I bought this as my first professional camera. It is a great camera but the large telephoto lense isn't compatiable with Canon auto-focus so you are trying to focus and take the shot all in one. The tri-pod is cheap and with the big lense and the camera it tips over very easy. The back pack buckel broke in the first two weeks of having it. Now I would be these items independent instead of thinking this is a good deal.
Showing posts with label digital camera deals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital camera deals. Show all posts
Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB Direct-Drive Professional Turntable
List Price: $299.95
Sale Price: $213.99
Today's Bonus: 29% Off
So, what do you do when you want to get current with a new turntable
and you find the field swollen with overpriced gear and on the other
side, cheap Junk??
You shoot for a Technics SL1200....at least that's what I thought..
Sorry, but at $7+ bills-for a guy who never
spent over $170 for a turntable back in the day they were King, not going
for that. So what we have here with the Audio Technica AT LP120 USB
to be realistic, is a chinese knockoff of theFamous Technics Table.
So I bought one!
The bad first: On my unit, the finish on the top
of the turntable at three spots shows signs of the 'finish paint' not being
properly sprayed. In another words, it looks like someone took a pencil
eraser and went back and forth a few hundred times over the top finish
and wore out the finish coating. Ok,not good but something I could live
with cause it's not that bad, but, it doesnt make it look splendidly new either!
Do I want to take the time to send it back, no. I'm 51 and I still love my wife.....so
who cares????
Now the good: Ok, after reading many many Amazon customer reviews and others
on the Internet, and knowing a little bit about this thing I unpacked it, which, speaking
of packaging was good and bad. Everything was packaged very well but the styrofoam
they use broke in like 6 places, but the good news is that the turntable itself was not
damaged, nor were the parts like the counterweight and such.
Put it together and I will say, definitely, it IS a very good looking turntable!! Different in
composition than the Technics: whereas the platter on the Technics is a Part of the motor,
the AT is not. The motor is mounted well to the top plate of the TT and the Platter itself
is kinda not heavy, but is much beefier than 90% of the USB turntables out there, and at
a $200 priceline, is MUCH more than expected!! And it is brushed Aluminum and therefore
looks like the real deal, just a few oz lighter than my older Pioneer PL550's MASSIVELY
heavy platter. But that was 1976 and this is 2010, times have indeed changed.....
Now, many others have talked about the stock cartridge in the AT120. For DJ'ing
it's ok. But for TLC of vinyl for Audiophile purposes it's out of the question. I got the
Shure 97 on j&r for $59 and two 78rpm stylus's on Amazon for $22 each.(!) The stylus
is interchangable, so if you want to play 78's, just get the stylus for it and plug it into
the 97's body, re-adjust the stylus pressure and go for it!! At least that's what i've read
on the internet so we'll see if it actually happens. Worst case I'll have to pop for the 78
cartridge and have two spares, not bad actually either way.
I then ran the turntable for 13 hours at the 78 speed forward and backward to see if
the motor would fail, it Didn't. Turned it off, went to work, came home, turned it back
on, 33/45/78 all nailed-no drift, no slowdown or speed up. So Ok, the Motor seems
heavy duty, should hold up to years of use.
The tone arm is very well made and calibrated. Going down to 1 gram of stylus weight
just to see, the balance and bearings were very fluid, which tells me that if they didn't
know what they were doing, the tone arm would choke under a slight weight balancing
test-it didn't. The arm slowly went up and down with my changing oh so slightly of the
counterweight with no points of friction. Good Bearings and initial calibration at the
factory!!!
Tone arm lift is gentle going down and very firm going up, with how fast your finger
is telling it to go.
Platter is as stated solid. When going to 78 the mis alignment in the dots does rear
it's ugly head, but then again, at 33 or 45 you hardly notice it, no big deal.....
ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS A STREET PRICED $200 UNIT COMPARING IT TO A $700+ UNIT!!!!!
Very favorable imho. To get this kind of quality at a $200 realistic price point, is
very impressive. And the Technics does NOT play at a 78rpm speed. For me, this was
a major issue. I did not want two turntables to deal with!!! (Oh yeah, I'll impress people
with my $29 bsr poc next to my Mirage Speakers!!) NOT!!
And I must admit, AT did their homework. Again, not in the same OVERKILL QUALITY
league as the Technics 1200, but in all honesty, almost Overkill at a $200 price point.
Lastly, I opened the sucker to see if any screws were loose, which has been a factor
with EVERY piece of Electronics I've bought in the last 5 years that was made in china.
A B+ grade on this. Some screws needed very little tightening and the motor screws
were dead on snug! The construction inside was around 7 years behind the times
but clean. Compared to modern day factory construction of electronic gear, it wouldn't
win any prizes, but then looking at the guts of the Pioneer 550, judging it in this present
day, it wouldn't either. So there you go. For me, it fits the Bill perfectly, it's like the girl
you really think is hot except for her slightly crooked nose, you sort of accept it, but
you wish it was perfect, but you know it's not going to be. This Turntable is exactly
that. You'll probably fall for it and wish it was a Technics, but day after day, you'll
look at it and say, 'Damn, what a cool looking Turntable', and when you install that
Shure 97 and put on your old Mobile Fidelity copy of Steely Dan's AJA, you'll smile
all the way to the bank. Hell, you might even buy an extra one if Amazon ever
decides to make it a 'Deal of the Day' for a cool $100!!!! I would!!!!
I could go on for ever, but then I would bore myself to death........
Enjoy this Turntable and the Music.
MasterG
July 2010 Update:
The AT continues to rock my world. On 78's with the Shure 78 stylus, it operates flawlessly. And there have been No incidences of tonearm meandering or anything like that. This is a very good turntable and at $200 it's an absolute steal!!
December 2010 Update:
This thing is STILL Rocking! In the last two months I've purchased four Jimi Hendrix Vinyl Box sets, (West Coast Seattle Boy being one for $64!! on Amazon!!!!) and SunDazed Records 10Lp MONO Vinyl Bob Dylan set for $149!!!! (And yes, you get TWO more lp's than the Columbia box for alot less, the remastering is exquisite!!!) and more Hendrix vinyl from other retailers to pass on to my kids when I croak. And except for finding a good turntable mat, (this one comes with a felt mat, which is fine, but i'm a real nit picky type of schmuck so I search and I search for the holy grail without ever finding it...go figure.) it still is not giving me ANY problems. So, overall, after a year or so, It's still soooooooo worth the money I paid for it.
I wish you ALL a VERY MERRY Christmas!!!
Gerry
January 2011 update:
Have gotten alot of questions about hookup, obviously there are alot of people not familiar with the old fashioned record player so here it is as simple as I can put it,
This Record Player/Turntable is a Stereo 'Component', which means that you HAVE to connect it to some kind of Amplifier or Stereo/Home /Theater Receiver in order to hear your records being played. It's NOT like an iPod, which has an internal amplifier and you pop your headbuds on and your in business.
So, you can't just pop a record on this and really hear anything, you have to connect it to some kind of amplifier in order for it to work properly.
Now go and hunt down those cool records you've been dying to here!!
Gerard
Acer Aspire One AO722-0473 11.6-Inch HD Netbook (Espresso Black)
This 11.6" 1.0Ghz [1.33 turbo] netbook packs a punch for its size and low power consumption. The AMD C-60 mobile dual core processor runs well enough to play videos without skipping and efficiently enough to stay charged for as much as 7 hours. I opted for this model over the earlier 722-454 version for several reasons: its dual core processor, 2GB of RAM installed/ upgradable to 4GB, and 320GB hard drive.
If you're still not sold on a netbook over a tablet or standard laptop read on.
Tablets are still recreational devices, fun, chic in cafes, but they're still mostly for playing games and looking busier than you actually are. They have a few practical features, but all require a keyboard, which is an extra expense, and conveniently included with a netbook! If you do a lot of writing, typing, or work related proposals and editing, the DataViz optional word processor for Android tablets won't replace MS Office. It has limited functionality and frequently crashes without auto-saving. If you're thinking about an iPad or AirBook, remember, you're buying into a complete product line of computers, music, videos and applications which are virtually useless on non-Apple devices. If you buy one Apple product, you have to buy them all. This is great for some, but expensive for most.
As I said, if you're comparing this netbook to a traditional laptop, this model doesn't require you to make a lot of sacrifices in your performance expectations. Just remember, netbooks don't have CD/DVD drives, no 10-key, and smaller screens. One complaint I have with this model is that it's missing a built-in bluetooth antenna. Irritating, but easily remedied with a low-profile USB dongle in one of the three available USB ports, which is more than on most netbooks. I would recommend spending the extra $25 to upgrade the RAM to 4GB when you purchase it. It's very easy to install yourself--no under the keyboard poking around required. There's a single philip's head screw in the middle of the bottom plate, unscrew it, slide forward and you'll find the single DIMM looking right at you. Anybody who played with shape blocks as a kid can figure it out. All in all, this is a good buy for 329.99. It's cheaper than most tablets and standard laptops and you can use it for actual work out of the box, no extra $50 keyboards required. Please reply if you have any other questions I can answer.
If you're still not sold on a netbook over a tablet or standard laptop read on.
Tablets are still recreational devices, fun, chic in cafes, but they're still mostly for playing games and looking busier than you actually are. They have a few practical features, but all require a keyboard, which is an extra expense, and conveniently included with a netbook! If you do a lot of writing, typing, or work related proposals and editing, the DataViz optional word processor for Android tablets won't replace MS Office. It has limited functionality and frequently crashes without auto-saving. If you're thinking about an iPad or AirBook, remember, you're buying into a complete product line of computers, music, videos and applications which are virtually useless on non-Apple devices. If you buy one Apple product, you have to buy them all. This is great for some, but expensive for most.
As I said, if you're comparing this netbook to a traditional laptop, this model doesn't require you to make a lot of sacrifices in your performance expectations. Just remember, netbooks don't have CD/DVD drives, no 10-key, and smaller screens. One complaint I have with this model is that it's missing a built-in bluetooth antenna. Irritating, but easily remedied with a low-profile USB dongle in one of the three available USB ports, which is more than on most netbooks. I would recommend spending the extra $25 to upgrade the RAM to 4GB when you purchase it. It's very easy to install yourself--no under the keyboard poking around required. There's a single philip's head screw in the middle of the bottom plate, unscrew it, slide forward and you'll find the single DIMM looking right at you. Anybody who played with shape blocks as a kid can figure it out. All in all, this is a good buy for 329.99. It's cheaper than most tablets and standard laptops and you can use it for actual work out of the box, no extra $50 keyboards required. Please reply if you have any other questions I can answer.
Pyle PLPSE4P Parking Sensor System & LED Display
List Price: $79.99
Sale Price: $26.69
Today's Bonus: 67% Off
This was easy to install and the sensors seemed to be a good design. They even give you a decent hole saw to cut the correct size hole to fit the sensor in your plastic bumper cover. It may cut through a chrome bumper too. Wiring was straight forward except display is for mounting on dashboard. I mounted mine on rear window shelf so I plugged in the sensors in backward order (i.e 4 into 1, 3 into 2, 2 into 3 and 1 into 4) This way the diplay shows which side of car the obstacle is. It does beep when you get close, then beeps continuously when you get real close (1.5 ft for mine.) My wife likes it too. I spray painted them which did not damage them. Looks Factory.
Lorex 8 Channel Pentaplex Network DVR with CD-RW and 300GB HDD
List Price: $1,800.00
Sale Price: $688.00
Today's Bonus: 62% Off
The recorder works well all features pretty much as advertised. Motion detection recording is great. The event log or date time range box to find past events took a little getting used to vs. just a vcr screen type scroll back thru old recording date and times. But it makes sense after some use. During playback its odd if you are in 4 camera screen or one camer view and the camere that had recorded activity reaches the end of its recording fo rthat period the view goes back to all 8 cameras, so you have to reselect one or 4 camer view when playback for the desired camera resumes would rather have a blank screen and the time counter continue running or skip to the next recording event for the selected camera.
The remote web viewing is really quirky, IE7 blows up at some point almost everytime I am viewing remotely. On my laptop the remote screen does not always size correctly so the controls on the bottom are cutoff no scroll to get to them, and the "power" button is cutoff so task manager is the only way to end a session. On my local network desktop the screen size is ok and it blows up less often. Configuration should have an option to not require a password to close the remote viewing session, its just annowing to enter a password to quit remote viewing every time.
HP Slatebook 10-h010nr x2 10.1-Inch Convertible 2-in-1
List Price: $627.00
Sale Price: $449.00
Today's Bonus: 28% Off
I did not buy this product through Amazon. I purchased it directly from HP the day it came up online.
The tablet portion of the slatebook is almost perfect. There were a few minor bugs (no in app purchasing, notification bar would freeze) but all of these were fixed through an update that was waiting for me when I opened up the packaging. The screen is excellent (though the colors do not pop as they do on a Samsung tablet) and performance is very smooth. the cameras are both sub par, but will be fine in good lighting. The look and feel of the tablet suits me perfectly (though i seem to be in the minority that prefers plastic to metal). Though be warned the plastic is not textured the way the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is. It feels VERY plastic. It does feel rather robust though. No flex whatsoever. Android is perfectly suited for tablets. I can work my way though menus options games and apps very easily. I got 9 hours of use before the battery ran out (moderate to heavy usage with app downloads)
The laptop tablet combination aspect of this product leaves a lot to be desired. The keyboard is cramped (though very workable as I am writing this review on it rights now) and the docking mechanism seems cheap. The touch pad works smoothly and the gestures work in much the same way the do in Windows and OSX. That being said it does not offer the superb accuracy you get with Windows and OSX. It is a usable but sloppy experience in comparison. Be warned that the touchpad is very wide but also very short. Its usable and much better than touch pads 4 years ago, but won't compare to touch pads on current laptops. Also sometimes apps do not like it when the tablet is unlatched from the keyboard. It is best to do that when Android is on the homescreen. Overall the keyboard is a great accessory, but falls short of providing a laptop like experience. I got 17 hours of use before both batteries ran out (moderate to heavy usage with app downloads).
Overall this is a great tablet and the included keyboard accessory does its job nicely, just don't expect a laptop like experience. It is much more like using a keyboard with a tablet. As a tablet this product gets a solid 5/5 and as a laptop it gets a weak 3/5
Overall 4/5
Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED Nikkor Lens for Nikon
List Price: $389.95
Sale Price: $349.00
Today's Bonus: 11% Off
Very pleased.item arrived on time and in perfect condition. I use it every weekend sense it arrived.i highly recommend this product and pleased with the fast service.
Rode VideoMic Pro Compact Directional On-camera Shotgun
For those looking at a directional microphone at this price point you are probably in this situation. You are shooting with a $500 range camcorder or beginning to shoot video with a SLR that you bought for still photography. You are just getting into video, but want decent results. If this describes you, this is a great first toe in the water. It gives you better sound and control than a condenser microphone. It it easy to set up with only three settings. The results are good. The battery case is a little tricky and replacing the rubber motion dampeners take a minute to figure out, but it is a quality starter piece of equipment that won't become obsolete if you decide to upgrade your sound rig. The light is about useless but the bracket that it comes with provides a nice way to do handheld shots smoothly.
RL-2 Shoulder Mount Follow Focus Matte Box for DSLR Video
List Price: $1,495.00
Sale Price: $494.99
Today's Bonus: 67% Off
Needed a support without paying the thousands of dollars required for the "Hollywood" equipment. This support system does everything I need it to do so far.
Bushnell Trophy Cam HD Trail Camera - Brown
This is my first "trail cam" so I have nothing to compare it to, but it seems to do a decent job of capturing the evening activities. I dropped it down 1 star because there are some empty frames for which I have no explanation.
Nikon COOLPIX S30 10.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Zoom Nikkor
This is the second Nikon waterproof camera we've purchased. The first was the AW100, and I like both cameras for different reasons. I bought the AW100 for me to use while scuba diving in shallow water, and I got the S30 for the kids to use in the pool. It's perfect for them. The buttons are large and easy to use, and I like the setup the shutter button and video record button are both on top, separated by the on/off button, and all the menu, feature and playback buttons are on the back. I think this is a great design for kids.
Many of the "fun" options in the camera are definitely designed to appeal to kids, but I'm looking forward to trying some of them, too, such as the time lapse and fireworks modes.
In terms of images, the HD videos are very sharp, and the photos are also good, as long as you make sure to set the camera to the highest resolution. Note that if you select the option to add an in-camera frame to your images, the camera seems to default to the lowest resolution 2 MP so I would avoid this setting if you want good quality photos. You can always add a digital frame later with photo editing software.
I think this is a great camera if you just want something to take to the pool or the beach and you don't want to worry about the kids dropping it in the water or on the ground. It's easy to use, takes good photos, and you can't go wrong with a Nikon. The only things I don't like about this camera are the AA batteries (I wish it used the same rechargeable as my AW100) and the battery/memory card door; I have to use both hands to slide the lock one way and slide the door the other way. You won't have to worry about the kids accidentally opening it, which is a good thing, but I much prefer the design of the AW100. Other than that, however, I think this is a great camera for the price.
Many of the "fun" options in the camera are definitely designed to appeal to kids, but I'm looking forward to trying some of them, too, such as the time lapse and fireworks modes.
In terms of images, the HD videos are very sharp, and the photos are also good, as long as you make sure to set the camera to the highest resolution. Note that if you select the option to add an in-camera frame to your images, the camera seems to default to the lowest resolution 2 MP so I would avoid this setting if you want good quality photos. You can always add a digital frame later with photo editing software.
I think this is a great camera if you just want something to take to the pool or the beach and you don't want to worry about the kids dropping it in the water or on the ground. It's easy to use, takes good photos, and you can't go wrong with a Nikon. The only things I don't like about this camera are the AA batteries (I wish it used the same rechargeable as my AW100) and the battery/memory card door; I have to use both hands to slide the lock one way and slide the door the other way. You won't have to worry about the kids accidentally opening it, which is a good thing, but I much prefer the design of the AW100. Other than that, however, I think this is a great camera for the price.
Lowepro Magnum 650 AW Shoulder Bag (Black)
List Price: $359.99
Sale Price: $240.00
Today's Bonus: 33% Off
This is a shoulder bag in the same sense that you could hypothetically pick up a woman and carry her home on your shoulder, assuming a) she's into that, and b) you've got a chiropractor appointment booked in advance. Seriously, it is enormous. You can put all your gear in it, and I do mean all. And then you can buy more gear and attach it to the 6 pouch attachment loops on the sides. Note that I am 6'1 and 210 lbs. on a good day, and I've often scoffed at the comments lesser (well, shorter) people make about thus-and-such product being too big. This one is just...big.
I bought this bag as a fixture for my RV. Well, actually I didn't realize it was quite so huge when I ordered it, but I instantly decided on that use for it when it arrived. I needed a bag to hold the following:
A pro-shape (battery handle-bearing) Nikon D800 with a 70-200 pro (f2.8) lens nose-down
A Leica M9-P with large (for Leica) lens
A Sony NEX-7 with long (for the NEX-7) lens
A Nikon 70-400 telephoto zoom lens
A couple of midsized Nikon zooms
Six more Leica lenses
A medium-sized flash for each camera
A 17" Cracbook Pro Retina with 2-3 external hard drives
Several filters, extra batteries for everything, cables, cleaning gear, and other junk
This bag consumed all of that except the laptop, sort of (see below), and it's still a little bit hungry. I will note that I chose to mount a couple of those LowePro quick-change lens pouches on one side, using their loop/slot system, and I store the 70-400 in one of those. I also put a 75 AW flash pouch and a general carry pouch on the other side, mainly so I can take these 4 pouches off to assemble a web belt harness thing if I need to. If I so chose, I could get all that stuff into the bag itself easily enough.
The thing that sold me on this bag instantly was the solidity of the inner partitions, especially the ones between the slots meant for cameras. They are velcro-fitted like those things always are, but these are really solid compared to those in any other bag I've seen, even other LowePro bags like the Stealth Reporter. I consider that bag to be pretty solid too, but this one is a whole other level. The front half of the main compartment consists of three full-sized, full-depth, square camera nest slots with solid padded specially-shaped walls between them. These are the first configurable partitions that ever said "pro" to me; that felt trustworthy. You could easily get three "pro"-shape (square-backed/battery handle) bodies with mounted long lenses in there, each nose down, if you didn't mind their grips touching a little. If you were to put 2 pro bodies with long lens nose down in the front corner slots, with a smaller camera (or long lens) in the front center slot, nothing would touch anything else.
The narrower 2nd row is a warren of configurable partitions for everything else. I usually hate those stacking cubbyhole partitions, but in the case of this bag, they aren't so awful because they're solid too. All my Leica lenses fit in about 1/2 of the back row, double-stacked with amply padded flip-up hatch partitions separating them.
There are large front and side pockets, and the usual rear slit paperwork-only pocket. The front one is big enough for chargers and cables and travel hard drives and that sort of stuff. The side ones are useful for miscellaneous stuff unless if you are going to hang additional pockets off of the side loops, in which case using the side pockets would create awkward angles for the hanging gera. I am doing that, so I only put flat cleaning cloths and other durable, thin things in the side pockets. There are six side loops but really you can only use two on each side unless there's some sort of really thin pouches I don't have, or if you really wanted to cram things together. I'll probably end up using 2 quick-change long lens pouches on one side, and leave the other side clear.
There's a slot through the back that's obviously intended for a cart. I usually don't like luggage carts, but for this bag, I'd make an exception. The shoulder strap is heavy-duty and padded, though you still couldn't carry this bag very far with any amount of gear in it. Incidentally, that's due as much to the squarish thickness front-to-back as to the weight of the gear. The massiveness of this bag means the carry handle centered on top is useful only when it's mostly empty, and when the lid is fastened down. I guess it's also useful for dragging the bag around the floor a bit.
The 2 things I don't like about this bag are as follows:
a) There's a little pocket up top, off to one side of the central carry handle. Because there's a webbing loop on the opposite side, I assume this pocket is meant to sit the feet of a tripod in, but all I can get in there is a small tripod or large monopod. Given the size of this bag, I'd like to see a real full-sized tripod solution, unless I'm missing something and there's a way to do it, which is entirely possible.
b) The laptop insert is interesting, in that it's got, like, this whole puppet theater thing going on, with the stiff hood and blinders. But it's also very excessively massive and bulky. Also, I can imagine folding it out in the field maybe once or twice in my life, at the most, at high noon in a desert or something. There is no slot in this bag to just jam your laptop down into, in the front or rear, and there really needs to be, since this bag has plenty of space for such a slot, and it's all I'd have needed. I was using a Cracbook Air 11 when I got this bag, and it was ludicrous in that insert case, like a little kid trying on his mother's muu-muu. Though maybe less creepy of an image.
Sooo, moving right along: the laptop case doesn't slot down along the rear or front of the bag. (If it did, you could use that slot without it, which would be nice.) Instead, this podium-encyclopedia-sized padded insert must be be laid on top of all your other gear, just under the bag's lid. That means you lose height, which is a sincere bummer when you want to store one or more DSLR pro bodies with 70-200 lenses mounted nose-down. Since that's the exact reason I got this case, I had to just remove the laptop insert and put it in yet another bag. If you didn't have nose-down cameras with mounted long lenses, you could use the laptop insert, but you'd still have to take it out and put it aside whenever you removed anything from the bag's main section.
b) alone is the reason this review isn't 5 stars. Maybe I'd give it 4.5 if I could, but I can't, and there's no excuse for not being able to get both a pro body (or three) with big lenses and a laptop into this bag.
Otherwise, I've never seen a better "everything" camera bag for fixedor vehicle-based use.
Canon EOS-1Ds 11.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
After years of being a very faithful Sony user (I still like Sony and their products) I finally did the big leap, as in my mind the technology is finally there ... I bought a Canon EOS-1Ds 11.1 Megapixel camera body. Out of necessity I had to buy a set of EF lenses as well. I spent this years toy budget on just one purchase, but then THIS IS NOT TOY!
My last Sony was a F828 and before that a P10. The F828 is a great consumer product for the price, but it actually made me do the leap as good as it is, as it brought back my spirit for creating a REALLY good picture. I started to spend so much time to get to the right photo spot at the right time, that I did not want to have a lack of functionality then. I used to do a lot of photography 20 years ago on film, but returned as a point and shoot fotographer when digital came about. To say it with fellow countryman 'Arnie' "I'm back."
First I need to say that all Amazon partnershops performed and delivered flawlessly, my special mention goes to Adorama Camera. I would usually be worried to spend so much money on the web, but Amazon takes that away.
Now to the 'beast' itself the EOS-1Ds body. I will not go into all the functional details, as to my mind they are all correct as stated. The camera is great to hold and work with total confidence. But at first big disappointment. I was unable to concentrate on working with a professional camera. I was too used to point and shoot and expected the camera to do it all for me. Well, it does not. You need to know or learn photography for this one. It is now four weeks and 2500 pictures later and finally there is only one reason for a photo not to be perfect ME!
Biggest difference to other products is the film-size 24x36 CCD and the ability to set the ASA film sensitivity up to 1250 on the fly rather than having to change film. Not always is a tripod at hand or the photo subject would wait until you set it up and then hold still for a 2 second exposure. I could not ask the helicopter pilot to stop the vibration during a dawn flight over the Las Vegas Strip. Setting to ASA1250 shortened exposure time to s/50. The picture noise that you get as a consequence is dramatically reduced by the noise reduction feature and much less than the grain of a high-sensitivity film.
Cautions and recommendations: Learning how to clean the sensor from dust and dirt without damaging it is essential. This camera is VERY heavy you will need a strong tripod to hold it. Buy a second battery, even so the charging is quick and it usually lasts for two normal days of use. Using a CF card reader is easier than buying a Firwire attachment for your PC. Use 2GB high-speed Compactflash for convenience, it will give you 400 pictures in JPG. Feel free to send me questions, which I will answer as much as I can.
My last Sony was a F828 and before that a P10. The F828 is a great consumer product for the price, but it actually made me do the leap as good as it is, as it brought back my spirit for creating a REALLY good picture. I started to spend so much time to get to the right photo spot at the right time, that I did not want to have a lack of functionality then. I used to do a lot of photography 20 years ago on film, but returned as a point and shoot fotographer when digital came about. To say it with fellow countryman 'Arnie' "I'm back."
First I need to say that all Amazon partnershops performed and delivered flawlessly, my special mention goes to Adorama Camera. I would usually be worried to spend so much money on the web, but Amazon takes that away.
Now to the 'beast' itself the EOS-1Ds body. I will not go into all the functional details, as to my mind they are all correct as stated. The camera is great to hold and work with total confidence. But at first big disappointment. I was unable to concentrate on working with a professional camera. I was too used to point and shoot and expected the camera to do it all for me. Well, it does not. You need to know or learn photography for this one. It is now four weeks and 2500 pictures later and finally there is only one reason for a photo not to be perfect ME!
Biggest difference to other products is the film-size 24x36 CCD and the ability to set the ASA film sensitivity up to 1250 on the fly rather than having to change film. Not always is a tripod at hand or the photo subject would wait until you set it up and then hold still for a 2 second exposure. I could not ask the helicopter pilot to stop the vibration during a dawn flight over the Las Vegas Strip. Setting to ASA1250 shortened exposure time to s/50. The picture noise that you get as a consequence is dramatically reduced by the noise reduction feature and much less than the grain of a high-sensitivity film.
Cautions and recommendations: Learning how to clean the sensor from dust and dirt without damaging it is essential. This camera is VERY heavy you will need a strong tripod to hold it. Buy a second battery, even so the charging is quick and it usually lasts for two normal days of use. Using a CF card reader is easier than buying a Firwire attachment for your PC. Use 2GB high-speed Compactflash for convenience, it will give you 400 pictures in JPG. Feel free to send me questions, which I will answer as much as I can.
CAMTREE G-51 Gripper Car Suction Mount
This equipment is amazing! Before I bought this equipment, I've done many research on which suction car mount I should get for video. I was concern about 3 things, 1) The Price, 2) How stable would the video be, 2) the stability of the suction mount itself, how long would it last without falling off when driving...
I've came to my decision to buy the CAMTREE G-51 Gripper Car Suction Mount. When I bought it, I tested it out when shooting a friend's film. We've placed the mount on a side of a truck (shoot with T2i). The suction mount lasted for about 5 hours. It did not fall, (we took it off). The video was wasn't shaky AT ALL. It would also depends on how you place it.
It would take you some times to set up the Suction Mount on the car (depend on where). And if you set it right, the CAMTREE G-51 Gripper Car Suction Mount for Photography/Videography is worth the Price.
I've also used the same suction mount to test out the Opening (title) sequence for my upcoming short film.
Here is the link to the video, shot on T2i. vimeo.com/54955675
I've came to my decision to buy the CAMTREE G-51 Gripper Car Suction Mount. When I bought it, I tested it out when shooting a friend's film. We've placed the mount on a side of a truck (shoot with T2i). The suction mount lasted for about 5 hours. It did not fall, (we took it off). The video was wasn't shaky AT ALL. It would also depends on how you place it.
It would take you some times to set up the Suction Mount on the car (depend on where). And if you set it right, the CAMTREE G-51 Gripper Car Suction Mount for Photography/Videography is worth the Price.
I've also used the same suction mount to test out the Opening (title) sequence for my upcoming short film.
Here is the link to the video, shot on T2i. vimeo.com/54955675
Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC IF Aspherical Zoom Lens for Nikon
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $229.99
Today's Bonus: 43% Off
I bought this lens so that when I travel using my Nikon D100 I could have an all-in-one zoom that would spare me the inconvenience of constantly changing lenses. I have not regretted this purchase, as for most situations the resulting photos are quite satisfactory. However, potential buyers should be aware that any lens that is designed to "do it all" involves compromises.
The lens balances well on an SLR body, is remarkably compact, and is well-made. It's not as solid, however, as an expensive professional-level zoom, so don't drop it! The petal-type lens hood works well to prevent routine flare.
Photos I have taken have been sharp and clear, with only a bit of softness at maximum aperture and at the longest focal lengths. The lens has a few shortcomings, however. In some lighting situations the color cast of digital images seems to be a bit "tan," tending almost toward sepia tones. This can be corrected easily enough in Photoshop (or whatever post-exposure program one uses). Perhaps a bit more annoying is that there is noticeable light falloff in the corners, a phenomenon that is most prominent in photos that include large areas of sky. Again, this can be dealt with in post-processing (mainly through slight cropping), but potential buyers should be aware of this issue.
The best thing about the lens is that it provides adequate performance at focal lengths ranging from standard wide-angle (what would be the equivalent of around 27mm. in a 35mm. camera) to basic telephoto (187 mm. at 35mm.) This makes it quite useful for general, "walkaround" photography, especially when one is traveling. If you want the absolute best in optical performance, however, you might find the lens wanting in some situations.
Leica V-LUX 3 CMOS Camera with 12.1MP and 24x Super Telephoto
List Price: $949.00
Sale Price: $649.99
Today's Bonus: 32% Off
Picked up a Leica V-Lux 30 for my wife who wanted to get back into photography. She is doing close up / macro nature pics and this camera WILL focus down to 1cm away from the subject. Incredible. 12.1mb is adequate for our needs and the Leica lens is OUTSTANDING. We have had super-zoom single lens SLR's in the past and then got rid of them because they did everything mediocre, not this camera, it does everything well. The next step up would be a professional multi-thousand dollar camera and for under $1000 this Leica performs right up to the top of the line cameras.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V 10.2 MP CMOS 10x Wide-Angle Zoom
I'm usually a digital SLR user, but I've been waiting for a camera like this to come out so I have something to put in my pocket. The features that really made me decide to buy this camera were:
1. AVCHD 1080i FULL QUALITY video. Check the bitrate -it's the same as the camcorders. Better than the flip or handheld 'HD' bitrates
2. Wide Picture Stitching. I am astounded by the quality of these pictures. Dumbfounded. Check out the ones I've posted.
3. GPS Tagging. Yepbeen waiting for this since iPhoto introduced the feature into its software.
4. Low-light performance. For a point-and-shoot, you're not going to beat this. Sure, it's no DSLR, but it's pretty great for the price.
5. Pricea zillion features and a totally reasonable price!!!
Mac Compatibility:
I tried out the camera with iMovie, and it worked seamlessly!!! I imported 2 minutes of low-light video footage AVCHD in about 30 seconds from an SDHC Class-6 card. Also used the camera with iPhoto and Aperture, and everything worked great.
Update: I've had time to play around with the different settings -you can see some of my results in the customer uploaded images. The panoramas today came out great! I am still awed by this feature (amazon's tiny photos don't do it justice). Shooting inside in the MOMA was excellent. Outside, I tried the HDR mode, with limited success (still need to experiment, but see what I got). The handheld twilight mode does what it is supposed to, impressively.
1. AVCHD 1080i FULL QUALITY video. Check the bitrate -it's the same as the camcorders. Better than the flip or handheld 'HD' bitrates
2. Wide Picture Stitching. I am astounded by the quality of these pictures. Dumbfounded. Check out the ones I've posted.
3. GPS Tagging. Yepbeen waiting for this since iPhoto introduced the feature into its software.
4. Low-light performance. For a point-and-shoot, you're not going to beat this. Sure, it's no DSLR, but it's pretty great for the price.
5. Pricea zillion features and a totally reasonable price!!!
Mac Compatibility:
I tried out the camera with iMovie, and it worked seamlessly!!! I imported 2 minutes of low-light video footage AVCHD in about 30 seconds from an SDHC Class-6 card. Also used the camera with iPhoto and Aperture, and everything worked great.
Update: I've had time to play around with the different settings -you can see some of my results in the customer uploaded images. The panoramas today came out great! I am still awed by this feature (amazon's tiny photos don't do it justice). Shooting inside in the MOMA was excellent. Outside, I tried the HDR mode, with limited success (still need to experiment, but see what I got). The handheld twilight mode does what it is supposed to, impressively.