TechCrunch
Canon's New 70D DSLR Beefs Up Autofocus, Could Be An Indie Filmmaker's Dream Camera
Canon has just revealed its long-awaited 70D DSLR, the successor to the 60D. The 70D fits above the Rebel line in terms of price and specs in Canon’s interchangeable lens camera catalogue, and this new version focuses on improving one of the 60D’s most considerable strengths: movie making.
Canon has introduced new Dual Pixel CMOS autofocus, which has a sensor with double the pixel count to help improve focus tracing. The result is a fast, smooth autofocus function that especially helps when shooting video using the live view, vari-angle display on the back of the camera. It also helps with still AF to some degree, which is likewise boosted by a new AF system with 19 cross-type points (just like the much-respected, if aging Canon 7D), but the real benefit here is for aspiring filmmakers.
In a hands-on test of a pre-production unit, Engadget found that the new AF system works as impressively as advertised. Especially paired with Canon’s STM line of lenses, which are designed for smoother autofocus while shooting digital video, the combo should be amazing for videographers; in other words, Canon is looking to arm a whole new generation of Kickstarter filmmakers with the 70D, and has apparently done a very good job.
It also has some improvements in terms of expanded ISO capabilities, touch input via the 3-inch, high-resolution vari-angle display, boosted 7 FPS high-speed shooting modes, and built-in Wi-Fi, which offers live view shooting from smartphone apps, as well as camera-to-device transfers of photos and videos.
The new Dual Pixel CMOS AF works with 103 EF model lenses, including a lot of legacy glass, so it should fit nicely into an existing Canon kit. And the price tag isn’t crazy: $1,199 for body only, or $1,349 bundled with the 18-55mm IS STM kit lens, along with an EF-S 18-135 IS STM kit option for $1,549. All of the above should ship come September, according to Canon, so look to fall as a time when all those intro videos that preface Kickstarter projects start to get a noticeable production quality upgrade.
TechStars London Unveils First Cohort, Applications Increased 4x Post-Springboard Merger
It’s just under five months since the announcement of TechStars London, the UK outpost of Boulder, U.S.-based uber-accelerator TechStars after it merged with Jon Bradford’s Springboard. Today TechStars London is unveiling its first cohort, giving us a glimpse at how things are shaping up post-merger.
The headline takeaway is that applications for TechStars London were four times greater than previous years under the old Springboard operation, totalling 1,302 applications from 72 different countries. TechStars says that’s testament to the TechStars brand and pent up demand for the accelerator to expand outside of the U.S., but also bring with it the all important bridge to the U.S. market, along with TechStars’ global network of mentors.
In that sense, it’s not hard to see how London makes sense as an out-post location, given that is has a vibrant tech scene of its own, plenty of government cheerleading in the form of the Tech City project, as well as being naturally outwards-looking. Of course, I’d also hasten to add that TechStars London already has a pretty formidable local competitor in the form of Seedcamp, which has arguably been holding its own in London, Europe (and elsewhere).
From those 1,302 applications, TechStars had to whittle it down to 11 teams to make the final cut for the bootcamp-style 13 week program (although a change this year sees teams able to stick around for a further 3 months at TechStars London’s new Warner Yard home, the co-working space owned by early-stage fund Playfair Capital).
Those teams comprise of founders originating from seven countries: Colombia, Holland, Ireland, Serbia, Solvenia Spain, and the UK, so a pretty diverse bunch, which isn’t really notable for a multicultural city like London. Meanwhile, we’re told that five of the companies have a FinTech focus, while two of the companies have “a very strong social agenda”. The others appear to span various B2B, analytics and developer tools.
Interestingly, TechStars London says that two Techstars mentors have returned as company founders (Laurence Aderemi and Richard Newton), which must feel a bit like going back to school but also speaks volumes for the perceived benefits of going through an accelerator like TechStars and the doors it potentially opens. TechStars London also says that four of the companies have come from other accelerators — can we say “serial acceleratees” — and that other founders include a Private Equity director, game developer veterans and “several serial entrepreneurs”.
Full list of TechStars London teams below:
FeedPack – “Provide companies feedback about their courier service”
Iptvbeat – “Google Analytics for IPTV”
Modabound – “Platform for college students to buy and sell clothing”
Moni – “Mobile money transfer”
OP3Nvoice – “Conversation management and intelligence”
Osper – “Bank for young people”
Paymins – “Micropayments for social networks”
Peerby – “Borrow things locally”
PlayCanvas – “Development platform for video games”
QuanTemplate – “Platform for insurers to optimise their risk in real time”
VetCloud – “Practice management system for veterinary surgeries”
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