ALL ABOUT CAMERA LENSES

Flip Mino Video Camera - White, 2 GB, 1 Hour (1st Generation) OLD MODEL

Mino is a camcorder that goes anywhere. Simply put it in your pocket! Then easily share your video on the web on MySpace, YouTube, and AOL. Weighing in at just over three ounces, the remarkably slim yet powerful Flip Video Mino raises the bar for high-quality, portable, and easy-to-use video. Smaller than most cell phones, Mino fits neatly into a jeans pocket to capture life's stories whenever and wherever they happen at a party, a concert, the beach, even on a bike ride. The Mino also features Flip Video's built-in software that lets you simply plug the camcorder's signature flip-out USB arm into any computer for immediate editing and sharing. For the first time, the Flip Video software lets you easily upload video directly to MySpace as well as to YouTube and AOL Video, making it even easier to share video. In addition to quickly posting videos on sharing and social networking sites, they can email videos and video greeting cards; create custom movies with their own music; capture still photos from video; save and organize videos on the computer; and, for the first time, seamlessly order and send DVDs anywhere in the world. Custom editing of movie mixes, with the option to set them to your own music Capture of still photos from video Order DVDs online and have them shipped anywhere in the world TV connection for instant viewing (cable included) Tripod mountable Internal rechargeable battery delivers up to 4 hours of use between charges Unit Size is only 3.94 x 1.97 x 0.63 HWD

(More details later, as time permits)

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I didn't expect to be here in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; I was supposed to be in Sarasota, checking out places where we might be able to escape the increasingly unpleasant winter season in the Northeastern U.S. But the weather this winter was sufficiently unpleasant that my outbound flight was canceled, and my backup flight was canceled after I had gotten as far as Philadelphia ... so I spent an unexpected night at an airport hotel, scrubbed the whole Sarasota visit, and came to Ft. Lauderdale instead, since I knew I had to get here eventually for a computer conference that I'm speaking at ...

I ended up spending a night at a Marriott hotel on the beach in a part of Ft. Lauderdale known as Hollywood -- not to be confused, of course, with the glitzy section of Los Angeles out on the West Coast. To make up for the unpleasantness of getting down here, I decided to splurge and spend a few extra bucks to get a room on a high floor, with an ocean view and a balcony. It might have been a great place for a winter vacation if I could have stayed longer, but it was a relaxing contrast to the long, miserable trip down here ...

I had brought with me a brand-new Sony alpha-55 DSLR camera, intending to try it out in Sarasota; it didn't occur to me that I might use it instead in Ft. Lauderdale, and I didn't have any particular interest in walking up the long boardwalk that stretches along the beach strip ... but I couldn't resist spending a few minutes out on the balcony in the late afternoon, enjoying the cool breeze, the surf, and the sound of the waves.

The tide was out, and people were wandering around out in the shallow water and exposed stretches of sand; gulls and terns wandered around also, presumably looking for morsels of food. So I decided to pull out the new Sony camera and take a bunch of shots. Because I was using it for the first time, I had forgotten to check the white-balance setting; most of the images were shot with the WB set for indoor fluorescent lighting, but because they were all RAW images, I was able to adjust the color temperature.

Unfortunately, they're all handheld shots, taken at a super-long telephoto zoom setting (approx 400mm equivalent on a 35mm camera), from a 9th-floor hotel balcony, of subjects who were probably a couple hundred yards away. So they're not as crisp and sharp as I would like them to be ... but at least I learned enough about the camera to use it more effectively next time.

By the way, the reason I got the camera was that (a) it combines still + video shooting, (b) it's got a "swivel" LCD monitor, which I've gotten very fond of on my Canon G12, (c) it's got built-in GPS for geotagging photos, (d) it's substantially more compact than my bulky Nikon D300/D700, (e) it's got a "translucent" mirror, which doesn't flip up when an image is recorded, thus allowing a maximum of 10 frames/second, and (f) it's substantially less expensive than a comparable video+still Nikon or Camera. I'll let you know what I think of it after I've shot a few thousand pictures with it...

Sleeping man, wider angle...

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I didn't expect to be here in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; I was supposed to be in Sarasota, checking out places where we might be able to escape the increasingly unpleasant winter season in the Northeastern U.S. But the weather this winter was sufficiently unpleasant that my outbound flight was canceled, and my backup flight was canceled after I had gotten as far as Philadelphia ... so I spent an unexpected night at an airport hotel, scrubbed the whole Sarasota visit, and came to Ft. Lauderdale instead, since I knew I had to get here eventually for a computer conference that I'm speaking at ...

I ended up spending a night at a Marriott hotel on the beach in a part of Ft. Lauderdale known as Hollywood -- not to be confused, of course, with the glitzy section of Los Angeles out on the West Coast. To make up for the unpleasantness of getting down here, I decided to splurge and spend a few extra bucks to get a room on a high floor, with an ocean view and a balcony. It might have been a great place for a winter vacation if I could have stayed longer, but it was a relaxing contrast to the long, miserable trip down here ...

I had brought with me a brand-new Sony alpha-55 DSLR camera, intending to try it out in Sarasota; it didn't occur to me that I might use it instead in Ft. Lauderdale, and I didn't have any particular interest in walking up the long boardwalk that stretches along the beach strip ... but I couldn't resist spending a few minutes out on the balcony in the late afternoon, enjoying the cool breeze, the surf, and the sound of the waves.

The tide was out, and people were wandering around out in the shallow water and exposed stretches of sand; gulls and terns wandered around also, presumably looking for morsels of food. So I decided to pull out the new Sony camera and take a bunch of shots. Because I was using it for the first time, I had forgotten to check the white-balance setting; most of the images were shot with the WB set for indoor fluorescent lighting, but because they were all RAW images, I was able to adjust the color temperature.

Unfortunately, they're all handheld shots, taken at a super-long telephoto zoom setting (approx 400mm equivalent on a 35mm camera), from a 9th-floor hotel balcony, of subjects who were probably a couple hundred yards away. So they're not as crisp and sharp as I would like them to be ... but at least I learned enough about the camera to use it more effectively next time.

By the way, the reason I got the camera was that (a) it combines still + video shooting, (b) it's got a "swivel" LCD monitor, which I've gotten very fond of on my Canon G12, (c) it's got built-in GPS for geotagging photos, (d) it's substantially more compact than my bulky Nikon D300/D700, (e) it's got a "translucent" mirror, which doesn't flip up when an image is recorded, thus allowing a maximum of 10 frames/second, and (f) it's substantially less expensive than a comparable video+still Nikon or Camera. I'll let you know what I think of it after I've shot a few thousand pictures with it...

iRig Mic is the first handheld, quality condenser microphone for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad designed for all of your mobile sound needs. Now you can make professional audio and vocal recordings anywhere on your iOS device. IRig Mic is ideal for the singer, vocalist and songwriter on the move, but also perfect for recording speeches, instruments, performances or other sound sources in the studio, on stage or in the field. The iRig Mic features a highly unidirectional condenser-electrets microphone capsule that provides quality recording in both close mic and long distance mic conditions, and provides real time monitoring with its dual mini-jack connector design. A three-level gain switch makes it instantly adjustable for any sound pressure condition - from soft speaking to loud playing. Its familiar form is perfect for handheld performance, plus it allows you to mount it on any mic stand leaving your device free for operating your favorite app. Its rugged metal body is road-ready for the mobile musician. IRig Mic also comes with Voca Live free, IK’s new real time effects processor suite for the singer and vocalist, and AmpliTube free for guitar players and songwriters. iRig Mic also works with a multitude of other vocal and audio processing apps for the iOS platform.