Playing with cameras

I’ve been meaning to write up a little more about my experiences on holiday, using a Panasonic DMC-G2 kindly loaned by their press office, alongside my ancient and venerable Nikon FG-20. I’ve got a couple of articles lined up, looking more specifically at my experiences using the Nikon lenses with the Panasonic camera and a Nikon to Micro 4/3 adaptor.

But first, I thought I’d mention a couple of general points. I took both cameras on my holiday to Sicily, shooting with black and white film on the Nikon and in colour on the Panasonic.

For the Nikon, I have three lenses; a Nikon Series E 50mm f1.8 prime, a Tokina 28-70mm f3.5 and a Sigma 70-210mm f4, which between them give me a pretty good range of coverage.

The Panasonic was supplied with its own kit lens, which covers the range 14-42mm; that’s equivalent (thanks to the crop factor) to a 28-84mm lens on a 35mm film. It also means that with the adaptor, the Sigma lens behaves as if it were a 140-420mm zoom when placed on the Panasonic. I’ll be writing more about that in a separate article.

Framing the shot

If you spend most of your life looking through a lens, you’re very probably a much better judge than I am of which would be the best lens to pop on your SLR for a given shot. Sometimes, it can be a matter of deciding what’s going to look the most pleasing – both a wide or a close-up of the same scene could be interesting, in different ways.

After a while, I found that I was tending to use the Panasonic not solely as a camera in its own right, but as a useful accessory or guide for the Nikon; with a single lens covering the widest field available on the Nikon, up to the lower reaches of my zoom lens, it was useful to be able to look through the viewfinder, and sometimes take a couple of test shots; a quick glance at where I’d set the zoom on the Panasonic made it simple to work out which lens to pop on the Nikon to get a similar shot.

So, while I wouldn’t go as far as to say having the Panasonic made my photos better, I found that it did help me decide which lens to use much faster, in unfamiliar surroundings.

You can see some of the results from my trip on Flickr; all the black and white photos were taken on the Nikon, and most of the colour one the Panasonic, with the exception of a couple taken using a phone camera.

I’d be interested to hear from other people if they use digital and film side by side.

On upgrading cameras and life through a lens

Thinking about the next steps for my cameras

I’ve recently decided that I’ll attempt to have a proper holiday this summer, and a holiday more or less requires taking photographs. I have a Canon Powershot S50 that I bought several years ago, which is a 5 megapixel camera that’s done me pretty well, though it’s limited to a 3x optical zoom.

I also have a camera I received for my 18^th birthday, which is a Nikon FG-20 SLR. It’s been gathering dust for far too long, so I’ve scrubbed it up, and have been busily taking a few snaps here and there, to make sure my technique isn’t too rusty, and also to experiment with shooting in black and white. You can see some more of the results on my Flickr photo stream.

Pay attention

One of the things that I’ve noticed is that with digital cameras, people spend an awful lot of time snapping everything. Because it’s cheap, we don’t always spend so long thinking about what will be a good shot, and trust that at least some will be really good.

Worse, very often you see people who end up experiencing significant parts of their holiday not first hand, but through the viewfinder or screen of their camera, as they snap every inch of the inside of a cathedral, rather than standing and marvelling in awe at their surroundings. They may tell themselves they’ll relive the experience when they look at the photos, but if you didn’t really use your eyes first time round, is that even possible?

Black and white film for the SLR, digital for colour?

So, I’m thinking of taking my old Nikon on holiday with me to shoot film, and most likely in black and white, with the intention that that will make me think more before clicking the shutter.

Going digital

Of course, I’d quite like a decent digital camera too; my Canon is ok, but lacks the resolution of newer models, and things like a decent movie mode. I have a couple of lenses for the Nikon SLR, and I’m probably going to buy at least one more – a wide angle – before I head off on holiday.

The obvious choice for protecting that investment would be a Nikon digital SLR. Unfortunately, none of the ones that I can afford will actually meter with my old manual lenses; you don’t find that functionality until you reach the D7000, which at £900 for just the body is really a bit more than I want to spend right now; the D300s will work with them too, but that’s £1100 for the body only. If you’re in a similar position, you may find this page helpful, as it explains what functionality you get when you mate different Nikon lenses and cameras; it doesn’t include the new D5100, but that won’t meter with manual lenses either.

A micro solution?

One solution that I’m considering – and hoping to be able to borrow the equipment to try – is a Micro 4/3 camera, like the Panasonic DMC-G2 or Olympus PEN E-PL1. These are more compact than an SLR, so won’t be too much trouble to lug around alongside the Nikon.

And, though they’re designed primarily to work with their own lenses, one of the things I find most interesting about the Micro 4/3 system is that there are adaptors available – which can be bought for around £30 on eBay – which allow you to mount many other types of lens. You can, apparently, still get metering to work, by telling the camera there’s no lens mounted.

So, in theory it should be possible to use my old Nikon lenses on one of these cameras, and that’s what I’ll be exploring on my holiday. It may turn out that things are too limited to be worth it – there certainly are restrictions, and differences. For instance, the ‘crop factor’ means that a 24mm lens from the SLR will effectively become a 48mm when mounted on a micro 4/3 system. More interestingly, my 70-210 zoom will become the equivalent of a 140-420 zoom. And there will be compromises with depth of field.

It may, then, turn out that it’s not really worth worrying about using my old lenses, for many tasks, and the best thing to do is to save up for a Nikon DSLR, or simply accept that I can’t really carry on using them in the digital domain. But it should be an interesting experiment, and one that I’m looking forward to.

BBC iPlayer arrives on VieraConnect for 2011 sets

Panasonic has announced that the BBC iPlayer is now available on their 2011 TV sets, via the company’s VieraConnect platform. VieraConnect is the new beefed up version of VieraCast, which first appeared on the 2009 model sets. At the Convention earlier this year, they hinted that it was coming, but today’s press release is the official confirmation.

If you have a 2011 set, you should find iPlayer on VieraConnect now, apparently

Unfortunately for those who have older sets, Panasonic tells me that they won’t be getting iPlayer, as the VieraCast platform can’t support it. So if you have an existing Panasonic set and want iPlayer you’ll need to access it either via Freesat, if you have a dish connected, or via a separate set top box.

And, of course, owners of the first 2008 generation of Panasonic Freesat sets are still waiting for the update that will give them iPlayer.

How social do you want your TV?

Or why Panasonic’s Twitter client misses the point

Now you can tweet from your TV! Panasonic's Twitter client, shown here running on a 2009 V10 series Freesat TV

I mentioned last week that one of the things that Panasonic talked about at their Convention this year was the rebranding of VieraCast as VieraConnect, and the addition of some extra services. One of the ones that they made a big fuss about was the new Facebook service, which complements the Twitter application that was rolled out last year on some VieraCast sets (apologies for the slightly ropy quality of the picture).

One of the things you can see is that, for reasons best known to themselves, Panasonic has decided that when you use Twitter or Facebook on your TV, you want to do it full screen.

I can see that might make it a bit easier if you’re wanting to do certain tasks, but equally, I’m just not sure that this is really the way that people really do want to use these applications on their TV.

Sure, social networking is about sharing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to share absolutely everything with the people in the same room as you; some people just feel a bit uncomfortable at having other people watch as they write messages, others might not want a message from certain people to be seen – and when Facebook or Twitter is taking up the whole TV screen, it’ll be a bit embarrassing when someone points and says “So, who’s ‘BigBoy69’ then?”

How to tweet on TV

What’s really missing from the social applications I’ve seen on TV so far is a very simple thing – limited social functionality, while you’re watching TV.

The reason I might want Twitter, for instance, on the television is not as an alternative to using the computer or mobile phone – both of which are considerably easier to control than a TV with a remote – but as an adjunct to those.

If I’m watching Question Time, for example, or the Eurovision Song Contest, I want to watch those programmes – but if the TV could also provide me with a ticker or scrolling list of tweets with the appropriate hash tag, either beside or below the picture, that would be a fun addition. Add an option that lets me retweet the finest bon-mots to my followers, and that’s it. All I need.

When I want to share my wonderful insights or caustic cattiness with everyone, I don’t want to reach for the TV remote, mess about with a numeric key pad, and take three times as long to compose a message as normal. I’ll just pick up my phone, or my laptop, and compose the message there. The TV shouldn’t be trying to replace the other ways I interact with Twitter; it should be an adjunct to them.

Most people I’ve mentioned this to (hardly a scientific survey, I know) feel the same; if you’re going to put Twitter – or any social networking – on a TV , please do it right, and think about how people actually use the service. Otherwise it looks like someone in marketing just thought “Yeah, Twitter’s popular, let’s build it in to our TV.”

Panasonic Convention roundup

I spent two days this week at the Panasonic Convention, held in London’s Excel Centre. The Convention is an annual event where Panasonic shows off its new European product ranges to both press and dealers, and happens in a different city each year.

Amsterdam in 2009 saw the launch of the VieraCast service, and last year’s event in Munich featured the first FreeviewHD sets. So, what’s in store this year? Rather than do lots of articles, I’m just going to do a roundup here, with some of what I think are the most interesting points from the two days.

• VieraCast renamed VieraConnect, adds new features

• iPlayer very likely to come to VieraCast platform

• Commitment to Freesat appears scaled back

• New Freeview HD recorder with 3D BluRay support

• Freeview programme guide still uses much-loathed Guide+

• New TV sets don’t have CI+ software, but are capable of supporting it

So, let’s take each of those one at a time:

VieraCast becomes VieraConnect

Panasonic’s VieraCast system, which provides YouTube, EuroSport clips and a few other things for people in the UK  has been rebranded as VieraConnect, and will have a better range of services on it in future – the UK has been particularly poorly served by VieraCast, in my view.

Additions to the service include an app store (and a free SDK for developers will be available later this year), and new categories, including more social networking with a facebook client, and even games.

However, not all content will be available on previous sets; last year we saw some services, like AceTrax movies and Skype, that wouldn’t work on 2009 models as they lacked either support for cameras, or DRM. And it looks like games probably won’t work on older sets. Where possible, they’ll make things backwards compatible, but don’t expect to get everything that’s coming on an older product.

iPlayer very likely

After a fair bit of prodding with questions, one of the Panasonic team told us that he’s seen iPlayer running on VieraCast (rather than via the Freesat/MHEG model used at present, and which I thought Panasonic would rely on). It’s technically possible, and “very likely” to be arriving. The impression given is that the issues delaying this are not technical ones, but ones related to the necessary agreements that will have to be signed. So, if there are lawyers involved, don’t hold your breath – they take longer than engineers to get things done. But it’s now looking pretty likely.

Whether this will come to all VieraCast/Connect sets, I don’t yet know; that will depend on the DRM situation. I would hope that they’ll simply stream it in the same way the various other services do at the moment, but if they decide that DRM is essential then that will effectively rule out 2009 model year sets, which lack the necessary chips (which is why they don’t get things like AceTrax).

The impression from the comments yesterday is that they’re also talking to other broadcasters, about their catch-up services too.

Not so committed to Freesat?

One brief comment in passing was that the GT and VT series sets have Freesat tuners built in; these are towards the higher end of the range, THX certified, 3D plasmas.

All sets have FreeviewHD built in to them (and should, though I have yet to confirm, transcode surround sound, as it’s mandatory from April this year), but if it’s correct that only two ranges have Freesat tuners, that’s a considerable scaling back in the support for the platform, which used to extend right down to the lower end sets.

The press announcement for the new ranges doesn’t mention Freesat at all, so I shall seek further clarification on this. A further interesting point to note is that there were no new Freesat recorders this year – last year’s model was being displayed instead.

Panasonic's DMR-BWT800 is a 3D BD player/recorder with twin FreeviewHD tuners and DLNA server

New FreeviewHD + boxes

One of the most interesting boxes I saw was the new Freeview+ HD recorder, the DMR-BWT700 (there’s also an 800, which wasn’t on display, but presumably just has a larger hard drive; the press release doesn’t give sizes).

Update: the 800 indeed has a larger hard drive, at 500GB, compared to 320Gb for the DMR-BWT700.

These are twin tuner FreeviewHD BluRay recorders with 3D support. There’s full DLNA support too, including as a server, which means that if you have a Panasonic TV in another room, you’ll be able to watch recordings over the home network (and, according to the staff I asked, you’ll need a Panasonic TV, as there’s no support for DTCP-IP).

They also feature VieraCast, with Skype support, wireless LAN, and can convert 2D films to 3D on the fly.

GuidePlus is still there

The Freeview programme guide on this year’s Panasonic sets still features Guide Plus, the almost universally loathed EPG that forces advertisements in your face and generates more comments than just about everything else whenever I review one of their TVs.

The impression from Panasonic staff is that they know it’s unpopular, and frankly they don’t seem to happy about having to have it either, but it looks as if their hands are tied. If I can find out who’s responsible for inflicting this rubbish on otherwise decent TV sets, I’ll let you know, as it’s long past time they stopped messing about with it.

Want Sky Sports?

As with all digital TVs, there’s a common interface slot on the new VieraCast models. But, of course, that’s not enough if you want to watch Sky Sports via Freeview any more, as TopUpTV will be using CI+ modules. (See here for more details).

So I asked if the new sets support CI+ and was told that they’re capable of it, but it’s not enabled yet; that’s something that Panasonic will be keeping an eye on and they update the sets if necessary, which will depend on the perceived demand for Sky Sports via a CAM, I guess.

That’s the main news, from my perspective, from the Convention. As and when I get products to play with, keep an eye out for information here or at RegHardware.

My IFA highlight – Panasonic’s home fuel cell

Earlier this month, I was in Berlin for IFA, a huge show featuring all sorts of consumer electronics. Many of the different tech sites have covered products that were shown at it, some of which were pretty amazing. For example, LG had an OLED television set that was amazingly thin. I’ll upload a short video clip later, which shows it on a rotating stand. As it passes the camera, it really does seem to almost disappear – the set is well under a centimetre thick.

And there were new e-book readers from just about everyone, including some touch screen models from Sony, and plenty of tablets, from everyone who’s jumping on the iPad bandwagon, and of course lots of 3D TV.

Rather than enumerate all those gadgets, I’ll refer you to the coverage on sites like Pocket Lint and Register Hardware, where you can feast your eyes upon a wealth of lovely things.

Make your own energy

For me, the most interesting thing wasn’t any of those. It was something that was a bit tucked away, between a couple of halls, on a Panasonic stand with some solar cells, and a model of an energy efficient house of the future.

Panasonic's ENE-FARM domestic fuel cell - make your own electricity from the gas supply

This – thanks to my friend Mat Tuck for the photo – is Panasonic’s domestic fuel cell, called ENE-FARM. It’s already on sale in Japan, where you can buy one from your gas company.

What does it do? Well, feed it with natural gas, and the unit on the left splits it, extracting hydrogen, which is used to create electricity. The thermal energy (that’s heat) from the process is used to heat water, which is stored in the box on the right.

Panasonic reckons that a traditional power generation will result in only about 37% of the energy input being available at the home, by the time heat is lost during generation, and more energy in transmission. They claim, by contrast, that 85% of the energy input in the form of gas is used with the fuel cell – 35% goes to make electricity, and 50% to heat water.

As far as I can tell from the relevant Panasonic web pages (here and here), the electrical output of the fuel cell is only 1kW, which isn’t much, and most of us would be hard pushed to manage on that little power. But it could be a useful adjunct to a mains power supply – and if you lived in a remote rural area, perhaps one of these, fed by Calor gas deliveries, would be enough to get you by for at least some of the time.

Note that on the Panasonic sites it refers to ‘town gas’ – I’ve checked and they do run on natural gas; it’s just a slightly odd way of referring to the supply grid in Japan rather than harking back to the days of dirty old towns with their own gas works.

Panasonic rolls out iPlayer update for 2009 Freesat TVs

Update: adds Twitter too

Panasonic has just rolled out the long-awaited update to 2009 Freesat TVs, to enable users to access BBC iPlayer via the red button service.

However, it’s not immediately obvious to users – if you go to the Setup menu and tell the set to look for new software, it won’t find any, as it doesn’t appear to be broadcast “over the air”, that is via the satellite signal.

Instead, you need to start the VieraCast function by pressing the dedicated button on the remote control, and you’ll then see a screen telling you there’s new software available. Click OK, then select Yes, and the software will download via your internet connection. So, you’ll obviously need the TV connected to the net to download the update, but you have to do that for iPlayer anyway (and see this article for my recommendations on how to connect up a set).

I’ve tried this on my set, which is one of the V10 models. I’d love to hear from other people with 2009 models, so we can establish whether or not the update is available across all the VieraCast models from that year.

When you’ve updated, your set’s software version will be 2.303.

Now you can tweet from your TV! Panasonic's Twitter client, shown here running on a 2009 V10 series Freesat TV

This update also adds a Twitter client to the set, which is a surprise – I thought that it would only feature on 2010 models, which have USB ports and keyboard support. But you’ll find Twitter in there too, and you can compose messages, if somewhat laboriously, using the numeric keypad on the remote control.

Thanks to GreenBars on the Digital Spy forums for the heads up on iPlayer.