Re: Early Christmas!

MattB wrote: 
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
<snip>
Santa delivered my bonehead camera enclosure but the camera went back to Sony for repairs (A/V port doesn't work - don't buy stuff from Fry's). Then Santa surprised me with a JVC hard drive camcorder (not from Fry's). Now I'm figuring out how to mount it to the top of my helmet (it only weighs 13 oz). No bike stuff, though (I consider the camera bike stuff for me anyway).


Let us know how that works out. I love the idea of that HD camera, but read that maybe that JVC wasn't a great implementation. I'm holding out (with my big Digital8 that I rarely use because it's bulky) for the next solid state big thing in video cameras.

I am doing a test ride with it on Sunday. I did some family filming over the weekend and I have to say it is the most convenient camera I have ever used. The software it comes with is pretty simple too. I did about 20 minutes of shooting. You can then hook it into the computer and it will recognize the device as an external hard drive. You can just copy the movie from the directory to your computer it's ready to go. If you don't do it that way, you launch the software and edit it right from the camera's hard drive. It's all drag and drop and you can add the usual set of effects, image enhancement, titles, etc. Then you click produce and you can choose a streaming file (for the web), CD or DVD, and some other video options too. It burns the CD or DVD right from the software (no separate program).

I usually use Adobe Premiere, but I have to say the included software did a great job and a lot faster than I could have done with Adobe. My Father thought it was cool because ten minutes after filming, I handed him a DVD of the whole event.

Oh, and it takes 2MP photos with a built in flash. Good for a quick shot without having to switch to another camera.

My complaints are:

1. No viewfinder. All the filming is done through the LCD and the camera doesn't stay on unless the LCD is open. That chews up battery very quickly. I think I read about a hack for this, so I'll have to search around.

2.  No A/V inputs.  But then again, I think Sony is the last hold out here.

3. It can get warm. It's a hard drive, so it spins. Just like a regular iPod gets warm, so does this.

4. Battery life sucks!!! The battery it came with is practically useless. I think I clocked in 15 minutes of run time from a full charge. That's pretty disappointing when you can shoot seven hours of highest quality video onto the hard drive. I had to buy two more batteries of varying sizes. The medium size gives you 1:15 minutes and the King Kong size gives you almost 3:30 (but it weighs as much as the camera). They're not cheap, either.


65 sounds warm to me. I used to have it set to 60 for night, but the wife made me bump it to 62, which is OK. 

When I am away on business, I keep the A/C in the hotel rooms at 60.


--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
.

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