By Dan Chung

Prototype Canon Wide Cine zoom

I’ve just spend a fascinating two days at Canon’s European launch of the C300 cameras in Berlin. Whilst the camera was the star of the show Canon also took the opportunity to unveil four new prototype Cine lenses currently under development.

They would not give exact specifications and the prototypes were kept safely behind glass.

The most interesting lenses were a new wide zoom and tele zoom. These are much smaller than the already announced 14.5-60mm and 30-300mm lenses and I’m told they should be cheaper too. They only showed the lenses in an EOS mount, it’s unclear if PL mount versions will be offered.

Prototype Telephoto Cine zoom

There were also two new EOS Cine primes to add to the three launched with the camera. Focal lengths were not specified but one looks to be a ultrawide, perhaps a 14mm or 18mm.

Prototype CIne primes

Also in the cabinet was the prototype Canon 4K Cinema DSLR. Nothing new was said about the camera and Canon would not commit to any possible launch date.

Prototype 4K Cine DSLR under glass

I’ll be giving my considered thoughts on the C300 in a later post so stay tuned.

By Dan Chung

CNN have been in touch to say that their latest show ‘The Next List’ with Dr. Sanjay Gupta launches today. It’s all about innovation and fittingly it’s all been shot on Canon DSLRs. Running at 2:00-2:30pm ET each Sunday, the programme will profile exceptional individuals. The first is cyber-illusionist Marco Tempest. Check out the trailer by clicking on the image below.

By Danfung Dennis

My technology startup Condition ONE evolved from the inability to convey the reality of what I was seeing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even though my images and documentary film were published and distributed widely, they were still a passive window into this world, constrained by the frame. I wanted to bring people closer, to actually let them witness these stories first hand.

Technology is allowing us to merge the once separate media of photojournalism, filmmaking and virtual reality to create powerful immersive experiences.  Condition ONE has developed a camera system (I can’t yet reveal the camera or number of cameras) that captures the equivalent of the human eye.  We have also developed the software that transcodes and stitches these images.  By attaching the images to the gyroscope and accelerometer in the iPad2, we have created a highly interactive window into a video.  The slightest movement of the device changes the corresponding image, which creates an emotional connection to the story in an entirely new way. The hope is to shake viewers out of their numbness to traditional media and give a visceral and immersive experience.

The challenge of the next generation photojournalist and filmmaker will be developing the syntax and grammar to tell an effective story in this new medium.  The traditional rules of cinematography and editing no longer exist.  There is no frame. Creating an effective narrative and still maintaining immersion will be the next frontier.  This is just the beginning.

* Condition ONE, an immersive video application for iPads, launched through the iTunes App Store this week. It gives users the ability to look in any direction while viewing footage. Pivoting and tilting the iPad literally manipulates the corresponding field of view. The highly sensitive motion controls produce the illusion of looking through a window into another reality, giving a visceral sense of ‘being there’. Condition ONE will offer highly engaging storytelling with a focus on visual content conducive to being experienced firsthand. You can get it on the Apple App Store here.

Danfung Dennis has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006. His images have been published in Newsweek, Time and The New York Times. His footage in PBS Frontline Obama’s War was nominated for a 2010 Emmy Award. His documentary, Hell and Back Again, won the World Cinema Jury and Cinematography Awards at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. He is the founder and CEO of tech/media startup Condition ONE. His background is in Applied Economics and Business Management, consulting small and medium sized enterprises in emerging markets.

You can find out more about Condition ONE here.

By Brandon Litman of One Day on Earth

The idea that people from every country in the world can come together to film on the same day and become a media-creating community is extraordinary.

When One Day on Earth launched, it was through direct outreach to filmmakers to help create a global artistic creation.  Since then, though, the project has grown to be so much.  With the support of organizations like the United Nations and Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, we have realized the power and reach that community based media can have.

On 10/10/10, our community came together and shared over 3,000 hours of video footage.  And we are doing it again today (or tomorrow, depending on where you are), on 11/11/11.

Linking the media-creating community and NGOs for a single day on a global scale results in unmatchable perspective. I have to remind myself every time I watch the trailer below that this was all shot on the same day by volunteers who only wanted to share their perspectives with each other. We can promise to deliver something completely new to audiences with the feature film, which will be screened in every country in the world on the same day in February. See: Global Screening

And this is just the beginning. We see people from around the world joining in the collaboration everyday.  We have been continuously surprised with how powerful these stories are individually, not to mention the expansive and overwhelming feeling of humanity you get when you see them all as a whole.

This is the power of filmmaking–thank you, DSLRnewshooter community, for being a part of it.  I hope you consider sharing a short video with us, and the world, on 11/11/11.

Join here: www.onedayonearth.org