Kanex Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter (IADAPTDVI)

The adapter was recommended by Wacom to solve a Cintiq/Mac hardware issue that the Apple's DVI adapter would not solve. I have since bought nearly a dozen of them.

They are not nearly as well built as the Apple adapters. The Kanex adapter is lighter, the plastic is thinner and not as well sealed. One post on one adapter also popped off. The upside is that they are half the price of Apple's $30 adapter, are generally built well enough and do the job.

Another advantage is that they include the DVI-I type plug (not the Apple DVI-D plug that is missing the extra 5 analog posts). Some devices, like the Cintiq, have a DVI-I type plug and require an adapter (which Wacom includes in box) to make it compatible with Apple's MiniDisplay to DVI-D adapter. In that sense one could say that the Kanex adapter is more universal.

I am using a Kanex iAdapt to connect my Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop with an Acer B243HLbmdrz Black 24" 5ms Widescreen 1920x1080 LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/ Built-in Speakers. It works flawlessly with crystal clear results. No need to spend a whole lot of money on the Apple Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter MB570Z/A. This one works just as well.

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I need something to link my large Wacom board to my Mac Book Pro. Works as advertised which was refreshing

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This works better than other some others that I have tried, it's not the most stylish thing in the world but I will take utility over style any day of the week.

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The apple adapter was working horribly hooking up a cintiq to a retina Macbook Pro. I saw a recommendation for this and it works great, no red pixels, connection problems, etc.

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Q-See QSDT404C Digital Wireless Camera with Receiver

Bought this to keep an eye on our horse who was about to give birth. It's about 180 feet to the barn and it's works perfectly as long as I have a clear line of site from the barn to the house.

It's setup on our bedroom TV and we can keep an eye on our mare and new born colt without going out

to the barn. Setup was easy, pairing was done simply before I installed. No real complaints, except night vision is a bit hazy. It also has a one way mic, barn to the house. Wish It had a mic back to the barn. Wind noise on the mic is a problem, but we just mute the TV. Would buy this unit again.

I purchased a Q-See security system which included two of these cameras. Although they are color cameras, the colors they produce in the daylight are off (red is green, green is black, etc.). In addition, the cameras produce poor range (less than 20ft). With that said, night time performance is adequate, you get about 6ft of night vision in black and white of course.

A friend of mine purchased a Lorex security system with two wireless cameras which produce true colors during the day and give much better range.

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I bought 2 of these cameras. There isn't one thing good about them.

The main problem is reception. One camera was mounted above my garage door at the end of my driveway. The receiver was placed in a side window of my house at the front of the driveway. It is not line of sight because there is a bay window on the side of the house between the garage and the front window but the distance between the camera and the receiver is only about 60 feet through open air. Reception is sporadic even with the receiver right up against the window. If you approach or stand near the camera there is no reception at all. No reception when someone approaches the camera defeats the purpose of having a camera.

The other camera is located on the front of the house about 20 feet from the receiver. While I get full time reception from that camera I cannot move either the camera or receiver an inch or I lose the picture.

The audio pickup on the cameras is poor. They pick up random noises and voice but nothing consistently or reliably.

The video picture on both cameras is very choppy even at the highest setting.

Night vision is decent but what good is that if you're not getting reliable reception. Changing channels does not help.

I do not recommend these wireless cameras.

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the only thing I didn't like is the rf signal is line of sight and only about 100-150 ft

It seems to be doing well outside too

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Instructions not the best in the world.

The claims about usable distance seem to be way off base. Not much good if you can't get a signal from the camera. Looking for a way to extend the signal.

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Lorex LW241 LIVE sense Wireless Video Home Monitor

I bought this monitor because of a friend referral. I also bought the Summer 3.5 Touch, and the Motorola MBP35 (3.5 screen). I originally bought the Summer Touch but wasn't 100% sold on it. That is why i purchased the other two.

First off, the good:

Screen Clarity Seemed better than the Summer and about the same as the Motorola.

Night Vision This monitor had the best vision at night of all of the monitors. Everything was much brighter and easier to see. (also listed in the Negatives later).

Battery life It seemed to get around 5 hours on a charge. About the same or a tad less than the Summer, but about 2 hours better than the Motorola.

Ability to record and save. I only played with this feature, but I thought it would be great to have if a nanny or babysitter was over and you could keep track of the actual happenings with your baby. Neither of the other two monitors had this feature.

Lullaby function I'm not sure how much this would actually be used, but I thought it was a nice feature to have. The Motorola also had this.

Night Light Again, not sure how much it would be used, but another nice feature. Neither of the other two monitors had this.

VIDEO STAYS ON when off of the charger. I thought this was a great feature because on the other monitors you have to keep pressing the video button after it automatically times out after about 2 minutes to be able to see the screen and what is going on. They do this as a power saving feature but it is more aggravating than anything. The Lorex stays on and makes it easy.

The ability to add other cameras and be able to view them all simultaneously. The other two monitors allow you to add cameras, but have to view one at a time. Again, not sure if most parents would ever need this, but it is a nice feature.

Now, with the BAD.

No Zoom feature on the Lorex. Both the Summer and Motorola have this ability. It has a pretty clear picture, but there are times where I want to zoom in on my child and could not.

No Panning feature on the Lorex. Both the Summer and Motorola have this. While this may be ok with some who just want to see a certain area of the crib, or don't mind leaving the camera in a fixed place, it could be an issue for others. I thought I could easily get past this, but I couldn't.

Audio When compared to the Summer, you practically had to lay your ear on the back of the monitor (where the speaker is) to be able to hear the child. The Summer picks up the swing going back and forth, and allows you to adjust the volume to hear much more than the Lorex.

The Talk function. If you put your mouth right on the microphone, it works ok. However, testing it with my wife and the Summer, she continuously said the Summer's sound quality on the other end was much better.

Audio Alerts. a great idea for a feature, but it randomly worked and was more irritating than anything.

The Auto Mute, and Scan features. While these are great features to have, they did not seem to work. They randomly chose when to turn on and it usually had to come from a loud noise, but sometimes chose not to even come on then. And YES, I did adjust the sensitivity on the side.

Skype while this is a GREAT selling point, it has its flaws. First, you cannot plug the monitor into a Mac computer to use this feature. Second, even when plugged into a PC, the video is so far behind and lacking once on Skype, it takes away the usefulness of the feature all together. Sometimes it would not even show movements that clearly happened.

Inability to connect the monitor to a TV or other video source. The Summer allows you to connect the monitor to a TV through RCA/mini usb so that you can view it on a larger screen if desired. The Lorex and Motorola do not.

The Night Vision. While stated as a positive earlier (which it is), it also has a slight negative. The LED's on the camera are red and clearly visible at night, whereas the ones for the other monitors are not. This may bother or alert some children/etc., and may not for others. It is just a point I thought I should mention.

After wanting to love this monitor and replace the Summer with it (already sent the Motorola back due to lack of technical support and inability to plug into another video source), I am afraid I am going to have to send the Lorex back as well. I wish someone would take the good parts of each of these monitors and combine them, but as of now, they have not. For now, we are sticking with the Summer monitor because it had the least negatives of all 3. I think the main reason I wanted something instead of the Summer monitor is because they specialize in baby clothes, products, etc. Motorola and Lorex specialize in communications and surveillance, therefore I figured there products would be better. I was mistaken.

The LW2451 unit just arrived this afternoon, but since there are no reviews as of yet, I thought I would post one so people would have some initial idea of how the system performs.

The setup only took a few minutes. It started beeping right away. It turns out that it was the alert that the child is making noise. The loudness of that alert is configurable. It stopped once I stopped touching the camera.

The camera is small, about 4 inches tall. It pans and tilts, no zoom. The resolution of the image seems fine. I did see some noticeable color shifts (hue). I will try it again in daylight and see if that is still true. Given how far it tilts, it strikes me that it would work well with a wall mount (bracket not included.) I placed it on a tall dresser right next to the bed. Because of that, and my unwillingness to move the bed or dresser, I had to put a small box under the rear to get the 20 degrees I needed. Someone setting it on a lower table or one just a little further from the bed would not have any issue at all getting a full view of the crib/bed. The camera has an on/off switch, volume for two-way talk and a sensitivity control for how loud the child must be to set off alerts on the monitor. The IR LEDs are visible as very dim red lights. My daughter noticed it, but it did not keep her up. They are barely visible.

The monitor is a convenient size, about the size of a smart phone. It has dedicated volume buttons. Button placement seems well thought out. There is a mini-joystick for pan/tilt/menu nav, press to accept. The power adapter can be plugged into the cradle or the monitor directly, which appeals to me. There is a great deal of leeway when setting it in the cradle... Placement doe not have to be exact for it to charge. There is a stand so the monitor can sit upright without the cradle. There is a swing out antenna which does add a bar of reception, but I have not needed it yet.

It seems to be playing well with my wireless router, but I would not want to guarantee there is no interference at all until I run a few more speed tests.

The camera and monitor are made of the same white plastic that most nursery products are. It is lighter than it looks, which I know does not alway convey a sense of quality, but it seems solid enough and I would not want them to add weight just for that.

Pros:

System performs out of the box as advertised.

Has features of systems costing a lot more.

Night vision works well

Sound is clear

Cradle and charging well thought out

Temperature is always visible on monitor and is proving to be accurate.

Menus are simple and easy to navigate with thumb controller

Reception is great

Volume can be turned all the way of if desired.

Video can be turned off if desired.

Lots of buttons and functions

Cons:

Operating pan/tilt or moving through the menus causes beep which may wake spouse

Sensitivity control for alert that says child is making noise is on the camera, not monitor.

Would benefit from a few more configuration options such as turning button beep off.

My voice sets off the noise alert when using the two-way talk feature, so I have to wait for the 3 beeps to end before I can hear the person on the other end. That meeans I miss the first word or two of the reply.

No zoom other units that offer this supposedly get very graining, so I do not care for it.

The monitor has been runing for over 4 hours, so the battery performance seems quite good.

My experience so far has been excellent.

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There is a SERIOUS lack of reviews on this fine product, so I'm writing my first Amazon review to give people more information before they buy. I would give this a 4.5 because of the few CONS listed below, but since I can't, and there are so many PROS, I'm giving it "5 Stars"

We received it in the mail today and the camera is MUCH smaller than we thought it would be, which is great because it fits well on the shelf above our daughter's bed. The monitor is cool, sleek and feature filled...too cool in fact, we had to have a firm talk with our five year son old about playing with the features because it wasn't one of his disposable toys.

The last monitor we had was simply a static radio wave audio monitor which had not worked for some time, and with a new baby on the way we needed something. We had originally purchased the Motorola MBP36 which seemed great, but as a protective dad, I wanted something to watch how the baby sitters handled my two hellions while we were eating Thai Food. After hours of reviewing iPhone apps, cameras, monitors, etc, this seemed like the perfect fit. What sold me was the video: easy to use, set up, and was MAC capable. The camera doesn't have to be plugged into the computer (like some other baby monitors) but the monitor does (which is great because that's when we'd use it as a nanny cam).

With regards to the first review, you CAN actually turn the beeping of the buttons on the monitor down by turning down the Alarm Sound. So now my five year old and I can geek out swinging the camera around while not waking up the rest of the family. I wish the camera could be controlled from our iPhones, but as an engineer and a pilot, I think this product is overall pretty sleek. Here's the breakdown:

PROs:

Pan/Tilt all around the room

Auto IR night cam (no need to turn it on like some other cams)

Good quality video day/night (unlike other cams. Example footage from the Amazon product video is accurate)

Intuitive monitor and simple controls (My five year old gets it)

Camera Skype account was easy to set up with set-by-step directions

No white noise when monitoring. Just comes on when the kiddo starts cranking.

-Nifty features:

Talk through monitor (to sooth baby or freak out the dog...both work great!)

Musical soothing tunes

Skype dial up for mom & dad, or aunts, uncles, grand parents...but they can't see inside your house unless you hook in the monitor and turn on Skype.

Record onto a mini-SD. Don't have one, but neat.

Expandable to four cameras, can be the LW2400 ($50-$70) or LW2451 ($91-$150) prices from Amazon, any other cameras?

See all four cameras at once (control them one at a time if needed!).

Auto-sound detection so you don't hear static while you're trying to sleep.

Temperature monitor and alarms

Timer alarms, if you need it.

Extendable monitor antenna to walk down and get the mail.

CONs:

Green light is always on the camera (nothing a little electrical tape can't handle)

Auto-sound detection sensitivity is on the camera, not the monitor

Musical tunes rhythm is a little quick, and songs change automatically which is a bummer

Lack of zoom

Lack of tilt/pan through Skype (obviously. Hopefully Lorex will push a native app as a software update)

3 Steps to view on Skype as Nanny Cam (not bad, but if you do these out of order, and open Skype first, the Skype camera defaults to the iSight and you have to go back into PREFERENCES and re-select the Lorex camera):

1) Plug in Monitor

2) Then open Skype to that account

3) Call the Lorex Skype account your set up to view

Again, I understand the third party app requires help, but I think code could easily be added so that Skype automatically opens when the computer detects the monitor and closes down when the monitor is disconnected.

However, these may be considered Nit-Noid CONs to some, and, in fact, they are small potatoes, but some factoids that some may find interesting. Overall, great camera and system! I have to go, my son wants to play with the Monitor again!

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I don't even have a baby -what I do have is a teen and a tween. I also have a finished basement where my kids hang out and I like to monitor what goes on down there. I can clearly hear and view from 3 floors up! The clarity is superb, the features are great. As the description states, you can hook this up to skype so you can even see what's going on if you are not even home. So when my teen is babysitting, I can see what's going on from my iphone via skype! How cool is that?! There is also a "talk" button so if you choose, you can use it as an intercom system. I have been playing around with it and so far, I'm super impressed with what this can do. If you have any place in your home you want to monitor, this is the item. This is not just a "baby monitor", it's an in-home surveillance system and can even give you peace of mind when you aren't home. I would think this would be a great item to keep an eye on a puppy as well. Highly recommend. It is expensive but the quality and features make it worth the price.

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First child is on the way and we needed a baby monitor for the home the Mrs. gave me the task of picking one out, and based on the specs, this one seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

Set-up was super easy you just plug in the camera and the base charger, and the two instantly find each other. Picture quality seems good, I like the temperature display, and the ability to hear what's going on in the room with the camera.

Now for my one gripe: I chose this particular camera in large parts because of the Skype integration. Our entire extended family lives at least 8 hours from us, so I really, really wanted a way for them to be able to log in and see the baby whenever they felt like it. After getting the camera all positioned, I went to set-up the Skype part on the computer. You plug the monitor portion into your computer via the included USB cable, create a new account, tweak a few settings, and viola! your camera is now broadcasting to Skype. BUT it will only do that when the monitor is synced to your computer via the USB cable. As soon as you unplug it, the connection is lost and you can only see the video on the monitor.

I was pretty bummed out when I realized this, to be honest. Yes, if grandma calls and says she wants to see the baby, I can easily hook the monitor back up to the USB cable, but that's not what I was looking for. And forget about the new Dad being able to just take a quick peek at his sleeping baby when he's back at work.

I'm going to keep the camera for now, because I like everything else about it. But if I do find one that has all these features, plus real Skype integration, this one is going back.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 12.1MP Digital Camera with Lumix G Vario 14-45 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH Mega OIS Le

For those who don't know, the Panasonic G1 is the first (of hopefully many) camera that adheres to the new micro 4/3 format. What is so exciting about it? All SLR cameras use mirrors, prisms, and optical viewfinders so that the photographer can see what his/her subject "through the lens." SLRs have remained the defacto standard for most serious photographers because most find the whole viewfinder concept so appealing. The micro 4/3 does away with the mirrors and prisms, and replaces the optical viewfinder of SLRs with an electronic viewfinder. This allows the cameras that adhere to the standard to be much smaller (and wideangle lenses designed for this mount to be smaller as well). Onto the real review...

The EVF on the G1 is the first that I've seen that is remotely usable. While not as good as the OVF in my 5D, it is considerably better than the OVF in my older 350D. The first look through the EVF will impress anyone who hasn't used a Full-Frame camera before. While there is a noticeable lag (particularly when moving the camera around...a delay of a 10th of a second maybe), the fact that you can see a live histogram in the VF makes the lag completely worthwhile. Even better, the VF can increase the gain of the screen in darker conditions so you can actually see what you are shooting (it does get grainy, but it is better than seeing nothing at all). Finally, when you engage Manual Focus, the view in the EVF zooms in on your subject automatically which allows for perfect manual focus adjustments every time!! Without a doubt, this is the best interchangeable lens camera on the market if you are interested in manually focusing.

The articulating LCD is another design choice that is spot-on!! Why haven't other manufacturers caught on that "live view" is completely useless without an articulating LCD? Switching from the LCD to the EVF is as simple as putting your eye next to the viewfinder. There is a sensor there that detects when it is being used. The LCD doesn't have the super resolution of the new 5DMkII or the D700, but it has twice the resolution of my older 5D.

So is the camera pocketable? Not a chance. However, it isn't much bigger than the larger (with its kit lens) than modern superzoom Point&Shoot cameras. I bought it because I found that I was leaving my 5D (with 24-70 f/2.8) at home more often than not because i didn't want to carry so much weight. The G1, in comparison, is a joy to hold and carry. For me, the size is just right. Any smaller and the controls would be unusably small. Any larger and the camera would begin to resemble smaller DSLRs. Side Note: The kit lens has to be seen to be believed...it is SO small. Even the 45-200 lens (90-400) isn't much bigger than kit lenses for APS-C or FF cameras (let alone comparing it to the monstrous 100-400 lens that canon makes).

Noise is reasonable. I wouldn't go past ISO1250 for prints with the G1. ISO1600 and 3200 are more than useable for web viewing (which is how a majority of my pics are displayed). I never really understood how printable ISO6400 prints are suddenly required for every camera...how many people actually print a large number of images anyways? Downsized to Facebook or Picasaweb sizes, I would imagine that a ISO6400 G1 image would be more than adequate.

What I don't like is the lack of any large aperture lenses for the format. You can buy adapters to use standard 4/3 lenses but the older 4/3 lenses are likely larger than their future micro43 counterparts (and AF doesn't work with many of them). Adapters also exist for Leica M mount (I'm trying to convince my fiance that leica lenses are a better investment than the stock market right now...but I don't think that she is buying it). The depth of field for micro43 is already larger due to the smaller sensor so it will be hard to get subject isolation in photographs until large aperture prime lenses become available.

I'm really excited about the future of this format. Panasonic has promised a G1HD someone in the first half of this year (a G1 with video capabilities). In addition, 3 new lenses have been announced: a 7/14 f/4, a 14-140, and best of all a 20 mm f/1.7 pancake! Olympus also showed off a concept of a micro43 camera that looked no bigger than a small point&shoot. The future is exciting!

The Panasonic G1 is a much debated camera, the first micro 4:3 camera.

As a professional photographer I was intrigued with the electronic viewfinder, and also the light weight and compact size, and figured it would be a great gift for my girlfriend. I received the camera about 1 week after the US release. Until now it have worked flawlessly, the battery last well through a day with power to spare. To be clear, I am not talking a studio work day, but my girlfriend putting 300 frames on the camera in a day.

We already own 4:3 cameras and she picked it up and worked with it instantly, no learning curve required. The camera is well laid out and controls are positioned where you would expect to find them.

Electronic Viewfinder.

The most unusual part of the camera is the EVF (Electronic View Finder) which instead of a optical system literally have a display, but unlike typical "super zoom" EVF cameras which have a low-rez viewfinder, this camera have a HD viewfinder, this means you can actually see what is in focus in the image, the screen also have a very quick refresh, so you do not have the feeling of waiting for the screen. (unlike previous EVF cameras you can exchange lenses on the G1)

I originally questioned the EVF system concept for a SLR, but once I got the camera in hand the viewfinder have proved to work very well. Panasonic have developed this technology to a point where this camera is possible and very functional.

Lenses:

Panasonic is launching this camera with 2 lenses and more to come, for years Panasonic have received design help from Leica, and this show in the quality of the lenses, the standard kit lens is a great lens.

Olympus created the 4:3 system, Panasonic is a partner in this system. Thankfully the G1 being a micro-4:3 camera can accept both m43 lenses but with a adapter also all previous 4:3 system lenses. This mean you have access to exotic lenses from 600mm to 8mm. The dedicated zoom for m43 are VERY compact... however this is meaningless if you have a serious need for a 300mm f2.8 lens as there would be no size difference, so you would not save weight or space by using a dedicated m4:3 lens. Panasonic recognizes this and have launched the camera with a couple of outstanding lenses which are great everyday zooms, this is the ones you will want for family photography (including some family sports photography), but it is good to know that if you get the urge for photographing lions in Africa the camera will accept ultra fast lenses such as the sexy 150mm 2.0 low light tele-lens from olympus.

We already own a large selection of 4:3 system lenses, including the 8mm ultra wide and all of these work with the adapter on the G1.

Image stabilization:

Panasonic lenses have GREAT stabilization and the camera takes tack-sharp images at incredible low light.

However there is kinky point for me which you should be aware about, Panasonic have chosen to use in-lens stabilization, where Olympus uses in-camera stabilization. THIS is the biggest weakness in cross system compatibility. Thanksfully Panasonic have a good collection of Leica designed lenses which is stabilized, but for owners of Olympus lenses (such as myself) one should realize that Olympus lenses will not be stabilized on the G1 (not that you are likely to hand-hold a 600mm tele lens, but you should know).

Image quality is above expectation.

The images are simply outstanding, in both color, exposure and details, I say this as the owner of several pro DLSR and Leica M8 cameras. (well lets get real here. Clearly the camera do not compare to a $5000 camera, nobody would expect that, but at the $700 price its in a class by itself. you will be hard pressed to find a better camera for under $1000). The bottom line on image quality is this camera will not let you down, you can share pictures with friends and feel good about the image quality.

LEICA M lenses.

Most interesting for me was the ability to mount Leica M lenses with a adapter on the Panasonic G1. I have been shooting images with the 35mm lux and 75mm lux. As it turns out the G1 works best with longer lenses, 28mm tend to get soft edges when using Leica M film lenses, this is because of the way these lenses were made and not a problem with the camera. Naturally this does not apply to use of Panasonic or Olympus lenses on this camera.

Bottom line.

A revolutionary new camera, combining traditional single-lens photography with modern technology. Its a favorite walk about camera, light weight and comfortable in the hand.

Camera is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED,

Buy Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 12.1MP Digital Camera with Lumix G Vario 14-45 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH Mega OIS Le Now

I am a professional photographer and I have looked for a perfect take-it-anywhere camera since I abandoned my Nikon 28Ti when I stopped shooting film. I have had everything in the small camera class from the original Nikon Cp950 to the Panasonic LX3. I had Canon G9 &10s, the Pro-1, various Fujis and a Ricoh compact. None of them came close to delivering the sort of image I get from a real DSLR. For a while I used a Canon Rebel TXi, but it just wasn't a size savings because the lenses are so big.

Enter the G1. It's very small, but still easy to use and hold steady. The lenses are tiny. You can use Leica-M lenses with a cheap adapter. The image quality is right there with a DSLR. Not quite as good as a Canon 5D at ISO 800, but fully useable at everything up to 1600 ISO. The G1 at 800 is better than the G10 at 100.

I highly recommend this camera to any serious photographer looking for a small, high quality alternative to a big DSLR with way better quality than even the best small sensor camera.

Tom Kachadurian

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I had decided I wanted to step up to an entry level DSLR camera. So I started looking and had settled on the new Canon Rebel T1i at first. I bought the camera, took it home and started snapping a bunch of pictures with it only to discover that at full size, the pictures were a little soft. For a $900 camera, that wasn't something I wanted to deal with. Yes, I'm aware the pictures can be doctored after the fact but I don't want to have to do that with the majority of my pictures.

So I returned the T1i and started considering the Nikon D5000, Pentax K20D, Olympus E620 and the Panasonic G1. The K20D is a very nice camera but was just a little too big for my liking. After handling the Olympus E620 I just didn't come away very impressed (just didn't feel good in my hand). I really liked the Nikon D5000 and gave that camera very serious consideration. However at the end of the day, the G1 just felt really good in my hand and impressed me with its features. I'll list specifics next.

The things that sold me on the G1 are as follows:

1. Camera is small size and fits well in my hand

2. Terrific articulating LCD with great resolution

3. Super fast auto focus in live view mode, best I have seen

4. Has all the control and features of most entry level DSLRs

5. Takes terrific pictures

6. Relatively fast operation

7. The "rubber like" texture of the camera body feels good

8. Performs well in low light and small pictures up to ISO 1600 are usable although not quite as good as the best entry level DSLRs

9. Electronic View Finder is very clear

10. Auto focus assist light

Of course there are some Cons as well:

1. Low light performance not quite as good as best entry level DSLRs. Although this should be expected with the smaller sensor.

2. Would be nice if the flash popped up automatically

3. Limited selection of lenses since the micro four thirds format is so new

4. Is easy to block the auto focus assist light while holding the camera

5. White Balance indoors under fluorescent lighting is poor. However you can manually adjust this.

6. It's expensive in stores (I paid more than I care to admit), although Amazon's price is reasonable in my opinion and a more logical price point. It is worth the $650 price.

The cons I've listed are actually minor. It really is a great camera and I'm very happy I decided to go with it. I have always liked Panasonic's picture quality. Especially if there is lots of light I have found that Panasonic cameras take as good a picture as anything else out there. It's a great handling camera that has all the performance of the entry level DSLRs without the bulk. I'm anxious to see what the future has in store for the micro four thirds format.

If you are looking for a camera that is a little smaller than the entry level DSLRs but has all the performance, this is the camera for you. Its live view performance is top notch and the image quality is impressive (even DPreview spoke highly of the G1's image quality). I'm anxious to get the 45-200mm zoom lens to see how it performs also.

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I've done 35mm slr photography for 30 yrs and have now used the Panasonic G1 for six months. After a lot of shooting, my assessment is that the G1 kicks butt. I converted my old Konica Hexanon lenses to use with it, which give great image quality and less depth of field than the standard zoom lens. The standard lens itself is sharp as a tack and small. The viewfinder is amazing for one that does not use a mirror reflex system. I purchased an Olympus ultra-wide zoom that performs nicely on the G1 (with Panasonic adapter). Auto-focus on the Olympus is excellent. The camera is easy for a novice to use in programmed modes, but allows amazing control when shifted to manual. I had been unable to use my old manual focus Hexanon lenses due to eye deterioration, but the G1's manual focus assist, which zooms the viewfinder, enables me to focus precisely once again.

The only negative is that certain autofocus settings/combinations can slow the camera down, but this is remedied with experimentation. It's still not as rapid as high dollar SLRs. The size is an amazing advantage over such cameras though, if you don't want to carry something heavy and obtrusive.

After a lot of use, I am a big fan.

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C2G / Cables to Go 40321 Velocity HDMI to DVI-D Digital Video Cable (3 Meter/9.8 Feet)

I bought this cable to connect my Playstation 3 to an HDTV set that has only DVI (I think it's DVI-I) but no HDMI. This cable works beautifully. Image quality is really good. The price just can't be beat.

You should be aware that while HDMI carries both audio and video, DVI is video only, so you still need to route the audio to your TV somehow. For example, I use an optical digital audio cable to do that (together with an expensive converter box as my old HDTV set doesn't have an optical input).

The cable connects my MacBook Pro DVI output to a HDMI input on my new digital TV and gives great quality photo display. Cable length does not seem to be an issue at all.

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I purchased this cable to connect a PC to Samsung S4095D HDTV. And the cable worked great; but.. be warned that connecting PCs to HDTVs (via DVI/HDMI) is fraught with lots of pain. The main problem is that the PC desktop is cut off so the borders are not visible; not a problem in movies, but totally breaks games.

While you will find lots of people on internet forums who have "made it work", I spent days twiddling drivers and settings and never managed to make it work. The difficulty in making this work seems to be some (undocumented) property of the HDTV. In my case, I assumed that "has HDMI port" meant that I could use this cable to make DVI work.

In the end I switched back to using a VGA cable which looks fine and worked the first time.

So, the cable worked and was cheap; but it may not be the right solution to the problem (connecting a PC to your HDTV) which one would think is its primary purpose of existence.

Read Best Reviews of C2G / Cables to Go 40321 Velocity HDMI to DVI-D Digital Video Cable (3 Meter/9.8 Feet) Here

This cable was dirt-cheap and did exactly what I wanted it to do: connect my MacBook Pro to my TV. Couldn't be happier with the price or the quality.

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My ATI card has VGA and DVI output. I wanted to view PC video on my new plasma. I first tried through DVI to S-video. While it work, the picture wasn't nearly what I had hoped for. I then ordered the DVI to HDMI cable. WOW! Picture is rock solid and everything I had hoped for.

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Panasonic DMC-FX37W 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Whit

The exemplary build quality gives this camera a luxury feel. The camera is dense, feels hefty for its size when picked up, unlike many similar cameras that feel like a piece of plastic. This is a fine example of Japanese craftsmanship. It is fast and very responsive in operation. The lens is fantastic, 25mm (effective) wide angle is rare among such cameras, significantly wider angle than the 28mm of the FX33. In wide angle lenses every mm counts. Thankfully, the max aperture is back to f/2.8 the FX35 maxed at f/3.3. The lens is sharp edge to edge with very little, if any, in the way of distortion and chromatic aberration. Certainly, the lens is better than the sensor. The wide aperture (f/2.8) at the wide angle is great for low light [The lenses on the FX35, TZ3, TZ4 and TZ5 are not as fast].

The flash is weak [manufacturers under-power the flash in order to gain on the "shots per battery charge" scale.].

Hints: In low light, including indoor shots with flash, use the wide angle (zoom out) to make use of the f/2.8 aperture, and you'll get fewer dark underexposed pictures. Stick with ISO 100 and 200. Keep ISO 400 for emergencies, but never go beyond 400. In auto-ISO mode, you can limit the max ISO. You probably read a lot about image noise. Yes, it is there, but you will not see it in 4x6 or 8x10 prints. You won't see it on a typical 20" monitor (12"x16") when viewing the whole image on the screen. You will see it if you view part of the image 1:1, which amounts to close up inspection of a 57"x38" print (assuming the monitor is running at 1024x768). Those wanting 57"x38" prints will be using a medium-format digital back, not this camera anyway. Reduce the resolution to 3 or 5 mp and you'll see less noise (per pixel), and save hard disk space!

I recommend an extra battery and a 4 GB memory card (minimum).

Optical image stabilization is very effective indeed. Video (1280x720x30) is very good.

I took out one star for: 1) Lack of full manual controls, 2) sensor noise.

This camera needs a larger sensor.

The more expensive TZ3, TZ4 and TZ5 lack the f/2.8 aperture (they max at f/3.3).

If you like the size and build-quality of the FX37, but want a better picture-taking machine, look at the LX3. It has a larger sensor, manual controls, RAW, and an excellent 24-60mm (equiv) f/2-2.8 lens. The LX3 is destined to be a big hit.

When Panasonic announced their new cameras, I was interested in this model for its size, lens and image size. They have ceased the race for megapixel king and I was hoping image quality and not megapixels would become important.

Camera is 10MP, and has a 5x wide angle zoom. Plenty of MP for most uses and users.

The 5X zoom, while not the smoothest when zooming, the range is really appreciated. From a wide to a nice short tele! Very useful. On of my favorite things to do on vacation is to make "two-fers" self portraits of my wife and I. Not easy to do with most point and shoots, not wide enough to capture people and ambiance. This one fits the bill nicely!

First impressions: Camera is smaller than I had expected. This is a plus. It is the same size dimensionally as the Sony Cybershot T-5 it replaces.Also a plus. It is lighter than the Sony, and does not have that "solid" feeling. I consider this a neutral or slight minus.

Fast on the Draw, acceptable shutter lag from this class of camera (I use a D2X as well). Facial recognition focus seems to work too.

One of the most easy to navigate and use menus I have come across. It is distilled to a bare minimum.

Wish it captured RAW data.

I had been concerned, and started to have buyers remorse before I received the camera when I read some reviews of the predecessor about noise in poorly illuminated settings. This does not seem to be a problem. My abbreviated testing in low light has very acceptable results. (Your mileage may vary of course.)

For the price, this seems to be quite a nice camera for a carry everywhere camera.

Buy Panasonic DMC-FX37W 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Whit Now

So I've always been a huge film snob, and for a while had a Nikon D40 as my digital camera until I decided it was too big to want to deal with. For a while I was using disposable 35mm cameras, but as I've been doing a lot of traveling lately, I thought I'd get a little digital camera. I did a ton of research, and was interested in the similar Canon and Sony offerings, but I couldn't be happier with the Fx37. I love the wide angle which is great for taking self portraits and such things when traveling alone, but also works great for interior shots.

Not only does it take incredible pictures with the leica optics, I actually become must more into shooting video on it as it shoots native 720p video. Its amazing! For some example of video I've done please click below, the quality is amazing and thats considering its compressed on Vimeo.Anyway, its very small, extremely fast, good in all conditions and the video is shoots is amazing! Why this isn't the best selling camera on the market is beyond me. But now you know, so go for it!

-DP

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMC-FX37W 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Whit Here

I bought this fx37 as a complement to my Canon 40D. First it is small enougt to always bring it along. To get a good picture the first thing you must do is to bring a camera! Most of the time I bring my fx37 instead of my 40D. Second the wide angle of 24¤ is great. It is easy to get photoes in a room and get most of the room in the picture. Third the 5x optical zoom is large enough for most pictures you will need, special handheld with the anti-shake. The anti-shake is a great help to get clear pictures. There are many more things this camera can do and it is so easy to handle. So, all in all, this p&s is quite a little camera and best of all it takes GREAT pictures! I can recomend it as an all around camera and especially a camera to bring on regular vacation trips. My 40D will have to wait for the big African safari trips and similar special events.

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I needed a new small digital camera and decided on Canon or Panasonic due to input from several sources and many weeks of research. The camera had to have at least 5x zoom, my biggest requirement until I started reading and hearing about the advantages of a wide-angle lens. Finding the two together in the camera size I wanted was not easy (at least in the two brands above and in a reasonable price range for me) and I wavered between less zoom but wide-angle, or no wide-angle and 5x (or more) zoom. Finally I decided on the Panasonic DMC-FX37 which offers both and is very small! I am very happy with it so far! I think the photos and videos are super and the extra features are amazing. I don't like the exposure screen that pops up every once in awhile when I'm ready to take a shot (it's great to know that if I adjust right then the picture will come out better) but I have lost the photo opportunity a few times since I haven't figured out how to override the screen quickly. The manual is a bit overwhelming but I'm sure help is available in those pages somewhere!

Four stars as I've compared my photos with a similar Canon camera and I think those are a bit better; however, I love having the 5x zoom and wide-angle which I would never do without again.

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV 16.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 1080p HD Video (Body Only)

I had the Mark IV on order with Amazon since Canon's product announcement on October 20th of 2009. Since my local camera shop received the unit on Monday January 4, 2010 and Amazon still listed it as "Not Yet Received" I purchased mine from the local retailer despite the additional $464 in sales tax.

I have been a Mark III shooter since June of 2007. For my professional work, my primary subject matter is live theatrical performance which includes acting as well as dancing ranging from ballet to traditional Tango to the very fast paced ballroom, specifically shooting Burn the Floor, which is just completing their Broadway run this month. Live performance shooting has many of the same elements of sports photography, except the lighting is much lower and at times more severe due to stage lighting. My Mark III performed well in most instances although I did have occasions where the autofocus did not perform as well as I had hoped. But to be fair, I cannot say with 100% certainty that it was the fault of the gear or the user, me.

For my non professional work I utilized the Mark III for extensive street shooting in the rain, high wind and many other adverse conditions. In all cases the camera performed well enough that I could only blame myself in those instances where I didn't get the shot. This includes night shooting of high movement subject matter.

I have never been concerned about the 10.1 MP size of the Mark III having had many of my images blown up to 6x8 feet posters used on the outside of theatres and large shots used in four color programs. I had several concerns with the Mark III which I had hoped would be addressed in its successor, the Mark IV:

1. A higher ISO range with equal or less noise

2. The ability for the focus point to switch when changing from landscape to portrait orientation. Although the Custom Function allows one to change the rear wheel to adjust the focus point, I prefer to use that dial to adjust for exposure. Having to switch in a very fast paced situation caused me to miss some great shots.

3. More selection of focus points for manual focus point adjustment

Other than those three wishes, I was happy with my Mark III. In all three cases, the Mark IV met my wishes. I have done a comparison in low light, low contrast situations with both Marks at ISO 6400, which for the Mark III was considered H1. As such, adjusting the ISO from 3200 to 6400 was not possible in 1/3 stop increments. More on that later. In the comparison, the Mark IV handily beats the Mark III in terms of detail and noise at ISO 6400. Much more detail is visible which has something to do with a higher MP count, but at 100% crops, there is a marked difference. The noise on the Mark IV is less and of a different quality than the Mark III, more film like than digital.

During performances I had only used ISO 6400 in conditions which made lower settings impossible. I have always thought that a noisy shot is much better than one that is blurred beyond usage. My clients agree. One of my favorite lenses to use while shooting on stage as well as from the house is the EF 24-105mm f4.0 IS L. The focal range on a 1.3 crop sensor is just PERFECT, but the slowness of the f4.0 kept me from utilizing that lens with the Mark III unless lighting was sufficient. This will all change with the Mark IV as ISO 6400 is just fine using a f4.0 lens in my conditions.

Keep in mind that everyone needs to decide how a camera is to be used, under what conditions and it is naive to think that an investment in current glass won't influence a decision to stay or leave any brand of camera. I am heavily invested in Canon glass and all of them are L series lenses. I find that the color and sharpness of L series lenses are worth the investment, especially since I purchase most of them on the used market. There are folks who love to go back and forth on brand, pixel snooping, stats, etc. in hopes of proving themselves 'right.' I am NOT one of those people. To me a mediocre/poor/boring image is the same whether you take it with film, a full frame DSLR or medium format camera. (BTW, I'm not sure why 35mm is considered FF anyway. I consider 2.25x2.25 my idea of full frame!) My personal opinion is those who often argue ad naseum about camera stats take the lousy or boring pictures anyway.

I have NOT been able to use the camera in high movement, low light performance photography as I write this. My first opportunity for that comes this weekend. It will also be the first time I have the chance to shoot with two separate cameras with different lenses attached. That will give me a good, but not scientific comparison of the cameras, but more important for me is whether keeping both is worth the effort. I will decide if the Mark III gets a new home or not.

My advice is to base your hard earned purchasing dollars on what is right for your situation. My Mark III has performed well in the past and I'm confident after some of my own testing that the Mark IV is even better. Time will tell and as I gain more experience shooting with this new tool, I may add my insights here in the future. Best of luck with your own shooting!

UPDATE January 9 2010

Today I had my first opportunity to shoot in low light with the Mark IV. Although it was NOT as high movement/low light as I am accustomed, it was a very good initial test. I shot a choral group with musicians, so movement was nice and slow, except for the conductor. It was also the first time I was able to use two camera bodies without switching lenses. On the Mark III, I used a EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS and on the Mark IV, I utilized the EF 24-105 f4.0 L IS. This focal range allowed me to cover all that was necessary. Obviously I used the f4.0 on the Mark IV because of its higher ISO range and noise performance.

I want to say that it will take some adjustments moving to the Mark IV. As I reviewed some images from other photographers using the Mark IV prior to receiving my own camera I had no idea what conditions the photographer's lighting conditions presented. I can say that because of the new sensor and ISO performance, it makes scenes appear MUCH more well lit than I experience with my human eye. In the past I have run -1/3 to -2/3 EV when using my Mark III to prevent blow out in highlights even using Highlight Tone Priority. Tonight I set both cameras on 0 EV to compare. The Mark IV presents a brighter image, about 1/3 stop brighter than the Mark III.

Because this was not a paid gig, I took more chances with the imagery than had it been for pay. I found that in camera Noise reduction of 1 Low suits my taste much better than -0 Standard in the Custom Settings function. There is a different quality to the noise produced at Standard over Low. I prefer Canon's Low setting, but your preference may differ. The highest I found it necessary to set the ISO tonight was at 10,000. Upon examining the images on my monitor, there is the most noise in the subtle shadow areas around the subject's chin and lower neck. This is normal in my experience along with noise in large solid color backgrounds. But the noise at 10,000 is easily much better than the Mark III at ISO 6400. In addition the detail that remains at 10,000 eclipses the detail, or lack of detail in the Mark III at 6400. I measure my detail in the hairline wrinkles around the eyes and in the forehead of my subjects. The Mark IV sustained those details where the Mark III at 2/3 stops lower ISO did not.

Also the noise produced by the Mark IV is more chroma than luminance. In my workflow, chroma noise is MUCH easier to reduce than luminance noise. The dynamic range of the Mark IV in terms of color is FAR superior to the Mark III, but I attribute this to a new sensor and new processors. Camera bodies are really just like computers, as soon as they come out they immediately begin to become obsolete. The color and white balance are MUCH better than my Mark III. It still takes some adjustment, but much less than the III.

The automatic focus point association between landscape and portrait is a God send! Also the Mark IV takes advantage of UDMA card speed. I purchased a 32gb Sandisk Extreme CF card for the Mark IV and it's rated at 60mb per second. In shooting RAW burst, the ability of the Mark IV to write to the card after the buffer is full is easily three times as fast as the Mark III, but to be fair the III doesn't have UDMA capability.

So far so good. I plan to keep my Mark III simply because shooting with two cameras with different focal length lenses is the only way to go for my work. At some point I will replace the Mark III with another IV, but that will take time and a few more clients. It will be interesting to see how the images look at high ISO in large format, which much of my work is used as with clients. I'm happy with my choice so far and anticipate that more work in my normal venues will continue to show favorable results.

My issue is now how to build up my neck to support two 1D bodies with a 70-200 on one and a 24-105 on the other! When I use my 28-70 in place of the 24-105 it's going to be a real pain!

FINAL UPDATE: January 17 2010

Tonight I had my first opportunity to shoot a theatrical performance with the IV. I can only say that Auto ISO along with AI Servo will change how I shoot theatre. The settings I used tonight were Highlight Priority On, AI Servo, single shot, Auto ISO, ISO range L to 12800. The lenses I used tonight were the EF 24-105 f4 L IS and the EF 70-200 f2.8 L IS. Anticipation is such a major part of theatrical shooting, waiting for just the right expression, gesture and moment. I was able to capture images tonight with a clarity that I have not experienced with my Mark III. Auto ISO constrained within the parameters I wanted left me free to concentrate entirely on capturing the moment while retaining a speed proportionate to the focal length. By freeing me up from keeping an eye on the shutter speed, which was set by the Auto ISO, I was able to compose my shots more accurately. Using AI Servo for my focusing also allowed me to follow the subject and keep them in focus just before pressing the shutter. I watched and anticipated their expressions like never before.

The ISO varied between a low of 800 in very good stage lighting to a high of 12800 in those scenes where it was too dark for me to know the actor's expression. I ran an EV value between -.33 to -1.0 to compensate for harsh spot lighting, so common in stage work. In those cases where the shot was very dark, where the actor's face was shaded in a very dark manner, ISO 12800's noise is very visible, but not to the point where a noise processor will bring the image back to usefulness. In those cases where light is medium, I will NOT have to use noise reduction post processing for printed images in large format.

So with my last entry I will simply say that I am pleased to have made an investment in the new Mark IV. It surpasses my Mark III in a way that will now allow me to press the limits of my ability to capture even more compelling imagery. And in my work, an image that moves the viewer is one I'm proud to produce, regardless of the equipment. The Mark IV will certainly push my own skill limits in a way I'm happy to undertake. It's a tool that will help expand the level of my own creative process.

Best of luck to all of you in whatever you decide to purchase and shoot. It's time for me to get back to work.

UPDATE February 28 2010

I'm not sure how many of you who own the Mark IV have upgraded your firmware to 1.0.6, but if you haven't, I would recommend the update. Although Canon has not released specifics about the update I can tell you that from personal experience, it helps to track objects that pause for 1-2 seconds before moving. Prior to the update I noticed that when a performer paused, the AI Servo mode hunted a bit attempting to stay on the same trajectory as the subject's last known movement. With 1.0.6, that pause causes the camera to hunt much less than before. I have now had the chance to use the Mark IV in two live theatrical performances, one publicity shoot, low light street shooting and one wedding. (My gawd I hate it when I get coerced into shooting the occasional wedding, but when my regular clients 'ask' what is a guy to do?) and the image quality along with high ISO performance is remarkable. In real world applications ISO up to 10000 is very usable for print in large format.

In addition, having studied Canon's guide for AI Servo and High ISO usage is necessary in order to customize the camera for specific applications. I highly recommend reviewing the material. You can download the PDF from Canon Rumors at this link:

You'll have to scroll down a bit for the link to the PDF.

UPDATE May 4 2010 Noise performance with Adobe Photoshop CS5

Having used this rig for quite some time now in various low light/high movement situations I wanted to comment that I have avoided the use of the higher range of ISO, specifically H1, 2 and 3. In those cases where I wished to reduce the noise levels in post processing taken at ISO 12800 I had used Noise Ninja with good results. I recently purchased Adobe's new Photoshop CS5 and decided to process some images taken at H1 and H2 through their Camera RAW noise reduction scheme.

Obviously the quality of light has a large bearing on the amount of noise in any high ISO image. But I can say that using the new Camera RAW noise reduction in CS5 now allows me to use both H1 and H2 ISO on many more 'non emergency' situations. In the past Noise Ninja did not yield acceptable results at H1 or 2, blurring the detail beyond my acceptance level. CS5 removes that obstacle and I now find that shots taken at H1 (ISO 25600) are VERY useful both in print and on the web. H2 at 51200 are also useful when run through the noise reduction program. Yes, there is noise and if one is expecting a very low level of noise I would recommend you NOT venture into those ranges. But if like me you are sometimes REQUIRED to get a shot that captures the moment in more than acceptable fashion, I highly recommend the use of CS5's Camera RAW noise reduction with the Mark IV. It is a combination that has allowed me to capture and produce imagery like never before.

(Edited to fix my poor grammar and reword a few things to be more clear)

The 1D mk III was my first 1-series body. Before that I had, in reverse order, a 5D, a 20D, and 300D. Each step along the way was nicer and nicer. I couldn't imagine a better camera than my 1D mk III, but now I have it.

Over time (mostly through reading about the camera) I learned that my mk III had poor autofocus. I had an early version with the defect, but also because the mk III apparently did not live up to the autofocus of the 1D mk IIn. I had the defect fixed, and my auto focus was better, but still not as good, or so I had read, as the mk IIn autofocus. I can attest that I certainly felt frustrated with the mk III autofocus on a regular basis.

I haven't been to a sporting event yet, so I can't speak to that kind of focusing, but in good light with a stationary subject my gut feeling is that, yes, focusing is better in the mk IV than it was in the mk III. I can also attest that in near darkness conditions, such as when I can't even see my subject (and a 1.2 lens), the autofocus is astounding. Astounding there is relative; in this case I mean it often acquires focus, which is quite a feat in near total darkness.

This camera is 16MP instead of 10MP, but so far I haven't noticed much of a different in quality from the smaller photosites. Canon said the microlenses were an improvement, and I'm quite willing to believe them.

My ReallyRightStuff L-bracket from my mk III fits perfectly, which is a nice bonus. It uses the same batteries as my mk III was well. The mk IV doesn't come with a wall adapter like the mk III did, but I have a mk III so it wasn't a terrible loss for me.

The battery life is supposedly down with the larger sensor. Canon claims something like 1200 shots I think, while the mk III supposedly got 1900. I know I usually got 7000 per battery if I drained a battery over a few months, or about 12000 if I shot a major event in a single day. While the battery performance still seems good (I didn't start with a fresh battery, and I've been out in the cold a lot with it), it is definitely not as long-lived as in a mk III body. The battery smart-logic only understand shutters, and doesn't keep track of video, so shooting movies will play havok with matching up a shot count to the battery life.

The aesthetics of the menu system are much improved. It is basically the same menus as the mk III, but they feel more polished now.

The high iso is, well, high. I won't lie to you: at H3 you get something barely above garbage out of the camera; but you get something! It's absolutely astounding to be able to shoot in that much darkness. H2 is pretty bad, and H1 is kind of all-right. And I haven't found anything that needed any of the H modes; 12800 has been more than adequate for playing around in. I'm quite happy with the exended ISO, and noise at that level is something I expect. The camera can be pushed further with H3 than I even pushed B&W film, and the results are quite good for the circumstances.

When you stick to ISO 12800 or lower the results are quite spectacular. My gut feeling was that 12800 is about as good as 3200 on the 1D mk III, but I hadn't specifically compared them to see. I've uploaded a comparison picture to Amazon showing two shots that compare the ISO. The mk IV 12800 definitely seems to be better than the mk III H1 (6400).

I like the new rotation-selectable AF points. I like the new corner brightening options.

The video I've barely played with. Auto focus in video sucks, so you need to manual focus. The lack of a level control on audio-in is a serious deficiency. The video does look good though. I've barely played with it though, and I've never owned a video camera (I've only owned a film-based movie camera), so I'm not sure what I can say about it. I do know that it takes a long time to upload a minute of Full HD to YouTube.

I guess that is all I can think of at the moment.

I like my new camera.

Buy Canon EOS 1D Mark IV 16.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 1080p HD Video (Body Only) Now

I have been a Canon shooter for a while now but seriously considered jumping to Nikon with the release of the D3. I stuck it out with my 1D3 which, despite the negative reviews, performed exceptionally well for me.

When the D3S released it was all I could do to resist hitting the "buy" button. I wanted to see what the 1D4 specs looked like before I made my mind up to either stay with Canon or do like many other Canon pro body shooters and make the switch to Nikon.

The 1D4 released and I liked the specs, so I bought the camera. I was one of the first in the US to get my hands on a 1D4, I received mine at the end of January when the first few bodies landed. I've been shooting with it for a month now and I can say, it's an amazing body.

AF:

The autofocus system is noticeably superior to the 1D3's, which was outstanding to begin with. My 1D3 didn't have the sub-mirror problem that plagued other users, so in that respect I was lucky. My 1D3 had its quirks, like losing focus on subjects rapidly approaching or not really doing so well in very low light. The 1D4 not only remedies these quirks of the 1D3, it goes even further and takes an already great body and makes it exceptional. I've shot basketball games in dimly lit stadiums, I've shot outdoor (albeit winter) sports, I've shot birds, I've shot in studio and each and every time I'm impressed with the 1D4's performance.

ISO:

The high ISO is good, but not what I had hoped. I mean, with a little noise reduction in post processing I can easily get beautiful images at ISO 12800. Anything past 12800 and the images are for the most part unusable. There is some chroma noise at ISO 6400 and above, but the luminance noise is more noticeable. Despite having some grain to the 6400+ images there is amazing detail in the high ISO images. They clean up very nicely and produce print quality work. It is about 1 stop better performance than my 1D3, which is good. It's about even with my 5D2 with the slight advantage going to the 5D2. But the fact that it's close is amazing.

Controls:

I really like the new features like being able to register two different AF points based on camera orientation. I also like being able to have two AF points registered for each orientation. I can select two points in the horizontal position for example and while shooting hit the AE Lock button and toggle between them instantly. This is very helpful when shooting sports and other events. The ability to use the joystick to quickly select a new AF point is also a nice touch, one that I use often. The lack of a video button seems a bit odd (such as the one found on the 7D) but I don't really use the video function on DSLR's, so this is a moot point for me. Aside from a few under the hood changes, the controls are quite similar to the 1D3 cosmetically, something that's kind of comforting to long time 1D shooters.

Auto ISO:

This feature finally made it to the 1 series and I LOVE IT. I've never worried about Auto ISO in the past, mostly because Canon never really offered a solid implementation. I've been using it on my 1D4 and all I can say is "nice job!" It's very useful.

Overall:

I would say that the 1D4 is more of a 1D3n release. True, it does have a totally new 39 point cross-type sensor AF system and a vastly improved LCD screen along with some other tweaks, but nothing really all that different from the 1D3 that it replaces. I am very happy with the upgrade from the 1D3 to the 1D4 and would make the purchase again. It's a very solid system.

Read Best Reviews of Canon EOS 1D Mark IV 16.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 1080p HD Video (Body Only) Here

I've had the pleasure of using a pre-production 1D Mark IV for several weeks now, and I barely use my 5D Mark II anymore. As a photojournalist, this camera does everything I need it to -most important for me:

Low noise high ISO. I have no fear whatsoever going to ISO 12,800. Images are still sharp and have good color. No ugly lines at all. Perfect for shooting sports in stadium with crappy light (see link below).

Better autofocus, especially in low light. With any camera I've used before, autofocus on low light was terrible. It's still not great, but it's a lot better.

10 FPS, with a large buffer. With a fast card (60 MB/s or higher), you can lay on the shutter for several seconds on highest quality before it starts to lag.

Compared to the 5D Mark II, this thing is built like a beast. I've banged it around a lot and it still looks brand new.

Here are a couple galleries shot entirely with the Mark IV. I believe the ISO for the first one is 5,000 and the second is 4,000:

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Mark Kitaoka pretty much nailed it with his detailed review, but I figured I'd add some of my own experiences and opinions as well.

I've shot with a 5D Mark II and a 50D but this is my first foray into OWNING a 1D series camera (I've shot with them before, but I was always borrowing them and never really got to really know one inside and out). The first thing that owners of anything but the 1D series will notice is the build quality. As solid as the 7D and 5D and even 50D series might feel, the 1D cameras are just in another league. Button layout is very intuitive I found myself easily able to adjust everything I need while looking through the viewfinder, and quickly at that. Switching to video is also seamless you can set it to switch to recording with a single button push instantly not only switching to video mode, but starting recording at the same time. Video quality is astounding.

What most impressed me, though, was being able to shoot a basketball game with shutter speeds up to 1/4000th of a second with ambient gym lighting and get good results. Being able to shoot at ISO's of 10,000 and above with good results gives you incredible freedom to crank the shutter speed up and capture every aspect of the action freezing action as never before with indoor sports.

The following shot was taken at ISO 12800:

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Noise is visible in dark areas, but I'll take an image with that noise level all day for the ability to shoot at the shutter speeds that shot was taken at.

Here's an example of ISO 5000:

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The lack of noise in that image is, in my opinion, phenomenal for that ISO.

To the person who thinks this camera is completely unwarranted for your current 'level' of photography, I'd encourage you to reconsider if price isn't the issue. The blazing fast AF, improved AI servo performance, video, and high ISO performance will open up completely new areas of photography to you. I know people who can afford this camera and have chosen not to get it simply because they felt it was just beyond what they needed. That may be the case, but if you feel like spoiling yourself, this is one purchase you won't regret. I love this camera and cannot wait to shoot a wedding with it.

ePhoto LED Panel External Monitor AA Battery Box for Sony Battery NPF, NP Battery

I have bought this to be used with Z-Flash by F&V.

Unfortunately the battery was not making contact with my light.

From the Z-Flash contact to my battery contacts was a gap of 2-3 mm.

I have managed to make an adaptation. The metal contacts was pushed forward using 2 x pieces of plastic sticked with superglue.

The opening system for the AA batteries has a poor design.

First of all it's hard to open. There are 2 thin pieces of plastic holding the cap.

Second of all you have a big chance to breake it next time.

Wold I recommend this to a friend ? NO.

Does the job ? Yes if you are willing to perform the mentioned changes.

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Samsung EC-SH100 Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 14 MP, 5x Optical Zoom and Touchscreen (Silver)

I just got this camera today it is easy to use and navagate. The touchscreen works well with fingers as wellas the included stylus (i put it on the hand strap for easy access) The stylus works good when logging into facebook, youtube, photobucket and the many other available places to share your photos. I uploaded a picture to facebook with relative ease.I liked the auto backup too, you can backup your pictures to a Pc without connecting the camera to the Pc (awesome!!)The picture quality is great too!The video mode supports HD 720p i havent tried it yet but its HD! I suggest this camera to anyone looking for an easy to use point and click camera with some kick ass extras like the ability to touch up / edit photos before u send them on their way to FB or wherever you send them!

I bought this camera and used it extensively on a two week trip to Europe. Overall I am happy with it, it took great pictures and was pretty easy to use.

I LOVE the fact that you can charge the battery without taking it out of the camera (Like the way you charge a cell phone). No need for a separate charger, so one less piece of gear to lug around. The benefit of this also means you can charge it on an as-needed basis (I charged it through the power outlet in the rental car I was driving). This was the key feature that drove my purchase decision, and its strange that it doesn't get mentioned much in the marketing literature since it's a major advantage over the competition.

The touch screen interface is a disappointment though. If you are used to a smart phone type touch screen then this screen will seem slow and clunky. It feels more like a PDA from 2004 than a smart phone from 2011. Also, putting all the controls on the touch screen makes for some usability issues. I would prefer to see physical buttons for commonly used operations like turning the flash on and off. A camera is a dedicated device so should be optimized for common photography use cases.

The wireless connectivity was pretty cool, but again suffered usability issues. Connecting to wireless networks was a pain with the clunky touch screen. This is a long way from an iPhone or Android OS. Also, there doesn't seem to be any control over the name of the album or the subject of the facebook post. The wireless connectivity is is a very cool idea, but it still has some way to go before being truly compelling.

At the end of the day I think my money was well spent. Samsung is on to a good thing and I hope they continue evolving this product line.

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I just received my SH100 today, so I won't try to do a full in-depth review. However, in the hours that I've played with it I can already tell that there are quite a few 'quirks' that seriously hinder an otherwise great camera.

First, the camera comes with a touchscreen interface for most of the functions. Sadly, it also comes with a stylus which, in my experience, isn't optional to use in many situations (such as typing) at least with my large fingers. Even worse there isn't a place to store the stylus within the camera itself. Instead, it clips and hangs awkwardly from the lanyard. While a generally small nuisance (and perhaps a non-issue for those with smaller fingers), it would have been much nicer if the screen was sensitive enough to work via touch or there were discreet navigation buttons.

The biggest issue for me, however, has to be the software running on the camera. The UI isn't very pretty and is awkwardly organized. It feels very hastily thrown together. Again, this is a minor disappointment, but something that should have been easy to fix. Unfortunately, that isn't all. The software is also quite buggy! I had found several issues within the first few minutes (where was the QC?!) which took hours to resolve. For one thing, logging in to Picasa was a real pain as there were issues with the software recognizing both my email address AND password. The login for Picasa should be the same as my Google login. However, my account is associated with several email addresses and only one of them was accepted for some reason (and it wasn't my normal gmail.com account, it was a tertiary address I rarely use). Even worse there's a serious bug in the password handling that prevents it from recognizing a password with any special characters! As best I can tell, only numbers and letters will work as they should. If you enter a password with a special character the password will not be accepted. This was a real problem for me as I did not want to change my password (I use many different Google services across many devices, and changing the login credentials on all of them would be a real headache!) Fortunately, I discovered an undocumented workaround/hack. If you change special characters to URL encoding (so pa$$word becomes pa%24%24word) it will work (even though it really shouldn't!) Unfortunately, this seems to prevent the password from being stored properly (only characters up to the first % are stored!). So far I have only tried logging in to the Picasa service, but I suspect these issues are present in all password fields and may well extend to user names, etc.

To be fair, the camera has some really great features and it takes very nice pictures for the price. In fact, it really could be an AMAZING camera if they ever get the software straightened out. Unfortunately, until new firmware is released, this camera has fallen fairly short of its potential.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung EC-SH100 Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 14 MP, 5x Optical Zoom and Touchscreen (Silver) Here

I bought this camera based on the Engadget recommendation, because the camera records video in H.264 instead of the horribly inefficient motion JPEG, and for the cool WiFi feature. When it arrived I was impressed at how small it is but the menu system seemed to crash a lot or become unresponsive.

It turns out this camera has a firmware update from July 29, 2011. I wasn't able to upgrade the firmware with the included (on the camera's internal storage) software; you should try to do it that way, but instead, I copied the contents of the firmware .zip to the root of the Micro SD card. After upgrading the firmware the camera's menu system is much more usable.

Pros: Compact size, H.264 movie mode, never have to plug it into the computer to get the photos off due to the WiFi, large, bright touchscreen

Cons: Flash takes 5-10 seconds to charge after taking a photo, works best in outdoor light, doesn't use a standard USB cable

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My pretty daughter was looking for a little camera to take on her DC trip and obviously my big SLR was out of question. So we went to a store to do some shopping. I left her alone for a few mins and asked her to find something she likes. When I got back she said she chose this camera. Well, I told her she'd better check out Canons or Nikons because they are great cameras and who knows about Samsung. But I really got puzzled because I just couldn't convince her they are better. And after some thinking we ended up buying this Samsung camera.

This camera is really special for 2 reasons.

First is touchscreen. These days touch is the de-facto standard interface for mobile devices, so once you've tried a touchscreen camera it feels natural and going through menues with buttons really feels awkward. At one moment the Canon and Nikon menus became annoying. Yes, there is a stylus mostly for virtual keyboard but you can really get by with just fingers most of the times. So touchscreen does make big difference.

Second is connectivity. The camera comes with Wi-Fi and it has built-in software to post pictures on facebook and some other popular services. And you can upload pictures wirelessly to your computer. No cables. This is a big deal.

So is this camera a sure buy? Well, it's a bit more compicated. This camera is really trying to be a compromise between a "real" camera and a smart phone. In a "real" cameras land this camera is good but not the best. There are competitors out there with slightly better specs (like 1080HD instead of 720HD etc) but arguably you'll unlikely to notice a significant difference any "pro" camera needs at least a bigger lense and heavier weight to capture a better image to begin with.

Basically if you really like touchscreen and wireless you should seriously think if you'd rather buy a good smart phone. Yes, I can't think of any smartphone with 14MP, 5x Zoom, a 720p HD and a "real" flash, but does it justify carrying two devices? My daughter was saying that this is a big trip and she wants to capture the lifetime moments and she ended up with a smartphone and this camera (so hard to say no to an adorable daughter ...) but when we looked at the pictures she brought back, they are not really much different from her smartphone ones. So yes, with some skills you can do miracles with the camera but for most ordinary people and real life shots the results will be about the same. I mean you're unlikely to print a huge poster and a typical computer screen has

Sekonic Corporation 401-478CCPP LITEMASTER PRO L-478D with X-Rite ColorChecker Passport and Gray Ba

The software that comes with the light meter blows. Setting up a profile without using Lightroom was a pain. I am an avid Photoshop fan and feel like I cheated myself with setting it up by the directions. I am still not sure I have it setup correctly either as I feel the in camera metering is doing a better job. The passport does work awesome with the Lightroom profile thought. I am sure once I get the hang of setting up the profiles i will like it more, but this is a much different meter than any other I have had.

I just started using this light meter and I found it easy to use. I was able to produce some very nice shots using its metering.

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I was a little skeptical about the all LCD display, but it is really nice. There's something to be said for the touch screen. It let's you have a large display and all the control you need. You don't have to share the face of the device with a display and a bunch of buttons.

I have yet to calibrate it to my camera...perhaps a project for the weekend...

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Meter: It seems to work fine, I'll give it that much but if has a very very cheap feel to it! maybe it'll last maybe it won't but it sure feels cheap! If it weren't for the easy to read and work display (it is very simple to use and easy to read. All the information is there on the screen at one time), I would consider the non-touch screen models as they seem to be built more ruggedly.

Color checker: The amount they charge for this little color grid thing is crazy. It does not come with the CD. You can download it but it is almost a 200MB file! With my internet that would take days. The description is misleading as it clearly states "Internet connection required for software update". No mention of you needing to download the software. I've contacted the seller to confirm but have not yet received a response.

I would give the meter a 4 because it is very simple to use and easy to read just happens to feel very very cheap and since I can't confirm just yet that it will break easily, I can't give it a low rating at this time.

As for the Xrite color checker. Without even including a CD (like a dollar for them to do so?), I think its just crazy how much they charge for it. I will update later on how well it works, but for now I would give it 2 stars...

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Q-See Q25DVR4ES 4 Channel DVR with 250GB Hard Drive, Motion Detection, USB 2.0 & 4 Color Day/Night

After using this system for about 2 weeks, the saying "you get what you pay for" holds true. The DVR works as expected without any issues, and there is good flexibility in the setup for recording based on motion or time periods. Video playback through a USB port is possible too, and the DVR can connected to the LAN via a USB network hub for reviewing the video on a computer. The camera performance at night is limited to a usable 10-15 feet because of the limited number of LED's. The camera performance is rated 1.5 Lux and 380 lines of resolution which is better suited for indoor security because of the limited range and resolution. I upgraded 2 cameras to have 480 lines and 0.1 Lux for the exterior views with a great improvement in image quality. If anyone thinks buying a entry level system like this will duplicate the performance of systems costing 2 to 3 times more, they will be disappointed. If I had to do it again, I would do more research and work with a vendor to buy upgraded cameras and get the LAN port for remote monitoring. However this starter system will suit my needs until I get the mega-house with the $3K video security system.

Ive had this unit for 1 day. the discription says night vision up to 30 ft. try 10ft maxx, after that, almost total darkness. I need to see whats going on not only day but night even more . daylight the cameras are ok, sending the unit back, disapointed....

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Premium Canon Mini HDMI cable (10 ft)

With many HDMI cables costing well over $50, I was very happy to see this one reasonably priced. The cable came promptly in the mail and does just what it is supposed to do. I am enjoying my 15.1 megapixel pictures from my Canon EOS in full HD 1080p on my 40" LCD flat screen.

Works perfectly at 1080p HD and in all other Canon EOS 7d modes. Costs less than 1/4 the price of the Canon equivalent. Expensive "high end" cables are a scam. It would be crazy to pay more. Tip: If you have never tried displaying your HD video or stills on an HD TV through an HDMI input, you will be shocked by the magnificent quality. Absolutely no comparison to the lousy pictures you got with the old analog inputs.

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Canon wanted $70 for a similar cable, but I bought this cable for my Canon Rebel T1 digital SLR at this remarkable price. The cable is spectacular and my images and videos are very clear. The standard analog cable that was included with the Rebel is disappointing and there is a night and day difference between a digital signal and an analog signal. I'm very pleased with my purchase.

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Looks like this cable will do the job I need, but be aware:

The cable I received is 6' 7" long (2 meters), not 10' (3 meters) as described. The label on the bag it came in also says (incorrectly) 10'. I have no problem with that, but someone needing that extra 1 meter will be disgruntled.

The description implies it's a Canon-branded cable. It's not, but construction seems good-quality and it works fine. The description also does not make clear the cable has one mini-HDMI plug and one standard-HDMI, though the photo is accurate and a sharp eye can spot the ends.

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This cable works as advertised. Please do not pay more than what I paid for another brand. It works, paying more will not give you better results

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