[TN-Bird] Camera-binoculars/ NY TIMES article-review
- From: Dthomp2669@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, BRDBRAIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Flabirding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 05:29:39 EST
Just in case you might be interested in what "they" think, here's an article
on binocular/digital cameras from today's NY TIMES.
Dee Thompson
Nashville, TN
March 24, 2005STATE OF THE ART
Sizing Up a New Species: Camera-Binoculars
By DAVID POGUE
HY do bird-watchers get up so early?
Yeah, yeah - that's when the birds are the most active, sure. But there may
be another reason: if the bird-watchers in your family are the only ones in the
field by 5 a.m., who could doubt their claim to have seen the elusive
bittern, siskin, shrike or blue-footed booby?
After all, bird-watching is an intensely private affair. It's just you and
your binoculars. Nobody else sees what you're seeing. And once you've seen it,
nobody else ever will.
Or at least that's how it used to be, before the invention of binoculars with
built-in digital cameras. The appeal to bird-watchers should be obvious: not
only can you prove your sightings, but you can also bring home photos or
digital movies in search of second opinions or comparisons with your stack of
field
guides. And it's not just bird-watching; these hybrid gadgets should also
appeal to anyone who takes binoculars to sporting events, concerts, the opera
and
so on.
(Apparently, the proper term is binocular, singular, as in, "Congratulations
on the purchase of your new digital binocular." But frankly, that's just as
pretentious as barbers who refer to a "quality scissor" or sales clerks at
department stores who praise khakis as "a superior pant.")
Now, the idea of camera-binoculars makes obvious, satisfying sense; as hybrid
gadgets go, they rank right up there with the clock radio and the toaster
oven. You should be warned, though, that the majority of digital binocs sold
through catalogs in the $50 to $80 range are no-name models that take
camera-phone-quality 640-by-480-pixel photos. If you really did see a
buff-bellied pipit
on your roof, you'd be better off drawing it with crayons.
Fortunately, some of the big-name binocular makers have taken this category
more seriously. The four models they submitted for review - the Bushnell
Instant Replay and Compact Instant Replay, the Celestron VistaPix and the Meade
CaptureView CV-4 - are excellent binoculars in the $160 to $425 range.
As for the digital photo part - well, you get the distinct impression that
these sporting equipment companies are still a little new at the game. The
photo
resolution is fairly low: two or three megapixels, suitable for 8-by-10
prints at best. A lot of typical digital camera features are missing, too,
including optical zoom, rechargeable batteries and flash (not that a flash
would be
useful at 100 feet). These are fixed-focus cameras, too.
Most alarming of all, the photo quality on some of these models ranges from
mediocre - too many shots wind up blurry, a casualty of the camera shake that
results from such powerful magnification - to worthless, especially when
indoors and in twilight. If you're used to real digital cameras, your
disappointment
in the results will range from mild to hysterical. More on this topic in a
moment (and at http://www.nytimes.com/circuits, where you can see some sample
shots).
All four models are ruggedly built and offer 8X magnification. All four let
you turn on the camera portion independently (the binocs always work). All four
take AA or AAA batteries, and munch through them in less than an afternoon.
All four come with a carrying case, straps and a cable for showing your photos
on a TV. All can easily transfer photos and movies to a Windows computer
(described in the manuals) and Mac OS X (not mentioned).
All but the Celestron can also film away as you watch, then store a digital
movie - at the touch of a button - of only the last 10 or 20 seconds. This
feature, called Instant Replay or Flashback, is so useful that it ought to make
its way into digital cameras and camcorders.
What's so smart about the idea is that it perfectly suits the kinds of
situations for which you use binoculars. Waiting for that dark-eyed junco to
emerge
from its hole? Instant Replay throws away all the boring waiting-around
footage and retains only the magic moment. Tracking your child on the soccer
field?
Tap the button to retain only the goal-making part. Not sure when your
youngster's name will be called to collect the diploma or karate trophy? Start
filming when the last names approach yours alphabetically; you'll store only
the
truly important one.
This is a new product category, so there's no standard definition of a
digi-binoc. It's downright charming to see how differently these companies have
dreamed up their takes on the same task.
The most oddball model, for sure, is the Meade CaptureView CV-4 8x30 (about
$180), a two-megapixel model that in May will be joined by the 3.2-megapixel
CV-6 with what the company says is improved low-light sensitivity. (The first
number of specs for binoculars, the 8 here, indicates the degree of
magnification. The second, 30, is the diameter of each lens; higher numbers
mean a
brighter image. As for the prices cited here: they come from Amazon.com,
shopper.com
and www.bhphoto.com. Cam-binocs are such a new category that it's hard to find
them all on any one price-comparison site.)
Some of the Meade's eccentricities are extremely desirable. For example, it's
the only waterproof model in this roundup. And when you connect the U.S.B.
cable to your Mac or PC, the camera draws all its power from the computer
instead of draining the batteries. (How do you know this? Because the flap that
reveals the U.S.B. connector is also the top of the battery compartment, and
opening it pulls the upper contacts away from the batteries.)
Other quirks are less delightful. The Meade's binocular focus knob, for
example, is on the underside, where it's difficult to reach. All four models
feature a tiny (1.5 inches) liquid-crystal display screen that lets you frame
and
play back your photos, but the Meade's screen is the only one that doesn't pop
up. It lies flat on the upper surface of the binoculars (for waterproofness,
says the company). To see the screen, you have to turn the binocs 90 degrees,
pointing at the sky. So much for the yellow-rumped warbler you were trying to
photograph on your suet feeder.
The two-megapixel Celestron VistaPix 8x32 (around $160) has its ups and
downs, too. It has separate, dedicated Photo and Movie buttons, which is more
important than you might imagine; as the rare red-flanked bluetail alights on a
fence post, the last thing you want to do is waste time burrowing into the
menus
to switch from movie mode to photo mode. (The Bushnell Instant Replay offers
this feature, too.)
On the other hand, the Celestron's eyecups extend only slightly behind the
hard plastic body, meaning almost certain bruising for any but the most
plastic-surged noses. And the Celestron's status as the least expensive model
is
clearly evident when you look at the fruits of its circuitry. The low-light
photos
are disastrous, and the movies have all the clarity of that old "Bigfoot in
the forest" film.
Bushnell's three-megapixel Instant Replay 8x32 model ($425) is big, black and
military-looking. In the binocular department, it blows away its competition:
the binocular image is the biggest and the brightest, focusing is easy and
precise, and the controls are cleanly designed.
Moreover, this is the only model whose camera sensor records exactly what the
binoculars see; on the other models, the camera has its own separate lens, so
the photos may not match exactly what you saw.
Too bad about the photo and video part. The image quality is just so-so, both
in the photos and on the pop-up screen; the manual's suggestion that you use
the coarse, washed-out L.C.D. for focusing makes you mutter, "Easy for you to
say."
Clearly, Bushnell is capable of doing better, though, because its newer,
smaller Compact Instant Replay (also called the ImageView) gets almost
everything
right. The screen is bright and sharp, and the 3.1-megapixel photos are
nothing to be ashamed of, tying the Meade for best of breed.
These are also the only binoculars that can take TV-quality movies (640 by
480 pixels, 30 frames per second), which is state of the art even by digital
camera standards. Too bad you have to burrow into a menu to switch from movie
to
photo mode, but at least the menus are big, bold and easy to navigate. And the
price - $220 from stores like cabelas.com - is right.
Now, camera enthusiasts may be snickering already. "Three megapixels? Grainy
photos? 8X zoom? Why, my regular digital camera takes five-megapixel photos
that look sensational - and it's got a 10X zoom lens! Why would I buy a wannabe
like these binoculars?"
There's some merit in that argument (if you ignore the fact that digital
cameras with 7X to 10X zooms cost a lot more). But just as you wouldn't want a
pair of binoculars as your sole recording instrument at a family reunion, so
you
wouldn't want to use a digital camera for minutes-at-a-time watching. That's
something that binoculars - with their big, bright, rubber-lined eyepieces -
make comfortable and effective.
And now, thanks to the integration of basic digital photo features, you can
do more with these binocs than sit out in the bushes for hours at a time while
the sun comes up. At last, you can bring home proof of what you've been up to.
E-mail: Pogue@xxxxxxxxxxx
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