Canon’s Project Imagination is still live, and got a new boost in the last days. In the video above you see R. Howard talk about his first experience with a camera. More Project Imagination videos:

• Ron Howard talks about the last time he appeared in a commercial
• Ron Howard gives advice to Project Imagin8ion participants
• Canon Project Imagin8ion Case Study 1
• Canon Project Imagin8ion Case Study 2
• Andre Lascaris Project Imaginat10n Film Contest Tips: Episode 1
• Andre Lascaris Project Imaginat10n Film Contest Tips: Episode 2
• Kelly Shipp Winner Video Blog
• Alan Martelly Winner Video Blog
• Chris Wehner Winner Video Blog
• Jen Berry Winner Video Blog
• Lexia Frank Winner Video Blog
• Brooke Shaden Winner Video Blog
• Mikey L’Heureux Winner Video Blog
• Walter Arnold Winner Video Blog
• Canon: “when you find me”

Learn more about Canon Project Imagination.

The folks at DPReview posted an interview with Canon, taken at the last CP+ show in Yokohama. They interviewed Mr. Masaya Maeda, Managing Director and Chief Executive, Image Communication Products Operations at Canon. An excerpt (emphasis mine):

Question: Canon offered a maximum pixel count of ~22MP for seven years before the launch of the EOS 5DS and 5DS R. Why did it take that long to increase resolution?

Answer: I wasn’t actually aware that it had been seven years! The biggest reason it took this long to get to 50MP is the targets we set for pixel-level quality. Every year we sit down with photojournalists, and listen to their demands – what they need to do their job – and the biggest demand was that even if pixel count increased, actual pixel-level image quality would not decrease.

Obviously at the same time as we were seeing demand for increased pixel-level quality we were also being asked for increased pixel-count. The reason the time finally came for us to release the EOS 5DS and 5DS R this year was that we found a means of satisfying the demand for increased pixel count without sacrificing quality. It took us that long to reach this level.

I like this part of the interview. When pointed to the criticism that Canon is somewhat slow when it comes to innovation, Mr Maeda answered:

Personally, I think we’re slow as well. Every day I’m saying ‘speed up, make it faster!’. One of our themes now as a company is upon developing a new technology, to shorten the time between development and when that technology is introduced into a product. We need to shorten that time. That’s our goal.

Keep it rolling Canon! Read the interview at DPReview –>

This amazing short time-lapse video giving you a taste of Austria took two years, 600 sequences, and 5 terabytes of photos to make. It’s produced by FilmSpektakel, an Austrian time-lapse making team made of two persons, Thomas Pöcksteiner and Peter Jablonowski. To make the video a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, two EOS 6Ds, a Rebel T3i/EOS 600D, and a bunch of lenses  –Canon 24-105mm, Tamron 150-600, 24-70mm, and 28-300mm – were used.

Canon announces two free firmware upgrades for the Canon XF205 and XF200 professional camcorders. These updates will add a new image quality setting and support for IP streaming, and will be released respectively mid-April and late-June 2015. Press release:

Free Firmware Upgrades For Canon XF205 and XF200 Professional Camcorders Deliver Improved Basic Performance

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 4, 2015 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, announced today two free firmware upgrades1 that the company will make available for the Canon XF205 and XF200 Professional Full HD camcorders (released in July 2014), one of which adds a new image-quality setting to the camcorder and another that enables the streaming of video over an IP network.

Since their launch in July 2014, the Canon XF205 and XF200 camcorders have proven popular in a wide variety of fields, from the production of news and other broadcasting content to the recording of weddings and other events. In response to the needs of a wide range of users, the new firmware upgrades will add such features as a new image-quality setting that facilitates video recording with reduced noise even in low-light conditions2, as well as numerous functions that deliver enhanced basic performance, such as the ability to stream live video over an IP network.

One of the new upgrades, to be released in mid-April 2015, will add an image-quality setting to the XF205 and XF200 camcorders that facilitates the recording of video with noise reduction even in low-light conditions. This feature will enable users to choose the optimal image quality based on their shooting requirements, providing a choice between a setting that prioritizes the high-resolution capabilities of the camcorder – the camcorders’ default setting – and a new image-quality setting that gives priority to video with noise reduction.

The firmware upgrade to be released in late-June 2015 will enable the XF205 and XF200 camcorders to support video streaming over an IP network, a method that is widely used in the broadcasting industry to send and receive video signals. By sending video over the internet while it is being captured, users will be able to provide live transfers of footage to news programs and video-sharing sites. In addition, the upgrade will enable the camcorders to be used with Fujitsu’s video transmission equipment, the Fujitsu Network IP-900IID and IP-920D HD/SD Compact Video Decoders3 as well as software supporting IP streaming. Thanks to these new capabilities, users will be able to stream video over an IP network without having to alter existing video-capture and editing workflows, such as those employed at broadcasting stations.

Canon will exhibit prototype-versions of the firmware upgrades at the Canon booth during the 2015 NAB Show from April 13 to 16 in Las Vegas.