Tech Tuesday: Hobbit backlash & cardboard Ikea digital camera

This week on News 1130 radio in Vancouver, I talked about:

• Peter Jackson screens 10 minutes of the new Hobbit movie and gets some surprising feedback: Jackson got a fair amount of pushback about the visual quality of the 10 minutes he shared with theater owners and selected folks recently. The main issue was that the cameras used to capture the movie are shooting at 48 frames per second (and in 3D) which results in a super fluid look that looks almost too real with some viewers saying it looked more like video than the lushness of the previous Lord of the Rings trilogy (shot at 24 frames per second). Jackson countered that any new technology can take a bit of getting used to and once viewers watch the entire movie and not just a few minutes, they’ll adjust to it just fine as they’ll forget about the technology as they get engrossed in the story. (Source)



• Ikea unveils reusable, cardboard digital camera: as part of a press kit for the recent Milan Design show, Ikea included a little cardboard digital camera with 2.3 megapixels that has caught the attention of photographers everywhere thanks to it’s low tech look and specs. It has a USB plug for downloading about 40 shots from it’s internal memory and lacks a LCD screen on the back. You delete your photos by pressing a recessed button with a paperclip. Looks like the limited edition camera will be given away soon in stores to promote a new furniture line. (Source)