When Canon released the 21 MP 5D Mk. II complete with 1080p full frame video, serious videographers were drooling. And after seeing such shorts as “Reverie,” by professional photographers using the video feature to shoot some serious cinematic imagery, the chief complaint was that the 5D Mk. II’s video feature was purely automatic. That there was no ability to control manually the exposure or shutter settings for the video feature, was always a thorn in professional videographers side. No more. According to CNet, a firmware update for the $2500+ camera body is coming which will give photographers the keys to the video kingdom.

Looks like Polaroid has announced a ship date for the Polaroid Pogo. Or should I say month? According to Like Cool, Polaroid will ship the Pogo Instant Digital Camera next month. If you recall, the Pogo was the merging of a digital camera with the Zink portable printer. The Zink, which stood for “zero ink” prints a smudge-proof, water-resistant, fade resistant print with a no ink, heat activated process. Polaroid has been waiting for this development (pardon the pun) so they could finally get back to what their core business was … instant print pictures.

Samsung Pixon 12 appears to be raising the standard for cellular phone cameras with an LED flash, a wide-angle 28mm lens, and a whopping 12 Megapixels. I’m sure there are cellular phones with a higher number of Megapixels, but most consumer digital cameras don’t go that high.

The Pixon 12 can also record video at 30fps for a resolution of 720 x 480. The photos or video footage can be viewed with the 3.1 inch full AMOLED touchscreen. Nice.

By the way, the Pixon 12 is also an HSPA and GPRS/EDGE phone, and comes with Wi-Fi, and FM tuner, and Bluetooth. Very nice!

I’m glad that Samsung has put so much work into the cellphone camera. I know that I have said this before, but why is it that every phone has to have an obligatory camera?

New iPhone 3GS: faster and now with video!

At the World Wide Development Conference, the new iPhone, dubbed iPhone 3GS (speed) introduces a much faster interface and processor, cut and paste, yada yada yada, but what iPhone fans will really enjoy is the new 3MP camera with autofocus, auto white balance, and VIDEO!

Canon made headlines with the 5D Mk. II’s ability to shoot high definition video in 1080p. This was a major development as it allowed photographers the ability to get a big movie look to the videos shot. This was because it brought lenses, shutter and aperture settings and depth of field to video. And it looked like a million. Panasonic sees the handwriting on the wall that convergence is the watchword in photography. But they’ve upped the ante to the next level with the Lumix GH1, which can not only shoot 1080p video, but it also adds Dolby digital audio to the mix, meaning photographers have a serious movie studio in their camera.