# vid camera for dog work ?



## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

anyone have or used a waterproof video cam w/ a HD that has a wireless remote for dog work ?
a customer wants me to send vid 

since i work by myself 90% of the time an Iphone camera is a non starter and way too clumsy to work a camera and dog at the same time

if i set up a tripod with a wide angle to try and get a large field of view and turn it on i burn up lots of wasted video and i am NOT gonna learn video editing ... email is bad enuff :-(
- i figure if i had one w/ a wireless remote, i could at least handle switching it on/off while still working the dog and maybe get some keeper clips without wasting a bunch of GB's requiring editing

searching thru the camera reviews hasn't been productive yet .....found some waterproof but no wireless remote accessory avail

the GoPro looks rugged and easy to mount but doesn't seem to have wireless remote avail

one called Poseidon seemed perfect until i saw it was no longer available :-(

will get into the search function later to see if this has been covered in a previous thread, but if anyone is using this set up now please show me the way


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## Craig Snyder (May 7, 2012)

Try this cam: It's not wireless however.

http://www.firevideo.net/

I've ussed an older model of this cam for a few years now on my fire helmet. It does a good job and is rugged. Mine is a bit larger and outdated now compared to the newer ones. But depending on the SD card you insert you can record over an hour of video with little problem. More than enough for recording most training sessions. I use rechargeable batteries as well and keep standard batteries for back up.

These cams are a bit pricer and there are cheaper alternatives available. But if you want something that can be mounted almost anywhere, (including on a dog's vest), is rugged and waterproof, this is your guy. I've seen them mounted to headbands for different things. Sat it on a fence post or rail, etc..

It downloads easily via a USB port to most computers where you can do simple edits using standard MAC or Windows software. If you want to do fancy editing and make almost professional grade videos I recommned the Pinnacle suite of products. Pinnacle Studio 15 is very good and pretty easy to learn. Abotu $70.00 on the internet. They also have some cheaper products.

http://estore.pinnaclesys.com/store/avidtech/DisplayHomePage

Craig


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

Tx for the links Craig
that looks like one strong puppy !

...the software scares me a bit  but if it isn't too hard to cut out the wasted stuff to make a smaller vid to send i just might give it a shot and forget about the wireless remote 
...since it's made for fire work, is it still ok for exposures in direct sun ??

....lot cheaper than the Go Pro too

i saw that the Poseidon is still avail on ebay and they have a wireless remote
...anyone use it ?


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## Craig Snyder (May 7, 2012)

Bright sun isn't a problem. However like any video or camera work you really don't want to be looking directly into the sun. Unless you're doing an sunrise/sunset pic. But bright sun in the afternoon should not be an issue. I've recorded many a car fire or brush fire in bright mid day sun with no issues.

Don't be scared of the software! It doesn't bite!!!! 

Seriously, most of it is pretty much point and click, drag and drop.

It comes with several mounting options as well whcih I'm sure with some igenuity and creativity you can get it to work for you.

Keep in mind that when filming video, the Frames per second is important and for MOST purposes you really don't need the HD. 30 frames per second is considered real-time live video. But for most internet videos and demo videos you can usually get by with 15-20 frames and lower resolutions with little destruction of the quality. This can cut the final size of your video down a lot.

Keep in mind that the more frames per second and the better the quality, the more GB's you are going to use. Many mail services don't allow transfers of large videos so keep that in mind when thinking about emailing to a client. You may need to burn the vid onto a CD. Or post it here on the forum for all of us to see.

Craig


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## Edward Egan (Mar 4, 2009)

Why the need for water proof?


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

i do lots of work in and out of the rain and the monsoon season is coming soon ... couple weeks of constant downpours :-(

a cam that isn't waterproof won't last long even if i try to be careful
i know they make ziploc type waterproof cases, but don't want to hassle with that


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

(Kyushu Japan) ... i'm near the harbor, tropical in summer and humidity is high .... rust is a fact of life
even a "hi quality" nickel coated fastener lasts a season before it rusts up ... so it's either stainless or marine brass for hardware here too :-(

sometimes i wish i was back in SoCal


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## Edward Egan (Mar 4, 2009)

I see the need. Just keep in mind video through a rain cover lense isn't that good usually.


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## Edward Egan (Mar 4, 2009)

Also cheap, basic video editing software is easy. I use Power Director and it's really easy and fast, provided you have decent PC power/CPU. So I'd forget about the remote.

For do it yourself video recording, I'd set up some markers on the edge of the camera's view, such as cones or something. This way you can keep in mind where the camera's field of view is.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

the markers are a great tip ! i can easily pack extra frisbees i use for doing place work and they'll be extra distractors for the dog 
...but still looking for a remote; not ready to give up yet 
if u knew how dumb i was w/ software, you'd laff...

Tx Edward !


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

I know I know...you want a remote...  

but you could also just use an easy editor like windows movie maker, just pop the footage into the time line, you can split it anywhere along that timeline, and remove any parts you wish, a couple clicks on the mouse and it is done.. 

I am betting some 8-10 yr old japanese kid could show you how to do it..


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## Steve Estrada (Mar 6, 2011)

Joby, More likely a five year old now days, sure getting embarrassing!


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## Hunter Allred (Jan 28, 2010)

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17200__HD_Wing_Camera_1280x720p_30fps_5MP_CMOS.html

How about that? Super small, microSD, 720p, and under $40.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

The problem with a remote is that unless the camera has a very clear indicator you can see while training, that allows you to see when it's on and off, you will end up turning it off when you think it's on, and one when you think it's off. 1 missed signal and you are doing the exact opposite of what you think you are doing.

I do a fair amount of video, and I have to agree with people who say in the end it will be easier to manually turn the camera on/off and then edit later. 

If you drop the remote option, there are quite a few cameras that are water proof that can take video. The ones I'm aware of that have remotes aren't water proof.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Hunter Allred said:


> http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17200__HD_Wing_Camera_1280x720p_30fps_5MP_CMOS.html
> 
> How about that? Super small, microSD, 720p, and under $40.


interesting little camera, but not waterproof, not even water Resistant.


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## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

Youtube tutorials are you friend!

http://youtu.be/j9C-D30_P8Q


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## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

Funny thing is when i searched for "microsoft movie maker tutorial" this popped up on the side bar.

Off topic, but I got a good laugh.


http://youtu.be/EnfVsoTXjK0


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

i've done quite a bit of checking around and i'm leaning towards the GoPro

definitely small enuff ... not too wild about the super wide angle, but a big field of view does have some advantages, plus there are a lot of wearable accessories that will work for me since i really need both hands free

very waterproof except that when enclosed that way, the audio is hard to catch

the head and chest harness mounts will allow me to show the dog in a lot of what i am doing, and the people who request the vids want to see more of their dog than me anyway 
... btw, could certainly get some "interesting" views from the decoy's point of view too  
- if you had a dog who targets reliably you could get some great shots of what the dog is showing and reacting to the helper/decoy... 
- kinda surprised i've never see GoPro clips shot that way but i'm not a big youtube surfer so maybe they are out there

editing and all the software related stuff is another matter; hoping for the wife's help there .... but I'll keep ya posted 

and tx for all the suggestions !


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

640 x 480 (Standard) resolution is pretty decent. To edit in HD, you have to have a fairly recent processor and enough RAM to handle it without bogging the machine down. Not to mention a lot more hard drive space. Most viewers are probably not going to watch your stuff on a big screen TV anyway.

I had to send a Kodak in for repair due to rain damage, so I was not impressed with the way their models handled the elements. You might consider a product called Aquapac; drop your camera into a plastic bag that's malleable enough to use the controls, and clear enough to not adversely affect the optical quality. Comes in various sizes to fit your camera.

I've tried Pinnacle (don't like), and Serif Movie Maker, Corel VideoStudio Pro, and Magix Movie Edit Pro. The Magix product has become my favorite because it runs the smoothest on my lower end computers (HPmini Netbook, and my P4 2.26GHz 1GB RAM), and have come to prefer it even on my higher end 6 core processing 16GB RAM machine. Magix's previous version (17plus) was on sale last month for $30.


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