And now for something completely different...

*ve2vfd* · 09-04-2009, 10:12 PM

Sorry, this isn't politics or religion...

YouTube - Pentax W60 camera in the lake

It's just me having fun with my Optio W60 and a fishing rod...

I shot that video yesterday afternoon at the end of my dock, I hooked up the W60 at the end of the line on one of my rods. You see plenty of tiny fish who live in the aquatic vegetation around my dock.

Kinda fun!

Pat

*Andi Lo* · 09-04-2009, 10:17 PM

That was actually pretty surreal, looking at fish moving around unfazed by the camera... as if there's nothing there. Thanks for the Vid!

*pasipasi* · 09-04-2009, 10:24 PM

The fish don't seem to mind at all. Pretty cool video!

*imtheguy* · 09-04-2009, 11:06 PM

Pretty slick. Got a chuckle out of me. Definitely one better than another flower shot. Thanks for putting that together.

RBellavance · 09-05-2009, 05:38 AM

Very cool, Pat !

Lazaruscomeout · 09-05-2009, 05:56 AM

That's cool.

Can you try to rig the camera up with some food for the fish? You might get some really good close-ups that way.

Gerry

*reeftool* · 09-05-2009, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by Lazaruscomeout

That's cool.

Can you try to rig the camera up with some food for the fish? You might get some really good close-ups that way.

Gerry

Nice video.! I like that idea. Toss a little chum and see what happens. There is a chance that a big pike or musky might wander up. Maybe eat the camera.........

*séamuis* · 09-05-2009, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by reeftool

Nice video.! I like that idea. Toss a little chum and see what happens. There is a chance that a big pike or musky might wander up. Maybe eat the camera.........

you'd have to catch the fish though. then Pentax can say its water proof and fish proof. with the test to prove it.

*ve2vfd* · 09-05-2009, 01:58 PM

Thanks everyone!!!

It was a bit of an experiment, and as you can tell I had very little control of the camera.

I had it hanging at the end of a fishing line by it's wrist strap so it pretty well swung around any way it wanted to. I could bring it to an area with my line, but it hung like a pendulum.

Also since it was hanging sideways (by it's strap), I had to rotate the video which was initially 640x480 so thats why you see the black bars on either side (to preserve a proper aspect ratio).

Next time I'll try this, I'll make a rig to keep the camera on the proper plane.

I also removed the sound, as the biggest problem the W60 has with shooting videos is the darn madning noise from the focus/zoom motor. Since there was nothing to hear under water, I just removed the audio track.

I did try taking interval pictures (took sets of 10 pictures at 10 second intervals), but I did not get a single good underwater pic. They were all blurry from the constant movement of the camera at the end of the fishing line.

Pat

*geauxpez* · 09-05-2009, 02:34 PM

Thanks for posting that Pat. My 18-month-old loved it. She was completely entranced and kept saying "fshshshsh....fshshshsh".

*Ratmagiclady* · 09-05-2009, 02:46 PM

Haha! Awesome.

There's this show that comes on once in a while, I think it's just called 'Maker,' and it's all about various forms of the contraptor's craft. They frequently (well at least a few times) feature remote rigs for cameras, ...I recall one for a pole, and one for a kite. There may be some useful plans on their website....

(rummaging around Google)

makezine.tv: MAKE: technology on your time

flippedgazelle · 09-05-2009, 11:11 PM

Nifty, and looks better than I thought it would. I'm looking forward to the sequel.