Steam Deck Inbound!

HAHAHAHAHA!!  Yeah, I'm on a tear this year regarding tech.  The last few months I've bought close to $1K in videography equipment.  Now I also bought a Steam Deck.

Which Steam Deck did I get?  The 1 TB OLED model.  It didn't make sense to get the 512 when the 1 TB was only $100 more...seriously.

It shipped yesterday and is supposed to arrive on 4/9.  What I'm worried about are the UPS workers.  These gaming systems tend to disappear after they ship but before they're delivered, which is extremely sad.  It doesn't help that Valve keeps using exterior packaging that labels the package as a Steam Deck (WTF).  I tried to have the shipment diverted to a UPS store (I heard that this method lessens theft - I guess it does since the onus is on the driver at that point), but UPS states that the shipper (Valve) won't allow delivery to UPS stores (WTF Valve).

There's a chance that I won't receive this unit, which will piss me off, as I've waited 5 days for it to ship AND Valve won't allow me to re-route it.  If it ends up "lost", I'll have to reach out to Valve, who will eventually ship me another one...if that happens, I'm going to insist that they ship to a UPS store and if they can't, I'll ask for a refund.  As well, UPS needs to quit letting this happen (it's a very common thing for their employees to steal these gaming systems).

For now, I'm just waiting for it to ship.  I don't think I need to order any other items for use with the gaming system.  Since it's 1 TB, I don't need a micro SD card right now (eventually, I may want one).  I have ordered a 100W charger as a backup to the OEM one.  I may eventually order a docking station for it.  I may also order a carry case and other accessories - I won't know exactly what I want until I start using the system.

My daughter bought one for her brother last year (a 512 GB LCD unit), then after seeing his, she bought a 512 GB OLED unit.  I saw both of theirs and wanted one, but didn't want to spend the money at the time.  I now have the money.  :)

As always, I'll keep you all up to date on my experience.

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 - Extra Accessories are Here!

I stated in the prior post that I'd ordered extra parts for my Osmo Pocket 3.  They arrived today.

I found that I had an error in the order - I ordered two battery handles.  I've decided to keep it instead of returning it.  I can ensure that it is charged so that I can use it to give me extra run time, if that's what I'd need.  I can always sell it later if I decide I don't need it, but I'm sure I can use it.

I've already charged up the battery handles.  

I've also charged up the Mic 2 transmitter and have it linked to the OP3.  I've adjusted it's gain, as well, and configured it's settings in the OP3 menu.  I just have to use it now.  The Mic looks really nice.  At one point, I was going to try to use a different brand of mic but decided to stick with DJI since it would probably work better with the camera than a 3rd party mic setup, plus, the OP3 has built-in receivers that I'm not sure will work with other makes of mic transmitters.

The case is smaller than I'd thought it would be, but it holds most of my things.

The tripod is very nice...it's smaller than the one I've been using, but it's quite as stable, but it should suffice.

The wide angle lense is cool.  I'm not actually sure if I'll ever need it, as I don't see a huge difference in gained angle.

I ordered extra mic wind covers, as well as the mic magnets, but I found that I didn't need them, because DJI includes both of those with the Mic 2.  I'm a bit upset about that, because their product page should state that those come with the Mic.  I'll keep what I have as spares.  Oh yeah, that magnet is STRONG!

The expansion adapter is something that I probably didn't need, but it can probably be used with my GoPro harnesses and other mounting accessories.  At some point, I may use it.  I thought it would offer USB-C port expansion, but it doesn't, which is a shame.

I will attempt to capture some footage over the next few days to test the Mic 2 setup.  I may just record footage as I'm taking my daily walks.

Oh, and I also bought a good SD card, one that's listed on the OP3 product page as recommended specs - I bought the Lexar 256 GB card, which would give me 4+ hours of top spec footage.  I shouldn't need anymore than that, but if I do, I'll buy the 512 GB Lexar card.

Initially, I thought the OP3 would make my GoPro H10 Black redundant, but I still need that for the firearms range.  I have dialed up the recording resolution to 4K @ 60 FPS (watch the camera overheat at the next range visit).

I Went Ahead And Purchased the Creator Kit Accessories...

Today, I purchased the extra accessories that come with the Creator Kit Pocket 3 package.  I bought them directly from the DJI store.

Yeah, this ended up being quite a bit more expensive than if I'd just purchased the Creator Kit.

I also had told myself that I wouldn't be buying the Mic 2 transmitter, but after looking at the alternatives, I decided to stick with (and trust) DJI's audio solution.

As well, DJI didn't have the windscreen and clip magnet in stock, so I bought those two (3rd party vendors) through Amazon.

I also bought a micro SD card, since most of the cards I normally use are too slow (I've been getting warnings from the camera and the camera sometimes stops recording when the warnings appear).  I bought the Lexar 256GB 160MB/s reading, 120MB/s writing, C10, U3, V30, A2 card, since that's what was advertised as 100% working on the DJI website.  I bought that card through Amazon, as well (from the Lexar Amazon store).

I guess I'm all-in with this camara now.  The only things I don't have are ND filters and the extra audio things (receiver, extra transmitter, and the RX/TX charger).

Alternative Mic Solutions for DJI Osmo Pocket 3

I was conducting research on the DJI Mic 2, prepping for an eventual purchase, when I saw that they've an issue with low audio levels.

I didn't want to spend $100 on an audio solution that has issues.  Additionally, DJI appears to be actively ignoring the complaints of low audio being captured by the Mic 2.

I also looked at wireless alternatives, but the alternatives are more expensive than the Mic 2!

In searching for wired alternatives, I found the following video:

This guy explains several alternate mic setups and describes/lists the hardware requirements.

What I saw was that I can use a 3.5mm jack to USB-C adapter, a 3.5mm TRS to TTRS mic patch cable, and a wired mic (or shotgun mic).  I found those parts and added them to an Amazon wish list for near-future purchasing.

I also ended up subscribing to the video author since he offered very helpful information!

The Pocket 3 Has Arrived!

I received the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 on Thursday (3/21).  Initial thoughts are below.

I was surprised at the small size of the box!  The camera is also smaller than I expected.

The camera's battery had a a 45% charge, so I got to immediately activate it, which was pretty easy - I hear it's easier to set up if you've an iPhone or iPad.

Now, since I'd not been able to purchase Amazon's insurance (the transaction borked but the transaction for the Pocket 3 went through), and the DJI activation process was asking me if I wanted to purchase DJI Care Refresh (which is a protection program), I bought 2 years of that, which is $55.  Now I don't have to worry about the camera being damaged.  Note that although the unit is covered by insurance, to replace the camera, the owenr would still need to pay $35.  As well, I get for replacement instances, if need be.

I was also worried about the battery eventually depleting, but that is covered by DJI Care Refresh, as well.

I bought a 30W charger a few days before I received the Pocket 3.  It works well and the Pocket 3 Fast-charged to 100% in like 25 minutes.  As much as this camera costs, you'd think they'd include a charger -- maybe they think that folks will already have chargers (30W isn't really commonplace for chargers, though).

The camera easily mounts on a tripod, as it includes a tripod extension that attaches to the bottom of the camera.  I've been using it with a desk tripod.

I recorded some test videos, using the camera as a standalone camera.  I also recorded test footage using it as a webcam (using Photo Booth and QuickTime).  I recorded 1080p footage and the results were astonishing.

I used the following video to get the camera's settings to a baseline state (for me):

I now have the camera configured to use 1440p/60fps as the default video resolution and speed.  I recorded some test footage and the result is absolutely astounding!  I was able to use face tracking and even used object tracking (I was presenting a firearm and had the camera track it while I handled it).  I later posted that footage to YouTube, after editing it with DaVinci Resolve and rendering it (it took a bit for me to determine how to render it in 1440p - I had to render it a second time before I had it correctly configured).

I also have installed LightCut (which is editing software that is published by a company that DJI is partnered with) on both my Macbook Air and my iPhone.  I will take a look at the MBA editor tomorrow to see if it'll be worthwhile in using.  I do not care to use it on my iPhone, though - I can't imagine editing videos using a smartphone.

The camera isn't waterproof and it's gimbal is probably easily damaged, so my next purchase is probably going to be a case (there's nothing I can do about it not being waterproof, though).

Then following purchase will probably be the Mic 2 transmitter, although the test footage seems to indicate that the mics on the camera are adequate (for me).  Or, maybe I should purchase the extra battery.  Maybe I'll just flip a coin to determine which to get.

I have a lane at the range reserved tomorrow.  For now, I'll keep using the GoPro but I might take the Pocket 3 and set it up on my left side on the range table, just to see what type of footage it'll capture.

I'll post updates on my experiences.

Using the MBA, the iPhone 13 PM, & QuickTime to Capture Video

I was recording video footage today and decided to do two things that I hadn't ever done.

I wanted some really good detailed footage, but also wanted to be able to zoom in on my subject.  My GoPro is usually my primary camera, but it doesn't zoom like a smartphone or DSLR camera.  

I tried to use my PC's Logitech C922 streaming camera, but that doesn't zoom either.  It only produces 1080p footage, as well, but it's pretty clear and my M1 Macbook Air (MBA) immediately detects it; I'm able to use that camera's microphone, too.  The C922 works far better than the camera that is integrated into the MBA (that's a 720p camera).

I'd forgotten that I can now use my iPhone 13 Pro Max as a desktop camera with recent versions of iOS but hadn't tried it.  I tried it and it captures extremely nice footage!  Not only that, there's NO latency - the MBA connects to the iPhone wirelessly and you'd never know it wasn't a wired connection.

As well, I'd been using Photobooth to collect footage.  While the footage is OK, it's also somewhat limited.  I also lost footage, several times...the recording session sometimes freezes.  So I did some quick research on any native methods of recording footage on a Mac.  I found that I can use Quicktime to record footage.  Not only that, I can point it toward the iPhone and leverage the phone as a camera.  Also, I can record audio only, if I've the need to.  Additionally, I can record the desktop!  I can choose between different cameras and can rely upon their audio hardware, and I can even mix up cameras and mics across different devices when using QuickTime.

So, what I did was use QuickTime to record, using the iPhone 13 PM and using the Logitech C922's mic.  I was also able to hold up the subjects of the recording session to the 13 PM and it would focus on the items while they were close-up to the camera.  I'm not sure how to manipulate the camera's resolution and other recording options when using QuickTime, though.  By default, it recorded at 1080p, and used ProRES.

The resulting footage was great.  It had good detail and was not blurry, nor did the focus hunt and change...it maintained focus on it's own.  The recorded file was on the MBA, as well, which is pretty wild...the footage didn't glitch out or have any artifacts and the recording session didn't lag or appear that it was under any stress.  I'd saved the files to my SanDisk 2TB drive, so none of it consumed system drivespace.

I should've been using my 13PM a long time ago.  I'd been trying to use it as a standalone camera, but found that the resulting video files were huge and I'd have to transfer them to the MBA, which was a PITA.  As well, the large files consumed my phone's storage space, so I was always at the space limit.

Using the 13PM as a camera when using the MBA is the better way, by far!

I'll be attempting to determine how to up the recording resolution when using the 13PM as a MBA camera.

BTW, the resulting video is here:

Davinci Resolve - A Great Experience When Using It With an M1 Mac

I mentioned maybe a month ago that I'm now using Davinci Resolve to manipulate videos to post to YouTube.  I'm still using it.  I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to using iMovie.

Prior to iMovie, I was using Cyberlink PowerDirector, which was OK, but felt a bit bloated and cumbersome to use.  That software as full-featured, though, and much more robust than iMovie.  I used Cyberlink PD on my Del G7 17", and while PD didn't crash, it always caused the cooling fans to kick in.  As well, it would take a while to create videos.  I had bought a one year subscription and let it lapse.  While the software was OK, it wanted something better.

I tried Davinci Resolve because I heard someone mention it on one of the Mac-centric subreddits.  Not only that, I wanted to try to use my M1-powered Mac to crunch video, as I'd only used iMovie.  I knew that Resolve would leverage GPUs (it's probably a requirement) and had heard that M1 Macs were very efficient when compiling video footage.  Yeah, I'd used iMovie, but no real professional is using that to create movies.

When I crunched my first video on my M1 Mac, using Resolve, I was shocked.  Two things were immediately apparent.  One, the M1 Mac didn't studder when editing footage like my Dell G7 does.  Granted, my G7 is only powered by a 5 yr old i5 CPU and is running a mobile version of the RTX 2060.  The system is probably throttling, too (most non-Mac laptops do).  Secondly, the compilation portion is FAST, no matter what configuration you are using.  I crunched some ProRES footage and the M1 positively flew through the process.

Yeah, I'm not going back and will probably purchase a license for Resolve so that I can use some of the features that are locked in the free version.  I may as well pay for a license if I'm going to use it as my primary editor.

Update on Vlogging Camera Purchase

I posted here about trying to decide on a good vlogging camera.

I went ahead and purchased the Pocket 3.  I bought the base kit, but I also purchased a 30W charger for this camera, as well as 2 years of Asurion insurance.  

As I begin to use the camera, I'll purchase what I feel I'd need for me to collect my normal video footage.  I don't necessarily need a desk tripod, as I already have two of them, plus an actual floor tripod.  If I find I need extra battery life, I'll buy the battery pack.  I may need extra things such as a travel case or BT microphone, but I'll buy those later.  

I already have microSD cards, as well.  

I've been trying to decide this for approximately 6-8 months.  The Pocket 3 is just more versatile than everything I was already considering.  GoPro doesn't have anything like it and there are things I hate about GoPro.  The Insta cams just aren't on the same level as the Pocket 3, either.  If I find I'm having issues, I can lean on the Asurion insurance like I did when I had trouble with the Akaso (I should've never even considered that camera).  

I'll post my experiences with the Pocket 3 as I use it!

UPDATE (3/20/2024):  I ordered the Pocket 3 on the 10th of March.  It is now late night on the 20th of March.  Amazon has been showing the past 10 days that it would be delivered between 19 and 21 March, with no other notification, which is odd.  Only today did it say that it was shipped.  I'm not sure if they (Amazon) got a large shipment of equipment from DJI, or, maybe the unit shipped from China to the DJI factory?  Also, I'd wanted but couldn't afford the Creator kit.  The difference between the Creator kit and the basic kit is $150, price-wise, but the Creator has like seven (7) extra accessories and the total price for those accessories when bought separately is approximately $327!  I was going to return my basic kit and purchase the Creator kit but shipping is a long wait and I've heard it's gotten worse since I've ordered...folks are complaining of a 30 day wait through Best Buy, Amazon, and even DJI.  This could be due to folks thinking that DJI will be banned from selling some hardware (drones).  So, I guess I'll keep the basic kit and separately buy the more important pieces of hardware (Mic 2 transmitter, wide angle lens, and battery handle).

I want a vlogging camera but...

I want to purchase a vlogging camera but I've also being doint quite a bit of desktop recording (I've a Youtube channel and I upload those recordings).

There are three cameras that I'm focusing on:

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 - $519

Obsbot Tail Air - $499

Obsbot Tiny 2 - $329

By the way, Obsbot is pronounced "Obs Bot".  There's some guy that published a Youtube review that called it "Oh Bee Ess Bot" throughout a 20 min review...it was annoying AF.

Neither of them are cheap and all three of them are Chinese brands.  Of the two brands, DJI is the more well-known, by far.

The Obsbot cameras utilize AI (primarily for on-camera gesture commands, which they are generally good at executing).

The Pocket 3 has a 3-axis gimbal.  DJI also has a good ecosystem of accessories.

The Obsbot cameras have 2-axis gimbal cameras. The two cameras are not action cameras, although the Tail Air can be used outdoors.  Both cameras can be controlled by remote contols, which is an extra cost for each - $50 for the Tiny 2's remote and $80 for the Tail Air's remote.  Both cameras support resolution as high as 4K @ 30 FPS.  Both use digital zoom (4X), but the Pocket 3 uses 10X digital zoom.

The Tail Air can be used in a standalone fashion, is portable and can be used wirelessly...it can be used in the woods or park or on a busy sidewalk.  It can be used while being carried.  It also has image stabilization.  The Tail Air also has the option of USB-C to Ethernet connectivity.  It has 2.5 hour battery time.  I also asked a reviewer how long this camera takes to charge the battery after it's been depleted, and he said his experience has been approximately 90 minutes.

The Tiny 2, on the other hand, is pretty much dedicated for desktop use, as it is corded.  I do not believe it has image stabilization (it's made for use on a desk).

The Tail Air will accept microSD cards and has a rechargeable battery.  It also has several microphones built into it's casing, but can also be tethered to an external wired microphone.  This camera can also be manipulated via smartphone app.

I've been asking questions on the Amazon product pages for all three cameras and of the two companies, only DJI has replied back.  

I've been trying to get Obsbot to engage me but they have not answered on Amazon (for both Tiny 2 and Tail Air questions on each of the product pages) and on Reddit.  That is concerning.  If they are quiet now, they're going to be hard to reach if I have a problem or need to return an item or have it fixed.  A workaround for that would be to purchase 3rd party insurance through Amazon (via Asurion).

Between the two Obsbot products, the Tail Air is almost $200 more than the Tiny 2.  Does it offer $200 more in capability?  Yes.  Is it on par with the Osmo Pocket 3?  I've seen two good reviews that demonstrate that it's not quite on par with the Pocket 3, and the Pocket 3 isn't much more than the Tail Air.

One thing that I'm concerned about with the Pocket 3 and the Tail Air is the battery life.  Batteries have finite longevity.  As they age, their charge retainment lessens.  DJI has a battery replacement plan for the Pocket 3 (they charge you but it's not expensive to replace a worn battery).  The Pocket 3 also can be tethered when the battery is worn to the point that it will no longer hold a charge.  You can also use it while it's charging.  The Tail Air, as far as I'm aware, does not have a battery replacement plan, which is bad, because that device is $500 and you lose some capability if the battery stops holding a charge or if the charge capacity lessens.  If the battery stops charging, I'm assuming it can still be used as a corded device.  I'm unaware if you can still use the device when it's charging but the assumption is, yes.

The one thing that the Pocket might be incapable of is using it as a streaming camera as a desktop/studio device.

I'm obviously leaning toward the Pocket 3, but I'm still conducting research.

UPDATE (3/10/2024):  I was crafting this post at maybe 2 AM.  It is now 8:25 PM (same day).  I went ahead and purchased the Pocket 3.  I bought the base kit, but I also purchased a 30W charger for this camera, as well as 2 years of Asurion insurance.  As I begin to use the camera, I'll purchase what I feel I'd need for me to collect my normal video footage.  I don't necessarily need a desk tripod, as I already have two of them, plus an actual floor tripod.  If I find I need extra battery life, I'll buy the battery pack.  I may need extra things such as a travel case or BT microphone, but I'll buy those later.  I already have microSD cards, as well.  I've been trying to decide this for approximately 6-8 months.  The Pocket 3 is just more versatile than everything I was already considering.  GoPro doesn't have anything like it and there are things I hate about GoPro.  The Insta cams just aren't on the same level as the Pocket 3, either.  If I find I'm having issues, I can lean on the Asurion insurance like I did when I had trouble with the Akaso (I should've never even considered that camera).  I'll post my experiences with the Pocket 3 as I use it!