Nikon D5200 24.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR has Clean HDMI Out, works perfectly with Atomos Ninja or Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle
Nikon really made it with the D5200 this time: the cheapo-camera is every DSLR-Filmers dream. Currently available for $796.95 new and around $600 used, it features clean HDMI out and an awesome color due to a sensor produced by Toshiba (the D600 and D800 feature a Sony sensor).
So we clearly have a winner here, which works perfectly together with the Atomos Ninja (available for $649.00) and also the Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle (available for $327.75)
With the current hype around the Black Magic Cinema Camera, this one might be a gadget to ease the waiting - since i already own a D800E, i ordered the Nikon D5200 as a second camera for filming only. The APS-C sensor of the camera offers a good and affordable solution to double the available optics (crop mode of ca. 2x). I might get additional wide angle lenses to cover 48mm and 70mm with the D5200.
Black Magic Cinema Camera Canon-EF Mount (NEW) Available via eBay!
Believe it or not, the Blackmagic Design - Blackmagic Cinema Camera CINECAM26KEFis currently being sold on ebay, shipping internationally.
I will keep you updated on possible ways to order the Black Magic Cinema Camera (EF as well as MFT mount), since I am also actively searching for this camera. Expect various offers on ebay and amazon (as well as on other sites) to pop up soon.
I was able to recently test the EF-Version at a local BMD-distributor store and I have to say, it is awsome. I could not test the included software bundle, but the camera handling itself was great. I will post a review video with photos and more info once I get my hands on again (which will be soon, believe me). Also, drop us an email if you have sample videos or recent information on availability!
Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera: 2.5K RAW Video in ProRes, CinemaDNG and Avid DNxHD
Black Magic Design unleashed the Black Magic Design Cinema Camera with 2.5K RAW Video in CinemaDNG (12-Bit), Avid DNxHD (10-bit) and ProRes (10-bit) support. The Camera can record on SSD drives internally and features a touchscreen with 5" and 800 x 480 resolution. But that's not all: it has Thunderbolt connection, so getting that recorded data out fast is not an issue.
The camera has a dynamic range of 13 stops (!) and supports EF (Canon) and ZF (Zeiss) lenses. Only disappointment seems to be audio support: one integrated mono mic, 2x 1/4" jacks for balanced analog audio (why no XLR?).
Oh, and wait - that's not all - for the suggested price of $3000 they also give you DaVinci Resolve, which is said to be "world's most advanced color correction software", as well as BlackMagic Media Express (Capture Software) and Blackmagic UltraScope software for waveform monitoring from the camera’s Thunderbolt port.
If that isn't something!
Thunderbolt (Intel Lightpeak) Coming to PCs in April 2012: finally, Thunderbolt on Hackintosh!
DigiTimes reports that Intel has notified partners that the company will "fully release" its Thunderbolt technology (previously known as "Lightpeak") in April 2012. Intel is reportedly preparing to launch Thunderbolt-supported motherboards, notebooks and desktop PCs at that time, other mainboard suppliers such as Gigabyte and Asus will follow.
Intel and Apple originally partnered on the new technology which has become standard across Apple's MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iMac. Digitimes reports that the cost of Thunderbolt technology is expected to drop in the second half of 2012, allowing more widespread adoption. While this sure is great for Windows users, that also means Thunderbolt will be available for hackintosh users!
While Apple does offer Thunderbolt across most of its product line, the first Thunderbolt products have been limited to relatively high end devices, such as the Blackmagic Ultrastudio 3D, the Magma Expressbox 3T or the Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID. More widespread adoption should help drive adoption by accessory makers that will benefit both Mac and PC users that use the Thunderbolt technology.
Thunderbolt is not competing against USB3 (Intel said they see both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt as complementary technologies) - furthermore there will be USB3 support for Apple devices, since there will be breakout boxes that offer USB3 connectivity.
Caution with Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID 6x3TB (18TB) or 6x4TB (24TB) modification. 6x5TB (30TB) possible as of January 2012?
Nanofunk reported on a possible modification of the Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID to host 6x3TB Hard Drives for a total of 18TB storage back in July 2011. While we did not have any issues with Hitachi Deskstar 3 0F12450 and Western Digital 3 TB SATA II Intellipower 64 MB Drives, other people repeatedly reported issues and even failures when the drives hold more than 11TB of data.
Currently, with the announcement of the Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 4000GB, SATA 6Gb/s (0F14681) and the 4TB Deskstar 5K4000 as well as the 4TB Seagate Barracuda XT 7200RPM a total of 24TB could be reached when modding the Promise Pegasus just replacing the 2TB drives it comes with.
Tomshardware even reported on 5TB HDDs arriving in January 2012, so a modification to fit 30TB into the Promise Pegasus would be possible theoretically.
While all the drives are not available at the current time of writing of this article, please do consult the Promise Support if you are planning to do modifications or already did! Judging from the current feedback on modifications, updating the Promise Pegasus before an official answer or statement from Promise Technology is NOT RECOMMENDED!
Please send emails to Promise directly and ask them to react on the current limitations. I already did so - still waiting for response.
Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro (Late 2011) is slower in every category than the early 2011 model
The early 2011 MacBook Pro is Apple's masterpiece, no doubt: besides the overheating problems that many of us reported (but which seem to be solved as of now). Core i7 MPBs are super-fast with a Geekbench score of over 10.000 points for the i7 quad-core version - this was and still is an awesome performance for a notebook.
If you are planning on buying a new MacBook Pro 15", keep in mind that newer does not necessarily mean better: the early 2011 MacBook Pro is currently the best deal you can get ($1,549.99 for a new, $1,499.99 for refurbished MC721LL/A 15.4-Inch quad Core on Amazon) especially since they fixed all the flaws people reported about. I was complaining about issues a lot, but after Apple replaced the two notebooks we had, the run smootly ever since.
So a clear winner for buying a new MacBook Pro in 2011/2012 is the Apple MacBook Pro MC721LL/A 15.4-Inch early 2011 model
Intel teases Thunderbolt I/O port for Windows PCs … and for Hackintosh
Intel will bring Thunderbolt to the PC, which means you can use your devices such as the Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID or the Lacie Little Big Disk
, but also products such as the black magic intensity extreme Thunderbolt video capture cards on your Windows PCs - and on your hackintosh machines as well.
During Intel’s Developer Forum, the chip maker showed off some Ultrabook prototypes running on its Haswell-based processor and sporting the high-speed Thunderbolt port. The technology was developed in collaboration with Apple and has so far remained exclusive to Macs. That may change soon as Intel teases that Thunderbolt will be heading to Windows PCs as well.
(via slashgear)
hunderbolt was originally code-named Light Peak and was installed on the update to the Mac Book Pro earlier this year. Rights to the Thunderbolt technology were originally registered under Apple, but were transferred over to Intel which is why you'll see it's name popping up a bit more. We already know Acer and Asus are planning Thunderbolt integration, but we're unsure how the port will look. Currently, the Thunderbolt port on Apple products is identical to the mini-display port, but PC users would rather it be more like USB for increased compatibility. Not to many people are aware of this, but Sony released their VAIO Z with a hybrid USB 3.0/Light Peak port, so it's kind of up in the air as to how things will shape-up.
Expected timeframe: anywhere in 2012.
Apple Releases OS X 10.7.1 with Fixes for Video in Safari, Audio Out, Wi-Fi and More
Apple released Mac OSX Lion 10.7.1 updates today, with the following release notes:
The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:
- Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
- Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
- Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
- Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion
For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4764.
There is not much fixed, at least not for the reported issues such as SSD TRIM support for non-apple SSDs and the well known flash issues.
Still, Seems more stable. There is a seperate update for 10.7.1 Server and another update specific to the latest MacBook Air and Mac mini models, adding a few additional fixes. (via macrumors)
Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID system for high-speed data demands: 6x3TB for a total of 18TB (mod)
[Edit 23.12.2011] CAUTION! People trying the below mentioned modification of the Promise Thunderbolt reported issues and data loss. Please consult the Promise Support if you are planning to do modifications or already did!
[UPDATE] with the announced Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 4000GB(4TB), 5K4000 as well as the 4TB Seagate Barracuda XT a total of 24TB could be reached when modding the Promise Pegasus just replacing the 2TB drives it comes with. 5TB HDDs are reported arriving in January 2012. Read our updated Article: Caution with Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID 6x3TB (18TB) or 6x4TB (24TB) modification. 6x5TB (30TB) possible as of January 2012?
The Promise Pegasus is the most "promising" hardware for enthusiasts and pro users, since it offers really fast transfer speeds, even topping the OCZ Vertex 3 SATA 6Gbps internal SSD on Macbook Pro computers.
Delivering over 800MB/s of disk performance, Pegasus is compatible with Mac systems with Thunderbolt
Compare the Promise Pegasus R4 (4x 2TB) and the Promise Pegasus R6 (8x 2TB). Of course, if you want to pimp your pegasus, you can replace the internal drives with different ones.
Internally Promise uses a PMC Sierra PM8011 8-port SAS-2 RAID controller. This is an 8-lane PCIe Gen 2 controller with eight SAS/SATA 6Gbps ports. On the R6 obviously only six of those ports are functional. The PM8011 has an embedded 600MHz MIPS processor and is paired with 512MB of DDR2-533. (via Anandtech)
Possible replacements and hacks for the Promise Pegasus:
* replace the internal hard drives with SSD drives: at the current date this still has stability issues. We are waiting for updated drivers or a response from Pegasus about the current freezes and issues with SSD drives. If you really have to test it out, make sure you get 6Gbps SSD drives. 2.5inch drives will also fit in the caddy.
* replacing the internal drives with 3TB drives: this is a confirmed and stable way of pimping your pegasus drives. Pegasus comes with 2TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 drives, so make sure you are getting 3TB drives from the same brand. We can recommend the Hitachi 3TB 7200RPM drive, but also we can confirm the Pegasus runs with the Western Digital 3 TB SATA II Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive and the SEAGATE Barracuda XT 3 TB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 64 MB Cache. Just keep in mind, not to mix up brands: you should get 6 times the same hard disk for the most stable system.
* replacing the internal drives with SAS 6Gbps Hard Disks: while this would render the promise pegasus a real pro system that is rock stable, drives should be used, that offer a compatible SAS-connector. Since SAS-drives are generally compatible to SATA-connectors, we can generally recommend the Seagate Constellation ES.2 3 TB Internal Hard Drive SAS 600 7200rpm 64MB
Conclusio: The Promise Pegasus is a fast solution for great read/write speed plus the extra feature of having the possibility to daisy-chain more Pegasus devices together, to increase the space when needed. Compared to the Data Robotics DROBO PRO System, it only offers 1-drive fail (1 drive can get corrupted, if 2 fail your data is lost) while the DROBO offers dual drive redundancy. Also, the DROBO PRO supports different sized drives, while you can only put drives of the same size (and it is recommended to also only use the exact same drive models) in the Promise Pegasus.
Overall, nanofunk is recommending the Pegasus R4 and R6, because of its faster speed and possibilty to enhance the system. Since we had our DROBO PRO replaced twice (the unit itself was faulty) we are currently fully in favor of the Promise Pegasus.
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