Image credit: John Britton / Flickr

Q: Here’s a question about a lower-tech gadget. I have a Panasonic cordless telephone with a digital answering machine. Over the years, it has collected several messages that I’d like to archive. I don’t see any inputs or outputs for doing this. Is there a way to permanently store the messages on this answering machine digitally?

A: Your question would be a lot easier to answer if your phone wasn’t cordless. If your phone had a cord on it, you would only have to buy a mini recorder control from RadioShack to connect it directly to your computer or recorder so that you could record from it. But, there are three different ways that you can extract the voicemails from the answering machine.

The Caveman Way (or The Obvious Way)

Since it is cordless, you’ll have to transfer the messages wirelessly, using the oldest form of wireless communication: sound. Hold a the microphone of a recorder up to speaker of your answering machine. Press Record on the recorder, and press Play on the answering machine. Ta da! You have a mildly listenable digital recording.

The MacGyver Way (or The Hacker Way)

If you’re feeling a little handy, there is a another method that will give you a higher quality recording. (Disclaimer: This will destroy your answering machine. It will never function in the way it was intended to function again. You could also lose all of your voicemails in the process. Proceed with caution. Also, you may want to try recording them “The Caveman Way” first, just in case.)

First, you’ll need to get a speaker cable with a ? inch plug on one side and two bare wires on the other end. You need it to be long enough to reach from your answering machine to the back of your computer or to your recorder.

Once you have the wire, you’ll need to open the answering machine case. It usually only takes a few screws to open the case.

Now, look for the speaker. You may be able to see where the speaker before you open the case. It’s where the sound is coming out of the case.

Now that you have the case open, and you have found the speaker, you should see two wires connected to the speaker. Cut or remove them from the speaker.

Splice the wires from the answering machine together with the speaker cable. Never spliced wires before? Check out the previous link for a guide from Instructables.

Finally, plug the ? plug into the microphone port on your computer or recording device.

Now, if you are recording on your computer, fire up recording software like Audacity or GarageBand and press record. If you’re using a recording device, just press record. Then, press Play on the answering machine.

If you did everything right, you should be getting a digital recording of your voicemails that sounds better than anything you could have recorded “The Caveman Way.”

If you didn’t do everything right, then you have a useless pile of plastic and circuit board. Sorry about that!

The Safer Way (or The Nerdy Way)

Since your answering machine is a digital machine, it likely has a remote access feature. Find the manual for your answering machine, (Yeah, right. You can look up the manual for your answering machine on Panasonic’s website.) and find the instructions on how to access your answering machine remotely.

Once you know how to access it remotely, use a service like Google Voice to record the call.

The DMC-GH2, the newest camera in Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds line, delivers a vast array of features in a relatively small package. What sets the camera apart from the pack is its rare combination of image and video quality. The Gh2 is one of the first cameras to offer stills and video of such high quality at this price point (around $900 MSRP for the body only).

What differentiates Micro Four Thirds cameras from the enormous DSLRs you see tourists, birdwatchers, and soccer moms lugging around is that they include no mirrors or optical viewfinders. The omission of the mirror and slightly smaller sensor size allow for significantly smaller and lighter cameras and lenses, while still delivering considerable image quality and competitive feature sets. In place of the mirror and optical viewfinder found in traditional DSLR cameras, the GH2 sports an electronic viewfinder composed of more than a million pixels, delivering a vibrant, crystal-clear image. In addition to the electronic viewfinder is a 460 thousand dot swivel touch screen.

The GH2 showing off its swivel touch screen.

Fans of touch screens will be pleased, as the GH2’s proves quite responsive. While providing the ability to alter general camera settings, it also allows the user to focus and take pictures simply by clicking anywhere on the screen. For those who prefer a more tactile relationship with their camera, there’s a nice big mode dial, a ?clickable? thumbwheel on the back of the camera, as well as several customizable function buttons.

Even though the image sensor found in Micro Four Thirds cameras and in the GH2 is a little bit smaller than in a standard DSLR system, image quality remains fantastic, and higher ISO sensitivities are much cleaner than on your standard point and shoot. Fans of shallow depth of field will find that they can isolate their subjects nicely, given the right lens and aperture–although it is admittedly more difficult to get the same shallow depth of field on a camera like the GH2, especially when compared to a DSLR with a full-frame sensor.

Ergonomically, the GH2 feels pretty comfortable in the hand with its sizable grip. Its small size and lightweight design allow for comfortable one-handed shooting, while remaining heavy enough for steady low-light shots.

Above all, the video quality of the GH2 has many amateur filmmakers scrambling to get their creative little hands on one. The camera records 1080 24p full HD video, providing a high resolution and cinematic picture. Unfortunately for those in the USA, the GH2 has largely eluded online and retail stores since its announcement, late last year.

On the top of the camera you’ll find a built-in stereo microphone. This included microphone records some decent sound, but for more serious work you’ll probably want to invest in an external microphone.

While the GH2 is currently a unique camera, those who are after sheer image quality and don’t care about video capabilities are still better off going for a more traditional DSLR of the Nikon or Canon variety.  Nonetheless, if it’s smaller size and a balance of great image quality and superb video capture that you’re after, there’s little that can touch the GH2 right now.

The Micro Four Thirds camera system and the GH2 present some exciting changes in the photography world. The technology is far from perfect just yet, but it’s hard to argue against mirrorless cameras being the future of photography.