144/365 - Jim - 8mm

( f/11 36mm 1/125 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

This is a Kodak Brownie 8 Movie Camera from the 60's. It takes 8mm reels of film. My grandpa had this in the mix of old cameras he gave me. There was film in it that I pulled out for this photo. I wonder what was on it... There was also a sealed canister with film in it that says it should be processed before OCT 73, so I assume it's no good anymore. The way the camera works is you wind it up with the knob on the side, then you push the button under the lens to feed the film through. When I first looked at the camera I opened it up and noticed film in it already. I quickly thought oh no, I don't want to expose this to light and ruin it. But then I realized it's probably far gone. It would be fun to film with it now and get a real vintage look, but it would probably be a hassle to get film and get it processed. Oh well, I'll just use my new HD camcorder :)

120/365 - Jim - Panasonic AG-HMC150

( f/8 50mm 1/125 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

I have finally upgraded to HD video. This is the Panasonic AG-HMC150. It records to SDHC cards, so there is no tape to bother with. A big bonus to that is that it records to AVCHD, which my PS3 can play. I took a few little videos tonight and put the SD card into my PS3 and it played them without any issues and the quality was superb. This is going to be a lot of fun. I need to learn how to use it though and there isn't a whole lot of information online yet. I may have to start up yet another blog to document what I have learned...

The main reason I got this was to film my children as they grow up. I only have a couple short clips of myself turning 1 and almost walking. The quality is horrible, so it will be nice in 30 years to at least have videos that are the best quality of today. Who knows what TV will be like then...

114/365 - Jim - Panasonic PV-GS400

( f/16 70mm 1/125 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

I plan on selling my camcorder, so I figured I would take some photos of it for potential buyers. This is a Panasonic PV-GS400 which I got when it first came out for $1200. It got great reviews from places such as camcorderinfo.com. It records to miniDV tapes and can take 4 megapixel still images onto an SD card. There is even a built in pop-up flash. A friend of mine was attending the Pittsburgh Filmmakers school and they have these camcorders for the students to make films with. The reason I want to sell it is to upgrade to high def. If you have any interest, take a look at the camcorderinfo review and send me an email.