The June issue of Auscam sees us also launching the brand new "paper" version of Auscam in companion. Additionally, we are ramping up our video segments to take advantage of this medium and also offering vendors the opportunity to have Case Studies done of either themselves or their clients.
Additionally, we also have a brand new advertising manager on board, Sonia Gunn, who can be contacted via sonia@auscamonline.com or 02 4998 8794 / mobile 0411 511 711
For a full review of the Kymera Wand and its magic, click here. It's magical! Harry would want one! And Merlin ...
Hi folks - just quicknote to apologise for the apparent downtime for the website over the last few days. We have had some horrible network gremlins get into the local system (not of our making) and I have been 'netless and landline-less since last Thursday apart from using my Samsung Galaxy tablet. We have patched together a wireless link in so at least we now have some access from The Shed, and hope to be back to full speed within a day or two.
You can still subscribe of course and there are a number of levels:
No subscribtion. You have restricted access to articles, tutorials , features, interviews etc on the website, but will be able to news and press releases and so on.
Site subscription. This means you have signed to the website (here) and have restricted access to certain areas (but far more access than no subscription has). This is free and just means registeruing with the site (topright on menubar) or click here. You also receive our regular newsletter.
Premium access. You have full access to the website. This costs $38.00 pa. You register via the menu bar (top right) or click here and we accept VISA, Mastercard and PayPal.
Magazine subscription. This costs $79.90 per year and also gives you full premium access to the website. You can subscribe via the Online Store or by clicking here. We accept VISA, Mastercard and PayPal.
The forums. Are totally free but you must create a user name and password (which is separate from the Auscam website login and password). You can join by clicking here.
If you have any questions, please email me at david@auscamonline.com
Auscam has learned that if you are holidaying in the EU, and take any snaps or video, then an until now obscure EU law says that the EU actually owns the copyright!
This means that if you ever display these images on a website, in public or even copy them and send these copies to friends or family, you are in breach of article 24-7:12 of the EU articles of association which reads in part:
"All images or facsimiles of any location in the EU, but not limited to altitude or under water locations - eg: rivers, lakes, seas or oceans - are deemed to be owned by the EU, and cannot be reproduced or otherwise duplicated without due approval and fees paid to the EU".
This law has penalties in the thousands of Euros, depending on the location and country the images have been taken in we were told. An enquiry by Auscam to the Office of Copyright and Images under control of the Bureau of Tourism in Brussels was told by spokesperson Sath Brunelli, "the EU is jealous of its mountains, castles, waterways and other landmarks and scenery. We will fiercely protect our right to the copyright of any images. You want, you pay. It's that simple."
You can pay a licence fee of EU50, payable at all border immigration and customs posts to circumvent this law in most countries we were told. Except for Iceland who's fee is EU100.
A request to the Australian Tourist Bureau to see if Australia will follow suit has so far gone unanswered.
(This is of course is rubbish. But it was fun to suck people in! If you have a great idea that's fun like this, let us know by emailing david@auscamonline.com. Published ones will receive a FREE 12 edition subscription to Auscam magazine)
Canon has come up with what it describes as its smallest professional camera ever. It’s the XA10 and we’ve had it on test and on the road for a couple of weeks. So does it live up to the hype? Like few cameras before it looks like it just might.
Canon just managed to get the test camera to us in time to head off for two weeks camping and four wheel driving through Arkaroola and the Flinders Ranges, some 700kms north of Adelaide.
I used the XA10 for everything and gave it a serious workout. The results speak for themselves. Awesome pictures and excellent versatility.
Looking down the barrel…
The XA10 has a boxy kind of look to it that speaks professional - functional rather than sleek. Landcruiser rather than Porche in its looks. I love the huge front ring – it can be multi functional but I’d leave it for manually focusing. The lens is brilliantly wide at 30m and goes 10x for optical and 20x using the built in teleconverter. That’s a digital jump but it works with no visible loss. My only issue here is that it’s a software switch. I’d prefer a hard button on the outside like the HV40 has but it’s a minor quibble. That's the extent of quibbling for this camera. Everything you want is there but its inside the door and software switched. For the price and what you get you cannot be complaining.
The camera fires up in a zillionth of a second and can be recording inside a second. This is the beauty of flash based cameras - super quick response times. My HV40 HDV tape camera takes 6 secs to fire up and roll so things do get missed (I still love the 40 though!). You can also have the XA10 pre-record for three seconds continuously so you’ll miss nothing. What this means is that it records three secs to a buffer and then to the hard drive when you hit the button. Perfect for those times you’re waiting for some action. Now you don’t have to record endlessly to get that moment (good for porn then - did I type that out loud?)
The LCD is huge and easily used even in bright light. The screen is crystal clear and has excellent colour reproduction. It has all the new generation of touch screen controls but most can be set and forget, which is a good thing. Simply touch the function button on the screen and up comes a page full of further options. Once you get used to it it's very easy to navigate around and get to the bits you need quickly.
Canon has come up with what it describes as its smallest professional camera ever. It’s the XA10 and we’ve had it on test and on the road for a couple of weeks. So does it live up to the hype? Like few cameras before it looks like it just might.
Canon just managed to get the test camera to us in time to head off for two weeks camping and four wheel driving through Arkaroola and the Flinders Ranges, some 700kms north of Adelaide.
I used the XA10 for everything and gave it a serious workout. The results speak for themselves. Awesome pictures and excellent versatility.
Looking down the barrel…
The XA10 has a boxy kind of look to it that speaks professional - functional rather than sleek. Landcruiser rather than Porche in its looks. I love the huge front ring – can be multi functional but I’d leave it for manually focusing. The lens is brilliantly wide at 30m and goes 10x for optical and 20x using the built in teleconverter. That’s a digital jump but it works with no visible loss. My only issue here is that it’s a software switch. I’d prefer a hard button on the outside like the HV40 has but it’s a minor quibble. That's the extent of quibbling for this camera. Everything you want is there but its inside the door and software switched. For the price and what you get you cannot be complaining.
The camera fires up in a zillionth of a second and can be recording inside a second. This is the beauty of flash based cameras - super quick response times. My HV40 HDV tape camera takes 6 secs to fire up and roll so things do get missed (I still love the 40 though!). You can also have the XA10 pre-record for three seconds continuously so you’ll miss nothing. What this means is that it records three secs to a buffer and then to the memory when you hit the button. Perfect for those times you’re waiting for some action. Now you don’t have to record endlessly to get that moment (good for porn then - did I type that out loud?)
The LCD is huge and easily used even in bright light. The screen is crystal clear and has excellent colour reproduction. It has all the new generation of touch screen controls but most can be set and forget, which is a good thing. Simply touch the function button on the screen and up comes a page full of further options. Once you get used to it it's very easy to navigate around and get to the bits you need quickly.
On the menu...
The menu is easy to use too and the display font is clear and easy to read. The range of professional options to set is so extensive you will spend some time getting your own setup right. You can play with zebra patterns, test patterns, test tone, colour, sharpness, contrast, interlaced or progressive, scene settings, ND filters, assign buttons, zoom speeds, ring sensitivity (I've had that after a curry). Seriously it will be months before you shoot anything. Here's an idea. Leave it in auto and go out and play.
Under the bonnet...
The engine is AVCHD driven and can idle at 5Mbps getting you 24hrs on the internal 64gig tank alone (so 48 hours if you add two 32gig SD cards!). At full speed you racing along at 24Mbps giving you over 5 hours of storage time. Being a flash drive camera means you'll be exhausted long before the battery keels over.
The LCD screen displays the remaining battery life and storage time so you have a good indication of when it's time to refuel. When full the internal tank will switch to the first SD slot and when that's full it'll switch to the next. If you fail to have enough storage on this one then you're a dill!
It has a viewfinder that also marks it as professional and it’s activated by pulling it out. A minor fault here is that it doesn’t tilt up like it’s big brother, the XF300. Still you can’t have everything at this price or Canon would never sell any bigger cameras! The XA10 fits in with the XF100/105 and XF300/305 family. The internal specs for the 10 are very similar to the 100 but it records to SD instead of CF cards and is AVCHD instead of MXF. The colour is 4:2:0 where the big brothers are 4:2:2 and the limiter is set to 24Mbps where the others can blast along to 50Mbps. None of which is going to matters a rat's rear end to most users of the XA10. It's awesome functions and small size make it a winner big time. My next camera family may well shape up to be the XA10 and the XF300. Oh and a bunch of GoPros (got 2 already), but that's another story.
Screen time...
Playback is very cool on the screen. Good images and it’s interesting how they’ve adopted the iPhone method of going through those images. Swish across to change groups that are arranged by date order. I like the icon look but you can have a neat stacked approach too. Either way it works really well.
One of the big selling points is the handle that is removable and screw mounts onto the body. Apart from the obvious erganomic value of this it houses the full pro XLR inputs and switches for pro audio. That gets it from domestic to pro camera in one jump. It also has the typical zoom rocker switch and stop start button. Every camera should have one!
Stability matters...
The XA10 has a truly fabulous stabiliser. It’s optical as usual but then there’s the powered addition. Hold down the button on the LCD door and it’s activated. I found I could shoot seriously zoomed in, hit the power switch, take breath and hold it steady and it’s very close to rock solid. You can nearly leave the tripod at home it’s that good. I took it flying recently and did some air to air pics that easily demonstrate the power of the XA10’s stabilisers (view them above). It did help that the Nangchang is a very stable aircraft but even so. Movement was the whole plane not the camera. Brilliant.
It also takes very good still frames. So good in fact that when I printed a batch out to show friends I couldn’t tell which came from the XA10 and which came from my EOS450D. Awesome! Yes the frame size is smaller but short of enlarging to poster size it doesn't matter. It's not pretending to be a DSLR. It does have a eight bladed iris that get improved depth of field. Everyone wants their fields deeper these days. Another small gripe is that the photo button is a software switch on the LCD screen. You can't take pics with the door closed and sometimes I was slow to get it to trigger. It's really cool though that you no longer have to switch from video to photo modes and vice versa.
The Jury's verdict...
I have to say I’m seriously impressed. I want one and I want one now. The good news for those on a budget is that there is a domestic version (the G10) for nearly $1000 less than the XA10 costs. The only real differences are it doesn’t have the handle, so no professional audio inputs, and has half the internal tank size. Still I’d be a great starter camera. This is a great unit and again raises the bar for small pro cameras. As an entry level camera or a spare for the seasoned shooter this is a great package. The film world just gets better and better. My score is 9/10
Sony is the latest to jump on the 3D band wagon at consumer/prosumer level with the release of the HDR-TD10 camcorder. Using two fixed Sony G lenses, each with its own Exmore processor, the TD10 is no lightweight at 630g and has stacked on a bit of a podge too compared to a standard camcorder being at least as half as thick again.
And I reckon Sony has had a rummage through the old models parts bin too, as goodness me, isn’t that an LCD from the old TRV10 series? A full 9cm diagonally? No viewfinder though (sigh).
Full 5.1 audio is built in, and a little image on the screen shows which tdirection the sound is being picked up from by the 5 in 1 mic which is front mounted. The top of the HD10 has a photo button (which will not operate in 3D which is selected by a switch above the battery; images at 7.1 megapixels – not too shabby) and a left/right zoom rocker. The start/stop recording button is in the usual position on the right rear quarter.
Also on the rear are two flip up panels that reveal AV out / HDMI / headphone and mic in ports. To my mind, this is one of the best layout setups I have seen; more than once I have had to hunt around to find some hidden orifice tucked away somewhere, and this location makes perfect sense.
Under the LCD are buttons for power, play and to switch the display (which is excellent) between 2D and 3D – and note, you do NOT need 3D glasses to see the play back on the LCD. There is also an SD card slot here although there is also 64GB flash memory on board.
However, the most important control on the TD10 is the one for depth control; without knowing how this works – and reading the supplied paper-based manual is essential here – your 3D movies will look decidedly queasy! To get this right, there is a button on the front of the camera that when turned (after pressing Manual) lets you set the 3D depth when recording. And unlike the Panasonic 3D camcorder (which to be fair is a lens adaptor), with the Sony you can zoom up to 10X in 3D. THIS is where knowing the 3D depth settings are vital.
All the expected features are there such as Face Detection, Intelligent Auto, Backlight Compensation etc although Smooth Slow Rec, Golf Shot Mode, And Smile Shutter only works in 2D mode. Shame, the Golf Shot Mode in 3D would have been very interesting!
And hallelujah! Sony DOES supply a mini HDMI cable with the HDR TC10. Maybe our ranting has finally paid off. You also get a remote control, AV cable and USB cable too. The supplied software, Picture Motion Browser, is a bit how’s your father – it would be much better to invest in Sony’s own Vegas Movie Studio HD methinks.
At $2199 this is not an inexpensive camcorder, but it is a fully featured one with 3D thrown in. If that is the way you want to go, this is the way to do it – at this stage of the game anyway.
Vendor: Sony Australia www.sony.com.au
Price: $2199
Auscam Ratings
Ease of use: 8
Features: 9
Build quality: 9
Value for money: 8
We liked: Fully featured, 3D lens, 3D depth control, LCD
We didn’t like: It’s pricey, bit bulky, no viewfinder
I am an enormous fan of the TV show Dragon’s Den. For those that don’t know, it is a BBC UK show that has a panel of self-made millionaires who judge the worthiness of ideas, products and services from aspiring entrepreneurs. If they see one they like, they bid for the right to invest in it. (an earlier series is being shown on ABC1 and ABC2 at the moment - check it out).
Dragon’s Den is entertaining, inspirational and contains many gems of business wisdom such as make sure you have a business plan, know your numbers, have a marketing strategy and more. The books each of the panel has written (including Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden, Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones) are worth a read in their own right. They are all available on Kindle, and I confess, along with similar books fr
om Lord Alan Sugar (of UK Apprentice fame), I have used their ideas and advice to form what is the new incarnation of Auscam.
Anyway, approximately two years ago, a product appeared on Dragon’s Den that is an absolute game changer. A pair of technical whizzes had created a device that replaced the remote control for almost any device you’d like to name; it was a magic wand a la Harry Potter!
It could be waved, rotated, flicked, tapped (once or twice), swished, pushed forward or backward and more – 13 operations in total – to replicate the commands from your remote control(s).
I have resisted for a long time to order one, but a few weeks ago caved in. I have just added an XBOX Kinetic to my home theatre system and to perform the basic functions I do, whilst I have a Logitech Universal control and it is very functional, the Wand – called a Kymera– looked far more fun!
It finally arrived today in its elegant display box and instructions on Olde English parchment. Firstly you have to learn the various actions to perform commands, and this takes about 10 minutes. Next, you “teach” the commands you want to assign to each of the Wand’s options.
For example, to turn my Sony 52” Bravia on, I wanted to use the “flick up” command, and to turn it off, the “flick down”. It’s really very easy; you tap the side of the Wand twice while it is vertical to put it in learning mode, perform the required action and then point the sharp end at your remote’s infra red sender and press the button for that action. The Wand will respond with a vibration (every action has a specific vibration code to signify what is has done or it understands) and voila! Done.
In truth, it took me a few goes to get it just right, but this was down more to my ham fistedness than any error on the Wand’s behalf.
Once I had the knack of programming the wand, it was only a short time before I had the whole system setup; the Denon receiver/amp volume was controlled by rotate right and left, flicking between HDMI devices was flick left/right, XBOX options were taps and so on. The piece de resistance – the BIG SWISH was reserved for putting my Sony Blu-Ray player into play mode with something that starts with a bang!
When you use the Wand to perform an action, especially if there are others present, you simply cannot help but to ham it up a little – or a lot! And I confess, when I got the first command working, I burst into laughter. It’s just one of those gadgets that is a must have, for no other reason that it is Great Fun! You’ll want to turn things on and off, switch between devices or whatever you have programmed it for (lights, heating, iPod dock or whatever uses an IR remote) just for the sheer delight of it!
At $79.95 it makes a fantastic present. The Kymera is beautifully presented in its box, the instructions are almost worth laminating and framing and well… what more can I say. They even provide the AAA batteries it uses in the price.
In fact, I am so impressed that I have negotiated that Auscam can sell the Kymera Wand to our readers for AUD$79.95 including freight. Simply click on "STORE" in the menu bar above to order.
Or email us at david@auscamonline.com and you can call on 08 94675922 or 0413 632286
Use UP to create and manage your custom metadata files for P2 (e.g. HVX-200s) and AVCCAM camcorders (e.g. AF-100s).
With the UP™ application, metadata for anticipated shots may be pre-loaded into the camera via a SD card ahead of time and selected as needed during shooting. This has the advantage of automatically filling certain data fields, which may be repeating or non-repeating, of the resulting video clips? information that will be included into the video P2 or AVCCAM Volumes.
Only $9.99 available on the App Store now.
Movie Extra's Webfest competition winners have launched their seven part series, Henry & Aaron's 7 Steps to Superstardom on Youtube. As a prize, they got a $50,000 production budget and post-production services to produce a web series with guest star Peter Rowsthorn (Kath & Kim, Can We Help).
It’s odd how some things happen it strange orders and then an idea comes out of it. This has just happened. Yes, I had an idea – no really! And that was to write this piece and hope it saves a few the time I wasted this afternoon. And this idea came from a combination of acquaintances discussing fiml cameras, an image of a Leica and having to find a specific set of photos.
Trust me, there is a connection.
With everything going almost completely digital in the video and photo universe, there has been spawned a major problem. I’ll get to it in a moment, but first some background for those who don’t remember ‘film’ (or ‘fillum’ for the Norman Gunston devotees. Kids, ask your Grandad or Nanna).
‘Film’ from a camera used to be sent off for processing into negatives and then made into ‘postcard’ size prints – or bigger if you were rich – and this process could take a day or weeks depending on the film type. Kodak for example was easy, but some odder types of Agfa say, could be gone so long you might forget about them.
As an aside, if you want a great ‘Spy Stuff’ story, real 007 type thing – read (or Kindle) Running Blind from Desmond Bagley. It’s a cracker of a read and revolves around a simple, everyday film canister. (You’ll need to ask the grandparents again kids)
Anyway, prints were obvious as to what they were; you could see them. But negatives used to be numbered and stored in translucent envelopes. If you wanted a reprint, you look up the negative strip to find the image (remembering it’s in negative) and its number, take it back to the photo shop and ask for a reprint.
And then you’d wait again.
Digital has changed all that. 100% of what we used to pay someone else for can be done at home with a basic computer and printer. The snag is, now that everyone takes photos from all sorts of devices, whereas the average person might have gone through at best 10 rolls of film a year (with 36 shots to a roll), the average today, especially from younger people, might be equivalent to a roll a DAY.
(That noise you can hear is the cumulative wailing of Messrs Kodak, Agfa, Ilford and Hanimex by the way).
But herein lays a major problem. Yes you can view images (or videos) that are stored on your hard disk (or in camera – I know people who NEVER download images!), but when you have hundreds or thousands of them, as the camera names the files with that obscure naming convention such as “_DSC_0001”, it can be a real PITA to find a specific set of images (or scenes in video) from say an event, and even worse, almost impossible for a single image (or scene).
Want to see this in action? If you on a Windows computer, do a search for “*.jpg” (ignore the “ character when you type in the search name) and see how many files and folders come up!
I had this very problem today; I had a set of still images from a video interview I had done, but for the life of me, put my hands on them. They were either on the computer, or still on one of about 20 SD cards I had. Eventually, after about an hour of wading through obscure JPEG file names, I did manage to find them.
But I thought, there HAS to be an easier way.
And there is. I found some software called “ReNamer” that allows you to rename your photos or clips in a batch process so that, for example, images _DSC_00001 to _DSC_00200 can be renamed in one operation as “Holiday_in_Spain_xxxxx” thus changing the prefix, but the suffix (numbering) convention remaining to show the correct sequence.
It’s easy enough then to make a folder called “Photos” or “Videos” and have sub folders for each set of snaps you have. At your leisure you can later selectively go through each download group, and delete all your donkey shots and just keep the ones you want. It means you can free up your SD cards (or camera memory) so that you always have room for photos and not have to delete something in the camera to make room!
And ReNamer is free. What could be better than that?
You can get it here. Tell 'em Auscam sent you!
If you are a Pinnacle Studio User (and our recent survey says there are a few around but nowhere near as many as a few years ago), and are struggling with the niceties of version 14 or 15, then a title from Class on Demand put together by the CEO of the organisation no less might be just the ticket.
There are 14 chapters in total on the DVD catering for everything from installation through to more esoteric and higher end functions such as Chroma Keying and Animated Wipes. All aspects of DVD authoring are also covered and a series of ‘bonus’ lessons touch on track mattes (masks) and special effects.
In all, there is nearly 8 ½ hours of training on the DVD available from On2DVD (www.on2dvd.com.au) for $49.99.
