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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

#91

Post by windexh8er »

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…

One of the cool features is outside of the band tracking: you can upload a file to the Soloshot to do some awesome timelapse panning. Useful for a lot of situations including celestial or just those generally gorgeous long pans.

(http://www.soloshot.com/dslr-motion-timelapse-written-instru...)

If you're at all into photography this thing has a ton of usefulness at the price point.

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

#92

Post by IanDrake »

danielweber wrote: post #70
IanDrake wrote: post #64

I've had the SoloShot 2 for almost a year now. I use it for surfing, but just got a small racing dinghy (RS Aero) and will probably use it for that too. The device paired with the recommended camera works fantastic. If you're using it to review your technique, I think it's better than a go-pro. My only complaint is that the arm band isn't really ideal for surfing. Before I ever used it, I emailed solo shot saying tha…

Shouldn't the camera let you track exactly where it is so you can find it?

The transmitter is normally on your arm (above water) to keep a signal with the base. As soon as it goes underwater the signal is lost.

They asked me if I had a floaty on it. So I asked them which floaty? The one you didn't include with the product, or the one you don't sell on your website?

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

#94

Post by jjwiseman »

StavrosK wrote: post #18
adpd wrote: post #6

From the FAQs: Does SOLOSHOT2 work indoors? Not yet. SOLOSHOT is currently an outdoor only product due to some of the technologies involved. Anybody know why this is the case?

I would theorize that they have GPS in both units, and the tag sends its position to the base. Along with a compass, you can pretty accurately tell where the camera is looking, and you can probably gauge the distance between the tag and camera by the time it takes for the signal to travel to the camera, but I'm not sure how that's useful.

GPS alone isn't really accurate enough by itself, but it's thought that SOLOSHOT integrates both GPS and an inertial system.

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

#95

Post by btbuildem »

danielweber wrote: post #70
IanDrake wrote: post #64

I've had the SoloShot 2 for almost a year now. I use it for surfing, but just got a small racing dinghy (RS Aero) and will probably use it for that too. The device paired with the recommended camera works fantastic. If you're using it to review your technique, I think it's better than a go-pro. My only complaint is that the arm band isn't really ideal for surfing. Before I ever used it, I emailed solo shot saying tha…

Shouldn't the camera let you track exactly where it is so you can find it?

Tracking might not work when it's ten feet underwater..

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

#96

Post by throwaway999666 »

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…

> Taking the stick from my teammates for being enough of a nerd to set this up?

Are you 12? Who gives a shit about shit-talking...

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

#97

Post by makomk »

discardorama wrote: post #84
jamesshorten wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An educated guess would be that it uses GPS for location. It is often not possible to get a lock on the satellites indoors.

Is GPS really that accurate, though, that it'll locate you with enough accuracy to allow a camera to center on your position? If it is indeed using GPS, I'm guessing it's using a GPS in the camera base too, to figure out the correction.

Short-baseline differential GPS with a base station can have cm-level accuracy, if I remember correctly.

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

#100

Post by IanDrake »

thenomad wrote: post #71
IanDrake wrote: post #64

I've had the SoloShot 2 for almost a year now. I use it for surfing, but just got a small racing dinghy (RS Aero) and will probably use it for that too. The device paired with the recommended camera works fantastic. If you're using it to review your technique, I think it's better than a go-pro. My only complaint is that the arm band isn't really ideal for surfing. Before I ever used it, I emailed solo shot saying tha…

How precise is the tracking? Could you use it to track a close-up of a face reliably, or is it not that good?

You can't zoom to frame just your face. As I recall, the tightest zoom setting would be your body + 5-10 feet of surrounding area. In a walking test that worked well.

I wouldn't use that mode for live action sports through, since you'd want context in frame anyway. Even in the middle zoom mode, I found myself reacting to something off screen and though I should have gone wider.

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