Camera Buyers Guide - Shooting Yourself

Issue 074 - July/AUGUST 2012

Just shoot yourself

BUYERS GUIDE

Just shoot yourself The biggest thing in recent years to, quite literally, change the way we see ourselves on the water is the hands-free waterproof camera.

The use of these devices in kitesurfing has become pretty endemic, and guys are producing their own mounts and ways of shooting to create images that were previously impossible, or prohibitively expensive. As with most things tech, these cameras work straight out of the box with satisfactory results, but here the man with the B-tech diploma in all things Go-Pro, Dom Moore, goes through a few “must-knows” to help you turn out some kick-ass media.

Photos Dom Moore and Mark Moore > The Specs Race The playing field is overall fairly even amongst most current cams, with all offering whopping still photo megapixel counts and HD video recording. However, don’t expect a sub £300 cam boasting 11 megapixels to wipe the floor with your 8mp DSLR when it comes to images quality.

Without getting too deep, a lot has to do with the sensor in the camera and a DSLR will stomp a hands-free cam any day of the week. But amongst cams in this field, you can expect a higher megapixel count to give you a better photo.

HD video recording will be standard on any current cam, with all models offering varying degrees of quality depending on file size and frame rate. At the top end you’ll find HD 1080p which means the video signal contains 1080 horizontal lines of vertical resolution (the ‘p’ stands

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for progressive scan, as opposed to ‘i’ for older fashioned interlaced video. Trust me: it’s just better). Next, there’s HD 720p, and then it drops down to WVGA (wide video graphics array) with a resolution of 480. Now, there is really only one reason why you’d want to shoot in a lower quality format, and that is to increase frame rate, more on that in a moment. (But if you need to shoot in lower quality to save space, just buy a 16gb memory card fer Chrisakes!)

> Video Frame Rate Thomas Edison (inventor of light bulbs and record players) said “anything less than 46 frames per second will strain the eye”. He’s probably right but we can drop down to 30 frames per second without much bother, which is a good thing since that’s the standard rate for HD 1080p.

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BUYERS GUIDE

If, however, you want to slow your video playback speed down using editing software to give extra emphasis on a trick or smack of the lip, you’ll need to increase the frame rate you’re recording in because slowing down to less than 30 frames per second will produce a jerky juddery vid.

Not all cameras offer this option, so you need to look for one that can shoot in 60 frames per second or even 120. The equation is simple: if you want your video to play back at half speed and maintain smooth playback at 30fps, you need to shoot in 60fps. If you want to slow it down to quarter speed for that hanging around in space feel, you’ll have to shoot in 120fps. Since these cameras are at the budget end of the scale and not much bigger than a packet of fags (I don’t smoke and neither should you but I’m assured this is quite a compact size) there needs to be a compromise, and that will be the video resolution. At 60fps you’ll still be shooting in HD 720p, but 120fps will slap you back down into WVGA 480 mode. If you’re seeking to make a video for anything other than internet broadcasting, WVGA might be too low rez.

> Photo Time Lapse Among the still photo modes that are standard across these cameras (one shot, timer, burst), there is one 8 4 J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

that stands out for true hands-free performance that kiters require, and that’s time lapse (or continuous). Time lapse mode allows the camera to keep taking photos at pre-set intervals between 60 and 0.5 seconds depending on the model; you activate the camera to shoot before you enter the water and then switch it off when you get out. Naturally the shorter the time interval between photos, the greater chance you have of catching the apex of a move or a killer shot with the light and background just right. The only downside (and in my opinion it’s a minor one!) is that you’ll have hundreds and hundreds of photos to sift through to find the gold.

TIPS

Before you go: SD card: You’ll need one. 16gb is fine, 32gb is better on trips away for extra storage Charge it: charge your camera before a session. Flat batteries lead to heartbreak Check storage: check card storage before you go out.

Delete any old crap you don’t need Reduce fogging: let the camera cool down after charging before sealing it in the housing Reduce fogging more: pack absorbent strips from (unused!) nappies inside the housing On the water: Get close: wide angle lenses require you to be ON the action Burst mode will come in handy if you Dunk it: if you’re shooting want to grab a shot or sequence of your a 3rd party from the water, submerge the camera before mate riding by. Because of the shutter the shot to clear the lens of lag these cameras have in one-shot droplets mode, you’re likely to miss the killer Lit up: hands-free cameras move. Firing off a burst of ten shots thrive on sunny, bright days. should give the results you need.

Leave the cam in the car and concentrate on your riding on > Mount Up cloudy days Background: riding close There are an increasing number of around buoys, other riders, mounts available. To make it simpler, piers and other features will we can split them up into two types: shooting yourself, and shooting others. give you more interesting shots (but ride safe and don’t take undue risks just for a photo) Shooting yourself: Line mount, kite Ride with style: focus on poise mount, board mount. Each of these has and body position for that killer the cam pointing towards you, the rider. shot, remember you are riding for the camera now!

Surfboards work great with a board mount as the cam is located far enough away so that your front foot doesn’t obscure the view.

You’ll want to stick in some committed top turns in steep sections of the wave for an effective photo. Line mounts are great for twinnies and surfboards alike and don’t require a great deal of action for an awesome photo as the aerial photography effect is often quite stunning in itself.

Shooting others: Pole mount, helmet mount. With a pole type mount, you can stand still and reach out to the rider as they bust their tricks. Long poles give nice smooth tracking shots as they dampen any tremor from your hand. The talented may even be able to kite along behind their buddies and point the cam on the end of the pole at them for footage that looks like it came from a jet ski.

The helmet mount is one you see a lot of people using, but unless you’re riding in a feature packed environment (such as snowkiting), or getting totally pitted on a hollow tropical reef pass, it tends to give a whole lot of feck-all in terms of killer shots.

Contour Roam RRP £199.99 ultrasports.co.uk

The Contour Roam is a new player in the market with a rotating lens, and once mounted you can rotate the lens and level your shot using the built in laser line. It’s fully mountable with a wide angle 170° F2.8 lens and can shoot 1080p HD wide angle from a smooth, flushfront housing.

Drift HD Action Camera

RRP £249.99 Inc. VAT driftinnovation.com

A new compact, durable, easyto-use HD camera. With full HD video for creating crystal clear footage, and a rotatable, replaceable lens and 9MP still photography – put it in the photo burst mode and you can take pictures every few seconds for as long as your memory card and battery lasts.

Go Pro HD Hero2

RRP £299.99 madison.co.uk/gopro

The original... GoPro cameras are used by more pro surfers, surf filmmakers and stoked enthusiasts than any other camera in the world.

The HD HERO2: Surf Edition is the most advanced GoPro camera yet. Wearable and surfboard mountable, waterproof to 60m and capable of capturing professional full 170° wide angle 1080p video and 11 megapixel photos.

Mini DV Camera

RRP £55 (plus p&P) epicsurf.co.nz A super cool, super small audio and video camera with sound activated recording and two hours shooting time on a charge. The Mini DV features high speed recording and quick light response, low illumination, high res images with 2000 pixels, 30 frames per second and works with Micro SD or TF card.

> Advanced Tech

> How to ride?

Unlike most cameras you will have owned before, many hands-free devices allow you to update the ‘firmware’, or operating software. Updates can bring improvements such as faster shutter speeds, reduced time-lapse intervals and increased frame rates.

Using mounted cameras puts us in a situation where the camera is always on us. It will record our triumphs, failures, game faces, and contorted-with-rage faces. I think the best way to approach riding with a cam on you is to ride hard, focus on getting more tricks in or grabbing more waves, concentrate on your style and hold yourself together when it all goes tits up. Use the photos and video for the valuable feedback that they are, and aim to ride even better next time. If you gather some solid images along the way, that’s a bonus so make sure you share the stoke and let others become inspired by your efforts.

Ports on the cameras let you fit expansion packs for LCD screens, wifi and remote control functionality. The value of remote control is kind of moot when you’re packing a 16gb card and shooting continuously, and wifi naturally requires you to have a connection before you can live stream to the web – unlikely on most of the world’s oceans, for now at least. But the point is that efforts are being made to make these cams more future proof.

For more tips, photos and videos, check out Dom’s blog www.skyhooked.co.uk.

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