Photography Blog: A6500, GoPro 5 and DJI Osmo Pocket 4k comparison

Following on from the blog post "Do you need full frame?" here is a short video of a bike ride in Richmond Park on New Year's Day that gives a comparison of the output from three cameras.

It was made using the Sony A6500 (with 18-135 lens), head mounted Go Pro 5 and the DJI Osmo Pocket, and hopefully you can see the difference. The most stark is between the A6500 and Osmo Pocket, particularly when videoing wildlife like deer where you can see much more detail on the APSC camera.

The Osmo Pocket shows the deer fur as being a bit mushy, without much detail, but despite that it can be used to tell the story of walking towards the herd.

Partly the difference is sensor size, partly lens and partly better processing (i.e. higher data rate capture)

The 2015 London Free Cycle

The three year anniversary of the 2012 Olympic Games led to some hand-wringing comments about its legacy being squandered. But over the weekend it became clear that at least one sport has thrived, namely cycling.

The Prudential Ride London was a set of events open to both the casual weekend biker such as myself and gold medalists like Laura Trott.

On the Saturday the centre of London was made car free so that 70,000 cyclists of all abilities (all the way down to those with stabilisers) could explore those famous sights (above and below) without fear of being run over.

I went on a similar Skyride back in 2011 but this was bigger, with Mayor Boris calling it "the London Marathon on wheels".

It was absolutely fab and I combined it with the start of the 300th Doggett's Coat and Badge race. In fact I ended up doing the loop two and a bit times (route here), crossing Waterloo Bridge in total six times, three north to south and another three in reverse:

There was a bit of a crush around Trafalgar Square and Westminster where the route narrowed and there were frequent crossing points for tourists:

But the organisation was absolutely superb: lots of volunteers doing useful things and music all over the place, with bands like this one close to the Bank of England:

On the Sunday there was the racing, with professionals and serious amateurs heading off to loop around Box Hill just like for the Olympics, and again SW London was split into two.

The number of places had been increased from 16,000 to 20,000 in the first two events and finally this year 25,000 but was still massively over-subscribed, with 86,001 applying for the 100 mile race. They must have really enjoyed the finish line:

All in all, a hugely fun event, and my favourite track to bike to was this one:



With a tube strike threatened this week it might be an idea to have that bike handy and be ready to head back into central London.

Tide and time waits for no rowing boat - or bike

The Thames between Richmond and Kingston is pretty idyllic for what is really an urban water way.

There's the lush riverbank with over-hanging trees on one side and brilliant green meadows on the other. It's easy to dawdle or, if you are in a rowing boat, just drift with the current.

This can be rather dangerous as this part of the river is still tidal and at the moment we're close to springs so the waters can be high and fast.

The rowing boat above was struggling, battling back towards the hiring state. But at least the destination was in sight and there was also a PLA boat watching over them. Others, just around the corner, weren't so lucky.

You can see the current around this buoy mid-stream by Syon Park:

That's something that bikers don't have to worry about - or so I thought until I remembered the parts of the Thames Path by Mortlake that flood at high water:

I did get wet after all.

Biking to Kingston

It is well known that English Bank Holidays are traditionally wet and windy. To this day, a holiday weekend of driving rain is enough to make Tillerman all nostalgic.

But not this one.

For once the weather gods smiled on London as clouds cleared leaving a sky light blue reminding us that, yes, somewhere up there there is the sun.

So I took the opportunity to bike to Kingston and back, and jolly good fun it was too. I'd gone for a 8k run earlier so didn't over-do it and stopped at Richmond for a smoothie and on the way back an ice-lolly in Kew.

It did cross my mind that I could complete the run and cycling with a swim, but I have this feeling its not going to happen.

Far more likely is something involving a drink and the sun setting.

The River Action Plan

The improvements to the Putney River Bus posted yesterday are part of a wider plan to improve use of the Thames.

You can read all about it in the River Action Plan which includes the figure above that shows the growth of use of the various ferries, tours and buses stirring up these muddy waters.

There's even an interactive chart show new piers being planned and the sparkling new features we can expect:

That's right! We're getting Boris Bikes!!

So you can take the River Bus to Putney Pier and then bike onward upriver along the Thames path, just the thing for a warm summer's evening.

.... a warm summer's evening? It seems hard to imagine, right now.

Geometry @ Brentford

I like a good bit of installation art, particularly if, somewhere, there's a sailing angle, but alas this one didn't really make the grade.

Its called "Geometry" and its currently doing its thing over in Brentford. The blub, which you can find here, says:

"The interplay of the different movements of the sculpture create a symbolic language of communication between the sculpture and the viewer"

What actually happens is that the two arms above rotate one direction, stop, then rotate again, maybe in the same direction, maybe the opposite.

And, yup, that's it.

There's a bit of an "oh" moment when you've realised what you've biked in the pouring rain to see isn't going to get any better the longer you hang around. Or at least not until dark, when there's meant to be lasers or something.

Never mind, the Thames Path is great enough to not need the excuse of a destination to get you out on your bike.

London Olympics: Women's Cycle Road Race

Another day, another chance of a medal. This time its the women's cycle road race, here crossing Putney Bridge on the way out, which means more lyrca and helmets for Tillerman.

Good luck Team GB!

London Olympics: Men's Cycle Road Race

After last night's great opening ceremony it was time for sport and one of the first events was the men's cycle road race. Its route crossed Putney Bridge twice, once on the way out of London and once on the way back, so of course I went down to watch.

There was a great mood all the time, with the police motorbike riders doubling up as warming up act for the main show.

Of course the bikes flew by in a second or two, just time for a lucky shot to capture Britain's Bradley Wiggins (above), winner of the 2012 Tour de France

Then they were gone and the crowd relaxed, smiling and barriers were broken, so strangers talked to strangers and found connections (more later).

Alas the race didn't go according to a script by Danny Boyle and so there were no medals for Team GB.

Ah well, many days to go.

The Patagonian Expedition Race 2012

I did another trip to the gym this evening and had that nice warm healthy feeling, but then I read about the Patagonian Expedition Race and that put my 25 minutes in perspective.

The "Last Wild Race" as it is also known, involves competing teams of four biking, orienteering and kayaking their way across remote parts of Patagonia including Tierra del Fuego and the Strait of Magellan. Each year's course is different and no GPS is allowed, just old fashioned compass and map reading.

Over around 10 days they will navigate across between 500 and 1000 km of incredibly beautiful yet hard landscapes.



There is a wicked part of me that thinks "Across the Andes by Frog" but that's probably because I'm jealous of the experiences they will have - if, that is, they finish it, as the drop out rate is around a third.

Anyway, good luck to the British teams and in particular Nick Gracie who is looking for his fourth victory!



Map of 2012 route: from Patagonian Expedition Race

London Skyride 2011

This morning I joined 55,000 of other Londoners on the 2011 Skyride.

For those of you that haven't done one of these the Skyride involves closing the centre of London to traffic and creating a bike friendly route that passes some of the capital's top sights.

I started on Westminster Bridge (above) and after passing Big Ben it was onto the loop up to Buckingham Palace and down the Mall to Admiralty Arch. Then we went via Whitehall onto the Embankment and the main route, following the Thames to Tower Hill, before returning back to complete the circuit back on Westminster Bridge.

It was such great fun I did the loop twice!

Many brought their own bikes in but I used one of the Boris bikes. Technically known as the TfL Barclays Cycle Hire everyone calls them after London's Mayor, here with Kelly Brook in a picture from the Standard's article on the Skyride.

Apparently super model Kelly Brook was there signing the free high visibility bibs they were handing out, but alas I didn't see her.

Boris bikes are a great idea: dotted all over central London are docking stations where you can hire bikes for short periods of time and then return them to any other docking station. If you have registered you just slot in a special key and are off and away in seconds, and having just signed up this seemed like an excellent way to try them out.

There was another benefit in using a Boris bike which was that the forecast was for heavy rain and hail which would have put a damper on the ride home, though in the end there was just the slightest drizzle for the shortest time.

And everyone clearly was having an absolutely great time. I don't think I've seen as many smiling people clearly enjoying themselves.

It was just brilliant.

Updated: might have been lucky with the weather as the heavens have just opened up, which is a shame for those who started the Skyride mid-day