coming not soon enough

Ah, it's never an easy ride when you want to make use of new technology. And so, despite our best-laid plans, Conversion has hit its first hitch.

I worked for years in product development, which has given me an in-depth understanding of all the things that can go wrong in the process of introducing something to market. When you know what can go wrong, large stores with many products in them start to seem kind of miraculous.

So I have a bit of sympathy for the fact that Panasonic has delayed the launch of their new Lumix hybrid camera, which we had planned to use to shoot Conversion (see video blog below). These things happen. I also understand that, because things happen and are difficult to resolve, that they've had to delay the launch multiple times.

It's hard not to be frustrated, however, at the fact that the latest delay in launch makes the camera available roughly three weeks after Conversion is due to start filming, and even then, there's no guarantee that Panasonic will be able to meet their launch date.

So we've made the decision to set our sights on acquiring a new camera, the Nikon D-5000. Like the Lumix camera we'd originally settled on, this is actually a high-end still camera, with remarkable high definition video capabilities. The drawback in this case is that, unlike the Lumix, the Nikon does not have good sound recording, meaning that, after filming, the video part of the movie will need to be synched up with a completely separate audio track. While not unheard of, this is something that adds a considerable layer of complication to the post-production process.

The major advantage of the D-5000 over the Lumix is that it's actually available for purchase.

Here's a short marketing video showing what the camera can do in the hands of some young amateur photographers: