In a series of huge announcements, one of video’s biggest powerhouses, Canon, announced new camcorders with specs that are so good, you might just be tempted to take out a second mortgage to get one.

Canon announced their new products in stylish Hollywood event. They showcased their new C300 cinema-style camcorder, brand new cinema lenses, and a mysterious DSLR-style concept camera that shoots in 4K. The C300 was the story of the night since it marked Canon’s first foray into the cinema market. It has an 8.3 megapixel sensor that delivers a full 2 megapixels of information  for each color channel  meaning that color reproduction should be very accurate, much like the 3 CCD sensors of cameras in the past. The C300 will also include Canon’s newest DIGIC DV III image processor meaning that it will be able to handle those simultaneous feeds of color information accurately and quickly. In addition, it will record in Canon’s MXF format which means you’ll be getting a 4:2:2 MPEG-2 codec at 50 Mbps. Staying true to form, they’ve included two slots for CF cards in the camera so that you can record on both cards simultaneously or relay-record.

The C300 has a Super 35mm sensor, making it smaller than the recently announced EOS-1DX, but bigger than the sensor found in the 7 and 60D. A bit odd considering that sensor size is a big selling point for cinematographers since it typically means less noise in the image and gives the camera the ability to achieve a shallower depth of field. Even so, there are plenty of other great features on this camera that any pro will love. To begin, the camera is modular. That means that you can take almost everything off of the unit until it becomes more or less a camera ‘brain” housing just the sensor and processor. As such, it has an shoe mounted attachment that includes a 4 inch 1.23 megapixel monitor that can swivel 135 degrees horizontally and 270 degrees vertically and 2 XLR inputs with 48 volts of phantom power. The monitor also includes a waveform monitor to quickly see the overall brightness of a scene, an RGB Parade display for color saturation, a vectorscope, and an Edge Monitor Focus Assist for getting your image sharp. The camcorder records audio in an uncompressed 16-bit PCM format at 48 kHz giving you great control in post over how your captured audio sounds.

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As all of us know, the world of technology is constantly changing. Of course, this is exactly why so many of us just can’t get enough of it.  The same holds true for Sony’s latest announcement of their newest version of their ground-breaking interchangeable camera, the VG10 which Videomaker gave a Best Product of the Year award last year. The new camera will unsurprisingly be called the VG20 and has so many new features they might have well skipped the 20 and gone with the VG30 moniker instead.

First off, the camcorder has an upgraded sensor going from the VG10′s 14.2 megapixel Exmor APS HD to a new 16.1 megapixel Exmor R CMOS. As a result of this upgrade and an upgraded processor, Sony was able to include the ability to capture RAW stills. That’s right. RAW photographs have finally made their way to an affordable camcorder. That’s big news seeing as most camcorders just a few years ago could only take VGA resolution photos. Now if we could just get them to give us RAW video recording, we’d really be talking!

In addition, Sony has upgraded their audio capturing from stereo to 5.1 channel surround sound for those who find two channels of audio to be three channels too few. Sony has also found the time to introduce 4 new E-mount lenses, a 24mm F1.8, a 50mm F1.8 OSS, a 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS lens and others still to be announced.

Of course, the camcorder will still be able to record 1920 x 1080 AVCHD video up to 24Mbps at either 24p, 30p, or 60p which makes it quite a versatile shooter. It will also be sporting a new grip and belt design, an updated 3 inch touch panel that can swivel up to 270 degrees, and additional record button at the top of the camera for convenience, and will finally be able to keep the LCD on during HDMI out. Unfortunately, the camcorder still lacks an XLR option. But this is something that is easily remedied with an external audio recorder such as a Zoom H4N.

Though there are quite a few features in Sony’s update to the VG10, the price has still managed to stay nicely low. Sony is offering  the NEX-VG20 body for just $1,599 and the body plus an 18-200mm lens for $2,199 which allows this camera to compete with many of the popular DSLRs on the market today.

With all of the incredible technological announcements at CES, it is hard to stand out from the crowd. Even so, when Panasonic announced that it would be releasing a camcorder that could shoot in both 2D HD and 3D HD using an interchangeable lens adapter, we just had to see it to believe it. The camera has a Full HD 3MOS sensor, can film at 1080/60p, has a manual ring, a 20x zoom, and a 3.5 inch touch-screen LCD, and 32 GB of internal memory. Of course the camera also has the ability to record on an SDXC card for hours of 3D video. Instead of listening to us go on about its features, take a look at the camera in the video below and judge for yourself. There is no price set for this product.

Every once in a blue moon, a technology announcement goes from the usual to the revolutionary. When recording moving pictures became possible on magnetic video tape, it revolutionized where producers could film, allowed them to view their footage right away, and most of all saved filmmakers a great deal of money. The problem was that it also changed the look and “feel” of film that many audiences and producers had grown to love. Instead, video had low resolution, bad color reproduction, recorded at 30 fps instead of 24, and worst of all, virtually no depth of field. This gave video a completely different look and unfortunately a distinct ring of low quality to most audiences when they viewed it. Since that time however, much progress has been made toward achieving that “film look” again. Over time color space improved in video, 24P shooting modes were introduced, and picture resolution increased. Even with all of these improvements, filmmakers realized that there was still one vital thing missing in the pursuit to achieve the look of film: interchangeable lenses.

With Sony’s announcement of their tiny AVCHD high-definition camcorder with an interchangeable lens system, the revolution of interchangeable lenses has begun. It finally appears that camera manufacturers are taking interchangeable lenses seriously. While some might say it’s silly to manufacture a camera that’s smaller than its lens, I think that its results speak for itself. All one has to do is look at the beautiful depth of field in the footage that a camera with interchangeable lenses can produce, and it’s hard not to be sold on the idea. With a shallow depth of field, even small camcorders can draw your viewer’s attention to the area of the screen that is in focus – eliminating distractions in the background. This is the reason why interchangeable lenses are so revolutionary. In fact, I would go so far as to say that even cell phone cameras, which can now shoot in 720P, would be better off with an option for a small interchangeable lens system. Just imagine how much money it would save, and the artistic possibilities you could have if you were able to shoot footage on a cell phone that was similar in quality to footage shot on film. It would truly be a revolution.

With that being said, I can admittedly see one thing that could spell doom for the interchangeable lens revolution: compatibility. It would be great if camera and lens manufacturers could agree on making a standard for lens mounts on all cameras. I know this is wishful thinking here as companies make a lot of money off the different mounts they sell, but quite honestly, I think these manufacturers should be competing on lens quality and not compatibility. Plus, without a standard, many people would be forced into buying lenses and cameras from just one manufacturer which could put them in a real bind when newer and better equipment comes out from an entirely different manufacturer that does not have a compatible lens mount. Even with these problems though, the ability to shoot on both consumer and prosumer cameras with interchangeable lenses will no doubt have a huge impact on both amateur and professional cinematographers alike. With the ability to shoot with interchangeable lenses, camera manufacturers will have finally won the battle of making video look like film.

When Steve Jobs announced the ability to record video on the iPhone 3GS back in July, amateur videographers over the world rejoiced the fact that they finally had good reason to buy an iPhone. With the ability to record full SD video at 640×480 in such a tiny package, it seemed like the perfect device to record every kind of noteworthy moment. On the flip side though, professional videographers immediately realized the limitations: the lack of standard attachments, the inability to zoom or change lenses, the lack of manual controls, a microphone that pointed toward the floor while you recorded, and most of all video that’s more shaky than a standard political career.

Even with these obstacles, iPhone owners still began uploading all kinds of creative content to the web. YouTube alone had over 400% more mobile uploads the week after the iPhone 3GS went up for sale. Even the entertainment industry got onboard with the simplicity of recording video by producing entire music videos with the built in camera and software on the iPhone. Chase Jarvis, an award winning director, who has done campaigns for Mountain Dew and Nikon, even has an entire web site devoted to work that’s been done on the iPhone called www.thebestcamera.com.

Small camcorders are nothing new. Videomaker reviewed another popular camcorder called the Flip which has a lot of the same advantages as the iPhone. What’s interesting is how third party companies found a way to fix the limitations of video on the iPhone. An early example was from accessory makers USB Fever and Factron. They took a shot at solving the iPhone interchangeable lens issue by making small magnetic wide angle and macro lenses that fit right over the iPhone’s stock lens, giving you up to 40% more viewing range. Even professional camera accessory company Zacuto got in on the action by introducing its Zgrip iPhone Pro, allowing for an adjustable, quick releasable handgrip for shooting more stable video. Unfortunately, this grip was restricted to one hand, making it difficult to keep such a small device steady.

One accessory that has come close to solving the iPhone’s video problems is the OWLE Bubo. Looking more like a big Sega Genesis controller, OWLE’s two firm handles finally give videographers a real chance at solving the biggest limitation of the iPhone: super shaky footage. Additionally, OWLE has also taken a note from the devices before it by allowing for interchangeable lenses, a shotgun microphone, and a tripod mount, giving good cinematography on the iPhone a fighting chance. Who knows, with a rig like this and with the tight budgets all around the nations, you might be shooting your next interview in front of an iPhone.