New iPod Nano shoots video
 

Hmm...what are the long term ramifications of this? Obviously the video is primitive but at the price point and with as many units as Apple will sell, is this the start of a revolutionary products and concept? We know it will get better and better for less and less money.

Apple - iPod nano - Video Camera - Shoot video wherever you are.

Dan

Apple will move a large quantity of units, I am sure, but I don't think this will have any different effect than the introduction of video on cellular telephones had.

In my opinion, the days of the dedicated music player (iPod) are numbered anyhow. Technology convergence has already resulted in devices such as the iPhone which combine phone, music player, camera, portable gaming system, and PDA into one.

I'm just waiting for someone to declare this the next great tool for indie "film" makers.

I agree, and think that the touch getting a faster processor is the true sign of where this all is going. iPods of the near future will be used much the same way we're using laptops today. To get there they've got to cram more processing power and memory into them... or have them be able to access cloud computing.

Apple is in the middle of a transitional period waiting for all the pieces to fall into place and are adding features to their lineup to keep consumers interested until then.

Or at least that's my take on this thing as it relates to future products for Apple.

As it relates to video, I don't know. Maybe these will replace some of the really cheap card based cameras that are on the market now. (those tiny sub $200 ones) You can have one device for music, entertainment and memory capturing rather than several. I don't think it will be any type of revolution, just a convenience.

That'll never happen - the iPod doesn't have shallow DOF. Ha!

The... Ipod... Nano... Is... The... Next... Great... Tool... For... Indie... "film"... Makers.

Also...

Raymond... Shaw... Is... The... Kindest... Warmest... Most... Wonderful... Human... Being... I've... Ever... Known... In... My... Life.

Points for quoting one of my all-time favorite movies, Jon!

Now why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?

The Nano is pretty impressive.

I shot some video with the Nano today. It's real video: 640x480 @ 29.97fps h.264.

Considering the size of the Nano, it's pretty good quality. Better than any cell phone I've seen. Maybe not as good as a sd Flip. Outdoors is fine. In the dark, it's not so great. Audio won't handle a loud environment, like a bar, very well at all. <g>

It's another step toward turning video into a ubiquitous life skill that everyone will have. Still photography has already gone down that road, pretty much ruining it as a profession, but turning millions of people into decent photographers thanks to new technology.

I think the long term ramifications will be detrimental on our industry as a whole. The low cost HD cams and the acceptance of low quality videos (youtube) enabled anyone who can afford one to call themselves filmmakers, videographers, photographers etc..

Lately when I bid on a job I can't compete with the lowball prices of novices, or the new acceptance of clients of paying a lower price, over paying more for hiring a professional with experience.

Chuck:

"It's another step toward turning video into a ubiquitous life skill that everyone will have. Still photography has already gone down that road, pretty much ruining it as a profession..."

Very interesting statement. But will there ever be a rebound like there was with desktop publishing when people finally realized just because you CAN do your own design, layout and publishing, you SHOULDN'T always do it because you suck as a designer. Will we ever get to "yeah, I can do video, but my video looks like crap because I don't have the skills, I should just hire a pro"? I wonder.

I totally know what you mean, thank goodness I talked myself out of trying to become a professional photographer because I saw the writing on the wall, even in the mid 1970s when I was a kid and deciding what to do. I interned with a top photographer when I was 12 and 13 and even then, I thought to myself, "no matter how good I will ever get, it will be too difficult to try to make a living because it is too damn competitive". And yes, video production seems to be going the same way.

Dan

Can we have step up rings for the nano to mount it on a 35mm adapter? :-)

Fixed it for you.

**bold and italic not part of original post**

Nope, absolutely wrong. I know many world-class photographers who can't make a living right now. Now if you change that to "average businessmen" you might be right.

same with music
 

a little off-topic but its the same with music.

since everyone has garageband and can get pro-tools with a $99 mic, now everyone is also a composer.

competition is fierce and pros are working for next to nothing and much less work to go around.

only consolation is there may be more people making films that need music - including web-a-sodes, but overall the quality goes down.

time to find a real job...