Fun with new digicam....

I`d been lusting after one for a dog`s age, read the reviews, thought long and hard, then I got me a pay-rise and something inside went *clunk* - my self control (which is only held on by duck-tape so doesn`t take a lot to overcome anyways /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif). So I went and ordered one. 8 days later, and probably the last photo I`ll take with my video system, this arrived:



....and all`s I can say is it was well worth the wait! I`ve only had a few brief moments to play with it but felt like posting a few of the results. These were taken with no tripod and next to no setting up, just fiddling really. Most are cropped and all but the last one have been at least halved from the original resolution because let`s face it - who`s got a 2560x1920 size desktop? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif A couple were lit with an Osram Dulux Mini flourescent lamp, made a nice up-close softlight I thought, even if it isn`t quite bright enough.

They get a bit bigger if you click`em too. Except that fuzzy one up there, that`s as big as that one gets.

The thing that was responsible for all of my fuzzy video stills (including the one up there), up until this date:


Burned out and rather dusty MN03 - testing the macro capability:


Assortment of oddball LEDs, some of them rather old:


And finally, about half of my flashlight collection over by there on the windowsill. The "Fragile...." label is a leftover from when I had some of my vast collection of light bulbs displayed there, but as the flashlights took over, the bulbs were stored away safely until the day comes that I can sort out more display space. There are about 75 lights here. Anyone care to try and guess them all? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif


More fun with this thing on the weekend I`m sure, and when I get me the time to do it, I`m updating all the images on the Torch Reviews Site. Which might take a while....


(....any requests? No, I don`t do self portraits....)


/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

So just how many times have you changed your desktop wallpaper so far ? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Chris, is that the FC707 or FC717?

In either case, you got yourself quite a gem!

You should also try the nightshot or the delayed exposure setting. Awesome effects!

[ QUOTE ]
Chris M. said:
... and when I get me the time to do it, I`m updating all the images on the Torch Reviews Site. Which might take a while....

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh crap! A flashlight reviewer with a better camera than all the other flashlight reviewers!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif
That thing puts my Nikon 775 to shame!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Chris--There goes your maxabeam fund!!!! Mike

I can dead nail ONE of those lights. One just like it is my night light in the bathroom. The little 4AAA Folding Lantern.

I sort of recognize the yellow light behind the black one (edit - Lightwave 4000) with some ARC AAAs in front of it, towards the left as something I once had and discarded at some point. It also sort of reminds me of a light that is gray with a clear screw on bezel that lives in my Dads truck.

I suspect it is a collection that in some respects is right on out of my price range....

I recognise about half of them, even the one that looks like a kegel excersizor (a Flick Lite) (sp). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

There are an awful lot of Arc-AAA's in that picture - probably more than I have. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Ahhh, I see a shiny alumimum prototype Arc-LS in there too (the only one outside the US!) - but what's that hexagonal black rubber piece on the head?

A Nuwai, a Docter Aspherilux, Reactor, LW4K, see what looks like a Tigerlight at left corner poppin' out. See either a Trek 40 or 60, yellow. A CCrane. And Tutlelite...about half of them I could ID as well...

<font color="800080">So just how many times have you changed your desktop wallpaper so far ?</font>

<font color="000080">Actually, none, not on the main machine anyways. I have an old sepia-tinged shot I took of a drawer full of flourescent light bulbs that`s been there for years and anything else I try now and then just doesn`t feel right. Sure, it`s quite fuzzy and stretched out to 1024x768 from a pic that`s about half that size (Windoze auto-stretch setting), but it`s familiar, and I like familiarity.

Though, I did change the laptop - that`s a work issued machine. It currently has a closeup shot of the back of a fire alarm PCB I took yesterday (took the cam in to snap some mugshots for ID cards that I`m preparing - I`d delayed those so long already that I thought I`d bring the new toy along right away and put it to some good use). I may change it to something more obviously fire-alarm related, but the PCB looks quite good. I`ll see if I can upload it later.</font>


<font color="800080">..is that the FC707 or FC717?</font>

<font color="000080">It`s the 717. I looked at the reviews and comparisons between the 2 and the 717 came out of them to me as the better beast. Plus, oddly, at many of the online digicam stores I looked at, the 707 was more expensive. As it is, I got it for a pretty good price (less than US retail, makes a change in this country!), not the cheapest out there but it was the only place that would offer evening delivery. No places would ship to anything other than my home/billing address so I had to go with evening cos I`m normally at work during normal parcel-time. Didn`t want this thing left out on the front doorstep all day!

I`ve played wih nightshot briefly - it`s a lot of fun. My Brother had a Sony video cam that did Nightshot too, made the world look really wierd during the day, and looking straight at peoples faces made them look like ghosts with pale faces and eerie glowing eyes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif</font>


<font color="800080">Oh crap! A flashlight reviewer with a better camera than all the other flashlight reviewers!!! </font>

<font color="000080">Don`t worry your self Craig, I have only about a tenth of the time to work on my reviews compared to all the other reviewers put together - so your job is safe.</font>


<font color="800080">There goes your maxabeam fund!!!! </font>

<font color="000080">Tell me about it! And then what - I see one offered in BST only yesterday! The first one probably ever. Boy, did I kick myself over that one. OK so not literally - but isn`t it just always the way it goes? I bought me a pair of new monitors (speakers) too cos one of my old ones has developed a bit of a flutter that sounds like a moth trapped in there sometimes (didn`t check to see if there was actually a moth in there though!). Between those and the digicam, I could`ve probably had me that Maxabeam plus shipping and Customs too. Oh well, there will always be another day. I hope /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif</font>

<font color="800080">I recognise about half of them.......There are an awful lot of Arc-AAA's in that picture ......Ahhh, I see a shiny alumimum prototype Arc-LS in there too (the only one outside the US!) - but what's that hexagonal black rubber piece on the head? </font>

<font color="000080">There are seven AAAs over there and I`ve got four more dotted round the place. One in every colour besides UV and IR, two turquoises, two whites, an LE and a CPF `02 member edition.
The hexagonal thing protecting the Proto Arc LS`s lens is a SureFire beam spreader for the Executive series - fits like a glove. Since the proto has an off-centered and quite discoloured beam (well, it was only the 2nd one ever made so I`ll forgive`em) I keep the spreader on there to smooth it out and make it more of a flood, good for close up lighting - I may try lighting a few pics later and see how it goes. With that filter on, the beam colour is pretty good - it mooshes in all the pinks and blues to make a decent white.

-

OK, the flashlights. Well it would take from here to next week to list them all, but yes - there`s an Energizer 4AAA folding LED lamp, there are two Tektite Treks (Trek 2 and Trek 4) and one Ex1900. There`s a LW4000 badged as Lucido C10 for the European market. Seven Arc AAAs as mentioned. Two Cabelas Extreme/Nuwai lights (Nicad rechargeable 6LED/Xenon and 1xCR123 3LED/Xenon). PT Surge, two Scorpions, Wolf Eyes 6T, Fliklite, SF 9Z, M3, A2, E2 original, Eternalight Classic, Osram Camping Halogen lantern, old British Telecom issue Bardic lamp (the big square yellow bodied one), CMG Infinity and Reactor, and more..... Plenty of generic no-namers too.

Actually I just noticed the M3 is missing but you can see the space where it came from - next to the PT Attitude.

Unfortunately no Tigerlight yet, it`s on my shopping list but there aren`t too many UK-friendly distributors of them. Seeing all those Tactical Warehouse specials a while back was painful....but I`ll get over it!</font>

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Flashlight Collection!

OK, here for those who may be interested is a numbered version of my flashlight windowsill picture and a complete listing of what`s on there. I was bored. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Click here to see the pic. IE6 users may want to switch auto-resize off (if set in your options) once it downloads cos it`s rather big - click the square icon thingy that appears at the lower right of the pic when you hover the mouse pointer over it.

1. Energizer waterproof 4 watt 4 AA flourescent lantern.
2. Generic 2 D cell rubber coated light.
3. Cabela`s Extreme Xenon/6LED rechargeable.
4. Generic 2AA rubber coated light.
5. Modified Energizer 2 D cell light with 12 Toshiba orange LEDs. Only the 2nd and currently the latest Mod I ever did.
6. Mag Solitaire Knockoff with clickie tail switch, and is better than the Mag is!
7. Arc AAA, blue LED.
8. Energizer 4AA Spot/Flood light - the one with the head that pulls out on a translucent tube turning it into an area light.
9. Arc AAA, green LED.
10. Cabela`s Extreme Xenon/3LED 1xCR123 light.
11. Johnlite 4AA 4 watt flourescent "stick up cupboard lite".
12. SureFire Classic 9Z.
13. Osram Camping Halogen lantern.
14. Princeton-tec Attitude.
15. SureFire M3.
16. Tektite Trek 6000.
17. Lucido C10 (Lightwave 4000).
18. Arc AAA, orange LED.
19. Arc AAA, red LED.
20. Arc AAA, "EV" turquoise LED.
21. LEDTronics Turtlelite 1.
22. Energizer 4AA Folding LED lantern.
23. Gadget Shop red LED squeeze lite.
24. SureFire A2.
25. Tektite Expedition 1900.
26. Generic 3AAA single LED spot/area lite similar to Brunton LampLight but all-plastic.
27. Varta 2AA clip-on adjustable-head light.
28. Generic 4D 8 watt flourescent lantern with red flashing lamp.
29. CMG Infinity.
30. Fliklite.
31. Arc AAA, yellow LED.
32. Energizer 2D cheapo torch.
33. Aitec AT1000 3C Luxeon LED light.
34. Arc AAA, white LED.
35. Johnlite 4D incandescent camping lite.
36. Lucido C7, 7 LED 3AA light with 5 power levels.
37. Aitec "Collimattor" 3AAA Luxeon LED light.
38. Arc LS2 (when it was still called LS2, now it`d be a LSH-S I guess).
39. EternaLight Model 2 Classic.
40. Uniross 4D incandescent camping lantern.
41. Arc LS Original Prototype.
42. CMG Infinity, turquoise LED.
43. Streamlight Stylus 3, white LED.
44. streamlight Stylus 2, orange LED.
45. Chloride Bardic 3 D cell light as once issued to railway and British Telecom workers.
46. Starlight 128 1AA LED light.
47. Docter Aspherilix projection beam torch.
48. "Glo Rope" EL wire+2AA power pack, with the outer nylon "rope" covering removed.
49. Old EverReady 3D cell light.
50. Princeton-tec Surge.
51. Mag 2AA with Out-tec Flashlight Tuner LED tail cap fitted.
52. Tektite Trek 4.
53. Energizer Double Barell "DB18" 18-white-LED mod bought from Ebay.
54. Starlight 128 2AA LED light (later version with narrower beam).
55. LEDCorp 6-white-LED FlashLED.
56. SureFire Original E2.
57. Wolf Eyes 6T Explorer.
58. Streamlght Scorpion, newer version from Eagleville.
59. Streamlight Scorpoin, older version from Norristown.
60. SureFire G2 "CPF 50 Special" member edition.
61. Aitec 6-white-LED, 3 N cell light.
62. "HM Design" 3 AA 4-white-LED light.
63. Tektite Trek 2.
64. CMG Reactor 2.
65. Inova X5T.
66. Brinkmann Legend LX.
67. Traser/Litepro Teknolite (original version with only 2 traser tubes).
68. Pocketlite Silver Bullet.
69. Osram Mini Combi.
70. Mag Solitaire, black body in older style square presentation box.
71. Mag solitaire, silver body in newer rectangular presentation box.
72. SureFire T3 Turbohead for Classic 9N.
73. Osram Star Halogen magnetic base 3AA halogen light.
74. Photon Fusion. Original version but *without* broken battery door clip & hinges!
75. Barely visible. Energizer 2AA cheapy toolbox lite.
76. Varta cheapy toolbox lite, the one that runs from one of those flat 4.5v batteries with the flat spring-like terminals on top.
77. "Topline" cold cathode flourescent UV checker with incandescent spot.
78. Kingbright Coloured LED Assortment Box.
79, not visible or numbered but it`s there, honest, down the back. Starlight 128 2AA LED light, original style with wider beam.

Not in the picture or on the windowsill, probably another 50-75 or so flashlights in drawers, boxes, EDC`d and generally strewn around the room and house.

And before anyone asks, it`d take me about 10 years to review all these and many are outdated already so don`t expect to see them all on the Torch Reviews Site anytime soon. I do try to review as many as I can, but the new ones that come in always go to the top of the waiting list and I never have enough time to do those that soon either.....

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Re: Flashlight Collection!

OK! it's a 717 ! Does it have a first name?? (I've been waiting 2 days for someone to mention it..??!! )

Don't worry Chris, I'm trying to snag the MB - (difficult, since I am torn by the coming PSL35 HID, with new improved, possibly much tighter reflector from Kenrad..) - so it'll still be "in the family" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

(maybe you can buy it off me next year!? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

Re: Flashlight Collection!

Ted, it's a Sony DSC-F717. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Review

Re: Flashlight Collection!

Sorry Ted, I forgot to mention that! Kind of assumed people would recognize it from all the pictures that Shelby Chan had posted a while back here and at Strategos when he got his. To give it`s full name: the Sony DSC-F717 Cyber-shot, 5M-pixel digital stills camera.

If you want a great digicam, I couldn`t reccomend this one enough! Hardcore tophographers may not care for the unusual L-shape (but I have more of a video background so love it!) and then there`s that expensive proprietary Sony Lion battery and Memory Stick media, but it sure does take good pictures even with minimal effort, and getting the shots out of the camera is as easy as plugging in a USB cord and fetching them off the additional "hard drive" that appears. At least, in Windoze. I would guess it works in a similar way on the Mac, but you may need to download/install an additional USB driver though.

<font color="800080">(Maxabeam)....maybe you can buy it off me next year!? </font>

I`ll hold ya to that one. Give me time to save up some more /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: Flashlight Collection!

I should say that cybershot F-717 has a better than expected (for a SONY) CCD. It's not perfect, but very good. This could be the only technical issue with a Sony digital camera. In rest, as expected, is very good.
Well, I have other issues with sony: they make money with batteries (still no more than Canon !) and with memory sticks. Like Lexmark is doing with printer cartridges. I use to take a lot of pictures (my camera was 1000+ $ some time ago, so you bet I'm using it); and of course I take pictures when I'm away from my computer for more than a couple of days (so I need more memory). I have 304 megs memory for my current camera (it's 2Mpixels) - and I plan to get at least 128 M more. This would be equivalent to 756 - 1 G for a 5 Mpixel camera. Some prices:

CFlash 128 megs : 25 EUR -> Sony 72 EUR
512 megs : 102 EUR -> Sony 355 EUR
1G CFlash 227 EUR -> Sony 689 EUR
1G IBM Microdrive 191 EUR

And, yes, all the CF come with lifetime warranty (including IBM microdrive).

Now if I get 756 (512+2x128) the Sony Memory stick would be 347 EUR more ! If I want 1G it will cost me 498 EUR more !
And the original memory delivered with camera is pathetic (16 or 32 Megs). If you are to use the best quality available I can bet 3 pictures won't fit in there.

Re: Flashlight Collection!

Wow I never realized just how much more expensive the sony media was! But, that was not my driving force in camera choice since most of my pics will be "studio work" - stills of flashlights, light bulbs and fire alarm goodies for work - and there`ll usually be a computer nearby to suck the newly take pictures off before it begins to run out of space.

At the maximum 2560x1920 resolution I can get all of 10-12 shots in "fine" quality on the supplied 32Mb memory stick. OK, only 3 in TIFF mode but that takes so damn long to process that I`ll leave that mode for extra special occasions only. I don`t expect I`ll take many at maximum resolution though, unless I need to be able to print them in a reasonably big format for A4 data sheets or backgrounds of catalog pages. I`ve had it set at 1280x960 most of the time - great for web page photos which can`t be too big. It`ll fit about 50 of those on there. I limit myself to no more than 700 wide for posting on a web page, and the Torch Reviews Site limit is more like 650 because of the left nav buttons table taking a slice of the screen. Obviously for printing, I`ll turn it up a notch.

Battery life is great and for studio type work a power outlet is never far away so I don`t think a spare battery is on my shopping list yet. And I think one of the 128Mb memory sticks ought to see me through just about all of my intended uses. Maybe 2 of them if I plan to take it away anywhere for a week or so.

Overall I`m extremely pleased with my purchase - it fits my needs really well!

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Re: Flashlight Collection!

Chris, you'll find that switching from "fine" to "standard" pixeled pictures yields you about double the capacity of your memory stick... And it's hardly noticeable at all at higher resolutions.

Usually, I'd just take my pictures at highest resolution possible, and resize it for print later. Of course, it's pretty convenient for me since my laptop's a Sony Vaio with a memory stick slot...

It's amazing how the CCD sucks battery life out of the Li-Ions, but I usually find that 2 batteries will hold me down for an entire day's worth of snapshots using the viewfinder (at least on my FC707)...

Re: Flashlight Collection!

[ QUOTE ]
FalconFX said:
It's amazing how the CCD sucks battery life out of the Li-Ions,

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm guessing it's that asinine fluorescent backlight for the LCD screen that's sucking most of the power used by a camera. That alone probably draws more than 250mA from the camera's battery.
Without the backlight, it's likely the battery would last almost as long as when the LCD isn't being used at all.

I don't know how much power the CCD array needs, but I know you get much longer battery life if you turn the LCD display screen off.

Re: Flashlight Collection!

Yep - that backlight loves battery juice! Funnilly enough the viewfinder uses a little teensy tiny colour LCD display with backlight, but it`s an itty bitty little backlight in comparison - hey, it may even be an LED, seems like a good enough place to put one to me.

It`ll still go over 2 hours with the big LCD on, according to the inbuilt battery time-left meter. Probably less in reality but that`s plenty enough for me.

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Re: Flashlight Collection!

Chris - Very nice pictures.... Now I'M going to have to get a new one (yea, right... my Wife would kill me!)