ARRI announced that the new ALEXA camera is currently shipping. Production ramp-up of the new camera is now underway, with initial delivery priority given to customers who purchased the flagship D-21 camera following ALEXA’s unveiling to the market at IBC2009. ARRI is also shipping, in-camera, all the required hardware expansion for its brand new DTE (Direct-To-Edit) capability, which through the use of Apple’s ProRes 422 (HQ) and ProRes 4444 codecs allows high fidelity footage to be recorded onto Sony SxS PRO removable media cards, providing immediate availability of material into Final Cut Pro and AVID editing systems. A small number of Beta-test customers will pilot the DTE capabilities of the camera for a limited period of time to further evaluate performance and optimize the user interface for these new features. The full release of ALEXA’s DTE functionality will be made available to all customers as a firmware upgrade following completion of the Beta-test phase.

The fine folks over at PetaPixel have noted that a commercial Panasonic made for the Lumix G2 was shot using – at least in part – Canon 5D Mark II’s.  Panasonic released a “behind the scenes” of the making of the commercial to YouTube.   Apparently they were trying to do something similar to what Olympus did for their PEN camera, in shooting the commercial with the very camera they’re advertising. However, after watching the behind-the-scenes video, I do notice in at least two instances some Canon cameras with L series glass being used.

Impossible is going to be releasing a new instant color film at the Impossible Exhibition on July 29th.  They’ve already released two black and white films for classic Polaroid cameras, and now we’ve arrived at color… again. Check out the full write-up with our friends across the pond, the British Journal of Photography.

Jim Jannard, founder of RED, posted some photos of two RED Epic cameras merged to shoot 3D at 5k using a rig by Element Technica.  Check out the write-up that tipped us off, and the original post by Jim.  We know that the Epic has been delayed repeatedly, so it’s good to see stuff happening with it.

In this interesting article from the Guardian, we learn how the movie-going experience for Indians is much different from that here in the West.  Repeat viewing is common across age and gender, where we tend only to see that in certain films like Start Trek, Star Wars, Titanic, Lord of the Rings, etc.  Indian audiences also tend to shout at the screens, take sides in a story… they become participants instead of merely consumers.  However, some classes of male viewer tend to display their displeasure in a story by shredding theater seats, leading some theaters to bring in hard plastic or concrete seats.

The Boston Globe is reporting on an old daguerrotype that was found in a shoebox in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass.  The museum’s curator is working with a Harvard conservator to determine if the photograph was taken by Louis Daguerre, who developed the daguerrotype process. If so, the photo found in a shoebox could be worth over 3 million dollars.

The LA Times and some respected photojournalists take a curious look at what they see as the decline of “hard” photojournalism. Is publication-sponsored hard photojournalism really going away and being replaced with feel-good photojournalism, or is it moving to a different medium, or are todays hard photojournalists no longer in the employ of major publications?  What do you think?

According to a recent press release, Panavision is introducing a 3D system that is compatible with all screens and projectors, regardless of whether its a film or digital system, and doesnt need special lenses or  screen colors.  The press release is a little light on details, but does mention that this specifically does not rely on polarization and instead uses “spectral filtration”.  Apparently they’re manufacturing a dichroic-coated set of low-cost glasses that come with a cleaning and sanitizing system.  The system’s supposed to hit this fall, and personally I’m interested to see how this is different from the old red/blue “spectral filtration” systems from the 50′s.