Who's in charge of Video Reviews?

[BigJim]

CTT, you need to get someone that has at least a little knowledge of photography. The Video Reviews are horrible. Why would anyone take pictures of the dark side of everything?

[daan]

I'm sorry, but I must agree with BigJim, though I'm pleasantly surprized that the reviews also are accompanied by a small film on the internet.
The films are too dark to reveal any detail, shuttersettings vary as trains go by (making the film shooting back and forth in brightness) and sounds are so bad that I turn it off. I guess that has to something to do with the bandwith and size of the moviefile, but it would make a big difference if the downsizing could be limited a bit.
Please please use a good lightning attribute when filming (a 500 watt building spot) and keep downsizing to a limit where view and sounds are still quality.

[MartyE]

I'll 3rd the lighting issue. Lighting for video must be more than average. Especially when shooting something that is already dark in color. Also I checked out the Mr. Spiff review as well. I'd suggest when shooting a darker object, not to contrast it so much on such a light background.

But I do applaud CTT for offering this service. I too would like to see clearance issues when applicable such in the case of an articulated engine.

Thanks CTT

[Anonymous]

maybe CTT could offer a higher bandwidth version available for subscribers/buyers of the magazine? They could put a little code inside the issue to use for the videos or somethings? Or maybe they could just do them without the code? I LOVE watching the videos though!

[Anonymous]

I'll toss my hat into the ring on this one... I agree that the lighting is a big issue. I would also recommend slowing the trains down to a more reasonable speed and perhaps rigging the video camera on a dolly to move along with the engine for a portion of the video.
Bob