canon

Flashy Canon SD camcorders

Though late to the flash-based camcorder party, Canon is showing that it sure knows how to boogie down with three new standard-definition models, two of which can record to built-in flash memory in addition to SDHC cards. Similar to Sony's Hybrid Plus feature, Canon is calling its version Dual Flash Memory, for obvious reasons.

All these new models, which make up the FS series, also include Canon's new Advanced Zoom system, which sounds suspiciously like digital zoom, but according to Canon doesn't produce any noticeable degradation of the captured video. They make a decent argument for this, … Read more

Canon wants you to burn video

Back when all video was recorded to tape, archiving was somewhat simple. If you used a decent grade tape, you could store it for a while and then dub it if you worried about the ravages of time. Now that more video is being recorded to hard-drives and flash memory, computer-phobic videographers find themselves in a slight pickle. To accompany the company's latest HDD and flash camcorders, Canon has introduced the DW-100 DVD Burner. The DW-100 will be able to burn both standard definition DVDs and AVCHD DVDs. The latter can be played back on those Blu-Ray players that … Read more

New DVD camcorders from Canon

Canon just announced at CES three new standard-definition DVD camcorders, the latest in the company's DC-series of camcorders.

The Canon DC310 uses a 680,000-pixel CCD, a 41x optical zoom lens, and a 2.7-inch wide-screen LCD. The DC320 bumps up its sensor to a full megapixel and the lens to 48. Finally, the DC330 adds a USB 2.0 jack and a remote control. Canon built the DC330's remote sensor into the pivoting screen instead of the body, so you can use the remote in front, behind, or next to the camcorder, depending on the screen's … Read more

Canon's budget miniDV camcorders

High-def camcorders might be gaining in popularity, but you still have plenty of choices if you're not quite ready to make the jump. Canon just announced three new budget-priced, standard-definition miniDV camcorders scheduled to hit stores later this month.

The Canon ZR900, ZR930, and ZR950 are the least expensive models in Canon's upcoming camcorder lineup. The ZR900 features a 680,000-pixel CCD, a 41x zoom lens, and the most modest price tag of the three. The ZR930 upgrades to a full megapixel CCD and a 48x zoom lens, and includes a remote control and microphone terminal. Finally, the … Read more

Canon's video Vixia

Late to market with its first SD-based camcorders--Panasonic and Sony both announced third-generation models this week--Canon nevertheless makes up for lost time with a couple of attractively specced models for 2008. They join the modestly revved HV30 HDV model and the currently shipping HG10 and HR10 under the Vixia brand umbrella for HD camcorders.

At the top of the product line, the HF10 incorporates 16GB built-in flash memory--the largest capacity we've heard about thus far--and a slot for SDHC removable flash. According to Canon, it records AVCHD video at a maximum bit rate of 17 megabits per second, and … Read more

Upgrade timing demotes KDE variant of Ubuntu Linux

There are two dominant software projects that provide Linux with a graphical user interface, but only one of them will get long-term support in Ubuntu's next version of the open-source operating system.

GNOME, the default user interface for Ubuntu, will receive the support, but KDE won't. The reason, according to Canonical, which sponsors Ubuntu and is trying to make a business of selling the support contracts, is simply that KDE is at an awkward transitional period between two versions, the old-line 3.5 and the imminent and significantly different 4.0.

Developer interest is focused on KDE 4.… Read more

Canon releases new firmware for 1Ds Mark III

Canon has released new firmware, version 1.0.6, for the EOS-1Ds Mark III, the company's $8,000 21.1-megapixel flagship SLR camera.

The update "improves the reliability of communication with some CompactFlash cards" and "fixes a phenomenon involving color cast and vertical lines appearing in images," the company said on the firmware download Web site.

(Via Digital Photography Review.)

Are new Canon SLRs coming in January?

A Swedish Web site, Kamera and Bild, has quoted Canon Sweden executive Robert Westin as saying the camera maker plans to launch new products on January 24, a week before the Photo Marketing Association trade show begins. That prediction is about as hard to make as figuring out if General Motors will share news at the Detroit auto show, but it does give us an excuse to venture our suspicions.

My bet (and I'm not alone) is that we'll hear about successors to the entry-level EOS Digital Rebel XTi and the full-frame EOS 5D. They're the most … Read more

Poll: Best SLR rivals to Canon and Nikon

Update 8:12 a.m. PST: We added Fujifilm to the poll.

Canon and Nikon dominate the SLR camera business, but if you're entering the market or buying a new camera, it would behoove you to look at other options, too.

One interesting question, though, is who's got the best alternatives today. It's a relevant question for someone buying a first SLR or deciding whether to stick with an existing brand or change. From another perspective, who should Nikon and Canon be fretting about most among competitors?

I'd love to see your vote and hear your … Read more

How Nikon bettered Canon with full-frame SLRs

Update 4:00 p.m.: I clarified two sentences and added a third to make it clear that Nikon and Canon never forced customers to buy small-frame lenses. Still relevant in my opinion, though, is the practical reality that customers already have and will again.

Canon beat Nikon to market by years with a high-end digital SLR whose image sensor is the size of a full frame of 35mm film. But while Nikon may have been late to the party with its new D3, I think it employed a much smarter approach to a lens compatibility issue.

One of the … Read more