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New Fujifilm HS10

Posted by Mike Redrobe | Posted in Cameras | Posted on 04-07-2011

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OK, so I bought a new camera:

The Fujifilm FinePix HS10 is a DSLR-style camera with a massive 30x optical zoom lens and 10 megapixel CMOS sensor. Offering a focal range of 24-720mm, the Fujifilm HS10’s 30x lens has a twist-barrel manual zoom control and triple image stabilization to help reduce camera shake. The FinePix HS10’s Back Side Illuminated CMOS sensor offers a 200% increase in sensitivity over a conventional CMOS sensor. The HS10 also offers 10 frames-per-second high speed continuous shooting at maximum resolution, full HD movie mode (1080i) with stereo sound, a Super High Speed Movie function to freeze the action, 3” tilting up or down LCD screen and an electronic viewfinder.

Fujifilm HS10

Obligatory flower shots:

Flowers Flowers

Large 720mm (30x) zoom means you can shoot for the moon -literally !

Moon wide angle Moon - zoomed

Panasonic SDHC recovery – welcome back MTS files!

Posted by Mike Redrobe | Posted in Cameras, Software | Posted on 16-03-2011

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Panasonic SD SDHC Camcorder

Panasonic SD SDHC Camcorder

We all know the horror – accidentally deleting photos from memory cards.

While there are many file-recovery programs out there to get your files and photos back, when similar happened to me with a SDHC camcorder, none of the programs I tried would find any video.

The 16GB SD card in question had been full of video, then formatted and a further 3GB of footage recorded on.

The usual suspects Ontrack EasyRecovery and PC FileInspector failed here, not showing any previous footage other than the current 3GB.

At the stage of giving up, I found panasonic’s software (though probably works with any AVCHD / SDHC SD card based camcorder.

Lo and behold,  despite the oddly translated english in the menus and the fact that an initial scan found nothing – I ended up with a directory containing 15GB of .MTS files after 30 minutes of crunching.

You can get Panasonic’s recovery software below:

Panasonic SDHC recovery [ 3.6MB]

 

3D Cameras and printers released

Posted by Mike Redrobe | Posted in Gadgets | Posted on 21-08-2010

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Fujifilm set to release 3D compact camera and a 3D printer.

The camera features two distinct 10-megapixel CCDs and two Fujinon lenses (3x optical zoom) to create the 3D effect. In a neat trick, if you stick to 2D you can use one for taking a close up and one for a wide angle image – of the same subject at the same time, or you can go for different colour balances or ISO sensitivity.

Back in 3D mode, the camera can take both stills and video in 3D at 720p resolution. You can view content without glasses directly on the display on the rear, or hook up to a 3D TV and see it loom large on the big screen, using the TV’s compatible glasses. Fujifilm claims that thanks to a “parallax control function”, the crosstalk effects that plague some 3D TVs, particularly LCD based ones, will be reduced.

Additionally, there’s an optional 8in digital photo frame viewer that lets you view the images in 3D – also without glasses – which sounds a little like a 3D tablet.

What’s more, images from the camera can also be printed in 3D – or rather leticular prints of up to 9in x 6in, via a printing process that Fujifilm will be available soon in the UK. Lentiuclar prints are generally only effective when viewing from a sweet spot, so we’d be interested to see how effective these are.

Fujifilm said the FinePix Real 3D W3 will be available in major department stores from early September.

Price? a very reasonable £399

First 3D camcorder in UK

Posted by Mike Redrobe | Posted in Gadgets | Posted on 06-08-2010

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The very first 3D camcorder to be available in the UK, the Aiptek HD 3D, will go on sale tomorrow for £199.99.


While Panasonic announced that its HDC-SDT750 would be the first consumer camcorder, German company Aiptek has beaten it to the punch in the UK, with the small, portable HD 3D.
Clearly, the two are not in the same class, but for fun, instant 3D gimmickry, the Aiptek could fit the bill.
As you would expect for a 3D camera it uses two separate lenses and image sensors and you can watch the footage back on the rear display without the need for glasses – which we imagine makes it the first appearance of a parallax barrier display, beating the Nintendo 3DS and the Sharp 3D phone to the punch.

You can also hook up via HDMI to a 3DTV, but if you don’t have one, the bundled software will also convert images to be watched back in 3D on a PC with a regular screen, but you’ll need to use the supplied anaglyph glasses to view. You can also upload straight to YouTube 3D.
The 5-megapixel camera can also capture in regular 2D, at 720p. The battery will give you 1.5 hours recording, and there’s a memory slot that will accept 32GB SD cards.

The Aiptek HD 3D camera goes on sale tomorrow at £199

First 3D Camcorder

Posted by Mike Redrobe | Posted in Gadgets | Posted on 29-07-2010

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Panasonic has launched the HDC-SDT750, the world’s first 3D camcorder aimed at consumers.


The camcorder is based on 3MOS technology and uses a 3D conversion lens that captures two images simultaneously. It records at 960 x 1,080 resolution using the AVCHD codec onto SD card at 17Mbps.
3D content can be played back on a TV capable of displaying ‘side-by-side’ 3D images, such as Panasonic’s Viera VT20 series of course.
Audio is captured via five microphones and recorded in 5.1 for use with surround sound systems. By removing the conversion lens, the SDT750 can be used as a conventional camcorder.

The camera ships with HD Writer AE 2.6T PC editing software for burning 3D content to Blu-ray. It’s Windows only software, but a moot point as Macs still don’t offer Blu-ray.
An October release in expected in the US and prices have not been confirmed but are estimated to be around £1,400.