Sunday, March 14, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Is Twitter Down Again?
It is for me, anyhow. None of my tweets are getting through from my ThunderPig account...although I can tweet just fine from my WPIG account. Odd.
I guess I should post an update while I'm here.
My video coverage of the Macon County Commissioners and the Franklin Town Board of Aldermen is going well. I've been providing live video streaming of the Town Board meetings and Live Tweeting the Commissioner meetings. I may add video streaming of that, too.
I've purchased a new camera to replace my aging, battered and failing Kodak Z710. The model I went with is the Kodak Z950.
My initial concern about the camera is battery life. Or, to be more precise...lack thereof. The first round of photo-taking lasted just 154 shots with a fully charged Kodak KLIC-7003 Lithium ion battery installed. My Z710 would last nearly 400 photos and could shoot over an hour of video (even at 640x480 VGA resolution). Plus, it used AA batteries and I've got nearly a dozen sets of rechargeables to cycle through my other cameras, MP3 Plyers and handheld radio frequency scanner.
The night after I purchased the Z950, I was online looking for another set of batteries. The brand name Kodak KLIC-7003 cost $30 apiece. There was no way I could afford that, so I looked for generic equivalents and found something at Overstock. just under $6 apiece. I got two of them because I want the ability to take more than 400 photos at an event without having to be tethered to an electrical outlet. Sometime next week, I'll be getting the Kodak charger so I can either recharge it in my truck (I have AC outlets in the cab) or if I am at an event that is indoors, I can start the recharge cycle when the first Li-ion battery dies.
I intend to keep my Z710 in service as long as it lasts. I'll be shooting video (for picture in picture use) at events when I want an extra angle of coverage when my Kodak Zi6 is covering the speaker. I'll also be using it for time lapse video this spring and summer.
The other concern about the Z950 is video. It looks good, but drains battery life even more than photos. A short 20 minute test yesterday morning drained more than half the battery.
I am pleased with the quality of the photos so far from the Z950. I haven't covered an event with it yet, but this coming weekend, I'll have 4 events to cover: Friday (1), Saturday (1) and Monday (2). I'll let you know what I think after that.