Recording the weather (split test)

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Wed 17/09/2003 15:09

Steven Graham

What camcorder do you use, your lightning shots look awsome on your web page, you say:

Recorded on Sony D8 camcorder then transferred to PC as Digital Video at 25fps.

What model number of camera is that?

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Wed 17/09/2003 17:04

Hi Aaron

That was a DCR-TRV730E that I bought in 2001 - I also got a Firewire card for the PC to transfer digital video and that means you can capture better quality still frames.

I think the newer Digital 8 models are about half the size of that one !!!

Cheers,
Steven

Dean. · Unread post by **Dean.** » Wed 17/09/2003 17:55

Aaron
My camera is just a baby,does the job ok.
Cost me $1700 last year.

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Thu 18/09/2003 12:56

Thanks Steven Graham and Deano. After reviewing your tape again (yes again, intense hail/rain!! sorry!) Dean that camera looks perfectly fine for recording with and I'll seriously consider something like that if the situation doesn't allow me to get that big monster of a video camera that I posted a pic of before.

Steven Graham, is there any more info you could tell me on how to get video footage to a computer so frames can be captered like you have done, you say:

I also got a Firewire card for the PC to transfer digital video and that means you can capture better quality still frames.

What is the cost of this setup? I want to get John Gauls tornado footage onto my computer so I can print of a pic of it and I want to get some lightning images off my camera so I can also print them off. I only have Johns footage on a VHS tape though.

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Fri 19/09/2003 12:53

Hi Aaron,

I thought I'd try "splitting" these messages off the other topic and it worked

The simplest way to get video into your PC is using composite video to a capture card for about $90 (that includes a builtin TV receiver and FM radio).

The other method I've used relies on the Signal Convert Function of the DV camcorder which takes the composite video from a VCR and transfers it digitally on the Firewire interface to the PC.

A Firewire, 1394 or iLink (as Sony call it) card costs between $60 and $100 - it was a rival to USB but 30x faster and works in the same way.

The Sony TRV355 for about $1200 has both digital still mode and signal convert - you'll also want lots of disk space for the 3.5MB/s needed for digital video !!!

Cheers,
Steven

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Fri 19/09/2003 20:52

Regarding digital weather photography, I came across this interesting thread on the Aussie weather forum

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/cgi-bin/u ... 003607;p=1

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Sat 20/09/2003 00:18

Thanks for the info Steven Graham

Also, thanks Steven Williams for the site reference (spelling?), had a good read through the various posts.

Also, my Dad found this website through netguide magazine and I was amazed at the different prices that where available for that big expensive camera I was looking at, yes I've found it at a cheaper price still!

It's called, http://www.pricespy.co.nz

Click on camera, then digital video camera, then scroll down the page until you find "Sony DCRVX2000E Digital Video camera", then click on the little number 6 next to it. You'll see that the differences in price round NZ for this camera are quite varied.

Of course you can look up all types of stuff, go for it!

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Sat 20/09/2003 11:17

Thanks, Steven W, for the link to that discussion - very interesting. The lightning image by Radek Dolecki (using an SLR with slide film) was amazing. There are even more at http://www.electricskies.com.au/

Aaron, thanks for the info on that price comparison website - I see you can get a Firewire card for about $50

Cheers
Steven

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Sun 21/09/2003 02:42

No Prob's