I wrote about the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 before:
I was finally able to get one and what did I do to test it out? I took it to the craft store.
Download this video for your iPod
Everything in a fabric store is so vividly colored that it’s the perfect place to test your camera. I can’t do a better review than Ryanne did back in July. All I can do is show you how pretty the colors are.
Back in April, Phil801 wrote an entry on how to upload your photos from your cameraphone into Flickr. It is something that I have been doing ever since I got a Flickr account, but I realized that not everyone might know how to do this.
Fortunately, Phil801 wrote step-by-step instructions on how to set it up and how to send them out, including information on how to name the photo and tagging.
Flickr will also automatically upload your photos and description to your weblog if you wish. During CES, I used this feature heavily, taking pictures with my camera, putting the card in my Treo and uploading the photo and description to Flicker and The Gadgets Page right from the convention floor. Even photos taken with my atrocious Treo 650 camera are better than no picture at all.
If you have a Flickr account and you haven’t been using these features with your cameraphone, you have a chance to learn how to now. It has made photo-taking an instant sharing adventure.
It’s nice to see that someone else enjoys their Lumix camera as much as I do. I actually preferred the focusing of my older camera, but the DMC-TZ3 has been an excellent video camera and I have used it to film my Starling Fitness DVDs.
It is a fairly popular camera and you can see the kinds of photos people take with it here on Flickr:
The DMC-TZ3 has some limitations. If you are filming in wind, you WILL get wind popping noises on the audio, even if it’s just a slight breeze. I didn’t have this much trouble with the older Panasonics and since it’s a digital camera first and video camera second, I don’t have much room to complain.
I have also had trouble focusing in low light situations. I think it’s because the camera has such an amazing zoom. I’ll gladly trade the focusing for zoom, because it allows me to get video of things like this:
I always have my Lumix with me, so I am able to snap pictures and take video wherever I go. It’s small enough that I don’t begrudge it in my purse. It’s even small enough to tuck into my pocket if I’m taking pictures all day (like I did in Disneyland).
Despite its minor drawbacks, I love my Panasonic Lumix.
Ryanne at Freevlog did an excellent job reviewing the Xacti E1 camera. Since Ryanne is a video-blogger, she gives the camera an exhaustive test. She takes it in the swimming pool. She takes it to the beach. She shows you footage that she has taken with it. Go to the review and watch the video showing how rugged the Xacti E1 is:
I LOVE that she showed the footage from the camera in all sorts of environments. Because it’s a waterproof camera, she showed it in the pool, of course, but she also went to the trouble of showing it in the house, and in really low light situations.
There are a few things that she didn’t mention. One is that the Xacti E1 will take SDHC cards, so you can film up to 80 minutes on a 8GB SDHC card. It has 5X zoom, which isn’t as good as some of the other Xacti cameras. You have to remember, though, that when you’re filming zoomed out, it’s very difficult to get footage above 5X unless you have incredibly steady hands.
It is also a 6 mega-pixel camera in addition to being a video camera. The Xacti E1 is too new, but as soon as people start getting them, the photos that people have taken and uploaded to Flickr will show up here:
Unlike the Sanyo Xacti HD, it does NOT film in HD or in the 16:9 aspect ratio. If that is an issue for you, then you should wait until Sanyo comes out with an HD Xacti that has the same great performance in low light and sound quality.
On the whole, the Xacti E1 just jumped to the top of my wish list, even above the iPhone.
Update: Mike Moon saw Ryanne’s review of the Xacti E1. You’ll remember him as the guy who put his camera into a glass jar and took it into his swimming pool. You can hear his thoughts about the camera here:
I don’t recommending selling one of your children to get an Xacti E1, no matter how good it looks.
You probably have an excellent camera in your cellphone right now. Here is a link to a website that shows you how to take up-close shots (macro) with your cameraphone using an inexpensive magnifying lens.
I am continually amazed at the amazing shots I can get off my old Treo 650. If you have been leaving your camera on your phone alone, go ahead and try it!
Via: iPhone camera as microscope – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
Mike Moon is a prolific video-blogger who entertains me almost every day. The other day, he made me laugh talking about a do-it-yourself underwater camera case he made:
“A three dollar jar and you get to eat the salsa that’s in it.”
You can see the video explaining the case and the results here:
Before you spend a couple hundred dollars on an underwater case, try some of the bottles you have in your pantry. You just might have a case for your camera waiting for you to finish eating the salsa and take it on a journey!
We bought this LensPen set from Carson a long time ago. I remember Mike lovingly cleaning the lens of his first Nikon with it, so we’ve had it for at least seven years. I didn’t have much use for it. T-shirt material is really soft and works pretty well to clean off camera lenses. I’m almost always wearing a t-shirt, but I’m never carrying around a Lenspen.
Then I started actually using the camera that’s on my Treo. I was inspired by kitykity and her Blackberry photos. My only problem was the lens on my Treo was covered with smudges, lint and gunk. I tried to use the t-shirt method, but camera phone lenses are so tiny that I just couldn’t get it clean. That’s when I finally found a use for the LensPen.
The LensPen Mini Pro fits perfectly into my Treo lens and cleans it up beautifully. Every couple of days or so, I have to charge my phone. When I do, I use the LensPen on the lens so that it will be clean when I want to take photos. If you use your camera phone as your primary camera, it would probably be a good idea to pick up a LensPen and give your lens a cleaning every week or so. You’ll take better photos.
When I’m out and about, I fill up my SD card on my camera all the time. Especially when I’m filming a lot, my little 2GB SD card can only hold 22 minutes of video. If I’m trying to film a birthday party or another family event, 22 minutes goes by so quickly. I usually lug my laptop around to empty out my SD card, but iWay has created a different option for you: use your 80GB Video iPod to store your photos until you get home.
Unfortunately, the iWay does not work with the Photo iPod or the iPod Nano, but it is compatible with the 60GB and 80GB Video iPods. One other disadvantage is that it also doesn’t support SDHC cards, so if you splurged and got a big 4GB or 8GB SDHC card, you probably won’t be able to use the iWay to empty it out.
Despite these limitations, I’m tempted by the iWay. For 70 bucks, I can stop lugging around my laptop and just carry the iPod in my purse. This would be especially helpful when I’m doing my walking videos. It’s so easy to fill up my cards when I’m filming those.
Update 06-15-07: I just realized that 2GB cards are getting cheaper and cheaper. For that 70 bucks, I could just get a couple extra SD cards and eliminate the need to transfer until I get home.
Via: iWay: an SD card reader for your iPod – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
Kitykity got a Blackberry Pearl for an early Mother’s Day present and she has been using it to blog:
As an early mother’s day present, Scott got me this new blackberry pearl I’m typing on. It’s white, and I love it. Since I have this great gadget that takes pictures, I thought it would be a great way to force myself to start updating my Blog again.
I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with the photos that she has been able to get out of that phone. Here is a simple example. This photo of the Sonic Drive-In sign is so clear that you could order a meal from it. Click on the photo for full size:
The detail that came through on this photo is amazing. She’s not using her best photographic techniques on these pictures. She’s just clicking photos, yet the Blackberry Pearl is able to get detail and clarity.
I’ve seen the lens on a Blackberry Pearl. The thing is no larger than a dime. Some of the talent goes to kitykity, of course, for rock solid stability and good photographic technique, but even the best photographer couldn’t get pictures this good out of my Treo 650.
Cameraphones just crossed over from toys to tools. Did you notice?
I noticed this extra feature on Flickr the other day and I was completely surprised and delighted!
Flickr displays the what kind of camera photos are taken with. This picture had been taken with my old camera, but I uploaded it to Flickr with my Treo. It is really cool from a historical standpoint. Wouldn’t it have been nice to be able to track every photo Ansel Adams took to each camera he owned. He kept such good notes that it’s almost possible, but not all of us are that meticulous.
When you click on more properties, you get all the photo information that your camera stored such as exposure, aperture, focal length, ISO speed and more. Things that Ansel Adams meticulously wrote down and kept track of are now automatically stored for you in the photo data by your camera. Flickr lets you easily access that information for whatever photos you upload to them.
How do they do that:
Almost all new digital cameras save JPEG (jpg) files with EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) data. Camera settings and scene information are recorded by the camera into the image file. Examples of stored information are shutter speed, date and time, focal length, exposure compensation, metering pattern and if a flash was used.
Source: Digicamhelp.
This is an awesome feature that I knew NOTHING about until now. I would have never found it out if I hadn’t noticed that little note to the side of my photos on Flickr.
After I read a book of Ansel Adams’ notes he wrote for EACH and EVERY photograph he took, I felt a little guilty for snapping thousands of photographs without so much of a thought of taking notes. Now, I don’t need to feel guilty. My camera takes meticulous notes for me.
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