Last week I was lucky to be able to catch the big QANTAS bird to Broome in Western Australia, get a hire car and drive the 90 minutes to ECO Beach Resort on the coast of Roebuck Bay. I only had 2 days, but it was worth it!
Me and Jacqui have stayed there before – see some drone footage here – but this time we had a GoPro MAX 360 camera with us.
This one image can tell you more about the resort than anything else in my opinion. Where else can you sit in a restaurant, inside or out, or laze in a pool and get a view like this.
Sadly, I missed getting a 360 degree sunset due to time constraints, but trust me, the sunsets are just glorious.
It’s half-way through August and together with Jacqui, I managed to sneak away for a few days to my favourite spot on the planet – Broome in Western Australia.
The trip was not short of a couple of issues though, as with the Western Australian borders shut tighter than a camel’s eyelids in a sandstorm, every Sandgroper man and his dog wanted a break, and with Bali off limits, Broome seemed to be the go to place.
Not a problem; myself and Jacqui had booked, but on arrival, found there had been a hotel cockup and there was not a single room in Broome available. Not a hotel, B & B, caravan park cabin, caravan or even a place to pitch a tent.
Long term readers may remember we stayed here a couple of years back and used the breathtaking scenery and environment to test some cameras and drones.
We loved Eco Beach then, and after this weekend we love it even more!
So, did I have any cameras to test on this trip. And the answers is yes of course I did, a Canon XA55 pro camcorder.
Description
The XA55 is a mid-size camcorder that has a full complement of technical features including SDI out, twin XLR audio inputs (via a removable handle that also contains audio controls) built in ND filtering, a single ring that can switch between zoom and focus, twin SD card storage and of course the usual USB, HDMI, headphone, external power and 3.5 mm mic in port.
The handle also contains a supplementary tele / wide rocker switch, record on/off/lock button and a hot shoe, as well as provision for bolting a mic holder (supplied) to the right-hand side.
The viewfinder has pull out and tilt, and the flip out LCD screen is touch capable and has a couple of Fn buttons for manual / auto focus plus powered iS. A further programmable Fn button is on the left front of the camera.
One design factor I love about the XA55 is the location of the SD card slots. Traditionally these have been placed under the LCD screen or on the back of the camcorder. Some models from various manufacturers placed them on the underside which meant for tripod mounted work, it was a real pain to change cards.
In the XA55, Canon has seen fit to put the cards on what I would call the right central “shoulder” of the camera under a lift up hatch lid and in front of the main body mounted tele/wide rocker control.
Similarly, the on / off camera / playback control is on the left shoulder making it eminently accessible.
The lens is 15x optical zoom, 8.3~124.5mm, 1:2.8 ~4.5 with a 50mm thread. And as you’d suspect is a 4K lens. A 1” sensor complements the imagery gathering system in concert with Canon’s tried and tested Digic processing engine.
On the trip, I took extensive video and stills of turquoise ocean, the bush surrounds, brilliant sunsets and even the fantastic meal(s) in the Eco Beach restaurant, testing the XA55 in light from glaring midday tropic sun to bright orange sunsets, outdoor lit areas at night and even the night sky with no wash at all from external city / town light.
Sample handheld footage from ther deck at Eco Beach Broome (Downsampled from 4K to 1080p)
And the XA55 handled it all with aplomb. It even supports and infra-red mode via an on / off switch.
I am sure that in the hands of a full on pro camera operator, they could make the XA55 almost sing as against my modest usage.
Conclusion
At around $3600 for the full package, for the run and gun operator or serious enthusiast, the XA55 is a brilliant little package that as I proved on this trip, snugs into a backpack quite happily and even with Eco Beach’s minimal 2amp power system (well it IS a self-sustaining glamping resort generating power via solar) was easily recharged as required – albeit taking a little longer than a “normal” power point would do.
If I had a personal choice between the Canon XA55 and something like a Sony A7, Panasonic GH5 or similar, the XA55 would be a no-brainer. As I have stated many times, I simply do not like the ergonomics of the dSLR / mirrorless style cameras for video – lens switchable options besides.
As a consequence, the XA55 ticks all of my boxes, plus a couple I had not thought of before.
Downsides
Any downsides. Yes there is. The hatch at the front for the HDMI / USB / SDI is a bastard to get to as the handle strap partially obscures it and without reading the manual, I had no idea what the knurled knob on the front left was defaulting to (it is programmable as it turns out, but out-of-the-box didn’t seem to do anything at all).
But these are quite minor in the overall scheme of things.
The days of the Box Brownie are well and truly behind us, and so are those of the 8mm Videocamera and Instamatic cameras. Even those nifty Polaroids after a bit of a comeback and now passé.
Today, when we travel, we want to show off our locations and antics in more imaginary ways, hence the success of the so-called “Action Cam” – GoPros, Sony ActionCam and others. Lately, 360° degree cameras have flooded onto the scene, mostly in our experience being rubbish sadly, but there are apparently a few good ones out there and one day, one of those manufacturers such as Vuze, Yi and others may deem to accept our requests and send us one …
And of course there is the drone.
12 months ago, every man and his dog were bringing out a drone of some sort, most usually with a camera / camcorder in the nose of varying dubious quality. We played with many of them – one from Swann that tended to slip sideways of its own accord and crash, the weirdly named Dobby that flashed onto the scene and as rapidly flashed off again, hoards of Chinese manufactured, mostly toys, the Parrot BeBop (no longer represented in Australia) and of course the ill-fated GoPro Karma with its battery problems (we still have one at the bottom of Hervey Bay if anyone is interested).
Sailing serenely through all this drone-y turmoil has been Chinese behemoth DJI with its range of drones from the low end – but still very good – quadcopters to industrial strength beasts.
It has to be said that from a reviewing angle, getting anything out of DJI (or its Aussie representatives and agencies) is like letting blood from a stone. We begged a MAVIC from a dealer which we had for a couple of weeks, but that is about it. But we will keep trying, as there is a plethora of new models (and other gadgets) from DJI consistently being released.
All that is a long winded way of saying that a drone is a great way to get a different perspective on a location and we found just this at Eco Beach Beach resort near Broome. Whilst we don’t have a DJI MAVIC, we do have our second GoPro Karma (the fixed version) with a GoPro Hero 6 4K installed in the stabilizer in the nose. It is a little bity heavy to cart around on budget flights where baggage is limited to 23Kg, but we managed to squeak through at 23.3Kg with the Karma in its case inside my case along with other camera kit, fishing gear and the odd pair of shorts, a shirt or two and a pair of thongs (flip flops if you MUST) along with other necessary bits and pieces of clothing and, well, stuff you need on a weeklong trip.
Like stubbie holders. Just kidding. No I’m not…
And the careful weighing and packing proved worthwhile, as this location (see map) is a brilliant location for shooting drone video due to the changing landscape because of the huge tides, varying light and simple remoteness of the place.
With a 10 metre rise and fall, and the distance between high water and low tide being 200 metres plus, brilliant sunrise and sun sets, the colour of the water, the red of the earth, white of the sand and the incongruity of a 4 star resort in the middle of nowhere, we had a ball flying the GoPro Karma around – indeed we were encouraged by the management there to do so!
But, if you are tempted, remember there are a few rules to obey.
According to the CASA APP, “Can I Fly There”, Ramada Eco Beach Resort is outside the Broome airspace area, however they DO have the occasional helicopter land guests there, and also have days when there are tourist flights over Roebuck Bay for whale watching etc so make sure you check with the management for those days and occasions.
I also strongly you register with CASA as a drone operator where you will be issued with your unique number. This proves useful if you are ever challenged (as I have been) as to your intent, and you can do it here. Having a registration with CASA you can show seems to placate the very few who get a bit over top about you flying a drone in what they deem as their personal space.
Additionally, there are CASA rules to obey when flying in terms of where, how high, how far and when you can fly. These can all be found here.
And of course, it makes common sense that you KNOW how to control your drone so that if something untoward happens, you can recover relatively unscathed, with no damage to it, buildings or objects and of course people or animals around you. I have a scar from a mishap very early in my flying days proving those whirling blades are unforgiving and bloody sharp!
Like anything else, practise, practise and more practise will make, if not perfect, you a better and safer drone pilot.
Don’t forget also the skills in using the on-board camera. Avoid the temptation to perform circles (your viewer gets dizzy), perfect slow pans and plan you flight path to get the best chance of shots with the least risk in the least time – batteries only last so long.
Make sure you have your light source (the sun usually) in the right position, camera settings correct before take-off and the camera angle at the right elevation to avoid just shooting the sky or just the ground directly below.
And again, practise, practise, practise.
Finally, carefully edit the captured footage to make it an enjoyable watch. Add subtitles and / or a voice over, overlay maps to show the exact location of the flight, use something such as Smartsound to create a soundtrack (or better, hire a musician or even do it yourself!)
Create something, as you would with any footage you take, that you and others can enjoy as a memento of a holiday, event or simply a location you enjoy being at or in.
Footnote:
The accompanying video a shows the beach and surrounds at high tide at the Ramada Eco Beach Resort, 140Kms south of Broome in Western Australia. This is by no means a finished videoas per my last paragraphs above, as only an hour or so editing was done from about 18 minutes footage available.
It was also mainly done on site with a small laptop and without 240v power (Eco Beach runs 12v), battery charging only was available, so time was at a premium. MUCH more could be done to this video I admit. I’ll have a low tide one posted soon.
When going on any shooting trip (with cameras folks, not things that go bang), it is a fact of life that the chance of something going wrong is inversely proportional to the number of gadgets you have.
On our recent getaway (courtesy as mentioned before, of Mr Frequent Flyer points), here at Ramada Eco Beach Resort in Broome, we have a large number of them in order to test and report on in use in a real life field operation.
The list is extensive:
3 x camcorders (Canon G40 HD, Sony AX100 4K, Panasonic WXF1 4K)
1 x Panasonic GH5S
3 x GoPros (models 4,5 and 6 – 5 being in the…
1 x GoPro Karma drone
Sony RX0 ultra compact shockproof/waterproof camcorder
360Fly 360 degree camera
LaCie CoPilot backup and storage system
Logitech Wonderboom Bluetooth sound system
… and various chargers, capacitor “brick”, cables, housings, mounts and a Joby Gorillapod. All fits snugly inside a decent carry all that is waterproof with a bunch of external and internal zip pockets.
Things to look for BEFORE going out of the door.
Power: This is the bleeding obvious but it is of course important to make sure that all batteries are charged (including spares), and if you have one, a capacitor “brick” is also fully charged and can be connected to your device(s) in an emergency.
Memory Cards: I tend to make sure all cards are clean (empty) and formatted before I go, and after even a single use, all files copied off (hence the LaCie CoPilot) for safe keeping and then reformatted. I keep one set of cards per device and label them accordingly ie: teach GoPro has its own card(s) with the volume label set for that specific camera. I also have a waterproof zippered pocket carrying case to keep spare cards in (as well as adaptors for MicroSD cards).
Drone: This may be Karma specific, but once I have reached a location (in this case, Ramada Eco Beach 140Km south of Broome in Western Australia), I tend to reorient the drone to the GPS, make sure all batteries (drone and controller) are fully charged, and that the controller and drone are “talking” to each other. I also preset the camera angleso you don’t end up with vision solely of the sky or the ground due to be unable to see the controller LCD in bright sunlight.
360Fly: As this is primarily driven by smartphone software, I check that both the Wi-fi and Bluetooth connections are operational. It also good form to have the smartphone recording the footage as well as the 360Fly for backup safety. Of course the same principle applies if you are using any of the “action cameras” that also rely on Bluetooth / Wi-fi.
Mounts: Check all connectors are working OK, all screws are tightened and anything that needs lubrication has been treated. I keep a tube of ABU fishing reel oil on hand for this as well as a small tube of Vaseline to rub around all waterproof seals.
Lenses: Make sure all lenses are clean!
Microphones: Many external microphones (we have some Rode and Sennheiser handheld and wireless mics) use battery power. It is easy to leave these left on after a shoot, so double check they are all OK with fresh batteries.
Other: From Coles or Woollies, you can buy cheap plastic airtight containers and I have a number of these for camera gear (and they are great for fishing gear too!) In these are an assortment of spare USB cables, both ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ batteries plus a 9v (for the Rode mics), lens cleaning wipes and a fine brush, jewellers screwdriver set and small pair of pliers.
Conclusion
Once I have checked everything, I get Jacqui to do a separate check to make sure. There is nothing worse than being 10Km from the nearest power point, or out in a boat fishing or whale watching and something basic you forgot goes wrong.
Like everyone (I hope!) over the years I have dropped batteries overboard, lost SD cards in the sand and even dumped a drone at sea 5km off shore (admittedly this was a GoPro Karma battery failure, but still …) and every one of these mishaps could have been averted with a bit of forethought.
Postscript: Another REALLY good idea I have only discovered today , is to carry a small rolled up mat with you – about the size of an A4 page. That way if you have to pull something apart, or put it down, it is relatively safe. (Yesterday I knocked the cover from the Sony RX0 between the cracks of the swimming pool here at the resort, never to be seen again. It IS supposed to be attached, but the flimsy plastic hinge had snapped making it free standing … are you listening Sony design gurus?)
Postscript Postscript: Also check once formatted and clean AND inserted in a camera / camcorder the card works. Today, while attempting a high tide flyover with the GoPro Karma drone, the card in the camera refused to initialise. This caused a delay while getting new card from the room … not a big deal, but if we had been 10Km offshore for example…
(Footage from Karma Drone with GoPro Hero 5 at Eco Beach at low tide.
Film, Video & Virtual reality 