It seems like only yesterday we were planning our first canal holiday, a week on the Llangollen. As part of the preparations we went into the city and purchased the latest camcorder which would replace our first camcorder purchased in Singapore back in 1981 for $3800.
This first camcorder consisted of two large components. One part was the actual camera with a pistol grip and a long cable that connected to the very heavy recorder which was approximately the size and weight of three house bricks. That original recorder lasted until 1990 and we still have some of the original ‘grainy’ footage. I remember getting a very sore shoulder carrying around the equipment whilst also attempting to record footage.
The new camcorder was much lighter, but not much cheaper at $3200. It still used tapes, but they were smaller. The image recorded was much better although it was still the 4:3 box shape, By now the children had left home and after the UK canal holiday there wasn’t much need for the camcorder. It was consigned to the storage cupboard. Actually the camcorder was quickly made obsolete with the introduction of 16:9 sized screens and solid state technology.
With the planned outback road trip around Australia road in August I’ve again become enthusiastic about recording the experience. This time I’m using a solid state digital camera which Postman Pat (well actually postman Hong Fat Wee) delivered today.
The camera is an Xiaomi Mijia 4K Action Camera. Despite being tiny it has a recording resolution 8 times better than the last camcorder and it’s storage capacity vastly exceeds its predecessor. The price was also vastly reduced at $185.
From China I’ve ordered a camera stabilizing gimbal, underwater case and ‘selfie’ stick. This should enable me to be on the lens side of the camera rather than behind. I’m also planning to make a couple of mounting brackets which will enable me to mount the camera on the trailer and capture some footage whilst on the move. Hopefully some great outback scenery and wildlife.
2 comments :
Looks an interesting bit of kit Tom, like the idea of filming your journey, need a drone though to be at NB Life in a Nutshells level, driving the 4x4 truck and flying the drone filming himself in the outback! Stay safe maybe not a good idea!
Can’t find that actual vlog and footage so here’s some drone stuff.
https://youtu.be/nhyuuhzTCn0
Very interesting....we do live in a tech rich and tech cheap time.... I wonder what $3800 equates to in 2018 money.... quite a lot I guess. Looking forward to the footage
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