Got a new video camera, here's its first video

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I decided it was time for a dedicated Vidjeo camera for the layout, railfanning, and the dogs...

It arrived yesterday (next day Amazon, not bad at all), and I took it down into the basement for some fun this morning.

/>
Not the best video, but better than from my cell phone. I'm looking forward to playing with it a lot more. Good thing I grabbed that 4TB drive over the summer.

[tom mann]

And you don't tell us the brand and/or specs of this video camera?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

And you don't tell us the brand and/or specs of this video camera?

Well, if you demand...

It's a Canon Vixia HF R600. It was last year's model, and nothing spectacular, but it was highly rated on only about two hundred bones.

[coldriver]

Pretty decent depth of field!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Pretty decent depth of field!

Yep! That's what I was really looking for, and I got lucky. I bet it'll be even better if I have better lighting going.

[crrcoal]

A stellar yard and a coal drag to boot!!! 

VERY cool ED!!

[chicken45]

I don't get it. How does this relate to #sitecore?

[havingfuntoo]

I've one of those, great little video recorder. Get your self a decent self powered zoom mic for it, it will greatly improve the recorded sound with out draining the camera battery.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I've one of those, great little video recorder. Get your self a decent self powered zoom mic for it, it will greatly improve the recorded sound with out draining the camera battery.

Thanks, I was wondering about that. What mic are you using?

[peteski]

The video Looks good Ed.  I have been thinking of getting a small Camcorder and this gives me some idea of how these work with N scale photography (especially the depth of field). It is also nice that the camera can get down to the track level.

One think I noticed was that the coal train started moving before the engine sound spooled up. That seemed odd.  Then that the rhythmic drumming sound was the wheels going over rail joints, right? 

[Hamaker]

I had the same question about the "drumming" sound.

[havingfuntoo]

I have a couple, but the one that seems to work the best is a Boya Pro, it has a metal body and runs off a 9 volt battery and I got it from China, the camera I bought from the US and use it downunder in Aust. It has a reasonably narrow field of pickup forward facing and a small field to the rear and minimal side pickup. It came with a foam wind protector and I have added, I think they are called 'dead cat' wind noise retarder over the foam one. In a blowing gale there is virtually no wind noise with clear pick up of the sounds from the direction I am pointing at.
I set it up on a tripod, with the camera on the tripod and the mic attached to a bracket off the base of the camera so that when I am panning I follow the sound and the footage is not effected by any wind vibration that can come from the mic.

You might like to get a mobile phone screen protector and place it on your camera screen to help prolong its life.  Opperators tend to use their finger tips to activate settings and in the process dig their finger nails into the surface of the screen, it is not intentional but it happens. I have some screens destroyed by this action. A small price of big protection, don't get glass, you will need to cut it down to fit, and at some stage you might even want to replace it.

These little machines have lots of tricks, try playing with the baby mode if you are in the field, it will help you if you are a bit inattentive.

We are all looking forward to watching your results, remember to be nice it will catch you out.   

[OldEastRR]

Like to see you make a camera run of the entire layout, following the circuit around until back to where you started.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

One think I noticed was that the coal train started moving before the engine sound spooled up. That seemed odd.  Then that the rhythmic drumming sound was the wheels going over rail joints, right? 

You should definitely get one. They're not too expensive, and it's been a lot of fun in just the few days I've had it.

And yep. That's what happened sound wise: once the brakes are released, things move at idle, then it was time to notch out.

The drumming was the wheels. It was dubbed in (as were the engines), and it wasn't perfect. The video was a testbed for more than just the camera

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I have a couple, but the one that seems to work the best is a Boya Pro, it has a metal body and runs off a 9 volt battery and I got it from China, the camera I bought from the US and use it downunder in Aust. It has a reasonably narrow field of pickup forward facing and a small field to the rear and minimal side pickup. It came with a foam wind protector and I have added, I think they are called 'dead cat' wind noise retarder over the foam one. In a blowing gale there is virtually no wind noise with clear pick up of the sounds from the direction I am pointing at.
I set it up on a tripod, with the camera on the tripod and the mic attached to a bracket off the base of the camera so that when I am panning I follow the sound and the footage is not effected by any wind vibration that can come from the mic.

You might like to get a mobile phone screen protector and place it on your camera screen to help prolong its life.  Opperators tend to use their finger tips to activate settings and in the process dig their finger nails into the surface of the screen, it is not intentional but it happens. I have some screens destroyed by this action. A small price of big protection, don't get glass, you will need to cut it down to fit, and at some stage you might even want to replace it.

These little machines have lots of tricks, try playing with the baby mode if you are in the field, it will help you if you are a bit inattentive.

We are all looking forward to watching your results, remember to be nice it will catch you out.   

Thanks! I'm planning on REALLY breaking it in this weekend on a railfanning trip. The mic is DEFINITELY on my list of future pickups.