Narrative Clip review: Add a new perspective to photos

This is one of the coolest little gadgets I’ve come across in quite a while, and I’m still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of it.

The Narrative Clip is billed as the world’s smallest automatic camera – it’s 36 mm W x 36 mm D x 9mm H and weighs in at a hefty 20 grams. It can shoot a still picture automatically every 30 seconds and has the ability to store up to 4000, 5-megapixel pictures. It has a rechargeable battery that will stand up to 2 days of use and the images on it can be transferred to your computer or, using Narrative’s iOS or Android app, to your smartphone.

In a word, the Clip is amazing.

The Clip automatically re-aligns photos that are crooked – at least unless they’re really out of whack! You can easily pull the photos out of the default folder on your computer and manipulate them in something like PhotoShop. They are 72dpi, so are not super high quality resolution images.

You couldn’t use them for print, but they’ll work perfectly for things like Facebook or any kind of online application you might have. Programs like PhotoZoom Pro can resize images of this quality to a higher quality if you want to print them out as an enlargement.

My mind is whirling as I write this – I can think of so many fun uses for the Clip, but at the same time I can think of so many “issues” one might have to face by using the Clip.

It’s so unobtrusive that you can use it to take pictures in places you’re not supposed to take them in, and to their credit, the folks at Narrative are absolutely up front about it. They say to use common sense and respect places that ask you not to take photos – but we all know how that use common sense thing works. For most people common sense will prevail, but not for everyone.

The Narrative Clip comes in three colours – white, grey and orange

Even though the Clip rotates photos automatically, the important thing is to wear them in an appropriate place.

When I first put the camera on, I had some great views of the zipper on my jacket and some close-ups of my mug.

It’s a point of view camera, so for best results it needs an unobstructed field of view and its better to have it on something like a shirt placket. Then you need to remember to sit up straight when in a chair and be conscious of how tall you are.

I’m 6’3” and tend to lean back in chairs so at a recent party I got some great shots of the tops of people’s heads and the top of the bookcase in our family room. A little practise and you’ll find your pictures will get progressively better.To stop taking pictures you can either put the camera face down on a table or stick it in a pocket – somewhere dark.

The iOS or Android App available for e Narrative Clip

This camera gives free license to take pictures of people and places – so if you’re in some place like, say the Vatican, where photos are prohibited – you shouldn’t wear the camera. Ditto for people. While using it you’re taking unauthorized photos of people, so be aware that there might be some issues if someone figures out you’re taking their picture and they don’t want it.

The flip side is getting a ton of truly candid moments preserved in photos. You’ll get all those shots you wish you had thought of having a camera along to get and all those shots that just happen all of a sudden.

This is a really fun device to use. Wear it out and about for a day and you’ll be amazed at the shots you get – it offers a totally different perspective on daily life.

The Narrative Clip

I plan on making use of the Clip on several trips I’m taking in the next six months. I’ll use it for all the candid shots and environmental shots to add some fun to the travel book I’ll make when I get back. I’ll try very hard to not use it where it’s not welcome, and hopefully I’ll be able to resist. The problem is there’s no flash, nor any indication of photos being taken, so it’s a very surreptitious device.

The photos are organized for you and are searchable, and they’re easily sharable with family and friends. Getting them off your Clip is as simple as plugging the device into your computer to transfer the images. Once they’re on the computer they’re run through their software that shoots them to Narrative’s website for processing and putting into your secure area.

The Narrative clip depends on a service plan that you pay a monthly fee to Narrative for. That covers storing your photos on their private and secure cloud and making them available to upload to your smart device, or for sharing on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or via E-mail.

The Clip itself comes in white, grey or orange and when you buy one for $229 USD you get a 3-month subscription included, or the choice of the 12-month subscription for $279 USD. If there’s a downside, it’s the subscription service, but the good thing is that they organize all your pictures, assign them a quality score and present your best ones for display. The storage is unlimited too, so if you leave the camera running all day every day like I will on my holidays, they can easily accommodate the massive number of photos I’ll be taking.

PROS: Great for candid pictures; easy downloading and storage; iOS and Android Apps so you can manage your pictures on your smart device; great battery life; a blast to use.

CONS: Expensive when the subscription is added in; you can take pictures where they aren’t welcome; must have a computer to download the images onto; not easily available in Canada.

TO SUM IT UP: I really like the idea behind the Narrative Clip. A small, unobtrusive camera that takes lots of pictures in decent quality to capture all those candid, fleeting moments that happen in our lives, the Clip is a fun way to build memories. It can be abused, but just about anything can be abused, so that’s certainly no reason to miss out on getting one.

Murray Hill is lead tech writer at communicatto.com, a social media marketing agency where this article originated. You can reach Murray by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @MurrayDHill.

Source:: canada.com