Tech: Shoot a Better iPhone Adventure Video With Tips From Camp 4

If you spend any time watching adventure videos and films, then you know Camp 4 Collective. The powerhouse production team includes some of the world's best climber-photographers—Jimmy Chin, Renan Ozturk, and Tim Kemple—shooting in the world's most extreme, least seen places. Last week they released The Denali Experiment, featuring an all-star crew of mountaineers, skiers, and snowboarders blending their skills to climb up and shred down North America's tallest peak (definitely a must-watch). The Camp 4 guys are total pros—both at staying safe on the most grueling, exotic adventures and shooting incredible footage. 

Gillian Chase - iPhone 4s Music Video from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

Recently, Camp 4 conducted another experiment: They shot a music video on a camera phone. While normally this would sound like a waste of time for filmmakers of their expertise, that was not the case. Shooting on the iPhone 4S, with its 8-megapixel camera and 1080p hi-def video, the team produced great results.

"The first digital video cameras we took with us into the mountains four years ago—to Pakistan—were shooting lower resolution and weighed significantly more," says Tim Kemple, who directed the music video featuring singer Gillian Chase. "But even bigger than that to me is the idea that you can always have this camera with you—no set up, no setting down your backpack." Pretty ideal for documenting your adventures.

Here are Kemple's tips—including how to stabilize your shooting, optimizing for iOS5 features, apps for extreme environments, tethering to send dispatches, and dealing with low light—so we all can shoot more like the pros. Just don't forget to put your iPhone in airplane mode. —Mary Anne Potts

Travel Tech: Air Display App Adds Instant Screen Real Estate on the Go

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our Gear of the Year 2011 -  Fall-Winter >>

The Air Display ($9.99) app solves a problem of the modern world: Not enough screen. Even on a 15-inch laptop, real estate is lacking. Processes as simple as emailing can feel constrained and if you’re working on something more involved, say, bouncing between Power Point and a spreadsheet, forget about it. But Air Display turns your iPad (or iPhone, but let’s get real) into a second display and, while we aren’t talking about magically adding a 30-inch big screen, it does improve the situation dramatically.

Gear Review: Abuse Testing the Bombproof ioSafe 500GB External Hard Drive, Ideal For Photographers

 
By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide >>

This is going to have to be quick: I’m writing this story and saving it to a file located on the ioSafe Rugged Portable 500GB external hard drive ($212.50 for 500GB), which at the moment is parked beneath the right front tire of my 1990 Volkswagen Vanagan Westfalia. When I say beneath, I mean entirely beneath: The right side of the van is currently an inch higher off the ground, thanks to lift from this seemingly bombproof hard drive. But it’s not worrying about the drive that's got me rushed—it’s rated to 2,500 pounds of pressure and the van maybe runs two tons, with only a fraction of that resting on the aluminum case. No, it’s that it’s getting uncomfortable sitting here on the sidewalk trying to type.

Technology is such an integral part of modern life, so little probably needs to be said about the importance of protecting your data. But as a professional photographer traveling to remote locations exposed to the fullness of weather and climate, my need to secure my files and images becomes even more critical. Thus, paranoia rules. On any given shoot, I keep at least three copies of every photo—one on my internal hard drive and one each on external drives. The externals are kept separate from each other during the shoot and usually travel separately coming home.

iPad 2 For Travel: New Travel Apps, iMovie Trip Videos, Battery Life Tips, More

By Mary Anne Potts; photograph courtesy Apple

When the first iPad came out just over a year ago, we were sure it would transform travel: Apple's tablet computer married work and play utilities so well, it rendered a laptop excess weight on a vacation. Thirteen months later, our computing behavior has already evolved drastically. Everyone from VPs to restaurant sommeliers to preschoolers are using iPads everywhere. It did not take long for the tablet to find a place in our lives.

Since the second generation iPad was released a month ago, much has been said about the new lighter, smaller, faster model. And the fact that Apple has added significant new features to iPad 2—such as the front- and back-facing cameras—without raising the price (it starts at $499). Let’s consider what the iPad 2 does to further transform travel with its smaller size, new cameras, innovative new travel apps, and iMovie travel videos.

Travel Tech: Smartphones' Personal Hotspot Wi-Fi Saves Travelers Time, Money

By now, we’ve come to depend on our smartphones to be very smart, smarter than we are. They solve our every logistical conundrum: Where should we eat? (Yelp.) Where are you now? (Beluga.) Where am I? (Google Maps.) And a growing number of smartphones offer a new feature that cements these devices in the center of our lives: the personal hotspot, which turns the 3G connection into a Wi-Fi signal wherever you are. Any coffee shop. The airport. Your hotel room. A park bench. A park bench in London. Your campsite in Yosemite. A moving taxi. And with this feature comes a sense of relief that, finally, you will not need to hunt down a Wi-Fi signal to send an email, update the apps on your iPad, whatever. You are your own moving Wi-Fi zone.

For example, the long-awaited Verizon iPhone 4, which launched earlier this month, has this feature. Turn on the personal hotspot and you have a password-protected Wi-Fi zone for up to five devices. This mean your Wi-Fi-only iPad or tablet is suddenly so much more useful on the go. The 3G iPad, with its service fees, seems like overkill. Home Wi-Fi even seems unnecessary. Random Wi-Fi charges in airports and hotels are a thing of the past. Cut these to expenses from your life and you stand to save a good deal of money over time.

Travel Tech: A Case That "Doubles" Your iPhone's Battery Life

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our must-have gear gallery >>

Back in the pre-digital dark ages, I’d pack for long flights by loading up with stacks of magazines and a book or two. Today I still load up, but it’s with batteries and extra juice to keep my laptop, iPad, and iPhone running all the way from Los Angeles to Johannesburg. Cause it sucks to be you when you’re eight hours into 24 hours of travel with nothing to ward off boredom but a tattered copy of SkyMall.

Mophie Juice Air Pack ($80) is the answer, at least for the iPhone. This case/battery combination snaps over the iPhone 4 and delivers 1,500 mAh of power, effectively doubling the phone’s capacity. Mophie says “virtually” doubles battery life, which is a nicely lawyerly way of putting it. And I say “effectively” because it depends on the usage. For relatively low-draw uses, battery life is spot on double. I ran the Pandora music at medium volume with Mophie’s battery assist and it consistently rocked the house twice as long as the iPhone battery alone. Higher-draw challenges, like watching videos while Bluetooth, 3G, and Wi-Fi gave me 80 to 85 percent more running time.

The Juice Air Pack battery charges via USB cable and weighs just 2.5 ounces. The weight isn’t much of an issue—but the bulk of the Mophie is. One of the best features of the iPhone 4 is its diminutive size; the Mophie turns it into a pocket-swelling 5 inches by 2.5 inches by .68 inches. Is that a deal breaker? No. Are iPhone owners spoiled by the size? Yes. But is the extra girth of the Juice Air Pack enough to make you think twice about taking it? Also yes. But then I think about the pain of reading and rereading about doggie orthopedic couches or foldable recumbent exercisers and it seems like a small price to pay.

Gear Review: Lightweight Backcountry Cooking With GSI Halulite Minimalist

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our must-have gear gallery >>

Anybody who’s ever seen my backcountry pantry knows I’m not a foodie. Trader Joe’s Pop-Tarts and organic ramen, that’s about the extent of it. After decades of backpacking trips where I’ll inhale anything remotely edible at the end of a long day, I’ve learned it’s all about fast calorie consumption—and pretty much anything tastes great. Combine that admittedly pagan approach to meals with a wholehearted embrace of the lightweight ethos and you’ll understand why I’m so psyched on the GSI Halulite Minimalist. It sells for $23.

The Jetboil has long been my go-to for fast cooking, but the Halulite is smaller, lighter, and far less expensive (though you do need a stove, too). At just 5 ounces and 4.2 x 4.2. x 4.6 inches, it weighs less and holds slightly more than your average coffee mug. But it will carry a tiny folding stove, like the Optimus Crux, and a small fuel canister along with the included spork and pot gripper for a combined weight (without fuel) of around 8 ounces.

The .6 liter pot is your cooking and eating vessel, and it is the blessing and curse of minimalism: You can’t fit much in here. Instant soup will work, but a full ramen pack? Pretty tight. Plan on cooking a second course, at the least. But with tradeoff noted, the cookset is a terrific little system: Boil water, cook your food, remove from heat, slip on the neoprene cozy, and you’re, um, cooking with gas. The cozy protects your hands from the hot pot and the sippable lid prevents the food from cooling too fast.

The Minimalist certainly isn’t for everyone—there will be no group meals cooked in it—but when weight and size trump other concerns, it’s an excellent choice.

Adventure Tech: New Google Translate App Opens Doors For Travelers

Not to undercut the value of actually speaking several languages, but the new Google Translate app is knocking down communication barriers—which just made it so much easier to travel. Just speak into the app and select a text or audio translation. The apps currently works in 57 languages—15 are available for speech to text and 23 languages available for text to speech. The menu includes Chinese, Croatian, Estonian...

We can't yet be sure of accuracy. And certainly slurring speakers out there might be in for a few fumbled translations. But in general, this is hugely practical for travel. So maybe you use it to order a burger in Greece? Or to strike up a conversation with an attractive local on your layover? Or why not even conduct your own boot camp and learn the language you've always wanted to speak? Try it and let us know what you think.

Free in the Apple Apps Store. 

Travel Tech: Handmade iPad Case Marries Analog and Digital (Perfect For Valentine's Day)

Valentine's Day edition Dodocase seen here; photograph courtesy Dodocase

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our must-have gear gallery >>

When I first slipped my iPad into the hardback Dodocase ($60), I fully expected to remove it after a few days or a week of testing. Percentage-wise, it wasn’t that much bigger, but compared to a naked iPad it seemed so. Apple’s own case slips over the iPad rather condom-like and barely increases the heft. By comparison, the Dodocase felt substantially more...substantial.

But Apple’s case gets dirty and smudgy easily and doesn’t even sport nerd style, let alone the Bay Area bookworm aesthetic. Three months later, the Dodocase still lovingly embraces my iPad. I couldn’t be happier—whatever hesitations I had about size vanished as soon as I felt the wonderful tactile feel of carrying and holding a hardbound book. It was like the perfect marriage of analog and digital, the mashup of a tome and the pixelated portal to the e-world.

Dodocases are handmade in San Francisco using traditional bookbinding technique, and they look and feel almost identical Moleskines, only larger. The iPad nestles into a carved bamboo tray and is held with grippy rubber inserts at the corners. There have been reports of the rubber wearing down over time, but I rarely remove the iPad and so haven’t experienced any issues. My iPad nestles snuggly and seems to be happy in its cradle, with no tendencies to crawl out.

Functionally, if you open the Dodocase and flip the cover back, it will provide a slight tilt for typing. In this, it is inferior to the Apple case—Dodo provides an inch of lift, while Apple gives 2.25 inches. It’s an issue, but far from a deal breaker; simply slip a magazine or two under the case and typing gets a lot more comfortable.

The verdict? I’m calling the Dodocase nearly flawless. It’s worth every penny.

Steve Casimiro's 2011 Gear Forecast - Technical Fabrics, Avalanche Packs, Lighter Footwear, and Pastel Colors

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our must-have gear gallery >>

After five days in Utah at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in search of the best new products from 800 brands and 18,000 attendees, I returned home with a swag count of two pairs of men’s boxer-briefs (unused, clean) and a shot glass with an unprintable word on it (used, dirty). Parsing the tea leaves of free stuff like the best tasseographer, I can only come to the conclusion that wool continues to remain supreme and a salty sense of humor is filtering into this occasionally parched culture.

These trends, however, might or might not be making their way to your nearest outdoor retailer. More significant ones, I should note, are. And while it’s impossible for even the most intrepid reporter to suss out every pulse worth mentioning, here are some of the more intriguing developments: