Any frustrating experiences?

artful todger · #1 (**permalink**) 11-08-2009, 11:23 PM

Hi all,

Thought i'd share an experience i had last night in the hope that others might also have some to share so i don't feel so stupid :-)

Well last night i finally went out with my new camcorder to do a spot of 'Johnny Kingdom-ing' around where i live. I'm fortunate enough to have just moved to a beautiful area with a small stream, lots of woodland & open fields. So i headed out to a quiet spinney near the stream, got comfy on a stool with the camera on a tripod, bins round me neck, & waited to see what would come along... (i didn't have a plan, just intended to film anything & everything).
So i waited patiently... & after half an hour or so two squirrels rustled their way through the trees toward me & perched themselves directly in front of the camera - they really couldn't have been positioned more perfectly...
So... On goes the camera... *BEEP* *BEEP* flat battery. The squirrels hear the noise & go nuts... I swear they were laughing at me... They even came closer to taunt me! Then i'm pretty damn sure they went & told their mates. The whole place seemed to come alive after that... A green woodpecker landed in the same tree the squirrels had been in, two young badgers came charging out of the undergrowth & had a game of tag 6ft in front of me, & after that a muntjac turned up to do a tapdance! Couldn't believe what fantastic footage i could have been shooting!

I decided to call time when things had quietened down again, so off i went, back the way i came, onto the bridge over the stream... & a splash gets my attention... "ooh" i thought, "water vole!" So i peer over the side, & what swims out from underneath...?
an OTTER! & it stopped to have a stare at me before slinking out up the bank & out of sight. I couldn't believe my eyes! I'd never seen one in the wild before & was shaking with disbelief, & excitement, & frustration at not being able to film the xexexexexexe!!

Now what are the chances of me going out with a full battery & having an evening like that again?!

pammosley · #2 (**permalink**) 11-08-2009, 11:43 PM

Wonderful story

At least you got to see all these great critters

How about a spare battery.
Welcome to WAB.

Tobyh · #3 (**permalink**) 12-08-2009, 12:42 PM

Great experience to see them in first place, bummer that camera battery died tho (i'd be pretty annoyed still).

Look on the bright side though - just learnt a valuable lesson in wildlife photography / filming

TobyH

artful todger · #4 (**permalink**) 13-08-2009, 10:16 AM

Yep, lesson well & truly learnt. Was still an amazing experience though, one i think is going to be hard to beat

Went out again last night with a full battery, but not a sausage this time... As expected!

Words · #5 (**permalink**) 16-08-2009, 03:09 PM

LOL. I swear they know when a battery has gone flat.

GrumpyMushroom · #6 (**permalink**) 04-09-2009, 08:45 AM

I just received my new camcorder with the intention of filming wildlife (Panasonic SD-10). I went for a wander around the little valley at the bottom of the hospital where I work. It was lunchtime so I didn't expect to see anything bigger than a butterfly.

So I went off the track and there in front of me about 6 feet away waddled a little Muntjac deer. Camera goes up to my eye and *Beep* it has a power-on beep.

So I've a lovely shot of empty woodland....

Stupid thing is, I've not found anything in the menu to switch off a beep at power on/off or record start/stop. I can and have turned off the camera shutter noise but no joy with the other noises. Panasonic haven't responded to my emails either.

Shame, as its a nice camcorder otherwise.

Oh and first post... Hi everyone

'shroom.

pammosley · #7 (**permalink**) 04-09-2009, 11:59 AM

Welcome to Wab Gumpy mushroom. At least you saw the Muntjac

Sorry I can`t help you with the power on bleep.

JB9302 · #8 (**permalink**) 06-09-2009, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrumpyMushroom

I just received my new camcorder with the intention of filming wildlife (Panasonic SD-10). I went for a wander around the little valley at the bottom of the hospital where I work. It was lunchtime so I didn't expect to see anything bigger than a butterfly.

So I went off the track and there in front of me about 6 feet away waddled a little Muntjac deer. Camera goes up to my eye and *Beep* it has a power-on beep.

So I've a lovely shot of empty woodland....

Stupid thing is, I've not found anything in the menu to switch off a beep at power on/off or record start/stop. I can and have turned off the camera shutter noise but no joy with the other noises. Panasonic haven't responded to my emails either.

Shame, as its a nice camcorder otherwise.

Oh and first post... Hi everyone

'shroom.

Have another look in the menu my Panasonic SD100 has the facilityto turn bleep off , under set up in menu.

Julian

GrumpyMushroom · #9 (**permalink**) 07-09-2009, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB9302

Have another look in the menu my Panasonic SD100 has the facilityto turn bleep off , under set up in menu.

Julian

Thank Julian, I did manage to download the full manual rather than the leaflet I got with it and I found the bleep remover.

So on with the wildlife filming!

artful todger · #10 (**permalink**) 08-09-2009, 05:47 PM

Haha, nice one Grumpy! I can totally relate to that. Welcome to WAB.

My new toy is the Panasonic SDR-S26 - am hoping the zoom's gonna get me some nice shots. Keep us informed how you get on!