IT'S COLD OUTSIDE LET'S GO TO THE REEF

There's a reason Collette and I bought annual passes to Ripley's Aquarium of Canada. The first time we visited we stood in line and it was quite busy. When Collette went with her family around Christmas the line up was around the block and it was so crowded she could barely breathe.

This time we went on a Friday evening, no line ups (though you never have to with the pass) and it was quiet and calm and you could take your time, watching the exhibits you wanted and just taking the time to watch the animals do their thing

Not being busy allowed us to take the time focus on our images without someone being in our way or being in their way either. And far less crying and screaming of stomping of feet .. yes, the parents were much better behaved

The first time we were there I really didn't get to see the octopus, his enclosure is kind of in the middle of the room and it's usually surrounded hockey fans wondering how it would look on a rink

Rainbow Reef is what they call the 200,000 litre tanks that holds the aquarium's tropical reef. The first time we were there they had a diver in the tank doing one of their interactive information shows. There was a diver this time as well and he was acting as some kind of aquatic waiter

One of my favorite exhibits in the aquarium is the Dangerous Lagoon. This is not a tank that you walk in front of, it is an enormous 2.5 million litre tank that you walk through ... or ride through on the moving sidewalk. The tank is on either side of you and arches over your head, allowing you to watch the animals, including 14 species of shark, glide just a couple feet above you

The Lagoon features a pair of groupers who live in their own tank. These fish are massive, when you're this big, you get your own tank

Just for the sake of an irresistible juxtaposition, from the gigantic to the teeney tiny ...

One of the best parts of the sparse crowd was Planet Jelly, which features a huge "wall" of jellyfish, specifically Pacific Nettles, that float down from above your head like hundreds of glowing organic parasol searching for their handles. It's hypnotic and there is a bench across from the tank, it's just nice to sit there and watch the show

I took the opportunity of this visit to bring my new camera, the Sony NX30U. One of the reasons I bought this camera is for its "professional" capabilities. I shot 1080p at 60fps; this frame rate is too high for most online posting such as Vimeo or Youtube but the promise is give you razor sharp images and smooth slow mo

There are a few shots from my old HVR and the staff allows me to bring my Go Pro and dip it into the Shoreline Gallery, a huge open tank, but my little Gorilla Grip tripod

I decided to demo the cam by cutting the footage as I would an actual promo video. So here is Ripley's Aquarium of Canada totally free totally unsolicited promo video

Ripley's Aquarium: Sony NX30U Test from Victor Kellar on Vimeo.

A MAN AND A DOG .. AND HIS NEW CAMERA

This post is a tease .. or Version One ... or an abbreviation of another post .. or something

What this post is about is my new camera, though mostly this will be a short post featuring the first video shot on my new camera.

The camera is a Sony HVR-NX30U, one of the Sony NXCams, a small "palmcorder" similar to the HDR cam with which I have shot most of the videos on this blog, at least in the last couple of years. The NX is actually the pro version of the HVR

There are many differences between my old Sony cam and this one, I won't go into them here but I have posted a more detailed description on my film making blog Idiot With A Camera

I really love that little HDR but it is a consumer cam and not only doesn't serve professional needs, I just want more ... wow, that sounded a bit Long Island Princess didn't it

I like the video quality I can get with Collette's Nikon D7000 but it is not a true video camera in my opinion, or at least not one suited to my style of shooting. DSLRs have great lenses and huge image sensors so they can capture excellent images and achieve a wide range of shallow depth of field. They can also record in at a frame rate of 24 frames per second; people say this emulates film .. whatever, they look great. But a run n gun cam the Nikon is not and that suits me style

This little Sony has shoots at 24 fps and it has a floating lens plus image stabilization, so it should be well suited to my style of shooting. And it has a range of pro features that reminds me of my Canon XL1, a great cam in it's day but it's big and bulky and is not HD and it shoots on tape .. I barely remember what that is

At any rate, I got to take the new cam for its trial run this weekend. I took it to a locale where I've shot before, so I can make a comparative assessment of its virtues. I took the cam .. and Terra .. to the long trail that starts at G Ross Lord Park and runs up Dufferin St from Finch to Steeles.

Here would the video


G Ross Lord Park: Sony HXR-NX30U First Shoot from Victor Kellar on Vimeo.