Video is sort of intimidating but I’m working with and on it. Most recently, I got a “slider” and have been practicing. As if having a new gadget weren’t enough, I added a second camera (G1X) and hacked away at editing the dual camera video in Adobe Premiere Pro. Then I couldn’t resist trying a voice over and editing that audio in Adobe Audition. So lots of techniques and software to learn.
Now, this video may be terrible but I’m enjoying the learning process.
The Meyin RF-604, a wireless flash trigger, first got my attention because of its name. I assumed that this was a new product evolved from the Yongnuo RF-603. I’m probably not the only person mislead by the name. The “RF-604” is not a Yongnuo product but it sure appears to be an evolved version of the Yongnuo RF-603.
Although it was the product name that caught my attention, it was the locking wheel that caught my eye and convinced me to buy one. (The Yongnuo RF-603 does not have a locking wheel and fits loosely to the camera hot shoe.)
The Meyin RF-604 is somewhat larger than the Yongnuo RF-603 and 602. So, far the RF-604 appears to be compatible with both.
I’ll have more to say about the RF-604 after I’ve exercised it a bit. So far, so good.
No, not that kind of Pro. I just got a GoPro Hero 3 “Black” – the famous “Point of View” (POV) action camera. Don’t even know how to use it yet. The Hero 3 just seemed like a good idea; especially as I’m about to go on vacation at the beach. (Don’t expect action videos of me – those will be of my granddaughter!).
No, I haven’t thrown my G series cameras away. In fact, the G1X is still my carry around camera and was used to get these pictures of the GoPro Hero 3. I’ll have the G1X with me on the beach vacation as well (plus the 7D).
Here’s the GoPro in its waterproof case as coming out of the packaging.
I also got a case for the GoPro and accessories
The GoPro Hero 3 Black should be a lot of fun. I hope to report many more excellent adventures with it.
This scene caught my eye a few mornings ago. The bare branches in bright sunlight really stood out against the pattern and dark roof in shadow. I grabbed my G1X to record the scene before the light changed. A simple snapshot, right?
Unfortunately, from my only vantage point, the G1X did not quite have the zoom for the composition that I wanted. OK, I’ll just crop it. But what if I couldn’t crop or didn’t want to deal with editing? I then remembered the digital tele-converter feature of the G1X.
Changing to 1.5X digital tele-converter was all that was needed to get this composition. Of course, the image file is JPEG only. If I’d wanted to make a large print I would have shot in RAW then edited and cropped to taste but this snapshot is just what I wanted.
The story behind the shots taken on the last roll of Kodachrome film. http://youtu.be/DUL6MBVKVLI.
(My own experience was not quite as successful.)
In August, I reported that my Yongnuo 565EX had failed. Since this flash was purchased directly from China (ThePhotoGadget), I agonized over whether to return it, have it repaired or simply absorb the loss. Eventually, I decided to return the 565EX to The PhotoGadget and see what would happen.
The good news is that Yongnuo repaired my 565EX under warrantee at no cost. The repaired 565EX has the same serial number as the original. It seems to work.
The bad news is that shipping to China cost $65 and that the ship/repair/return process took over three months!
Yongnuo did not include a report or notes on the failure or repair. The PhotoGadget noted that mine was an older version of the YN565EX and that the latest version is more reliable. I hope so!
My conclusion is that I’ll use the YN565EX with reduced confidence for a while. Also, I’ll be buying Yongnuo products from USA vendors in the future.
