become obsolete in five years if manufacturers move to full-frame sensor cameras? Please forward me a link to any relevant editorial if you or other CNET editors have already addressed this topic. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Regards, Marina
Senior Editor Lori Grunin has been covering digital imaging for two decades, but her memory's kind of sketchy on the details. You can hear about it every week on Indecent Exposure, the podcast she co-hosts with Matt Fitzgerald.
Lori Grunin has been an avid photographer for almost 30 years, and spent the past 15 attempting to master every aspect of technology.
Matt Fitzgerald has been involved with digital camera technology and the photo industry for more than 15 years. Matthew's background includes work as a professional photographer, a technical representative, and a repair technician.
2. I think if anything is going to really cause the Micro Four Thirds format to fail, it is going to be confusion (well except for the next point also). Even several... reputable... camera review sites (though not Cnet of course), mistakenly continue to refer to this format as "SLR" when obviously it isn't.
3. While I am sure future models will get smaller and lighter, I thought it was interesting (and disappointing) that the Panasonic G1 was barely smaller, actually weighed MORE than the Olympus E-420. Without all the benefits of the E-420, and not saving size and weight, it makes no sense to step up to this camera when you could step up to the E-420 instead.
4. I had heard on another podcast (yes, I strayed, I apologize :) a similar comment from somebody stating that "in the future ALL" dSLRs were going to be full-frame and thus you are "risking obsolencese" when buying an "Digital Only" lens. That being said, I agree with you. If you look at the "anticipated" prices of cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II (or 7D depending on who you heard it from), the new Sony Full Frame, etc... the price on Full Frame cameras is still sky high and it seems it will be for the foreseeable future, so I doubt that the APS-C is going away any time soon. And even if it did, Nikon already allows you to put DX lenses on its full frame cameras (granted at a lower resolution, but they work), and Canon would have to respond with some sort of adapter as well, otherwise they would risk mass defections of disgruntled owners.
5. I enjoyed your "interview" with Sarah Tew. And, would love to see (fine hear) more interviewed guests (even if it is not every episode, just a semi-regular feature).