Archive for May, 2006

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Camcorder Buying Guide: Sony DCR-SR100


2006
05.26

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Well that Panasonic VDR-D300 never did show up, something wrong with my credit card information or something. So, time for another look at the camcorders before Vfinally getting one quick for the summer. I really need two of them. An idiot proof one that is good for Connie and the kids. The DVD camcorders are ideal, although image quality is lower, they produce a DVD which means less work for all. Then there is a prosumer one for those high definition occasions, here’s an update thanks to Camcorderinfo:

  • Canon DC40. Canon introduced a DVD camcorder. It is the same size of my old Optura 100MC, but unfortunately, picture quality is lower because DVDs are just not as good as miniDV tapes are for quality. Its image quality is about the same as the Sony DCR-DVD405, but not as nice as the VDR-D300, so on balance, the Panasonic still wins. For DVD camcorders, it feels like Panasonic, then Sony by a nose.
  • Sony DCR-SR100. This is a hard disk camcorder that JVC started with the Everio. It only has a 30GB hard drive, but it produces standard MPEG-2 .MPG files, so you literally just drag and drop it into your computer. While an early model, it does seem that this is better than most DVD camcorders in that it is just a hard drive, so you don’t have to worry about putting a new DVD in every 20 minutes, but it does mean that you need to do video conversion with a computer afterwards. Again, image quality isn’t up to miniDV standards (yet!). This is about $1000 at Pricegrabber

So the choice is hard, DVDs that are already done, or a 30GB first generation hard drive machine. I’m probably going to get the 30GB hard disk because the idea of all those miniDVDs around is just too confusing. And with a 30GB (7 hours worth) of video, it means we don’t have to refill alot. Since the SR100 is new, there doesn’t appear to be any discounting of its $999 list price yet. Keep looking at Pricegrabber though.

  • Pricegrabber shows it running at just about $1000 street. So B&H Photo is very reputable and has them in stock right now. Shipping is a nominal $11
  • Tiffen 30MM UV Filter. Tiffen makes nice filters and for an additional $9, you get both UV protection as well as something to protect the lense. No additional shipping when you buy the camcorder
  • You are kind of stuff here since the microphone jack requires a proprietary Sony connector (uh! Sony, what a way to make money). See Sony Accessories.
    • HVL-HL1 3 Watt Video Light. I had one for our Canon and it was marginally useful. The problem is that 3 Watts isn’t enough in most cases and it really drains the battery.
    • High-Fidelity Stereo Microphone ECM-HST1. This is a shotgun microphone that mounts on top. It can either be wide or narrow focus. This seems the most useful of the accessories. It lists for $90, but BHphoto has it for $70 street.
  • You don’t really need an additional battery, the base one lasts about two hours.
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Best Notebooks in the Sony TX Series


2006
05.26

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SonyStyle.com | TX Series. Shawn was asking me, what notebook to get, I’ve been in favor of the ultralight Sonys because I generally don’t need the speed of the Intel Core Duo and most importantly the weight. These models use a very low power Pentium M, but the result is that they get unbelievable battery life and are the only sub three pound notebooks with a DVD player that really lasts six hours.

The models keep changing though, so here’s an analysis of what to get from the Sony

  • VAIO VGN-TX750P/B. This is the current low cost model. They have definitely been eliminating the lower sub $2000 models, but getting rid of the CD-ROM only models, that’s too bad, since who needs a DVD writer on such a slow computer. In any case, this is the low end with a 1.2GHz 753, EDGE and 802.11b/g and then a DVD+RW DL optical drive plus 512MB of memory and 80GB hard drive. List is $2300 with a street of $2150 on Pricegrabber
  • VAIO VGN-TX770P/B. The same as above, but it has 1GB for $2600. This is pretty expensive for just 512MB more of memory. Tempting just to buy third party memory and install it yourself. Street price is more like $2400 on Pricegrabber

If you go slightly bigger to the SZ series, you get a much faster processor in the Core Duo, but weight climbes to 3.7-4.07 pounds, but you do get a 13.3″ screen. For me, the small 11″ screen makes more sense since I take many economy class flights and you can’t open up such a big screen back there.

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Intel Core Duo 2


2006
05.26

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Intel reveals roadmap details, aggressive architecture refresh strategy. Well, Intel is definitely working hard, their update to the first Intel Core Duo is coming faster. Here is the new schedule for the new Intel Core Duo 2 family:

  • Server chip (codenamed Woodcrest) ships June.
  • Desktop (codenamed Conroe). July.
  • Mobile (Merom). August.

Of course, now even more confusing is when Apple will ship their hardware based on these dates, so here’s the current prediction:

  • Merom-based Macbooki to be announced at the August Apple Worldwide Developers Conference
  • PowerMac replacement will depend on whether the Woodcrest or Conroe will be used and could be as early as June (if Woodcrest is used)
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Basic Camera setup


2006
05.26

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So, what did I what’s the final recommendation on what to get, here is where and some places. These places by the way are already obsolete a week later so go to pricegrabber to get the correct latest prices.

Here is the basic dSLR setup:

Of course, actually getting the $165 in rebates is going to be very hard. Canon makes it nearly impossible, but worth the effor.t

And for really compact needs:

  • Fujifilm F11. The Camera Box. $304.75
  • Olympus xD 1GB Type H Card. B&H Photovideo. $54.65
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Why does sand ripple?


2006
05.22

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Rick asked me, why does sand ripple.

Wind ripples in the sand show how close the frontiers of science can be. The exact mechanism is not well understood. Sand doesn’t really fly in the wind. Grains bounce along in a process called saltation, and bump other grains into the air when they land, called reptation. Somehow millions of these micro-events make visible ripples, a fine example of self-organization in nature. Rivers also make ripples on the bottom. Wind makes waves. Are washboard dirt roads another example? Maybe everything is just fleeting patterns of quantum chaos at an atomic level!

There seem to be two main contenders for explaining wind ripples:

It’s the wind.
Wind or water flowing over a flat surface “trips over itself” because of friction with the bottom that slows it down. This creates rolling vortices of tubulence, an eddy effect that in turn produces ripples.

It’s the sand.
Wind ripples result from just the saltation and reptation of individual sand grains.

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RoboForm Password Manager


2006
05.21

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I can’t take it, there are just too many passwords to remember and it isn’t very secure. Roboform is something my buddy Bill uses to automate this. I’m a believer now, it is sure convenient to have something that knows various passwords and that has a master. It also fills in your credit card information ifyou like, but the main use is for passwords.

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Fujifilm Finepix F11 and xD Cards


2006
05.21

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Well, the xD is kind of a strange format that only the Fujifil FinePix F11 (DCViews) uses as far as I can tell. By the way, that is a great review of the F11. Amongst other things it does note that the camera sometimes overexposes. A small -1/3EV correction can be programed to take care of that. Other reviews are collected at DCViews that talk about it having shutter and aperture priority and being very clean up to ISO 400 and quite good at ISO 800! They love the very sharp and distortion free 8-24mm F/2.8-5.0 lense. TrustedReviews Also points out its battery will last 500 shots or more than what is in 1GB xD card. There is purple fringing though. Also has very accurate color reproduction.

Where do you get it, TheCameraBox appears to be the only US site to carry it. It is $295 plus $10 shipping.

There are two flavors, the M-type and the H-type. The H-type says that it can be up to 2-3x faster with compatible Olympus cameras. I don’t know if the F11 qualifies

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The perfect compact camera


2006
05.21

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finepix f11 – Froogle. For pure quality, the Fujifilm FinePix F11 is probably the best. You can’t get it in the U.S. because the big brands like Sony and Canon have blown it out of the market. The huge advantage is it can take very low noise pictures to ISO 400.

If you want to stay slim, the Sony T9 is probably the best. It is 6 megapixels, has image stabilization and can take low noise pictures to ISO 100.

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Fast Compact Flash Cards


2006
05.21

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Rob Galbraith did actual in camera testing with the Digital Rebel XT to see what were the fastest cards. For most of these, the RAW write speed wwas the most affect with the Sandisk Extreme III 1GB and 2GB having identical performance at 4.888MBps write JPEG and 6.26MBps RAW.

It is also interesting to see the 4GB cards were slightly slow at 4.56MBps JPEG write and 5.611 MBps with the SanDisk Ultra II 4GB where the cluster size of 4KB seemd a whisker faster than 32KB clusters.

It was also interseting to see that basically SanDisk and Lexar comes out on top at least in these tests.

Many companies sell CompactFlash media; relatively few actually design and manufacture the key internal components, including the controller and flash memory. This column lists the source of the key component or components inside the card, to help you determine if cards with different labels on the front are in fact similar or identical under the hood. For example: as of this writing, all the cards of a given capacity in this database that use Toshiba SLC components are effectively the same product. In most instances, the company marketing the card is purchasing assembled Toshiba CompactFlash cards, then placing their own label on them (this practice is common in the memory industry as a whole). Therefore, determining which company’s Toshiba SLC product to buy should be done based on your examination of things like warranty, tech support and the reputation of the company selling the card.
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Canon 430EX vs 580EX


2006
05.20

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Canon Speedlite 430EX Flash Review. Once the decision on Camera is made, then there is a high and low flash model. You really do want a flash in most circumstances particularly indoors where bounce flash is very useful. The net is that the 580EX has a guide number of 190 (vs. 140) so is more powerful and is a little bit bigger. The 580EX is a breathtaking $365 at pricegrabber so it is really the pro model while the 430EX is $242. So for my money, the 430EX is probably just fine. Nikon has the same split with the SB-800 and SB-600.

Performance of the Canon Speedlite 430EX Flash is consistent with that of the Canon Speedlite 580EX Flash – very good. I don’t have much to report on it. Both of these flashes work very well as long as you understand Canon’s flash technology. For the difference in price, my advice is to get the Canon 580ex Flash. Of course, if the 430ex’s differences are meaningless to you, it will serve you very well.

See also Lee Ward actual use of the thing on his 10D

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