This lens was purchased for me as a Christmas present. For a short time the lens went off the market, however, I snagged it right before that happened. The lens is made of good quality and works with the Sony Nex cameras. I have a Sony Nex 5, first edition camera and it works flawlessly. Whether you use manual or automatic focus, this lens works hand in hand with the Nex without problem. I have never had any technical problems while using this lens and I love to use it in sporting events. It gets upclose and personal with the players and provides awesome quality photos. If you have a Nex, this is a must have.
Showing posts with label digital camera consumer reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital camera consumer reviews. Show all posts
Opteka 650-1300mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon
List Price: $399.95
Sale Price: $234.95
Today's Bonus: 41% Off
I've owned this lens for about a month now, and I can honestly say that this is a great option for anyone on a budget who wants a super telephoto lens, capable of zooming past 400mm or 500mm. Normally, I suggest finding a way to get closer to your subject if it cannot be reached with a 300mm lens. In my opinion, closer is always better. However, there are times when a 300mm lens is not enough and getting closer is not an option. And in those cases, the Opteka 650-1300mm f/8-16 is an excellent alternative that is capable of producing some very nice photos. Not magazine covers, but definitely photos that you'd be proud to show to your family and friends.
This was my first experience with a manual super telephoto lens and let me tell you, it requires some practice to master. But, if you try to have fun with it and practice, you'll have it mastered in no time. Trust me, if I can do it...you can! I've used this lens on my D7000 and D90, and it works well.
If you'd like to get a feel for what it's like to use this lens, here's something to try if you have a 300mm lens at home. Setup your camera as follows:
-Attach the 300mm lens to your camera and set it to 300mm
-Set your camera to Manual Mode (M).
-Set your aperture (F-stop) to f/8
-Turn off all image stabilization (IS).
-Turn off Auto-focus so that you have to focus manually. Focusing manually is one crucial part that really takes practice.
Now, pick a subject (about the size of large bird) about 30 yards away, focus on the subject (manually, of course), and take a few photos using only ISO, shutter speed, and white balance settings to get the results you want. As you try this on a few different subjects, with different lighting each time, you'll start get a good idea of what it's like to use this lens .......... and really start to appreciate all the work your camera does automatically! Personally, I think most people have unrealistic expectations for this lens. If you want pull in a hawk from ¼ mile away, forget about it.......Buy a telescope!
On the down side, there is some purple fringing in certain situations, and yes, the lens is a bit heavy. But, that should be expected.....it is a large telephoto lens. Also, handling this lens takes some getting used to. Just carrying the lens while it's attached to your camera can be a challenge at first because the lens will extend or "creep" if the zoom lock is not fastened properly. I've found it best to hold the lens horizontally, never vertically. Beyond that however, there's not much to complain about. This is a simple lens with no on-board electronics. It's easy to use and offers a lot of flexibility. Once you have the lens on a tripod the hardest part is focusing accurately and getting the exposure right.
Night Owl Security APOLLO-45 4-Channel H.264 DVR Surveillance
Setup all 4 cameras around the house. Colors are not very realistic but ok for surveillance purposes. Motion recording works good and it has captured several critters walking around in my yard I didn't know about! Networking access works well and I've opened ports on my DSL router to allow access to the cameras and recorded video from anywhere (internet explorer needed some tweaking added the ip of the DVR to trusted sites list did the trick).
Apps for my iPhone and android phone work good as well and I can view live cameras from my phone anywhere (required some tweaking on the dsl router as well).
All said and done this system is good for the price. I got the extended warranty as I've heard the cameras don't last too long? Time will tell.
Apps for my iPhone and android phone work good as well and I can view live cameras from my phone anywhere (required some tweaking on the dsl router as well).
All said and done this system is good for the price. I got the extended warranty as I've heard the cameras don't last too long? Time will tell.
Nikon Coolpix 3200 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
I've had my coolpix 3200 for about a week, and am really surprised at how good the pictures are, how easy it is to get the pictures into my PC, and how long the batteries last. I bought Duracell rechargeables with the camera, told my camera that these were the batteries I was using through its menu system, and have been taking pictures for a week on the same batteries. That's more than 80 pictures -perhaps more -all on the same 2 batteries, most of them using a flash. My battery charge meter has not even shown up yet.
When I first read the manual, I didn't understand the value of all the frame, portrait, and scene assist modes. As I've used the camera, though, I've come to see that they are very important. The frame and portrait assistants actually change the location of the auto-focus. When I am in sports mode, the camera's auto-focus is constantly changing so that the picture will shoot quickly when the shutter release is pressed. Shutter speed and aperature are adjusted depending on which scene I've selected. In other words, using the modes makes for much better pictures. They are more than just marketing pitches.
The software that came with the camera is okay, though it is nothing earth shaking. Better tools came with my scanner/copier/printer combo, but if you don't have those tools, what comes with the camera is much better than nothing and will get the job done.
I'm very satisfied. The camera is so small that I wear it in a tiny case on my belt all the time.
BTW, I was going to buy the 2200 instead, but am glad that I didn't. Once I had the manual (which is the same for both cameras), I saw that there are a number of small features that the 3200 has that are not available to the 2200. For example, the 3200 has sound for movies, the 2200 does not. You can record voice memos and set sounds for camera functions with the 3200. The 3200 can take more continuous pictures at a time (due to the higher resolution and space required). There are more differences, and most of them are small, but by the time you add them all up, it's worth the additional $100, in my oppinion.
I was an avid amateur photographer back "in the day", but grew tired of the hassles of large cameras and film developing. Thanks to this tiny, filmless camera, I'm a photographer again.
When I first read the manual, I didn't understand the value of all the frame, portrait, and scene assist modes. As I've used the camera, though, I've come to see that they are very important. The frame and portrait assistants actually change the location of the auto-focus. When I am in sports mode, the camera's auto-focus is constantly changing so that the picture will shoot quickly when the shutter release is pressed. Shutter speed and aperature are adjusted depending on which scene I've selected. In other words, using the modes makes for much better pictures. They are more than just marketing pitches.
The software that came with the camera is okay, though it is nothing earth shaking. Better tools came with my scanner/copier/printer combo, but if you don't have those tools, what comes with the camera is much better than nothing and will get the job done.
I'm very satisfied. The camera is so small that I wear it in a tiny case on my belt all the time.
BTW, I was going to buy the 2200 instead, but am glad that I didn't. Once I had the manual (which is the same for both cameras), I saw that there are a number of small features that the 3200 has that are not available to the 2200. For example, the 3200 has sound for movies, the 2200 does not. You can record voice memos and set sounds for camera functions with the 3200. The 3200 can take more continuous pictures at a time (due to the higher resolution and space required). There are more differences, and most of them are small, but by the time you add them all up, it's worth the additional $100, in my oppinion.
I was an avid amateur photographer back "in the day", but grew tired of the hassles of large cameras and film developing. Thanks to this tiny, filmless camera, I'm a photographer again.
Rokinon 28FE8MBK-FX 8mm f/2.8 Ultra Wide Angle Fisheye Lens
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $299.00
Today's Bonus: 25% Off
This lens is small and well built, on part with all other extremely well built Rokinon lenses. Rokinon 14mm wide angle lens had sample variation, mostly problem with focusing labels, I did not encounter such problems with my copy of this fisheye lens. At the time of this review, I have 60mm Fuji and 35mm Fuji lenses, and this is the widest lens, and I have been using it exclusively for landscape photography (I know it is not a landscape lens for most part), since there is no other wide angle lens with Fuji X mount.
From what I know, fisheye can be very controversial lens. Many photographers use fisheye without even looking through their viewfinder, and manage to nail the composition. That means, composing with this lens is a piece of cake. This is the reason why many photographers discount this lens as less artistic lens (everyone can get good pictures with this). For the very reason, photographers on the other camp consider it a mush have in the arsenal. I personally find a middle ground between the two. I have seen beautiful landscapes and even portrait with fisheye lens, when used carefully and also have seen plethora of interesting photographs without any photographic merit but interesting just because of the distortion.
On my trip to Zion National Park and Bruce National Park, I used this lens 90% of the time, the 35 being the rest. I shot at f/8 or greater almost all the time with focus close to infinity, and the pictures came out sharp, even at 100% zoom level. I personally found it sharper than the 14mm Rokinon that I used with my 5d Mark II, and the images are usable. However, with 1500 fisheye landscape shots, I now am sick with the fisheye effect. I do not use any lens dedicated lens correction application to de-fish the picture, but have used lightroom lens correction to correct some, without much success. My intention was not to de-fish the images at the time of the purchase.
Although fun and interesting lens, the lens has severe limitation. I have heard people using it everyday for the first two weeks or month and then storing it and never getting back to it. If your work requires a fisheye (skateboard, selective landscape shots etc.), this is worth every penny. If you, like me, think it can be a wide angle substitute for the time being, then I discourage to go that route or wait for 14mm Fuji. I have since acquired a Voigtlander 15mm lens (have not got a chance to use it till now), and although it is nowhere wide to the fisheye, I am planning to unburden myself with the lens.
I have uploaded a few sample pictures, and in the Salt Lake Marina picture, you can see how the distortion of the fisheye adds to the landscape, but this trick cannot be applied to all landscapes. It was a mix of naiveté and confidence that I used this 90% of the time when I visited those beautiful places on earth. I read a few articles about 'how to shoot landscape with fisheye' and thought I would get many stunning images and took this lens with me, my shots are not terrible, but would be better with a non-fish wide angle for sure.
Since, I have used it in all occasions, where 35mm is not wide enough, this being my only alternative. I feel it is time for me to graduate to less distorted wide angles. I also cannot comment of using the lens at 2.8 or similar apertures, because I never used it that way, although it can focus pretty close.
Overall I really like this lens. Here is a summary why?
+f2.8 means you can handhold it is poor lightning conditions.
+you don't have to see through the viewfinder/lcd to take a picture
+some landscapes can benefit from the distortion
+small, well-built, reasonably price (I got mine for $280 new in box sheer luck), goes well with Fuji X pro 1. I like the red line as well (do not confuse this with L lens)
+great depth of field, f/8 and above focused to infinity produces sharp pictures.
+the most mundane things will look interesting (also a drawback).
What I dislike about this lens
-Nothing really. It is a wonderful fisheys. It doesn't have autofocus, but it doesn't advertise as a AF lens either, so not a lens disadvantage. You cannot use any filters with this lens.
-the must mundane things will look interesting (also a benefit)
Happy shooting.
Qualification: Amateur photographer
Adobe CS6 Master Collection Student and Teacher Edition
List Price: $999.00
Sale Price: $995.99
Today's Bonus: $3.01 Off
I replaced CS3 and take college classes and Lybda classes to use the software. It has become so powerfull that you really do need training. The days of intuitive software are long gone as it has become so powerfull and feature rich. I am amazed at the power of Photoshop. Audition is a joke. I had soundbooth, I have certified trained in Music Tech and Protools and was looking forward to having Audition for support of VST instruments. Audition does not support VST instruments just effects. So I still can use it and VSTs to master tracks I make in Protools but I have not needed to yet. The iZotope multiband compressor is great, but they seem to have dropped the iZotope EQ that was native in Soundbooth. Auditions mastering Reverb, well I have learned Protools so well that I just don't need to polish my mixes anymore outside of Protools. I look forward to using PremirePro again..... IF you are going be be using more than three programs I recommend Master Collection. It will cost the same and you have many more programs in your arsenal as the need arises.
Sony NEX-5N 16.1 MP Compact Interchangeable Lens Touchscreen
(Minor updates below added in June 2012). I bought the NEX-5N in mid-October 2011 just before a trip to Europe. The bottom line: it takes superb photos without flash, especially in truly adverse lighting conditions (wine caves 1,000 years old, for example). As others have written, the camera with the 18-55 zoom takes extremely high quality photos there's no quality penalty to get the benefit of the small size and light weight vs. a top DSLR. So I think it could be used happily by both people trading up and people trading down. But the camera does have quirks, some serious. Many other reviews cover the overall high points of the camera, so I'll focus on a few review elements I think need reinforcement.
The NEX-5N has a full auto mode, but I hope most buyers will take the trouble to learn the camera's full capabilities, because the camera can produce some amazing photos once liberated from auto mode. However I have to say that the learning curve is steep, not just because the camera has a lot of capability, but also because the user interface is a real pain in the neck until you adapt to it. The lack of dedicated controls, a consequence of the small size, creates a lot of complexity in daily use.
Here's a specific example to illustrate some of the potential frustrations. The camera can take an auto-HDR (high dynamic range) photo. It will instantly merge three shots that it auto-brackets (in steps you specify) to yield a picture that would take several minutes to produce if you had to merge three shots yourself using editing software. Great ability, but here are the steps if you haven't customized the menus: 1. turn off raw if you were using it, which requires at least 3 menu presses. 2. press menu again and select the "brightness/color" controls. 3. scroll to and select DRO/Auto HDR. 4. scroll to and select HDR. 5. if desired, press "option" and then change the HDR exposure differential for bracketing (ranges from 1 EV to 6 EV). 6. Press OK twice. In total, you have to go through 6-9 key presses to get the camera ready to take an HDR photo. Then to go back to normal shooting, you have to go through all the steps over again. Your subject has to be no livelier than a sloth to allow this to work out.
You can avoid many of those steps by customizing the menu buttons. This requires first understanding what the camera can do and how you will use it, which will realistically take a few days of experimentation. Then you have to futz with programming the menus for a while until you have the customization set the way you want it. Then you have to get used to the new customized menus. In other words, there's a steep initial investment to get usable access to all the power the camera possesses. Most DSLRs have serious learning curves as well, so to me this isn't a reason to avoid the NEX-5N. But it is something to be prepared for. I found that I was taking low-light photos that I couldn't have taken with any DSLR I'm familiar with, so I ended up being quite happy with the camera, but I did some cursing at it before I got to that point.
The best features:
1. Extraordinarily good native low-light capability, plus several modes that enhance that underlying natural capability of the camera and lens: examples include hand-held twilight mode, anti-blur mode, auto-HDR, and dynamic range optimization. All four are different. It really benefited my photos once I figured out how those modes differ and when to use them. My shooting may not have been typical -I was spending hours a day in ancient wine cellars, gothic cathedrals, and the like, but even for snapping a low-light shot in a restaurant with friends (no flash), the camera was great.
2. The size and weight are unbeatable. I bought a Kata Grip-10 DL camera bag, which on paper was supposed to be a skosh too small for the camera, but it worked out perfectly. I could wear the Kata bag on my belt, zipped closed with camera inside, flash attached, a spare battery, spare SD card, and the "raincoat" that shipped with the Kata bag, all fairly inconspicuously.
3. The tilt screen makes a real difference.
The features the jury is still out on:
1. The detachable flash was on my list as a problem until I actually used the camera. The last two weeks I left the flash attached all the time and that worked fine, although I found I almost never used the flash. When I did use it, it overexposed the main subject almost every time, so I dialed back the flash output slightly. Once I get the optional viewfinder, I think I'll be able to put the flash aside and not miss it much.
2. Movies. I am not a big movie shooter so this was not a critical item for me. I hoped I would receive a camera after the "clicking noise" was fixed in manufacturing, but no, mine does click during video recording. Sony is kidding themselves if they really think the clicking noise only occurs when people are moving the camera in an unnatural way. It's almost constant. But I will send it in and from all I've read it will be fixed quickly, and the newer units supposedly won't have the problem. So I'm not agonizing about that. UPDATE: I originally wrote that I couldn't get large movies shot in AVCHD mode to transfer to a computer using Windows 7, and when an SD card that contained a mix of AVCHD movies and stills got close to full, the stills wouldn't transfer either. I didn't lose any pics or video but I worried. Updating -since my original post, this problem seems to have gone away. It's possible that there was a hardware problem with my built-in card reader, which got swapped out during a computer repair and now transfers seem to work ok. Since I didn't see others reporting the same problem, I assume the hangup was at my end.
3. The LCD screen on its default setting ("auto") is hard to see in bright sunlight, BUT there is a setting you can scrabble your way to with many clicks that will brighten it significantly. This setting makes the LCD usable even in bright sunlight, but it also messes up the color rendition of the LCD, adding an orange hue and oversaturating the other colors. It also seems to drain the battery at a vigorous clip. So there are two approaches you can use: turn on the super-brightness setting just for the key times you need it and then remember to turn it off again, or buy the apparently wonderful EVF viewfinder (for more than three bills!) and use the LCD much less overall. I haven't tried the viewfinder yet but I'd like to. It eradicates a lot of the price advantage of the NEX-5N vs a DSLR, however.
The features that are not so good:
1. Focus can be slow in low light. That's largely due to the lack of phase-detection focusing, which isn't easily addressed in this type of camera. The focus-assist light eventually gets it right almost every time, but it might take a second or even two.
2. If you set the camera to Auto-ISO, you can't control the highest ISO the camera will use. It will range up to ISO 3200. It's great that the camera takes pretty clean shots at ISO 3200, but that's no excuse for omitting a way for the photographer to limit the top ISO to a much lower number if he or she needs lower noise. Even many inexpensive cameras offer that option.
3. Menus are complex and cumbersome and require lots of clicks to change settings, as previously described. In addition, by default the camera is set up to provide "advice" every time you click a menu key, overlaying your menu choice with a paragraph of information you didn't request. This is helpful for about three minutes and is then a big pain until you figure out how to turn it off.
4. The shutter makes the same sound as a DSLR and can't be changed, so there's no shooting stealthily. Since there's no mirror to make a slapping noise, I'm not sure why the shutter is as loud as it is. I wish Sony would change this if possible.
5. The touch-sensitive screen is, in my opinion, a failed opportunity. It's way too easy to touch something by mistake and change a setting inadvertently. On a small pocket snapshot camera, touchscreens may be useful. And in theory the touchscreen could be good on the NEX-5N too, I suppose, but I found it messed me up, so I turned off the touch capability. You may be more dexterous than I am so this may not bother you.
6. The only thing I missed by deactivating the touchscreen was the "touch to focus here" capability. That was good when I meant to use it, but also terrible when I didn't mean to use it. Linked to that issue: focus tracking. Sony advertises that the NEX-5N will track a moving subject once you touch the spot on the LCD screen you want it to track. But it doesn't work. It just makes the focus jittery and unpredictable. The focus will not reliably track anything. Sony should have improved that before going live with it. The concept is great.
6. The movie mode button is badly positioned within a hair's breadth of where your right thumb, or sometimes part of your right index finger, can rest on the camera. I recorded at least ten unwanted movies a day just brushing the movie button without meaning to. The biggest problem this created was that when I went to press the shutter to take a still photo, nothing happened. Only then did I realize the camera had been recording my useless mutterings for the last three minutes. So I lost a few still shots from having to stop the movie recording and get back to stills.
7. Minor points: the default settings for DRO and HDR are too weak to make a difference, so at first those look like failed offerings. But they just need to be tweaked to a stronger setting and they work fine.
8. Update: My son owns a Canon T3i so we've compared pictures taken with the two cameras, although not in any truly rigorous way. The Sony NEX-5N build quality is higher than the T3i (less plastic), the rotating barrel feels more solid, and mostly importantly, the resolution of the Sony seems better. If you read online lens reviews, the Sony 18-55 kit lens seems higher quality than the kits lenses that come with even DSLRs costing a lot more.
Summary: While the list of negatives I've enumerated seems long, on balance I think the strengths of the NEX-5N substantially outweigh the weaknesses. In the world of ILC cameras, the NEX-5N seems to be in a league of its own when it comes to pure image quality. To a serious photo enthusiast or professional, image quality is where everything starts and ends. The NEX-5N takes exceptionally high quality photos, especially in low light. The NEX-7 has additional strengths including even higher image quality in good light, but apparently doesn't quite match the NEX-5N's low noise in low light according to other reviews, and it costs a lot more. I'm happy with the NEX-5N.
The NEX-5N has a full auto mode, but I hope most buyers will take the trouble to learn the camera's full capabilities, because the camera can produce some amazing photos once liberated from auto mode. However I have to say that the learning curve is steep, not just because the camera has a lot of capability, but also because the user interface is a real pain in the neck until you adapt to it. The lack of dedicated controls, a consequence of the small size, creates a lot of complexity in daily use.
Here's a specific example to illustrate some of the potential frustrations. The camera can take an auto-HDR (high dynamic range) photo. It will instantly merge three shots that it auto-brackets (in steps you specify) to yield a picture that would take several minutes to produce if you had to merge three shots yourself using editing software. Great ability, but here are the steps if you haven't customized the menus: 1. turn off raw if you were using it, which requires at least 3 menu presses. 2. press menu again and select the "brightness/color" controls. 3. scroll to and select DRO/Auto HDR. 4. scroll to and select HDR. 5. if desired, press "option" and then change the HDR exposure differential for bracketing (ranges from 1 EV to 6 EV). 6. Press OK twice. In total, you have to go through 6-9 key presses to get the camera ready to take an HDR photo. Then to go back to normal shooting, you have to go through all the steps over again. Your subject has to be no livelier than a sloth to allow this to work out.
You can avoid many of those steps by customizing the menu buttons. This requires first understanding what the camera can do and how you will use it, which will realistically take a few days of experimentation. Then you have to futz with programming the menus for a while until you have the customization set the way you want it. Then you have to get used to the new customized menus. In other words, there's a steep initial investment to get usable access to all the power the camera possesses. Most DSLRs have serious learning curves as well, so to me this isn't a reason to avoid the NEX-5N. But it is something to be prepared for. I found that I was taking low-light photos that I couldn't have taken with any DSLR I'm familiar with, so I ended up being quite happy with the camera, but I did some cursing at it before I got to that point.
The best features:
1. Extraordinarily good native low-light capability, plus several modes that enhance that underlying natural capability of the camera and lens: examples include hand-held twilight mode, anti-blur mode, auto-HDR, and dynamic range optimization. All four are different. It really benefited my photos once I figured out how those modes differ and when to use them. My shooting may not have been typical -I was spending hours a day in ancient wine cellars, gothic cathedrals, and the like, but even for snapping a low-light shot in a restaurant with friends (no flash), the camera was great.
2. The size and weight are unbeatable. I bought a Kata Grip-10 DL camera bag, which on paper was supposed to be a skosh too small for the camera, but it worked out perfectly. I could wear the Kata bag on my belt, zipped closed with camera inside, flash attached, a spare battery, spare SD card, and the "raincoat" that shipped with the Kata bag, all fairly inconspicuously.
3. The tilt screen makes a real difference.
The features the jury is still out on:
1. The detachable flash was on my list as a problem until I actually used the camera. The last two weeks I left the flash attached all the time and that worked fine, although I found I almost never used the flash. When I did use it, it overexposed the main subject almost every time, so I dialed back the flash output slightly. Once I get the optional viewfinder, I think I'll be able to put the flash aside and not miss it much.
2. Movies. I am not a big movie shooter so this was not a critical item for me. I hoped I would receive a camera after the "clicking noise" was fixed in manufacturing, but no, mine does click during video recording. Sony is kidding themselves if they really think the clicking noise only occurs when people are moving the camera in an unnatural way. It's almost constant. But I will send it in and from all I've read it will be fixed quickly, and the newer units supposedly won't have the problem. So I'm not agonizing about that. UPDATE: I originally wrote that I couldn't get large movies shot in AVCHD mode to transfer to a computer using Windows 7, and when an SD card that contained a mix of AVCHD movies and stills got close to full, the stills wouldn't transfer either. I didn't lose any pics or video but I worried. Updating -since my original post, this problem seems to have gone away. It's possible that there was a hardware problem with my built-in card reader, which got swapped out during a computer repair and now transfers seem to work ok. Since I didn't see others reporting the same problem, I assume the hangup was at my end.
3. The LCD screen on its default setting ("auto") is hard to see in bright sunlight, BUT there is a setting you can scrabble your way to with many clicks that will brighten it significantly. This setting makes the LCD usable even in bright sunlight, but it also messes up the color rendition of the LCD, adding an orange hue and oversaturating the other colors. It also seems to drain the battery at a vigorous clip. So there are two approaches you can use: turn on the super-brightness setting just for the key times you need it and then remember to turn it off again, or buy the apparently wonderful EVF viewfinder (for more than three bills!) and use the LCD much less overall. I haven't tried the viewfinder yet but I'd like to. It eradicates a lot of the price advantage of the NEX-5N vs a DSLR, however.
The features that are not so good:
1. Focus can be slow in low light. That's largely due to the lack of phase-detection focusing, which isn't easily addressed in this type of camera. The focus-assist light eventually gets it right almost every time, but it might take a second or even two.
2. If you set the camera to Auto-ISO, you can't control the highest ISO the camera will use. It will range up to ISO 3200. It's great that the camera takes pretty clean shots at ISO 3200, but that's no excuse for omitting a way for the photographer to limit the top ISO to a much lower number if he or she needs lower noise. Even many inexpensive cameras offer that option.
3. Menus are complex and cumbersome and require lots of clicks to change settings, as previously described. In addition, by default the camera is set up to provide "advice" every time you click a menu key, overlaying your menu choice with a paragraph of information you didn't request. This is helpful for about three minutes and is then a big pain until you figure out how to turn it off.
4. The shutter makes the same sound as a DSLR and can't be changed, so there's no shooting stealthily. Since there's no mirror to make a slapping noise, I'm not sure why the shutter is as loud as it is. I wish Sony would change this if possible.
5. The touch-sensitive screen is, in my opinion, a failed opportunity. It's way too easy to touch something by mistake and change a setting inadvertently. On a small pocket snapshot camera, touchscreens may be useful. And in theory the touchscreen could be good on the NEX-5N too, I suppose, but I found it messed me up, so I turned off the touch capability. You may be more dexterous than I am so this may not bother you.
6. The only thing I missed by deactivating the touchscreen was the "touch to focus here" capability. That was good when I meant to use it, but also terrible when I didn't mean to use it. Linked to that issue: focus tracking. Sony advertises that the NEX-5N will track a moving subject once you touch the spot on the LCD screen you want it to track. But it doesn't work. It just makes the focus jittery and unpredictable. The focus will not reliably track anything. Sony should have improved that before going live with it. The concept is great.
6. The movie mode button is badly positioned within a hair's breadth of where your right thumb, or sometimes part of your right index finger, can rest on the camera. I recorded at least ten unwanted movies a day just brushing the movie button without meaning to. The biggest problem this created was that when I went to press the shutter to take a still photo, nothing happened. Only then did I realize the camera had been recording my useless mutterings for the last three minutes. So I lost a few still shots from having to stop the movie recording and get back to stills.
7. Minor points: the default settings for DRO and HDR are too weak to make a difference, so at first those look like failed offerings. But they just need to be tweaked to a stronger setting and they work fine.
8. Update: My son owns a Canon T3i so we've compared pictures taken with the two cameras, although not in any truly rigorous way. The Sony NEX-5N build quality is higher than the T3i (less plastic), the rotating barrel feels more solid, and mostly importantly, the resolution of the Sony seems better. If you read online lens reviews, the Sony 18-55 kit lens seems higher quality than the kits lenses that come with even DSLRs costing a lot more.
Summary: While the list of negatives I've enumerated seems long, on balance I think the strengths of the NEX-5N substantially outweigh the weaknesses. In the world of ILC cameras, the NEX-5N seems to be in a league of its own when it comes to pure image quality. To a serious photo enthusiast or professional, image quality is where everything starts and ends. The NEX-5N takes exceptionally high quality photos, especially in low light. The NEX-7 has additional strengths including even higher image quality in good light, but apparently doesn't quite match the NEX-5N's low noise in low light according to other reviews, and it costs a lot more. I'm happy with the NEX-5N.
Olympus TG-810 14 MP Digital Camera (Black) (228100) 16GB SDHC
I got my new camera a while back and soon after was on my cruise to the South Caribbean. I snorkeled at Aruba and Curacao. Friends and family loved the still shots and video from above and below the ocean surface. Everyone was asking, "these pictures were taken with same camera?". People like being able to hear the underwater sound the microphone allows. I didn't figure this out at first but if you haven't used an underwater camera before here's a warning; get the camera underwater and give it a shake to get the bubbles off the lens before taking pictures or video. I played with some of the settings and took underwater, night, flash, above and below video, and pet face recognize shots.
I'm getting certified for SCUBA diving now. I will take this camera with me SCUBA diving but will have to watch how deep I go since it's depth limit is about 33ft. I loved the package I bought. It has everything and more that you will need. The only thing you might want to add is a faster SD card if you plan on taking a lot of video on it. It comes with a class 4 card but the high speed class 10 card does video better. Olympus TG-810 14 MP Digital Camera (Black) (228100) 16GB SDHC Super Accessory Saver Kit
I'm getting certified for SCUBA diving now. I will take this camera with me SCUBA diving but will have to watch how deep I go since it's depth limit is about 33ft. I loved the package I bought. It has everything and more that you will need. The only thing you might want to add is a faster SD card if you plan on taking a lot of video on it. It comes with a class 4 card but the high speed class 10 card does video better. Olympus TG-810 14 MP Digital Camera (Black) (228100) 16GB SDHC Super Accessory Saver Kit
Sony NEX-5TL/B NEX5TL NEX5T NEX5 Compact Interchangeable Lens
List Price: $749.99
Sale Price: $639.00
Today's Bonus: 15% Off
Very impressed with the quality, features, etc.
You won't be disappointed! Buy a tripod and some other accessories and you will be almost a pro ;)
Foscam FI8904W Outdoor Wireless/Wired IP Camera with 15-20 Meter
List Price: $95.99
Sale Price: $89.97
Today's Bonus: 6% Off
Quick Summary: Foscam is manufacturing and selling cameras with a known manufacturing defect. If the camera is pointed at a scene with too much detail (trees, grass, wood grain, window screen, etc) the camera will fail by either freezing, displaying black or rebooting. This defect was introduced as the result of a sensor change late in 2012. This manufacturing defect has been confirmed by Foscam as the DSP and a repair procedure has been made available. However, Foscam (the manufacturer) has released themselves of responsibility for repairing this defect. To be clear, Foscam acknowledges this manufacturing problem but refuses to be responsible for repairing the cameras. Currently, 370 faulty cameras have been reported in the Foscam forums. Exchanging the camera does not correct the problem as +91% of exchanges have the same defect (also detailed in the forums). The small percentage of successful exchanges are explained as old 2012 inventory. Users also confirm that Foscam continues to manufacture cameras with this defect. It seems that Foscam simply hopes users will not notice the defect or incorrectly identify the problem as cabling or networking gear. Do not buy this camera, or any other Foscam MJPEG camera unless you want to gamble with this known and confirmed freezing/black/rebooting problem. Based on the quality of support I recommend staying away from all Foscam cameras in general. They are inexpensive, but your time and sanity are worth a far greater value.
(Original Review The contents of this review and the three updates have been summarized above)
This review is to alert potential buyers to a substantial hardware problem with the Foscam 8904, 8905, 8906 and 8910 cameras. As the image complexity increases, there is a point where the video stream fails and remains in this failed state until the video encoder is manually reset by the user. The trigger point for failure is a function of the complexity of the image; inputs to this function include the scene being recorded, the intensity of the sunlight at any given time, and the software image adjustment settings (brightness and contrast). This problem is well documented on the Foscam user forums. For more information, do a web search for "8910 hanging rebooting based on image data" (other models are documented here as well). You will find a thread where the bug is reproduced by many users with a variety of Foscam models. The power supply, firmware, webUI, and network type have all been ruled out as sources of the problem. The working theory is that this bug affects all Foscam MJPEG cameras manufactured after a specific date. Users are trying to determine the specific date that introduced the hardware change that causes the bug.
For me, this problem first exhibited itself by the camera failing every afternoon. It took awhile to isolate the problem, but it was because the sunlight was brighter in the afternoon. The bright sunlight intensifies the luminosity changes in my scene and the image detail increases. The increased detail causes the video encoder to fail.
Buying one of these cameras is a gamble. If you are lucky, then the scene you are recording will naturally have a lower level of detail. This would include walls that are a solid color, shaded areas, and large sections of solid sky. If you are unlucky, then your scene will have too much detail (grass or light through tree leaves) and you will be at the mercy of your encoder failing every time the sun comes out from behind the clouds.
I've literally spent over a month in an ongoing email conversation with Foscam's support, tech support, and the R&D team and they are unable to reproduce the problem. Many other users have been receiving the same response from Foscam. Until Foscam acknowledges this problem and provides a solution, I do not recommend buying this camera. I'm surprised by the sheer volume of 5 star reviews, and suspect some potential manipulation by Foscam.
Update:
It has now been two months and I (and other users) continue to communicate with Foscam. The cause of this error was likely a sensor change that was introduced by Foscam in late 2012. It took several months before this hardware change trickled into the consumer market. The reason that Foscam has been unable to reproduce the problem is because they have been testing on older lab units; this problem only exists on units that have been manufactured since implementing the sensor change in late 2012. The forum thread mentioned above currently contains 82 cameras documented with this problem and 14 RMA's where the replacement cameras have also exhibited the same problem. One of Foscam's resellers has sent them a camera that exhibits the problem, but Foscam has remained silent on confirming any of the testing results from this specific camera. As it currently stands, the faulty cameras are likely still being produced and Foscam continues to fail in providing a solution for current/future owners. The bad news is that it took months for the hardware change to make it into the consumer pipeline. If Foscam ever decides to actually fix this issue by changing the sensor, then it will likely again take months before the new functional hardware makes it into consumer's hands. Even then, there will probably be pockets of old hardware still trickling out to consumers.
Update 2:
After 39 e-mails back and forth, I just recieved a confirmation from Foscam of this hardware problem. The e-mail is below.
"For the issue that MJ cameras reboot when light is too bright and the environment is very exquisite, our engineers find the reason and provide the solution. The reason for this issue is that if the environment is special (light is very bright and has many grass and trees), the picture size may beyond the DSP buffer. It can solved by flash the the DSP driver of the sensor board. Please contact your reseller to have repair.
Have a nice day!"
It is unclear if Foscam plans on continuing to manufacture the cameras with the DSP bug or if they will begin reflashing the DSP as a part of manufacturing. Based on their track record, if they do plan on making a change I doubt it will be any time soon. To correct the problem current cameras need to be shipped back and the DSP must be flashed. It is good that Foscam has confirmed the problem and can provide a fix for ambitious current camera owners. But, I think we are going to continue to have new users purchasing faulty hardware and identifying this problem for a significant amount of time.
Update 3:
This update will repeat some if the information already available in the quick summary up top. Foscam has now provided a repair solution. However, they have also claimed that Foscam (the manufacturer) is not responsible for the repair of this manufacturing defect. Foscam claims it is the individual resellers, in this case Amazon, who are responsible for repairing the cameras. I wholeheartedly disagree with this, but that is Foscam's stance. Users in the forums have compiled the steps of this repair procedure together along with a list of required parts/cable as a DIY project. The DIY repair will likely void your warranty on a brand new camera, but it is good to know that this option exists. The end result of this issue is that the defect has been confirmed by Foscam and a repair solution has been provided. But, they claim no responsibility in actually performing the repair. Foscam has been the definition of difficult through the entire process and so I do not recommend buying any Foscam cameras. I recommend finding an alternative even if it costs a little more money, your time and sanity are worth it.
VideoSecu 8 of CCTV Bullet Security Cameras Audio Video Outdoor
List Price: $511.99
Sale Price: $365.99
Today's Bonus: 29% Off
This security camera is exactly as described. I received the package on time. The cables should not be folded in half, then coiled up like the ones that came with the camera. I needed a large room to unwind the cables, so I could snake the cable through the wall. The cable mess took the longest time setting up the camera. Overall the camera is working properly, I'm satisfied with the product, no complaints.
Ikelite Underwater Housing for Nikon S9100
List Price: $450.00
Sale Price: $399.95
Today's Bonus: 11% Off
Purchased this as already had the camera and wanted something for both scuba and snorkeling. Only have had an opportunity to use for one trip and the ocean was a bit murky so didn't get the full experience. But the whole system with the flash worked right out of the box with no issues e.g. no leaking. It was easy to set up and take pics but need more practice to get the best pictures. The top adjustment to change the mode needs a bit of adjustment to turn more easily. The lever for taking pics was easy to use.
Olympus E-PL5 16MP Compact System Camera with 3-Inch LCD, Body
List Price: $549.99
Sale Price: $549.00
Today's Bonus: $0.99 Off
I am a professional photographer (weddings, family portraits, commercial, modeling, graduation, etc) who recently sold every piece of my Nikon gear for the OMD EM-5. Best decision I ever made! No more back focus issues and I have never seen a camera shoot sharper. Image quality of the EM-5 has blown away my expectations. Enter the EPL-5... So far this camera has proven to be a smaller version of the EM-5. The image quality is just as stunning and the autofocus is still beyond amazing! So everyone is aware and if you are wondering if these cameras can compete with the big boys, I have shot weddings in very very dark locations and I have shot portraits in every type of landscape and condition. Professional quality in a small package that will change the way you shoot and really make you think more artistically like we did when we used film. I am an olympus fan for life and I never thought I would say this but the micro 4 3 technology has changed the way I work!
ASUS G75VW-DS73-3D 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)
Pro: A cheaper high end gaming laptop that's comparable to Alienware. It has 3d function making your gaming experience much more in depth. Screen is sharp and will not glare. Keyboard is crisp with a metallic gun finish. Blue-ray player is always a nice addition along with the back lit key for working in the dark. Internal memory and hard drive is easy accessible for upgrade. 1.5 Tb harddrive is massive.
Con: Some bugs with the sound system where the subwoofer doesn't turn off until the lowest decibel. The resting pad is changed into a foamy texture instead of the soft rubber texture from G74x. This version comes with only 12 Gb instead of 16 Gb, but you have an easy access slot for expand. There are 2 hard drives but they are both partitioned giving you 4 smaller hard drives, not sure why they did that. 3D function is great but it turns down the screen resolution when in use and makes your backlit keyboard into a strobe light. Kinda wish they had one of the hard drive for loading OS as SSD.
Conclusion: This is a great machine, you will like it if you can afford it. The 3D function is the key here, so if you don't really care for that, go with the G75vw-DS72. It is a faster computer for $100 less.
Con: Some bugs with the sound system where the subwoofer doesn't turn off until the lowest decibel. The resting pad is changed into a foamy texture instead of the soft rubber texture from G74x. This version comes with only 12 Gb instead of 16 Gb, but you have an easy access slot for expand. There are 2 hard drives but they are both partitioned giving you 4 smaller hard drives, not sure why they did that. 3D function is great but it turns down the screen resolution when in use and makes your backlit keyboard into a strobe light. Kinda wish they had one of the hard drive for loading OS as SSD.
Conclusion: This is a great machine, you will like it if you can afford it. The 3D function is the key here, so if you don't really care for that, go with the G75vw-DS72. It is a faster computer for $100 less.
ASUS S56CA-DH51 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Black)
List Price: $699.00
Sale Price: $589.95
Today's Bonus: 16% Off
I purchased this computer (S56CA-WH31) for my son to use at college, and have been configuring it for him for the past couple of days. Here are a few of my impressions so far:
The overall construction is very good except for one issue the DVD tray extends out from the side of the laptop by about 1 mm. One on-line reviewer noticed that the fit of the DVD tray was off in his review model also, but I am surprised that this got through into the production models. It is not a big issue, but it definitely detracts from the look of the aluminum body.
The screen is bright and clear and has good viewing angles. The keyboard is nice and big and works well with my hunt and peck. The large scroll pad is nice, and I am liking the imbedded buttons more than I thought I would.
The operating system is Windows 8 core (not pro). There is an ASUS-branded software DVD player, so I didn't have to upgrade to pro to get the windows media pack for DVD play as I feared I might have to. There is no utility to create recovery DVD's even though the paper manual refers to one called AI recovery. There is a Bluetooth module, so the "reviewer" who says that there isn't one is wrong.
The 500 GB hard drive is partitioned into a number of system and recovery partitions and a C: system partition of about 186 GB along with a D: data "drive" of about 258 GB. I used the Windows 8 disk manager to first remove the D: partition, expand the system "drive" to around 400 GB, and then used the rest of the space for a 39 GB D: drive just in case the recovery software expects to find the D: drive there.
I installed Start8 from Stardock to get a start menu back on the desktop, and have ordered a 4GB SODIMM to expand the memory up to 8 GB ($25) I figured more memory would be useful especially with the imbedded HD-4000 graphics.
I don't know what the reviewer who was complaining that this was a "slow" computer was talking about. It has a windows experience score of 4.8, which is not bad for an I-3 without turbo-boost and with imbedded graphics. It won't play highly graphics intensive games, but that's not what I bought it for, not should you expect it from the online specs.
Hope this is good enough for an initial review.
SanDisk SDCFB-1024-A10 1GB CF Type 1 Card (Retail Package)
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $43.99
Today's Bonus: 27% Off
My main problem with this Compact Flash is that the "real-time" performance is very slow. I bought it a year ago for my 5-Megapixel camera, and it makes me wait a long time before I can take my next photo. This gets frustrating when you miss good photo opportunities.
Then, I read this article which reviews Compact Flash cards, and I realized that this particular SanDisk product line is inferior.
The review at DP Review says this Sandisk writes at 6x (where 'x' = 150 KB/sec). I since then, have purchased a 512MB Transcend compact flash which claims to Write at 25x. My camera works much faster now. I have borrowed my friend's IBM Microdrive and that is really fast too.
Opteka 650-1300mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon
List Price: $399.95
Sale Price: $234.95
Today's Bonus: 41% Off
I used this lens quite a lot before I purchased a Canon 400mm prime lens. Although the Opteka lens is somewhat soft and has some chromatic abberation, the images are quite good if the subject has good contrast. I've used this lens with a 1.4X tele extender as well. The resolving power at 1200mm is about 85-90% that of the Canon 400mm used with a 3X tele extender(giving the same 1200mm). I used a test chart similar to the ISO12233 chart to check the resolving power. Where the Canon shines is that it has next to no color shifts in the shadows or on the edges of images. Small black areas will go deep blue and small bright areas (like an egret against a dark background) will have a litttle blue edge on one side and orange edge on the other with the Opteka, but this not normally noticeable unless the image is blown up. Normal subjects will not usually show the chromatic abberation, except on the edges of an image WHEN BLOWN UP.
The focusing on the Opteka is CRITICAL and gets difficult past 900mm, since the light gets prettty low. I made and put a Vernier scale on my lens and got pretty good focus by splitting the slightly out of focus near and far focus distances. I have some excellent hawk and egret images taken with the Opteka 650-1300 mm lens (email me at
harold-moore@sbcglobal.net for some images if you like). I also made some cardboard STOPS for this lens which work well. It is not practical to go much beyond F22 because of diffraction. A 2X tele is NOT recommended--F32 at max focal length--because diffraction is becoming significant and will blur the image AND, of course, the focus is very difficult. A high quality 1.4X teleconverter will give you 1800mm at f22 with fair images--but the focus is critical and DIFFICULT. If you learn to focus this lens--gets much more difficult past 650mm--then you can get some
pretty good images.
The Opteka is a good starter lens IF you cannot afford the Canon or long focal length Tamrons etc. The main advantage of this lens is its very low cost. The Tamron 200-500mm is close to $1000 and the resolving power is similar. I had fun with Opteka lens and now I don't need it since I have
purchased the Canon 400mm (I can stack 3X and 1.4X teles on the canon to get around 1700mm--again the focus is MANUAL and very difficult past 1000mm since the light levels are so very low (on both lenses). I have also put a Vernier scale on my canon, and it is handy for distant birds that are very far away and must be, therefore, shot at 1700mm. This works well IF THEY WILL JUST STAY STILL.
The Opteka is about 4 1/2 pounds and takes a litle time setting up on a medium sized tripod--this sized tripod will work satisfactory--although I like my heavier duty tripod with Cullmann ball head. Again the
lens is not as sharp as a canon, but similar to that of the Tamron. I compared test chart images of the Opteka at 650mm and my Tamron 70-300mm zoom with a 2X Tamron teleconverter at distances where
the image was the same size. The Opteka resolved as well as the Tamron, but I had to really get it in focus, which I did with the Vernier scale.