Guatemala: vendiendo nisperos en el mercado
Quick screengrab from a video shot on Canon PowerShot Elph SD630 in the mercado yesterday morning. I'm tinkering around in iMovie and FinalCut, editing little short form videos using two kinds of footage: lower-res stuff shot on this tiny device, and HD video shot with the Sony HDR-HC3 (shoots video in high-def or standard format to miniDV). The great thing about video on the altoid-tin-sized SD630 (and similar ultracompact devices) is that the device is absolutely unobtrusive. You can move through public places with camera in hand, and not attract unwanted attention in crowds. The Sony HC3 is very small for a camcorder, but -- it's still a camcorder, and it attracts attention in circumstances where crowd attention is not a safe thing. The tradeoff is always stealthability/mobility versus image quality.
Tiny, inexpensive cameras are great for shooting video "notes" for yourself, or capturing snippets of environmental ambience. Nobody's going to want to watch 2 straight hours of this stuff on a big screen, but if the end result is online anyway, the limited res capability isn't a big sacrifice. Thank you, YouTube, for lowering image quality expectations!
Just as with still photos, it seems the camera you have with you at all times is the best one.
Labels: Guatemala
3 Comments:
Hello Xeni,
Yes, those little cameras are great! I think my wife's Dr. thought i was shooting occasional stills of her c-section birth of our son, while I was really grabbing 640x480, 30 fps video on a SD800. Very stealthy, yet broadcast quality.
If you have a decent internet connection, little shots from cameras like those can be easily assembled at Eyespot.com. Shoot 320x240 to keep the size down, or export Movie to iPod. Heck, Pentax makes cameras that shoot in DivX format, so the compression is done when you shoot. Quicker uploads.
Hi Xeni,
Great to see you exploring Guate! I spent three years there in Peace Corps. It is an extremely diverse and interesting country. If you have the time, you should try to visit a PC volunteer in the "campo". Most volunteers do some very interesting appropriate technology work such as building energy efficient stoves. There are a number of current volunteers who have blogs. Here is one:
http://www.cklewisnguat.blogspot.com/
Que te vaya bien!
Jon
Did you try the nisperos? I had some in Mexico once and they were the most delicious fruit I'd ever tasted.
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