camera – Page 2 – chmod 644

Canon PowerShot SX740 HS

June 23, 2019 at 8:40pm by windracer

During our recent cruise to Hawaii, my three and a half year-old Canon PowerShot SX710 HS started having lens issues. Just what I needed in the middle of a 10-day trip to the most exotic location in the United States: a super-zoom camera that wouldn’t zoom. The lens would make a clicking noise as it extended and retracted, and sometimes just lock up, open, with a “lens error” displayed on screen. Luckily I had my iPhone 7 Plus and Olympus Stylus Tough TG-4 with me, but those aren’t super-zoom cameras.

I survived the rest of the trip (sometimes the camera worked, sometimes it didn’t) but the writing was on the wall: the SX710 needed to be replaced. Being a long-time Canon customer (since my first A70 back in 2003) and having liked the SX710, I selected the newer version Canon PowerShot SX740 HS as my new daily-use super-zoom camera.

Going all-in with Nest cameras

January 21, 2019 at 10:04pm by windracer

I seem to go through technology re-orgs every four years or so. To start off 2019 I decided to re-do my security camera setup.

My first cameras were installed in 2010 (Foscam outside, TRENDnet inside). In 2014 I switched my indoor cameras to Dropcams but since Dropcam (now Nest) didn’t have an outdoor solution at the time I went with PoE TRENDnet dome cameras outside. While this solution was perfectly functional and served me well for the past five years, it was a bit of a pain having to use two different apps to view the indoor vs. outdoor cameras. Now that there’s the Nest Outdoor (released in 2016 and then the IQ Outdoor in 2017), and I also have a Nest thermostat and smoke detectors, it was not a tough decision to consolidate and go with more Nest cameras.

Canon PowerShot SX710 HS and Olympus Stylus Tough TG-4

December 13, 2015 at 5:30pm by windracer

Despite being only four years old, my Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS had been showing its age: there were annoying dust specks on the CCD and it had been taking longer and longer to auto-focus, causing me to miss shots. I decided it was time for a new camera. The top features I wanted? A really good optical (not digital) zoom, preferably waterproof, WiFi/GPS, and, of course, a decent price. After doing a lot of research it became apparent I wasn’t going to find a single camera that met all my criteria, but with prices so good why not get two new cameras?

Being a long-time Canon customer (since my first A70 back in 2003) I selected the Canon PowerShot SX710 HS as my daily-use super-zoom camera. For the specialty waterproof/rugged camera, I chose the Olympus Stylus Tough TG-4.

TRENDnet TV-IP572PI PoE camera

June 28, 2014 at 3:45pm by windracer

My security camera re-org project continues as I upgrade my old indoor cameras to newer HD (and PoE) versions. I replaced the outside ones earlier this month and next on the list was my four year-old TRENDnet TV-IP121W which I replaced with the very similar, but newer TV-IP572PI.

Heli-Max 1SQ V-Cam quad-copter

June 15, 2014 at 5:07pm by windracer

For Father’s Day this year my wife and daughter got me a cool toy! The Heli-Max 1SQ V-CAM RC quad-copter. I had a Sears Lobo when I was a kid (it’s probably still in my parents’ basement) and loved racing that thing around in the street, especially with Turbo mode. Now I can take to the skies instead!

TRENDnet TV-IP311PI outdoor camera and TPE-TG44g PoE switch

June 10, 2014 at 7:32pm by windracer

Now that the wireless network re-design was done, I wanted to replace my aging Foscam outdoor cameras with newer, HD models. Installing the Ubiquiti UniFi AP was my first introduction to power-over-ethernet and I decided to move to PoE (instead of wireless) cameras. I already had TRENDnet cameras in my current setup, along with TRENDnet switches, so I decided to stick with that brand and selected the TV-IP311PI outdoor cameras and TPE-TG44g PoE switch.

Sony HDR-CX330

April 19, 2014 at 4:39pm by windracer

My daughter had to do some filming for a class project and the thought of having to transfer her video off of my old Panasonic PV-GS250 miniDV camcorder (in real-time) just wasn’t appealing. I decided it was time to get an HD camcorder. Since I needed it pretty quickly, I did some brief research on Consumer Reports and then purchased the Sony HDR-CX330 at my local Best Buy (online, with in-store pickup).

Security vulnerability in TRENDnet cameras – update now!

February 10, 2012 at 8:32pm by windracer

If you have a TRENDnet webcam that is accessible over the internet, a serious security vulnerability has been discovered that allows anyone to access the video stream without having to login/authenticate! I got an e-mail from TRENDnet about this earlier in the week, but not everyone registers their products so not everyone may be aware of the problem. Be sure to download the latest firmware update for your camera and apply it ASAP!

Eye-Fi Mobile X2

February 5, 2012 at 9:16pm by windracer

Since my new Canon PowerShot Elph 300HS required a Class 6 SDHC card to record 1080p HD video and also included native support for the Eye-Fi series of wireless-enabled SD cards, I decided to pick up a new Eye-Fi Mobile|X2 SDHC memory card.

Let’s be up-front about this: you pay a premium for the convenience of built-in WiFi. A regular 8gb Class 6 SDHC card runs about $10 on Amazon whereas the 8gb Mobile|X2 is 8 times that (although keep an eye out for price drops, I got mine for $60). On top of the higher price, you’ll get poorer battery life in your camera (unless your camera supports Eye-Fi cards in their menu system which lets you turn off the wireless sync to save battery life).