Tag: Display

by Leland Richardson on November 10, 2021 0

Toshiba Camileo S30 Review

Toshiba’s Camileo S30 camcorder records 1080p HD video in the H.264 format to SDHC/SDXC memory cards. The $179 camcorder features a 3-inch touch screen display and 8-megapixel still photo capture. Full specs for the Camileo S30 can be found here.

Toshiba Camileo S30 at a Glance

The Good: Slim design, good features for the price

The Bad: Touch screen can be unresponsive

Video Quality

The Toshiba Camileo S30 records 1920 x 1080p video in the H.264 format via an 8-megapixel CMOS sensor. It has additional options to record at 720p at 30 frames per second (fps) or at 60fps for capturing fast-moving subjects.

The video quality is definitely passable for a budget camcorder. You’ll notice a bit of over-exposure in bright sun and high contrast areas, but otherwise the S30 holds its own with other low-cost models on the market.

The S30 does offer a video light, which isn’t typically found on models at this price point. It’s useful for closeups but doesn’t have much power beyond that. Plus, it’s placed almost directly where your finger wraps around the camcorder, so you’ll have to be careful to nudge your finger down before activating the light.

In addition to movies, the Toshiba S30 can snap 8-megapixel still photos. However, most of the shots I snapped suffered from a good deal of blur, even when holding the camcorder steady.

Toshiba S30 Optics

The S30 does not offer an optical zoom but there is a 16x digital zoom. However, like all digital zooms, the quality degrades as you use it, so it’s better to avoid it all together. There’s also digital image stabilization, although it’s ineffective for the stills and only marginally useful on the video.

Design

The S30 is one of the few upright camcorders left in the market. At .75 inches, it’s slimmer than a pocket camcorder and has a larger, swing-out LCD display (3-inches) not found on pocket models.

However, it’s a bit larger than some of the smaller models on the market – at 2.3 x 4.3 x .75 -inches. Nevertheless, it’s quite portable.

The controls of the S30 are clustered on the slender body of the camcorder, although they are responsive. At the top is a large shutter button, followed by a lever for the zoom and controls for menu and the video light. Flip open the display and you’ll find large buttons for power (opening and closing the LCD also powers on and off the camcorder), switching between photo and video mode and web button for uploading videos from the camcorder to the Internet when it’s connected to a computer.

Feature Set

The Toshiba S30 has a nice set of features for a camcorder at the price. There’s a motion detect mode, which will begin recording when the camcorder sees motion. There’s also a slow motion option, which will record lower quality video at slower speeds (good for capturing baseball swings to view on the computer but not great for viewing on the big screen). A pre-record function will start recording a few seconds of video before you actually press the shutter, to help you catch all of the action. Finally, a time-lapse feature will capture short bursts of video over pre-set intervals so you can capture change over time.

Menu & Display

The nice thing about the Camileo S30 is its large, 3-inch display. It’s a touch-screen so most of the camera’s features are accessibly through there. Unfortunately, while the menu icons are large enough, the display isn’t all that responsive, nor well executed. Each icon needs a double tap to enter a specific function and sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether you’ve turned something on or off. There are enough features on the S30 that you’ll need to scroll down on the screen with a flick of your finger, but it often takes several flicks to get there.

On the plus side, once you press an icon once a text description of what it is will pop up on the display, but the process of navigating around the menu is more clumsy and time-consuming than it should be.

Memory

The S30 records to SDHC and SDXC memory cards (up to 64GB) which provides ample storage for your video-taking needs. It contains 128MB of internal memory, which is enough for about a minute of HD footage, so a card is a must.

Toshiba Camileo S30: Bottom Line

If you’re in the market for a good budget camcorder, the Toshiba Camileo S30 is a nice choice. Unlike some of its pocket camcorder competitors, it has a larger, swing-out display, which makes it easier to frame your videos. The menu interface needs improvement, and you shouldn’t be expecting ultra-high quality high def recording, but the S30 makes up for it with a nice feature set and a slender, portable design.

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by Leland Richardson on November 10, 2021 0

Kodak Playsport Zx5 Review

The Kodak Playsport Zx5 is a high definition pocket camcorder capable of recording 1920 x 1080p in the H.264 format. It is waterproof to a depth of 10 feet, can survive a drop of up to five feet and is sealed against dust and dirt.

It retails for $179.

Kodak Playsport Zx5 at a Glance

The Good: Slim, rugged design, good video quality.

The Bad:

Sticky center control, no built-in USB plug, mono mic.

Kodak Playsport Zx5 Video Quality

The Playsport Zx5 records 1920 x 1080 HD video at 30 frames per second (fps) in the H.264 video format via a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor. You also have the option to record 1280 x 720 video at 60fps for capturing faster moving action or at 720/30fps.

As with the previous Playsport, the video is quite appealing for a pocket camcorder. Occasionally, the colors would drift a bit but the effect is hard to notice unless you’re really parsing your footage. Compared with last year’s Zx3, the video appeared less noisy indoors, which is a plus.

In addition to video, the Playsport can also snap 5-megapixel still images. Unless you’re working with plenty of natural light and a very steady hand, the photo function mostly produces blurry pics.

Optics

The Playsport offers a fixed focal length lens with a 4x digital zoom. The zoom isn’t much help – it tends to simply ramp up the digital noise in your video, so it’s probably

best to avoid it all together. The Playsport offers digital image stabilization to help keep videos smooth during recordings. The video I shoot wasn’t particularly shake-prone, but it’s hard to tell if that’s the stabilization kicking in or the fact that the Playsport is so small that you can get a real nice grip on it.

One thing you’re likely to notice (and it’s reared its head on other pocket cams) is trouble with the auto-focus. Sometimes it’s slow to lock on, leaving you with a second or two of blurred video. It’s not unusual for a pocket camcorder lens, but it’s something to bear in mind.

Playsport Design

The Playsport isn’t the slimmest and trimmest pocket camcorder on the market, mostly because it’s designed to take a beating. Still, at 2.3 x 4.4 x .7-inches and 125g it’s still light and compact enough to slip into a pocket with hardly a notice. The corners of the Playsport are rounded off with a rubberized bumper which not only protects it from bumps but gives it a sturdier grip. While the camcorder seals away its memory card and connector ports to protect them from the elements, both click open easily so they’re quick to access.

The Playsport has seven external buttons – an on/off switch that sits rather flush on the top of the camcorder and is a bit difficult to engage. It’s backlit though, so you can notice when the Playsport is turned on (in case the live preview on the LCD display didn’t tip you off). On the back of the camcorder, you’ll find controls for switching between still and video, playback, trash, settings and a share button – which lets you tag videos for automatic emailing or uploading once the Playsport is connected to a PC. These controls are quite responsive. The record button sits at the center of a four-way controller, which is a bit less responsive than the other controls.

The Playsport comes in three color choices: red, blue and black. Aesthetically, it’s pretty sharp.

Playsport Zx5 Features

In addition to its rugged, waterproof design, the Playsport Zx5 has several video effects that can be applied to videos including vivid color, sepia, black and white, high saturation and “1970s film look” if you want a retro feel to your videos. There’s an underwater setting as well to optimize your exposure if you take the Playsport beneath the waves. You’ll also find face detection, and the aforementioned share button, which lets upload videos automatically to Facebook, Flickr, Kodak Gallery , Twitter, YouTube and several other sharing sites. The share function is definitely a plus, but the Playsport doesn’t have a built-in USB plug, so you’ll have to fish around for a cable when you’re ready to connect.

Menu & Display

Kodak has updated – and improved- the menu system from the Zx3 on the new Playsport Zx5. Good thing too, as the older menu was difficult to understand. The new menu trades vague icons for simple text. It’s not the most dynamic thing in the world, but it certainly gets the job done.

The Playsport’s 2-inch display features a glare-shield, which you can activate in the menu to compensate for bright sunlight. The display itself is bright but doesn’t have a great viewing angle, so you need to be holding it straight-on to get the sharpest preview of the video you’re recording.

Playsport Memory

The Kodak Playsport Zx5 comes with 128MB of internal memory so you’ll need to opt for an optional SD/SDHC card to record video of any length. The camcorder supports SDHC cards up to 32GB in capacity – enough to store about six hours of HD footage.

Kodak Playsport Zx5 Bottom Line

The Playsport Zx5 is a very versatile pocket camcorder – it not only takes sharp video but is designed to go underwater and take the odd fall off a table. Despite its sturdy build, the Playsport is sharply styled and not at all cumbersome to carry with you. The lack of a built-in USB plug and a lapse in autofocus top the very short list of quibbles with the Playsport Zx5, which continues Kodak’s tradition of leading pocket camcorders.

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by Leland Richardson on November 9, 2021 0

Samsung HMX-Q10 Camcorder Review

The Samsung HMX-Q10 is a high definition camcorder that captures 1920 x 1080 video in the H.264 to SDHC memory cards. It offers a 2.7-inch LCD display, 10x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization and a unique grip which lets you flip the camcorder to film with both the right and left hands.

The Samsung Q10 retails for $299. Full specifications can be found here.

Samsung Q10 at a Glance

The Good: Strong video quality, responsive touch-screen, nice design

The Bad: Awkward zoom lever, no automatic lens cover

Samsung HMX Q10 Video Quality

Samsung’s HMX Q10 records 1920 x 1080 video in the H.264 format. It’s also capable of recording at 720/60 frames per second for capturing fast-moving subjects and at VGA resolution.

Given its lower price tag, the Q10 is competing more with pocket camcorders and it clearly exceeds them in the quality department. While there were instances of over-exposure, with bright sunlight washing out highlights, the Q10 captured mostly crisp, color-accurate video. It did well indoors as well. I took it into a dimly lit aquarium and after a second or two of blur as it sought to establish focus, the Q10 was able to resolve the scene quite well considering the challenging environment.

You can also snap 4.9-megapixel still photos with the Q10, although you should steer clear of taking stills with the Q10 as the results were unimpressive.

Optics

The Q10 packs a 10x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization – a nice plus not usually found on lower-cost camcorders. There’s also a digital zoom, which, fortunately, can be deactivated. All-in-all, a nice optical package. The only draw back is that there’s no automatic lens cover. However, there is a built-in cover that flips open and closed using a switch on top of the lens barrel – that’s a far better option than a lens cap, but not as good as an automatic cover.

Samsung HMX Q10 Design

The design of the Q10 is pretty spartan, with few external controls outside of a zoom lever/shutter button on the back of the camcorder. Flip open the 2.7-inch display and you’ll see only a home button, which brings you into the camcorder’s internal memory.

With the Q10, Samsung introduced a design innovation called the “Swithgrip” – which essentially lets you film using either your right or left hand. When you switch from right to left, the menu items on the display will automatically orient themselves correctly. Since there are no external controls on the top of the camcorder to operate, the transition from right-handed to left-handed filming is seamless. Left-handed users, rejoice!

Thanks to the use of flash memory, the Q10 is quite light and compact, weighing in at .4lbs and sized at 4.7 x 2.1 x 1.7 inches. It certainly won’t be a drag to carry the Q10 around with you on long trips. Aesthetically it won’t turn many heads but is available in your choice of black and blue. The only real knock on the design is that wrist strap, which is kind of flimsy.

Q10 Features

You’ll find a nice selection of shooting options on the Q10, despite its budget price tag. You’ll have time lapse recording and a selection of digital effects to apply various filters to your video including black and white, sepia, negative, art, noir, western, dazzle, and ghost. You can switch between automatic and manual recording, where you’ll have the ability to focus manually, set white balance, adjust exposure, night mode, and backlit compensation. All in all a very strong feature set for a camcorder at this price.

The Q10 is loaded with Samsung’s Intelli-Studio software, which installs automatically whenever you connect the camcorder to a computer via USB.

Menu and Display

The Q10 offers a 2.7-inch touch screen LCD display. It’s quite responsive and it’s helped along with an icon-driven menu interface. Pop open the display and you’ll see a row of icons indicating your scene mode and then controls for switching between still and video capture, zoom and playback. It’s always better to have more real-estate on a display when working with a touch-screen, but Samsung keeps the number of icons on the display to a minimum so it’s easy to hit the ones you need with your finger. At any point you can hit the “home” key on the exterior of the display and get back into the main menu.

Samsung HMX-Q10 Memory

The Q10 records directly to SDHC memory cards, so you’ll need to factor in the cost of a memory card into your equation. The Q10 cannot record to newer, higher-capacity SDXC cards so you’re memory capacity is limited to 32GB (or eight hours of HD recording).

Bottom Line

If you’re in the market for a low-cost HD camcorder but are leery about the quality and limited feature-set of a pocket camcorder, the HMX-Q10 is definitely a solid choice. It’s slightly more expensive than most pocket models on the market at $300, but delivers a better zoom, better video quality and a more robust feature set. It’s unique “SwitchGrip” design gives both left and right-handed users the ability to hold the Q10 naturally and comfortably. All-in-all a good choice in the budget-end of the HD camcorder market.

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by Leland Richardson on November 9, 2021 0

Vivitar DVR 690HD Waterproof Camcorder Review

The Vivitar DVR 690HD is a high definition pocket camcorder capable of recording 1280 x 720p video in the AVI format to SD cards. It is waterproof to a depth of 10 feet and has a rugged housing to secure it against minor bumps and scrapes.

Vivitar DVR 690HD at a Glance

The Good: Low cost, large controls, easy to use.

The Bad: Mediocre video quality.

Vivitar DVR 690HD Video Quality

The Vivitar DVR 690HD records HD video in the AVI format at 1280 x 720p/30 frames per second. It’s not quite the 1080p video recording available on competitive models – but then again, those models don’t cost $60. Video recorded at 720p will serve in a pinch, but you shouldn’t consider the DVR 690HD a real memory keeper – the quality just isn’t there. As a second camcorder to toss in a backpack before you go white-water rafting, however, it should be serviceable. Just don’t bother with the DVR 690HD indoors as they’ll be ample noise in your video if you do.

Recording quality can be dropped to VGA or 320 x 240 – but really shouldn’t be. You can also snap 5-megapixel still photos. The quality here is lousy – but that’s no real knock on the Vivitar as very few pocket camcorders take decent stills.

Optics

The DVR 690HD has no optical zoom lens, but instead uses a 4x digital zoom. Best to avoid the digital zoom, however, as all it will do is ramp up some unsightly digital noise.

Vivitar DVR 690HD Design

The DVR 690HD is pretty bulky, even by the standards of rugged pocket camcorders. It’s a bit longer than a compact camera but as thin, if not thinner, than most point-and-shoots in the market. Keep in mind that it’s designed to go underwater (up to 1o feet) so the added bulk is for defensive purposes. That said, it’s aesthetically sharp with a 10 color choices and silver/metallic trim.

The controls on the back of the DVR690 are large and responsive. You’ll see buttons for power, mode, menu and trash surrounding a four-way controller with a shutter button sandwiched in the middle. The four-way controller feels a bit flimsy when you use it, but the rest of the controls are sturdier and easy to operate.The SD card and USB plug (no built-in USB arm here) are accessed via a latched compartment at the bottom of the camcorder. This compartment is very stubborn to open up, but it does keep the water out.

Features

When you spend $60 for a camcorder, you can’t expect to get a feature-packed model. That said, the DVR 690HD does offer face detection and digital image stabilization. You’ll also find several scene modes for optimizing exposure based on your shooting condition. There’s also an LED video light for low light shooting. Not a bad assortment, considering.

Menu and Display

You’ll frame your video via 2-inch LCD display. It’s not the crispest display on the market but served well enough underwater. The DVR 690HD’s menu is pretty basic but is straightforward enough that it’s easy to find what you need.

Vivitar DVR 690HD Memory

The 690HD has a scant 8MB of internal memory, so an SDHC card is a must. The camcorder supports cards up to 32GB in size so you’ll get a max of 3.2-hours of recording on a 32GB card.

Bottom Line

We’ll stipulate again that the Vivitar DVR 690HD should not be your camcorder of choice for preserving important family memories. Instead, think of it as a second camcorder that you don’t mind exposing to the elements to record your rugged thrills or day at the beach. It has competition on this front too – products like Kodak’s Playsport Zx5 offer superior video quality and feature set, but cost nearly two to three times what the DVR 690HD does. If budget and durability are top of mind, give the DVR 690HD a look.

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by Leland Richardson on November 9, 2021 0

Panasonic HC-V100 Camcorder Overview

The Panasonic HC-V100 is a high definition camcorder that records 1920 x 1080 video in the AVCHD format.

The HC-V100carries a suggested retail price of $349. Full technical specifications for the HC-V100can be found here.

Panasonic HC-V100 Video Features

The HC-V100 uses the full AVCHD format for 1920 x 1080p high definition recording. It supports 17Mbps recording, not the highest bit-rate available in the AVCHD video format (24Mbps).

The HC-V100 features a 1.5-megapixel 1/5.8-inch CMOS image sensor. The HC-V100 can also record in standard definition if you want to save space on your memory card. The camcorder also supports iFrame recording (at 960 x 540) for movies that can be easily edited on most computers.

The camcorder uses Panasonic’s “Intelligent Auto” mode for automatically matching scene modes such as portrait, sunset, scenery, forest and macro mode, to shooting environments.

The mode employs various technologies – including image stabilization, face detection, an intelligent scene-selector and contrast control to optimize your exposure.

Optical Features

You’ll find a 34x optical zoom lens on the VC100. This optical zoom is joined by a 42x Intelligent zoom (iZoom), which can enhance the magnification of your footage by using a smaller portion of the sensor without losing image resolution. Finally, there’s a 2000xdigital zoom which will degrade resolution when in use.

The lens employs Panasonic’s Power Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) for keeping your footage relatively shake-free. The image stabilization technology has an active mode which can be enabled when walking or when you’re otherwise in an unstable position to provide extra shake reduction.

The V100 lens is protected by a manual lens cover. It’s not as convenient as the automatic covers found on higher-end Panasonic models.

Memory and Display

The V100 records video to a single SDHX memory card slot. Using just internal memory, the HC-V100 can store approximately three hours and 45 minutes worth of the highest quality HD footage.

You can also record to SDXC cards, although there is no relay recording.

The HC-V100 offers a 2.7-inch LCD display. There is no optical or electronic viewfinder.

Design

Design-wise, the HC-V100 cuts a fairly conventional, if somewhat boxy, figure. Thanks to the use of flash memory you’ll still enjoy a light weight body at .4 pounds. The HC-V100 measures in at 2 x 2.3 x 4.4 inches, roughly the same form factor as the entry-level series of Panasonic camcorders, and features a zoom lever on the top of the camcorder and a record shutter located on the side, next to the camcorder’s battery. Open the display and you’ll find buttons video playback, scrolling and info, plus the camcorder’s ports: component, HDMI, USB and AV.

Aesthetically, the HC-V100 is available in a black.

Shooting Features

The HC-V100 is outfitted with a fairly minimalistic feature set. It offers face detection a pre-record function which records three seconds worth of video before you hit the shutter. The V100 also offers an auto ground-directional standby mode, which detects if the camcorder is being held in an unusual position (say, upside down) and automatically stops recording. A low light/color night recording mode preserves colors even in dim lighting.

As far as scene modes go, you’ll find sports, portrait, low light, spot light, snow, beach, sunset, fireworks, night scenery, night portrait and soft skin mode. You can snap 2-megapixel photos while recording video on the V100. Still photos can also be isolated from video footage played back on the camcorder and saved as a separate file. There is a two channel stereo microphone.

Connectivity

The HC-V100 offers a built-in HDMI output for connecting the camera although the cable is not included. You can also connect to a PC via USB cable.

Impression

At $349, the HC-V100 is Panasonic’s bid for the budget dollar, and the feature set reflects that. You’ll get a high-powered lens for an entry-level high definition camcorder, but you won’t get the full 24Mbps HD recording available on higher-end models and you’ll sacrifice features like a touch-screen display, relay-recording and manual modes, increasingly making their way down the camcorder food chain. That said, it packs a more potent video punch than a pocket camcorder (or smartphone) and the retail price will undoubtedly be discounted to make it an even more attractive buy for the budget-minded.The Panasonic HC-V100 is a high definition camcorder that records 1920 x 1080 video in the AVCHD format.

The HC-V100carries a suggested retail price of $349. It is a close cousin of the $449 GZ-HM320. Full technical specifications for the HC-V100can be found here.

Panasonic HC-V100 Video Features

The HC-V100 uses the full AVCHD format for 1920 x 1080p high definition recording. It supports 17Mbps recording, not the highest bit-rate available in the AVCHD video format (24Mbps). The HC-V100 features a 1.5-megapixel 1/5.8-inch CMOS image sensor. The HC-V100 can also record in standard definition if you want to save space on your memory card. The camcorder also supports iFrame recording (at 960 x 540) for movies that can be easily edited on most computers.

The camcorder uses Panasonic’s “Intelligent Auto” mode for automatically matching scene modes such as portrait, sunset, scenery, forest and macro mode, to shooting environments. The mode employs various technologies – including image stabilization, face detection, an intelligent scene-selector and contrast control to optimize your exposure.

Optical Features

The V100 lens is protected by a manual lens cover. It’s not as convenient as the automatic covers found on higher-end Panasonic models.

Memory and Display

The V100 packs 16GB of internal memory and a single SDHX memory card slot. Using just internal memory, the HC-V100 can store approximately three hours and 45 minutes worth of the highest quality HD footage. You can also record to SDXC cards, although there is no relay recording.

The HC-V100 offers a 2.7-inch LCD display. There is no optical or electronic viewfinder.

Design

Aesthetically, the HC-V100 is available in a black.

Shooting Features

Connectivity

The HC-V100 offers a built-in HDMI output for connecting the camera although the cable is not included. You can also connect to a PC via USB cable.

Impression

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by Leland Richardson on November 8, 2021 0

Panasonic HC-V10 Overview

The Panasonic HC-V10 is a high definition camcorder that records 1280 x 720p video in the MPEG-4/H.264 format.

When the HC-V10 first hit shelves, it carried a suggested retail price of $249. This camcorder has since been discontinued, but now it can still be found used from some online retailers. The HC-V10 It is a close cousin of the Panasonic HC-V100. Full technical specifications for the HC-V10 can be found on the Panasonic website.

Panasonic HC-V10 Video Features

The HC-V10 uses the MPEG-4 format for 1280 x 720p high definition recording. It supports 15Mbps recording. You can also drop the resolution to 840 x 480 resolution, 640 x 480 or iFrame recording (at 960 x 540) for movies that can be easily edited on most computers. The HC-V10 features a 1.5-megapixel 1/5.8-inch CMOS image sensor.

Optical Features

You’ll find a 63x optical zoom lens on the VC10. This optical zoom is joined by a 70x “enhanced optical zoom,” which can enhance the magnification of your footage by using a smaller portion of the sensor without losing image resolution.

Finally, there’s a 3500xdigital zoom which will degrade resolution when in use.

The V10 lens is protected by a manual lens cover. It’s not as convenient as the automatic covers found on higher-end Panasonic models.

Memory and Display

The V10 records directly to an SDHX memory card slot. There is no relay recording.

The HC-V10 offers a 2.7-inch LCD display. There is no optical or electronic viewfinder.

Design

Design-wise, the HC-V10 cuts a fairly conventional, if somewhat boxy, figure. Thanks to the use of flash memory you’ll still enjoy a lightweight body at 0.47 pounds. The HC-V10 measures in at 2.1 x 2.5 x 4.3 inches, roughly the same form factor as the entry-level series of Panasonic camcorders, and features a zoom lever on the top of the camcorder and a record shutter located on the side, next to the camcorder’s battery. Open the display and you’ll find buttons video playback, scrolling and info, plus the camcorder’s ports: component, HDMI, USB and AV.

The HC-V10 is available in a black, silver and red.

Shooting Features

The HC-V10 is outfitted with a fairly minimalistic feature set, which is not surprising given its price. It offers face detection a pre-record function which records three seconds worth of video before you hit the shutter. The V10 also offers an auto ground-directional standby mode, which detects if the camcorder is being held in an unusual position (say, upside down) and automatically stops recording.

A low light/color night recording mode preserves colors even in dim lighting.

As far as scene modes go, you’ll find sports, portrait, low light, spot light, snow, beach, sunset, fireworks, night scenery, night portrait and soft skin mode. You can snap .9-megapixel photos while recording video on the V10 (not a great resolution). Still photos can also be isolated from video footage played back on the camcorder and saved as a separate file. There is a two channel stereo microphone.

Connectivity

The HC-V10 offers a built-in HDMI output for connecting the camera although the cable is not included. You can also connect to a PC via USB cable.

The Bottom Line

The HC-V10 compensates for the lower resolution specification with a super high-powered lens. If sharper video quality is more important to you than a long zoom, consider Panasonic’s slightly more expensive V100 which is the company’s least expensive model to feature 1920 x 1080 recording. It does, however, have a lower zoom lens at 32x.

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by Leland Richardson on December 2, 2019 0

GPS Camcorders: A Guide to GPS Camcorders

The current technological sophistication that quite amazes me is they can know where you are. That is a very rapid progress in my opinion. This technology is very beneficial for some sectors of life, be it the business world or even for those of you who love to travel.

The same global positioning system (GPS) that helps you navigate around town in your car has started to appear inside digital camcorders.

The first GPS camcorders were introduced in 2009 courtesy of Sony and include the HDR-XR520V, HDR-XR500V, HDR-XR200V and HDR-TR5v.

What Does An Internal GPS Receiver Do?

*Courtesy : /images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com*

The GPS receiver collects location data from satellites circling the Earth. Sony’s camcorders use this data to automatically adjust the unit’s clock to the proper time zone. Not much use if you’re filming the backyard barbeque, but certainly a convenience for international travelers.

The camcorders also use GPS data to display a map of your current location on the LCD screen. Don’t confuse these GPS camcorders with navigation devices, though.

They won’t offer point-to-point directions.

A New Way to Organize Video

The real benefit of the GPS receiver is that it saves location data as you film. With this information, the camcorders will create a map on the LCD display with icons marking all of the locations where you shot video. Rather than search for saved video files by time or date, you can use this “Map Index” function to find your videos by location.

When you’ve transferred your video to a computer, Sony’s Picture Motion Browser (PMB) software will automatically merge the location data from the GPS receiver with the appropriate video clips and then plot those clips on a map as tiny thumbnail images. Click on a thumbnail in a given location, and you can view the video you filmed there. Think of it as new way to organize and visualize your saved video files.

Can You Geotag Videos Like Photos?

*Courtesy : redhensystems-1634.kxcdn.com*

Not quite. When you geotag a digital photograph, you embed location data inside the photo file itself. This way, when you upload photos to websites like Flickr, the GPS data goes with it and you’re able to use Flickr’s mapping tool to view your photos on a map.

With these camcorders, the GPS data cannot be embedded into the video file. If you were to upload video to Flickr, the GPS data would stay behind on the computer. The only way to plot your videos on a map is on your personal computer with Sony’s software. That’s definitely a limitation.

Do You Need a GPS Camcorder?

If you’re a very active traveler who’s comfortable working with video files on a computer, the added functionality made possible by GPS technology is definitely beneficial. For casual users, GPS alone shouldn’t motivate you to buy these camcorders.

The true promise of GPS inside a camcorder will be realized when you can embed the GPS data inside the video file itself. Then you’ll be able to avail yourself to third party applications and websites that support location organizing and the mapping of videos.

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by Leland Richardson on November 5, 2019 0

Sony DSC-RX100M II Review

The Sony DSC-RX100M II Cyber-shot digital still camera is a 20.2 Megapixel digital camera. It comes in black and it is a very nice looking camera that has a very ‘high end’ look. One of the main things that the Sony DSC-RX100M II is aimed at achieving is ‘ultra sensitive artistry’. With this digital camera you will be able to capture every exquisite detail with this compact Cyber-shot thanks to extraordinary light sensitivity, image quality that will take your breath away and beautiful background defocusing. This is all due to the newly developed 1.0-inch back-illuminated CMOS sensor and F1.8 lens.

Features

The key features of the Sony DSC-RX100M II digital camera include a 1-Inch 20.2 MP Exmor R sensor for getting those extreme low-light shots as well as a 3.6x zoom bright F1.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T lens. Other key features are an ability to easily connect to smartphones using Wi-Fi or even NFC and also a new Exmor R® sensor that has the same adaptive noise reduction technology that is featured on the flagship SLT-A99V.

Additional features include the PRO Duo™ / Pro-HG Duo™ media Memory Stick, SD, SDHC and SDXC Memory Card recording media types. The Sony DSC-RX100M II also features a 3 inch tilt-able LCD that can be titled downwards to 45 degrees as well as upwards to 84 degrees. The 1,229k-dot Xtra Fine monitor can display scenes extra clearly even under conditions where there is bright sunlight shining on it. Yet more additional features of this excellent and award winning digital camera include the ability to make Full HD movies at 60p/60i/24p. The movie mode also features the AVCHD™ codec for delivering amazing picture quality.

Additonal Information

Other features include a high speed auto focus which will improve the speed of the focusing as well as the sensitivity as well as ‘Auto Object Framing’ which helps to give your photos a professional look. More features of the Sony DSC-RX100M II digital camera include ‘face detection/registration technology’ which enable the camera to automatically detect up to 8 individual faces and this feature can even prioritise children or adults.

Thing You Need To Consider

The Sony DSC-RX100M II features Sony’s Exmor R sensor and f/1.8 Carl Zeiss glass which helps it to capture detail in low light conditions. It also has a highly sensitive ISO of 12800 as well as Wi-FI sharing. Not to mention the lightning quick AF which can focus in just 0.13 seconds. It is already an award-winning camera that has been greatly improved.

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by David Burgess on May 26, 2018 0

An In expensive Display Board For A Leisure Painter’s Group

Why Does An Art Group Need Display Boards.

Do you belong to an art group looking for inexpensive and usable exhibition venues?
Have you thought about making your own display boards to help ease your problems with hanging paintings or craft pieces?
Your own display board can really help to solve the problem of where, and how, a group can hold exhibitions. The greater the choice of venue, the more choice there is for dates and arranging things becomes so much easier. This in turn can lead to saving money, important but especially so for a small group of leisure painters.

The Knowle Art Group is just such a group, we had been running into difficulties deciding where to hold our exhibitions.
The usual local libraries, etc, were getting to be too expensive. The less expensive halls to hire usually meant that there was no where to hang our paintings. They did not cater for groups like ours, wanting to hold an art exhibition. It was possible to hire display boards but again the cost was prohibitive.

The solution was going to be do-it-yourself display boards which we could stand on available tables. The idea came to us after exhibiting in an old Manor House where of course we couldn’t knock anything into the walls and the combined cost renting the room and hiring display boards was too much for us. The original idea was to construct a framework out of rough wooden poles. It worked well in the ancient property but couldn’t be used in other locations. After some thought the idea behind the display boards was arrived at. here is how the boards were made.

The Basic Idea

For Our Display Boards

The display boards were to be used by standing them on tables, which are always available at any hall or room for hire. This meant that they did not have to be large ( heavy and expensive) and waste the bottom two thirds of the available area. the tables could be covered with paper banqueting roll to give a professional appearance. We have since made some white table cloths as one of our members is a seamstress and this gets over the problem of the paper ripping at the slightest provocation.

The idea was quite simple, a board with two hinged side panels would be used to increase the available area for hanging the paintings. In other words we got 50 % extra space compared to the length of the tables. This also had the benefit of giving us a stable configuration. The board was held in place by slotting into two wooden battens ( runners) which were provided with carefully placed slots. A final touch was to hold the rear of the board to the rear runner by using a single screw. This prevented the board from bowing out and again increased the stability.

The Display Boards Are Made From Three Simple Components

The Hinged Back And Two Battens
Here is a photo of the hinged back. The sides are half the width of the center portion so that when it is folded up they do not interfere with each other. Of course the board is stored and moved in the folded condition. The whole thing is painted white, which we felt was appropriate for an art exhibition.

This photo shows the two battens positioned roughly on the table, waiting for the board to be placed in the slots. The paintings around the wall are waiting to be hung. We always have a practice before the day we set up the exhibition so that we can arrange the paintings most efficiently and effectively. This photo was taken at one of these practice sessions which is why there is no tablecloth.

You can see the slots, in this detail photo. We did not have a jig for the ten boards that we made but simply placed the board on the battens and marked the position of the slots which was cut with a saw and widened with a file. The slots are cut about two thirds of the way into the batten to allow the small bolt at the rear to go through the board and through the batten.

The measurements of the boards were to suit , but I will be creating an outline sketch of the three components which will be added to the lens very shortly

A Few More Paintings Waiting Their Turn

This is the first step in arranging the paintings, we put out ten tables (one for each board) and roughly decide which paintings will go on which board. We tend to theme each board; water, mountains, figure, animals, boats,etc. Not really necessary but it gives a great show for the public.

Hanging The Paintings On The Boards

Another Little Secret, Sschhh!!
The way we hang paintnigs on the boards is quite simple. We use brass hooks over the top of the board which support brass chains. For larger paintings, a pair of hooks/chains makes a very stable combination.

Having roughly positioned the paintings on the tables, we can then carefully hang them on the display boards.

The paintings are of course numbered for the catalogue and this identification is used to position them easily on the morning of the actual exhibition opening. And voila, a very professional display at a very inexpensive rate. Once made the boards can be used year after year, with just a new coat of paint.

The Final Outcome

One of Our Exhibitions
Here you can see how the boards can be arranged, and how we also press into service our painting easels for the very large paintings or to get a few more paintings on show.

The Boards Used In A Different Configuration

We Found A New Venue This Year
A view of the hall from above…. showing the boards arranged to take advantage of the natural lighting in the new venue. They also ensure that the visitor has to walk back around the paintings to get a second to the exit which means they get a second look.

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by David Burgess on May 8, 2018 0

ASCII Art

What is ASCII Art?

Text Art has been around long before computers. It predates even typewriters.

ASCII Art is a form of text art. It is named so for the 95 printable characters defined by ASCII.

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, it is a character encoding based on the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that work with text.
Most examples of ASCII art require a fixed-width font (non-proportional fonts, like on a traditional typewriter) such as Courier for presentation.

The ASCII character set

! ” # $ % & ‘ ( ) * + , – . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; & l t ; = > ?
@ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _
` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~

Fixed width fonts versus proportionally spaced fonts

Fixed width font: Every character, symbol, and space occupies the exact same width.

Proportionally spaced font: A character’s width is defined by the amount of width needed to display that particular character.

Why are there proportionally spaced fonts?

The letter ‘i’ is, by its very nature, a narrow letter. It doesn’t require much width. The letter ‘m’, on the other hand, is rather wide. One could write three ‘i’s’ in the room it takes to display only one letter ‘m’. When you create a font that is proportionally spaced, it has a tendency to be much more pleasing to the eye.

Why are there fixed width fonts?

There are two reasons.

1. The typewriter. When the typewriter was invented it was, at the time, a fairly advanced piece of mechanical engineering. By pressing keys, a metal arm with an embossed letter would stamp an ink ribbon and produce the image of that letter on a piece of paper. Then the roller assembly that held that piece of paper would move to the left just a bit so the next letter that was typed wouldn’t go over top of the last. Instead it would be positioned just to the right of the previous letter. Since there was no way for it to know which letter was last typed, they had to decide on one fixed amount of space each letter would have. As a result, they had to design the letters in sucFonts with gridlinesh a way that they wouldn’t look silly all having the same amount of width. The letter ‘m’ gets squished and the letter ‘i’ has elongated serifs to make it appear wider.

2. What turned out to be a limitation of the typewriter actually turned out to be a useful tool in the computer age. Early computers did not display graphics. The screen was a grid of characters. The evenly spaced grid also employed a fixed width font. Programmers found this useful because they could plot the exact point on the screen where they wanted their character to appear. Fixed width fonts were employed for this scenario. You can still see this today; just open a DOS window on a Windows PC. A fixed width font will still be displayed. You can change the font used in a DOS window, but it only allows you select from fonts that are fixed width. When the Macintosh introduced the world to the graphical user interface, or GUI, it was no longer necessary to use fixed width fonts. And so was born the explosion of desktop publishing and WYSIWYG.

ASCII Art Links

An ASCII Art portrait of Seth Godin
An ASCII Art portrait of Seth Godin, creator of Squidoo and other amazing keyboard art pages of interesting people, celebrities and others of reknown.

Star Wars: ASCII Art-oo
Recreations of some of the most famous Star Wars ships, in ASCII. By Joe Reiss

Nerd Boy
The Adventures of Nerd Boy. An ASCII comic strip by Joaquim Gandara.

ASCII Cows
The canonical list of Ascii Cows.

ascii-art.com
ASCII art gallery by Joan Stark.

Popular Mechanics 1948
An article about “Keyboard Art” done with a typewriter in an October 1948 edition of Popular Mechanics.

While purely entertaining, doodling with a typewriter gives vent to the imagination and originality of both the experienced and the hunt-and-peck typist. Fill-in pictures are the easiest to “draw” with a typewriter. An example is shown in the flower which is made with the letter X alone. Such pictures, whether a flower or a portrait, are made by using an outline of the subject as a typing guide. This is done by tracing the outline lightly on paper and backing it with carbon paper to type the picture. Caricature or cartoon “drawing” combines letters with symbols as shown in the examples below. Here, half-spacing of the typewriter is required, as in the case of the owl’s beak and feet. The log cabin shows what can be done in drawing a picture in perspective.

Popular Science 1939
Typewriter Artist Produces Pictures Like Tapestry

Pictures that resemble tapestry are produced with a typewriter by Rosaire J. Belanger, a mill worker in Saco, Me. Belanger first draws a pencil sketch on a sheet of paper, then inserts it in his typewriter and fills in the sketch with various characters to produce shading and outlines. With carbon paper, he transfers the picture onto graph paper, and copies it on blank paper.

ASCII Babes
The worlds most beautiful celebrities like you’ve never seen them before.

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