Saturday, January 19, 2008

How different

Guinness Draught and Guinness Stout - besides one coming in a can and the other a bottle, how are they different? I have always thought that Guinness is Guinness, but they appear different.
Guinness DraughtとGuinness Stoutはどう違いますか? GuinnessはGuinnessと思いました、でも違うようです。

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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Review - Oregon Scientific ATC-2K video camera

For Christmas, I was given an Oregon Scientific ATC-2K waterproof digital video camera. It is a relatively simple camera, without a view screen and saving all videos onto a memory card. But what appealed to me is that it comes with necessary straps and brackets to attach to most anything, including both a bicycle handle bar and a helmet.


Summary - Pros
+ Inexpensive (under $100 at Amazon)
+ Attaches to most anywhere with provided straps and brackets
+ waterproof and rugged
+ Simple to use
+ Decent battery life
+ Good for basic action videos which don't need high resolution

Summary - Cons
- no vibration stabilization
- no software to edit/trim videos
- Not high quality video
- Not that good for use as a hand held
- microphone is basically useless

Details:
My comparison point for this camera is a Pentax Optio W20 (though if you are looking for one of these, you may want to instead get the W30 version, which is newer and only a few bucks more than the W20). I have used the Pentax for both still pictures and video for a year or two now, and it does decently at both. But it is not great for action shots where I am in the action (the Pentax needs to be held, as it doesn't have mounting brackets). I have tried a few attachment methods to get it to work on a kayak, but never really liked how they worked.

So when I saw the ATC-2K, I was intrigued. Low price and able to attach to most anything, so a couple of hints to my girlfriend and it appeared under the Xmas tree.

Test - Video Comparison
To test the quality of this camera, I turned it and the Pentax Optio W20 on at pretty much the same time, holding both and taping the same thing. Then played back both videos on my computer to compare. Being the ATC-2K is a dedicated video camera, I was hoping it would be as good, if not better, than the Pentax (which is meant to be a still camera first, but with video capabilities).

Oregon Scientific ATC-2K:


Pentax Optio W20:


The result on the whole, the Pentax had slightly better video quality, but both were in the same range. I think it was the image stabilization from the Pentax that made the difference. I have also found times with the ATC-2K that it wasn't getting the full 30 fps, but instead had dropped down to 20-22 fps for some reason.

So you can make the comparison yourself, you can download the video clips in un-edited native form.
Pentax's IMGP3726.MOV file (14 Megabytes)
Oregon Scientific AVI_0103.AVI file (8 Megabytes)

Interesting, I feel this camera should come with some sort of video editing software. This camera is best used (IMHO) as something you start taping before you do something, and stop taping when you are done, and then later edit out the stuff you don't want to see (like the fumbling with the on off buttons). But this requires some software to edit it. Thankfully, I have the software that came with the Pentax, which works just fine.

Test - Handlebar Mount
Below is a video clip I took of a road bike ride as I descended down a hill in the Marin Headlands, with the camera mounted on my handlebars using the handlebar mount provided.



Overall, not that good. The road shudder came straight through. And the microphone only picked up the sounds of the bike vibrating. Perhaps if it was on my mountain bike (with a suspension fork and fat tires to smooth it out), it may be better.

Test - Helmet Mount
Here is a video clip when I had it attached on my helmet while riding some single track (in Waterdog Park, Belmont, CA). Figured this would be a tougher test than if I used the camera when kayaking, as my head would likely move a lot more on the bike ride.



I think I am happier with the helmet results than with the handlebar results...

One downside is that I installed the camera on the side of the helmet, so I could use the strap that wraps around the helmet. I had to tighten my helmet down a lot to keep the weight of the camera from shifting one side of the helmet down. A tight fitting helmet, or something like a full face helmet, would prevent this.

Test - Battery Life:
To test the battery life - I put a fresh charge on the batteries, installed them, and then turned the camera on and started taping. My goal was to see which would run out first, the 2 gigabyte memory card or the rechargeable AA batteries I used. The card ran out first at about 1 hour, which was what I hoped for. I guess without a view screen, it is very battery efficient.

Interesting, even though I didn't stop and start the video during this test, there were 2 files on the memory card. The first video was 45 minutes, with the remaining 15 minutes on a second file. I guess there is a file size limit or something.

Last thoughts:
I would pay more for better video quality in the camera. Either a higher resolution, a faster saving speed (so it can get the 30 fps claimed), or some sort of shake stabilization would be good improvements and worth paying some more for. But for an inexpensive camera that is small, waterproof, and can be mounted most anywhere, this is a great little camera.

Definitely get an SD card to go with it (probably best to just spring right for the 2 gig card), as the built in memory is only large enough for a few minutes of video.

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Thursday, January 03, 2008

Holiday travels

My mother lives in Albuquerque, NM, so we decided to go visit her for the holidays. Rather than flying, we thought we would drive out and do some sightseeing.
母はニューメキシコ州のアルバカーキに住んでいるので、休日に母に会いに行った。見物ために飛行機の代わりに来るまで行った。

So we first drove to Vegas。 We saw the Cirque du Soleil O show, which was amazing (but also amazingly expensive). Ate too much at buffets also.
まず、ラスベガスへ行った。Cirque du SoleilのOショーを見た。すごいだった、けど高かった。そしてビュッフェで食べすぎた。

After Vegas, we went to Albuquerque. While in Albuquerque, we visited Sante Fe to see museums. And we also took the ram to the top of the to Sandia Peak (over 10,000 feet in altitude) to do some snow shoeing. It was snowing pretty hard while we were snowshoeing.
ラスベガスの後にアルバカーキに行った。美術館を見にサンタフェに行った。そしてトラムでサンディア山脈に登って(高度3000メートル以上)、スノーシューズ(雪上を歩くための靴)した。そこで大雪が降っていた。

The video below shows me being a bit goofy in the snow:
したのビデオはばかの私だ:


After Albuquerque, we stopped at the Acoma Pueblo (Native American reservation on the top of a mesa), Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest National Park, Walnut Canyon, and Death Valley.
アルバカーキの後にアコマのプエブロ・インディアンやペトリファイドフォレストやグランドキャニオンやデスバリーに行った。


Petrified Log/化石木:


Grand Canyon/グランドキャニオン:


Death Valley, the lowest point in the US/デスバリーはアメリカの一番最低高度の所だ:


Coyote in Death Valley/デスバリーにいるコヨーテ:


View of Death Valley from Dante's Point/Dante's Pointからみるデスバリー:


Definitely a fun trip.
とても楽しかったよ。

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