Olympus PEN E-PL3 14-42mm 12.3 MP Interchangeable Lens Camera

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $249.99
Today's Bonus: 38% Off

The axiom that is so true: The best camera for you is the camera that is with you! Grew tired of backaches while hiking with my Nikon DSLR gear, which increasingly never left the house. Bought an Olympus XZ-1 as a camera that could always be with me ... and was so impressed with it that I wanted its "big brother" for better image quality when on walkabouts or hiking. The Olympus P-3 seemed a bit too much; the PM-1 seemed a bit too little; the PL-3 seemed just right (especially with the tilting screen). The form factor and menu navigation features of the XZ-1 and PL-3 are very similar. The XZ-1 is pocketable; the PL-3 is not due to the protruding lenses. Getting some of the best photos of my life with both the XZ-1 and the PL-3 ... because they are with me.

There is another side to this, and that is that people often appear uncomfortable around people taking photos with large DSLRs with large protruding lenses. I feel none of this discomfort using either the XZ-1 or the PL-3 in public places.

Exploring capabilities with the Olympus 14-42mm kit lens and the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens (have the new Panasonic "X" lenses and the Olympus 45mm lens on order). The Panasonic 20mm is incredible small, making the PL-3 feel and operate like a small rangefinder camera. The f/1.7 lens allows one to take natural light photos in places impossible with slower lenses. The Olympus 14-42mm kit lens appears to be of high quality, although it does have a plastic lens mount (please manufacturers ... charge us the extra cost and ban plastic lens mounts!). The SLRgear website is an excellent place to compare lens quality with its graphs and metrics, and the Olympus kit lens fairs better than comparable lenses with metal mounts with respect to center and edge sharpness across the zoom spectrum.

On the downside, the PL-3 menu structure is difficult to navigate. One must do considerable research to become familiar with the options. Also, the LCD screen is excellent in all but bright sunlight. An Electronic Viewfinder (VF-2 or VF-3) is a necessity to do more than guess what you are photographing in bright sunlight. The add-on flash in the PL-3 kit is so small that it is only good for fill in or firing a larger flash such as the Olympus FL-36R via the RC flash capability. Wish that Olympus had something similar to the excellent Nikon SB-400 mini-flash for the Pen-series cameras. Finding it difficult to get the almost perfect bounce flash effect that the SB-400 provided in the FL-36R/add-on camera flash combination.

The movie quality in the PL-3 is excellent compared to my Nikon D5000 (in my experience "live view" in DSLRs tend to be a joke). The tilting LCD screen is proving especially handy for movies. As others have commented, the new Pen-series auto focus for movies tends to hunt but in my experience this happens only when when the subject is moving quickly or I fail to keep the camera steady (cameras belong on fluid-head tripods to take quality movies).

I've been a photo enthusiast since 1973 when one needed a SLR or medium-format camera to get acceptable image quality for 8x10 and 11x14 prints. I've followed and experienced the technology from film through the DSLRs to, now, the new ILCs. I'm amazed at the quality one can get from something the size of the PL-3!

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Apple MacBook Pro ME665LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop with Retina Display

Customer Ratings:

I purchased the newest version (Early 2013) which had the upgrade to 16GB Ram and 512GB SSD.

The notebook is extremely fast. Computer seems solid, boots in 10-15 seconds from off, sleep to ready in 4-5 seconds. It opens programs in no time flat. It is not light as an air book, but still defiantly lighter than previous models. The screen is great, bright, and responsive. With heavy use I get about 5-5 1/2 hours of use on the battery.

Some peoples complaints are the new power adapter, I will agree with them, the new adapter sticks out further and gets knocked off a lot. Not having a dvd drive, not a big deal...I dont think i've used a dvd or cd in a computer in a few years! If I need to I will just have to purchase the external.

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Nikon D5000 12.3MP DX CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $999.95
Sale Price: $949.95
Today's Bonus: 5% Off

I've had this camera for 6 weeks now. Initially there was a recall on the D5000 for a failing power chip but my camera was not part of the recall. There are several nice features of this camera but none more important than it takes beautiful pictures. Shots taken at full 12.3 Megapixel fine outdoor have incredible detail. I've made blowup up to 12 x 18 and the clarity is stunning. The camera fits nicely in the hand. It has 11 focal points and 16 presets for specific situations (i.e. sunset, indoor party, sport mode, photograph children, etc. ) This makes it a very easy camera to use in the automatic mode but yet, it has all the manual settings for those who want to venture out into creative photography. One very special feature is the articulating 2.7 inch LCD display on the back of the camera. This display folds out allowing me to get low shots of the grand children without me bending over (I got a bad back) or allows me to lift the camera high and shoot over a crowd (like at a parade). Do not underestimate the advantage of this moving display. For me, it clinched the deal. The camera will shoot 4 frames per second for action pictures and that's pretty fast. You can also capture pictures in RAW format for those who want to work with Photoshop in super fine detail. Another feature that is pretty neat is the outline feature. Within the camera, you can select a picture you've taken and it will create an outline picture with white background. I take pictures of the grandchildren and print them in outline on white paper and they can now have very personalized coloring pages of them! For an artist who like to paint, they can use the outline pictures to have a sketched "canvas" that they can paint with everything being in perfect proportion. For educators of small children, imagine the possibility of the children coloring themselves on pages just like a coloring book. These "coloring/painting" pages are created WITHOUT destroying the original picture! This is a very nice camera that exceeded my expectations. The camera in automatic is rarely fooled and every snapshot I take makes me glad I choose the D5000. I got the two lens kit which covers from 18mm to 200mm. The camera even has some photo editing features you can do right from the camera like spot removal. All in all, I could not be happier with this camera. Nikon does a nice job with their products and this unit has rekindled a love of photography that had gone dormant in me.

Follow up after 5 months of ownership.

I continue to enjoy this camera very much. It is a solid performer. I recently bought rubber "armor" skin for the camera to protect it and that has worked out well. The camera does a very good job in Auto mode and you are tempted to just keep it there for all your pictures. However, I have branched out to the "program" mode which allows you to override the settings it chooses and play around with adjustments on aperture and shutter speed for "more creative" photography. I bought David Busch's book on the D5000 which gives you a lot of info not in the manual. The Vibration Reduction works very well on the camera and I'm getting good looking pictures on a regular basis. Our son got married and I gave the D5000 to my nephew and asked him to take pictures as he saw fit. From that I got a bunch of good family pictures that I will always cherish.

So, my rating remains the same with absolutely no regret. After moving to the D5000 from a point and shoot camera the difference has been night and day as to the quality of pictures I've been getting. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of a DSLR to consider this camera. It is fun to use and has a plethora of features that makes photography fun without breaking the bank.

ONE year ownership follow up:

After a year of ownership I am happy to report the camera continues to please me with it's great picture taking ability. There has never been any time in the last year that I regreted getting this camera. It has continued to perform flawlessly and I still have not used all the special features of this camera. The price has dropped (to be expected) and I think the D5000 is a great buy. One caution though. If you get this camera, be prepared to start loading up your hard drive with 12.3 megapixel pictures. With this great resolution, you never want to dial it back down, even though you can. Nice job Nikon!!!!

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PylePro PPHP157AI 15-Inch 1400 Watt Portable Powered 2 Way Full

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $379.99
Sale Price: $266.95
Today's Bonus: 30% Off

There are times when you need to play your music loud. That isn't a big deal if you need to boom your music/movies in media room, but if you need to take that type of performance on the road you options are more limited. There are a variety of bluetooth speaker and ipod docks and while many of them are easy to use and highly portable they are rarely loud. In fact, the Pyle Pro 15" Powered Speaker passes the loudest bluetooth speaker that I have used (The Supertooth Disco Twin) at less than 30% of its total volume.

Make no mistake, the Pyle Pro 15" Powered Speaker is not intended to compete against small bluetooth speakers. Not even close. This speaker is designed to fill large spaces with with sound. It can fill anything from backyards, dance halls, to church auditoriums with total sound. In the video portion of the review you can see how loud it is at only 40% of its total volume (I was afraid to turn it up much louder for fear of upsetting my neighbors!).

The best part of the speaker is the cost the Pyle Pro 15" costs less (significantly less) than most 15" subwoofers that are the market. The Pyle Pro offers 1400 watts of power, a 1.75" titanium horn tweeter, multiple types of inputs, a hard plastic shell at a very reasonable price.

Notes-

In terms of sound performance as mentioned it is very loud.... in all settings. This speaker is loud enough to be used for DJ'ing weddings at dance hall (or a fraternity party).

I like it for use as the primary speaker for outdoor movies. I combine this speaker with a projector to show backyard movies with the right set-up this can make for an awesome neighborhood movie night.

The sound quality is more than acceptable, but it is hardly subtle. An audiophile may complain that the bass is a bit punchy and that the horn tweeter can come across as bright... and the combination means that the midrange is a bit undervalued.... but who really cares? A Two-way, 1400 watt speaker that features a 15" woofer is not designed to have the cleanest most subtle soundstage.

Frequency response of 40Hz to 22kHz although I would not be surprised if the frequency response was a little lower than the 40Hz.

Has a microphone input which allows it to be used as a public address speaker or for Karaoke.

The built in iPod/iPhone dock is a nice feature, but it is a bit awkward to use. I greatly prefer to use (although it is not included) the Aux-to-RCA splitter and directly plug the speaker into the headphone jack of my iPad.

Allows you to insert a SD memory card to play music directly from a memory card

Features a small remote control that is mainly used for use with the SD memory card.

Has a USB input so you can play music from any source that has an USB output.

Has gain controls for both bass and treble

Using an auxiliary output-to-RCA splitter and a small bluetooth device (like the Jabra Clipper) you can turn the Pyle Pro Powered Speaker into a HUGH and LOUD bluetooth speaker.

Has a hard plastic shell which has been pre-tapped so that it can be bolted (both vertically and horizontally) to a soundstage/mounting bracket.

Has a switch that allows the speaker to accept either a 110V or 220V source.

Has built in handles to help carry the speaker, but they don't help with the weight (weighs about 50lbs)

The manual is not exactly helpful it is about 4 pages and really doesn't offer much information on how to use the speaker.

Final verdict There is nothing subtle Pyle Pro 15 inch it is both large and loud but the great thing is that it provides a high level of functionality (as a backyard speaker, studio monitor, and sound stage speaker) at a very reasonable price. For me, it makes nearly the perfect speaker for backyard movie night so if you are in market for an inexpensive all-in-one speaker I would highly recommend that you investigate the Pyle Pro 1400 Watt 15 inch Powered Speaker.

5 Stars

Please Note I received this product for reviewing purposes.

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AmazonBasics Alkaline Batteries (Pack of 20)

Customer Ratings:

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Never in a million years would I have thought these batteries would outperform Duracell Alkaline batteries. I read recently that a consumer magazine recommended buying batteries based on price and not brand name. My limited testing agrees with that advice.

AmazonBasics AAA alkaline batteries performed better than two types of Duracell Alkaline batteries, and was on par with Kirkland Alkaline brand. The bigger surprise is how well Enloop batteries performed in my testing. The Kirkland and AmazonBasics alkaline batteries were roughly 20% longer lasting than the Duracell alkaline batteries. Freshly fully charged Enloops (NiMH) performed 20% better than AmazonBasics and Kirkland Alkalines.

What can you say about these batteries? Yes they are AAA, they fit in devices that require this size battery, and they last a good long time. I wanted to do some accellerated testing, put the batteries through some heavy drain use in a controlled manner. Since I don't have a testing rig like the one NLee the Engineer uses to test batteries, I came up with a standard device a small electronic flash that uses two AAA batteries.

The test setup: load two batteries into the flash, when the ready light glowed, fire the flash. I counted how many flashes each battery type could make in five minutes. I repeated the test with fresh batteries twice for each brand / model of battery. At the end of the test the batteries were pretty warm and none of them were exhausted. A battery tester showed all the batteries were about 30% spent, so there was still a good bit of life left in them.

Qualitatively, the Kirkland and AmazonBasics Alkaline batteries recycled the flash very fast during the first minute of the test. Recycle times tapered off to a constant level after that. The Enloops (NiMH) seemed to deliver a rapid recycle time throughout the test.

Kirkland and AmazonBasics Alkaline batteries fired 97 times

Duracell Alkaline and Duracell Ultra Alkaline fired 77 times

Enloops (NiMH) fired 117 times

The consumer advice seems to be accurate, purchase AAA batteries based on the lowest per cell price you can find. Enloops are the best alternative, they are rechargeable and deliver great service (Sanyo Eneloop Ni-MH Charger and 8 Rechargeable AA and 4 Rechargeable AAA Batteries). If you do search out rechargeable batteries, the best advice in the world can be found in NLee The Engineer's reviews.

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Leupold SX-1 Ventana Spotting Scope Kit, Black, 15-45 x 60mm

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $439.99
Sale Price: $330.34
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

Very Clear optics... good shock resistant... only down side is tripod as it is tippy... overall good product and great price... I would recommend to anyone...!

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Olympus Stylus Tough TG-2 iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera

Customer Ratings:

Awesome seller. I received my package with more than ample amount of cushion for my electronics in a big box. My social purchase was then placed in a smaller box! Not only does the purchase come with everything in the picture but the camera also comes in its original box. Inside the Camera's box was a list of set up instructions, warranty service contract, lense ring, setup Cd-rom, usb cable, usb adapter, Lithium Ion battery, and wrist strap! This is the best purchase I've made on Amazon to date.

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Lowepro DryZone 200 Waterproof Digital SLR Camera Backpack Case

Customer Ratings:

I got this bag for my Canon Rebel T1i, for a Grand Canyon 4 day rafting trip. It easily fit my camera body and 3 lenses, batteries, etc. I used it as a carry-on on the plane so I wouldn't be checking my stuff. It easily fit my gear plus other carry on items I wanted; wallet, book, water bottle, toiletries (I am a woman). It has lots of straps to secure to make it carry-on friendly, and it is a little difficult to open/close often. Just plan how to pack. I definitely reccommend working the silicone into the zipper as instructed, I did it 3 times. I read reviews complaining about the zipper, I didn't find it too bad. The outside has lots of areas to open quickly for sunscreen, lip balm, etc. so, no problem. I knew my camera would not be compromised at all inside that bag. I don't know if I will use it for anything else but an adventure trip, but worth the peace of mind.

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Yamaha A-S500BL Integrated Stereo Amplifier (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $449.95
Sale Price: $399.95
Today's Bonus: 11% Off

In my opinion, good quality 2-channel sound is the best option if you enjoy music. I sought to put together an entry-level "audiophile" 2.1 system. My source is an iMac running lossless files through a NuForce uDAC2. I've owned and enjoyed the sound of a variety of UK manufactured/designed speakers in the past. The Brits are still fond of 2-channel... they've been smart enough not to bite on the hype and expense of surround. Because of this, I used a number of UK audio review sites to wade through the available 2-channel integrated amps and bookshelf-sized speakers. I took my chances and, based on WhatHiFi's calling it the best amp under $800, I purchased the Yamaha A-S500 to pair with my Monitor Audio BR2 speakers and Jamo sub. I was impressed the first time I listened three weeks ago and am still impressed every evening when I sit down to listen. I listen to jazz and wide range of artists from Union Station to Wilco to Radiohead. The sound exceeds any I've dreamed of. It is strikingly clear and natural. I've never touched the bass/treble controls; no need to; flat sounds spectacular. Bass is natural. When listening to the Keith Jarrett Trio, Jack DeJohnette's cymbals are replicated to perfection. I don't agree with some other reviews that are concerned about the A-S500 build quality. I think the build quality is very good with the slight exception of the "plasticy" control knobs. I can live with the knobs, they aren't a deal breaker. I can't recommend the Yamaha A-S500 enough. It has changed how I listen to my music collection.

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Samsung 5-Inch Galaxy Player (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Customer Ratings:

I've owned several mp3 players and tablets from microsoft, apple, sony, etc, but none of them attended most of my expectations.

When I bought my Samsung Galaxy Player I also bought an iPod touch to compare both at the same time.

The Galaxy Player was faster at web browsing, navigating throughout the device in general, etc.

Even the ear-buds that come with it are good quality. Better than Apple's. Deep bass and nice distribution on the trebles and mediums. I had just bought a Klipsch s4i which is a really wonderful pair of ear-buds, but not needed after I tested this samsung one.

The screen quality of the iPod touch is still superior due to the 960x640 pixel resolution, but the bigger size (5 inches) of the galaxy's screen makes it way more comfortable to your eyes (the quality is still really impressive though).

The galaxy's internal stereo speakers are not like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 inches' which are wonderful, but they beat the iPod's " mono speaker" without a doubt.

The iPod has an upper class quality microphone to record voice memos and videos. The galaxy's one is not the best, but they still pick up instruments' sounds pretty well. If you want to record a concert with your galaxy player, you can do that with this 5 inches one.

The notification bar in the iPod touch with the new iOS 5 is pretty much not useful. It works better with an iPhone, but the galaxy player's notification bar works well just as if you had a mobile phone.

The super advantages of the galaxy player over the iPod is: it has a microSD card slot (which you can expand up to 32GB). You can have all your videos, movies, music, and pictures in different microSD cards if you choose to. It is really easy to install in the device. it has GPS built-in. It works really well with pre-loaded maps. it has FM-Radio which works really well.

The touch screen of the galaxy is very responsive.

I could find all apps I had in my iPod in the android market and they all work fine. For example, Netflix, Skype, Pandora radio, YouTube, Facebook, Kindle (the screen is big enough to read books), B&N Nook, MySpace, UsaToday. etc.

The Netflix image quality on the iPod is superior, but not very noticeable. The galaxy's quality is still very good.

The 3.2 MP rear camera on the galaxy player is way superior than the iPod's one. Pictures (with flash and videos are really good.

The front facing camera on the galaxy is superior as well, but if you want to record with it, you have to download an app that will allow you to and the quality is not the best. The iPod's front facing camera records just as good as its rear camera.

The battery life in the galaxy is superior to the iPod's one (that is my personal experience). Some people are just lucky with batteries.

The galaxy player has now many softwares that allow you to put music in it just like the iTunes for apple products. If you have all your music sorted by genre in playlists on your iTunes and you want to transfer to a software comparable with the galaxy player, you can download the software called Samsung "Kies" which is recommended by the Samsung company. There are other softwares out there, but this is the one I've been using to sync music, videos, and pictures. You have do download an app for the device as well (same name).

Well, that is a pretty long review, but I just decided to write everything that I tried to find, and I couldn't, when I wanted to know which music player would be the best for me.

Just to sum up what I'm saying in this review:

Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0

Fast web browsing and navigation

Good quality ear-buds

Excellent screen size and good quality of image

Good internal stereo speakers

Ok microphone to record, but excellent for video chatting

Useful notification bar (e-mail, updates, facebook, etc)

MicroSD card slot, GPS, FM-radio

Diverse and still expanding android market (app store)

Good video streaming function (Netflix)

Good quality rear camera with flash

Good battery life

Good synchronization software like the iTunes for apple products

I took my iPod back and stayed with my Galaxy Player and I am very happy so far.

I hope this review was useful to you!

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Sony T Series DSC-T99/G 14.1 Megapixel DSC Camera with Super HAD

Customer Ratings:

My first Sony camera was a Mavica (loved it and still have it). My second camera was a 8.1 MP DSC-N1 (BEST camera I have EVER owned and have had it for five years). This one is my third. I wish I could say that I was excited and pleased about this one as I've been about the other two, but I'm not. Not even close. Since I was so pleased with the first two cameras I had NO problem being brand-loyal and staying with Sony. I did look at other digital cameras to see what they had and basically no one had everything I was looking for in one camera like Sony. 14.1 MP, HD video recording, different shooting modes, and a compact size. I'm no pro but I know about my digital cameras. Since my DSC-N1 broke (sniff) I immediately compared this camera to that one. It had to be better right?

Wrong. Glaringly wrong! For starters the touch screen isn't as nearly clear as the DSC and the picture quality is FAR from what I expected. Going from an 8.1 MP to a 14.1 MP, I should have seen a dramatic change in picture quality. Actually... I did. But in the opposite direction. How can an 8.1 produce clearer shots than a 14.1? And they both have the Carl Zeiss lens! When I download the pictures to my computer and blow them up there is a definite and quite obvious difference in the picture quality. Not cool. The other thing that is very frustrating is the "fishbowl" effect on the edge of the pictures. The middle of the picture is OK but the outer edges look like I gave this camera to Aqua-Man and told him to go for it. Having my pictures look like that is unforgivable. I have tried different settings, mixing and matching but nothing seems to get rid of that "fishbowl" effect.

I was trying to be "smart" and not get the camera I wanted because of the money. Next time I'll know better. This was an expensive lesson to learn but I've learned it. I'm so frustrated with this camera I threw it up on Craigslist barely two weeks after I got it to try and get rid of it. Unfortunately the only takers I've had have been the "I'll send you a money order" scammers. This camera comes with all the bells and whistles but unfortunately the important ones, pictures and picture quality, fall way way short.

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Tamron SP 70-200MM F/2.8 DI VC USD Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon

Customer Ratings:

First off, I am an amateur and don't get paid for the pictures I take. For this reason, I figured I would give the Tamron a try and if I didn't like it I could always return it and consider getting one of the Nikon 70-200's instead. I'm using this lens with a D600, and have admittedly never used the Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR I or II, or the new 70-200 F4. Maybe ignorance is bliss in this case, but for an amateur like me I found it very hard to justify the premium of the 70-200 VR II over the tamron (even with the recent $300 discount).

Build The build of this lens seems very solid. It's not quite up to the standard of the Canon L white lenses, but I would say it's very close to all of the nice Nikon G lenses...mostly metal some hard plastic. Thankfully I don't have to take my gear into rough conditions, but if you did, I think this lens would hold up very well.

VC The vibration control/reduction on this lens is fantastic. When looking through the view finder it really grabs the image and reduces nearly all camera shake. Occasionally it has a bit of a jitter before locking in on the image, but I have yet to see this affect any of the images, only my view through the optics. I can easily hand hold shots at 200mm down to 1/20 and lower if the subject itself isn't moving. I even did some shots down near 1/4 of a second and they were actually very usable, but I wouldn't depend on that unless I absolutely had to.

Image Quality So far the color, contrast, and sharpness of this lens have all been superb. The lens might be just a hair softer at 2.8 than it is at 4.0, but that's only when pixel-peeping at 1:1 and even then it's an extremely close call. For anything beyond 4.0 the lens is extremely sharp, and I would have no hesitancy shooting at 2.8 unless you're going to take a 100% crop and expect the hair on someone's head to be prime-level sharp.

Autofocus The autofocus is fast. I would imagine that unless you're a pro sports photographer whose job depends on getting every shot, this lens's autofocus is plenty fast. It will certainly be fast enough for an amateur like me to shoot sports, fast moving kids, dogs, etc.

Overall, I would highly recommend this lens. I've only had half a week to shoot with it, but so far I am very impressed. If you're like me, the ~$800 saved over the Nikon VR II means the ability to add another very nice lens to your bag. I can't imagine that the VR II would enable me to get any shots that I can't already get with this lens. And so to me that makes it a winner. I'll update the review if my opinion changes as I continue to use this lens.

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Promote Systems Promote Control, Remote Control for Digital SLR

Customer Ratings:

From my own personal researching efforts, I think this is the only option Canon shooters have for programming Canon cameras to shoot greater than three exposures. The Promote does the job. I can configure the remote to fire off 20+ exposures on my Canon 5D Mark II. This is a huge plus for those wanting to do HDR photography. Not having to touch the camera (potential for moving the camera) during multiple exposures is a wonderful thing.

As for the actual remote, I expected a higher build quality for a $300 remote. The remote has an extreme plastic-y feeling to it and some might suggest that it has a fake knock-off feel to it. However, let me repeat myself, this camera does do what it claims to do. Also, given my propensity to over pack my camera gear and comparing it to the Canon TC-80N3, I found the Promote remote to be unnecessarily large. The Canon TC-80N3 provides a fair amount of functionality at 1/3 the size. But the Canon TC-80N3 doesn't do what the Promote can. And I understand and recognize that.

If you shoot a Canon 5D Mark II, you have to attach two separate wires/cords from the camera to the remote to get full functionality. This is a work flow killer in my opinion. Shooting in portrait mode with a L bracket on a ballhead does provide some challenges when you have to budget for two cords.

Also, if any of your "bracketed" exposures go beyond 30 seconds, there are additional programing steps involved. The shooter needs to switch to a "bulb" exposure. And you need to upgrade the firmware to enable 30+ seconds exposures.

And to conclude, the following comment is based on my experiences on shooting raw files with the Promote. To take 7+ shots with progressively long shutter times, a lot of the camera custom features (i.e. noise reduction) may need to be adjusted or turned off. If the camera needs to take more than a few moments to process the file (raw files from a 5DII are pretty darn big 25mg+), the Promote errors out. The remote, from what I can tell, doesn't adjust for the camera's need to process the image. The remote follows a strict timing sequence. If the camera needs more than what the Promote remote feels is a typical/adequate processing time, the bracketing sequence stops.

All these things are necessarily deal killers but I thought cyberspace would like to know. It took me a bit of time to figure all of this out. If you should buy one, please don't buy this product the day before a major shooting trip. These is a significant learning curve involved with this product. Oh, and the instruction manual is pretty sparse.

**********Update/Effective 8/01/11

I've owned this thing for a year now and I've really gotten the hang of it. I haven't gotten any "timed-out" issues anymore. Learning curve was steep on this one and I consider myself pretty good around electronics.

Here is my work flow for HDR photo taking on a Canon 5D Mark II(assuming camera is on a tripod). These steps are contrary to some of the written instructions for the Promote. Try it out, see if it works for you...

1. Insert plugs into both Promote and Camera

2. Power on Promote (Promote on before camera is vital in my experience.)

3. Power on Camera (Wait approx 20 seconds you won't be able to do much while the camera is syncing up with the Promote. You'll get a "Busy" comment if you try and do an exposure too soon.)

4. In Av mode, in Evaluative Mode/Matrix Metering Mode, dial in your Apeture (f/18 etc...), press the shutter button half way and see what the camera spits out for the shutter speed.

5. In the HDR mode on the Promote, dial in the Shutter speed you got from step 4, how many EV steps, and total amount of exposures.

6. Pop the camera in Manual mode, set the same Apeture you did in step 4 and fire off the Promote. There is no need to manually set the shutter speed here. The Promote will override whatever the last shutter speed setting may have been.

7. If exposure times exceed 30 seconds, the Promote will request that you reset the camera into Blub mode.

This is my work flow for the Promote. Just offering my own humble observations. Thanks. Good luck.

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LG KP500 Cookie Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera and Digital

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $124.99
Sale Price: $91.99
Today's Bonus: 26% Off

I travel frequently back to the UK so this phone works great for me. It is quad-band and GSM phone which means it has a removable sim card that I can use a pay as you go sim card when I go back to the UK, and then switch it back while back in the US. Unfortunately your limited to AT&T or T-Mobile in the US as the other carriers don't use GSM phones, not sure why?. The phone itself which I bought in the UK has an adapter for 110/220v for charging in other countries which is a nice touch from LG (I once fried a US adapter by plugging it into a UK socket, duh!). It comes with a screen protector and the casing feels nice and not too cheap. The touch screen itself is bright and easy to navigate and the inclusion of a stylus that fits in the base of the phone makes it very handy when texting. The phone houses a slot for a micro SD card up to 8gb, which is ample for mp3's and photo's or video's. I don't like that you have to use the supplied headphones in order to listen to music as they aren't that good and would have preferred the ability to use third party phones.

Camera quality isn't that great, but like most phone cameras the quality is grainy, I only use it rarely as I have a good quality digital camera for that. Overall it's a great little phone that is considerably cheaper and less bulkier than the i phone. And if you need accessories then eBay is the place to go, I picked up a great leather case that fits perfectly, and a car charger. I have had the phone now for 7 months and am pleased with it so far.

Update: I recently flashed the phones firmware to the latest version which is V10n and the phone is so much better.

The touch screen works a lot better than before and the slide bar can now be used without having to press hard.

The firmware install is a little tricky and can only be done on a windows operating system, but is well worth the time as the phone's performance is so much better. Do a search for KP 500 firmware v10n update.

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Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR DX AF-S ED Zoom-Nikkor Lens

Customer Ratings:

I am really happy with this lense. After review an all other lense I purchased this lense. This is newely introduced by Nikon. night photography aslo work very fine. This is Truely VR lense.Its take Crystal and sharp and right digital color immage at 300mm as well.

Only issue that, its little bit heavy due to its base build by metal which is good.

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eLocity A7 Touchscreen 7-Inch Android 2.2 Tablet (Black)

Customer Ratings:

First off, I'll apologize for writing a review after owning this tablet for only one night. I hate these kinds of reviews but I felt this needed at least one review from a real customer.

In my few hours with it last night, I downloaded and installed several apps on it from GetJar, including Facebook and Kindle. I also downloaded several apps from my PC onto a thumb drive and installed them onto the tablet from that, which was very cool. I visited several websites that had flash banners and they worked flawlessly. I was also able to play embedded videos on sites including youtube.com and my facebook news stream.

Pros:

USB port I plugged an 8GB flash drive in and installed apps from it.

Micro SD slot Haven't used it yet but plan to soon

HDMI port Haven't used this yet either but it's a great option

Video looks great

Very responsive when touching links or rotating display

Browser is quick and displays flash

Great price for the specs

Cons:

Lack of good, working apps. For the A7, you get your apps from GetJar, instead of the Android marketplace. Some apps refused to install for me, like Angry Birds. Others installed but clearly weren't made to work on this size tablet. There isn't a netflix or skype app available (I was hoping to use the webcam with skype).

Pinch-to-zoom doesn't work particularly well. Seemed to always go way too far in or out. You're better off just double-tapping.

Scrolling scrolling by sliding my finger seems to cause a lot of unintended clicks along the way. I think there's just a bit of a learning curve, being used to my ipod touch. It seemed to happen less as the night went on.

The fixed buttons aren't backlit so at first it's difficult to use in the dark. You quickly figure out where they are and it's not that big a deal

So far it's been hard to find any cases or accessories built for the A7

I wasn't able to set up my yahoo mail in the default mail client. Instead, I installed the yahoo mail app, which is basically a shortcut to the mobile yahoo mail site, which works fine.

This purchase was for my wife, who wanted something like an iPad but at a size that fit in her purse. This is almost the exact same size as my 2nd generation Kindle (a little thicker). So far she's used it to quickly check and respond to things on Facebook, check emails and surf the web. Because of the speed and ease of use, it should supplant most of her laptop use, with the exception of sending long emails and working on speadsheets.

I trust there will be more and better apps for android tablets in the near future. It looks like there are A LOT of similar tablets hitting the market now. For me, this tablet looked like the best specs for the best price right now and I imagine it will be even more fun to use as new apps are made for it.

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Nikon R1 Wireless Close-Up Speedlight System

Customer Ratings:

The flashes work well but I have troubles finding rechargeable batteries for them. Has gone through two manufacturers with no success. Non-rechargeable ones are pricey.

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