Where’s Wally?

This sleep-deprived blogger is writing from the location in the video. OK, perhaps the video is a tad dull but…   How can it be better marketed? Hey, how about considering the Where’s Wally video a test of a $25 camcorder that arrived from China last week. Still not good enough? OK, let’s interact. Shoulder the burden dear readers.

Guess the location! Elaborate in mind numbing detail on the recording quality of the camera used to film it!

Or engage in neither activity, vacation mode means we care a lot… not… but this blog and its vaunted journalistic rigour will return… it won’t happen overnight, but it will heppen (sic).

The video is legitimate, the give away is that the photographer (and author) was too lazy to even open the glass sliding door to film!

Lazy mode has been engaged.  The Autopilot is grumpy so it is prudent not to disturb her! As per usual this blog has no affiliation with any product or merchant. Our independence cannot be bought, although all serious enquiries may be considered. 

Further discussion

Budget camcorders

Budget video camcorders with mic inputs

These days it is easy to get satisfactory quality video recordings even on mobile phones. But audio quality is generally poor from the inbuilt monophonic microphone. Earlier in the week, this blogger hurriedly recorded a radio presentation video (Mackay tropospheric reception) via a Panasonic Lumix digital camera.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 Digitalkamera (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The results were unusable, despite the fact the camera was positioned barely 20 centimetres away! Only a masochist could sit through this sort of inaudible, barely voice-grade audio!

Apparently this is a common frustration. Entrepreneur BigFish1 writes on Squidoo:

It appears over the last few years manufacturers of common consumer camcorders have forgotten or just have neglected this important aspect in making camcorders. Most camcorders you find in stores have a built-in microphone, which usually provide only fair to downright poor sounding audio. This is especially evident if you try to zoom in on someone with your camcorder, but end up capturing the sound around the camcorder, the end result is usually very poor quality.

From Ebay, a small sample of the High Definition pocket video camera recorders with microphone input was taken. These models are both in ready supply and affordable. Prices include delivery to Australia.

Kodak zi8 HD compact digital camera (Photo credit: Ebay)

The Zi8 is available secondhand from $215

Kodak zi10 HD compact digital camera (Photo credit: Ebay)

The Playtouch ZI10 is available new from $122

 

Related articles

• What to Look For in a Pocket Camcorder (lockergnome.com)
• Why you should choose a Camcorder over Digital camera? (all-camcorders.net)