NEWS & OPINION BLOG

If Cars Could Talk - March 5, 2010 - by Johnston Blakley

If only your Subject's car could talk this job would be a lot easier.
Wait!!! Yes it can and here is how vehicles reveal plenty of information about your Subject:

Bumper stickers - your Subject arrives at a deposition but you do not know where he lives and he is likely to provide his mothers address in the depo.  Do not risk waiting for the follow to find out where he lives because you may loose him.

• "My stupid kid is on the honor roll at _________ school".  This may narrow down the school district your Subject lives in.  Maybe you can find out what bus the kid is on through the school or get info on the kid through a social site.
• Member of the _________ society.  Find out when they meet.  This is another backup incase you lose him in traffic.

Items in the car.

• Mail facing upward in the car.  Look for an address.
• Parking pass.  May state the name of his community.
• Employee ID card.  Get on him at work - avoid the follow of a suspicious Subject to his workplace.
• Bicycle magazine.  May give you an idea of his activities.  Look for the mailing address.
• Kleenexes all over the floor.  May be the reason why you have not gotten surveillance footage of him.  Better wait a week or two before resuming the case.
• Gold's Gym pass.  Find out what gym and time of day that he works out.
• Receipts.
• Utility bill.
• Mapquest map showing the route from his house to the deposition.  I was blessed by this on a case once.
• Religious icons/literature/church name.  Maybe conduct surveillance on Sunday morning or on the worship day for that religion.

Every piece of information is valuable no matter how "cut and dry" or difficult you think the case is.

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Cargo Pockets - March 3, 2010 - by Johnston Blakley

Not enough room in your pant's pockets for all of your on-foot surveillance stuff?
I buy all of my shorts and most of my pants with one thing in mind.  Do they have cargo pockets on both sides?

Without these large pockets, my camcorders would have to be carried or jammed into the regular pockets along with extra batteries, tapes, PI credentials, etc.  With large cargo pockets even my larger outdoor camcorder can be tucked away out of sight.  Sometimes you do need a camera with a lot of zoom for indoor surveillance footage.

Watch this footage taken on the Investigative Training space colony that we are developing.

March 2, 2010 – Phantom – by Johnston Blakley

Accident/crime re-enactment often requires more than a consumer camcorder in order to accurately depict an event.  Most consumer camcorders film at 30 frames per second.

Often, technicians and jurors need to view re-enacted footage of car accidents, assaults, shootings, explosions or fires in very slow motion.  This can be done to some small degree with 30 or even 60 frames per second but the motion is not smooth and under 20% speed it becomes impossible.

When an investigator or technician needs to do the job right, he/she cannot go wrong with a Phantom camera.  These machines film high quality at thousands of frames per second.  They can be purchased or rented starting at around $400 per day.  Check out www.visionresearch.com.

I’ll let this gruesome footage speak for itself.  Do not watch if you are wimpy.  Depending on your Internet speed, you may need to pause and wait for the buffer to load the video.

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Paperwork

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A Whole New Look At DSLRs – Feb 10, 2010 – by Johnston Blakley

I have been watching the development of video features being added to digital SLR photo cameras.  A single device shooting great looking HiDef video while on surveillance that can switch to large mega pixel photos for accident scene evidence is great for the PI who likes to travel light.

The Canon 5D Mark II was a giant leap forward, shooting 1080p cinema quality video.  Then came the Canon 7D with a cropped sensor making it even more appealing for long distance shots.

Canon has now introduced the Rebel T2i at half of the price of the 7D (just $800)!  It can shoot 60 frames of video per second making it great for the accident re-enactment people.  The most appealing feature may be its ability to crop the video frame 7 times for exceptionally long distance video.  In other words, a 300mm lens would give you 2100mm.  Add a 2X tele-converter and get 4200mm.  Use the 800mm lens with a tele-converter and get a whopping 11,200mm.

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Sony Bloggie - the new Webbie. Jan 15, 2010 - by Johnston Blakley

Finally the Webbie gets upgraded.  Full 1920 X 1080, larger screen, more accurate exposure, stabilizer and an option for 60fps for fast motion.

The real test will be in the low light department.  The Webbie was nothing to write home about in dim light environments.  As soon a I get my hands on a unit I'll produce a side-by-side comparison.

Unfortunately the format is AVC/H.264 as opposed to straight AVCHD....too bad.

The zoom has lost its topside toggle and has moved to the side....too bad.

The unit is slightly slimmer but slightly longer.

More information to come

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CANON'S 2010 LINE-UP – January 7, 2010 - Not a hands on review yet. - by Johnston Blakley

Wow!  Canon must have read my Camcorder Review article and went straight into action developing an extensive line-up of consumer camcorders.  Canon must have been frightened by my assessment of the Sony and Panasonic optical stabilizers and began developing their new "IS Powered" optical stabilizer.  Hit the IS button when you are zoomed out all the way and you will get extra stability according to Canon's feature review. READ MORE...........................

Anticipate - December 22, 2009 - by Johnston Blakley

Make Your Move Before Your Route Gets Blocked

Your eyes are fixed on the Subject’s vehicle.  You are determined not to lose him today as the case is getting old and it looks like this guy is on his way to do his once a month errand.  A bus turns onto your street between you and the Subject.  No problem, you can still kind of see him on the left side.  A senior citizen then pulls onto the road and drives right beside the bus.  The Subject gets smaller and smaller and disappears into the horizon.  You call up your boss and say, “I lost him.  The roads are crazy, filled with buses and old people.”

Other drivers and their inanimate objects with wheels are not at fault.  You did not read your environment.  Routes were being closed down in front of your eyes while you were fixated on the Subject’s vehicle.  READ MORE....................

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Camcorder Review – 12/14/09 – by Johnston Blakley

Many investigators will cruise a store’s camcorder shelf, come across a camcorder such as the Panasonic SDR-H80 with 70X optical zoom and say, “Wow, I need that camcorder.”  They will take the camera home and then figure out the specs and capabilities.  The investigator who follows suit with this impulsive herd will run outside with the camcorder, zoom in on some distant object and then realize that the camera is shaking too much at 70X. He/she will set the camcorder down on the hood of a car, re-zoom in on the object and then notice how everything has a fuzzy, ghost-like glow.  With the camcorder’s tiny little 1/8 inch CMOS video chip, everything from 10 feet to the moon is in focus but……a very soft focus.  The video compression makes pixels move around like ants that go into a feeding frenzy on a discarded donut.

Good investigators not only investigate cases, they investigate equipment before the purchase. READ MORE......

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