Large Scale Central

One more in the arsenal

Model Photography
#1

Yep, the Christmas sales are in full swing and it was time to get one of the little SD Flash Cams.
Two special purposes

  1. To take along wherever I go

  2. To use as a GRR Cam mounted on a “contraption yet to be built”

First kick at the can was the Panasonic SDR-S7; strictly on size and some of the tech specs along with the price. Bought it on the 11th, returned it on the 12th. This despite having read the reviews, downloaded and read the manual prior to buying etc. etc. It’s like the handheld controllers for the trains; it either fits and is easy to operate or …

Main “problems”:

  1. Long charging time, short usage time (40min.).
  2. Arrangement of the controls, especially for menu selections. The LCD is 90º offset to the small control buttons (easy to miss the right button).
  3. One speed Zoom that is hard to control because of the location and size of the buttons.
  4. Changing the battery and the SD card meant removing the quick connect adapter for the Flexpod. What a pain.
  5. Really too small - should be clearly marked “Intended for small hands and slender fingers”.

Other than charging the battery and giving the creature a good whirl everything went back “as new”, no unpacking of the instructions, no unpacking of the SW.

Next!!!

Yep, guess what, another of these little creatures just went on sale, $100 less than the original price. Returned the Panasonic to the one dealer and picked up the Canon FS100 at a different dealer.

So far so good

  1. In camera battery charging takes also much too long, but the run-time is much, much better i.e about 135min . The actual time is still to be determined. Oh yeah … and I ordered an AC charger, cuts the charge time in half.

  2. Controls where I expect them and to top it: an IR remote which is really handy for set-up etc. Cat’s meow. :slight_smile:

  3. Variable Zoom with precision control or three preset zoom speeds.

  4. No problem changing battery and card with the adapter attached.

  5. Slightly larger and has a strap to fit one’s hand through. Still small enough to go everywhere!

I won’t bore you with all the other nifty stuff on the new toy!