CES Tradeshow - Amazing technology

[Liz]

If you haven't checked out the CES Tradeshow and some of the new technology, don't miss it! I've seen some of the items demonstrated on CNN. PJ has press releases on many photography related items on the News & Rumors Forum. The link is below.

I thought it would be fun - and for me, educational - to get some input on some of the photography related items (or other electronics) and how to look at spending (lots of) money on equipment that could be outdated quickly. Tapes are gone...Memory cards being replaced by in-camera HD's.............etc, etc. etc.

It would also be fun to see how everyone critiques some of the new electronics. Actually I was surprised at some of the low prices on a few of these items - some are already out. Others are coming out this year.

I saw a camcorder/camera combo (very tiny) that was shown on CNN with a tiny extra lens attached to the person's headband. The press release is in the News/Rumours Forum.

The CNN anchor asked the CES rep when it would be possible to just walk down the street and film as you go without using your hands, etc. The CES rep replied - I just did that last week. The CNN rep at the show replied "yea, that was last week's news - get with it." That about how it's going.

I recall some conversations here a while back regarding buying equipment today with electronics changing so rapidly - and how to convert the old to the new (tapes>DVD>mini DVD>miniHD) etc. One new method used in some of these cameras/camcorders is a hard drive vs memory card - HD about the size of a CF card. It's inserted into the camera, camcorder or combo.

Personally, I like simplicity. I love the 3" LCD screen on some new cameras and some other upgrades, but for now I'll stick with my Rebel - even though it looks like an antique already!

Link to News/Reviews Forum here for CES Tradeshow & Press Releases

http://forums.photographyreview.com/...splay.php?f=24

Liz

[Photo-John]

One new method used in some of these cameras/camcorders is a hard drive vs memory card - HD about the size of a CF card. It's inserted into the camera, camcorder or combo.

Liz-
I'm working from home today and I just watched that CNN segment, too :-)

Those miniature hard drives aren't new. You know them as MicroDrives. It's only the capacities and and applications that are changing. As the capacities start to hit 2-4 GB, they start to become powerful and affordable storage for serious DV recording. But flash memory prices are coming down so fast that I don't think we'll be seeing the tiny drives for very much longer. Flash memory is much safer and uses less power.

I'll keep checking for new CES-related press releases and adding them to the News and Rumors forum. If anyone sees anything on TV or another site that they'd like to add or have me research, just let me know. CES is my top priority right now.

[Liz]

Thanks for the clarification, John. As you can tell, I'm not good at keeping pace with new technology - I have enough challenges with the old.

I think this is amazing stuff I'm seeing. It's so interesting.

Liz

[another view]

I've been afraid of Microdrives for those reasons. I don't need the faster write speed (so I hear) but the thing that makes me wonder is in-camera memory. I can see that being OK and maybe a good thing with most compact digitals, but can't imagine DSLR's doing that - what do you do when it's full and you have more to shoot!? Being the paranoid type and with good reason for it recently, I'd rather split shots up onto several cards...

[Photo-John]

I don't know how MicroDrive speed compares to regular 1x flash memory. Since they have moving parts they do use more power and they're more delicate than flash memory. However, a lot of photographers have been successfully using MicroDrives for years. I think I've had mine for going on three years, with no problems at all. It's definitely slower than my high-speed flash cards. But in a fast camera like the EOS 1D, it usually makes no difference.

[Photo-John]

Liz-
I just dug up the Toshiba press release on their tiny hard drives. Here's a link: Toshiba 2GB 0.85-Inch Drive - Press Release

[Liz]

Thanks John..........

BTW, what's the most amazing thing you've seen or read about from this show?

Liz

Liz-
I just dug up the Toshiba press release on their tiny hard drives. Here's a link: Toshiba 2GB 0.85-Inch Drive - Press Release

[Photo-John]

Good question, Liz. This being a consumer show and not a real photo show, I'm not si interested in the cameras. The thing I'm noticing the most are all the new wireless applications. WiFi is technology is being applied to all kinds of things.

But the two photo-related things that have got my attention so far are these:

Anthology Yellow Machine Terabyte Storage Device - Press Release

Qbit Z-Image Lossless Data Reduction - Press Release

[10kman]

The hard drive storage items are relatively reliable, assuming you just treat them with care. We have a MicroDrive here at work, a 340mb one, from when that was considered "large", and it's been fine, and it's been abused (non-photo people using it). It's floating around the camera bag freely and has been just fine.

Of course, if you drop it, I'd bet it would break for sure, but how often have you dropped something like that? Sure it happens, but whatever.....

The prices of those things are CHEAP for what you can get. You can get a 4GB MicroDrive for 130 or so bucks if you scour around, and that's from a reliable name. 1GB 80x CF cards cost close to that.

The cameras have such large, fast buffers these days, that you really wouldn't notice it unless you were REALLY pushing the cameras. But, as internal memory gets larger and faster, you'll see the internal drives in the cameras come into play more.

JMO though......