A few thoughts about inexpensive video cameras for birding --
Your NTSC TV offers pretty low resolution compared to binoculars, and
you view the TV from across the room. So you have to use a high
magnification factor to capture useful video of birds.
I use 18x to 20x as the typical zoom for birding video, with 24x to
30x for subjects farther than 50 feet or so. I also use a wide-angle
adapter for landscape shots.
Tele-converters are lenses that screw onto the front of your video
camera. They multiply the optical zoom of the camera. For example,
using a 1.5x teleconverter with a 10x camera increases the image to 15x.
Tele-converters work well, without degrading the video image much.
It's a pain to have to take the converters on and off, however, so
it's a good idea to purchase a camera with a high zoom capability to
start with.
Use the optical zoom number when comparing camcorders, and ignore the
digital zoom capability. The digital zoom degrades the picture quality
very quickly. The manufacturers always advertise the digital zoom
figure, however, so look carefully at the camera lens specs.
It's very difficult to keep the image steady when shooting with high
magnifications. Unless you enjoy the wobbly "reality tv" style, I
recommend using a tripod whenever possible. Using a tripod improves
the quality of your sound recording, too, since it reduces the noise
made while holding the camera, and keeps your breathing from being
recorded. It's a challenge to use a tripod to capture footage of
birds on the move, so you will have to shoot hand-held part of the time.
As an aside, it always surprises me that many people don't understand
that a video camera microphone records sounds all around the camera,
not just in front of it. You'll have to remind others about this from
time to time.
In consumer-grade video products, digital input and output is
available in mini-dv and digital-8 cameras. The digital link is
called IEEE 1394, Firewire, or i-Link, depending on the manuacturer.
You can buy cameras, vcr's, DVD recorders and computers with this
style of input.
Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC are the major players in mini-dv. The
specs of their models run in cycles. A few years ago, all four had
zooms in the 22x to 25x range. At present, zoom seems less important.
Panasonic offers several models with zooms greater than 20x. The
PV-GS15 is one, with 24x. It costs about $400, and would make a great
video camera for birding. The $500 Canon ZR90 with 22x zoom is
another current model with a long zoom.
If cost is no object...a great video recorder for birding is the Canon
GL-2. It has fluorite optics, a 3-CCD system for improved color,
optical image stabilizer, a nice 20x zoom, and an xlr audio adapter so
you can use a higher quality microphone.
I believe only Sony offers digital-8 models. Digital-8 cameras are
hybrids, using the body, lens and tape transport of the analog hi-8
cameras, but recording a digital mini-dv bit stream onto the tape.
Digital-8 cameras are larger and heavier than mini-dv cameras, but
usually are less expensive. The models I've seen can play analog hi-8
tapes as well as digital-8.
--oryoki
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________________________________________________________________________
>From Tue Mar 8 18:27:36 2005
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 08:21:20 -0400
From: "John Piekos" <>
Subject: Re: transfer noise and recording levels
> I suspect that originally you had been taking the line output
> of the MD recorder into a mic input on your sound card.
> Am I right?
Yes, you are. Thanks Dan. I had originally tried to record on
the sound card line in but got nothing. The problem was that
I did not see the sound mixer "Properties" "Adjust for recording"
dialog, which had line in not selected (only mic in).
> Right, these aren't noisy now, but some of the levels are low. What I
> do to get a ballpark recording gain is to speak an announcement in a
> normal voice and set the record gain so it's peaking around -4 dB on
> the meter or so. I've found this to be a good gain for quiet
> ambiences.
Excellent - thanks for helping and for your advice!
John Piekos
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg
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