STORMCHASER VIDEO: El Reno Tornado captured on GoPro

VIDEO: El Reno Tornado captured on GoPro

Awesome video of the El Reno Tornado. You're welcome!

VIDEO: Beautiful Australian Time-Lapse Night Sky

VIDEO: Australian Night Sky Time-Lapse

Absolutely beautiful time-lapse footage of the Australian night sky!

GoPro: Head vs. Chest Mount

Head or chest mount? My advice? By both!

The GoPro Head Mount

The GoPro Headstrap Mount offers a variety of head-mounting options. It will fit over an ice hockey helmet, a bike helmet, or a motorcycle helmet. The Quick Clip enables the user to attach the GoPro to a backward baseball cap, or other object that is 3-10mm wide. It is perfect for extreme activities like white-water rafting, snowboarding, or running a marathon. On the flip side, you can mount it on your toddler’s head to record his movements. This product allows you to record excellent images without using your hands.

The mount will be located on the front of the cap instead of the brim, which helps to evenly distribute its weight on your forehead. The mount is durable and reliable: you won’t have to worry about dropping or losing your camera. The adjustments to tilt the camera work admirably, and the unit folds down compactly after use, so you can easily carry it with you. It’s well-made and comfortable.

The settings on the GoPro Headstrap may be difficult for some people to use; lots of button-pressing is required to configure anything. The battery life is poor, and it takes a long time to recharge it. Some consumers may find it uncomfortable, resulting in a headache after a few hours. The baseball cap needed for this headstrap must be the fitted kind: a baseball cap with plastic bands or a velcro strap doesn’t work, because there’s a big hole where the Quick Clip is supposed to connect. In addition, the Quick Clip has a soft rubber pad in the back, which is easily broken. It doesn’t work well if attached to a backpack.

The GoPro Headstrap may bounce around too much for some users. If you’re on a motorbike, the headstrap may fall off when you go over a drop. On a rollercoaster, it may fall off if it’s not fitted very snugly. And care must be taken while diving: this headstrap may not fit tightly enough to withstand the impact of falling into the water. In addition, it may slip off when you try to do flips.


The GoPro Chest(y) Mount

Ok, I have to admit the GoPro Chesty Chest Mount harness isn't the most manly (even womanly) of things to wear - you do stick out a little wearing a harness around and having a camera mounted in the middle of your chest doesn't help the fashion statement either. But all things being equal, it's a great idea and a great place to mount a camera for perspective.

The harness is a little bulky and the strap adjustability is limited for size and so in the adjustability angle of the camera mount as well but it does add up to a really nice product, if the angle works for you. The angle is really neat as with the GoPro HD camera you can see a very wide angle. Vibration isn't a problem as your clothing and body will dampen out any vibration before reaching the camera and the camera does not slip from it's central position thanks to the well designed harness either.
The GoPro Chesty Chest Mount harness worked very well and produced some really nice video results and angles. Overall, I am quite impressed with the mount... at least 4/5 stars anyway!

The Positives1. GoPro Chesty Chest Mount is adjustable and easy to put on / take off.
2. Vibration is now a thing of the past!
3. Unique video angles

The Negatives1. The harness is a little bulky for my liking and the strap adjustability is limited and so is the adjustability angle of the camera mount.
2. Will not work for motorcyclists due to their riding position.
POSITIVES:

Probably the best use of a GoPro... EVER!!!

This is probably the best use of a GoPro I have ever seen! Simply beautiful! I would love to know how the crazy rocket scientist managed to get his GoPro back, mind.

Anyway, hats off to him or her... awesome! Enjoy and feel free to share /  comment.

REVIEW: DJI Phantom 3 [Standard]

REVIEW: DJI Phantom 3 [Standard]

A few months ago I purchased my first ever drone… I can’t believe they were out for so long before I chose to buy one! They’re awesome! Anyway, I opted for the DJI Phantom 3 Standard Edition. Here is my general overview of the Phantom 3 and I will be uploading a few ‘how-to’ videos or my own shortly.

DJI Innovations may easily be seen as being the market-leader of everything drone and the DJI Phantom their flagship. The Phantom is the perfect craft for those new to the hobby (like me!) and provides a ready built, calibrated and ready to fly craft direct from the box. Furthermore, DJI was the first to offer a simple GoPro mount on the base enabling you to film incredible bird’s eye footage.

This is most certainly the go-to craft for capturing awesome video and photo stills; this is now its major selling point. The Phantom 3 Standard model joins their latest line-up of Phantoms and features a 2.7K camera capable of capturing both video and stills, live view option for streaming to a mobile device, an intelligent flight controller and over 20 minutes of flight time (I managed to get mine to do 26 minutes last week).

The DJI Phantom Standard, like the rest of the range, comes equipped with a excellent quality camera mounted on a motorised gimbal. The camera itself features a 1/2.3-inch, 12M pixel sensor; capable of capturing 2.7K video @ 30fps, 1080p @ 48 fps or 720p @ 60fps. The ability to capture 2.7K video puts it slightly ahead of the next model up in one respect, but the Phantom Advanced can shoot 1080p at a higher frame rate of 60fps, which will probably be more appealing to the higher end videographer. The lens is a fixed F2.8 with a 94 degree field of view, which is a 20mm equivalent lens in 35mm terms. This lens helps to avoid any kind of fisheye distortion that is often seen using cameras of this size; instead, this camera gives a pleasing distortion-free image. The Standard’s camera offers a variety of modes and settings thus enabling you to shoot both video and stills in Program or Manual mode. These settings can all be easily adjusted through the DJI Go app. Adjustments include an ISO range of 100-3200 (video) 100-1600 (photo), electronic shutter speeds of 8s – 1/8000s and a choice of resolution resolution.

The Standard is quite different to the Professional and Advanced models, despite also having many similarities. The style and overall design remains much the same and as with the other two models the spacing of the landing gear has been widened in order to avoid it appearing in your footage. The battery is the same new 4480 mAH 15.2 v LiPo which I managed to squeeze out 26 minutes of flight the other week. The camera and gimbal also look the same but there is a difference in camera recording sizes and output – like the other models, the camera takes a MicroSD card to store all video and stills files. The difference between this and the other two models visually is subtle but the major differences are in the technology. Visually the motors are all positioned upright in line with earlier models, rather than the slight tilt that are seen in the Professional and Advanced Phantoms. This tilt makes a small but noticeable difference to stability so it’s a shame not to see it here. Of course, the technology is where the real differences lie, with ‘live view’ streaming from craft to mobile device using WiFi (rather than DJI’s lightbridge technology) so connection and streaming isn’t at quite as high a quality or as smooth by comparison, but it’s by no means bad. The sensor and lens may be small but they produce superb, crisp quality footage that captures plenty of tone and detail. The ability to adjust the exposure and sensitivity enables plenty of creative control.

Looking through our test footage far shows the video is rich in colour and tone, and the lens and sensor combination captures a good sharp image across the frame. Paused footage does show signs of detail and tonal graduation loss, but no more than you’d expect from any other camera of this size.

The remote controller is similar to the one supplied with the older Phantom 2, and features two sticks to control the throttle, rotation and tilt of the craft. There are also two switches on the left and right, S1 and S2, and depending on the mode and status of the craft these are used for configuration and automatic home recall. There is also a dial on the left to control the gimbal’s tilt either up or down – but no direct control to operate the camera. The Standard model is far more reliant on the app than the other two Phantom 3 models for the basic operation of the camera because start stop recording cannot be activated either directly on the camera or through the controller. Once the DJI Go app has been downloaded the connection process is shown on the interface.

The Phantom 3 appears directly in the WiFi devices list of your mobile device and once it’s selected and the app re-opened, clicking the ‘Enter Camera View’ button launches the app interface and the LiveView starts. Even over a WiFi connection the quality of the feed is surprisingly good and although there is pixelation in the footage it still gives you a really good idea of the composition and exposure. The delay between real events and what appears on screen is a fraction of a second, far better than you’d expect from the majority of action cameras that offer a similar feature. The range of the WiFi link is limited compared with the Lightbridge connection of the other two Phantom 3 models but is still impressive; in an open space we managed a good 200m with only minimal dropout.

The app gives you direct access to the camera settings. Both video and stills have Program or Manual modes and here you can adjust the exposure compensation in Program mode and ISO and Shutter Speed in Manual. Once you’ve selected the setting you want, the red shutter button on the interface can be clicked to start and stop recording. Once recording has commenced a small red light on the camera indicates that recording has started. Further settings can be changed in the camera settings section with access to resolution and file formats. In stills mode this gives you the option to shoot in either JPG or RAW.

The Phantom 3 Standard may be the entry level model, but it offers everything that the videographer or photographer could ever want when first starting out. Its simple design and operation make it incredible easy to fly, and the ability to control settings along with a reliable live view stream make it easy to compose and adjust exposure in order to easily capture the footage you want. The Standard model misses out on some of the features available in the Professional and Advanced models but that doesn’t lessen the fun and usefulness of this small craft.

In my opinion, the Standard is like nothing else on the market for the price – It is as easy to use and boasts such high quality footage comparable to drones twice the price!

This guy does an awesome video review of the drone... please take a look!

REVIEW: 3LT Evolution 3 Mohawk Ball Head

REVIEW: 3LT Evolution 3 Mohawk Ball Head

” The AirHed Mohawk is lightweight yet powerful ball head for enthusiasts. Cast from aircraft grade ADC12 Alloy, and engineered to withstand top-down loads of 160kg, the Mohawk punches well above it’s 236g weight. With integrated detachable circular-Clamp, levelling bubble, and pan base, and the added functionality of the Peak Design Capture Compatible release plate, the Mohawk is fantastic ball head on a low budget.”

Yes! They’re right! – It IS fantastic! This was my first ever 3 Legged Thing purchase and I have to say I will definitely be keeping an eye out for their other products. Awesome company in on every level… especially customer service! Three Legged Thing is a British company who are based in Stagsden (a small village just north of London) who make and sell high-end photography equipment with a funky twist.

The Mohawk Ball Head is made of ADC12 Alloy and weighs about 230g by itself or around 254g with the plate (supplied). The Mohawk is rated for an operational load 37kg – Please remember this is the capacity of the ball head ONLY… please check the capacity of your tripod before you start supporting any heavy rigs.

The Mohawk locks with two – ahem – ‘knobs’; one smaller one that controls the lateral rotation and one larger one that locks the ball head itself. They both lock very well and are dead easy to get a good grip on. At the base of the ball head is a simple dial with degree markings that can be useful for simple / basic panoramas.

The Mohawk is supplied with 3LT’s hybrid QR3P Peak Design plate which is designed to be compatible with Arca type attachments. The functionally is pretty much the same as a Peak Design plate with the odd design difference; about the same size and shape anyway. However, there is no safety lock for the plate so make sure the knob is done up tightly (something which you should be doing anyway, regardless of fail-safes!). The two bubble levels (one on the top of the legs and another on the head itself) are, in opinion, a lovely little feature too. All in all I couldn’t be happier with this!

REVIEW: Camkix GoPro Case

REVIEW: Camkix GoPro Case

This case is an interesting attempt at solving an issue faced by many GoPro users; an issue I myself have faced. When you have so many different accessories for one camera, how do you store them all together safely? – And I don’t mean safely as in a locked cabinet, I mean while out on a shoot or traveling. My solution used to be a bunch of rolled up T-shirts in a backpack with my kit placed between them, but after a while they’d all find their way back to each other and that just ends with broken kit.

So, that led me to this beauty; an elegant solution to a vexing problem. Because, yes, there are customisable cases already on the market, but they are often huge, way too big for the small camera and accessories and not very compact when it comes to transporting them on foot. So this case which is about the same size as a small laptop is easy to take about, but fits the gear nicely.

So, the customisable aspect of the case is probably why most of you have clicked onto this page. First off, it is very simple, you only need your hands to do it. No tools required and the case comes with clear instructions. Once carved to your liking, as long as you haven’t left massive gaps, the case will protect your kit very nicely. One thing I would note is that if you leave only a 1 cubes distance between objects over a fair length, for example the bobber and my extension pole in the video, the line that is only 1 cubes width becomes slightly wobbly and only offers full protection if both items are in the case. Not a problem for me as I always take these two pieces of kit with me, but if you sometimes leave stuff at home, I would make sure you leave a 2 cube gap between each item.

Now, onto the mesh pocket. The mesh pocket is really useful, I keeps all the bits of small kit like batteries, cables and bolts safe and snug.
I haven’t had the guts to test the case to its absolute limits, but I have seen on the CamKix blog exactly what it is capable of so I think it’ll be okay will my rambling and small hill climbing.

Overall then, great case. It offers ample protection, is easy to use and customise and fits more than enough kit for even the biggest of shoots. Recommend it? You’re damn right I recommend it!