Does any camera come with a laser pointer?

In article , Robert Coe
wrote:

: Also the big disadvantage over vehicle installed Radar speed detection
: is, the Lidar unit has to be stationary. So watch those overpasses and
: hidden pullouts. The CHP will only use Lidar from stationary positions
: whereas CHP cruisers use cycling front and rear facing Radar and are
: able to clock following and head on closing vehicles. So there are
: times when slowing down after you understand that car you coming up to
: with the intention of passing is a CHP cruiser and your ticket is as
: good as written.
:
: only if you're oblivious.

Hardly. With modern speed measuring equipment, you have only microseconds to
react. By the time you see (or your detector sees) the device, your goose is
probably cooked.

as i said, oblivious.

not only are you prime meat for being pulled over, but you don't
understand how traffic radar or radar detectors work. it's much more
than 'only microseconds' to reliably lock a speed and a quality
detector can give more than ample warning regardless.

good drivers will watch for changes in traffic patterns, such as brake
lights on vehicles ahead, changing traffic patterns, vehicles in the
median, etc. in fact, you should be doing that all the time, regardless
of whether you're speeding or not.

: What is tough for Radar to do is isolate an individual vehicle to
: clock. That takes experience and/or LiDAR.
:
: supposedly, they estimate the speed visually and confirm it with radar
: (or lidar), so they already know which car it is.
:
: on the other hand, a lot of times they just wait for the overspeed
: alarm to go off.

Very interesting. You are aware, of course, that the Duck is a retired cop?

yes.

you are aware, of course, that more than just cops know how traffic
radar and lidar works? it's not secret.

In article 2013011720163380979-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

Also the big disadvantage over vehicle installed Radar speed detection
is, the Lidar unit has to be stationary. So watch those overpasses and
hidden pullouts. The CHP will only use Lidar from stationary positions
whereas CHP cruisers use cycling front and rear facing Radar and are
able to clock following and head on closing vehicles. So there are
times when slowing down after you understand that car you coming up to
with the intention of passing is a CHP cruiser and your ticket is as
good as written.

only if you're oblivious.

Not really.

yes really.

If you are close enough to ID the vehicle in front of you
as a CHP cruiser and react, the officer has already clocked you with
his rear facing radar which cycles every 3 seconds with the forward
facing unit.

if he's using radar, particularly rear facing radar from his stalker
dual, then he doesn't need to be close enough to id the vehicle. he
only needs a radar detector. in fact, even a crappy detector will pick
up radar aimed directly at it with ample warning.

Also, there are many beats where you will find more than one CHP
cruiser which is not your typical "Black & White". There are quite a
few all white and some bronze/grey Crown Victoria Interceptor and Dodge
Charger Pursuit vehicles out there without light bars. (However they
still have a subdued door logo.
http://home.comcast.net/~tvigil/52-CHP-SMPV_02.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5133/5...45708eee_z.jpg

...and sometimes it isn't a patrol car at all:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...5871970b-600wi


that doesn't matter. all of those cars have a distinctive profile.
those who pay attention will notice it. oblivious people won't.

Naturally California isn't the only State to use such vehicles.

What is tough for Radar to do is isolate an individual vehicle to
clock. That takes experience and/or LiDAR.

supposedly, they estimate the speed visually and confirm it with radar
(or lidar), so they already know which car it is.

It is simple enough to check a vehicle's relative speed against other
traffic to pick it out of a crowd. That is usually the big "tell".

exactly.

However, some thing a little more presentable in Court is usually
needed.

and then they confirm it with radar, lidar or pacing, which they used
to do before they got their high tech toys.

on the other hand, a lot of times they just wait for the overspeed
alarm to go off.

So you have spent some time in a radar equipped cruiser have you?

I have spent some time in Chevy Caprice cruisers, and Crown Vics.
Though the last Crown Vics I drove were not equipped with traffic
equipment, just radios, door spots, rear shelf lights, and grill lights.

what does that prove?

you do realize that knowing how to use traffic radar and lidar is not
secret, right?

In article , Tony Cooper
wrote:

and then you ask all the CHiPs on board where they
aim the Lidar gunsight.

i don't need to ask anyone where to aim it. the information is publicly
available. even the lidar guns themselves are too.

Being an expert in everything is hard work.

maybe for you it is.

On 2013-01-17 20:38:45 -0800, nospam said:

In article 2013011720163380979-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

Also the big disadvantage over vehicle installed Radar speed detection
is, the Lidar unit has to be stationary. So watch those overpasses and
hidden pullouts. The CHP will only use Lidar from stationary positions
whereas CHP cruisers use cycling front and rear facing Radar and are
able to clock following and head on closing vehicles. So there are
times when slowing down after you understand that car you coming up to
with the intention of passing is a CHP cruiser and your ticket is as
good as written.

only if you're oblivious.

Not really.

yes really.

If you are close enough to ID the vehicle in front of you
as a CHP cruiser and react, the officer has already clocked you with
his rear facing radar which cycles every 3 seconds with the forward
facing unit.

if he's using radar, particularly rear facing radar from his stalker
dual, then he doesn't need to be close enough to id the vehicle. he
only needs a radar detector. in fact, even a crappy detector will pick
up radar aimed directly at it with ample warning.

....and many a speeder has been stopped regardless of the detector
letting him know that somewhere out there a radar gun is operating.
There is also nothing more embarrassing to find that the car which
appeared coming towards you as you negotiated a sweeping bend has set
off your radar detector, and as much as you might have slowed to the
speed limit, you see that car making a U-turn to come up behind you.
All you can do when he asks if that detector is working, is say "yes"
as he writes the ticket.

The same goes for the cruiser you come up on and you have managed to
slow to the speed limit, in what you believe was good time, only to
find him slowing down to allow yo to pass him and to find he has lit
you up to pull you over.

Also, there are many beats where you will find more than one CHP
cruiser which is not your typical "Black & White". There are quite a
few all white and some bronze/grey Crown Victoria Interceptor and Dodge
Charger Pursuit vehicles out there without light bars. (However they
still have a subdued door logo.
http://home.comcast.net/~tvigil/52-CHP-SMPV_02.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5133/5...45708eee_z.jpg

...and sometimes it isn't a patrol car at all:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...5871970b-600wi


that doesn't matter. all of those cars have a distinctive profile.
those who pay attention will notice it. oblivious people won't.

....and you notice that "distinctive profile at night?

Many drivers appear quite befuddled when the car in the lane next to
them is using a PA to indicate that he should pull over.

Naturally California isn't the only State to use such vehicles.

What is tough for Radar to do is isolate an individual vehicle to
clock. That takes experience and/or LiDAR.

supposedly, they estimate the speed visually and confirm it with radar
(or lidar), so they already know which car it is.

It is simple enough to check a vehicle's relative speed against other
traffic to pick it out of a crowd. That is usually the big "tell".

exactly.

However, some thing a little more presentable in Court is usually
needed.

and then they confirm it with radar, lidar or pacing, which they used
to do before they got their high tech toys.

Pacing and eye-balling has always been a fall back position for patrol
officers, and still is. It is not as watertight in Court as it once was.

on the other hand, a lot of times they just wait for the overspeed
alarm to go off.

So you have spent some time in a radar equipped cruiser have you?

I have spent some time in Chevy Caprice cruisers, and Crown Vics.
Though the last Crown Vics I drove were not equipped with traffic
equipment, just radios, door spots, rear shelf lights, and grill lights.

what does that prove?

Nothing other than I know of which I speak, and you seem to have some
insight as to how officers in radar equipped vehicles use that
equipment from whatever research you might have conducted.

you do realize that knowing how to use traffic radar and lidar is not
secret, right?

Knowing information available on the internet and actually working with
VASCAR (no longer used in CHP vehicles, but use by some Cal SD's and
PD's), radar and LiDAR is something a little different.
Also different jurisdictions use different equipment. For example both
San Luis Obispo & Monterey County Sheriff's Departments do not use
Radar, but most municipal PD's in both counties do.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

In article 2013011721401258821-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

If you are close enough to ID the vehicle in front of you
as a CHP cruiser and react, the officer has already clocked you with
his rear facing radar which cycles every 3 seconds with the forward
facing unit.

if he's using radar, particularly rear facing radar from his stalker
dual, then he doesn't need to be close enough to id the vehicle. he
only needs a radar detector. in fact, even a crappy detector will pick
up radar aimed directly at it with ample warning.

...and many a speeder has been stopped regardless of the detector
letting him know that somewhere out there a radar gun is operating.

if a radar detector goes off and they ignore it, then they're not just
oblivious, they're stupid.

There is also nothing more embarrassing to find that the car which
appeared coming towards you as you negotiated a sweeping bend has set
off your radar detector, and as much as you might have slowed to the
speed limit, you see that car making a U-turn to come up behind you.
All you can do when he asks if that detector is working, is say "yes"
as he writes the ticket.

maybe with a crappy detector, but a quality detector will pick up the
cop *long* before they get to the turn, so by the time they're clocked,
they're already at the psl.

The same goes for the cruiser you come up on and you have managed to
slow to the speed limit, in what you believe was good time, only to
find him slowing down to allow yo to pass him and to find he has lit
you up to pull you over.

maybe if someone is not paying attention.

that doesn't matter. all of those cars have a distinctive profile.
those who pay attention will notice it. oblivious people won't.

...and you notice that "distinctive profile at night?

sometimes, however, night driving should not be as fast as on a clear
sunny day. it's easy to overdrive the headlights.

Many drivers appear quite befuddled when the car in the lane next to
them is using a PA to indicate that he should pull over.

then they're *very* oblivious. how can anyone not notice the car next
to them is a cop??

you do realize that knowing how to use traffic radar and lidar is not
secret, right?

Knowing information available on the internet and actually working with
VASCAR (no longer used in CHP vehicles, but use by some Cal SD's and
PD's), radar and LiDAR is something a little different.

what makes you think i haven't used radar and lidar?

Also different jurisdictions use different equipment.

of course. there's a variety of radar and lidar equipment, as well as
others, such as enradd which is used in pennsylvania due to
restrictions on radar use and a new system being developed that videos
traffic, determines which cars are speeding, ocr's the license plates
and issues tickets as needed, nicknamed vidar.

For example both
San Luis Obispo & Monterey County Sheriff's Departments do not use
Radar, but most municipal PD's in both counties do.

what do they use? lidar? something else?

In article , Robert Coe
says...
Real pros aren't too vain to be seen using a lesser camera when the occasion
warrants.

Why would a camera with a tiltable LCD screen be a "lesser camera"? Or
do you mean that any camera not made by Canón or Nikon is a lesser
camera?
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus E-series DSLRs and micro 4/3 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
http://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

In article , Alfred
Molon wrote:

Why would a camera with a tiltable LCD screen be a "lesser camera"?

top tier cameras don't have tiltable lcds, such as the nikon d4 or
canon 1d.

Or do you mean that any camera not made by Canón or Nikon is a lesser
camera?

pros mostly stick to nikon/canon for a number of reasons.

Peter Jason asked:
Like laser pinpointing on rifles and pistols.

I need it for shooting from the hip at weddings
and the like when the exposure is set for
pinpoint.

Sort of. The Sony DSC-F707 has a built-in laser pointer that enables
it to auto-focus in the dark. The camera is obsolete in many ways, and
long out of production, but it was a great camera in its day. I hope
to see some of its ground-breaking features again, including the
laser.

The F707's laser isn't for "shooting from the hip". It rapidly draws a
pattern to provide lines with enough sharp contrast for the auto-
focus. I could never even see it from behind the camera, though my
subjects in front could see flashes of red when it kicked in. The
laser is too low power and too fast moving to damage anyone's eyes.

There is a bit of a design flaw: The F707's laser emits from behind
the filter ring. It worked fine through the multicoated UV filter that
I kept on mine for protection, but other filters can render it worse
than useless.

The F707 is great for "shooting from the hip" though not because of
the laser. Its lens-centric design with articulated body lends itself
to a wide variety of viewfinding styles.

Great camera.

--
--Bryan

On 2013-01-17 22:40:20 -0800, nospam said:

In article 2013011721401258821-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

If you are close enough to ID the vehicle in front of you
as a CHP cruiser and react, the officer has already clocked you with
his rear facing radar which cycles every 3 seconds with the forward
facing unit.

if he's using radar, particularly rear facing radar from his stalker
dual, then he doesn't need to be close enough to id the vehicle. he
only needs a radar detector. in fact, even a crappy detector will pick
up radar aimed directly at it with ample warning.

...and many a speeder has been stopped regardless of the detector
letting him know that somewhere out there a radar gun is operating.

if a radar detector goes off and they ignore it, then they're not just
oblivious, they're stupid.

Not ignore it. Just do not have the time to benefit from it.

There is also nothing more embarrassing to find that the car which
appeared coming towards you as you negotiated a sweeping bend has set
off your radar detector, and as much as you might have slowed to the
speed limit, you see that car making a U-turn to come up behind you.
All you can do when he asks if that detector is working, is say "yes"
as he writes the ticket.

maybe with a crappy detector, but a quality detector will pick up the
cop *long* before they get to the turn, so by the time they're clocked,
they're already at the psl.

Good luck with that.

The same goes for the cruiser you come up on and you have managed to
slow to the speed limit, in what you believe was good time, only to
find him slowing down to allow yo to pass him and to find he has lit
you up to pull you over.

maybe if someone is not paying attention.

....and that doesn't happen?

that doesn't matter. all of those cars have a distinctive profile.
those who pay attention will notice it. oblivious people won't.

...and you notice that "distinctive profile at night?

sometimes, however, night driving should not be as fast as on a clear
sunny day. it's easy to overdrive the headlights.

....and folks are not known to drive fast after Sundown?

Many drivers appear quite befuddled when the car in the lane next to
them is using a PA to indicate that he should pull over.

then they're *very* oblivious. how can anyone not notice the car next
to them is a cop??

It happens every day.

you do realize that knowing how to use traffic radar and lidar is not
secret, right?

Knowing information available on the internet and actually working with
VASCAR (no longer used in CHP vehicles, but use by some Cal SD's and
PD's), radar and LiDAR is something a little different.

what makes you think i haven't used radar and lidar?

So how was that drive along?
I guess you got all the nuances of techniques, procedures, and
individual officer's experience filed away for future reference.

Also different jurisdictions use different equipment.

of course. there's a variety of radar and lidar equipment, as well as
others, such as enradd which is used in pennsylvania due to
restrictions on radar use and a new system being developed that videos
traffic, determines which cars are speeding, ocr's the license plates
and issues tickets as needed, nicknamed vidar.

Yup! There is a great variety of equipment and technology which are
variations on a theme. I also believe PA uses a later version of VASCAR
in its speed detection armory.

For example both
San Luis Obispo & Monterey County Sheriff's Departments do not use
Radar, but most municipal PD's in both counties do.

what do they use? lidar? something else?

Both of those SD's use the Mk I eyeball on patrol (as discussed
earlier, that is a method still employed), and will usually leave
anything but the most blatant offenders to CHP and local PD's.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

In article 2013011723383511967-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

If you are close enough to ID the vehicle in front of you
as a CHP cruiser and react, the officer has already clocked you with
his rear facing radar which cycles every 3 seconds with the forward
facing unit.

if he's using radar, particularly rear facing radar from his stalker
dual, then he doesn't need to be close enough to id the vehicle. he
only needs a radar detector. in fact, even a crappy detector will pick
up radar aimed directly at it with ample warning.

...and many a speeder has been stopped regardless of the detector
letting him know that somewhere out there a radar gun is operating.

if a radar detector goes off and they ignore it, then they're not just
oblivious, they're stupid.

Not ignore it. Just do not have the time to benefit from it.

then it's a crappy detector. a good detector can alert long before that.

There is also nothing more embarrassing to find that the car which
appeared coming towards you as you negotiated a sweeping bend has set
off your radar detector, and as much as you might have slowed to the
speed limit, you see that car making a U-turn to come up behind you.
All you can do when he asks if that detector is working, is say "yes"
as he writes the ticket.

maybe with a crappy detector, but a quality detector will pick up the
cop *long* before they get to the turn, so by the time they're clocked,
they're already at the psl.

Good luck with that.

no need for luck.

The same goes for the cruiser you come up on and you have managed to
slow to the speed limit, in what you believe was good time, only to
find him slowing down to allow yo to pass him and to find he has lit
you up to pull you over.

maybe if someone is not paying attention.

...and that doesn't happen?

of course it does. it happens all the time. most drivers don't pay that
much attention. that's why some of them end up in a wreck. i've even
seen idiots run red lights right in front of cops. it's mind boggling
how oblivious some drivers are.

that doesn't matter. all of those cars have a distinctive profile.
those who pay attention will notice it. oblivious people won't.

...and you notice that "distinctive profile at night?

sometimes, however, night driving should not be as fast as on a clear
sunny day. it's easy to overdrive the headlights.

...and folks are not known to drive fast after Sundown?

some do, and they probably do stupid stuff during the daytime too.

Many drivers appear quite befuddled when the car in the lane next to
them is using a PA to indicate that he should pull over.

then they're *very* oblivious. how can anyone not notice the car next
to them is a cop??

It happens every day.

then they deserve a ticket.

you do realize that knowing how to use traffic radar and lidar is not
secret, right?

Knowing information available on the internet and actually working with
VASCAR (no longer used in CHP vehicles, but use by some Cal SD's and
PD's), radar and LiDAR is something a little different.

what makes you think i haven't used radar and lidar?

So how was that drive along?
I guess you got all the nuances of techniques, procedures, and
individual officer's experience filed away for future reference.

who said anything about a drive along? a drive along is not the only
way someone can obtain and use radar/lidar equipment.