Mojo Evolution

The last couple of days I’ve been testing the new Nokia N96. It hit the streets in Norway a week ago. So far I’m pretty disappointed when it comes to video and still image quality. Since a part of my job is to educate journalist in mobile journalism, I spend a lot of time testing new phones. I will not dig into all sorts of technical specifications about the new model from Nokia, but I have made a little comparison with Nokia N82.

I put the two phones side by side on tripods. The lightning conditions were not the best, and I had some sharp light coming from behind. These are not unusual conditions and represent working conditions for MOJOs.

You can check out the difference between the two cameras for yourself.  One thing to make a note of is that the video files from N96 are much larger than the files from N82. They actually use different codecs. The original file from N82 was 17 MB and the file from N96 was 36 MB. They both where 640×480 pixels with 30 FPS.

Video N82

Video N96

The sound recording on the N96 is also not as good as the one on the N82. When it comes to still images, I think the N82 is much better than the N96.

The biggest advantage with the N96 is the two LED lamps. You can actually use them in a completely dark room, and they will help you record a video that is usable. The N96 also comes with a 16GB storage built in. You can even choose to expand with a Micro SD. This is a very good solution if you use a sound recorder or video recorder on the side with SD card. You can then use the N96 as a modem without having to shut down programs on the memory card.

In my opinion Nokia has produced the N96 for playing music and watching videos. Not so much producing stilling images and videos, witch in my opinion is a pity. It’s been about a year since N82 hit the street, I find it very odd that Nokia isn’t able to up the quality of the video recording. It’s actually lower quality than before. I would not recommend buying the Nokia N96 if you intend using it as a mobile journalist. You get a much better result with the Nokia N82 or N95 8GB.

Tags: Cell phone, Gadgets, Hardware by Frank Barth-Nilsen
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Vincent Laforet have now released the video he shot with the new Canon EOS 5 MKII. The quality is stunningly good. He has also posted a behind the scenes video. Forget the samples you have seen on Vimeo and YouTube. This guy knows what he’s doing.

Check out the video at Vincents blog

Check out the behind the scenes video

Tags: Gadgets, Hardware by Frank Barth-Nilsen
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Photo taken from the Canon press image service. Some rights reserved..

There’s been a lot of buzz about the new Canon EOS 5D MKII the last days. This camera has still to reach the market, but a lot of guys have tested it, and what they report is all good. The biggest news is that the new 5D can record HD video in 1080p and you can connect an external microphone. The photographer Vincent Laforet have been one of the early testers, and on his blog you find some truly impressive stills from the HD video he recorded with the camera.

Canon is now riding the hype. They still don’t allow anyone to publish actual videos taken with the new wonder kid.  I still found one video claiming to be shot with the new 5D on YouTube. It’s included in the bottom of this post. There you will also find a HD clip I found on Vimeo. It’s really NOT impressing. It’s from sort of exhibit and it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re stolen. The clip will at least give some sort of impression about the sound capabilities of the on-board mic, which is really not bad at all. If you register at Vimeo, you can download the full version of the clip for analyzing.

Another thing that seems to be a biggie with this camera is that it can record exceptional stills and video under low light conditions. From my time as a still photographer is was always looking for natural light, which in combination with good lenses, would make the best pictures. I guess another advantage is that with a DSLR you can change lenses. In today’s video cameras you have to make a lot of comprises.

I’ll report back when I’ve had a chance to get some more information about this camera. Laforet thinks this camera will be a game changer. I simply can’t disagree. But I think we will see a lot of different convergent recording units the next couple of years. This camera will of course put traditional newspaper photographers in a new setting. Another question is if it’s good enough to a primary recorder for video journalist. I guess the sound and lightning capabilities is the most important. Another thing that we still haven’t seen is phone capabilities in this sort of gadgets. When that happens, I guess the media industry will be truly mojolized.

The last camera I purchased before I left the newspaper industry to try my luck in broadcast was an analog Canon EOS 5. It was completely new and was the first of Canon’s cameras to offer eye-tracking. I just loved to shoot low light concert photos with the camera and my 200mm f 2.8. I guess a lot have happened since then. At that point I couldn’t imaging that I one day might buy a digital EOS 5 to record video. Today I can.

Canon 5D Mark II 52-second sample movie clip by Akihabara News from David Chin on Vimeo.

Tags: Gadgets, Hardware by Frank Barth-Nilsen
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A lot of times when you’re working with your mobile phone as the main recorder, some accessories may come in handy. I’ve tried to summarize how I have accessorized my phone.

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Tags: Cell phone, Hardware, Uncategorized by Frank Barth-Nilsen
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The wide angle lens most mobile phones are equipped with isn’t very good when your point of interest is far away. On Ebay I found several types of telescope lenses. Since I haven’t tried it, I don’t know what sort of quality you can expect, but at least you will get some attention. The lens is mounted on a transparent case. You find these lenses for several types of mobile phones.

Tags: Hardware, Uncategorized by Frank Barth-Nilsen
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