Sony's entry into the “extreme sports” camera
market is a small wonder called the Action
Cam.
And it’s great for other activities and sports
besides surfing, skiing, or mountain biking. You
can even use it under water, with the supplied
polycarbonate housing.
It's amazing how much technology is packed
into the Action Cam, which is just a few inches
long, smaller than the typical laser range
finder,
and light-as a feather. It can film in high
definition, and has a slow motion mode that is
smart enough to play back in slow-mo, without
having to change the playback settings. Even
without golf specific software, this means you
can film your golf swing with the Action Cam
just by clipping it onto your golf bag (clips run
about $20) and play it back on your TV or
computer.
Sony, who serves as the title sponsor of the
PGA Tour’s season-opener in Hawaii, is serious
about golf and they have partnered up with
top
video software company V1 to bring a
“prosumer” and teaching professional solution
to the golf market. How you use it as a golf
swing analyzer will depend on your familiarity
with technology, and your desire to take swing
analysis on a tablet or computer to a higher
level.
Before I dig into the technology, I should tell
you about V1 software and why you would
consider using it on your own as opposed to
just with your pro when taking a golf lesson.
(If
you’re
already using V1, you can skip this part).
Industry pioneer V1 has well over a million
downloads of their apps which allow their
solution to be used on iPhones, iPads, and
Android devices. It also runs on a web
browser.
Thousands of teachers around the world use
this
software during their lessons, and now on an
increasing basis players are using the "locker"
feature of the V1 Academy to communicate in
between lessons. Of course, the best way to
improve your golf swing is to work with a
trusted local professional that uses technology
to help you improve. Years ago, I would take a
lesson and leave with a CD or DVD but I must
admit, I hardly ever watched it. But now, my
pro can shoot me an email with a video or still
photo from our lesson and I can upload it into
V1 to remind me what I’m working on before I
practice.
If you’ve got a smart phone, you’ve almost
certainly tried to film your swing at one time or
other. It’s quick and easy, especially if you
invest in a clip that attaches to your bag or,
even better, an alignment stick. To utilize the
Sony Action Cam with V1 and a tablet you'll
need to follow a few steps which are available
in
a golf-specific guide. (If you're interested in
getting a copy, drop me a quick email or use
the Facebook comments below)
Once you get connected to your table, you'll
want to use Action Cam's built in wifi-fi for two
main purposes:
1) REMOTE CONTROL & CAMERA PLACEMENT:
By placing the tablet on the ground or a
chair/table next to your hitting station and
having the Action Cam located behind or to
the
side, you can see where you are going to be
positioned in the shot and start filming when
you’re ready. This happens within the V1 app.
2) SENDING VIDEO TO TABLET:
Once you have filmed a swing, you can send
it to the tablet so you can take advantage of
all
the wonderful things that V1 provides,
including
side-by-side comparison with a library of Tour
swings, markup tools, and upload to your
locker
at the V1 Academy.
SUMMARY:
You will need a bit of technical savvy to make
the Action Cam wifi connection to the tablet,
download and become familiar with the V1
software, and figure out the sequence of
things
to do to make using everything second nature.
But if you’re willing to invest a little time, you’ll
wind up being able to view larger videos, and
access a richer feature set than a typical
smart
phone's camera. You'll also be investing in a
versatile video camera
that you can use for all sorts of other
activities.
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH:
If you’re really interested in
everything Action Cam can do, and footage
shot
with it, I recommend you search "Action Cam"
in YouTube. One review in particular, from a
user named "Blunty3000" takes you on an 18-
minute tour that includes time lapse and
underwater footage. And if you watch it
until the end you can even see how nearly
indestructible Action Cam is when kept in the
polycarbonate case.
