MINITESTS
HONOURABLE DISCHARGE
If anyone ever gets around to
handing out gallantry medals, for services to video, we would like to nominate
the Vivanco CAD 300 discharger for one. This unassuming little gadget served
above and beyond the call of duty during our recent Shop Window feature on
nicad batteries. The CAD 300 single-handedly discharged over thirty batteries,
at least twice, and in some cases three or four times, more or less continuously over a seven
day-period. The batteries ranged in capacity from standard 1Ah packs to one
whopper with a 4.5Ah capacity!
The CAD-330 doesn't only take
NP-style batteries, it will operate on most 6, 7.2 and 9.6 volt nicads, in all
the popular styles (except for those oddball Hitachi palmcorder packs), using a
slide-in adaptor plate. Battery voltage is shown by a bank of three LEDs. At
the other end of the unit there's a charge level indicator made up of six red and green LEDs. Another red LED
shows when the discharging process has finished, and an audible alarm sounds
for five seconds, just to make sure. Oddly enough there's no mention of this
last feature, either on the box, the instructions or the Vivanco catalogue; it
certainly came in handy during our battery tests, helping to speed up the
proceedings.
Dischargers are one of the most
useful camcorder accessories there are, and the only one we can think of that
can actually pay for itself the first time it is used. Nicad batteries are
notoriously fickle and can easily loose up to half their capacity in the first
six months of use. Many owners discard them, not realising they can be restored
to health using a discharger, like this one,
by eliminating memory and cell-imbalance effects, brought upon by
repeated shallow fast-charging. The
CAD-300 proved itself under the most arduous conditions imaginable. It's
very-well made, reasonably priced and comes highly recommended!
SPECIFICATION
Make/model VIVANCO CAD-300 UNIVERSAL DISCHARGER
Guide Price £19.99
Features audible warning, power level meter, 6, 7.2, 9 volt
operation
Dimensions 190 x 85 x 48mm
Distributor VIVANCO Unit C, ATA House, Boundary Way, Hemel
Hempstead, HP2 7SS telephone (0442) 231616
VIDEO CAMERA RATING 10
Proven in battle!
GOLDEN TOUCH
A few years ago connecting plugs,
sockets and cables became a major issue in the loftier regions of hi-fi, with lead manufacturers making all
sorts of extraordinary claims about the performance-enhancing properties of
their products. Video accessory companies are a far more down to earth bunch.
Take Bandridge for instance, who have just introduced their Gold Range of AV
leads. They could have said that the 3-micron, 24 carat, scratch-resistant gold
plating on their plugs reduces noise and improve conductivity, resulting in
better picture and sound quality. They could, but they know such minute
differences would only be apparent on highly sophisticated measuring equipment,
and all but impossible to see on domestic video equipment, so what's the point? The point is gold does not tarnish, and it's
the thin film of oxide that forms on the surface of chrome plated and common or
garden plugs and sockets that can and
does lead to an increase in the signal to noise ratio, intermittent contacts
and reduced signal strength.
The metal contacts in most types
of plugs and socket quickly develop a coating of non-conductive contaminants,
it comes from moisture and pollutants in the atmosphere, sweaty fingers, even
tobacco smoke; gold retains it's lustre and low electrical resistance far
longer than other metals, but is it worth the extra expense? In the case of
Bandridge's Gold Line leads the price difference is comparatively small. Look
upon them as a form of insurance, justifiable in the case of AV leads used in
editing and copying set-ups where they will be subjected to a lot of
handling, exposure to contaminants and
sticky-fingers.
SPECIFICATION
Make/model BANDRIDGE GOLD RANGE AV LEADS
Guide Price typically £18.00- £20.00
Features 3-micron 24
carat hard gold plating, black or transparent outer sleeves
Configurations various: SCART to SCART, SCART to phono,
mono and stereo etc.
Cable Length nominally 1.5 metres
Distributor BANDRIDGE LTD, Premiere House, 18 Deer Park Road,
Wimbledon, London SW1 3TU. Telephone 081-543 3633
VIDEO CAMERA RATING 9
A shining example that's hard to
resist...
THE RIGHT DIRECTION?
The microphone fitted to your
camcorder undoubtedly does a sterling job of recording sounds and people's
voices up to four or five of metres away but after that it's pot-luck what it
picks up, and the chances are that a lot of the time the noises you want to
record will be drowned out by other sounds. The way around this is to use a directional
microphone, one that is most sensitive to sounds coming from one direction. The
IQ SPP-1100 from Jessops falls into that category, though it is significantly
smaller than most other tele-mikes.
The SPP-1100 is a fully
self-contained mono mike, with a built in accessory shoe attachment. It's
powered by a single AAA size cell which fits behind then end-cap on the rear of
the mike. With normal use this will last for around 450 hours. When the mike is
switched on a tiny LED next to the switch comes on briefly, confirming that the
battery is okay. A short curly lead, terminated in a standard 3.5mm minijack
connects to the camcorder's external mic. socket.
The mike has two sensitivity
settings; 'low' gives a wide polar pattern, so it is more responsive to sounds
coming from the sides, and 'high' which narrows its field of view so that it
will only pick up sounds immediately in front of it. In practice such
differences are not so sharply defined, though it is clearly very directional
and in the high position, better able to match sounds with pictures, when using
the machine's zoom lens. Audio quality is good, comparable with most standard
camcorder mikes; treble response is a little muted though this wouldn't be
noticed on VHS-C machines with a mono soundtrack.
By the way, the accompanying
instructions, translated from the original Japanese, are a real blast from the
past. How about these: 'our accumulated know-how'; 'chiplized electronic parts'
and 'make sure to turnoff the
power'....
SPECIFICATION
Make/model IQ SPP-1100
Guide Price £60
Features narrow/unidirectional sensitivity patterns, slip-on
muffler, battery check indicator, shoe mount
Plug 3.5mm minijack
Dimensions 16 x 140.5 x 40mm
Weight 48 grams
Distributor JESSOPS,
Jessops House, Scudamore Road, Leicester LE3 1TZ Telephone (0533) 320033
VIDEO CAMERA RATING 8
Handy hearing aid for VHS-C
camcorders
TAKING A SHINE TO PHILIPS
Five lux, three lux, one lux, it
doesn't matter how low your camcorder's minimum sensitivity is, there is simply no substitute for light, and
lots of it! Next to a spare battery, discharger and decent tripod a video light
is one of the most useful accessories you can own, and we're pleased to see
that an increasing number of manufacturers are fitting them, or including them
as standard but where does that leave everyone else? There's certainly no shortage of aftermarket accessory lights but
now Philips have joined the fray and their Cam Plus range includes four video
light, we've been looking at two of them, the SBC-5333 and SBC-5334, priced at
£40 and £65 respectively.
The two lights share the same
basic head design, and they're both rated at 20 watts and powered from standard
6-volt nicad packs, but that's where the similarities begin and end. The 5333
is designed for machines with an accessory shoe, and it's powered by it's own
battery, which is extra. There's few
facilities to speak of, unless you count the simple on/off switch and DC supply
socket on the side.
The 5334 is intended for
palmcorders and the mounting plate fits between the camcorder body and the
battery. The light head, which has a pair of hot-shoe connections, slides into
an accessory shoe on the top of the mounting arm. At first glance this looks
remarkably fragile but it resisted out best attempts to snap it off, though we
suspect it wouldn't come off too well in a fall or collision. Again facilities
are at a premium though this one does have an automatic switching facility, so
it only comes on when the camcorder is in use. As this one is powered from the
camcorder's own battery it will have a significant effect on running times, in
most cases reducing them by between half and two-thirds. Be warned that on some
machines, powered by the standard nicad pack, you could have as little as 10
minutes running time with the light switch on.
Both light heads produce an evenly
dispersed circular beam pattern with no appreciable hot-spots. Twenty watts may
not sound like a lot but it's enough to illuminate a typical living-room scene,
and on some machines it could make all the difference to the picture quality of
indoor shots and portraits, reducing picture noise to more comfortable
levels. By way of a small experiment we
tried clipping the two lights together, using the 5333 to mount them on a
camcorder's accessory shoe, and powering both from one large battery pack. The
resultant beam pattern was a little on the narrow side but the extra
illumination -- effectively 40 watts -- was most effective on interior
scenes...
SPECIFICATION
Make/model CAM PLUS SBC 5333 and 5334 VIDEO
LIGHTS
Guide Price £40/£65
Fitting accessory shoe/battery clip
Voltage/power 6-volts/20 watts
Features auto power on/off (5334 only)
Distributor PHILIPS
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, City House, 420-430 London Road, Croydon, CR9 3QR.
telephone 081-689 4444
VIDEO CAMERA RATING 7
Pricey, but a useful backup light
source
KEEP IT UNDER YOUR HAT
If you've ever fancied yourself as
a wildlife videographer one of the first things you'll need after a camcorder
with a big lens, is a good hide. It makes sense to start small, after all it
will probably be a while before you're tracking Wildebeest across the African
tundra with David Attenborough and a BBC production crew; until then you'll
have to hump all the gear around yourself. The Lastolite Monsoon is just the
job, because it's a hide you can wear on your head! Most other hides are
cumbersome tent-like structures which you have to erect and take down every
time you move location.
The Monsoon is basically a tube
made of nylon camouflage netting. It's held in shape by a ring of thin spring
steel. This is attached to a sheet of waterproof material stretched across the
top and in the centre there's a baseball cap (also in camouflage colours). The
netting opens at the front, it's held
together by Velcro fasteners. At the top there's an access flap for the camera
lens. The whole thing weighs only 300 grams and it folds up into a compact
pillow-shaped pouch measuring only 13-inches across.
As you can imagine this kind of
thing is a little difficult to evaluate in the concrete canyons around Kings
Reach Tower, the only wildlife in this neck of the woods are some very
streetwise pigeons, who weren't fooled for a moment. We decided to try it out
in a more rural location and out intrepid reviewer donned his cape in a quiet
spot on the fringes of the Ashdown Forest. Unfortunately, and despite a lengthy
wait, this locality proved to be totally devoid of wildlife, though a courting
couple a few yards away didn't seem to notice, but they appeared to have other
things on their minds... Until we've
had an opportunity to test the Monsoon out for real, you'll have to take it on
trust that if you're wearing one of these things, and you can stand still long
enough, our feathered and furry friends will indeed have great difficulty in
seeing you...
SPECIFICATION
Make/model LASTOLITE MONSOON PORTABLE CAMOUFLAGE
HIDE
Guide Price £50
Features camera opening, Velcro fastening, variable head-size
Colour options Monsoon or Safari
Dimensions approx. 72-ins long, packs into 13-in
diameter zip bag
Weight 300 grams
Distributor LASTOLITE LTD
8 Vulcan Court, Hermitage Industrial Estate, Coalville, Leics. LE6 3FL.
Telephone (0530) 853129
VIDEO CAMERA RATING 9
Convenient and compact concealment
SPECIFICATION
Make/model
Guide Price £
Features
Sockets
Dimensions
Weight
Distributor
VIDEO CAMERA RATING X
SPECIFICATION
Make/model
Guide Price £
Features
Sockets
Dimensions
Weight
Distributor
VIDEO CAMERA RATING X
SPECIFICATION
Make/model
Guide Price £
Features
Sockets
Dimensions
Weight
Distributor
VIDEO CAMERA RATING
---end---
(c) R.Maybury 1993 1203
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