Camcorders

It's that time of year again, time for CNET's Holiday Help Desk.

Hosts Molly Wood and Brian Tong will take live viewer calls, talk to the chat room, and answer e-mails. And dish out the best tech gift-buying advice on the planet. Special guests will include CNET resident cheapskate Rick Broida, a parade of CNET editors, and guests from the retail world pitching their deals directly to you, such as representatives from Amazon, Woot, eBay, and Best Buy.

We'll keep you posted with the best deals, and also help you find the perfect gadget that's right … Read more

The ability to shoot video and conduct video chats on your smartphone is pretty great, but trying to film yourself or holding the phone steady while on a video call isn't so easy. That is, until now.

Belmont, Calif.-based company Satarii will soon be launching an accessory called the Swivl that allows you to mount your smartphone or point-and-shoot camera to a motorized stand and have it track your every movement so you can shoot video and chat hands-free.

The product consists of two pieces: the aforementioned motorized mount and a small marker that you can clip to your body or any other object that you want to capture on film. Using sensors embedded in the base of the stand and on the wearable accessory, the mount will then follow the movements of the marker, as your phone or camera records all the action. In addition to swiveling left and right, the mount can tilt your device up or down. … Read more

The GoPro line of wearable cameras has been dominating the action sports video camera realm, but a new challenger has just arrived. The Swann Freestyle HD hopes a display will be the game changer.

The Freestyle HD caters to impatient people who don't want to wait to load their videos onto a computer or play them back through a television at home.

The detachable 1.5-inch LCD screen is tiny, but it will let you know if you captured that spectacular skateboard wipeout or not.… Read more

Sony's Bloggie cameras have some compelling features, with current models touting offerings such as a touch screen, 3D video and photo capture, and two LCD screens.

A recent FCC filing confirms that a new Bloggie model, the MHS-TS55, is set for a reveal with a feature previously unseen in Sony's portable HD camcorders: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. … Read more

For the last three years, two things have been missing from Sony's digital photo frame lineup in comparison to the competition: Wi-Fi connectivity and online services.

This is set to change with the upcoming introduction of the DPF-W700, a new digital photo frame by Sony. The picture display has features and synchronization with Facebook that competes in a growing market directly against Kodak and Chumby on most major U.S. retail shelves.

The W700, available in black and white, features a 7-inch touch-screen 800x480 LCD (16:9, WVGA) with LED backlighting and flick and click navigation. Compatible content include a variety of media like the usual MPEG variants and raw AVCHD files. Internal memory is fair at 1GB, but there is support for MS Pro/Duo, SD/SDHC/SDXC storage cards, and Mini-A and Mini-B USB port for thumb drive or computer connections. Included Wi-Fi support is impressive with the full range over 802.11b/g/n and networking capability.

Word of the device was actually quite random, first showing up on the Federal Communications Commission site, and then in a Google search which leads to a newly launched portal at a Sony Middle East Web site. The specifications are on full display there, confirming integration with Facebook and Sony's Personal Space file-sharing Web site. The W700 displays 100 photos per each account synced from each service, culling from recent albums, mobile uploads, and other useful directories. … Read more

Those of you hoping that Canon's latest announcement, long-rumored to be a camera with extraspecial video capabilities, would be a 5D Mark III can now officially be disappointed. At about $20,000, this one ain't for the hobbyists or the still-images-firsters.

The new series of cameras, dubbed Cinema EOS, consists of two models based around a new 4K Super35 CMOS sensor and incorporating the most current version of its Digic DV III image processor. The two models differ only by mount: the C300 PL uses a PL mount (developed by Arri for film cameras) and the C300 uses a Canon EF mount.

There had been speculation that the camera would either be a 4K or a 2K (HD) model, and it's oddly both and neither.… Read more

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Like all communication channels, cinema has a language all its own. It's a living language, though, that changes with the times, with evolving audience sensibilities, and of course, with technology. As I wrote in 2009, the innovation of 3D requires a fundamentally different style of directing: more sedate, if you can believe it.

At the Launch 'Pad conference here, Condition One showed a new form of cinematography that requires yet another adjustment to way the filmmakers shoot. CEO Danfung Dennis has created a camera rig and software system which, he says, "captures the entire human field of view" by shooting a "virtual sphere" of imagery.

During playback, viewers can change their perspective of the film by dragging their fingers across the screen, or, as Dennis demo'd below, by moving their tablet around in front of them. For example, if you're watching a man being interviewed, and he glances to his left, you can change the camera angle to see what just caught his attention. … Read more

The iPhone 4 already offered standout image quality for a mobile phone, helping to further the general trend of using a phone camera rather than a dedicated camera. And with ever-better video, phone cameras will increasingly will be able to supplant videocameras, too.

Apple clearly hopes to stay ahead of the curve with the iPhone 4S: one of its selling points is a new 8-megapixel camera sensor that can record high-definition video at full 1080p resolution. It seems likely that it will outshoot most of its direct competition in the mobile phone market, but it's natural to wonder how well it stacks up against a high-end camera, too. … Read more

The tl;dr on Canon's new pro camera: Yowza.

Canon's celebrating the 10th generation of its EOS-1 pro body with an overhaul, both of the hardware and the line itself. A consolidation of the fast, sports shooter with the high-resolution full-frame camera, the EOS-1D X replaces both the full-frame 1Ds Mark III and the APS-H 1D Mark IV with a single, double-grip full-frame model with fast continuous shooting. The price most closely resembles the 1Ds, though, at $6800.

That opens a big gap between the please-replace-it-already 5D Mark II and the new top of the line. And I suspect that when a 5D Mark III eventually surfaces (probably not until next year), it's going to be a lot more expensive--in part because of a weak dollar and the increased costs associated with the various natural disasters that have plagued production in Asia, and in part because Canon could probably get away with it. Especially if it incorporates some of the whizzy new technology (assuming it all works as advertised, of course) that's in the 1D X.

Where to begin? On the outside, you'll find an updated control layout, with some extra buttons joysticks designed to streamline shooting with the vertical grip. On the inside, there are new autofocus and autoexposure systems in addition to the de rigueur new sensor with an enhanced dust-reduction system. It has an entirely new shutter mechanism. There are new features, including a 1000BaseT Ethernet port, 3 custom settings groups (finally!), and a nine-shot multiple-exposure mode.

Basically, it's a whole new camera. Check out the basic specs before I get into details:… Read more