GoPro HD - Skimboarding In A Storm! from Patrick Lawler on Vimeo.

You know, I like photography (errr, duh…) – but I have to admit that some of the new film work coming out of these consumer HD film toys like the GoPro and other similar action sports video gear is really impressive!! They are shooting some amazing stuff from perspectives I would never have considered useful (or even safe for my gear!!).

Can you image shooting the video above with your Canon 7D? It’s not that complex really – stick your camera on the end of a stick, splash around in the surf, and throw it to your mate occasionally… oh, and crashes are mandatory!!

I’m not suggesting for a moment that these types of cameras are going to replace DSLRs, that’s not their intention – but you can get some very cool ideas just from watching what people are doing with the other available technologies!!

This is one amazing camera – manufactured in 1839 by Alphonse Giroux, Louis D’s brother-in-law (Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, JD or Louis D to his friends) – it is in amazing condition and even comes complete with the original manual!!

I’m not going to explain how the first commercially produced camera actually works, and it goes without saying that if you decide you want to buy into one of these you’ll also need to be comfortable handling dangerous chemicals and try not to sniff the toxic fumes that went into making every image!! The articles say nothing about the camera coming with a tripod, so be prepared to cough up for one of them as well – with exposure times anywhere between 3 & 30 minutes, this beasty is not gonna work hand-held!!

For the expected selling price of €500,000-700,000 (Euros), approx $AUD 780k – 1.1 million (yes, million!!), the camera does produce some of the finest images possible, with no noticeable grain even under a magnifying glass!! You need to be fit to own one – the whole kit weighs in at around 50kg!! Oh, and you might want to know that Louis D signed this one himself, so at least you get a famous autograph in the deal as well!!

Oh yeah, this supremely expensive and historically important camera is basically a couple of boxes made of wood – and we worry about whether we have enough tech to get great images in today’s conditions!! I strongly encourage you to read the history behind Daguerreotype’s, it’s fascinating and every photographer should be familiar with it!! Some links below to help you out:

The Auction – WestLicht Photographica Auction
Daguerreotype’s – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype
Louis Daguerre – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Daguerre
The first photograph – Heliography

Interesting bit of side trivia – Louis D also invented the Diorama!!

Came across this great article on how to make a professional short film on basically no budget – while most readers are probably purist photographers (yes, both of you), it is interesting nonetheless if you appy some of the planning and logistics elements to a regular photo shoot (particularly a location shoot!)

Check it out – click here