Tachyon XC Action Camera Review !

well this is interesting...

I would have said that surely it would be best to take a NEW video with the camera strapped to your crash helmet ,dashboard etc and display it with widely available low end non techie software , that us non techies would use.
Well i think LO-IQ has landed the acolade as resident video guru.
I'm glad i'm still looking,especially when ive got a 40 in w series sony lcd telly to watch the video on, and i wouldnt want to buy summat which isnt as good as its cracked up to be.
we'll have to see the next picture exchange's video and see how he goes.
Top Man IQ.
 
taken and answered from picture exchange last post


to be "fair" then....as soon as i can i will re-edit the video in movie maker to compare and contrast......

ans. :thumb2


but in responce to your summary.......surely that is excatly want people want to do...test a higher res camera against a cheeper lower res to see if the extra money is worth while or if the more rubust nature/other features of the cheeper camera is enough.

Ans... to be honest no! for the simple reason if you've bought a camera for a job as we do it's considered disposable. You look at risk versus cost, we strapped some cameras to a car that went round the track and shagged 2 camera's on the first lap. We knew/ guessed it would hence we used cheap cameras the cut away shots where less than 3 secs and the change in quality was not noticable as the images moved too fast and looked too abstract. Not many people hang on the bottom off a car going round a track at 150mph... Mr. Average wants a nice camera for holiday footage his shots will be much longer several minutes if he buys a camera and it does not perform as described. He'll think it's him at first then the kit and he'll be back on your case. What ever profit you've hoped for from the sale you'll spend on explaining the camera is not at fault and the punter will think your cheating him as he can see the difference between his footage and yours.

I might be speaking from expirience.:blast

Water proof, fool proof cameras with good mounting systems are the key to creative shots so is thinking about the shot you want and being able to put all the different piece together to make a small moive can be a great achievement.

sounds like you know what your on about ref software (which is nice)....this is the only forum i have posted a link to that clip in and is not used a sales tool.....but as a point of ref, all Tachyon Inc. in house videos are edited in FCP....

Ans. perhaps the manufacturer's should do some testing in live enviroments from a punters prespective so to speak. The punters will know what he or she is going to get and will be happy and buy whatever your next offering is. Bit like a Ma and Pa photographers shop in the old days but an updated version of it. rather than expecting something which they can not attain from a product which, this approach will only lead to mis trust and customer churn.

We use FCP it's fine and it's still an expensive bit of software.

may the debate continue,,,,,,will do the movie maker edit asap....ish!

mike

Ans. it may it's a free and open forum and anyone can join in...:thumb2

ps where what do yo do as your post indicates you've used/seen avid properly.... drop me a PM....sounds interesting...[/QUOTE]

Ans.

Can't at mo working on another project, I'm a producer of live events we've used pretty much use and mis-use everything that's ever been including Avid range dating back to '95 as well as Matrox, Geevs, Apple, Adobe, Light Works, Eye One, Media 100 and other bits of software and hardware that do other things. I'm not the sharpest spoon in the draw but I employ a great pile of clever types I just boss them about...:D

It's good to be the king....:thumb2
 
Liking your work Lo-IQ.....

I promise i WILL do the re-edit test, and post a raw file...
as i'm sure folks have...if you dig around the main tachyon site (www.tachyoninc.com) you will see an abundance of videos made by regular folks on average kit....most of them are from the older xc cam but there are "new" videos arriving shot on the new cam.....

it's good to be king.....it sure is.....!

pricing for the micro is

RRP is £129.99
November special is £99.99
it Comes with a Universal Mount and a foot-long 3M Dual Lock (TM) Fastening Strip
it records in the same superior and high quality modes as the normal 2010 XC
it takes micro SDHC class 6 - 8GB card is £25 inc postage (2hours in suporior mode)
it uses 2 x AAA lithium batterues for 4 hrs of recording
we're selling 6 x lithium AAA for £9.99 inc postage
DOES do lime lapse
DOES NOT have a remote

november package price £130
inc Vat and delivery to the UK Mainland

Standard package price £160

again email us for more details/preorders as required

[email protected]
www.thepictureexchange.co.uk
 
I was just sitting here thinking and to be honest even the raw file may not show the actual differences if your using youtube or similar site to show them, as the file is converted to a flash file with it's own wrapper.

I would suggest that the test should be based around the H264 codec which has a recognised set of parameters rather than leaving things to chance.

So

file one is created using the standard MS moviemaker encoding process
file two the same clips as one is authored to h264 in it native size and resolution.

file three same file trancode to 16x9 standard
file 4 same file upscaled.


and so on by this process we should an increase in noise or artifacts

you can wear a white coat and carry a note note pad to make it look more technical....
 
I have to agree that using many of the web hosted video apps is not a pure test due to the re-encoding, but it is fairly widely used by people so seeing how it is represented via these forms is always worth concidering..... do you have a prefered method of hosting these test clips? we have a FTP site that could be used for download and review purposes and i'm happy to do this......

the only comment would be.....all reformatting should be done off the source/edit file and not added in sequence,,,,we're not trying to increase noise or artefacts, rather show what can be done in a prefered route that maintains the image or even enhances the percieved appeal, i.e. 1280x720 hd or 1920x1080 hd...all off the origina 640x480 sd files....

but for a comparison the edits and reformatting done in movie maker will be replicated in avid to test for any additional degredation of quality dur to edit engines....

just all take a bit of time....(which i dont have much of at the mo!)

TFIF
 
That December deadline is looming pretty close, and I see the US website has changed their shipping date. :augie

For the price, and on the basis of the 90 degree view, I still think it's good value for the average Joe. The Sony is the mutts, but more than a whisker more expensive than I'm willing to risk on my journeys :)
 
I've been looking at helmet mounted video cameras for a while, and have followed this thread with interest, although the more technical discussions on software are over my head. As yet I don't seem to have seen mention of the newer full HD spec camera from Contour, which can be found here.
www.dogcamsport.co.uk/contourhd-1080p.html
It does full 1920 X 1080 HD at 30 frames/sec, and vanilla HD 1280 x 720 at 60 frames/sec. The lower HD setting should allow for fairly quick panning without producing a jerky image.
A friend of mine uses the earlier lower resolution HD unit to film track days and the footage is superb. I think the new unit should be even better, but I wondered what other peeps think. All views gratefully accepted.
 
I've been out and bought a few bits and pieces

I like the contour HD for the simple reason of the workflow issues (having to make it work with other kit)

plus the 60 frames option is very good they also now make the water proof housing with gives you a proper tripod mount. So you can use RAM mounts or Manfrotto Universal clamps and magic arms.

So we bought 2 contour HD's with extra batteries and cards

I also like the kodak Zi8 again full HD, it's main benifit is that you can plug a mini jack mic in to capture audio from either a simple lapel mic or an autocom style system. You need proper commentary or people shouting OH SHIT! it adds to the general footage...in my opinion:D

So I bought 2 of them

I also like the Flip camera it's similar looking thing to the Kodak and is just a nice simple single button to record

so the setup is this bike 1

1x contour faces forward mounted to the bike
1x Kodak faces the rider with the microphone connected
1x flip is rear ward facing

the second bike has the same setup with one additional contour camera set to run at 60p to get he slow motion effect.

we've got additonal cameras on the track which are setup for Wide, mid, and close up shots, with mroe mounts to put if required two more contours running at 60p (slow motion)

The problem the footage does need scan conversion from 30p to 25p to make it work in our workflow and media/ aqusition platform (the other camera's we use shoot mostly 50i which is best for us, but I've got to do some tests to see in the filmic look I want can be replicated using a manual shutter setting)

I also got abit carried away and ordered another Sony HXR to mount on a boom to be a smaller and cheaper version of our techni crane... cos we needed a few more shots like that....

The simple answer there is no right or wrong all these camera are there to get shots you can't get any other way, the magic happens in planning the shoot, then the studio and there is the biggest problem.

Buy what you know will work with the kit you've got, don't buy anything that is too complex to make it fit into your solution. After all if it's bobbins to use you'll leave it at home.

We start some bike tests once we're properly back the office...:thumb2

I think that should have the 2010 D2D covered now I just need to find a couple of riders for the camera bikes. Who can crash when I shout NOW....!

:D
 
Cool. I hope you get time to post up your opinions on the kit as it would be of great help to me. For a non pro like me I've used Nero 9 to change frame rates for the 2 HD cameras I'm currently using and all's well at present.
 
I bought a Tachyon XC and used it in Mongolia.

I found the quality very poor and didn't bother using it further:rolleyes:
 
Gipsy said:
Cool. I hope you get time to post up your opinions on the kit as it would be of great help to me. For a non pro like me I've used Nero 9 to change frame rates for the 2 HD cameras I'm currently using and all's well at present.
Click to expand...

Nero is fine the basic version of quicktime pro will now handle HD as will premier but you need to download the right drivers. The problems come from and in the form of multiple sources and variations of the MPEG4 format and Motion JPEGS... they are all a pain in the arse to be honest. Plus is your computer man or women enough to handle the files they're massive, disc and memory hungry and that causes a big problem as well.

The choice of camera kit well it's as above that's the kit we've bought. Sofar been used for 4 projects and all is well.

We use Avids, Apple FCP and Adobe CS4 on multiple platforms PC's and Mac's to process the footage. Firstly all the footage is all converted to common file format with constant frame rates, or if we have to the whole project is shot progressive depending on which market we're supplying and what the problems are with the subject.

we choose as a common format i (interlaced) as we can make it whatever it needs to be, at times it's easier to shot 720p as the calculations used to make the final file workout better but it's not full HD. The channel we're now dealing with don't like it and we've had one prgram rejected. The programs we're now submitting have to be on HDCam uncompressed which is a pain in the rear end, and very expensive...

Finally you have to remember these camera are throw aways it sounds stupid but they are, there to get a shot which is not possible or practical with a large camera. They are not replacements to full size camera, the sony is the best unit in opinion but it's nearly 2K then the Kodak because it's got the external mic the contour in the water proof housing and the flip I like it but it is designed for celebrity magazines it's good but abit too posh looking.
 
Contour HD all the way

A 640x480 res camera will always be lower quality than a higher res sensor, that is a fact!

Pixel count = quality, the higher the better (until you start talking 12Megpixel DSLR still cameras but that an entirely different conversation)

I have a couple of Contour HDs, not great in low light but fantastic for the price (about £220 for the 720p version now) used them for a pro output and didn't get any pushback from the client for quality, considering you can get a shot that would be near on impossible unless you start spending a few K and employ a bunch of people to handle the cams.

Have even strapped a Contour to the front and back of a Snowboard for a day in Powder and didn't expect them to survive as the shots were all in powder, but they did, they were very cold, but they were 100% OK and the footage was great.

Used in combination with other HD cameras we just run it through Adobe Media Conversion to get all the footage out at 1080 50i and Bob is your Aunty!

The Zi8 is great as it has external mic input and a screen, where the Contour needs to be lined up using the lasers (but it is sometimes more accurate than a quick check on a screen)

Bottom line - If you buy a 640 x 480 camera you are investing in Noah's technology and can only expect quality to match!
 
well I said that but matey was rather certain that these camera are the business....:augie

well I reserve judgement the kit we have bought is well good, and in combination with my canon D5 mk2, EXcams, XDcams and a few other bits of trickery it's as good as you can get...

unless you have abit more money then I'd shoot it all on red but then you need 4 blokes on your team and more money than spielberg
 
Lo-IQ said:
Nero is fine the basic version of quicktime pro will now handle HD as will premier but you need to download the right drivers. The problems come from and in the form of multiple sources and variations of the MPEG4 format and Motion JPEGS... they are all a pain in the arse to be honest. Plus is your computer man or women enough to handle the files they're massive, disc and memory hungry and that causes a big problem as well.

The choice of camera kit well it's as above that's the kit we've bought. Sofar been used for 4 projects and all is well.

We use Avids, Apple FCP and Adobe CS4 on multiple platforms PC's and Mac's to process the footage. Firstly all the footage is all converted to common file format with constant frame rates, or if we have to the whole project is shot progressive depending on which market we're supplying and what the problems are with the subject.

we choose as a common format i (interlaced) as we can make it whatever it needs to be, at times it's easier to shot 720p as the calculations used to make the final file workout better but it's not full HD. The channel we're now dealing with don't like it and we've had one prgram rejected. The programs we're now submitting have to be on HDCam uncompressed which is a pain in the rear end, and very expensive...

Finally you have to remember these camera are throw aways it sounds stupid but they are, there to get a shot which is not possible or practical with a large camera. They are not replacements to full size camera, the sony is the best unit in opinion but it's nearly 2K then the Kodak because it's got the external mic the contour in the water proof housing and the flip I like it but it is designed for celebrity magazines it's good but abit too posh looking.
Click to expand...

I agree entirely with what you say. The AVCHD codec isn't as consistent as some peeps say. I've got around this by using panasonic cameras, and changing the frame rate of the AVCHD lite codec used by one camera to match my main Panasonic unit. As for computer grunt, again I agree. Running my editing software on a Dell Studio laptop bought 6 months ago, specced to the highest level available. As yet no real problems using Pinnacle Studio Ultimate. Not as fast as the better desktops, but as I hope to change to Mac's in the not too distant future, I wanted to leave the option of a Mac desktop open.
As I said before I Look forward to you impression on the Contour HD.
 
Go get one!

Gipsy said:
I agree entirely with what you say. The AVCHD codec isn't as consistent as some peeps say. I've got around this by using panasonic cameras, and changing the frame rate of the AVCHD lite codec used by one camera to match my main Panasonic unit. As for computer grunt, again I agree. Running my editing software on a Dell Studio laptop bought 6 months ago, specced to the highest level available. As yet no real problems using Pinnacle Studio Ultimate. Not as fast as the better desktops, but as I hope to change to Mac's in the not too distant future, I wanted to leave the option of a Mac desktop open.
As I said before I Look forward to you impression on the Contour HD.
Click to expand...

Go and get yourself a Contour HD, they are great, you won't regret it, you can do what most people want as far as rough edits and covnversions with Quicktime Pro for £20

Hey Lo-IQ, I would love to shoot in Red but with it eating 1.2GB per second on full res the storage alone gets stupid nevermind the Monkeys, having said that it does take you back to the days of shooting on 16mm when you thought real hard about every shot and what you wanted from it, unlike the turn it on and trawl through it later that we see today. I prefer the old days :)

Gipsy,

Here is some footage from a 720p Contour HD test that we ran a while back.

http://www.vimeo.com/8552918
 
MH

it is funny how it's come full circle, first film tried to be more mobile then video came along, which was more mobile... then they evil producers would make you film everything and I mean everything hoping that somehow a magic story would come from the shite....

now video is less mobile and more complex than ever, with seperate sound, seperate storage engineers, each frame needs to mucked about and colourised after the final cut is made....

but people only want to pay for cheap shit video.... and every school kid with a mac is a competitor to what I do....

:blast
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

OscarIndia
Beowulf Warrior on the GSA
Replies
1
Views
1,963
Toad
Toad
OscarIndia
Mavgick Moments...
Replies
8
Views
2,558
TheJoker
TheJoker
OscarIndia
Riding trails with Mav
Replies
6
Views
1,954
Flipfly
Flipfly
OscarIndia
Video ride report (ish)
Replies
3
Views
1,482
Sniper1
Sniper1
mike wright
New Generation Tachyon XC Action Camera!
Replies
11
Views
5,057
chod
chod


Back
Top Bottom