Memory loss...

 

Did you hit your head again?  No, but thanks for your compassion.  You messed up the micro-mini SD card in one of your cameras?  No, again, but thanks for jinxing it.

You know how you have food at a particular Mexican restaurant, and the food is tasty... but a few hours later you have BAS?  (Burning Ass Syndrome)  Then, you don't eat there for a long time, but you remember how good the food was, so you try it again?  With the same syndrome?  Yeah, that's the selective memory I'm talking about.

I was going through my camera gear last night and came across my Roadie Remote - it looks like a big watch, but is made to strap to your steering wheel so you can control a 360 or 4k camera without taking your eyes off the road.  I said to myself, "Self, why aren't you using that?  It will strap onto the handlebar grips on the bike - I remember using it on the Vespa."

So, I put a new battery in the remote then fussed with it for a short couple hours, getting it to reliably connect to my Insta360 One R camera.  I have been using the Insta360 One X2 camera since I got it last year, so I charged up the batteries on the One R.  Then I said to myself, "Self, you should try this out on the CTX on your next ride."

I hadn't counted on any riding this holiday weekend, but Friday was good riding, and Saturday was good riding, and I did take yesterday "off."  I may as well get a ride in on this Independence Day morning... and switch the One R from the 360 lenses to the 4k lens, making it more like a GoPro.  I said to myself, "This 4k stuff will be less work than 360 files, so maybe I'll want to use it more often."

Selective memory.

I strapped the camera to the bike, put the Roadie on the left grip, geared up myself, smooched my Honey and gave my big furry boy a rub behind the ears... and headed out on the bike.

The Roadie Remote is actually pretty slick: with the press of a button, you can switch between still and video.  There are some other fancy things it will do, but I thought to myself, "Self, shoot a few stills and some video, and let's see how it all plays out."

The Roadie was easy on the Vespa because the only thing your left hand has to do on that bike is run the rear brake and use the turn signals.  On the CTX, the rear brake is with your right foot, the turn signals are roughly the same, but... in Sport Mode on the curvy roads, you are regularly using your left thumb and index finger to up and down shift.  It is a long reach around that remote to get to those paddle shifters.  I found I had to pretty much take my left hand off the grip and poke at the paddle shifters with my hand floating... while hauling ass through a curve.

Still, I shot some stills, and a bunch of video.  When I say "bunch," the battery lasts a lot longer when shooting typical video as opposed to 360 video.  I didn't have to change out the battery the whole time I was out.

These images look OK, but there are 2 files for each shot... and what the heck is a DNG file?  There's one of those for every jpg file.  DNG files are uncompressed, so a much larger file than the jpgs.  Realistically, I don't need a bigger file, since this blog is the only thing I'm doing with these photos.  That is a lot of wasted computer memory.  Oh, well, I can delete them.

On with the video files.... seems that there are two files for each of those, as well; an MP4 file and a .VID file.  Yep, more uncompressed stuff.  Oh, well, I can just pick the smaller files and put them together for a video.  Looking at that first video file, that's when it came back to me.  Even with the maximum stabilization applied, 4k video files have a lot more shake in them compared to 360 files... as in: every bump in the road comes through, making the video hard to watch.  Faster to edit, for sure, but that doesn't do you any good if the videos all seem shaky.  Oh, so that's why I have been shooting everything in 360 since I got that first 360 camera.  And that's why I detested the last GoPro I bought.  Well, at least the Insta360 interface is much more user friendly than the GoPros I've had.

"Oh, come on, Jim, how bad can it be?" you ask.  Pretty bad.  Jittery.  Especially after having the outstanding stabilization you get with these Insta360 cameras.  Realistically, I know there aren't a lot of people looking at the videos I shoot - the numbers range from less than 100 to more than 28,000 views on any given video I post.  I shoot because I really enjoy looking at the ride videos when I can't be riding.

So, what I shot today was mostly to be tossed, but it makes me really appreciate what the 360 cameras can do... I missed those cool "pans" when the camera view goes from in front of the bike to around behind it.  Or, from my position on the bike to the view I'm getting out the front.  Or the quick change in field of view from extremely wide to narrow.  All things the typical action camera can't easily do... where the camera is pointing is what you get - there's no "looking around" after it's been shot.  The Insta360 One R is a "modular" camera - you can take off the 360 lens module and replace it with a 4k lens module.  The 4k lens is good for shooting scenery or even some mild action.  Granted the latest generation action cams have been stability, but it is still pretty shaky compared to the 360. 

Here is: Going Old School...

I did have to take a second look at it - you really notice the lean in a curve.  With the 360 video, I have to "add a bit of rotation" to keep it realistic.  Different techniques.

As usual, the longest part of this project is uploading it to YouTube.

I'm thinking I'll try that camera on my helmet with the other 360 camera on the back of Joan's bike... one of these days.

Glad I got my ride in this morning - thunderstorms rolled through this afternoon.  Yes, I still have the memory of the last two summers and what Mother Nature did to our stuff.  Rufus did OK in this afternoon's weather.  He's a good boy.