Magic Bricks

My first encounter with a digital camera was around 1996 when my university IT department acquired the Apple Quicktake 100. While the quality of the output was laughable compared to the analog counterparts, the convenience of such a device was clear. It wasn’t too long after that when I got my first digital camera, the Ricoh RDC-5000 which I used to capture the new worlds I vistited. Many devices followed.

Ever since I switched from photo to video as my default media format of capturing places and moments, there have been three major attributes I would seek out of a camera. A nice separation of subjects using shallow depth of field, a dreamy slow motion look using high frame rates and a pleasing image using optical or electronic stabilization.

All of these fields have been getting steady improvements and I always fantasize how my young self would react to seeing footage taken from a tiny little rectangle I carry around in my pocket. It is just incredible that the footage below is hand held and the cameraman is not driving a onewheel or using a gimbal, steadycam or some other aid. Just ninja walking. When do we stop calling these magic bricks phones?

Skate Your Name: Patrik from jimmac on Vimeo. Music arranged on Polyend Tracker.