Tag Archives: Gear

Gadget Time!!

Posted by on February 16, 2012 No comments

It’s been a while since I have posted about some interesting gadgets, and I happen to have come across a few that are post worthy!  So here goes.

Having driven the MINI around for the last few months, and being a part of the DC Metro MINI club, I REALLY enjoy my car.  Many of the club owners like to make videos of their drives using the GoPro brand cameras.  Being a camera type guy, I thought I would check one out and have some fun.  So here is my pro/con list

 

 

Pro:

  • Light weight – Very small for just the camera and easy to pocket.
  • TONS of attachments (I got the Motor-sport version)
  • Easy to use – Menus are quick and easy
  • Cool Wide Angle – Gets everything in the shot
  • Good Quality (Not great, but good) – Auto adjustment of speed and ISO does oddly in low light

Con:

  • Over Simplified – It would be great if there were a few more options and configurations.
  • Low light sucks – In low light it ramps up the ISO a lot so there is some significant grain. But it’s not really meant for low light so….
  • Ball Joint mount would rock. – All of the mounts are pivot one way, you can add pivot points in, but it increases vibration.

Overall, I like it.  It is currently mounted behind my rear view mirror and is nearly invisible to my FOV while driving.

This ties into another gadget I picked up.  The OBDII adapter for Blue-Tooth.  This is a chip that plugs into the data-port on my MINI (and any car after 1996) and provides all sorts of information on real time data from the engine to fault codes.  I connect to it using my Android phone and an app Called Torque.

Now I just need to know what all that data actually means!  (I am still learning).

Now, how does this all come together?  Well, there is another android app called aLapRecorder HD.  This connects to the OBDII chip and then can record all of that data for a specific drive.  I can then output that data into a format that can be overlayed on to the GoPro video.

I will be using this for future drives out with the MINI to record the results.  Especially the upcoming MINI’s on The Dragon event.  If you have any questions about the above gadgets, please feel free to ask!

Inside the Bag

Posted by on June 10, 2011 No comments

This week I got the chance to tag along on a photo shoot with a buddy of mine in an abandoned NIKE missile bunker.  It was pretty adventurous, but sounded like fun.  He had a model that was coming up for this and we aimed to make it as professional as possible.  Paul was the primary photographer on scene with his Assistant/Apprentice, Andy helping out.  I was on hand more for the behind the scenes shots to document the shoot itself.  Overall it was a blast!  I uploaded the Behind the scenes shots to my gallery and you can find the model shoots over at Paul’s Flickr stream.

This got me thinking about what all I am carrying in my portable kit and why.  So I thought I would break it down for anyone who may be interested:

 

Some of the things to draw attention to here:

      • The iPad: I mostly use this for very quick spot processing and shot review and looking up any info.  I can also do instant uploads  of shots if I need to send them out ASAP (depending on Signal on my 4G Thunderbolts tether).  The app I use the most for processing is Filterstorm.
      • The SB-600 is my Speedlight.  It’s a low end light but I am working to get some remote triggers for off camera lighting.
      • The combo of the GorillaPod and the Pistol Head tripod mount makes for a small easy to aim pose-able mini tripod that is great of remote locations.

The item that I catch the most grief for is the one that brings it all together.  You may have noticed that all of my gear is Nikon based, yet I have a Canon bag.  When I was shopping around for a backpack that would carry everything and not break the bank, the Canon one kept coming up.  It has protective compartments for everything and is small and light.  Sure it’s misleading sometimes but it gets the job done.

So there you have it.  All of my gear laid out for all to see.  now that I have shown you mine, how about you show me yours!

iPad, or iPod-Maxi, take your pick.

Posted by on January 28, 2010 1 comment

It should surprise no one that I am not a huge Apple fan.  Heck I am taking a week long class on Windows Server now, but I am not completely against them either.  Without Apple we would not have the competitive market that is leading us into the 21st century.  No iPhone means we would all still be using flip phones because of how they remind us of Star Trek. (or maybe that’s just me.) I certainly would not be writing this post on my fancy touch screen phone while zipping along on the train.  Apple has done some amazing things for tech, but now it seems like it’s their turn to try and play catch up.

The tablet PC has been around for a long time.  I understand that most tablets are bulky, or the interface is a bit weird, but they keep changing and have progressively gotten better.  I have used a few tablets that feel great to use and do everything I need them to do and more.  Unfortunately I don’t see this iPad doing even 1/2 of them.  Yay, it can read books,  but my Kindle and any number of cheaper ebook readers can do that.  It plays games, but so does my Droid and my Xbox and any of the tablet. (one may argue that it plays iPod/iPhone games that my stuff can’t, we have an iPod in the house so I’m good.)  Honestly the only things the iPad has going for it is 1: a rabid Apple fan-base that will buy anything the almighty Steve Jobs produces, and 2: its size.  I will say that they seemed to have gotten that part right.  It appears to be sleek, slim, and fit right in the hand, but I would expect that from Apple.

So what would it take to make me like this?  Easy.
1: Flash Player. (Adobe has 10.1 working now…port it!)
2: Front facing web-cam.  (it would be the perfect video conference tool)
3: USB (why does it NOT have this?  oh right because then you could choose your wireless provider)
4: Hit below the $300 price mark. (seriously with everything that’s available that does the same thing, it’s just not competitive)

So there you go.  I am sure that many of you have other ideas about what it should have as well but there are r simple things that would make me more interested.  Until I see that,  I give the iPad a preview score of 6 oranges out of 10 apples.