Tablet Wars!

The iPad is not new technology, that we all know, as tablet computing has been around for quite a while. However, it certainly revived the interest in tablet use. So much so that we are seeing a surge in new products for the consumer’s pickings and the start of the tablet war era.

The contenders right now are: iPad vs HP Slate vs JooJoo vs Dell Mini 5 vs Archos7 vs Notion Ink Adam

In this group, the one that stands out is the Dell Mini 5 (also called Streak). Why? One simple answer: it is also a phone, making it a true pocket-able hybrid between an iPad and an Android phone. It is due for release this year.

Here is a Tablet Chart which shows all the differences (© Gizmodo).

While the Dell Mini 5 may not be the perfect tool for everyone, it does answer some of the questions which iPad doesn’t. The iPad lacks multi-tasking, Flash capabilities, a camera, and not pocket-able, but the biggest issue is that it doesn’t replace anything. It is really just a scaled up iPod Touch. And it is not cheap. A fully option loaded iPad will set a person back about $900.

According to Mr. Neeraj Choubey, head of Dell’s tablet program, the Dell Mini 5 on the other hand will have Flash built in, the latest Android 2.1, 3G connectivity, wifi, a 5 mp camera, a 5 inch screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor for multi-tasking capabilities and access to Google’s entire open source applications. There is no pricing information at this time, but Mr. Choubey says it will sell for less than the iPad.

Right now it looks like (on paper at least and some pre-production model reviews) that the Dell Mini 5 is a serious contender to the iPad (or other portable tablet devices). The only issue is that Dell had better release it before there is a new model around the block. (Google is rumored to be coming out with their own tablet phone soon).

Canon EOS 5Dmk2 films 'House' episode

Reported on DPReview, Apr 13, 2010 - A Canon EOS 5D Mark II has become the first video-capable DSLR to film a whole episode of a US prime time series. Greg Yaitanes, director of FOX broadcasting company's medical drama series 'House', used the camera , a selection of of Canon's prime lenses, the 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses to shoot the season finale. Speaking via Twitter, he said that this was to achieve a shallow depth of field and a 'richer look'. He also said he 'feels it’s the future'.

The director for the season finale of House MD, Greg Yaitanles, has revealed that the entire episode was shot with 3 Canon EOS 5Dmk2 cameras. He summarized his experience in a few points:

1. Love that I did with actors faces and how it pulled them out of the background.
2. Love the post-processing workflow and the many options available to them.
3. Used all of the primes and the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm zoom lenses.
4. Used a 16 GB card which gave 22 minute of footage at a time.
5. Focusing was tough but they had skilled camera men.
6. Recorded sound on a completely different system.
7. the 3 EOS 5Dmk2s replaced 2 of the usual video cameras they would use.
8. Used the latest firmware.
9. Loved the compact nature and how it was less intrusive to the actors.

Actually the thing is that both the Canon 5Dmk2 and the 7D is more capable than any video camera on the market today. It competes with digital film cameras where only few can compare in terms of image quality and they cost at least 10 times more and are much larger and heavier. There is no other camera that approaches the DSLR:s in terms of low light capability. The 5Dmk2 has the largest sensor of any video camera and the 7D has the sensor size very close to the classical Super-35mm format (and is larger than anything else on the market except for the 5Dmk2).

The video capabilities of DSLRs are a major revolution and the list of film industry professionals using them is long, including George Lucas, Robert Rodriguez and Ron Howard.

The shortcomings of the cameras for video (aliasing, rolling shutter, no XLR inputs, color compression etc) can be for the most part worked around and the massive size of the sensors (high IQ, shallow DOF, low light capabilities) combined with availability of high quality lenses (very cheap compared to for instance Panavision lenses) makes it very interesting for professional production.