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Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

shop.soloshot.com

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Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#21

Post by CodeCube »

davnicwil wrote: post #12

Looks to be an amazing piece of engineering but seriously, what's the usecase? It looks to be targeted at the amateur market ('shoot like the pros') and I just don't see the demand or workability in this space. To pick on a few hinted at on the page: A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates f…

I think you underestimate the utility. Think of parents or family members that attend football games. They're often stuck watching the game "through the viewfinder" if they want to film it ... this frees them up to look with their eyes. You also underestimate extreme sports where you want to film a trick over a given obstacle. This would be fantastic for skateboarders. Boxers who want to film themselves during a workout, or a fight to review their form could use this for sure.

etc. etc. ... just because you don't anecdotally see the demand doesn't mean it's not there ;)

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#22

Post by mpermar »

davnicwil wrote: post #12

Looks to be an amazing piece of engineering but seriously, what's the usecase? It looks to be targeted at the amateur market ('shoot like the pros') and I just don't see the demand or workability in this space. To pick on a few hinted at on the page: A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates f…

> Dirt biking...

Right. I'd buy it for that alone.

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#23

Post by thenomad »

josefresco wrote: post #13

Site is crawling for me - cdn.shopify doesn't seem to be handling the traffic well. The waterfall shows one image occupying almost the entire load time: https://gtmetrix.com/reports/shop.soloshot.com/JKiP7lSv

Search on YouTube to get some practical demos. They're pretty cool.

(Not OP but I follow this sector pretty closely.)

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#24

Post by pech0rin »

davnicwil wrote: post #12

Looks to be an amazing piece of engineering but seriously, what's the usecase? It looks to be targeted at the amateur market ('shoot like the pros') and I just don't see the demand or workability in this space. To pick on a few hinted at on the page: A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates f…

Seems like there are a lot of use cases for this. Take a backcountry ski outfit. Set a few of these up on your trails. Sell videos to people you charter. A ski resort could even use them instead of hiring people to go out and take videos/pictures. Also, there are loads of people who go surfing alone on remote beaches.

If you look at the success of GoPro, drones, etc. then this seems like a definite winner.

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#25

Post by thenomad »

davnicwil wrote: post #12

Looks to be an amazing piece of engineering but seriously, what's the usecase? It looks to be targeted at the amateur market ('shoot like the pros') and I just don't see the demand or workability in this space. To pick on a few hinted at on the page: A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates f…

From my point of view - it means that as a run-and-gun shooter of narrative, I can essentially have an extra cameraman on tap.

That means I can shoot a close-up whilst it handles the wide, or in extremis it can shoot a wide shot and I can hold the boom mic :)

Given the cost of the SoloShot is less than 1 day of hiring a camera op who knows what they're doing, it's a pretty good deal.

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#27

Post by thenomad »

iamthepieman wrote: post #26

This is begging for an API or open source firmware. Impressive technology applied to something with limited practical usefulness. For starters, I'd like to decouple the tracking system from the tags.

I'd cheerfully pay sticker price for just the tracking system, no tripod required (assuming I hadn't overspent on media gadgetry already this quarter, anyway).

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#28

Post by Jemmeh »

davnicwil wrote: post #12

Looks to be an amazing piece of engineering but seriously, what's the usecase? It looks to be targeted at the amateur market ('shoot like the pros') and I just don't see the demand or workability in this space. To pick on a few hinted at on the page: A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates f…

I agree. It's very neat, but I can't see where the users will be.

Most outdoor events, I wouldn't leave a camera on a tripod alone.

I thought it might be useful for people who make Youtube videos: these people usually work alone and it's a hassle to get actors sometimes--but in these situations, we have the tech for cheaper to already control the camera from a little far away with more control so I can't see that really having a lot of user base either.

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#29

Post by iamthepieman »

davnicwil wrote: post #12

Looks to be an amazing piece of engineering but seriously, what's the usecase? It looks to be targeted at the amateur market ('shoot like the pros') and I just don't see the demand or workability in this space. To pick on a few hinted at on the page: A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates f…

I agree that its uses are probably more practically limited than the demo videos show. However, event photography and videography are pretty big sub-markets.

Re: Soloshot: Automatically film outdoor activities without a camera operator

#30

Post by Jemmeh »

kohanz wrote: post #17
davnicwil wrote: post #12

Looks to be an amazing piece of engineering but seriously, what's the usecase? It looks to be targeted at the amateur market ('shoot like the pros') and I just don't see the demand or workability in this space. To pick on a few hinted at on the page: A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates f…

> A game of football: Leaving a camera on a tripod on the sideline while I'm focused on the game? Not in any park I've ever played in. Taking the stick from my teammates for being enough of a nerd to set this up? If it's affordable, I can see this being big with parents and coaches of youth athletes. Go to a children's soccer game (or ice hockey here in Canada) and see how many parents have their cameras out, but wou…

Now that is a good point. You could still have someone sitting near the tripod, but now they don't have to be paying attention to the camera-- they can enjoy the moment.
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