A
great gizmo to bring to air shows.
When I go to air shows, I'm usually loaded down with about 40 pounds of
camera gear. Long lenses, short lenses, SLR bodies with motor drives,
the works. Oy, my aching back! I have often wished to lighten my load with
just an easy-to-use, multipurpose gizmo that would combine binoculars and
camera into one compact affordable unit. Well, flightsimmers, my wish has come
true with the Meade Capture Digital Camera Binocular. I think it's the perfect
companion for air shows. Use it in the pits for close-ups from afar, or in the
grandstands when you want to capture close-ups of you favorite aircraft on the
taxi ramp or zooming by during the display flights. Grab one now and you'll be
ready for all the action at the Reno Air Races, too.
This thing is so cool!
Here's how it works. What you see through the binoculars, you can capture
instantly with the built-in digital camera. The entire instrument fits in the
palm of you hand. It starts with an 8X magnification, 22mm lens diameter
binocular. You get a 400 foot at 1000 yards field-of-view and can close-focus
down to 16 feet. The digital camera records exactly what you see
through the binoculars. That comes in handy when you're trying to see and
photograph the details on your favorite Reno racers, but need to get beyond
the gaggle of spectators blocking your view in the pits. I personally love to
check out the details of that magnificent Merlin engine on Skip Holm's Dago
Red P-51D racer. In fact, if you happen to also grab a shot of Skip
himself in the pits at Reno, tell him Cap Mason says "Hi!" and Mad
Max Merlin wants a re-match with him in CFS3.
But, back to the review. Other features of this combination digital camera
and binocular include:
- Save up to 40 images using high-res mode, or as many as 100 with lower
resolution
- 8MB of SDRAM (memory)
- CMOS imaging sensor
- Automatic exposure
- High resolution of 640x480. Capture up to 40 images at high resolution.
- Low resolution of 320x240. Capture up to 100 images at low resolution
that are perfect for distribution on the Internet or through email.
- USB interface for easy uploading to your desktop, notebook, handheld or
any other device with a USB port.
- Folding roof prism design
- Runs on just 2, AAA batteries
- Compact & lightweight. Dimensions: 4.5" x
3.5" x 2.2". Weight: 9.3 oz.
- 35mm Lens Equivalent...400mm. Focal Ratio: f/5.6
- Field of View: 8°
- Range: 16 feet to infinity
- FREE software including: Meade's Express Image-Capture CD
helps edit and organize images for printing and emailing (requires Windows
98/2000/ME/XP operating system).
Watch
a 3-minute clip of the
CaptureView in action!
Choose
your speed & player from
the choices below.
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Meade CaptureView
Binoculars
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More than just a great air show accessory, I'm going to try mine out at the
next Giant's game in Pac Bell Park. I think these would be good for getting
closer to the action, and bringing home great photos, for all spectator sports
including basketball, football, hockey, NASCAR racing. Bird-watchers will
appreciate the lightweight, high tech convenience, too. Makes a great
back-to-school or holiday gift. If you see it through the binocular, you can
capture the image. Simple as that.
Seeing is believing.
The best way to judge whether this optical device is right for you is to
check out the images it makes. The examples shown here were all photographed
with the binocular's built-in digital camera and are completely un-retouched.
(Click on the image to see it full size 640x480).
Best of all, it's a great bargain.
I would have expected this gizmo to cost hundreds of dollars. After all,
decent binoculars cost anywhere from $100-300. Even low end digital cameras can
cost you another $100-200 and much more. Meade puts the two together in a
single instrument and you
can buy it today for just $79.95 at The Discovery Store!
Cap Mason
CapMason@FlightSim.Com
