“The Commuter” was shot entirely on a Nokia N8 smart phone which boasts a 12 megapixel sensor that shoots 720p HD video with a Carl Zeiss lens and a Xenon flash to boot. The Film was shot in just four days with the Nokia N8 using no back up cameras, with the streets of London and St. Albans as the backdrop to Nokia’s story about one commuter’s eventful journey to work.

If you think that’s amazing, check out some more films shot on the Nokia N8 at Nokia’s HD vimeo.com channel you might be surprised what you see!

The Commuter

Behind the Scenes

As every videographer knows, battery life on cameras are often woefully short. I mean, how many times have you had an unforgettable moment happen at an event but couldn’t capture it due to a low or dead battery? In the same spirit, how often have you had your cell phone die in the middle of an incredibly important conversation to a loved one or coworker? These are all situations that happen far too often due to the limitations of battery life in the world today. The unfortunate fact is that scientists just can’t fit a lot of power into a small device especially with the materials that have been discovered thus far.

Not so anymore. Not if the scientists at Washington State have anything to say about it. These scientists realized that by crushing the chemical xenon difluoride to a pressure 1 million times that of our atmosphere, it turns the chemical into a super powerful long lasting battery. Just how they figured out that information, we’ll never know. The idea is that all of the energy used to crush the substance can be stored in it’s chemical bonds for later use, making this battery ultra compact and ultra powerful. Apparently, the only way to apply 1 million atmospheres of pressure to this substance is by placing it between two diamond anvils allowing the shiny square metal battery you see in the photo to be created in its place. The coolest part of all is that after this process is over, it produces a substance that has become the undisputed ultra compact energy storage champion.

Unfortunately, this battery is not yet available to the public but when it is, it’s not hard to imagine that every kind of device manufacturer will be crawling over each other to get it. I mean if this thing is more efficient at storing energy than any other device in the world, why wouldn’t companies try and use it to power their equipment for a longer period of time? That’s just silliness is what that is. I know that I would love to be shooting for 8 continuous hours without ever having to swap the battery on either my external field monitor or my camera while on a shoot. If this is what this battery could do, it would allow for a leaner field shooting setup and along with it, less frustration. As a result of this, I think it’s appropriate to say that I am hoping this technology along with HD Base T and Light Peak gets adopted soon. With these products, there finally might be virtually no limits to what our cameras can do.

The number of cell phone produced videos hitting the web has increased significantly. While this is great and all, it has become painfully obvious that something needs to be done to improve the quality of these videos. Fortunately, that’s exactly what the OWLE bubo has set out to do.

The OWLE bubo is a camera mount built specifically for the iPhone 3GS, in attempt to increase the video capabilities already existing in the phone itself. Its features assist in improving picture, sound, and stability, while it’s ability to support third-party accessories promotes customization and versatility.

The Goods

Crafted from a single piece of solid aluminum with a smooth, black finish, the bubo feels good in the hands. It has a nice, sturdy weight without being too heavy or burdensome. Hand grips are located on either side of the body allowing for a more comfortable hold. The bubo comes with a silicon protective case for your iPhone, which holds your phone in the back of the bubo while you shoot. When you’re finished, a square cut-out located in the center of the aluminum body aides in releasing your phone from the bubo’s grip.

It’s hard not to notice the 37mm aluminum .45x wide-angle/macro combo lens positioned in the upper left corner of the device. The lens begs for attention and makes the bubo more than just a mount to grip. In addition, the lens is interchangeable with other 37mm threaded lenses.

The bubo supplies four ¼” threaded female mounts, one on each corner, for a vast array of tripod and accessory combinations. It also possesses a cold shoe mount for battery operated lights and additional microphones. The included VeriCorder Mini Mic is an omni-style microphone with a flexible arm that rotates 180-degrees enabling the user to point the mic towards the desired audio.

Out of the Box, and Into Our Hands

Putting the OWLE bubo to use is a fairly easy task. There are no batteries, no buttons, and no extensive instructional manuals to thumb through. All that is required of the user is to slip the iPhone into the protective casing and then into the back of the bubo, making sure both the iPhone and the bubo’s lenses match up.

Though this task is relatively easy, we did have to fidget with the protective case to keep it from covering the iPhone’s lens. There was also the issue of the phone’s power-off button being activated while trying to fit it into the back of the device. With a little practice this problem became easy to avoid. Despite the minor hiccups, putting the OWLE bubo into use was a snap and we were ready to test it in no time at all.

The Test

In our tests we compared video stability, picture and audio quality between the standalone iPhone and the OWLE bubo mounted iPhone.

The bubo won hands down in the stability test. Whether capturing a hand-held static shot, trucking shot or dolly shot the bubo’s added weight and hand grips allowed us to record a much steadier picture than with the iPhone alone. The hand grips also helped in keeping our fingers out of lens, which tended to be a problem with the standalone iPhone.

The VeriCorder Mini Mic is a nice addition to the overall device. The iPhone’s 1/8” jack made this mic easy to use, with the only required action being to plug it in. The addition of the mic increased the audio quality significantly. It was more robust than with the iPhone’s built-in mic, and dialogue levels were noticeably improved. The only drawback was the mic’s placement. Since the jack is located beneath the lens and in the middle of the left hand grip, it left us searching for a comfortable place to grasp the device.

The included 37mm wide-angle/macro combo lens was the frosting on the cake. Not only were we able to get almost twice the information in our wide-angle shots, we were able to capture an unmatched clarity in our extreme close-ups, as well. The bubo’s lens, without a doubt, is superior to the standard iPhone lens. The picture quality was equal to, if not better, when considering saturation and white balance.

The OWLE bubo Is No Pocket Cam

There’s no doubt about it, the bubo has some weight and it’s unlikely you’re going to get it to fit in your front pocket. However, if you shoot a good amount of video on your iPhone and you’re looking for a fun, easy-to-use gadget to improve the quality of your cell phone videos, the OWLE bubo does a great job. With the ability to add accessories and to use the iPhone’s plethora of camera apps, there’s no telling what you’ll be able to capture.

Specifications

Lens: 37mm aluminum .45x wide-angle/macro combo lens

Mic: Omni-style VeriCorder Mini Mic, with a 180-degree rotating arm

Accessory Shoe: Cold shoe

Threaded Mounts: Four 1/4” female mounts

Pros:

• Increased picture and sound quality
• Improved stability for smooth shooting
• Supports third-party accessories and iPhone apps

Cons:

• Some images have distortion due to the wide-angle lens
• Mic placement
• For the iPhone only

Owle bubo

www.wantowle.com

MSRP: $130

Summary:

The OWLE bubo provides the iPhone’s camera with stability, versatility and increased picture and sound quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_WsG5FqRcg

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Julie Babcock is one of Videomaker’s Associate Multimedia Editors.

We got an early release of Motorola’s new Droid phone and took it for a quick test drive to see if it’s got what it takes to be a competitive camcorder.

Charlie Fulton, our Tech Guru had the chance to play with the phone and was surprisingly pleased with the quality of the video it recorded.  The Droid can upload video directly to YouTube, so when you shoot it now, you can share it with the world in only seconds, a cool feature if you’re the first one to catch the return of Elvis from an extraterrestrial spaces-ship. Now that’s a video the world will want to engage in! Read the rest of this entry »