Lenses

Mobile Journalism Reporting Tools Guide

Looxcie

Review by: Will Sullivan
Dec. 14, 2010

The futuristic Looxcie is adjustable and worn over the ear like a Bluetooth phone headset.

One of the most enjoyable parts of doing all these reviews has been rethinking and experimenting with all sorts of new tools for storytelling; the Looxcie is definitely one of the most unique. I put it in the "lenses" category because that's what it's probably most close to but it's hopefully just the beginning of a whole new genre of mobile reporting tools.

While it isn't the first 'camera attached to the head' device I've seen used by the media -- that honor goes to MSNBC's Ashley Wells and his Microsoft Devo hat from their Rising from Ruin project about Hurricane Katrina -- it's the first mass-production device and has received a lot of buzz in a short period of time, including being picked by Time magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2010.

Besides being a camera, the Looxcie can also use it's Bluetooth connection to double as a Bluetooth phone headset. 

The Looxcie has an F/2.8 lens, so it's pretty decent for most light conditions an records 480×320 resolution video at 15 frames per second. That's almost exactly half of standard video frame rates and a little smaller resolution than most mobile or point-and-shoot camera's, so the video is a little choppy and smaller in size than I'd like, but Looxcie doesn't hide that fact, they even tout it on their website, "Looxcie captures video optimized for social media. It's not HD, it's ASAP." There is no zoom, and with the lower quality video, it's very important that you get close to subjects or "zoom with your feet" as photographers are trained.

The device has 4 gb of storage and can hold about five hours of video, and it has an auto-purge feature that removes the oldest videos when you hit capacity.

The Looxcie does offer pretty good light balancing (I expected none or slower correction on a 1.0 version of new technology like this) and decent sound quality as long as you're close to the subject. In fact, I'd say a general good rule of thumb is in order to get good audio and video, you should be close to your subject -- less than 4 feet away is ideal for quality and minimal creepiness. You can see with this test clip I recorded with David Cohn explaining why he's neurotic; he was about 6 feet away and as you can hear the audio isn't outstanding but you can still understand what's going on (the video isn't excellent either but I was still getting used to having to hold my head still for recording quality clips).

Along with the headset hardware, the Looxcie requires that you install an app on your phone for the streaming and transfer. It's available for Android and they recently added Apple support too. You can watch the footage you're taking streaming through you phone. The app holds the most powerful features for journalism use -- you can set up auto-sharing and transmission of video clips you shoot via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and email.

To use the device, you turn on the Looxcie, open up the app, connect to the Looxcie via Bluetooth and then start streaming/recording. It's not an instantaneous start up process, but within a minute from putting on the device you can be ready to roll. While you're walking around and shooting video, if something newsworthy or interesting happens, you can touch the button on the bottom of the camera and it'll automatically cut a 30-second clip of what you just saw (and if you have auto-sharing on, it'll transfer the video while you continue shooting). This makes the device especially helpful for quick moving news events -- especially breaking news, disaster situations, even doing quick interviews at the local festival. You're not constrained to 30 second clips either -- you can cut your own clips in the Looxcie app to shorter or longer lengths as you please. The device only produces one-shot clips though, you're not multi-track editing here, but that's fine for the quick-hit, sidebar type videos we're talking about producing with this.

Getting the hang of using the Looxcie didn't take too long, but it's probably not a 'no manual, turn on and go' device; there are several buttons conspicuously placed throughout the device that takes a little time to get used to. Overall, I was surprised by how comfortable to device felt, it's lightweight and not much more bulk than a standard Bluetooth phone headset and balanced fairly well on the ear. It also comes with several different ear buds for a more customized fit in your ear. People do look at you a bit strange, but they're probably just thinking of Sweet Dee's comedic performance on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

One of the key techniques I needed to practice to getting good quality video is to make sure the headset is comfortable and stable, this can take a little time and some adjustments and practice while you're getting used to the Looxcie.

Another area I had trouble with was keeping my head steady -- especially when interviewing someone. I've been trained for years as a multimedia reporter to just nod and not produce any "uh-huhs" or "yeas" when interviewing people so you can get clean audio but with this device now I can't nod either. That took some getting used to and was more a personal retraining thing, not so much a defect in the product, but it is really important to keep your head steady for good quality video.

Overall, the Looxcie is an exciting, totally new genre of device for mobile reporting. It has immediate applications for quick news video in breaking news situations or live events where you have good access to get physically close to subjects.

Jelly Lens Filters

Review by: Amanda Heisey

The jelly lens on a non smart-phone (an old Samsung phone).

Compatible with nearly all phones, including Android, iPhone (Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later)

We had two jelly filters to test, one was the starburst filter, and the other was the wide-angle lens. They come in other filters, vignette, antique, you can take your pick. They are small and portable and easy to attach to your device. The jelly filters have a, well, jelly, sticky ring around the lens that allows you to attach the lens right around the camera's already existing lens. It sticks just as well as the magnetic lenses do, maybe even better. At least with the sticky application you don't have to permanently stick a magnetic ring to your device. Apparently you can clean the dirt off the sticky part with water, but eventually it's going to stop sticking.

Honestly, I don't know why you'd need these filters. A lot of photo editing applications already have capabilities like starburst and vignette. If you use the applications you can have the original picture as well without the affect already on there permanently. I think the wide-angle lens might be the only one that is worth anything. You can get more in the shot by using it. If you're too close to an object or scene to get everything or everyone in it, it definitely comes in handy. The problem is the lenses bend the photo a little on the edges. It gives them a distorted look. Also, you can't use a flash with these lenses. If you do the lens is caught in the flash and you can't see anything except the lens. Really, I think these are a waste of money since you can doctor your photos with other applications.

OWLE Bubo

Review by: Andrew Dumas

Our favorite lens (and one of our favorite mounts), the Owle Bubo, is durable and provides excellent quality pictures.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later

The Owle Bubo is a pretty handy, if bulky, piece of equipment. Essentially, it's a piece of metal that you can stick your iPhone into, and has a lens over the camera area of the phone. It's meant to help steady your shots, make your camera more portable, and give you better pictures via the lens.

What the Bubo DOES deliver on is making it easier to carry around your phone (kind of) and steadying your shots. It's nice not having to hold your camera (phone) by the fingertips and then try and push the button to capture while also trying to remain steady. The grips are spaced enough that it's comfortable, your thumb can easily push the button to take a picture, and it's heavy enough to give you comfortable stability without tiring your arms. Slightly less, effectively, it makes it easier to carry around your equipment. We screwed a neck strap into one of the cold foot mounts on our bubo, so that when we needed to jot down notes or fiddle with a microphone or something else, we could let our "camera" hang from our neck, freeing up our hands, and we highly recommend this practice for Bubo users. However, since the iPhone is placed into the apparatus using only the friction caused by putting your phone (wrapped in the Bubo's custom case) into the slot in the center of the device, I would show caution when letting it hang from your neck. My phone dropped out of the Owle twice in one afternoon.

The Bubo also has a cold foot mount on the top for any special gear you want to mount (like a flash) and has an area on the bottom where you can screw it onto a mount, giving you the ability to make it extra steady for, say, video. These are both very welcome additions to the device, and make the Owle Bubo much more versatile in the field.

Now for the lenses. You have some options, you can go with the super wide angle, which will give you a slight bend on the corners of the picture, like a less powerful fisheye lens. It's handy for crowd shots, but not preferable for a lot of other things. You can unscrew this (and stow it away, somewhere; there's no place to put it on the actual Bubo) and then use the macro lens. If you're going to do this, then be prepared to get really comfortable with your subject, because it's definitely only good for one purpose, which is to get really fine detail extremely close up. Finally, you can unscrew this lens, leaving a large whole in the Bubo where your camera shoots from, so that you can simply use the iPhone's camera.

In all, I was pretty impressed with this equipment. I eventually dropped the lenses, preferring to just use the internal camera instead of having to work around the super wide and the macro, but this was balanced by the actual usefulness of the tool. I can mount it, I can put flashes on it, I can get my hands free while not having to worry about where I'm going to put the phone, and best of all, it steadies those pictures. I definitely recommend this for shooting of any kind.

180 Degrees Fisheye Lens

Review by: Andrew Dumas

This fisheye works very well, but doesn't have much of a journalistic function.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later

We found this lens to be very unhelpful. It mounts via a metallic ring, just like the SmartLens 2 in 1 Lens. However, where the 2 in 1 had a wide angle and a macro, this lens does only fisheye. For artistic pictures not for news, someone can probably find a use for this lens, but for journalistic ventures you probably need to steer clear. If for some reason you ever DID need to add a fisheye effect to your picture, chances are you're using an application which can apply the filter to the picture. Now you have the original unaltered and the altered image you want to use. We're not saying this lens doesn't have its place, but we are saying this lens probably doesn't have a place in your camera bag.

SmartLens 2 in 1 Lens

Review by: Andrew Dumas

This lens allows you to take wide-angle and macro shots.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later

The SmartLens 2 in 1 lens is a fun little gimmick of a device. It probably works better with a 4G or droid, where the curve of the phone doesn't interfere with the camera. On a 3G, though, it actually worked surprisingly well for me.

The only real negative to using this lens is that you're going to have to apply a magnetic ring to the back of your phone using the adhesive already on the ring. I haven't attempted to take it off, yet, because I don't know that the glue is sticky enough to put it back on, and the lens only comes with one ring. Moral of the story is, attach it to something you want to use long-term.

After that, you don't have to worry about the lens NOT working, which is maybe not a great way to look at it. I didn't notice a huge improvement in quality by using it, but at the same time, it didn't hurt. It doesn't bend the picture like the wider angle on the Bubo does, and the macro lens is decent. Sometimes it won't work, and it'll just be fuzzy, but if you can get close enough (often nearly touching) then you might be able to get some cool details.

The best part is, this thing is incredibly easy to put on and take off. So, attach the magnetic ring, put the lens in your pocket, and head out.