Sunday, January 18, 2009
Field Test
Went to the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens to field test the binoculars-Flip MinoHD camcorder combo. Here's some results.
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Mockingbird (Flip MinoHD only)
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Eastern Phoebe
Uploading the MPEG-4 files is a bit time consuming. I had trouble with the Robin video and had to start over. Google converts the MP4 files to flash which degrades the resolution. I also lose detail around the edges due to the binoculars. Compare the Mockingbird video against the others. To illustrate the degradation due to the conversion to flash, I'm going to show you two frames from the MP4 videos.
Downy Woodpecker
+00m+13s.jpg)
See the red crest. It's a male.
Eastern Phoebe
+00m+30s.jpg)
See the hint of yellow in its breast. I went with the first impression, though it could be a an Eastern Wood Peewee. I thought I saw wing bars when it was in flight, but the juvenile Eastern Phoebe can have light wing bars as well.
Overall though, the binoculars allow me to grab video from a distance and capture details I wouldn't normally be able to capture with the camcorder by itself.
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Mockingbird (Flip MinoHD only)
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Eastern Phoebe
Uploading the MPEG-4 files is a bit time consuming. I had trouble with the Robin video and had to start over. Google converts the MP4 files to flash which degrades the resolution. I also lose detail around the edges due to the binoculars. Compare the Mockingbird video against the others. To illustrate the degradation due to the conversion to flash, I'm going to show you two frames from the MP4 videos.
Downy Woodpecker
+00m+13s.jpg)
See the red crest. It's a male.Eastern Phoebe
+00m+30s.jpg)
See the hint of yellow in its breast. I went with the first impression, though it could be a an Eastern Wood Peewee. I thought I saw wing bars when it was in flight, but the juvenile Eastern Phoebe can have light wing bars as well.Overall though, the binoculars allow me to grab video from a distance and capture details I wouldn't normally be able to capture with the camcorder by itself.
Labels: Field Test
