Monthly Archives: July 2011

Utopia Inc

Why are there so many buildings with flat roofs in Helsinki? After all, we’re at 60 degrees north Latitude, snow is measured by height above parked cars, and the weight of all that snow on those flat roofs adds up to more than 20 pounds per cubic foot.     Little wonder that one of the best businesses in Helsinki,… read more…

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GPS Equipment Tracking

The SilverCloud GPS Tracker from LandAirSea was designed to check on fleets of cars, trucks, as well as your teenage driver’s whereabouts. However, these small (2.5″ x 3.9″ x .9″), inexpensive ($469), compact and portable real-time GPS tracking units could be helpful to keep tabs on your equipment. Stick one in each case. Or transplant the circuit into your cameras… read more…

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ARRI Alexa 4.0 Software Update

ARRI Alexas are everywhere here in Europe, shooting features, television specials and commercials. A busy camera assistant, who prefers to remain anonymous, had this to say about Alexa’s ubiquity, “It’s the green button and it beeps when you start. It behaves like familiar friends–Arriflex film cameras.” You can now upgrade your Alexa to software version 4.0. A full description is… read more…

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Data Wrangling Sony HXR-NX70 on Mac

Here’s a workflow review on how we’re moving files from the water-resistant Sony HXR-NX70 camcorder into our Macs. The camera records to Sony proprietary .mts files that are HD MPEG-4 AVCHD format compatible. 1. Plug in the NX70’s external power supply and connect a USB cable from the camera to your Mac. We’re recording directly to the internal 96 GB… read more…

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P. Mutasen Elokuvakonepaja Oy

P. Mutasen Elokuvakonepaja Oy is Helsinki’s major camera rental house, housed since 1999 in a former railroad locomotive factory that was built in 1898. The “Oy” at the end of the name is not what it means in New York (“Oy, whattayah doin’?”) In Finland, Oy is short for Osakeyhtiö, sort of like “Inc” or “Ltd.” The company was founded by Finnish Cinematographer… read more…

Chris Marchitelli Joins Litepanels

Chris Marchitelli has joined Litepanels as VP of Global Marketing. It was just a few months ago that we were quoting Chris from his position at Sony Electronics as Senior Executive of “Beyond HD Production.” (as in 2K, 4K, 8K, F65). Rudy Pohlert, president and co-founding partner of Litepanels, said, “Chris brings experience in planning and marketing high profile broadcast technology… read more…

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Sony Spraycam NX70

We’re in Helsinki, Finland testing Sony’s new hostile environment HXR-NX70 camcorder at the 2011 Open European Sailing Championships. Sailors representing 50 countries are competing in pre-Olympic trials in conditions ranging from sweltering calm to 30 mph gusts and rain. If I had a truckload of new Sony NX70 cameras here on the dock I wouldn’t have to write this article–I could comfortably… read more…

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