Action Stations - Flank Speed - Part Three

Now that we have gone through the normal, sensible, mundane action camera mounts, we get to the  special stuff. The mounts that they won't sell to minors. The mounts that you need a note from and MD, an MP, and a JP to purchase...

A. The Hand-Wrist-Arm-Leg mount. GoPro The Strap. This is the sort of thing that the Mississippi prisons department straps onto the road gangs when their chains are in the shop for service. Either that or this is the mount for use in all-in wrestling. No matter which end is up you can still attach a camera to it.

B. The Sportsman. GoPro Sportsman Mount. If you absolutely have a need to attach an action camera to a rifle, a bow, or a fishing rod, this is the squeeze clamp that will do it. I have no idea what you will do with the resultant footage. No, don't tell me.

C. The Chomp - GoPole (in store only). No, I am not making that up. That is what it says on the box. It is a rubber mouth guard with an action camera mount attached to it. You fix the camera on it, start it up, and grip it between your teeth. Part of me wants to see what happens next, and part of me - the bit that used to be a dentist - wants to look away. To be fair it does have rubber grippy pads inset into the main body to give a firmer grip, and it is probably washable. 

Nevertheless, I should not advise sharing it with other enthusiasts...

I suppose this is a way of getting coverage without fixing the camera to a helmet, but the possibilities for injury are mind-boggling. I am sorry to say I can see this being tried out on a football field.

D. The Rig - GoPole (in store only). This is actually very good. It is a lightweight versatile video rig that has provision for two action cameras on the bottom level, two monitors or lights on the top, and three shoe mounts as well. There are tow sturdy handles and they are drilled for starter switches or cable releases. It would have application far beyond the action camera for sport and press work. I am looking at it seriously for this sort of thing. There are other video cages out there, but this one is light enough and cheap enough to actually be useful.

 

See the GoPole range on the Camera Electronic webstore here

See the GoPro range on the Camera Electronic webstore here

Action Stations - General Quarters - Part Two

This is getting quite exciting - you can tell who's going to be the first in the movie queue for the new Tom Hanks movie starring him as a destroyer captain. I hope I don't get thrown out of the cinema again.

Well, to business. More action camera mounts to be considered. In this case we move to more of the non-action mountings:

A. The tiny tripod mount by GoPole (in store). This is one of the ancillary accessory manufacturers who has cottoned on to the standardisation of the action camera mounts. if course there are mounts from the makers of the cameras, but it never hurts to browse around the shelves for the other stuff.
This mount is quite light and doubles as a small hand-hold for the cameras as well as the tripod.

B. GoPole SceneLapse 360 Degree Time Lapse Device - The Rotating Mount. Now we're getting somewhere in the gadget stakes. This is a mount designed to be paired with one of the specialised functions of an action camera - the ability to shoot interval shots over  along period of time.

We've all seen the videos that are constructed of individual shots that might have been separated by a second or longer - up to half a minute- that seem to compress time and to speed up the world. You can see traffic whiz past, the clouds scud over the sky, and the stars turn in the night. They are fascinating. If you use the extra-long recording  ime you can make a video of a teenager getting off the couch on school holidays and see actual movement...

Well, this mount is a clockwork turntable that allows you to see the world as a panorama taken with the interval timer - it has various divisions  marked round the barrel and will spin 360º in one hour.

I can see an opportunity for surveillance work with this.

C. Three Way Grip - Arm -Tripod (in store). This mount is a bit of everything as the diagram on the packaging shows. There seems to be eight different configurations that allow you to either set the camera onto a surface, hold it out at different angles, or let it swing around unexpectedly and smack you in the eye.

As it is made by the original manufacturer, it will perform these operations with precision. You have been warned...

See the full GoPole range on the Camera Electronic webstore

Action Stations - Man The Cameras - Part One (GoPole)

I suppose in today's social climate that should really read "Human The Cameras", but I am hoping that we can get through the post before the flood of protest closes down the weblog page. Here goes.

The action camera craze burst upon the photographic scene like a bombshell a few years ago. Perhaps we should say- in view of what people do with them - that it burst like a ligament or a medical benefits claim. However you look at it, it has been successful in capturing the imaginations of the public. More and more of the little cameras record more and more of the world.

The makers of the original  action cameras were smart designers - they came up with a mounting system that was light, stable, and easy to attach. They went further - they made it universal. This had not been done in the design field since the 1/4" tripod screw socket supplanted the 3/8" socket in most modern cameras. It far outstripped the teams who devised different lens mounts for the SLR and rangefinder cameras of the film era - and who have given them on as legacy to their digital descendants.

The makers of the first action cams may have been serving themselves with their desire for standardisation but they ended up serving their customers and their competitors, and they served them right.

As a result, there are more variations of mount for the action cams than you can shake a crutch at. Bikes, helmets, wrists, foreheads, chests, poles, tripods, car windows, etc, etc...After three years I thought that they had run out of places to stick their cameras. I was wrong.

A. GoPole Grenade Grip. Good if you need to assault a trench by throwing your action camera at the enemy. I should imaging that if they get around to filming " Storm Of Steel" or " All Quiet On The Western Front " yet again, this is exactly what they will do.

B. GoPole Bobber. For the diving enthusiast who will be filming in the surf and expects to get turned over like the washing in the Kelvinator - and is going to need to let go of the camera to save them self. The camera should have enough buoyancy to ride up through the surf and be carried inshore to be dashed to pieces on the rocks.

C. GoPole Reach (14-40 inch extension pole). A little like the Grenade, this has just a little more length to allow you to lift the camera up above the crowd at the fist fight to capture the action. These are available in several lengths and some even have adjustable extensions in case you are behind tall people and you are not...

D. The Control Grip (in store only). Some of the action cameras can be controlled - unlike their users - by remote means. There are little boxes that send out radio signals to the camera. This grip is one of the extendable ones that also provides a waterproof housing for the controller. 

I'm afraid that I have to admit that I see the camera on the end of this grip rising up out of the water like a submarine periscope and looking around. But then I saw all the Pink Panther and Revenge Of The Nerds movies when they were fresh...

Da dum dadum, dadum, dadum, dadum , dadum dadum, da daaaaaaa...You can hum that all day if you wish.

See the full GoPole range on the Camera Electronic webstore.

Photo Live Expo 2016 - The Flight Of The Drones

Love 'em, hate 'em, or sell 'em, the subject of the drones and aerial photography in general cannot be ignored in today's imaging world. Anyone who has seen television or the cinema recently has seen the work of the photo drone and some photographers have become inspired by them.

The Speaker Session between 11:30 and 12:00 at the Photo Live Expo 2016 will be on the subject of drones and aerial photography by Christopher Fulham - who is eminently qualified to speak about it - He is a licensed CASA  UAV pilot. UAV is the fancy name for drones - he can legally fly  in the 7-20 Kg class.

A great deal of confusion surrounds these useful tools - we hear no end of rumours and mate's talk at the pub about the legalities and complexities of the UAV. It's not helped by the fact that there are political and military questions too...and people in pubs always know politics...so this is a good chance to hear Christopher debunk some of the myths and show some of the real capabilities of the aircraft.

It's a rapidly changing field of photography - and you can be sure that there are a number of new products and ideas each month that will be added as it evolves. For those inspired by Christopher's talk and the sight of some of the images that he makes, it is a good idea to get into the habit of consulting Camera Electronic regularly.We have various models of the popular DJI line of vehicles together with the light but sturdy accessories that help them fly...and the equally light and sturdy action cameras to capture the footage.

Of course, if your ambitions range further, with heavier payloads , we can also supply DSLR and mirror-less cameras and lenses too. We stop short of Hellfire missiles or 30mm chain guns, however, which is a keen source of disappointment to at least one member of staff...

Book your tickets to the Drone and Aerial Photography session at Photo Live Expo 2106 

The Influencers

Watch as Elliot Mess and his elite force of "Influencers" clean up crime and corruption on the streets of jazz-age Chicago...*

A recent posting in DP Review seems to suggest that the role of the "Influencer" in social media marketing is going to decline. Apparently it is going to get more difficult to rock up to a major manufacturer and shout out "Stand and deliver!".

I'm not surprised - with the various natural disasters and manufacturing mishaps that the photo trade is susceptible to, it is getting hard to get them to deliver anyway. That may seem cynical, but that's one of the good things about cynicism - it never disappoints.

I was drawn to the article because I currently occupy the position of "Influencer" for the shop. In winter months it becomes " Influenzer" and the sales of Codral and tissues climbs but that is another story. When I go viral, I go viral big time.

But I'm afraid I am a little sceptical about the status of "Influencer" if there is little evidence apart from barking coughs that I really do make people do things. The readers of this weblog column use computers, phones, and tablets, and are smart enough to operate them far more efficiently than I. That means they are smart enough to make up their own minds about what photo gear to use and what programs to follow. They also know what they like, and can generally achieve it without me telling them what to do.

I have my own likes and dislikes. I have used this column to bruit the things I prefer but it is not because someone has left me a Gladstone bag of money - it is because I genuinely like using certain items and programs. As for the dislikes, well, I am sensible enough to write without making too many enemies. Besides, there is always the chance that the manufacturer of the Dudoflex D will have a better idea next time and the new camera will be wonderful.

There is also the distinct possibility that I can be wrong about things.

My hands are not pretty enough to allow me to act as a product poser for goods and the pictures that appear in this column are taken by me anyway. You try to make your hands look good if you are trying to hold the camera in one of them and the product in the other. It rarely works.

So  -  the end result is that this column is reasonably impartial in its reportage. Only reasonably - I have my limits. If the Sun Star Model Car company of China wants me to plug their products and are prepared to send me a sea container of the 1:18 stuff, I am prepared to abandon all pretence to morality.

Uncle Dick

* Frank Nitti was just misunderstood...

Clean Out The Sofa Cushions! March Madness Day Two

And today it is cameras. The big time is here. And you get a chance to save some big money on big names.

Same terms and conditions as yesterday - in-store, in stock only and ya gotta pay for it.

The deal is... you pay considerably less - there are bargain discounts ranging from 10% to 45% on selected camera stock items today - Tuesday the 22nd of March, 2016 only.

You may have gotten the electronic flyer at the same time as this post - there are camera bodies from Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm, Leica, GoPro, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony on offer. If you need one camera now is the time and if you need a second body for professional safety...well this is where you make a profit.

The shop opens at 8:30 and goes to 5:30. Go through the pockets of all your trousers, vacuum out the back of the sofa, and empty the coin tray in the car. Seize the day.

Time Travelling With Camera Electronic

The same incautious staff member who speculated about Johnny Cash and the ducks also raised a thought about time travel. He was specifically thinking of time lapse movies, which are becoming increasingly popular these days, but there is no reason stop temporal speculation there - our shop can speed time up, slow time down, repeat it, or excise it. We can go forward, backward, and possibly up, down, and sideways.

In fact, if the general premise of Dr. Who's Tardis is that of an unimposing structure crammed with more space and more equipment inside, I think that could be said to exactly describe 230 Stirling Street.

I shall gloss over who the Weeping Angels, Daleks, and other entertaining staff members and concentrate on the time itself.

Speeding it up: This is the province of the time lapse. The camera sits there and shoots a series of pictures at designated intervals - generally over a pretty long period of time. If something that the cameras has been watching over this time has experienced a set of gradual changes, projecting the subsequent series of pictures back like a video will show that action unfolding in fast action. We've all seen the Disney pics of flowers unfolding or deserts blooming. The technique can be applied to looking at starry skies, scudding clouds, or rush hour crowds.

It works in nearly every case - the only known failure of this sort of filming was the series of pictures they took at 100-year intervals of Keith Richards. When they projected them later they could see mountain ranges heaving up and down in geological eras and continents alternately appearing and disappearing under sheets of ice but Mr. Richards' face never changed...

Slowing it down: Well, if you take a picture at 16 frames per second and project it at 16 frames per second it looks like normal speed. If you take it at 60 frames per second and project it at 16 frames per second everything looks like it has slowed down. This is used to study golf swings, nuclear explosions, and some scientific phenomena  - indeed, a short sequence taken with a Hulcher camera on 16mm film in the 1950's shows Zsa Zsa Gabor while she was married. It is held in the Library of Congress under argon gas.

Modern video cameras and a lot of the zippier mirror-less models can do this to perfection. Action cams are the champs in this at present and as they are likely to be put in harm's way their footage is always entertaining.

Repeating Time. Take a picture that was shot on Kodachrome A movie film in 8mm in 1948. Project it in 2016. Same colours, same scene, same people. And 33 years after your father died he is alive again for 3 1/2 minutes. Beat that Hollywood.

Cutting out time. Get a picture of yourself that was taken 40 years ago. See what clothes you were wearing in the picture. Go to your clothes closet and take those clothes out and put 'em on - or go to the Good Sammy's and get another set. Take a selfie. Put them side by side and the bit in the middle between the two images is what 40 years looks like. Thin, isn't it?

There's Always Time For Cube...Lume Cube

Okay, This is a fun product. If you are authorised to have fun you may continue reading. If you have received a cease and desist order from the fun police please continue on with another blog post. We'll be running one on responsible behaviour later in the month.

The Lume Cube is a sealed light that can be used to take pictures with whatever action camera or smart mobile device you might have. When we say sealed we really mean sealed - the manufacturer cautions you not to open the back since if you do the warranty will leak away. Otherwise you are free to take the thing diving to 100 ft.

Inside the case is an LED light - an extremely bright one - a battery, and enough electronics to control it through 10 steps of  steady illumination and a flash mode as well. You can pump the thing up and down manually with two control buttons on the top or use a Bluetooth - equipped device and an App to fiddle with it remotely.

This latter option will also give you the facility to check on the USB charging, battery status, and to control a series of the little things.

For the non-cool still photographer who doesn't want to App it, there is an on-board optical sensor that will slave off other on-camera flashes. The dark forest macro mushroom photographer who has to backpack for their fungi will love this thing. I've just taken a good shot of the cat's pre-packed dinners at 800 ISO for f 5.6 and 1/340 of a second and it almost makes me hungry for tuna chunks...

It has a 1/4" tripod socket at the bottom and I note that there are a number of mounts available for it. there's a dual - bar rig with a GoPro mount on the bottom to give you dangerous ideas.

A well-made product and a chance to do a lot more with light than you thought.

Mmmmmm. Tuna.....

RemoVu Or Remove You? You Decide.

GoPro Hero 3+ and Hero 4 cameras live and work in many elements - air, water, and on earth certainly, and possibly even in fire for a very short period of time. In a lot of cases the cameras operate in ways that would get their owners very hurt if they were to do the same thing - like hitting things at high speed or being precipitated into very deep water for a long time. Thus is born a dichotomy between what the keen photographer would like to see and what they would like to suffer.

The makers of the Removu have an answer to this  - they have made an accessory that lets you see what the camera is doing and command its functions but isolate you from the developing disaster.

It works by using one of the GoPro components - the LCD Touch Bac Pac - and encloses it in a durable and wearable casing. Then it pumps a signal to and from the Bac Pac via WiFi, letting you monitor and control from the wrist mounting. You can be surfing, skiing, paragliding, or some other non-insurable activity in perfect safety* while your camera is not.

Beware that while your GoPro camera may be waterproof to a deeper depth, this item only advertises itself as being able to withstand one metre of water.

No bad thing if you are using the camera on a car, a bike, or a safe location and want to monitor the view as it works.

* Perfect safety? You're a GoPro user. You'd be dangerous at a smorgasbord... Just accept that this will reduce the injuries a little.

Note that this column was due to post on Christmas afternoon, but I was at a smorgasbord...

360º of Excitement - or Surveillance - The V360

This product is new - so new that it sort of breaks some of the barriers on the normal camera shop - this is a camera that lets you enter "virtual reality"

I've always been at odds with that term - it seems that it can be open to interpretation and fiddiddling. Like the use of the word "deeming" when the tax department wants to exercise their imagination rather than yours. And every time they exercise it you pay them for the workout...

Well, semantics aside, this camera fits into the normal spectrum of recording devices somewhere between an action camera and an electronic stool pigeon. The capability it has of looking in a 360º arc and recording stereo sound is what does it. It can record what it has seen an heard on a micro SD card like any other action camera and then fire it off with WiFi. You can command it to do all these things with a mobile smart phone or tablet.

The startling part of this is the provision it has through various programs to record a 360º view of a space and then replay that information through your smart mobile phone - and the makers have produced a headset that clamps around you and that phone and presents you with an entire world in front of your eye - the virtual reality tour we wrote about before. That's the headset that Legless Lou is wearing in the studio shot - the mobile phone claps onto the end there and you focus the eyepiece lenses down onto it. The headset is not wide enough to admit eyeglasses, but you might be able to adjust the diopter focusing of the lenses down to the screen surface and do without spectacles.

The stylish little volcano is a desk mount for the round part of the camera - I envisage conference recording with people set around a table all being seen in the recording. Note that the product box also contains a basic mount that allows the camera to match up to he standard GoPro mount.

The basic structure is sort of a trick - the camera looks up into a polished convex hemisphere and this in turn looks down into an equally polished surcace. The camera gets all this and sorts it out for replay by magic.

To keep the horizon level and stop the oceans running off out of screen, there is a bubble level built into the top of the housing. Underside is the battery mount, card slot, and computer connection. All very well built.

Your cup of tea? Or cup of salt water? Well go to the website of the manufacturers and see what they have to say about it. Remember they are trying to sell it to you - and so are we...


www.vsnmobil.com/products/v360

We Have A Winner! Catch Of The Day!

Congratulations to Rhiannon Petticrew from Broome. She submitted the best picture of her catch of the day for the Red FM contest...and Camera Electronic will be providing her with a rather exciting GoPro camera as a prize.

The fish that is bigger than Rhiannon is a Spanish Mackerel. You can read the entire story on the Red FM website here:

http://redfm.com.au/index.php/catch-of-the-day-winner

I've pinched their picture for this column so that Rhiannon gets a bit more recognition for a great fishing effort. All you gentlemen out there poking at the water with your rods and lines can feel officially outdone by a long way...

And shy apologies to Rhiannon and the Royal Navy for the heading image. I'm sure that if she caught an UPHOLDER she would throw it back...they are hard to skin and not that good eating anyway.

Catch Of The Day Competition

I am writing this under duress. Normally I do not approach the subject of fishing as it is the source of many painful memories*. But the Code Of The Hack Writers is firm on the point; you must tell the story no matter what it costs.

Camera Electronics is sponsoring a grand prize for a picture of the Catch of the Day as adjudged by Red FM. They are a commercial from that apparently has more wireless stations in the Northwest than the USN. And they are running a Catch of the Day competition at the following web address:

http://www.redfm.com.au/index.php/competitions

There is an easy-enter form there and a method of sending them a picture of your piscine success.

The prizes are fishing-related as well -  a number of Shimano lures and the grand prize of a GoPro from us. Do give it a try.

* All right, if you insist. It was during the Canadian salmon run. We were constructing a dam in Alberta that had a diversion channel on a river and a number of salmon ladders built into it. The local Mounties gave the company kids permission to have one afternoon fishing on the ladder ponds with one fish apiece. We all got taken onto the site by our dads and set out alongside the ladder. The other kids had poles, lines, and smooth hooks so that the fish could be unhooked and thrown back if they were unsuitable. Every kid caught about a dozen before they settle of one to take home. I did exactly what they did with exactly the same gear and nothing...NOTHING...bit all afternoon. Not a nibble. They were hauling them out with bent pins on wrapping twine. For me...nothing. I took it as a message from heaven. Ever since then I fish at Kailis' with a credit card.

Update Your Experiences With The New GoPro Hero 4 Firmware

We've just gotten news from the distributors of the GoPro products that there are firmware updates for the popular Hero 4 model. Apparently the new instructions will effect these changes:

1. Built -in video trimming will enable you to save short highlight clips from your videos right on the camera. You can send them to others with the GoPro App. This feature works with the Hero4 Black when you have the LCD Touch BacPac.

2. Chinese language UI - this will be over the front and rear LCD screens and HDMI output.

3. ISO 800 and 3200 - There is a feature called Protune video that captures darker video in low light with reduced noise and graininess at 800 ISO. 3200ISO will give a brighter image but more noise.

Tiny Cards For Action Shooters

The Lexar company caters for memory cards of all sizes and capacities - some of these can really be said to be "chips" as much as cards.

The action cameras so popular these days take very small chips known as Micro SD XC. Apparently this is also the case with some mobile phones and tablets - and we know of at least three compact cameras of a larger size - and a mirror-less system camera - that also use them. They certainly save size and weight in the camera designs.

Here are two different packages - one for use with an adapter in case you need to plug it into a sstandard SD port, and one with the tiniest card reader you have ever seen. It feeds into a 3.0 USB port but if you blink twice you miss it!

Note the different capacities and speeds - something for every requirement. Slight increase in price for faster transfer.

Fast Report - New Go Pro Here

Pardon the poor pack shots - didn't want to open one up for the illustrations.

The new Go Pro Hero 4 Session cameras are here in stock.

Action-cam people will know more about this than I - I'm a non-action cam person - but it looks from the outside that the shape of the device has been somewhat changed.

It is smaller, sleeker, with rounded angles to the external housing . It is more of a cube shape.

The mounts and items included in the package seem to be the same size and type as for previous models - if you already have a special rig set up on your helmet, bike, or car, then this should just bolt straight in.

1080p 60fps and 720p 100fps are stated on the box. 8 megapixel at 10fps burst rate. wireless and bluetooth operation.

This may be a useful variation for those people who are going to be subject to intrusive water pressures or flailing foliage or other mechanical influences. If you are going to ride your Honda off the top of a cliff you are still going to encounter the planet at the bottom of the landscape but short of that it may be an improvement.

Note: It is still not recommended for endoscopy.

The Drones Club - Not Just For The Egg And Bean

If you are a reader of P.G. Wodehouse you'll recognise the reference. If it is all a mystery but you would like to know more about the art and business of using the UAV for photography - and the results that one expert has achieved - then we have a night for you.

A free night, as it happens. At Shoot Photography Workshops premises  - 232 Stirling Street, Perth. It will be held between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM on June 16th. Thats a week from today - next Tuesday.

You'll be seeing the photographer - Christopher Fulham and his talk will be entitled " The Edge Of Photography. It deals with the real frontiers of digital photo practice.

Cinema drones - the UAV - and iPhones - the HHN - will be topics of discussion. But more than that - Christopher will be speaking on a broad range of subjects all concerned with working and surviving in harsh natural and business climates. Art from the air with the video drone and how to put money in your pocket from any number of related sources.

There will be refreshments and warm drinks - to match a cold night. Places will be limited, so give us an RSVP through the Camera Electronic website's " Workshops " page.

Brunton Bear the Brunt - Power In The Field

The devotees of action photography with the ever-popular GoPro Hero 3+ camera sometimes find that the best action occurs after the camera battery runs out of electricity - certainly the best language is heard...

To obviate this, Brunton have made a clip-on rechargeable lithium cell pack that they say will give 4 x longer operation with this model of GoProHero 3+ back and clip this one on. They emphasise that it is water-resistant only - do not submerge it.

It also seems to have a 3-way cable included that lets you access the power for a number of iDevices.

Hold High The Stainless Banner - With The Mega mast

It must not suffer loss.*

Well, if you have been hankering for a drone to take elevated pictures of architecture, crowd scenes, landscapes, real estate, secret military installations, or the nurse's quarters...and the price and skill level need to get into drone flying has deterred you...here is the answer.

Over 8 metres of mast with an extended tripod base, locking sections, and a strong tilting head at the top. Folds down light and small enough to be transported in a car, and holds a DSLR - if you're game. that tilting head is reminiscent of a Manfrotto 234 RC2 monopod head.

Okay, I can see someone using a mirror less camera on this, with a down link to an iPad or mobile phone for sighting and firing it. While this would relieve some of the weight from the top at 8+ metres, the action cameras like the GoPros would be even lighter.

All the same, were it me, I would:

1. Always operate with the leg extensions locked out, and sandbags on all three legs.

2. Attach two guy ropes onto the top of the column before I sent it up - and have a couple of smart people on the ends of the ropes. Position them at 60º apart on the up-wind sector of the mast and make sure they pay out the ropes carefully. It would mean the assembly could be controlled even in the event of a sudden wind gust.

3. Check my insurance policy carefully. Anything that can drop on expensive property or cheap people is a worry.

* And a plate of collard greens and biscuits and gravy for the reader who identifies the source of the lyrics...

The Real Deal At A Bargain Price

You can get a lot of me-too products these days. Once a really popular item takes off from one manufacturer, it's only a matter of time before imitators surface. Sometimes they are other major firms, sometimes they are people of whom you have never heard.

This circumstance arose when the GoPro brand came out and presented the world with a chance to record their adventures without having to fiddle with the gear. I suspect they also record a lot more dangerous and disasterous things...indeed YouFoolTube has hours of Russian drivers confirming my suspicions...

Well, it turns out that one of the reasons that people sometimes buy off-brand copies of merchandise is the idea that they think that they can get it at a cheaper price than the real gear. No more need to try this if you have a hankering for a GoPro - they have issued the GoPro for Everyman and you can do the thing right the first time.

The Hero is the lowest-price complete kit for Go pro. it features 5MP resolution, 1080 at 30 and 25 FPS...or 720 at 60-50 FPS. The view is wide-angle and you can also do time-lapse with it.

If course it fits all GoPro mounts and accessories and it waterproof to 40 metres.

And at $ 179 walk away, you can't afford to T-bone a Maserati without it...

Weighs Nothing - Does Something - Lightweight Accessories For Christmas

I'm always banging on about the GoPro action cameras and their propensity to fill the ER at the local hospital with incautious users...but I really do admire their construction and the light weight that they impose on the photographer.

It's a lot of fun to carry heavy gear a long way in the heat and flies, said no photographer ever. That we still do is a testimony to our desire for megapixels and megapain. At least the people who ride bicycles off bridges have a legitimate excuse to break the habit, along with their clavicle.

This tripod from GoPole is light, tiny, and ready-fitted for the GoPro camera. If you are not going to wear the thing when you plunge off the cliff into the pit of dinosaurs, this is a good way to steady the camera to capture the scene. The cameras go for a long time once you press the start button so there is plenty of time to get into the scene.

The Joby Three-Way Strap is for wrist, neck, and shoulder and is instantly adjustable for different lengths. This is perfect for mirror-less system cameras.

The Cullmann Cross CX420 is the smallest Arca-Swiss - sized quick release plate and holder that you will ever see. Compacts and mirror-less cameras can now share the same tripod mount as your DSLR but not have a big block of iron hanging on the bottom.

Christmas is coming a stockings need to be stuffed with something besides dirty feet. Just sayin'