There are many options in today’s technology-driven world that fill the need for someone to stream live events, whether they are personal or professional events. As I continue to look at what is available, I am finding very capable devices with great specifications and versatility, for relatively reasonable prices.
One such device is the Mevo Plus which is designed to work via an iOS or Android app to live stream using your mobile device. You can stream to Livestream, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Periscope. Since it is designed for personal and professional use, it provides for a multi-camera production via the use of a multi-camera style app. You can stream in full 1080P HD resolution and you can record locally in 4K onto an SD Card. The Mevo Plus even has electronic image stabilization and a wireless connection that will remain connected up to 100 feet away from your mobile device. It is just 2.5-inches in height, and its features include an ultra-wide 150-degree lens, a 12Megapixel image sensor, 2×2 MIMO antennas, 802.11ac wifi, 16:9 aspect ratio and a rechargeable battery pack. There is also an optional Mevo Boost accessory that provides additional power with its 12,000mAH batter and Ethernet, USB Type-A, and USB Micro-B connections, and a tripod or light stand mounting option.
The Mevo app allows you to create the effect of up to 9 different camera views or viewing perspectives.
You can purchase the Mevo Plus at Amazon or B&H Photo Video for $499. The Mevo Boost is extra.
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While I must admit that Vlogging is not my thing, I have dabbled with it a bit to see what my presence would be in front of the camera. After all, I have always been a behind the camera type of guy and I have always resisted the temptation to become a face known to social media.
A couple of years ago, I invested in a Zoom Q8 Handy Video Recorder, specifically for the purpose of Vlogging and producing YouTube product review videos. While I never quite realized my online video aspirations, I did end up using the Zoom video camera quite a bit in other scenarios.
The Zoom Q8 is quite small as handheld cameras go, but it offers some great features and I found it to be of great use whenever the need for a quick B-roll recording would arise, and especially so when packing light was the other requirement. It records up to 2304 x 1296 video at 30 frames per second with a 160-degree Wide-Angle lens and has a detachable X/Y Condenser Microphone. Other features include several preset lighting scene modes, a built-in speaker, a color 2.7 inch LCD touchscreen, it can be used as a USB Webcam and an Audio Interface, it is compatible with Zoom Microphone capsules, has built-in dual XLR/TRS Combination inputs, and it even comes with a small lens hood. I am quite impressed with the quality of the audio it recorded, and I like the fact that the audio can be saved as uncompressed WAV files and AAC files.
While this is not a professional video recorder, it certainly is very useful and can certainly save the day for a small project when you are in a bind.
You can give the Zoom Q8 a try by picking one up at B&H Photo Video or Amazon for $349.99
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As far as mirrorless cameras go, Sony has been a leader in innovation and in my opinion, has managed to stay ahead of the pack with its new releases. About a week ago, Sony continued that trend with the announcement of the Alpha a7 III Mirrorless Digital Camera. This camera features a 24MP Full-Frame sensor, UHD 4K video, a 3” tilting LCD touch screen, 5-axis stabilization, 10 fps continuous shooting, built-in Wi-Fi and NFC, Bluetooth and dual SD card slots. Of course, utilizing their proprietary Memory Stick Pro is a foregone conclusion. Sony has also included a USB Type-C port along with the usual HDMI mini port, and USB 2.0 Micro-B port for great connectivity. What is not included is a built-in flash, which will not likely be a deal breaker, since most photographers will likely prefer to use their own Hot Shoe flash. Sony’s more evolved Fast Hybrid AF System should improve the speed and reliability of the autofocus and tracking.
Sony, Canon, and Nikon have been long-standing rivals in the development of cameras and the associated technology. Although I am a Canon fan, I must concede that Sony also does a great job with their DSLR and mirrorless cameras. Just recently, Canon released their mirrorless M50 camera, with comparable specifications to the Sony Alpha a7 III, albeit that Canon uses an APS-C crop sensor. If I get the opportunity to take them both out for a test drive, I will follow up with a more detailed comparison and opinion.
You can pre-order the Sony Alpha a7 III Mirrorless camera at B&H Photo Video for a starting price of $1998 (Body Only).
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Sometimes I miss the good old days of film photography. Knowing how to set the f-stop and shutter speed along with picking the right ISO for the film was an art and not something you just did by pointing your phone and clicking. I ran across a great project on Kickstarter for a 3D printed Box camera that uses 120 film spools. The basic black box version will run you $79, but if you want it in a weathered red, blue or yellow it will run you $119. It comes with a 1/200 of a second shutter and apertures from f5.6 to f32 and a 95mm lens. It comes with spools where you will manually wind the film and manually advance each picture. They plan to offer additional lenses in the future to allow for standard, wide angle and telephoto pictures. Unfortunately, this project is already closed, but you can still follow along and find out when you can get one of your own. You can check it out on Kickstarter.
We Gadgeteers not only love things that do little tasks well, and clever designs, but we also like to see the inside story on how these devices work. Sometimes this means taking them apart, but sometimes, it can just mean finding a way to observe the item in action. Sometimes, you need to see into or under something in order to troubleshoot or just observe a running process. If the desired objective is under something, behind a blockage, or deep inside a larger enclosure, this is quite difficult, unless you have an endoscope. I’ve wanted to have something like this all my life, and M-way finally offered The Gadgeteer crew a test model YPC110 for review.
Note: Photos may be tapped or clicked for a larger image.
What is it?
The YPC110 (such catchy names makers use, sometimes!) is a 1600 x 1200 resolution CMOS sensor on a long semi-rigid 8 mm diameter cable. The model I was sent is 3.5 meters long, but they have 2-meter, 5-meter, and 10-meter lengths as well. The CMOS camera is powered by a 4” long .75” square tube that houses a battery and WiFi radio.
Two USB jacks are on one end. The microUSB is for charging the internal battery, and the standard USB-A port is where the camera connects.
Specs
(From website)
Imaging Sensor: CMOS
Camera resolution: 1600*1200
Horizontal view angle: 72 degrees
Transmitting frequency: 2412-2612 MHZ
Minimum illumination : 0 Lux
Power Supply: 3.7V 600mah lithium battery
Unobstructed effective range: 5-10 m
Waterproofing grade: IP68 ( for lens/ tube only )
Diameter of flexible tube: 8.0mm
Charging voltage and current : 5V – 2A/1A/500mA
Focal Distance : 1.2 Inch – 3.2 Inch
Full Charging time: 1 hour
Length : 16.4ft /5M
What’s in the box?
A semi-rigid zippered carrying case. (6.5” x 5” x 2.5”)
The sensor/cable itself
The WiFi radio/battery “head” unit
A USB-A to microUSB charging cable
Mirror attachment (for seeing into tight turns where the camera cannot get into)
Hook tip
Magnetic probe
Instruction leaflet
Design and features
The unit is made up of two main parts: the wifi broadcasting/power module, and the camera with the stiff connecting cable. There are 6 pinhole LEDs around the end of the CMOS to light up the field in front of it. The field of focus is fairly short (a few inches) and fully automatic. You focus moving closer or further away. The app has a bit of autofocus, as well. To use, go to the App Store for your smart device, and download the HD SEE app. Once the battery is charged on the camera module, turn on the WiFi radio. Go to your smart device’s WiFi settings and connect to the YPC’s WiFi. (The WiFi and password are listed on the head unit’s endcap.) Once it’s connected, go into the HD SEE program, and you’ll see the image from the camera. You will find controls for video recording, still image capture, and settings. There’s also a button (looks like two mountains, or upside down ice cream cones) that takes you to your photo and video library, but these are also accessible in your device’s default storage app.
Here’s what the photo gallery shows:
And here’s the video gallery:
As you can see from the above three screenshots, the app is not well-labeled or designed for high-resolution. These were taken on an iPhone 8 Plus.
The camera is easy to setup and use, but a bit difficult to control. I found that the shorter length you were pushing ahead of your hand, the more control you had. Once you feed it into a tight space, of course, this advantage is gone, but if you’re in a narrow passage, there’s not going to be much boinging around anyway. At the far end of the cable from the sensor is a wheel that adjusts the amount of light the tiny LEDs around the tip produce. (You can see it on the left in the photo below. You can see the reflection the LEDs make on the table in front of the camera.) This can make a huge difference not only in your photos and videos but in how well you can actually see details live.
For fun, I explored some hidden places in my kitchen and den. Like my wife’s coffee mug sitting on the counter:
And the crevice behind the canisters on the kitchen counter:
And under the gas logs in the fireplace. (This could actually be a productive use of this tool!)
While the camera behaved exactly as advertised, there were some things that I found myself wishing for. First, why WiFi? I have never attached to a data source (CD, DVD, Scanner, Camera, etc.) over WiFi and was not impressed. Bluetooth would have been much better, both for stability and for battery life. Let me explain. Since you’re probably somewhere that has a WiFi network and are connected to the internet, you’ll need to pause or maybe even delete the existing network connection in order to use the ‘scope. I found that if I didn’t, as soon as I powered off the MWay, the regular network would be accessed, and would never let the iPhone back on the MWay network without going back into Settings. This wouldn’t happen with BlueTooth. Smart devices are designed to have many concurrent Bluetooth connections and only a single WiFi connection.
The second issue is battery life. I could get maybe 20 minutes of active viewing and recording on a single charge. I tried to charge while connected, but this would play havoc with the network setup again, and also, the two outlets are so close as to prevent any but the narrowest connectors to fit simultaneously.
I suppose if you can find drivers, you could just plug the camera directly into the USB port on your computer and run an image capture utility to capture video or stills. I tried that on my Mac, but neither the WiFi nor the direct connection allowed me to use the attached camera. (I guess they feel when you have a really good camera attached, so why connect to a different one?)
What I Like
The unit is quite small
Works as advertised
No extras needed – complete kit shipped together
What needs to be improved
Image quality is low
WiFi connection is flaky
Battery life is short
Can not use while charging battery
Final thoughts
Seeing into hidden areas is really deep geekery, and this product scratches that itch. While it’s not perfect, and you’d never be able to film movies through the wall because of the short focal distance, it’s really nice for hunting for a lost part, watching a part that appears to be failing at times, or just randomly exploring places we can’t actually see into.
Price: $35.99 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by M Way.
