Tag Archives: technology

Playing With the Insta360

I did a little filming on a bike ride with an old GoPro Hero 5 of mine. The current generation of action cameras has all sorts of clever tech built in which can deal with rotation of the camera and stabilizing the image. The Hero 5 doesn’t have any of that and I ended up spending a lot of time stabilizing the images in post processing to try and get something usable out of it. I was surprised how badly it came out and started thinking about an upgrade to incorporate all of the newer capabilities. It was at this point that I got a little silly. I had seen videos before about the Insta360 cameras and had found them intriguing but not so much that I wanted to get one. Now I was looking for a new camera, the capabilities that they have seemed like it could be a good step forward.

For those that haven’t seen one, the Insta360 in its current X3 form has two cameras on opposite sides of the body with fisheye lenses with over 180 degrees of coverage. The sensors are 5.7K resolution and the camera can stitch the two outputs together to give spherical coverage. It also has a stick on which you can mount it which the camera will recognize the location of and take both images to effectively remove the stick from the video. With the high resolution of the original files, you can then use their software – either on your phone or using the desktop app – to pan and zoom around the original files and generate video output of whatever you want.

What this means is that you don’t have to frame a shot when you are shooting. The only thing you have to do is have the camera in the right place. You can worry about where it is pointing later on which is great when you are already doing something else. The removal of the stick is very impressive, only slightly undermined but the fact your hand that is holding it now looks a little odd. Also, if the shadow of the stick is in shot, the software doesn’t know to do anything about that! (As an aside, there is a mode where you only shoot with one side like a normal action camera if you want.)

What is the downside to all of this? Big files! You are shooting a lot of data on two cameras simultaneously so you can fill up cards fast. You do also have to then review each clip and pick your angles for the shots, but you would have had to do that beforehand otherwise so no great loss. Other than that, not a lot to complain about. I have tried it on a few occasions so far. The length of the stick makes it seem like you have a drone flying above you if you put it up there. A cool result. I took it out on a bike ride to see how things came out and I have a short video below that shows you the result. No great cinematography here but an introduction to what can be done. Remember that each shot is only moving the camera around and the panning and zooming is all done back at home. Amazing tech!

First Experience With The R3

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My 1DXII bodies have been doing sterling work for the last five or so years and continue to be reliable. In the interim, the camera world has made a shift from SLR technology to mirrorless. Canon was a slow starter in this space but has since got in to gear. I am not an early adopter and waited until something came along that really appealed to me. The R3 body was that thing. It combines the latest of the mirrorless technology with a body like the 1D series and the associated great battery life. It was enough to make me take the plunge.

Getting one was a different story. I ordered one in the fall of 2021. I wanted to get one first to work with it and make sure it was the thing for me before committing to a pair of them. Recently, I got the call that my body had finally come in. I was very excited to try it out. I then got a call from the store within an hour of the first saying that the second body was on. I had ordered this much later with the intent of knowing whether I was happy or not before it showed up. I decided to defer it and see how things went. I think the credit card was pleased with that decision too!

I have now had a week of playing with it having shot some aviation and some wildlife. I have not really had a chance to dig deep yet so this is just first impressions. Overall, it is really impressive. The ergonomics are familiar after years of shooting with 1D bodies. However, the controls are more complex and things are not identical so I am taking a while to get comfortable with where everything is. This will probably take me a while.

Battery life has been very good. I was expecting it to be worse than the 1DXII but it seems to have stood up to a lot of shooting with tons of life left. New batteries don’t hurt of course and we shall see how things play out. The small megapixel bump is fine but it really is barely noticeable compared to the 1DXII. 24Mp versus 20Mp might sound like a big increase but when you look at the linear pixel count it is only a small increase.

Autofocus is amazing and confusing. Its ability to pick up targets and then track them across any part of the image is fantastic. It seems to have very good accuracy and I am liking the shots I am getting. Eye detection on wildlife is spookily good. However, I don’t yet know how to control the autofocus properly. There are so many ways to customize things that I have yet to understand. For example, I haven’t yet worked out how to make it focus on a center spot only like my old setup. Most of the time, the clever stuff is more useful but there are odd times when you want it to do something simple. With small subjects or cluttered backgrounds, this can be important.

I also have to get used to pressing the button when I pick up the camera. I am used to looking through the viewfinder to sight a subject before pushing anything but the viewfinder shuts off after a while and needs to be woken up. It would be good if that could be done with some motion sensing (maybe it can and I haven’t found it yet).

I have tried the eye control a little. It seems to work pretty well. Calibration with my glasses was fine and the contract lenses were okay too but I have put that to one side for now while I leaned to understand a whole bunch of other functions of the camera. I have also connected it to my phone and iPad which has been a handy thing to do. I did briefly experience with the automatic focus stacking which seemed to work well and I shall try more of that in due course. I haven’t tried any video yet at all.

I have had to change my cards and card readers since both of the card types are new to me. That was a nuisance but not the end of the world. I actually bought them a while back so I wouldn’t have to worry about it now. I got the 24-105 lens in the RF mount. My old 24-105 was a bit beaten up and the image quality was not strong so a replacement seemed like a good idea. They had been as rare as rocking horse poo but fortunately were in stock when I went in so I got one. I also have the convertor for my other lenses and they seem to be working extremely well. The combination with in body stabilization has improved them too and I find some of the tracking of moving subjects in the viewfinder easier than it used to be – something which I attribute to the IBIS.

Overall, I am happy so far. Definitely some things to work on understanding. At the time of writing (versus publishing), I am about to go on a trip when I shall shoot a lot of planes. This will be a big test but the initial experience makes me think it should go well. The camera tracks the cockpit of planes like the eyes of a bird so I am feeling confident it will be good. I think the conversion to mirrorless is going to be complete for me based on what I have seen so far but within the next month, I should know whether it will work for me or not.

You Forget How Slow Old Cards Are!

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My main cameras have two card slots. One is a CFast and the other is Compact Flash. I use the CFast all the time but the Compact Flash is a handy backup. Occasionally, if I have the camera on with the CFast out of the slot, the camera reverts to the second slot and, if I don’t notice, it continues to use it when I next shoot. This isn’t a particular problem except when it comes to downloading. I have USB3 card readers for both CFast and Compact Flash. However, the speed of card technology has moved on dramatically. When I download the Compact Flash cards and import to Lightroom, I am reminded of just how slow they are. I used to do this all the time but, once I started using CFast, I got used to the better speed and now, when I revert to the old tech, it feels positively glacial!

How Things Move On

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I am sure that there are countless examples around of how things progress leaving something that we used to think was impressive looking horribly dated. This is not something unique, then, but it did amuse me. While going through some old camera bits to find an old connector, I came across this compact flash card. My first digital camera was a Canon EOS10D and it actually came with a card included. This was it. 32Mb of awesomeness.

Even then that wasn’t enough and I immediately got a couple of 256Mb cards. However, given that I tend to have 64Gb cards in the camera these days – 2000 times the capacity – is a sign of how things change rapidly.

What’s in a TiVo?

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Not so long ago, my TiVo packed up. This was part of a string of technology failures I suffered in a short space of time and about which I have previously posted. I was getting ready to dump the old box but, the engineer in me can’t just throw something like that away before having a poke around inside it to see what was there. Consequently, I fished out a selection of Torx fittings for my screwdriver and opened up the case to see what was inside. Not a huge amount really. It is no wonder that the replacement box is considerably more slimline!

The hard drive was the most obvious element. It was a “massive” 250Gb unit. No wonder too many HD recordings meant it started to fill up. I removed that since I figured it was probably worth trying to find out what files were on it later. After that, the board is in two parts. One of them is a very simple looking board and the other is something far more old school with a selection of more traditional components. I don’t know how TiVo design their system but it looked like the first board could deal with the digital signal processing while the other board was an analog tuner since this TiVo had the capability to manage old analog signals. (The new unit is digital only which is fine since we don’t have analog broadcasts anymore.)

The connection between the two halves seemed to have a lot of cables but I have no idea what they all achieve. My assumptions about the functionality may be completely wrong. I am not an electronics guy so I have an excuse and a blog is a perfect place for making guesses about stuff with nothing to back you up. That is what the Internet is based on! However, if you do know about this stuff, do comment below and let me know what the various bits are for. Now, to see what is on that hard drive…

Technology That Won’t Die

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A moment for an odd rant today. I had an experience recently with a business (a big company, not some small operation) where they had got some information incorrect on something they sent to me. I contacted them to arrange for it to be updated. It related to taxes so getting it right seemed pretty important. First I should note, they were perfectly happy to fix the error. The thing that amused me was that they asked me to amend their document, add a covering note and fax it to them.

I asked whether it was possible to scan it and email it across but no, they required it to be faxed. I don’t have a fax machine, nor do I live in the 1990s any more. However, it turns out our building does have a fax machine so I could use that to complete my time traveling experience. This got me thinking. Why do fax machines still exist. They only produce a copy of something so there is no proof of something being genuine. I can create an electronic document, print it and fax it. It will be harder to check because the quality of fax is not brilliant. Making a PDF of the document and emailing it seems far more effective and, you can always resend or forward the file further if required. If anyone knows why fax still exists, please let me know in the comments. I would love to understand.

Cool Kit If You Are a Video Person

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I shall start by pointing you at a blog that is far better written and far more informative than this one. Not a huge challenge of course. However, the author of this blog is a fantastic photographer and now also a director – Vincent Laforet. Vincent’s blog can be found at blog.vincentlaforet.com and he posts quite frequently on the subject of film making, techniques and equipment. Vincent started out as a photographer and a very good one at that. He has won a Pulitzer Prize and is a Canon Explorer of Light. I first saw him at an ISAP event where he talked about his aerial photography as well as a very moving description of his experiences after Hurricane Katrina.

His life changed dramatically when Canon released the 5D Mk II. Vincent had early access to the camera and made a short called Reverie to demonstrate the video capabilities. This short went viral and suddenly making motion pictures with SLRs was a big deal. Now he has moved geographically and professionally and works in the film business. (As an aside, if you ever get the chance to hear him speak, do go as he has some fascinating experiences to share and may well move you in the process.)

Recently, on his blog, Vincent talked of some new device that he considered a game-changer that he would be announcing. The anticipation got quite a few people interested and, when the announcement came, it did not disappoint. The device is called the MOVI (there is a cool stylized way in which MOVI is written that this blog is not going to do justice to I’m afraid) and it is made by Freefly. It is a stabilized mount that is handheld and provides the ability to get smooth shots with a single hand allowing some very creative approaches to moving the camera.

I am not much of a video guy. However, when I had my first SLR with video capability, I started experimenting with shooting video and this has progressively become more important on the projects I am working on. Video provides a very different way of presenting some subjects and it complements the stills well. My video shooting and editing skills might not complement my stills quite as well but we have to keep learning.

Since I am not investing in a significant amount of video equipment but, instead, I shoot video as part of my stills efforts, I have to be limited in how adventurous I can be. Steady handheld shots without a rig are a challenge but can be achieved. Moving is out of the question without making the viewer feel very uneasy. I recently shot some cockpit video from a jump seat during the takeoff roll and during refueling and the vibration made the majority of the footage unusable. A few small excerpts showed the experience but not long enough to make people uncomfortable.

Getting a stable platform in difficult situations is a great step forward. The MOVI is a very cool piece of gear. It is not cheap but, compared to other pieces of equipment, I think it is very affordable. More importantly, it is the start of something new. People will take this concept and run with it and we are likely to end up with many types and levels of complexity of stabilization that will suit different pockets. This could mean something that works for me. This is why I am so excited. The MOVI is great and I would love one. I don’t have the justification for one for my projects but I feel confident I will see something come from this that will make my work easier in due course.

Arghh!! Technology Hates Me!

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Time for a quick vent. It seems I have brought down upon myself the curse of technology. Being a techie type, there are plenty of forms of technology in my life. Recently, they have been conspiring against me. I am not a superstitious type of person. The world has more than enough of those so it doesn’t need me to add to the list. However, even a rational person could begin to wonder.

First, the TiVo packed up. It had been misbehaving for a while. Finally, it gave up and could not be restarted. It just kept running through the beginning of the start cycle but never got any further. Time for a new TiVo. I had been pondering an upgrade for a while so a repair did not seem the way to go. Plus, I wanted to have TV back quicker than the repair would manage. While working on this, I go to the computer to look something up and it is off. It shouldn’t have been. A reboot brings up a warning about the CPU fan failure. Crap! That is a lot cheaper to fix but still, CRAP!

Next day a new TiVo and a new CPU fan are in my possession. I need cablecards for the TiVo and have two from the previous unit. Only one is needed for the new one but it has to be the M-Card, not the S-Card. I start thinking this is going to be the next problem. I must have the old card type rather than the one I need. A quick Google on my card tells me it is an M-Card. Hurrah! Plug it in and the TiVo is not so convinced. I need an M-Card. Quick cal to cable company says no problem. Place isn’t open until tomorrow but it is an easy swap. Meanwhile, I can replace the CPU fan.

Next day, a quick swap is performed and I have an M-Card. The TiVo likes it. I get some details and call to activate. Done. No picture yet but I’m sure it takes a while. Later on, still no picture. A call to cable company and we run through some stuff. Should be working they say. It isn’t. All tricks tried. No luck. We’ll send out a guy – tomorrow. Okay.

Next day guy arrives, tries all I tried and no luck. He is confused. Calls the office and they un-pair the card and my account and then re-pair them. Bingo! We have pictures and sound. Something is working. Shame we couldn’t have tried that yesterday but never mind. Is everything working now. Appears to be until, oops, a couple of days later, the website – this website – seems to have vanished. A little tech support from the hosting company and it turns out the database password has miraculously changed to something different in one of the website config files and it is nothing like the password I set up years ago when I created the site. (This is a password I have not needed since so do you think I know what it is supposed to be?? Of course not.)

All of these things are now fixed. The question now is, what’s next? Place your bets on the next thing to go wrong…