Digital Journal — With so much new technology hitting the market these days, it can be really frustrating to try and figure out what’s good and what’s not. Well, we sympathize, and the Digital Journal Showcase offers you a place to start looking.
In Living Colour
Lacie 321 Monitor
Graphic designers take notice: The Lacie 321 is a 21-inch LCD monitor created with the finicky professional in mind. Using 10-bit gamma correction, it allows for 1,024 tonal options (as opposed to the standard 256), improving colour gradation and image precision. In other words, the monitor produces images almost exactly as they would appear in print. Also useful is the calibration tool that memorizes settings and stores them in profiles for later use.
Price: $2,400
www.lacie.ca
Flicks, Pics and Music
Epson P-2000 Multimedia Storage Viewer
Imagine a device that stores your digital pictures, movies and MP3s, sans laptop. Imagine that same gadget having a simple, newbie-friendly interface. Now snap out of that daydream and check out Epson’s P-2000, a multimedia viewer that features a 3.8-inch LCD screen so sharp you won’t believe it’s made from pixels. With a 40GB hard drive and impressive battery life, it’s a smart accessory for any big-league digital photographer — and at just over 14 ounces, it fits easily into any technophile’s grab bag.
Price: $670
www.epson.com
Push My Buttons
Kyocera KX440 Cell Phone
Cell phones are wonderful inventions, but what’s with all the button-mashing? Kyocera’s KX440 (pictured above) comes to the aid of sore-fingered chatters with a phone that doubles as a walkie-talkie. Pressing one button allows you to talk to a friend instantly, provided he or she has the same phone. Rubberized edges and a sturdy detachable belt clip make this phone a dream gadget for the truck driver in all of us. Over and out, big buddy!
Price: $230
www.kyocera-wireless.com
High-Def initely for Video Magic
REVIEW: Sony HDR-FX1 HDV Camcorder
A stunning piece of machinery from Sony, the HDR-FX1 Camcorder introduces high-definition video to “prosumers” for less than $5,000. This camera combines output from three dedicated CCDs to process high-resolution video in all its red, green and blue glory.
The HDR-FX1 shoots in MiniDV and Sony’s popular DVCAM format, in both 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 aspect ratios. This near-professional model offers such intricate functions as manual focus, iris control, shutter speeds and white balance. Its built-in stereo microphone is a handy audio tool, but if you want to use a professional mic, you may have to buy an adapter or move up to Sony’s pro HDV camcorder, the HDR-Z1U. The FX1 comes with a Carl Zeiss lens that works beautifully in any shooting situation. It is also surprisingly lightweight and comfortable to use.
I am a huge fan of this camcorder’s LCD, mounted near the front of the camera above the lens. Unlike many on-camera LCDs, this brilliant display can be trusted to check that your colour and screen limits are accurate when shooting.
While shooting with the FX1, one of the features that blew me away was the memory buttons. This camcorder can remember two shots (A and B), memorizing parameters such as focus, zoom, iris, shutter speed and white balance. This allows the user to instantly switch between the two preset shot types with the push of a button.
The HDV format is a joint project between several leading electronics manufacturers that allows real-time MPEG-2 (DVD-quality) encoding of the HD signal to fit on an ordinary MiniDV tape. This format is still in its infancy, but it’s sure to gain plenty of steam as high-definition becomes more common and less expensive.
As for editing options, Apple has adopted HDV across their line of post-production software, including iMovie HD (which comes with any new Mac), Final Cut Express HD and Final Cut Pro. On the Windows side, Sony’s own Vegas supports HDV, as does Pinnacle and Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5.
The FX1 can connect to any of these editing systems via FireWire.
From experience, the faster the computer, the easier your switch to HDV will be. Be prepared to spend some extra cash for RAM and/or hard drive space before you decide to adopt HDV. It’s worth the investment.
Sony FX1 Review written by Mike Alfano
This article is part of Digital Journal’s national magazine edition. Pick up your copy of Digital Journal in bookstores across Canada. Or subscribe to Digital Journal now, and receive 8 issues for $29.95 + GST ($48.95 USD).
