It's not often that a software application celebrates 20 years of existence. However, tomorrow (Thursday, February 18th, 2010) we will celebrateAdobe Photoshop's 20th Anniversary! I'm very excited to be a part of the festivities and looking forward to seeing some of the folks that have helped Photoshop be the success that it is over the years.
My friends over at NAPP are hosting the Live Event
The Live Event takes place at 7:30 PM PST (19:30 GMT-8, 10:30 PM EST) in San Francisco, California.
While I'm sure I'll grab some shots from the event and maybe even do a blog post about it, the easiest fastest way to keep up with me at this event is to follow me on Twitter.
After writing my most recent review of the NEW di-GPS Pro and Mini GPS' a few readers suggested that I check out the Solmeta N2 GPS. which offered a couple of advantages over the di-GPS models and being the GPS freak that I am, I couldn't resist.
What makes Solmeta different?
Aside from all the things you would expect and that I've covered before with the other units, the Someta offers a couple more bells and whistles. The big one for me and probably the reason I was anxious to try it was that instead of having to buy one model or another for either a Nikon DSLR with a 10 pin terminal (like my D700) or one that has a specific GPS port (like my D5000), this one comes with BOTH cables. This way the user can buy one GPS unit and use it with every Nikon DSLR that supports GPS units. Although that was a big plus for me having two bodies, the average user is probably only going to use one cable or the other as they will likely only have one kind of body. The only other feature that got my attention was that this one has the ability to know your heading. Definitely nice when you want to know what direction you were facing when you took the shot.
How well did it work?
Luckily the unit arrived (after what seemed like forever!), the day before I was headed out on a business trip. So I was able to pack it for some real world testing. I still brought my other GPS as a backup since I hadn't had even a moment to make sure the Solmeta was going to work.
I connected the appropriate cable for my D5000 and stood outside my hotel to grab a GPS signal. I gotta say that it seems to take a lot longer to acquire the satellite than I'm used to. Not too long, just longer. So plan ahead!
Once it locked on, the light went from rapidly flashing green, to a slow flashing green to a steady green meaning that it had acquired multiple satellites. I started shooting and the information was captured as expected.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom brought the GPS metadata in with the shot. You can click the GPS coordinates above to take you to this location on Google maps.
One major design flaw – see UPDATE 2 below
It's a good thing I brought my other GPS because the Solmeta only lasted one day! As it turns out, the cable they give you for the D5000 is very short. So short that there is no play in it whatsoever. So as luck would have it, the cable got bumped by one of my shoulder bags while walking and this caused the connector inside the Solmeta to break free from the logic board. Although the Solmeta itself still lights up and seems to lock on, no information is transferred to the camera anymore because technically it doesn't see the cable.
Even if the cable was the same length that it is now it could work so much better if the if didn't plug into the body at a weird (upside down in my opinion) fashion. If they had made the L shaped head plug in the opposite way it would have probably been fine. You probably won't run into this problem with the other cable (for the terminal port) because the port is physically located closer to the hotshoe. Also you could avoid this by attaching the Solmeta to your strap instead of the hotshoe. However, since it's designed to go on either way and is probably more accurate (especially for headings) if sitting on the hotshoe, they should make the cable longer!
The Bottom Line
The Solmeta is a good choice, however I would have to caution everyone to be careful with how you attach it and transport it, otherwise you could end up with a broken one just like I did. Again, this is a lot less of an issue for the other cable and if you mount it on the strap instead, however I hope they change their cable design. Now I get to see how well Solmeta handles replacements? I'll report back on how that goes.
The Solmeta N2 GPS goes for $160 (with normal shipping included).
UPDATE: Solmeta just sent me this email on getting my GPS replaced:
Dear Terry,
Thank you very much for writing a review of solmeta geotagger N2 on your blog.
Could you please send back the defective device back to us.
We would like to send you a new replacement.
Here is the procedure:
1. Please send the defective one back us to the address below:
shipping RMA info omitted here for confidentiality.
Any shipping way is welcome.
Please kindly note that : just send back the device (the black little box) and keep the other accessories( cables, CD…)
If there is any questions , please be free to contact me.
Thanks and best regards.
Iris
UPDATE 2: Solmeta has been very responsive and I heard back from them again and apparently there is a DIFFERENT Cable for the D5000. When you order the Solmeta, you have to read the fine print, which specifies that the unit comes with TWO cables (as I indicated one for the terminal port and one for the D90 OR D5000).
You have to INDICATE which one you want. Apparently I got the one for the D90. Unfortunately their ordering process doesn't make that clear since they are using a PayPal cart. So unless you proactively enter your choice in the notes section you're going to get the D90 cable.
So Solmeta is not only replacing my broken GPS, but also sending me the proper cable for the D5000.
That's the way I would have expected the cable to attach and now that I know there are two cables I can happily recommend the Solmeta GPS for Nikon users!
A few days ago I wrote a post called "Are camera phones the new point and shoot cameras" and I guess the same thing could be applied to video cameras as well. I have a big older 3CCD Sony VX2000 Mini-DV camera as well as a newer Canon VIXIA HF10 HD camera that I LOVE! However, unless I'm specifically doing an event recording I'll probably just capture something quick on my iPhone 3GS and share it. The Canon is small but it's not pocket small. So this time I really do have a need for something in between. While the Canon is great, I don't always have it with me. While I do always have my iPhone with me the video is not the best. First off it's only VGA (640×480) and not widescreen. Everything I do nowadays is widescreen or HD unless it's something personal and fun just to share with friends/family.
I was leaning towards the Flip camera until I ran it by my buddy Dave Helmly (guru of all things video) and he has both cameras and said hands down the Kodak was better. Since they're the same price, I didn't look any further and I bought the Kodak Zi8. I gotta say, I'm blown away by what this little thing does. First off it supports video at full 1080p HD! My HF10 only does 1080i. It has a built-in SDHC slot so I just stuck in one of my Transcend 16GB Class 6 SDHC cards and started shooting. My use for this camera will be mostly for video podcasting/blogging and a few interviews here and there. Speaking of interviews it has a stereo mic input. Another huge plus as I can plug in any mic I want. I'm starting with this one. The Zi8 is about the same footprint as my iPhone 3GS and maybe 1.5 times as thick.
I recorded my first video in 720p mode with it here. This is using the built-in Mic. (Don't forget to switch the YouTube playback to 720p to see the maximum quality):
The experience was great. I used a Gorillapod to hold and angle the Zi8 and once I was done recording, I plugged in the Zi8 to my Mac Pro via the built-in USB pop out cable and stared editing in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 right off the camera. Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 natively supports these tapeless formats and my buddy Dave did this video on editing from these USB cameras.
A couple of gotchas
Although the camera mounts right on the desktop via the USB plug, I will most likely just use a card reader going forward. Why? because once I was done editing and then started exporting the video using the Adobe Media encoder the Zi8 went to sleep and unmounted itself from the desktop. It appears that once it's fully charged and thinks it's "not in use" it shuts off. So from here on out I'll either edit off the card just like I do with the Canon or copy the video from the Zi8 via the cable. Another small thing is that you have to remember that there is NO ZOOM (optical or otherwise). CORRECTION: There is a 4x Digital Zoom. There is however a Macro mode switch right on the top of the unit. So while this camera is great for up close and personal stuff (what I plan on using it for) it would be very challenging to do event recording.
Sample Files
Here's a 5MP still shot I shot from the Kodak Zi8 right off the camera.
Here's a few seconds of 1080p HD footage I shot with the Zi8 in the native .MOV format right off the camera so you can see the quality and test compatibility with your editor.
The Bottom Line
The Zi8 is a GREAT buy at this price of $199 (on sale here at $179) yes I got the black one in case you were wondering ). It also features a 5MP still camera and can do full HD if needed. The mic input is a huge plus and it even has HDMI out for connecting directly to an HDTV to watch the footage. My primary use will be HD on the web/youtube and that's mostly 720p which this camera does great at. So I'm happy. If I ever need 1080p it does that too.
Also since I'll always have it with me it means that I can do more video reviews on the road.
Above photo of Ford Field shot by Scott Kelby using a Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 lens on a D3 body
During a recent visit by my buddy Scott Kelby who came up to shoot the Lions vs. the Bears game, he showed me this shot that he took with his Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 lens on his Nikon D3. Honestly, I was never really a fan of fisheye shots before but there was something about this one that made me say "cool!"
My search for a fisheye lens began
Now keep in mind that for me a fisheye lens is something that I would use on occasion at best. It's not something that I would use every day and even Scott said, "you will probably use it the least" when I was asking "what should be my next lens?" Keeping that in mind I was debating between the Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 DX fisheye lens and the Nikon 16mm f/2.8 EX fisheye lens. The difference is that the 16mm Fisheye lens is designed for full frame bodies like my D700. The 10.5mm Fisheye is a DX lens for Bodies with a cropped sensor like a D300s. There is about a $300 price difference between the two and I figured since I wouldn't be using it that often and when I do it will probably be on my D5000, so I decided to go the 10.5mm.
note: click on any of the shots in this post to see them larger
The Sigma 15mm f/2.8 detour
When I went to order my Nikon 10.5mm lens (still debating the 16mm), it wasn't in stock. So as an alternative it was suggested that I try the Sigma 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens. Since they had no problem taking it back if I didn't like it, I decided to give it a shot (get it, "give it shot", c'mon these are the jokes people).
A serious WTF moment:
I got the lens and put it on my D700 and fired. Here's what I got:
Umm, What? I felt like I was shooting through a hole. Granted, this may be cool for somethings, but I can do that in Photoshop. What makes matters worse it wouldn't work with my D5000 at all. The camera wouldn't even come on with that lens attached. So back in the box it went. Thanks, but not quite what I had in mind. Now I know that there is probably software out there designed to correct these images and make them look, um right. However, I don't feel that I should have to process every single image that comes out of my camera using special software and the fact that it wouldn't work at all on the D5000 was a deal breaker anyway.
The Nikon 10.5 mm Fisheye Lens vs. the Nikon 16mm Fisheye Lens
So back to the real debate. I was back to which one to get and I decided on the 10.5mm Fisheye Lens because for what I plan to do with it, the price difference just wasn't worth it. However, just to make sure and to give you guys some real world shots to see the difference, I rented the 16mm from LensPro To Go.com for a week to really see the difference. So here goes:
Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye shot on a D700 at f/2.8, ISO 200, Aperture Priority
Nikon 16mm Fisheye shot on a D700 at f/2.8, ISO 200, Aperture Priority
Then the Tripod police showed up
OK everything was going good during this test shoot until, yep you guessed it, the Tripod Police showed up. "Sir you're not allowed to take pictures here." So the next two shots were taken with the D5000. However, they were taken literally as I was packing up and since the D5000 requires Nikon AF-S lenses to AUTOFOCUS (neither the 10.5mm or 16mm lenses are AF-S lenses), I couldn't focus these by looking through the view finder for fear of being tackled. So these are out of focus for that reason and not the fault of the lens. (This is definitely something to keep in mind when choosing a lens for a consumer body. See compatibility the lens compatibility links at the end of the post.) However, the main purpose here was to show what you get with a cropped sensor on each lens. So the focus issue wasn't my main concern for this test.
Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye shot on a D5000 at f/2.8, ISO 200, Aperture Priority
I got a little luckier here with the focus as the focus ring just happened to be closer to where it needed to be. This was a quick lens swap as I pretended to be taking everything down.
Nikon 16mm Fisheye shot on a D5000 at f/2.8, ISO 200, Aperture Priority
Just for fun
I also recently got the ("dream lens") Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Wide Angle Lens. So I thought I would give you a comparison of the above Fisheye shots against this "dream" wide angle lens too. I got these two shots before the Tripod Police showed up.
Nikon 14-24mm Wide Angle Lens shot on a D700 at f/2.8, 14mm, ISO 200, Aperture Priority
Nikon 14-24mm Wide Angle Lens shot on a D5000 at f/2.8, 21mm equivalent, ISO 200, Aperture Priority
The Bottom Line
I'm happy with my choice of the Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye Lens. If you plan to use one of these primarily on a full frame body, then you might want to look at the 16mm Fisheye. If you really aren't sure even after this post as what will work best for you, spend a few bucks over at lensprotogo.com and rent the ones you're thinking about and they you can see them side-by-side.
Note: When using a cropped sensor lens (DX) on a full frame body like the D700 or D3 your image will be cropped down to about 6MP (2784×1848) instead of the full 12MP (4256×2832) supported by your full frame camera. So if you really want the full resolution of your camera then you should go with a full-frame lens.
Here are a few links to help you out:
The Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 ED DX Fisheye Lens goes for $695 here.
The Nikon 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens goes for $930 here.
The Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 ED Wide Angle Lens goes for $1,825 here.
The Sigma 15mm f2.8 EX Fisheye Lens goes for $609 here.
I remember when I first saw the GorillaMobile when it was announced and I kinda mentally dismissed it. Don't get me wrong, I love the GorillaPod line of products. It's just that this wasn't what I was looking for in terms of a "holder" for my iPhone to watch videos on the plane. I was looking for something smaller. I never really found the "right" solution. Most were either too bulky to travel with or didn't allow me to lean the iPhone back far enough for a comfortable viewing angle.
I see the light now
I didn't look at the GorillaMobile again until Joby released their FREE Gorillacam App (which I've reviewed here today). I'm very excited about what the app offers in terms of features and of course many of the features can only be realized if you have a way of holding your iPhone still long enough. For example, doing time lapse photography isn't going to be very exciting holding it by hand. This is when I wanted to look at the GorillaMobile again. So I got one and had a ball using it to take pictures. Once I was done playing with the app for the day I started just playing with the positioning of the GorillaMobile itself and realized that THIS IS the holder I've been looking for! It ships with a case for your iPhone 3G/3GS that has a cutout on the back to place it right on the GorillaMobile. This way you don't have "stick" anything on the back of your iPhone.
It's a tripod for your regular camera too
I already carry a tabletop portable tripod in my suit case that is only slightly smaller than the GorillaMobile. So as you have guessed already, that's gone! Now I'll carry the GorillaMobile as a miniature tripod that can hold either a small camera OR my iPhone. Also like all the GorillaPods this one can be wrapped around things when a flat surface isn't available.
It's holds other things too
They even give you two additional heads with adhesive strips that can be attached to other small electronic device such as a regular iPod or other viewer.
The Bottom Line
The GorillaMobile is a great compliment (almost a must have) to the FREE Gorillacam app. The fact that it can hold your regular small camera and other devices too makes it very useful. You can get the GorillaMobile here. It goes for about $40.
). It also features a 5MP still camera and can do full HD if needed. The mic input is a huge plus and it even has HDMI out for connecting directly to an HDTV to watch the footage. My primary use will be HD on the web/youtube and that's mostly 720p which this camera does great at. So I'm happy. If I ever need 1080p it does that too. 
