Archive for July, 2011

very cheap solid-state HD video recorder and underwater housing

Monday, July 18th, 2011
Amazon.Com Creative Labs Va0580 Vado And Vado Hd Waterproof Pouch (Blue) Camera & Photo-1
This pouch can be used to keep your small camera or phone dry as you flounder about in the ocean, and its windows are very clear.
I’ve previously written on this blog about the Creative Vado HD solid-state 720p video cameras. I enjoy knocking mine about (both above and below the waterline) and I tend to recommend them to people who just want to capture moments with family, or to those looking for a simple video camera to give to a future filmmaker, or to folk who want a camera cheap enough to risk destroying in unsafe conditions1, or to anyone who simply wants a convenient tiny video camera. The reason I particularly like the Creative Vado series as opposed to the now-defunct Flip cameras and other competitors is that the Vados feature the widest-angle lenses in this class of camera. I thought these were a good deal when their price fell to $129 a couple of years ago. Today I noticed refurbs are available for 1/3 that price. Perhaps they’re being cleared away due to the fact that some popular smartphones record video of equivalent quality, and are eating away the market? Regardless the reason for the discount, I think these cameras are fun, useful, and a great value.

Amazon.Com Vado Hd 3Rd Gen (Red) Refurbished Camera & Photo
Don’t let the sizes of these images fool you, the Vado fits in that pouch with room to spare, I kept both my 1st gen Vado HD and the remote for my Canon HV20 in the pouch simultaneously while snorkeling in Hawaii.
The Creative Vado HD 8GB (refurbished, first generation), is currently2 listed at $40, and the third generation Vado HD (refurbished, available in several candy colors) are on sale for $50.

Both of these are solid-state video cameras that charge and transfer video to computer over a concealed USB connector and record pretty nice (for the price) 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. The older Vado records to mpeg-2 codec and includes 8Gb of storage space (~2 hours of record time), and the 3rd generation records to mpeg-4 and includes 4Gb of space (also ~2 hours, possibly at the same or better visual quality than the older model due to the more efficient mp4 codec). I haven’t yet used a 3rd gen Vado HD, but it appears to include an improvement that was at the top of my wishlist for the earlier Vado HDs: improved dynamic range and some manual exposure control. These cameras clip highlights3, it’d be nice to be able to minimize that issue and knock the exposure down a peg.

Also available at a discount right now, and possibly of interest to anyone with a small camera or phone, is the Creative Labs Vado HD Underwater Pouch. This item has for some reason4 dropped in price to $10. I believe it is a rebranded Aquapac Mini Waterproof Camera Case, an item which normally sells for about $30 (under both the Aquapac and Creative brand names).

This pouch is basically a fancy polyurethane bag, with a strong seal5 and very clear vinyl windows on front and back. It can hold small cameras easily, and I’ll probably be using mine next month to keep my iPhone dry while kayaking.

For an example of the 2nd generation Vado HD and this pouch in action together, check out this a Green Sea Turtle video I shot in Hawaii. I also recently loaned out my Vado and pouch to The Perennial Plate, and they used it to shoot some underwater footage of an urchin diver for their web series.

  1. such as underwater in a fancy plastic bag [↩]
  2. last I checked — the price could change any moment due to the way Amazon operates [↩]
  3. a characteristic of all inexpensive digital cameras [↩]
  4. momentarily? [↩]
  5. I trust it more than I would a couple of ziplocs, FWIW, and have had no problems with mine over a couple of years of use. [↩]

Posted in Deals, Filmmaking, The Forbidden Kingdom | 1 Comment »

it rubs the (non-comedogenic) lotion on its skin (bought from Amazon) or else it gets the hose again

Sunday, July 10th, 2011
This won’t count as important news for most folk, but a while back I had a bit of dry skin and a friend who was studying dermatology recommended I try “DML Moisturizing Lotion“. No local store carried it, and I ended up ordering from some place on the net that charged a pretty penny for shipping.

I like the stuff; Very light, non-greasy, no smell, and one 16oz bottle has lasted me a couple of years –but today it ran dry. I went searching the net, and am happy to note that finally some wholesaler is selling it via Amazon, and since I’ve got Amazon Prime I get free 2-day shipping. Neato.

Small victories FTW.

Now if only DML could stop trying so hard with their circa 1983 graphic design and simply package it in a plain colorless bottle, all will be well with the world.1

  1. With the exception of wars, plagues, and the design of the even worse “DML Forte” packaging. Is that gold Tekton with a pink squiggle? Ew ew ew. [↩]

Posted in Deals, Entitled Ranting, Geeky | No Comments »