Why am I not surprised that a Canon 7D user who has been used to “perfect video footage” using his 7D now pulling down the performance of the AF100. This blog is a joke not only has he little understanding in lenses but sensors as well.

All lenses suffer flare to a certain degree, beyond f4 upwards to f0.95 you will exacerbate this phenomenon also Canon lenses are made with Canon sensors in mind not Panasonic 4/3 sensors.

So why is it not a surprise to find that this chap has found the Panasonic AF100 to be “haunted” when you can see the same problem on every camera on the planet.

I think you will find this chap has been banned from DVX USER because of his little understanding in the subject he writes about but it’s also an obvious snipe at the success of the Panasonic AF100/101 coming from a DSLR background and it’s not even April the first yet !

I am also not giving him traffic because his findings are NORMAL not PARANORMAL which is why I do not mention his name or web reference.

Nigel Coopers new DVD, “How to light & Shoot Interviews for TV & Video” is now available direct from HD Warrior if you want a copy send us your details and I will send you a PayPal request for the £19.99. Note : You do not have to have a PayPal account to use PayPal.

I got an email from a Podiatrist in Hull last week teeing up times and dates to do a spot of filming and reminding me that she would prefer to use a prompter. Although I had such a beast from ProPrompter their iPad HD it is totally unsuitable for use with the Panasonic AF101, what a pain.

Fortunately my recent visit to BVE in London I had been looking at suitable prompters for the AF101, Holdan had the datavideo iPad Prompter and after studying it for a while I could see the full potential of using it with the 101.

Updated design feature : Delivered this morning from Holdan’s I started to assemble it to discover you get one standard 1/4″ screw which in my books is far to flimsy and does not fasten the camera nor in my case a quick release plate firmly enough to the prompter frame so after some measurements and an older Manfrotto QR plate I drilled a larger hole in the frame to allow a 3/8″ tripod screw and hey presto you have a belt and braces QR plate held on with two screws.

The great feature about the AF101 is it’s size, it is so well balanced on the Miller Tripod because it’s not a shoulder mount bruit. I tried the Nokton 25mm lens and the Canon 50mm f1.2 lens both work a treat.

Software : You can download various prompter APPs from the APPLE APP STORE but two that work best is i-Prompt Pro (FREE) and Teleprompt +. iPrompt Pro allows you to use the wired remote that comes with the datavideo prompter kit, you can download the APP called dv Prompter that datavideo recomend but I find the remote does not function nearly as well as iPrompt Pro which looks to be a clone of the datavideo version.

Teleprompt + for iPad is £5.99 and allows you to use your iPhone as a remote control for speed, pause and tabbing, I must admit the wired remote used with iPrompt is by far the most reliable for prompting.

UPDATE : Just spoke to the software developers at iPrompt and they inform me that an updated version of both iPrompt and datavideo which is the same software which gets rid of a bug that causes a jitter in the scrollong speed mode. The update should be with us via the Apple web site in about 5 days.

If we are going to see FCP-8 this is the web site that will have the first sniffing. It was very stupid of Apple to wax on about iMovie soon to be available for iPad 2 and not even mention Final Cut.

Once again Apple prove to their loyal FCP users that we are not even worth a mention even by the so called father of FCP, Randy Ubllios, who could have given us some hope of seeing FCP-8 at NAB 2011.

I had two reasons to go to BVE in London one to work and one to get myself a new tripod. I looked at most of the affordable tripods at the show but I was looking for something a wee bit better as I felt that some of my productions lacked a less than lustre pan and tilt.

I have been a Manfrotto fan for many a year and the 504HD was certainly the best head they have produced for a long time but the 504HD is not a true fluid head and the legs are not the best. I had a Vinten a few years ago but stupidly sold it to my good friend Alister. The Manfrotto gives you a set of heads that are interchangeable so if you are doing a 2 camera shoot you only have one quick release plate to worry about.

Anyway that aside I was now in the market for a new tripod and the one that took my fancy was the Miller Compass 25 a brand new model into the UK and was on show at BVE for the first time.

The single item that nailed the tripod sale for me was the addition of an accessory mounting bloc, free to everyone who buys this tripod during March 2011…fantastic, now I have a place to mount my Cineroid EVF.

My trip to BVE was a great success and with the delivery of my new Miller Compass 25 tripod today, icing on the cake, your second most important purchase beyond the camera itself is a tripod and I am glad to be investing in a family business like Miller just as good if not better than it’s German equivalent.

http://www.millertripods.com

Delta company, the sole distributor of Samyang Optics for Poland and Europe, wishes to inform about the release of the manual Samyang 8mm f/3.5 FISH-EYE CS VG10 lens. The new lens comes with the bayonet mount and has been designed especially for Sony NEX-VG10 digital camcorder.

Due to its unique construction, the bayonet mount has been adjusted to ensure possibly wide field of vision without producing the vignetting effect. Just like in other lenses manufactured for filming purposes, aperture can be easily and smoothly adjusted.

New Samyang 8mm f/3.5 FISH-EYE CS VG10 lens will be officially introduced during the forthcoming Focus on Imaging fairs held in Birmingham. Exact date of the release as well as the product’s retail price will be given later.

We are also about to introduce Samyang lens with Sony E mount for NEX system cameras.
Further information will be provided soon.

NEWS from http://www.dpreview.com