Ever been looking through your photos, looked at one and thought ” That’s a great shot, where the hell did I take that?”. Ever wanted a record of exactly where you went on your holiday and in exactly which place your took a photo?  Well geotagging your photos is what you need to do.  Basically longitude and latitude information is put into your photo’s EXIF information and many programs or picture hosting sites can read this information and display where you took the photo on a map.

Some cameras these days come with GPS built into them, but you probably don’t really want to have to upgrade you camera gear just to get GPS information, and it doesn’t help if you’ve got multiple cameras (doesn’t everyone have multiple cameras? ). You could spend the extra money and buy a separate data logger however the good thing is that most smartphones or tablets have a GPS built into it these days, and using the right software you can use your device to geotag with the equipment you already have.  While this article is  based on Android devices, all you need is the right data logger program on your iOS or Windows or other OS device to make use of the tutorial.

There’s two software components to the process of geotagging your photos. You need a program that will talk to the GPS on your device and log GPS position data at specific time periods, and then a program that will be able to read and match the time stamp on your photo’s EXIF information with the longitude and latitude at that time and then write this information into the photo’s EXIF data. One important thing to note is that for the most accurate data, the time on your device needs to exactly match the time on your camera. The best thing is that you don’t have to spend big dollars on these packages; all the applications I’m using here are free.

GPS Status and Toolbox

Before I go into the two packages, if you’re playing with the GPS on your Android device then one of the most useful utilities you can have is GPS Status and Toolbox. This little app shows you a graphical representation of which GPS satellites you can see and which ones you’re locked onto. It can also help in managing A-GPS data,a small file that can assist in getting faster satellite locks. If I’m having GPS issues, this is always the first app I reach for. You can click on any of the pictures to see bigger versions

Open GPS Tracker

Open GPS Tracker is the data logging app that needs to be loaded onto your Android Device. When you start recording, your latitude and longitude is logged into a file at certain time intervals. Depending on your circumstances, Open GPS has 4 different logging intervals.  So if you’re walking or working in a small area, you can probably get away with larger time intervals; if you were taking pictures while in  a moving car you would want shorter intervals. Shorter intervals will give you more accurate tracking of path, but do note that it will also have an impact on the battery life of your device.

• Fine : GPS updates every second after at least 5 meters movement
• Normal : GPS updates every 15 seconds after at least 10 meters movement
• Coarse : GPS updates every 30 seconds after at least 25 meters movement
• Global : Use GPS and WiFi signals to triangulate every 5 minutes after at least 500 meter movement

If there’s no signal for a specified time, an alarm will sound so you know that you’re not logging anymore.  There’s a plethora of other options as well, but for the purposes of geotagging, it’s really only the logging interval that’s the important one. You can see that Open GPS can also make use of Google Maps on your device to display your path live (warning: this may involve data download charges on your device).

Test Rig and Procedure

 So I had to take one of the boys somewhere, so always the opportunist, I set up the above rig.  My HTC Desire running Open GPS Tracker, Swann Freestyle HD  and its remote all “securely” attached via a sticky pad to my dash. It’s no Google Map mobile, but it’ll do All I needed to do was make sure my phone and camera are synchronised, set the time interval to normal (15 sec), start the GPS on my phone, open the app , start tracking and drive away.  At random intervals I used the remote to safely take a picture.

Here’s the final trip shown on a Google Map overlay. While you’re travelling along, you can also use the app to do things like take notes, voice recordings or mark spots with recorded co-ordinates for future reference.  You can see on the picture that there’s even an indication of the speed I was doing at each stage, keyed to the legend on the right. The app can also tell you how far you’ve travelled (15.89km), maximum speed (71.1 km/h), elapsed time (26min) and total elevation (242m), again not information used in geotagging but may be useful just the same for other purposes.  The important thing is that the app logged 93 waypoints, which is the important information needed for geotagging.

Open GPS can export the waypoints in a GPX file format, a standardised format for input and output of waypoint files. The files are stored locally and can be exported and then  transferred off from the phone via standard file transfer, or the app has the ability to export using other installed apps such as Gmail or Dropbox.

So the results of my little trip, 49 photos (basically taken at random, don’t expect any Peter Dombrovskis here) and a GPX file containing 93 waypoints.

GPicSync

GPicSync is another free, Open Source program that puts the GPS information into your pictures. It’s available for Windows, Linux, and OS X 10.5, supports both JPEG and RAW formats and it’s pretty easy to use. Point it at your picture folder, point it at your .GPX file and let it run. GPicSync will correlate the time stamps on your photos with the timestamps from the GPX file and then write the most relevant co-ordinates into the EXIF information for that photo. Once again GPicSync has the ability to do a whole lot more that’s outside the scope of this article.

Viewing

Here’s the details of one of my processed pictures. You can see that GPicSync has put in longitude, latitude and altitude.

Click on “View in Google Earth” in GPicSync and voila, a full picture of your trip and where each photo was taken. Click on the thumbnails and you’ll get a bigger thumbnail of the photo.  Cool huh !

If you zoom into the map, you’ll see what I mean about getting the correct time intervals.  Logging every 15 seconds has me driving through fences, backyards and houses.  If I wanted a more accurate path then I would have been better to use 1 second intervals (with the associated higher battery drain and larger output file).  It really depends on exactly how “accurate” you want the logging to be.

Here’s the photos being viewed in Picasa 3
And here as a Picasa Web picture via Google+

Many online photo-sharing websites now support geotagging, including Flickr and SmugMug. To me, being able to place and visualise a picture on a map gives my photo a bit more “relevance” both for myself and anyone else that views the photo.

Conclusion

Once you’ve set everything up and got a workflow going, it’s easy to geotag your photos.  No longer will you have to wonder where a photo was taken, or if that photo was in this city or that city.  Given that you’ve most likely already got GPS capability in your Android device, why pay more money for additional equipment and why not make use of it?

My only big disappointment? That I didn’t set this all up 1000s and 1000s of pictures earlier. I’ve got so many photos, including overseas holidays in Vietnam, Thailand, Ankar Wat, San Francisco… that don’t have geotagged information in them……guess I’ll just have to go back and retake them  :)

Final words/warnings

• Displaying live maps in Open GPS Tracker may incur data charges
• Using the GPS on your device will affect battery life
• Please do note that GPS positioning isn’t 100% accurate, and there will be some variation from your actual position
• If you are publishing geotagged photos on a public forum, be careful what you put up and what information you might be giving away!

Filed in categories: Android related, Articles, Digital Cameras and Gear, GPS

Tagged: Android, Geotagging, GPS

How to: Geotag your Photos with an Android Device originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 24, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Photography

Earn Money from the Photos and Videos You Already Post with the Staree Platform originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 24, 2012 at 10:00 am.

I’ve reviewed the Drift HD and the Swann Freestyle HD action cameras (see related links), and while I haven’t been able to give you any extreme sports footage, hopefully the reviews have been useful to those considering a POV camera.  The GoPro range of POV cameras have become the de facto standard by which most other cameras of this genre have been measured. I was lucky enough to be sent their latest release, the HD HERO2 Outdoor Edition camera, from their Professional line.  Their slogan for the HD HERO2 is “2X More Powerful in Every Way”, and while I don’t have an older generation to measure this against, will the GoPro come out as the POV camera to have ?

The GoPro HERO2 HD comes in 3 different flavours to cater for different markets; Outdoor, Surf, and Motor Sports.  While the camera and housing remains the same, the mounting accessories you get with the kit differ to suit that sport.  GoPro sent me the Outdoor Edition, probably the most relevant for the sort of activities that I’ll be using this sort of camera for.

What’s in the box

The GoPro camera comes in a neat hard plastic display box on the top.  In the bottom comes the accessories in two smaller boxes. Note that once you remove the two stickers holding the plastic display lid on, you can’t easily put it back on again (yeah small and picky, I know)

 As mentioned above there’s three versions of the HERO2. The Outdoor edition comes with:

• 1 11MP HD HERO2 Camera
• 1 Waterproof Housing (197′ / 60m)
• 1 HD Skeleton Backdoor
• 1 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
• 1 USB Cable
• 1 Vented Helmet Strap
• 1 Head Strap
• 2 Curved Surface Adhesive Mounts
• 2 Flat Surface Adhesive Mounts
• 1 Three-Way Pivot Arm
• Assorted Mounting Hardware
• Instruction Manual (English and French)
• Stickers (everyone loves free stickers )

 Size

Pictured here with an iPod Shuffle 2G for size comparison, the GoPro is pretty small, measuring in at 3.9 x 3.9 x 9.6 inches and weighing in  at 27.2 ounces. On the front of the units is the power on/off/option button, an activity LED, a small LCD that gives displays your settings, and a lens.  The lens is a fixed-focus f/2.8 in front of a 1 /2.3” CMOS image sensor.  On the bottom, there’s an activity light; there’s 4 of these all together so that you can have multiple views of when you’re actually recording.  You can either have all 4 or only 2 (back and front) activities lights active. One thing that’s missing to me is a standard 1/4″ tripod mount on the bottom.  Sometimes when the weather’s good I’d like to use the naked camera on  a tripod to do, say, time-lapse.

Controls and ports

On the left hand side, we have an AV out port, a miniUSB port for charging and data transfer, and a stereo 3.5mm jack.  Again I’m going to be picky and wonder why they couldn’t replace the miniUSB port with a microUSB connector, a much more common connector these days.  On the top is a microphone.  You can see from the picture above the dome-shaped lens, which is left a bit “exposed”.

There’s not much on the back: just an activity light, a HERO BUS  port for connecting optional accessories, and the battery compartment.  The camera uses a 3.7V 1100mAH battery that GoPro states should last up to 2.5 hours.

On the right hand side, you’ll find a mini HDMI connector and an SD card slot.  The one neat thing about having an SD card slot is that I can use my Eye-Fi card in the GoPro, which reduces the amount of plugging in or SD card insertion and removal needed, or I can even backup my photos or videos directly to my Android Tablet while “on location”. Be aware that the Eye-Fi will suck more battery juice, and I haven’t yet done any extensive testing on how bad the extra power draw effects camera battery life or how badly the waterproof  housing will affect the range of the Eye-Fi .  On the top are another activity light and the shutter/select button.

Menu Settings

The LCD on the camera allows you to see and set menu options and there’s only two buttons that allow you to move around and select options.  Above you can see the camera’s set to video mode, resolution is 1080P @ 25 fps, there’s no SD card in the camera, and the battery is full.    The front power/option button turns on the camera and can be used to cycle through the modes and menu options.  The top shutter/select button is used to select an option.  The system is pretty straight forward, and anyone who’s played around with monitors will have no issues working it out – though it can be a bit “long-winded” to cycle through and select some of the more embedded options given you’ve only got two buttons.

Above are three examples of the screen:

• Video Mode, 1080p wide, 25 fps, 1 video recorded, 1 hour and 1 minute of video left, battery full, using the internal battery
• Photo mode, 11MP wide, 15 shots on the camera, space for 1093 more photos, full battery, using the internal battery
• Menu for choosing video mode, the front option button will toggle down the menu while the top select button will set that option.

Video

Resolutions

• 1080p: 16:9 1920×1080, 30FPS narrow, medium, wide*
• 960p: 4:3 1280×960, 48FPS + 30FPS wide*
• 720p: 16:9  1280×720, 60FPS + 30FPS wide*
• WVGA: 16:9 848×480, 120FPS + 60FPS wide*

The GoPro HD HERO2 covers a lot of different options for resolution for both video and still shots  .The higher frame rates are great for slow motion, and the 120FPS on the WVGA can give you super slow motion. Video is filmed in H.264 codec, .mp4 File format. Each different resolution has it’s own advantages and disadvantages in terms of vertical and horizontal view, field of view, and ultimately, the end file size.

Stills

Other options worth mentioning are the ability to record upside down for when you have to mount the camera in unusual positions or locations  and a spot meter mode for glarey scenarios.

Waterproof Housing

The waterproof housing is rated to 60m and has two buttons so that all the functions are accessible within the housing.  A removable lens cover means that if the most exposed part gets scratched, it can easily be replaced rather than having to replace the entire housing. It’s worth noting that the lens is curved. It does leave the lens a bit “exposed” to damage, however the curved lens assists in “shedding” water or mud when the camera is used where it is  being splashed or sprayed. This is great when using the camera above water; however, it leads to blurred video when used underwater.  Because the lens is replaceable, there are a number of third-party options to change the lens to a flat lens for underwater use, and because of the nature of the lens assembly, it can all be done by the end-user.   Seems a bit strange that a company would release a product that boasts 60m waterproof and yet the lens they supply leads to blurred pictures and they don’t offer an OEM alternative.  Edit – GoPro has released a flat lense dive housing.

Adding a third party lense option can also allow you to run filters like a circular polariser, on your Hero2.

There’s no tripod mount on the waterproof housing, though an additional accessory will allow you to mount it.

Skeleton Back

The housing comes with two different backs. The full back completely waterproofs the camera to 60m, the disadvantage being that because the camera is enclosed, the microphones won’t work as well. For “milder” conditions where full waterproofing isn’t required, a skeleton back allows for better heat disbursement and better sound recording. You can see on the back that they even give you recommendations for which back to use based on your speed.

Mounting System

Harking back to my childhood days of Meccano sets, using the rods and screws supplied, you can set the camera into all sorts of strange angles.  Additional joiners and mountings are available from both GoPro and third-party suppliers.

One thing that might save some people a bit of time is if I explain the mysterious white rubber thing that comes supplied with the accessories.  This is used to secure the mounting clip to the mounting bracket, not only to stop it coming loose, but also to reduce the amount of movement in the bracket.

Photos

11MP Wide 170° FOV

8MP Medium 127° FOV

Here are two pictures taken in two of the different Field of View modes (click to get them in their full resolution) . In both pictures, the colours are nice and vibrant and clear. You can see that the medium FOV gives less vignetting, so worth keeping in mind if you want “straighter” pictures. While the photo quality won’t match a “standard” P&S camera (heck, I suspect even the iPhone 4S will give a “better” photo ), you won’t get the nice wide angles without having to add some sort of attachment (which will most likely degrade your picture).

It’s worth noting that as standard the Hero2 HD doesn’t have any sort of viewfinder to help you frame your pictures or video.  While the wide angle lense means that it’s not overly important, if you want to frame something exactly in the middle it’s a bit hit and miss, especially given the off centre lense.

Time Lapse

Taken in 11MP mode at 2 second bursts, 931 images stitched with Images to Video at 10fps. Reduced to SD in Moviemaker to take it down from 1.24GB to 33MB. The camera handles the extreme and changing brightness extremely well. If you look closely, you’ll see the dog, the cat, and the kid

Video Quality

Taken at 960 Wide at 25fps, the video presented is clear and crisp. The camera handles the dark to light transition extremely well with no excessive white blow out. If I had to criticise, the colours are quite vibrant – maybe too vibrant.

Low Light Quality

For such a small sensor, the GoPro handles low light extremely well. While there is some noise, the video is still quite clear and crisp, and the video quality doesn’t change substantially when going from the dark to light.

Accessories

GoPro produces a large number of accessories to go with their camera lines.  There are all sorts of mounts for different uses, different housings, and harnesses.  They also have 3 currently available premium accessories:

• LCD BacPac – gives you the ability to be able to frame your pictures and also play back photos and videos immediately as well as providing an easier menu interface
• Battery BacPac – doubles the battery life
• 3D System – using 2 Hero2s you can produce 3D pictures

One way you can define the popularity of a product is by the amount of third-party accessories available for that product. There are numerous third-party options available on the market for the GoPro – from alternative mounts and lenses to silicon cases and more.

Final Thoughts

Based on my (limited) exposure to other POV cameras, I can see why the GoPro is so popular out there in the market. The wide range of options for resolution for both video and stills means you have a mode for almost any situation.  The picture quality, even in low light, is extremely good for what you’d expect from such a small sensor. GoPro is actively developing firmware and software releases for their units and the additional accessories available from both GoPro and third parties combined with the high level of support from the user community makes this a fantastic little unit.

Even though I won’t be using this for extreme sports, I’ll be keeping this in my camera bag to compliment my “normal” cameras.  Its size, waterproof abilities, and its wide angle lens make this a great little companion. I’ve even purchased the LCD panel for the unit so that I can frame my video and photos better.

The GoPro HD HERO2  does come at a higher price than some POV cameras on the market, and you do have to buy accessories that come standard with other cameras, but IMHO you are getting a premium product in terms of hardware, video and still quality and “support”.

Move over Spielberg and Cameron….I’ma coming !

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Outdoor Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Camera

GoPro HD HERO2 Outdoor Edition POV Camera Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 18, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Swann  is an Australian company who for the last 25 years have specialised in wireless connectivity, professional quality CCTV cameras with infrared night vision, digital video recording with motion detection and networkability, web surveillance and remote notification products, globally. We first reported on the Freestyle HD when it was announced in November 2011. This is a new entry into what seems to be an ever growing Action Point of View (POV) camera market.  Popular with outdoor and extreme sports enthusiasts, these cameras allow videos and stills from unique perspectives not available using “standard” cameras.  Their small size, wide-angle views, and mounting options really allow these cameras to be used very differently. Swann Australia was good enough to supply a unit for review.

Read on if you dare, extreme sports fans.  I mean, after my review of the  Drift HD (and please note this isn’t going to be a comparison review between the alternatives like the Drift HD or GoPro Hero2 HD) I’m not sure how I’m going to top my Spade Cam action.

For such a small little camera, the Freestyle comes in a big box. The top is taken up with the camera and an attached mount (removed in this picture ), and the bottom half has a box with all the accessories in it.

What’s in the box ?

And there are quite a few accessories included as standard.  From left to right:  camera mount, remote control, waterproof case, L mount bracket, curved adhesive bracket, flat adhesive bracket (2), camera, low profile mounting bracket, and LCD screen.  Also included in the pack, but not pictured, are another mount, a carry bag, AV cable, mini USB cable, instruction manual (in French, Spanish and English), CD with PDF versions of the manuals, some double-sided Velcro, a couple of spare tripod mount rubber grommets, and an AC  power adapter. More than enough accessories to get you started.

Size 

Here’s the camera with an Apple Shuffle 2G for size comparison.  The camera is 2.9oz/82g without the LCD screen and measures  2.36″ x 2″ x 1.6″ / 60mm x 51mm x 42mm. On the right front of the camera is the video record/snapshot indicator, and on the left-hand side is the laser transmitter (more information later). On the bottom is a standard 1/4″ tripod mount.

Controls and ports

On the left-hand side of the camera, you’ll find an AV out connector and mini HDMI connector under a rubber boot and a laser warning sticker  On the top left are the on/off switch and video record button. The middle has a LCD panel that displays mode, battery level, and SD memory level with a microphone located below it.

On the right-hand side are a micro SD slot (supports up to 32GB ), a miniUSB connector for charging and data transfer under a rubber boot, microphone, and a lanyard hole.  It might be picky, but it would be nice if the charge port was microUSB as most of my equipment these days uses micro, but then it’s just one more cable. A VOX switch, which allows you to set the camera to start recording if a noise over 65dB is heard, and a snapshot (photo) button are on the top.  The snapshot button is a nice touch, as on most POV cameras to change between video and photo you have to go into the menu system to change the mode.  If you take a mix of video and photos, it’s nice to have a dedicated button for each.  On the back is an LED (left) to indicate recording is on and a power LED (right).

The back cover pulls down to allow installation of the 3.7V 1000mAh battery, which Swann rates at 2.5 hours of operation.

The size of the buttons is going to make it very hard to operate in any activity where you have  gloves on, but given the size of the camera itself, it’s not surprising that the buttons are quite small.

LCD Back 

The camera comes standard with an LCD back.  The connector is protected by a rubber boot when the LCD isn’t being used; however, the boot isn’t attached in any way.  I assume this is so it doesn’t get in the way when the LCD is installed; I suspect that the boot is going to be the first thing I lose.   The screen is only 1.5″ in size, and I can’t find any indication of the resolution. It’s fine for using the menus, framing a shot or video, or reviewing what you’ve already captured. The LCD adds minimal weight (1oz/26g)  and size to the unit.

Menu Settings 

The LCD back has to be installed to get into the menu and change settings.  Swann’s website seems to be a bit behind in specifications for this camera, and the camera’s settings vary from the website specifications, which differ again from the instruction booklet.  So straight from the camera, here’s the options:

Video resolution:

• 1080P @ 30 fps (1920 X 1080) @ 135 degree angle view
• 720P @ 30 fps (1280X720) @ 170 degree angle view
• 720P @ 60fps ( good for slow motion )
• WXGA @ (848X280) @ 170 degree angle view

Camera Modes:

• Resolution 3, 5, and 8 MP
• Single shot
• Triple shot (3 shots per shutter press )
• Continuous mode ( for time-lapse ) (2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60 sec )
• Self Timer (5, 10 sec )

When installed, the LCD can be used to frame video and photos and also to review your videos or photos. The LCD is by no means a high-resolution display, but it’s more than sufficient to make sure you got the shot you wanted. In video playback, sound is supplied by the speaker on the bottom right.  You can delete or protect recorded sessions. In photo preview mode, you can zoom and move around using the cursor keys on the right-hand side. Photos can also be deleted, protected, played in a slide show, or set up for Digital Print Order Format (DPOF).

Laser targeting 

A nifty function (though I’m not really sure how much I’ll use it) is the laser targeting mode.  When turned on in the menu system, if you press the video record button on the camera or the snapshot button on the remote for more than 3 seconds, then a 1MW laser beam is emitted to allow you to see where the camera is being focused and indicates the centre of the frame. This is useful when you don’t have the LCD back installed to frame your shot or when you’ve got it mounted on say a helmet and want to check if it’s aligned correctly.

Remote Control 

The camera is supplied with a handy large and rugged remote control. The remote has both strap holes and a spring clip on the back for flexibility to mount it in a convenient place.  The buttons are nice and large and can be used with gloves on.  You can again control both video and photo mode separately, and if your camera goes into sleep mode from not being used, pressing either of the release buttons will wake your camera back up. The remote can operate the camera from up to 2m/6ft away.

Waterproof Housing 

The included waterproof housing meets Ingress Protection Rating IP68, and it is rated for use 20m underwater. The housing is very well made and sturdy, and while it  does add some additional bulk and weight ( approx 105g), you’ll definitely want to use it when you’re recording in more rugged or wet conditions. You don’t have any control of the menu or settings when the unit is in the housing – in fact there’s not even the option to turn the camera on or off.  There are two buttons on top to control the camera, one for the video and one for photo shutter release.  To use, you need to turn your camera on before you place it into the housing, and if the  camera goes to sleep due to inactivity, you just have to press one of the releases to bring it back to life.

The biggest issue I have with the housing is that it’s not made to fit the camera with the LCD back installed.  This means that there’s no way to frame your pictures accurately while in the housing. Loss of use of the menu system isn’t such a big deal because of the separate shutter buttons.  Whether this has to do with condensation,  battery life, or is just a design consideration I’m not sure, but it would be nice to have the LCD installed in the housing. Other limitations with the case on are that sound will be affected given that your camera is totally enclosed, the range of the remote control will be affected, and you can’t use the laser sight.  Another issue for me  is that there’s no attachment hole on the housing to attach any sort of lanyard to, not even the included wrist lanyard.  If I was going to take this say snorkelling then I’d want to attach the camera to me some how.  The only possible mount point is the pivot pin on the hinge on the closure.

It’s worth noting that on the Swann website and in several of the reviews on the internet, a different housing is shown.  The one on the website and reviews appears to be a one piece design, but as you can see above the housing I have includes a replaceable front lens.  This is definitely a plus, as the lens cover is going to be the area exposed to rocks, mud, sticks  and debris, and if it does get broken or scratched, you really don’t want to have replace the entire housing.

Mounting System 

Using the included mounting system reminds me of playing with my Meccano set when I was a child.  Using a combination of the different joiners and tightening of the bolts allows you to manipulate the height and angle of your camera.  You can see how, once secured, this can give you access to some unique and quirky camera angles.

Photos 

Panasonic FT1 (TS1) 12 MP 28mm

Swann Freestyle HD 170 degree 8MP

Above are two shots (you can click on to get full resolution) taken seconds apart using a “standard” point-and-shoot camera and the Freestyle.  You can see the difference the 170 degree wide-angle lens makes to the picture.  From EXIF information, it would appear that the Freestyle ISO ranges from 100 to 400.  Like all cameras, as the ISO increases depending on light conditions, more noise is introduced into the picture.  It’s not a camera you’d be using for holiday or everyday snapshots, but then that’s not the market this camera is aimed at.  Note too the variation in the colour rendering.

Timelapse

Timelapse photography is pretty cool, and the Freestyle makes it easy to do.  The Freestyle was set on a tripod and set to continuous mode of 30 sec snaps.  In regards to processing, the 200 shots were loaded into Images to Video at 10 fps then uploaded to YouTube. Neat, quick and easy.

One thing to note here is that if you set the camera to continuous mode then turn the camera off and on again, it will NOT remember this setting and reset back to single shot.  This was an issue where I wanted to do continuous mode with the camera in the waterproof housing.  I had to set the mode with the LCD and then basically remove the LCD back with power still on.  The same holds for triple-shot mode.  There’s no indication in the manual if the LCD back is supposed to be hot pluggable, but so far, removing the LCD back with power on hasn’t appeared to have had any adverse effect on the unit.

Video Quality

Sorry folks, no extreme sports here. Instead, here’s part of my trip to work in the morning. Video was originally taken in 1080p, trimmed with Movie Maker, and converted to 1080p .WMV via Moviemaker.   The trip takes in a load of different light situations, and you can see that the Freestyle handles them pretty well.  There’s no major white blowout when there’s lots of sky and clouds, which is good.   Sound capture is good, the radio’s not that loud, but it’s easily picked up by the multiple microphones on the unit (Note that this is taken without the waterproof housing.)  Personally, I find the quality  a bit “soft’ and the colours a bit ‘muted”, and while this is taken on an overcast day, the same can also be said for video’s taken on much brighter days as well. Not a big issue, but enough for me to mention.

Low light performance

How well does the Freestyle handle low light?  Here’s a comparison going from a (semi) dark car park into the daylight.  You can see that in the beginning, there’s quite a lot of noise but as you get towards the light the picture cleans itself up as more light is available. Footage in low light certainly isn’t crisp and clear, but it is usable, and you can’t expect too much from such a small sensor.

“Noisy” Audio ?

In the interest of full disclosure, the Freestyle at this point of time has one ongoing issue.  When I received the review unit, video was perfect, but all recordings had very high pitch and annoying electronic beeping, screeching, popping, and static noises over the top of the audio channel. (It may be the aliens trying to communicate, but I was too scared to take off my aluminum foil hat off. ) Further research on the Net found several users complaining about exactly the same issue. I rang Swann, and after some extensive testing and diagnosis, they decided I had a dodgy unit and replaced it.

The second unit also had the same problem, and after discussions with Swann and some testing on my part, I finally narrowed it down to certain microSD cards being “incompatible” with the Freestyle.  I have multiple microSDs that work and others that give the annoying noise problem (including cards that have been used in other cameras to take video).  With the card I’m using now, I have no issues whatsoever.  It’s not transfer-speed related and I’m not sure if it’s a mechanical problem or can be fixed in firmware and the testing is still ongoing. I’ve made Swann aware of my findings so it’s pretty much in their hands at this time. If you have a Freestyle with this issue, I’d suggest trying a different card.

I’d read on several reviews that people have tried to email Swann about similar issues and had no response from them.  However, I had excellent service from them, with quick responses from friendly and helpful people.  I mentioned these reports of bad response to the people I talked to and was advised that they have increased their support personnel recently and that phone or their web-based live chat option was the best way to get a rapid response.  A list of  contact times and toll free numbers for the US, New Zealand and UK/Europe can be found here.

Final thoughts

All up, I’m really happy with the Freestyle HD (once I worked through the noisy audio issue) . For the price, you get a really good set of accessories out of the box with no optional extras required to get you started. This is good, because at this point in time, there are no optional accessories from Swann.  They advise that they are about to release a range of straps, mounts, and accessories like spare batteries. It would be nice if you could use the LCD panel inside the waterproof case, but because of the wide angle lens, it’s not all that necessary. Video quality is very good, though quality does drop off in lower light, but this is to be expected. The mounting system definitely allows you to mount the camera in quirky and unusual places, which just aren’t possible with a traditional camera.

If you’re in the market for a POV camera and you’re on a budget, the Freestyle HD is definitely worthy of consideration.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Outdoor Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Digital Video Camera, Waterproof

Swann Freestyle HD Wearable Action POV Video Camera Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 10, 2012 at 11:00 am.

I don’t know how I do it, but a lot of the photos I take – even when the camera is on a tripod – aren’t level.  Neither of my cameras have a built-in bubble level, so I have no way of knowing if my shot is level until after I’ve taken it.  Luckily, I have Photoshop so I can level things up later.  With this Level Camera Cube from Photojojo, I could save myself some editing time.  The Level Camera Cube is a 1″ cube that fits on the hot shoe of your camera.  It is a 3-axis level, so you can make sure your picture will come out straight.  It’s $15 for one, or $25 for a pair.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Camera accessory

Keep It On the Level with the Level Camera Cube originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

I’m going to make an admission:  I’m not a big fan of video.  I mean who wants to sit through hours of boring footage just to get to those few exciting moments? And who can be bothered editing their video to capture just the highlights? Of course digital video, YouTube, and the proliferation of video-capable devices makes editing heaps easier these days (much easier than connecting two VHS recorders together ).  And lets face it, some things you really do need video rather than still photos. Highlight Hunter is program  that  attempts to automate the tedious process of finding and isolating  highlights in your long hours of footage.  Does it work?  Find out after the break.

Highlight Hunter works in 3 stages:

• Record your footage
• Bookmark your highlights by placing something (normally your hand) over the lens for 1 sec after something significant has happened
• Run Highlight Hunter over your video and it will clip out the preceding (user definable) seconds before the bookmark.

Highlight Hunter provides a list of supported cameras, however it should work with any device that’s capable of taking video, whether it’s a POV, P&S, MILC, DSLR or phone.  (Don’t you love acronyms? )   They do state that most of the testing they’ve done is on H.264, MPEG-4, and AVC HD, so if your camera outputs in some format that’s a bit different, you may have issues.

To test the system, I took a video of my 10 minute trip to work.  After I passed each traffic light, I bookmarked by getting my son to place his over the lens of the camera (safety first folks ). The video was recorded on a Swann Freestyle HD POV camera in 1080p and the final file was 935,966KB.

Operation is easy, just choose your source movie, choose your highlights destination, and hit Start Scan.

There are some options and before starting my scan.  I chose 5 seconds snippets before the bookmark and left it at the default medium detection setting.

On an i5 Toshiba R700, the detection and saving took around 5 minutes. Time isn’t really an issue as you just hit scan and it just runs, there’s no user interaction required at all.  If you needed to, you could just leave overnight.

And here’s my highlight files.  Do you get the feeling they’d like you to upgrade to Premium?  So Highlight Hunter found 8 highlights; however, I know that there are 5 traffic lights on the journey. Each 5 second highlight file was about 8MB in size and in Quicktime format.

So at first glance the results look pretty good.  You can see where the program might be confused by the dark car in front filling the frame, and then the dark going into the carpark.  Trouble is it has missed two traffic light all together. There are 5 traffic lights on the route, and Highlight Hunter has only picked up 3.

So the next thing to try was to pump up the detection level from medium to looser.  This resulted in 19 highlights. This now picks up all the traffic lights plus 14 other bookmarks. It’s pretty easy though to remove the 14 false positives even for a video editing newb like me with basic Microsoft Movie Maker.

Don’t like those “discrete” watermarks on your video? $29.99 will purchase the Premium version, which not only removes the watermarks but also gives you faster scanning speeds, prioritized support and free upgrades for 1 year.  Each license is tied to one PC, but by upgrading to Premium for $10 extra you can obtain usage on an additonal PC.  You can see above that using Premium will also change it so that each highlight includes the time frame in which the clip appears.

Using the Premium version certainly sped up the whole detection and highlight production process.  It took around 1/2 the time of the unregistered copy. There was no difference in the detection however, it still found 19 highlights. I don’t have the work process or skills to remove the hand at the end of each segment but I’m guessing that someone with a more established video editing routine could easily and quickly get rid of them.

So Highlight Hunters seems to work extremely well, though you are better to err on the side of caution and loosen up the boomarking detection so that you get more false positives and don’t miss any of your bookmarks. Changing to lower  light conditions or having dark coloured objects move into your frame may also set a highlight, but these highlights are easy to remove from your final footage.  I can see where this would be a useful program for all sorts of video situations: sports, concerts, kid-related activities, almost anywhere video footage can be taken.

The biggest concern I have about the whole concept is if you actually want your full footage to watch.  When ever there’s a highlight, your footage will be ruined by a hand being held over the lens.  So let’s say you film your child’s play and you highlight every time your child appears on stage so you can send a highlight package to the grandparents.  But if you want to watch the whole play, you’ll get hands over the lens every time your child appears. Perhaps they need to develop a complementary product that removes the 1 second palm.

Will this mean I might start taking more video footage? I’m not really sure yet, only time will tell, but it certainly does assist in reducing the time and effort required to edit your videos.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Digital Cameras and Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Digital Video Camera, video editing

Highlight Hunter Software Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 30, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Have a Sony NEX-5/5N?  Don’t you just wish it had an actual hotshoe instead of Sony’s proprietary accessory port?  NEX Pro Shop just released an unofficial hotshoe adapter to fit in your Sony NEX-5/5N.  The Shadow allows you to connect an off camera flash and have it triggered by the NEX-5/5N.  It’s priced at $79.99 and is available for pre-order.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Digital camera accessory

Unofficial Hotshoe for the Sony NEX-5/5N originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 30, 2012 at 8:00 am.

The Broadcaster from LiveStream allows you to stream live HD video directly from any camera supporting  HDMI out. Powered by 3 AA batteries, the unit can be mounted to the camera and will stream video via Wi-Fi or a 3G or 4G USB modem.  Supporting 1080i, 720p and 480i resolutions, the Broadcaster encodes the signal in real-time using H.264 and AAC audio.  The stream can be controlled via the built-in LCD panel, through the Livestream Web based platform, or via iPhone app.

Pre-order for $495; delivery begins May 31.  Purchase includes 3 months unlimited live streaming; price is $45/month after the promotional period.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Digital Video Camera, Video Streaming

Live HD Broadcasting for Any Camera with Live Stream Broadcaster originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

The Polaroid Z340 Camera from Photojojo is a new twist on instant cameras.  Just like the old Polaroids that spit out self-developing photographs, the new Z340 camera can produce 3″ X 4″ instant prints on special smudge- and water-proof, tear-resistant ZINK photo paper.  What’s different about this Polaroid is that it’s a 14MP digital camera with a built-in 2.7″ LCD screen to preview your image.  The camera also has built-in edit features, so you can crop, rotate, add filters, adjust contrast/brightness/saturation, remove red eye, add borders, and more.  You can even take video with sound.  You can store photos on an SD card or even edit photos from other cameras on the Z340.  It has a rechargeable lithium battery that’s good for 75 photos or 25 prints.  The Polaroid Z340 with enough ZINK paper for 10 prints is $299.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Digital Camera, Instant camera

What’s Old is New Again with the Polaroid Z340 Camera originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 20, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Throughout 2011 I pondered whether or not I should upgrade from my Nikon d90 dSLR behemoth to a MILC with better camera-tech stuffed into a much smaller, lighter form factor. The main reason I wanted to upgrade was portability.  Due to its weight and size, I never took my d90 anywhere. For my trip to Vegas (Lexus GS Event), I finally did the deed and purchased the Sony nex-5n. So far it has taken great pictures and incredible videos, I have zero buyers regret. I looked around for a bit of protection that did not add too much weight or bulk to the nex-5n. Being such a relatively new camera platform, there is not a huge selection of accessories/protection currently available. Through random Net surfing, I came across a Korean company named Gariz that creates minimalistic half-cases specifically designed for MILC cameras. Fortunately, they make one for the Sony nex-5n and were willing to send me one to review.

For its trek around the world, the form fitted, leather case comes well packaged and protected.

The first thoughts that came to my mind when I saw the Gariz half-case were how Vaja- and Ducati-like it was.

The leather is topnotch, very well finished, and finely stitched.

The inside is lined with a soft velvet material and as you can see, formed to perfectly fit the Sony nex-5n.

The case screws into the camera’s tripod hard-point. The case itself provides its own hard-point to attach the camera/case to your tripod. The chromed metal hardware is finely machined and well-finished; integrated nicely into the case.

The case allows easy access to all of the nex-5n’s controls, although you do have to take the case off to gain access to the battery/SD card compartment located on the bottom of the camera. I use an Eye-Fi wireless SD card, so access/downloading my pictures is not an issue. But I do have to remove it to recharge the battery. As a FYI: Gariz has eliminated this minor inconvenience in the case they have created for the nex-7 by engineering an access point.

Along with the nex’s buttons and dials, the Gariz half-case is designed to allow full movement of the Sony’s adjustable screen.

With the case on and a longer lens attached to the camera, the whole ensemble does lean forward on the lens. Not a huge deal but worth mentioning. The camera stands upright with the pancake lens attached.

The Gariz leather half-case is available in dark brown, black (with red stitching), white, and tan.

Gariz truly supports the MILC movement, backing it with their well-made products. They make cases for not only the 5n but the (just released) Sony nex-7, Sony nex-3, Lumix GX-1, Lumix GF3, Fuji x10, Samsung NX200, Olympus PEN MINI, and Olympus EPL3 to name a few.

Feel and Useabilty:

The Gariz half-case adds better grip-ability to the small and occasionally awkward nex-5n. The case increases the length of the grip by about a third of an inch….just enough to be noticeable for those with larger hands. The fine leather feels nicer to hold than the camera’s hard plastic.

Protection

The half-case provides a little protection from bumps and perhaps (very) minor drops but only if the camera falls butt first, an unlikely scenario with a lens of any weight on the front of the nex-5n.

With a majority of the gariz.com website is in Korean, it would be difficult (for me at least) to order from them. I asked the folks at Gariz how much they charge for the case they sent me and for shipping it to the US; their response was $75 for the case and approximately $25 for shipping. At the time of writing this review, there were hundreds of Gariz products available on eBay for about the same price as the website itself. Overall, I like the look, feel, and added grip the form-fitted Gariz half-case brings to the Sony nex-5n. The case is very well crafted with excellent materials and craftsmanship….well worth the splurge .

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Cases and covers, Digital camera accessory

Gariz Sony NEX-5n Half-Case Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 17, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Saddleback Leather‘s newest addition is the Gadget Bag.  It’s boxier than your typical briefcase, and looks and feels incredible like all of Saddleback Leather’s products.  I recently got a digital SLR camera, so the Gadget Bag’s shape caught my attention.  Let’s take a look.

Saddleback Leather Gadget Bag in Medium (Chestnut)

When you first unpack your Saddleback Leather bag from the box, you’re greeted by that intoxicating leather aroma.  This is the real deal!  There is nothing cheap or cheesy about this.

If you’re unfamiliar with Saddleback products, here are a few facts about the Gadget Bag:

• 100 year warranty (you’ll understand when you get it)
• 100% thick full grain boot leather (but thicker)
• Insulates cameras and electronics well from the damaging heat
• No breakable parts, e.g. zippers, snaps, buttons etc.
• Industrial marine-grade thread
• Hidden polyester reinforcing straps
• Rivets at all stress points
• Sewn cap closure keeps out bad days

No snaps or plastic. Just metal and leather.

Closeup of the "new" Saddleback logo

The back is clean.

The medium bag has side pouches large enough for an iPhone, sideways.

A sturdy handle on top lets you get a grip.

The inside is plain and simple. No dividers, no Velcro, no pouches.

Interior view of the side panel. The thin strip of leather along the top edge gives the bag nice rigidity.

Closeup: Made in Old Mexico

Inside lining of the lid.

There’s no doubt the Saddleback Leather Gadget Bag looks, feels and smells great.  But how does it perform?  To test this, I tried feeding it with my Canon T3i camera with a 35mm lens and 430EX-ii flash.  In case you’re wondering, the EF 35mm f/1.4L USM lens measures 3.4″ long, and my sweet made-to-order tangerine-colored strap is from PhatStraps.

Feeding time!

As you can see in the following pictures, there’s plenty of room in the medium Gadget bag if you don’t carry too much.  If you need more room, you might want to consider the next size up.  You’ll also notice there are no dividers supplied with this bag to keep your equipment from knocking together.

Sample arrangement with room to spare

Another arrangement

I tend not to carry a lot in my camera bags – just a camera and a flash.  I would probably slip the flash into it’s own pouch to avoid bumping and scraping against the camera itself.  The leather is stiff enough that I don’t worry too much about damage to the camera, but I’m not so sure I’d want to drop a fully-loaded bag.  Daily bumps and lumps should be no problem.

One minor design issue I found was with the placement of the strap rings.  If you carry the Gadget Bag with the supplied strap, you’ll find the bag tends to “roll” like a log a little bit since the strap connects close to the center.  Of course, this depends on how you load your bag, but the strap can get caught on the lip of the flap.  If the lid isn’t securely closed, you COULD potentially dump your gear if you’re not careful.

Strap can get caught under the flap.

Design issues aside, the medium Saddleback Leather Gadget Bag is a handsome, well-made piece that is sure to give you a lifetime of use.  The only question is, what color?

Note: The links to Saddleback Leather on this page are affiliate links, which earns a small percentage of any sales that come from The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Bags, Backpacks, Digital Cameras and Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Camera bag, gear bag, Saddleback Leather

Saddleback Leather Gadget Bag Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 16, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Over the weekend, I saw an amazing shot of 8 lightning bolts hitting all the supports of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco.  If you’d like a chance to capture something equally amazing on film, you may need to add the Nero Multi Trigger to your camera arsenal.  The Multi Trigger can sense specific events and automatically fire your SLR/DSLR or lighting system to capture the event.  You can trigger on: lightning (day or night), sounds, laser, timer, long exposure, super bulb, or manual trigger.  The microcontroller-based Multi Trigger uses 2 AAA batteries, and it attaches to the hot shoe of your Nikon or Canon camera.  The unit is the smallest trigger on the market, measuring only 3.34″ X 2.36″ X 1.18″.  When you purchase, you’ll select the appropriate connector cable for your camera, and you can purchase additional cables so you can use the Multi Trigger with your other cameras.  The Multi Trigger and one cable is $199. There’s also a version that triggers only on lightning flashes for $117.00.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Camera accessory

Capture Amazing Photos with the Nero Multi Trigger originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 16, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Smartphone cameras are becoming better and better, and more people are using them to take photos and video.  The smaller physical format of smartphones isn’t overly conducive as a camera however, and a new Kickstarter project attempts to address this. The Slingshot from professional photographer and design engineer Charles Waugh is a flexible frame that will fit most smartphones and a small tripod handle with a ballhead connection that gives you flexibility both as a stable tripod or while taking handheld shots. The frame can also be used to place your smartphone on a standard tripod as well.

Pledging $14 will put you in the picture for one.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Camera gear

The Slingshot Shoots Video, Not Rocks originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 16, 2012 at 8:00 am.

Now you can carry and protect your camera equipment in a great Tom Bihn bag!  It’s been in development for some time, but now the Camera I-O (insert, outsert) bag is ready for purchase.  It’s 14″ x 11.75″ x 3.75″, and its walls are all 0.25″ thick closed-cell foam laminated to an exterior of Durastretch 520Q (a nylon/Cordura®/Lycra® blend) on the front and back and 1000 denier Cordura® on the sides and bottom.  The interior is lined with a hook-compatible brushed tricot, so you can arrange the four included dividers to fit your DSLR, lenses, external flash, and other accessories.  You can use the Camera I-O as an insert in Tom Bihn’s Brain Bag backpack, or the Empire Builder, Super Ego, Ego, Id, and Aeronaut bags.  The Camera I-O also has carry handles and attachment points for an optional shoulder strap, so you can use the bag alone as an “outsert”.  The Camera I-O is available only in black for $110.  You can also add optional quivers to hold a tripod or a lighting kit on the sides of the bag.  The Tripod – Lighting Kit Quivers are $40-45, depending on the size.

Filed in categories: Bags, Backpacks, Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Camera bag

New Camera I-O Bag from Tom Bihn originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 5, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

With the way that everyone (including myself) gushes over the iPhone’s camera, you’d think it was a DSLR or something. Well now it can be… sorta/kinda. The TurtleJacket (unfortunate name…) is a 2 piece aluminum jacket/case that accommodates an iPhone 4S/4 and features 2 tripod mounts, 2 strap holes and a 37mm thread (female) for conversion lenses. For $126 you get the jacket, a UV Filter and 37mm Wide-angle Lens. If you really want to go nuts, you can opt for their DOF adapters that allow you to attach Nikon and Canon lenses to your iPhone. The adapters start at $178, but you can buy the TurtleJacket with the adapter for as low as $255. Can you imagine taking a call with a 4 inch lens sticking out of the back of your phone?

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Camera, iPhone

TurtleJacket Turns Your iPhone Into a DSLR (Kinda) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2012 at 9:00 am.

Scheduled for release later this  year, the Tamagoo 360-imager is capable of taking panoramas in sky/ground, horizontal or vertical panoramic planes.  With a 14MP sensor, 2″ LCD touch screen and built-in WiFi, the unit is 92 x 55.8 x 61.1mm and weighs in at around 190g. Once processed, you can create fully-navigable panoramas and share them directly from the camera to Twitter and Facebook. No more photo stitching…yes please.

Expected to sell for less than $200 when released.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: digital camera gear, Panorama

You say Tamaggo, I say Tamarggo…360° Handheld Pictures originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 31, 2012 at 9:00 am.

The new BCC950 ConferenceCam from Logitech is the “first communications tool to combine a full HD webcam with a high-quality, omni-directional full-duplex speakerphone in one USB device, enabling small groups to collaborate in conference rooms, closed offices or shared work spaces.”  The camera has a motorized 180-degree pan, tilt, and zoom, 8-degree field of view, support for 1080p, and 30fps HD through plug-and-play UVC H.264 video technology.  The high-quality, omni-directional full-duplex speakerphone allows people to hear and to be heard from up to 8 feet away.  It’s optimized for Microsoft Lync and Skype Certified, and it works with most UC and video platforms.  The BCC950 ConferenceCam weighs only 1.25 pounds and is portable, so you can have a conference call anywhere you have room to set up a computer.  It’s available beginning in May 2012 for $249.99.  Read the press release after the jump.

Logitech Introduces New Product Category for Unified Communications:  The All-in-One Audio and Video ConferenceCam

 BCC950 ConferenceCam Enables Small Groups to Collaborate Through Voice and Video on PCs and Mac Computers

  FREMONT, Calif. — Mar. 26, 2012 — Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today introduced a new product category for unified communications (UC) and Web conferencing: the all-in-one audio and video ConferenceCam. The Logitech^® BCC950 ConferenceCam is the first communications tool to combine a full HD webcam with a high-quality, omni-directional full-duplex speakerphone in one USB device, enabling small groups to collaborate in conference rooms, closed offices or shared work spaces.

The BCC950 ConferenceCam features a full HD webcam with motorized pan, tilt and zoom for easily bringing everyone into the picture – either from a control pad on the device or with a convenient remote control. The control pad or the remote can also used to answer calls, end calls, adjust the volume and mute the microphone.

Optimized for Microsoft Lync and Skype Certified, the BCC950 ConferenceCam works with most UC and video platforms. With a wide 78-degree field of view and 180-degree video pan, support for 1080p, 30fps HD through plug-and-play UVC H.264 video technology, and a speakerphone that allows everyone in a meeting to hear and be heard clearly from up to eight feet away, the ConferenceCam helps remove the pain point of groups clustering around a computer to be seen and understood during UC calls. Weighing only 20 ounces, the ConferenceCam can be carried easily around an office, allowing for spontaneous meetings anywhere users can place a computer.

“The power of unified communications is driving collaboration across multiple locations and multiple devices, giving people the flexibility to work together wherever they are,” said Giovanni Mezgec, general manager for Lync at Microsoft Corp. “The Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam expands the benefits of UC in the enterprise by providing a simple-to-install, high-quality solution for small-group meetings.”

“We have a number of remote workers who value face-to-face time with their colleagues in the office, but we haven’t had an appropriate tool for small-group video meetings,” said Jim Hayes, IT operations manager for 24HourFlex, an employee benefits solutions provider in Aurora, Colo. “We’ve been testing pre-production units of the Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam for more than a month and it’s proved to be an ideal solution for this bottleneck. We can now quickly and easily add audio and video conferencing to any room with an affordable device that doesn’t compromise on call quality.”

The Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam is ideal for meetings of one to four or more people, whether in conference rooms or individual offices. A high-quality webcam sensor and Logitech RightLight™ 2 technology improve visual quality in low light and backlit situations, while a razor-sharp Carl Zeiss^® lens and the camera’s autofocus feature allow sharing of detailed documents and other visuals up close, without losing image quality.

“The workplace is rapidly evolving toward smaller and more virtual teams, yet communication tools have not kept pace,” said Eric Kintz, vice president and general manager of Logitech for Business. “In looking at the needs of our customers, we saw a gap in solutions that bring audio and videoconferencing to small groups. The Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam fills that gap by combining a webcam and speakerphone into a single affordable device – transforming PCs and Macs into communications platforms, so businesses can set up more locations for small-group meetings.”

Pricing and Availability

The Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam is expected to be available worldwide beginning in May 2012, for a price of $249.99, from resellers who specialize in the business-to-business market. The product will not be offered by consumer electronics retailers. For more information on the Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam and other Logitech products for business, please visit www.logitech.com/business or our blog.

About Logitech
Logitech is a world leader in products that connect people to the digital experiences they care about. Spanning multiple computing, communication and entertainment platforms, Logitech’s combined hardware and software enable or enhance digital navigation, music and video entertainment, gaming, social networking, audio and video communication over the Internet, video security and home-entertainment control. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Video conferencing

Logitech® BCC950 All-in-One Audio and Video ConferenceCam originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 29, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

We’ve featured many creative ways that you can share your favorite pictures with friends and family, through photo books, printed canvases, etc. Bumpy Photo offers a unique service that will take your digital pictures and turn them into 3D relief sculptures that you can actually touch. When you upload your digital image, special software creates a color 3D depthmap from your 2D flat photo. Once you approve the image, it is then printed in 24bit color 3D hard plaster-like composite material. The price for this service isn’t cheap and is dependent on size, subject matter of the photo and how thick/deep you want the sculpture. For example, a 4″ sculpture of one person/bust with standard thickness is $59.00. But a 2 person picture with extra thickness is $123.00. Very pricey, but very cool too…

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: Photography

Bumpy Photo Turns Your Favorite SnapShot Into a 3D Sculpture originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 28, 2012 at 2:00 pm.

I have a couple of Nikon DSLR cameras that I use for personal and Gadgeteer photography.  Nikon cameras aren’t cheap, but hey – not every camera is mentioned in song, either.  Accessories, especially the Nikon-branded ones, aren’t cheap, either.  I’ve been slowly collecting studio lights, flashes for the hot shoe, filters – you get the idea.  One accessory I was intrigued by was Nikon’s GPS accessory to add geographical coordinates into the EXIF information of the photos I take.  The GP-1 is expensive and there are things I need more, so I had forgotten about GPS info for my photos for the time being.  That is until EasyTag offered their EasyTagger for Nikon cameras to The Gadgeteer for review.  Let’s see how it worked for me.

The EasyTagger comes with a USB-to-proprietary-plug cable for charging, a Nikon-to-proprietary-plug cable for connection to the camera, a column for attaching to the hot shoe while still allowing the built-in flash to be used, a cable strap, a card reader, and a small CD with the manual.  When you order the EasyTagger, you select the appropriate cable for the camera you own.  Luckily, the N3 cable will work with both my Nikon D3100 and D5100.  Instead of using the undersized CD that never properly works with my MacBook Pro, I downloaded the manual from the EasyTag website.  The CD was labeled “Setup Software”, but I didn’t need any software to use the EasyTagger.

Specifications

• GPS Chipset SiRF Star III
• Frequency L1, 15 75.4 2 MHz
• C/A Code 1.0 23 MHz chip rate
• Channels 20 channel all-in-view tracking

The manual has a lot more technical information in it, but it has quite a few typos that I’m not sure how to correct.  If you really want to see more details, you can download the manual here.

The EasyTagger GPS unit is made of black plastic.  It measure 2″ X 1.25″ X about 0.85″ thick (including the hot shoe connector).  It weighs 1.4 ounces on my digital kitchen scale.

The top of the EasyTagger has an LED status light that tells you when calibration is complete, when a signal has been established, etc.

This end has a port, covered by a rubber door that broke off when I tried to connect the unit to my camera, with a non-standard connector type. This is where you connect the charging cable and also where you connect the camera cable.

The EasyTagger has a 500mAh Li-ion battery that recharges with any standard USB charger or a port on your computer.  This battery powers the GPS unit so that it doesn’t suck your camera battery dry.

The circular port is to connect a remote control unit that can fire the shutter of the Nikon camera.  I didn’t receive one with the review unit, and I don’t own a wired remote for either of my cameras.

The EasyTagger comes with a 2GB microSD card, already installed.  It stores GPS data in standard GPS log files on the disk.  EasyTag includes a USB card reader so you can access this data on your computer.

Best of all, the EasyTagger also writes GPS coordinates, altitude, and barometric readings directly into the photo file’s metadata if you’re using RAW, JPG, and TIFF formats (for most cameras). You don’t have to use the log files if your software can use the metadata information.

The power slider is here, too.  In the ON position, the EasyTagger “will track all visible satellites and receive GPS data. It will provide instant location information to the camera whether the camera is turned On or Off.”  In the OFF position, the unit is powered off, but the remote control will still work to control the camera if it’s plugged into the GPS unit.  The ALL position means the “Easytagger and the data logger are “On”. GPS signals will be logged every 10 seconds to the Micro SD card.”

This is the calibrate button.  Calibration was easy.  You simply slide the EasyTagger on to the hot shoe and connect the cable, press the calibrate button, then turn yourself through 360-degrees twice while holding the camera level and pointed at the horizon.  This should be done outdoors with an unobstructed sky view, so it may make your neighbors wonder what you’re doing.  My EasyTagger calibrated quickly, so I didn’t have time to attract an audience.

It took a few seconds before my Nikon D3100 recognized the presence of the EasyTagger GPS.  A GPS icon blinked on my camera’s status screen for a few moments before coming on steady.  At this point, I tried a test picture, and there was GPS information in the file’s data.

On the EasyTag website, the power connector on the GPS unit is shown to be on the same side as the camera’s GPS connection.  That wasn’t the case for my D3100 nor the D5100, but luckily enough, the cable was just long enough to reach the connector.  You can see here that the GPS unit hangs over the built-in flash unit, and it prevents the flash from opening.  You can see the flash unit is open, but it can’t lift into position in this picture and the topmost picture.  You can use the included hot shoe extender column to elevate the GPS unit so the flash can pop up.  I was going to be taking pictures outdoors, so I didn’t need the extender for this trial.

We decided to combine my daughter’s driving practice with some photography, so we drove around town snapping pictures.  Some pictures were taken while the car was stationary, others while the car was moving. Acquisition rates vary:  hot start 1 sec., average; warm start 38 sec., average; cold start 42 sec., average; reacquisition 0.1 sec., average.

Some of our pictures were missing GPS information, so I imagine most of those were taken while the car was moving and the GPS unit didn’t have time to get a new signal, or perhaps there was something overhead interfering with the signal acquisition.  Most of the pictures did have the information.

All of the following pictures can be clicked for an enlarged view.

This screen capture shows the part of the metadata where the GPS information is found.  I used Photoshop Elements 9 to open the file and show the information.  If you click on the above photo, you’ll also be able to see that the number of satellites the signal was collected from is also displayed.  Most pictures showed 6 satellites, but I saw as many as nine.

The GPS data in the photo is available to all geotagging software.  I don’t currently own any software designed to use this data, so I just uploaded some of my pictures to Flickr and added them to the map.

The photo of this sign was taken while the car was stationary.  You can’t possibly tell by looking at this map if the pin is in the correct position unless you’re familiar with this part of Greensboro.  I’m familiar with the area, and I can tell you that the pin is directly in front of the VF Corporation World Headquarters building, right about where the pictured sign is located.

You can tell by the photograph that this was taken at the Greensboro baseball stadium.  This photo was taken while the car was moving.  I’m not sure if the pin is exactly where those baseball “sculptures” are located.  Perhaps the car was moving a bit faster than the GPS data updated, but it’s close enough that you could certainly use the information to get back to the stadium.

This map shows pins and small thumbnails for each of the photos I uploaded.

The GPS data collected by the EasyTagger is accurate, as you can tell from the maps.  I don’t know about the altimeter and the barometric pressure readings collected by the GPS unit, because I have no way to check their accuracy.

I think the EasyTagger is a great accessory for my Nikon cameras.  It costs less than half the price of the GP-1 ($120 for the EasyTagger vs. $265 for the Nikon GP-1).  Luckily, the cable I got works for both my cameras, but I can buy a new cable from EasyTag for $10 if I get a new Nikon in the future.  I could add a shutter release for $4-29, depending on the features I want for the release cable.  You might even be interested to know that a user named retiredPhil left a bad review for the Nikon GP-1 at the Nikon website and said he “would have been much better off buying a 3rd party geo locator, such as the Easytagger GPS.”  I think you’d agree with retiredPhil and me that the EasyTagger is a great, inexpensive GPS unit for your Nikon camera.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, GPS, Reviews

Tagged: Digital camera accessory, Geotagging

EasyTag EasyTagger GPS Unit for Nikon Cameras Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 27, 2012 at 11:00 am.

In my opinion, Gadgets + Leather = Bliss. If you feel the same way, then you’re going to love browsing through the Wotancraft web site of truly handmade leather watch straps, camera straps and camera bags. The prices may be a little spendy (the camera case/holster you see pictured above is $169USD), but knowing these goods are made by real artisans and not an assembly line makes the prices a little easier to accept. Located in Taiwan, Wotancraft is a 4 person company with an attention to detail. Check out a detailed story about them here.

Filed in categories: Bags, Backpacks, Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: bags, Camera, Leather

Wotancraft – Handmade Leather Camera Cases and Bags originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 27, 2012 at 8:00 am.

Hokay, I’ll admit it I’m not really a video kinda person I’m more a stills kinda guy. One of the reasons I don’t like video is I don’t have the time or patience to go through a full days shooting to find the highlights, to cut them out into individual files and do all the re-editing stuff involved with it.  Highlighter Hunter may go some way to alleviating this concern.  When you have a moment you want to highlight while recording, you place your palm over the lens of your recorder momentarily to bookmark that section. When you get back to your computer, Highlight Hunter will scan your entire video, look for each bookmark and then create a 30 second clip preceding each bookmark.

The software should work with any digital video camera whether it be a POV, P&S , DSLR, mobile phone or otherwise. Highlight Hunter mentions that most of their testing has been done on H.264 or AVC HD, and I’m sure there’s probably cameras out that film in some unsupported codec

Available as a free download and also in a Premium edition that scans faster, removes watermarks, and gives you upgrades and priority support for $29.99.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, News

Tagged: A/V editing, Digital Video Camera

Highlight Hunter – Face palm your video originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 24, 2012 at 9:00 am.

Ok, this is just too cool… The Galileo is an iOS-controlled Robotic iPhone Holder designed by the same guys that designed the Joby and the Gorillapod line of tripods. The Galileo holds your iPhone or iPod touch and can pan and tilt 360 degrees with a swipe your finger on a remote iOS device. This device would make a great surveillance tool, video conferencing tool or video capturing tool. It features a standard tripod mount and a USB rechargeable lithium polymer battery. The Galileo also charges your device while it’s plugged into USB. This is a new project on Kickstarter that just got started. Although compatibility with existing iOS camera and video apps is unclear, they will be offering an SDK for app developers. I’ve already pledged my $85 so I’ll be sure to get one of the first available devices. It will have a MSRP of $129.95 once the project is funded.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: iPhone, Photography

Galileo iOS-controlled Robotic iPhone Holder originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

Last year, I reveiwed the Minox Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF 5.0 “tribute” camera (see related products links at the bottom) that reminded me of the old Imperial Reflex 620 Duo camera my mother had owned.  I was very disappointed in the tiny, low-res images captured by that almost $300 toy-like camera.  If only ThinkGeek had the Recesky Twin Lens Reflex Camera Kit then, I could have saved a lot of money and had a real, working, film camera.  With the Recesky kit, you spend about an hour to build the camera.  It has a fixed 1/125 sec shutter speed and focuses at 50cm to infinity.  Just like the original twin lens reflex camera, you hold it at your waist and look down into the top-mounted viewfinder.  You’ll need to supply your own 35mm film; ISO400 is recommended.  The Recesky Twin Lens Reflex camera kit is only $29.99.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: DIY, film camera

Build Your Own Twin-Lens Reflex Film Camera originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 21, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

This has to be the cutest USB drive I’ve seen, and it is a perfect gift for the photographers in your life.  This Camera USB Drive from Photojojo looks like a DSLR, available in your choice of Nikon or Canon camera style.  The lens removes to expose the 4GB USB stick.  It’s 2″ wide X 1.25″ tall, and it’s the perfect way to transport or gift your photo files.  It’s $20.00 from Photojojo.  I like the Nikon… Just saying.  ;o)

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, Gear, News

Tagged: Camera gear, USB Drive

Camera USB Drive from Photojojo originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 17, 2012 at 10:00 am.

This Rangefinder iPhone 4/4S case from Photojojo makes your iPhone look like an old-style camera.  It adds a bit of bulk to your sleek iPhone, but it does come with advantages.  The shutter button uses the volume up button to snap the picture, and you can actually use the viewfinder to frame your shot.  The case also has two loops for attaching a neck strap, and there’s even a removable tripod mount for the case.  The faux lens on the front has a mirror in it, so you can line up self-portraits.  And you can even use Photojojo’s Magnetic Cell Lenses with the Rangefinder case to add fisheye, wide angle/macro, and 2X telephoto lenses to your iPhone’s camera.  The Rangefinder case is $65.00; you can get the case and set of Magnetic Cell Lenses for $99.00.

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras and Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Cases and covers, Cell phone camera lens, iPhone 4/4S

The iPhone Rangefinder from Photojojo originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2012 at 9:16 am.