Panasonic DMC-LC1 5.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Customer Ratings:

So here's the scenario that led me to purchase this camera. After years of photography with a Contax RTS II system, I dropped photography almost completely for 10+ years. The problem? Enjoying the medium without the expense, overly complex process and lugging around 18 lbs of equipment. So I recently started to look at digital photography to completely replace my film equipment. I didn't want an SLR because a)while $1200 buy's a 20oz. technological marvel, it's still made like a disposable $100 EOS Rebel and b)I would be back in the trap of buying lenses and overcomplicating the process. I wanted to get back to simple pure photography withough relying on fancy equipment.

Here was the problem though. There are virtually no non-slr digicams that offer full manual controls in a user friendly, old style manor. Even the SLR's all rely on LCD displays, cheesey dials and buttons.

There was only one (two including the Leica branded version) camera made that offers a rugged classic rangefinder design, an APERATURE RING!, a SHUTTER DIAL!, and manual FOCUS! and ZOOM! rings. While some of these are only emulate mechanical linkages, the end result is a camera that feels exactly like a Leica "m" or other traditional camera would. Oh and by the way did I mention it comes with a fantastic bright Leica f 2.0 lens?

In all honesty, I am not embarrassed to say that it boiled down to style and build quality. Sure there are histograms, program shifts, multiple spot and zone metering/focusing options, a bounce flash (neat feature), 30fps video mode, RAW image format, etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah. All $1000+ digicams have lot's of features, and franklly they are all capable of fantastic images. In the end if you want a camera that is SIMPLY designed the way cameras were made 20-50 years ago with all the bells and whistles if you want them, this is the ONLY choice.

Are there problems? Sure... The low light focusing capabilities leave something to be desired as with most EVF cameras. There is no RAW buffer so RAW images take a few seconds to store. But my initial feeling for this camera is that it is a joy to use.

This is not a cheap camera! With a list of $1599 and a street of $1099-$1399, it will be hard for some to justify not getting a Nikon D70 and 2 lenses in order to get this instead. It will be a certain type of buyer (you know who you are) that will buy this camera regardless of what I write. If you are a poser, buy the Leica Digilux 2 for $1850 street price and throw away $750. It is identical but the body on the Panasonic has a beautiful rubberized surface with just enough of a grip at the right to be effective. The black finish is very nice as well. It does however come with a few extras that would easily add $100+ to most DSLR's like an electronic cable release, a lense shade and filter.

So in the end I got exactly what I wanted and if you are like me, you will not be dissapointed.

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Pentax Optio WG-1 14 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with GPS

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $429.95
Sale Price: $314.91
Today's Bonus: 27% Off

When looking for an underwater camera, this was rated the best for rapid response which is critical for not missing the shot. Zoom is responsive. I didn't realize it has a programmable quick access button which I programed for video so it can switch between taking photos and video very quickly without navigating the menu system, a hidden feature that didn't come out in other reviews. It comes with a removable ring around the lens for macro shots, I actually keep it on to protect the lens and acts like a mini sun screen. This way the camera rests on the ring vs the lcd side.

The battery cover has some slight movement which I was originally concerned about for water, but so far it seems as the little movement doesn't affect the water protection. The worst and only major complaint is the battery life is dismal. I get about 1 1/2 hours of using both photo and video before the battery goes. I did purchase an extra battery, but knowing other point and shoot cameras have much better battery life, not sure why they skimped on such an important function.

It's obvious that the quality isn't as good as a dedicated point and shoot, but the ability to take photos in water is priceless. This camera I can even let my 3 year old use without fear of them breaking it. The features that it has is similar to todays point and shoot cameras including smile detection.

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Rokinon 85M-P 85mm F1.4 Aspherical Lens for Pentax (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $349.00
Sale Price: $249.00
Today's Bonus: 29% Off

Pros:

Image quality from wide open

Bokeh

Handling

Construction quality

Value

Video use

Cons:

Image quality doesn't improve a lot stopping down the aperture

Included 72mm lens cap is junk

Hood not positive feeling

Focusing at 85mm f/1.4 is difficult

About 1/3rd stop darker than my other 85mm lenses

Bottom Line:

Buy this lens now if you want a superb manual focus long portrait lens of modern design and don't want to empty your pocket book. It performs like a name brand 85mm f/1.4 at a fraction the price. You must be proficient with manual focus to use this lens at f/1.4 (or be willing to learn).

Review:

The lens produces nice usable portraits from wide open. There is a pleasing softness too it, but the eyes appear nice and sharp and the bokeh transitions are smooth. Specular highlights in the bokeh are smooth and fairly uniform with minimal rings or donuts. The modern aspherical lens design takes care of most spherical aberration. I bought this lens solely for f/1.4-f/5.6 usage. If I want to use the f/4+ range I will use my f/4 zoom, so wide open performance of the 85mm was critical too me, otherwise it added nothing over my slower zoom. I would not be afraid to use this lens at f/1.4 for portraits.

Wide open it does show a small amount of purple fringing around very high contrast subjects, but it almost has to be blown out next to a darker object for it to be noticeable. The lens also has your typical green/red chromatic aberrations (CA) visible in the bokeh, which I think is longitudinal CA. This is actually fairly typical of large aperture lenses, even good lenses. It is generally not intrusive. The lens is also a tad darker than my other 85mm lenses, maybe 1/3rd f/stop.

Focus is critical at 85mm f/1.4 as the depth of field is shallow, and most dSLR focus screens are designed to focus for f/4. I think the one in my K-7 is a bit better but still doesn't show the true DOF at f/1.4, so it is impossible to focus totally precisely less than f/2 or so, but with practice you can get really close. Also, for slower subjects live view is useful. The focus feel of the lens is excellent with a heavily weighted focus ring that feels high quality.

Lens construction is equivalent to any Canon L lens or Pentax DA*. It is a metal body at the base with a quality feeling plastic focus ring/upper body (this feels like the Plastic in DA* or Canon L lenses). The only part that feels cheap is the rear lens cap, the front lens cap, and the hood. At least they only cut costs with the non-critical items.

This will make an excellent manual focus video lens too, because of the pleasing bokeh wide open and the shallow depth of field. This is one of the reasons I wanted the good bokeh wide open.

Overall, this is a great lens for a superb price. The maker is Samyang, but it is sold under the Vivitar, Opteka, Bower, Rokinon, Polar, and other names. Image quality is supposedly the same between any make, but accessories might differ depending on what the brand wants to include with the lens. The Vivitar Series 1 lens has a slightly different look to it.

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Nintendo DSi XL Red Bundle with Mario Kart

Customer Ratings:

I was very excited about this DSi ever since I heard about it, and having received it I am very happy with my purchase. I already had a DSi but I like the monstrously large screens on the XL and this special edition was a perfect excuse as I sort of collect these things too anyway. The "Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary" print and special logos on the top are very well done and are under the surface so will not scratch off, and the red is a nice sort of darker shade solid red. Glossy on the top surface and a pleasant matte finish around the sides and back which is great because you can avoid fingerprints this way.

The ONLY downside to the DSi in general, are the DSiWare games, in which once you purchase them, they are locked to that specific system. So for me who had a handful of titles downloaded on my older DSi, I could not transfer them as Nintendo won't yet allow it. More people need to complain to them about that!

Anyway, all in all, very satisfied, highly recommended. A MUST for collectors and definitely worth it for first time DS buyers or anyone who likes the screen size here and wants a great library of games available on the platform.

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ContourROAM Waterproof HD 1080P Hands-free HD Camcorder

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $249.99
Sale Price: $129.00
Today's Bonus: 48% Off

This is a good camera for the price I paid, I got it on sale and so far I am pleased with the camera's performance. I would have given a five star rating if the camera came with better instructions. The printed material that came with the camera is sparse at best although the camera is easy to operate I had to learn some things the hard way. For example, I purchased a helmet mount bracket for mountain biking. The camera slides into the bracket via the grooves along either side of the camera (so the camera is lying on its side.)

Going for my first ride the camera worked very well however the film was sideways and I was unable to rotate the movie and ended up deleting it. The camera has a lens that rotates but there were no instructions regarding this feature and how to use it. On my next ride I rotated the lens and my film came out very nice.

Another example of poor instruction is the use of the waterproof case. Although the case works very well I had a difficult time mounting the camera and case to my helmet mount. After much consternation I finally located the small black plastic lock tabs that were preventing mounting. Had there been adequate instruction I would have been much happier.

In the minimal instructions provided there is information about downloading Storyteller" a program for uploading video etc. Storyteller takes a lot of time to upload your video. Additionally, in Storyteller is where you can make adjustments to your camera such as 720, 960 or 1080 filming and sound sensitivity. There was no information provided with the camera that explained this feature in Storyteller, I found it by looking around within the download. Camera does not come with any SD card, you need a micro SD card, shop around I found a micro SDHC (High Capacity) chip at a big box store that was 32GB for $24.99.

Otherwise I am delighted at the performance of the camera the waterproof case was put to the test in recent heavy rain and rough trail uses. The only drawback for the waterproof case is that it dampens the sound pick-up. The camera comes set with a 720 HD default and the pictures are very good. The 720 setting provides the longest film time and least battery depletion. The 720 is so good I do not have a need for anything higher for the way I use the camera. The only other issue I have found is that there is considerable sound distortion in high winds or at high speeds (high wind). I realize this is an issue with all cameras I have encountered especially in outdoor sporting activities.

My first trail ride was 46 minutes and the camera battery was fine for the entire time. I charged the battery after that ride and it took only about a half an hour. The camera charges via a USB plug. I recommend the camera if you can catch it on sale, the instruction provided is lacking but the camera appears sturdy, well-built and delivers very good video. The helmet mount is an extra that costs about 15 dollars.

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HP PSC 1350 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier

Customer Ratings:

I bought this little fax/copy/scanner about a month ago for light-to-medium home/office use. I've been pretty happy with it, overall, with some reservations.

Pros:

1. Very good copy and print quality. (Haven't used the scanner)

2. Moderately fast print/copy speed.

3. Variety of print settings to allow you to print fast/draft, fast/normal, normal, best, and maximum dpi. You can also choose greyscale and "black cartridge only." Given the price of color cartridges, I use the latter setting most often.

4. Easy to learn. The manual is good, and use is pretty intuitive (mostly).

5. The size is great -it fits on top of a small bookshelf, with all the features of much bigger units.

Cons:

1. While mostly intuitive, use is not COMPLETELY intuitive. To print some custom-size invitations, for example, I learned by trial and error that you need to change the settings in TWO places: in the document's printer properties settings (through Word, in my case) and through the printer's own settings, through the print manager. Very strange way to do it, I thought.

2. The in/out paper slot on the printer is the same. That is, it takes paper up, prints on it, and spits it out on top of the "in" tray. It doesn't re-use printed pages, but this isn't the most convenient arrangement for monitoring paper level or even grabbing finished documents.

3. The paper ejection is often too powerful, especially in Fast/Draft. This results in the finished document's being scattered all over the floor -very annoying.

4. Cancelling print jobs often requires restarting the computer to clear the memory -although this could be a Windows bug. I mean, an "undocumented feature."

5. Cartridges are pricey. The HP site (only place I looked) listed black cartridges for over $20 and color for more than $30.

Overall, it's a decent machine that could use some retooling to improve functionality. If you're just going for quality and price (and size!), and you have low to moderate volume print/copy requirements, you'll probably be very pleased. I'll probably live with the annoyances of this unit, given my light print/copy needs. If I printed/copied more often, I'd return this machine for something better engineered.

One special note: I purchased this printer through Amazon's partner program from Circuit City. When I went to pick it up, the store had lost the order, even though I had an order number. The staff was incredibly rude and unhelpful. I finally bought it off the floor and had to call to cancel the original order (for which I'd already been charged!). Given Amazon's own excellent customer service, free shipping, and fair return policy, I wish I'd just waited the week it would have taken for Amazon to ship it to me directly. I won't make that mistake again.

Update October 2008: This machine is still working fine, and I remain pleased with it (with the above caveats). I still haven't figured out how to stop it from spitting paper all over the floor, and I'd prefer a double-sided option -but I'm happy it's still going five years later!

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Lorex 8 Channel Pentaplex Network DVR with CD-RW and 300GB HDD

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,800.00
Sale Price: $688.00
Today's Bonus: 62% Off

The recorder works well all features pretty much as advertised. Motion detection recording is great. The event log or date time range box to find past events took a little getting used to vs. just a vcr screen type scroll back thru old recording date and times. But it makes sense after some use. During playback its odd if you are in 4 camera screen or one camer view and the camere that had recorded activity reaches the end of its recording fo rthat period the view goes back to all 8 cameras, so you have to reselect one or 4 camer view when playback for the desired camera resumes would rather have a blank screen and the time counter continue running or skip to the next recording event for the selected camera.

The remote web viewing is really quirky, IE7 blows up at some point almost everytime I am viewing remotely. On my laptop the remote screen does not always size correctly so the controls on the bottom are cutoff no scroll to get to them, and the "power" button is cutoff so task manager is the only way to end a session. On my local network desktop the screen size is ok and it blows up less often. Configuration should have an option to not require a password to close the remote viewing session, its just annowing to enter a password to quit remote viewing every time.

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Voigtlander Ultron 40mm f/2 SL-II Aspherical Compact Pancake

Customer Ratings:

First of all, this lens is manual focus only, so, unless you're super experienced with manual focus cameras, you don't want to shoot portraits, wedding or pets with this lens. But if lack of AF doesn't turn you off, this lens is actually amazing.

EF35mm f/2.0 (the non-USM version) is an okay lens on full frame. It's not particularly sharp. it has rather poor chromatic aberration of magnification, so you get color in high contrast edges. The autofocus is slow, noisy and inaccurate. EF35mm f/1.4L is better in many regards, but it's not particularly sharp between 1.4 and 2.2. Chromatic aberration is also visible, though not as badly as the f/2 version.

You know what, Ultron 40mm is very sharp, shows almost no chromatic aberration, and produces nice smooth images in or out of focus. It is not perfect in the sense that it has some vignetting, some corner softness, some flare/ghost with strong light source, but it's pretty good for five hundred bucks. With no strong light in the view, the image is not very highly contrasty due to slight to mild flare, but it's not too bad.

These days, you can find 35mm f/1.4 manual-only lens from third party. They are reputed to be very high quality, but they suffer from the same shortcomings from EF35mm f/1.4L, namely, somewhat soft image. Ultron is sharper, yet produces soft out of focus blur. Another thing about Ultron is that it works with E-TTL metering. This is particularly useful for me, since I occasionally use a couple of 580EXII and 600EX flash units with pocket wizard. The other third party 35mm f/1.4 lenses do not have a microprocessor in the lens to allow E-TTL.

One suggestion. You have to manual focus with this lens, so I strongly recommend getting Ee-S or Eg-S super precision mat focusing screen for your 5D/5DII/6D. I would not recommend using this lens on 7D or 5D3 because the viewfinder screen is not interchangeable and it's not as nice to work with manual focus. There are third party screens that you can install in 7D, although it requires using some jeweler's screwdrivers. If you are okay with that, it'd be a fantastic lens on 7D as well. You can't really enjoy using manual focus lens using stock viewfinder screen! (This is true for TS-E 24/45/90mm lenses as well.)

The lens hood is kinda lousy. It does the job of protecting the front element, but not so good job of cutting stray light. Get a rubber hood with 52mm thread.

I didn't test the close up attachment. To me, that's kinda silly. If I had to do close up work, I'd use a different lens. But, I got excellent image quality at the minimum focusing distance without using the attachment.

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Sandisk 4GB MicroSDHC Memory Card with SD Adapter (BULK

Customer Ratings:

I got this card for my LG EnV2 so that I could put music on it as well as have more storage space for pictures, along with the option of printing pictures I take on my phone at a kiosk that accepts SanDisc cards (adapter needed), and it works perfectly! Don't be alarmed if the product comes to your home in nothing but a bubble wrap envelope. Bulk packaging simply means that it doesn't have plastic casing on it. In other words, it doesn't have the retail packaging that you would see hanging on a store shelf at Wal-Mart.

If your device doesn't read microSDHC cards, but you're looking for a microSD card (non-SDHC) that holds more storage capacity than 2 gigs, then you won't find it because such a card doesn't exist. Any microSD card with storage capacity higher than 2 gigs is automatically going to be an SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) card. If you're looking at any product detail of, say a phone, and in the details it mentions that it can have an external storage capacity of 8 gigs with a "microSD" card, then that device can certainly read SDHC, though product details don't always mention that.

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Sony DSC-HX300 20.4MP Digital Camera with 50x Optical Zoom

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $559.99
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
Today's Bonus: 16% Off

I am a compulsive photographer, and started shooting people and objects when I was 15. A friend presented me with my first digital camera when I was 45, and life has never been the same again. That was Sony Mavica, and it used 3.5 inch floppy disks to store pictures. The highest resolution was only 1.2 mega pixels, but with its 16x optical magnification it did wonders for me.

This is my fourth digital Camera in 15 years. In fact the moment I read the specification and the Sony name, I sold my non Sonly Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, removable lens, and telephoto lens (puchased for a futune) at a loss and bought this model. Once again, life has never been the same again after I bought it.

Here are some of the features

*** It offer 20+ Mega-pixel resolution, something that can do wonders

*** It offer and unbelievable 50x OPTICAL magnification, again something that can do wonders

Care to Take:

*** The camera offers so much in terms of resolution and optical magnification that most users need to learn afresh that a powerful tool can be used in unbelievable way. Do explore all the possibilities

*** Do use a monopod or a tripod for shooting at magnifications greater than 20x

Uniqueness:

*** High resolution

*** Super-high magnification

*** Ability to keep the flash off in any and every situation (a manual switch is provided)

*** All other standard software features are available

*** Very light and ergonomic design

Recommendation:

*** If ease of use, high resolution, and high optical magnification is your need, then this is THE camera for you

*** It is very economically priced

I have been using this Camera now for 3 months and for me it is dream come true.

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Nikon D7000 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,299.98
Sale Price: $938.00
Today's Bonus: 28% Off

After ordering this I had some issues with the seller, they resolved it quickly and better than what I expected. I'm glad I made this order. The camera excellent, straight out of the box, put in the battery that comes with it (and has a charger for the battery) it is good to go to start taking pictures...

HOWEVER, (this is why I didn't rate it 5 stars) THIS KIT DOES NOT COME WITH A LENS, A BIG MISTAKE THAT I MADE, I HOPE YOU REALIZE THIS BEFORE YOU ORDER THIS KIT. That being said, I went a got a lens for $149 and was able to start taking pictures.

So all in all this is an excellent camera even though I couldn't use it right away. But shopping around this is the best deal for your buck because I was able to to get a lens and this kit for under $2,000, which is about what you would spend if you got a kit that comes with a lens, BUT THEN AGAIN WHEN I BOUGHT THE KIT WAS LISTED FOR $1,394.99 AND I HAVE NOTICED SINCE THEN THE PRICE HAS JUMPED BIG TIME. So still shop around and choose wisely.

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Fujifilm FinePix Z800EXR 12 MP Digital Camera with 5x Periscopic

Customer Ratings:

OK, I admitt that I was swayed by the touch screen and slide-cover, 12 megapixels, the FUJI name ( I own the S1800 slr, 18x zoom )and wanted a camera that would fit in my purse or pocket to always have on hand. It is so intuitive to use and the auto features help me, a non techy photographer ( although I am learning by leaps and bounds now)....great photos, easy uploading to the internet. It has become my FAV. OK, I love the metalic soft pink color too! I am blessed.I am thrilled to own this camera and paid more for it too.

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Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR Camera Body with EF-S 18-135mm IS Lens

Customer Ratings:

This product was just what i wanted, i've been in photograhy for over 30 years and this is a first class kit for the price and delivery. The lens options are really good and very well priced as a kit.

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Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro

Customer Ratings:

This is a great lens. I compared it to my 18-55 mm lens that came with my camera and it takes the same kind of photo. I took photos zoomed in and they turned out great. It took a little to focus in really low light. Would expect that. I am planning on taking this lens to Europe so I do not have to carry multiple lenses. Cannot wait to go and take pictures.

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Creator NXT (2013)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $99.95
Sale Price: $36.94
Today's Bonus: 63% Off

I have used Roxio Creator for ten years on an older Dell Pentium 4 computer. I had no problems with previous versions. I recently purchased a new Dell computer with window 7 (up-graded to Window 8 Pro). Roxio 10 would not work on my new system and Roxio had no patches to make it work so I researched and decided to purchase Creator NXT after checking Roxio's web page they say it is compatible with Windows 8. I installed the software and My DVD and VideoWave programs would shut down when ever I tried to import a video to edit or burn to DVD. Roxio has virtually no support. on their web page they give a phone number for technical support. When you call it the message says to use their web site for technical questions. They sent an e-mail saying they would get back to me with in 48 hours. When they did get back to me the suggestions for the fix had nothing to do with the problem. They also suggested I sign up for their member discussion group -which I did.

A member suggested I shut down my firewall and anti-virus software and install Roxio's installation disc and "repair" the installation. It worked for about an hour. I was able to edit 5 videos and create one DVD, no problem. I tried to create two other projects and I would get the "Software not responding" screen it would freeze at 97% of encoding the project. I must have tried 6x.

Now the software won't even open. It shuts down every time I try to add a video clip.

I have spent too much time with this software. The company I purchased from is refunding my money since they assured me before the purchase via e-mail that the software was compatible with Windows 8. It is not compatible with my Window's 8 system!

I have order Cyberlink Media Suite 10 Ultra. I hope it works.

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Sony Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo 32Gb (MS-HX32A)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $124.23
Sale Price: $64.99
Today's Bonus: 48% Off

I purchased this item because of price. They (amazon) list two of the Sony cards in this size and I purchased the less expensive one thinking they were the same. Later I notice the two cards had different letters at the end. This one is A and the other is G. I couldn't find much difference in the description and have been meaning to call Sony to find out what the difference is. Evidently I haven't done this yet but will tell you when I find out. This card seems to work just fine though.

Later. I called Sony and asked them what the difference was between the MSHX32A which amazon sells for $111 and the MSHX32G which sells for $193 on amazon's site. They said the one that ends in G is "Transfer Jet" compatible. He said that what that means is that the G card can transfer data wirelessly to other peripherals that are also "Transfer Jet" compatible. I've never heard of "Transfer Jet" and since I don't have anything that is "Transfer Jet" I guess I saved $80.

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Dolgin Engineering TC400-DSLR-C 4-Position Battery Charger

Customer Ratings:

A must if you have more than 5 canon lp-e6 batteries. The battery analyzer is very helpful for finding bad batteries. What's great is you can charge 4 batteries with one plug.

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