animation camera
in my late teens, i came into possession of a super 8 cine camera. how i came into this camera, i mentioned in passing to a staff member at a boarding school i attended that i was interested in making animated films. turned out, this was something he'd been very much into at one point, and he gave me a pretty nice cine camera, along with a remote control appropriate for using the camera for animation, along with a wealth of his knowledge and experience. he bought a projector in, and over several evenings, showed me many of his more interesting films, and told me how he achieved various effects, which given the medium and era, had to be done super practically
i was then given a tripod for xmas, and i was really excited to begin producing films, still am. but despite everything, due to circumstances partly beyond my control, i only managed a tiny amount of actual animation. about 10 seconds worth. i've never lost interest, but fo one reason or another there's always been something to get in the way of me doing anything coherent, not least money
so, my new years resolution is to try to cease sucking in this area and actually do something of what i always intended to do. i bought myself a cute little lightbox, for Christmas i got a tripod and i've made a small cycle as a test which i'm quite happy with
so camera's. although it seems to be perfect for the purpose, i'm a little reluctant to use teh camera i take out with me every day as an animation camera, because i think i use it more then it was designed to be used as it is, and also i'd like ot to still be available to take out with me every day
i thought i could use a camera i picked up for the princely sum of £1.69. its a konica kd-100 and without doing any research was probably a middle of the road compact in its day. it has 1.3 mp and 2x digital zoom. it does have a movie mode which i havn't fully tested, i'm not sure if it records sound, i do know that it will only do up to 15 seconds at a time. it has a screen like you might expect from any digital camera, but it also has a small b&w display on top. when the camera boots up, the main led screen doesn't come on. the tom screen shown how many shots you have left, the quality setting, the flash mode, the camera mode, the battery level and maybe some other things. you can use the screen as a viewfinder, but its mainly used for playback and for a few menu's
it looks quite well designed for what it is, like its not a crappy cheap camera, its just old. its main problem, which may be a fault i can't tell, is the battery life. it literally drinks batteries, the most you'll get out of one set is about 5 shots, and then their actually flat. another problem it has is the flash. on bootup, its always on, on auto. its easy enough to switch off, but then when i hit the shutter button, the camera switches off. again, could be me or a fault, i don't know, but based on these things more so then the technical limitations, i don't think i'll be using it as an animation camera
so, i hit ebay, looking for any old cheap compact to use as an animation camera. i'm looking for something thats nice and cheap, which is old rather then budget camera, preferably which has some kind of optical zoom and, of course, thats up to the task. i don't care if its an old vga thing so under a megapixal. the only task i'm likely to set it is to shoot black and white inked images that i can touch up on the computer. in fact, the smaller the better to a degree. when i tried to animate 22 frames at 7 mp, my computer couldn't cope. i had to set my camera down to 2mp which is as low as it can get, and i even shrank down to about half
of course, ebay being how it is, it was hard to even get a camera like that for a decent price, so the long and short of it is, i bid on a whole bunch at once, ended up winning three, which may be worse for wear, but i think i got some bargains
what i got was;
pentax optio sv - £5.50 + £3.99 + £7.79
olympus stylus 600 - £15.00 + £5.99
fugi s7000 - £5.60 + £5.00
pentax being sold as "for parts or not working", but reported "small fault" is a missing rubber grip or cover or something, and the lens shutters that act as a lens cap don't shut when camera's off. bad thing is the camera is expected to come with literally nothing, so i had to buy a battery and charger as well, costing extra
olympus listed as used, but seller says the screen may not be working, he's not sure, never knew how to operate it. listed with is is everything it came with in the first place, minus leads, plus 128 mb memory card
fugi is curious. listed the same as the pentax, the description goes thusly;
"This camera is not working and sold for spares or repair. All functions work on the camera except that there is now no picture. The fault started with the loss of the vertical or horizontal hold until the picture disappeared.
As it is being sold as faulty, no returns will be accepted"
and thats it. i also got a message today that said the camera had been sent, which is nice. so the screen doesn't work by the sounds of things, but it looks like i can still use it like an old fashioned camera. sounds like a simple repair job, too. this camera uses standard AA size batteries, so if it does come as camera only, no biggy. i am most interested in seeing what does turn up though
well, it would be a bonus to have a camera that takes better video footage, or with better audio at least, then my current every day camera. the alympus is no show, as it doesn't record sound at all. the pentax might be interesting to experiment with, research would dictate that the sounds ok but it does tend to clip on louder sounds. the fugi looks ace
as for animation, it transpires that the pentax can take a remote control, wireless too, making it potentially perfect. i'd like ot use the olympus, so that i can use the pentax for other things, and the olympus for something, however it can't take a remote. the fugi can have an old fashioned remote that screws onto the shutter button apparently, but veriouse things about this camera are just making me wet. my chrystal ball says, if i can make this camera work, i will be taking this one out more. it looks to be an SLR, complete with veiwfinder, and the screen seems to do very little anyway
the fugi already seemed to provide some mild disappointment. the camera is listed as having 19x optical zoom. screen or no screen, i was kind of chuffed that i'd earned myself an SLR with 19x optical zoom for about a tenner, about a fiver without postage. the side of the camera has a big number 19 followed by the word zoom. turns out its only 6x optical zoom. its 19x if you combine it with the 2.4 digital zoom. mind you, still not to be sneezed at, and the 2.4 digital was oddly also listed, so maybe i'll cock a fluke and relieve the optional telephoto lens with it, giving me more zoomage. i don't care, its big and resembles a tomy 3D viewfinder crossed with a fisher price activity centre. and i'm gonna play with it
besides, while i spent a little more, with a little luck i came out with far more then i planned :D if it turns out i can get a remote for my vivitor, it will become my animation camera and it will be pentax city
i was then given a tripod for xmas, and i was really excited to begin producing films, still am. but despite everything, due to circumstances partly beyond my control, i only managed a tiny amount of actual animation. about 10 seconds worth. i've never lost interest, but fo one reason or another there's always been something to get in the way of me doing anything coherent, not least money
so, my new years resolution is to try to cease sucking in this area and actually do something of what i always intended to do. i bought myself a cute little lightbox, for Christmas i got a tripod and i've made a small cycle as a test which i'm quite happy with
so camera's. although it seems to be perfect for the purpose, i'm a little reluctant to use teh camera i take out with me every day as an animation camera, because i think i use it more then it was designed to be used as it is, and also i'd like ot to still be available to take out with me every day
i thought i could use a camera i picked up for the princely sum of £1.69. its a konica kd-100 and without doing any research was probably a middle of the road compact in its day. it has 1.3 mp and 2x digital zoom. it does have a movie mode which i havn't fully tested, i'm not sure if it records sound, i do know that it will only do up to 15 seconds at a time. it has a screen like you might expect from any digital camera, but it also has a small b&w display on top. when the camera boots up, the main led screen doesn't come on. the tom screen shown how many shots you have left, the quality setting, the flash mode, the camera mode, the battery level and maybe some other things. you can use the screen as a viewfinder, but its mainly used for playback and for a few menu's
it looks quite well designed for what it is, like its not a crappy cheap camera, its just old. its main problem, which may be a fault i can't tell, is the battery life. it literally drinks batteries, the most you'll get out of one set is about 5 shots, and then their actually flat. another problem it has is the flash. on bootup, its always on, on auto. its easy enough to switch off, but then when i hit the shutter button, the camera switches off. again, could be me or a fault, i don't know, but based on these things more so then the technical limitations, i don't think i'll be using it as an animation camera
so, i hit ebay, looking for any old cheap compact to use as an animation camera. i'm looking for something thats nice and cheap, which is old rather then budget camera, preferably which has some kind of optical zoom and, of course, thats up to the task. i don't care if its an old vga thing so under a megapixal. the only task i'm likely to set it is to shoot black and white inked images that i can touch up on the computer. in fact, the smaller the better to a degree. when i tried to animate 22 frames at 7 mp, my computer couldn't cope. i had to set my camera down to 2mp which is as low as it can get, and i even shrank down to about half
of course, ebay being how it is, it was hard to even get a camera like that for a decent price, so the long and short of it is, i bid on a whole bunch at once, ended up winning three, which may be worse for wear, but i think i got some bargains
what i got was;
pentax optio sv - £5.50 + £3.99 + £7.79
olympus stylus 600 - £15.00 + £5.99
fugi s7000 - £5.60 + £5.00
pentax being sold as "for parts or not working", but reported "small fault" is a missing rubber grip or cover or something, and the lens shutters that act as a lens cap don't shut when camera's off. bad thing is the camera is expected to come with literally nothing, so i had to buy a battery and charger as well, costing extra
olympus listed as used, but seller says the screen may not be working, he's not sure, never knew how to operate it. listed with is is everything it came with in the first place, minus leads, plus 128 mb memory card
fugi is curious. listed the same as the pentax, the description goes thusly;
"This camera is not working and sold for spares or repair. All functions work on the camera except that there is now no picture. The fault started with the loss of the vertical or horizontal hold until the picture disappeared.
As it is being sold as faulty, no returns will be accepted"
and thats it. i also got a message today that said the camera had been sent, which is nice. so the screen doesn't work by the sounds of things, but it looks like i can still use it like an old fashioned camera. sounds like a simple repair job, too. this camera uses standard AA size batteries, so if it does come as camera only, no biggy. i am most interested in seeing what does turn up though
well, it would be a bonus to have a camera that takes better video footage, or with better audio at least, then my current every day camera. the alympus is no show, as it doesn't record sound at all. the pentax might be interesting to experiment with, research would dictate that the sounds ok but it does tend to clip on louder sounds. the fugi looks ace
as for animation, it transpires that the pentax can take a remote control, wireless too, making it potentially perfect. i'd like ot use the olympus, so that i can use the pentax for other things, and the olympus for something, however it can't take a remote. the fugi can have an old fashioned remote that screws onto the shutter button apparently, but veriouse things about this camera are just making me wet. my chrystal ball says, if i can make this camera work, i will be taking this one out more. it looks to be an SLR, complete with veiwfinder, and the screen seems to do very little anyway
the fugi already seemed to provide some mild disappointment. the camera is listed as having 19x optical zoom. screen or no screen, i was kind of chuffed that i'd earned myself an SLR with 19x optical zoom for about a tenner, about a fiver without postage. the side of the camera has a big number 19 followed by the word zoom. turns out its only 6x optical zoom. its 19x if you combine it with the 2.4 digital zoom. mind you, still not to be sneezed at, and the 2.4 digital was oddly also listed, so maybe i'll cock a fluke and relieve the optional telephoto lens with it, giving me more zoomage. i don't care, its big and resembles a tomy 3D viewfinder crossed with a fisher price activity centre. and i'm gonna play with it
besides, while i spent a little more, with a little luck i came out with far more then i planned :D if it turns out i can get a remote for my vivitor, it will become my animation camera and it will be pentax city