
Friday, October 31, 2014
Nikon D5200 Digital SLR Camera & 18-55mm G VR DX AF-S Zoom Lens (Red) with 55-200mm VR Lens + 6

Monday, October 20, 2014
Panasonic PV-L750 VHS-C Camcorder

Overall picture quality is exceptionally good for VHS. I shoot with a digital video camera at work, and under the best conditions the PV-L750 looks comparable. As can be expected, when conditions are not perfect (available light, extreme backlight, strong colors, etc., the picture degrades significantly compared to digital). Ease of use is unparalleled. If you are not technical and just want to "point and shoot" this is the camera for you. Attach the battery and you will be shooting in seconds. Really! The manual is only needed for information about specific applications (like the still camera feature), and because it is VHS-C, you can be showing your first videotapes to your friends anytime, anywhere no need to hook up wires!
I purchased 750 without ever looking at one in real life. I assumed it was basically the same as my previous camera, but alas, there are differences. I really liked the 758 and on the 750 (and I assume the 759 the 1999 model) they have done what all good manufacturers do: traded the features I liked most on the 758 for features I will never use. First off, my 758 had a color EVF, the 759 and 750 have a B&W viewfinder. Granted, Panasonic adds a 4" color LCD panel (HUGE for camcorders), but I really like both, as I don't use the LCD as much as most folks. I guess my complaint here is somewhat unfounded, as a B&W viewfinder seems to be standard on all models with an LCD panel, but the feature was nice on the 758 (I guess I was spoiled).
Next, they have taken some of the features that were previously accessable by buttons on the outside of the camera and made them accessable only through on screen menus. Nice, but not as useful when shooting as pressing a button. These include the security feature, negative image, and the special effects fading. Panasonic also has deleted the "message" feature fine by me, as few people would ever use it anyway.
Well, to make up for all this, they have given the camcorder double duty as a digital still camera. This can be very useful for sending photos to relatives and friends over the net, but realize that the best resolution is 640x480 (if you don't know what that means the pictures will look fine to you). The photo software is very basic and hence easy to use, it offers a minimum ability to adjust the image (color, brightness etc.) and is quick and easy to set up. I e-mailed my first picture within five minutes of inserting the setup disk into the computer.
Also, the non digital zoom is impressive one of the best I've seen, but stay away from the 300x digital range. First you can't hold the camera steady and secondly, the picture is awful. I've found the digital zoom useful up to about 50x magnification before significant degradation occurs.
I hope all of this helps and wasn't too negative. I love Panasonic products and this one is one of the best, but I did want to let others know some of the things I saw as drawbacks. Feel free to respond if you like, I'd be interested to hear your views.some features that i think should be included that's missing, and also some complaints: 1.) there was no numeric tape counter. yes, there's a bar counter, but don't you think a numeric counter is more accurate? so that one would know exactly how many minutes he has recorded or is left of the cassette. There was a numeric counter that pops out every 10 sec when recording. But its useless since it only shows the time when the record button was last pressed. 2.) there's no numeric counter at vcr mode neither. this would also be useful for scene searches. 3.) there was no lens cover. 4.) the titling feature doesn't support custom/manual input of titles, like names, places. 5.) the camera was not ergonomically designed. it was hard to use the zoom buttons and the record button with only one hand. 6.) if i plan to use the lcd monitor as my viewfinder, i would still turn the viewfinder to use the zoom buttons, which is quite annoying. 7.) the connectors (a/v out, phone, pc, etc.) don't come with a protective cover. 8.) when in vcr mode, it would take about 10 secs to play after rewinding. 9.) there was no end search feature like that of sony's. its very useful especially if i want to view the last scenes i recorded. i will only press end search after viewing to record again. 10.) the lcd screen already had a burned out pixel when i first used it. 11.) there was no available lithium battery, which is smaller and lighter, and last longer. 12.) the photoshot incorporated was great but the pictures, when transferred to a computer, had some color spots over them.
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This is the first camcorder that I have owned. I looked around for quite a while and decided on this because it could take still pictures also. Only thing is, the pictures do not come out that great especially if you want to print them out using your home printer. They are very grainy if taken in normal view. They are a little better if taken in Fine veiw but it wears out the battery faster. If sending a photo via e-mail it works out just great. I do not recommend printing out the pictures unless you are willing to put some time into editing them using Photoshop or some other program. There is a ton features on this camcorder, but it was really easy to use. Just pop in a tape and press the record button and you are on your way to lots of home movies. It would be advisable to invest in a few accessories such as a car charger or extra battery. The one battery does not last that long especially if you are always taping using the LCD Screen. Any extra features that you use will always wear the battery down quicker. As for the remote control that came with it, I really don't use it as much as I thought I would. But I am sure glad that it came with the VHS converter. One less thing for the new Camcorder user to not have to buy after spending so much already.Read Best Reviews of Panasonic PV-L750 VHS-C Camcorder Here
This is the first VHS camera I have owned since my old shoulder mounted RCA. Having grown tired of looking like a TV news videographer, I jumped into this new and fortunately much smaller and lighter model.The main thing that attracted me to this camera was the very forthright review by Michael Lynch. He is right on with his comments. I just wanted to add, via this forum, that although the thing can do about anything a sophisticated user might want, you can just put a tape in, turn it on, hit the record button and take some excellent videos. Also, I feel the 26x zoom is worth the extra cost over the 18x zoom of the Panasonic 650L.
Oh, and one more thing..andyboy@mozcom.com...if you hated the camera that much...why didn't you just return it?
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This camera has everything you ever wanted on for this price. Built in Digital still camera with 640 x 480 resolution, 300x digital and 36x zoom, lots of efects, very easy to use.Every camera has ups an downs, the ups on the PVL-750 are: A lot of stuff in it, VHS-C format (you can view your recordings in your VCR)Digital still camera (not a lot of pixels, but it's ok for a first digital cam)Big LCD panel (4") The kit includes everything except the tripod, case and tape converter. The downs on the PVL-750: Everything you want that it dosen't has. My camera is 1 year old, and it's worknig great, i take it everywere (beach, picnic, race track, birthdays, Xmas, etc.) i have taken more than 500 pictures and have made 3 albums. The pictures don't look like a 28 or 35mm camera but with a editing program like corel or photoshop you can make them look ok. I bougth this camera because i wanted to make home movies, take pictures of my 6 month old daugther, i really didn't needed a sofisticated camera or a 8mm or hi8 format, i just wanted something to have fun, of course, i wanted also quality and low price. With this cam you can view your movies on your vhs (if you have the converter) and still be recording your camera at the same time, with 8mm or hi8 you can't do it (not with the proper equipment) with the PVL-750 all you need is and extra tape and the converter, and your on you way. Remenber if you want a camera with a lot in it, but want a affordable price this is the one. Take my word on it.
Check all the other cameras out there first, i know you'll be buying the PVL-750. Good luck and take care you all.
P.S. ANDYBOY, if your camera was defective why didn't you return it, and why you bougth it if you knew all the features in it.
Monday, August 4, 2014
PTC 20ft PREMIUM GOLD Series WHITE HDMI 1.3 CERTIFIED 24AWG CL2 rated cable for Blu-Ray, Cable and

Friday, April 25, 2014
Panasonic PV-GS9 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

My needs were simple. I wanted something palm-size, and this fits the bill. It doesn't take still digital photos, but I already have 2 digital cameras. It will, however, allow you to snap single photos on the tape, which you can transfer to PC, as opposed to a Secure Digital card that the more expensive models have. It has a USB connection, a firewire connection, and an analog audio/video connection. The cable is provided for the latter, but not the first two. You can use the USB connection to allow the camcorder to be used as a web cam, but you will need software for that. I hooked up the analog connection to a USB Pinnacle Studio USB box I have, and it worked great. My Pinnacle Studio v.8 transferred the clips on the tape. You can save to CD or to your PC. I then tried a firewire cable connected to my laptop. Instantly, Windows Movie Maker opened up and automatically rewound the tape, then it transferred the movie, and allowed me to edit it, and save it as a WMV file. I use WinXP, which requires nothing else to work. You will need to download some drivers if you have Windows 98.
I have not tried the connection to the TV yet, but will soon. It works great in low light situations. It has a stereo zoom microphone. I could not hear any motor noise in my playback on the PC. Sound was crisp and clear, and the full screen video was crystal clear and very sharp. Depending on how hard you touch the zoom button, you can make the picture zoom in as slow or as fast as you want.
It comes with no editing software or cables, except for the AV cable. But then I didn't need anything extra, as I already had all the hardware and software I needed. It does not come with any digital tapes, so you will have to buy those. It comes with a Li-Ion battery and charger, and a cable to allow you to use the camcorder while plugged into the charger. In fact it is suggested you do that while hooked up to the PC to prevent battery drainage. Battery charging is very quick. The manual has 82 pages, is for this model and three other models, and is packed with information; and for my age, I need reading glasses to see all the small print and illustrations. It has Image Stabilization, but no remote control. The 2.5 inch digital viewfinder is very clear and easy to see, even with these "aged" eyes. The camcorder has an easy to use menu button, which is accessible when the digital viewfinder is opened.
For my needs, it is perfect. I love it, am very happy with it, and expect to get a lot of use out of it. Even with the tiny print in the manual, I still give it all 5's.Hi! Just wanted to let others know out there that after reading the reviews left on Amazon I was a bit leary about getting the accesories for this camcorder given to me as a gift. However, I called the phone number in the manual and immediately had the cable and software shipped to me. I had no problems getting through on the phone or recieving the accesories. Just an F.Y.I. for others who might read the previous reviews regarding accesories and make their decision from them, they weren't that expensive (under $20 for both) and worth it if you are trying to get good use out of a nice camcorder for a minimal price.
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I was looking for a simple, low cost digital camcorder. This fits the bill. There are a bunch of interesting effects built in, none of which I'll ever use because I plan to edit video in iMovie on my Macintosh and output to DVD using iDVD. For $350, it did the job straight out of the box.Read Best Reviews of Panasonic PV-GS9 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Here
I have just finished recording my first videotape with the Panasonic PV-GS9 and would like to make the following comments.First, the camcorder is easy to use and is a basically a point and shoot camcorder.
For the more discriminating users I would like to point out some of the shortcomings of the camera.
1) I have found that the automatic focus is quite slow sometimes and sometimes would not work at all. I was photographing some hummingbirds up close and the camera would not focus on the feeder maybe because the color was white.
2) Dark subjects came out overexposed rather than rendering the intense colors one would like to have gotten.
3) Panasonic does not provide the software or cable to download to one's computer and it has been a real bitch trying to get the folks to respond to e-mail. I currently have three e-mails out to the service folks trying to find out how I might get the software. I received an answer to one e-mail directing me to a site where I could download the software but when I got there the link was a dead link. I have written three times about this and no one has answered my e-mails. Additionally, the e-mail with the dead link stated that the cable for downloading the movies to the computer "...is currently on back order with the factory for 4-6 weeks."
I cannot imagine what one might do if something goes wrong with the camcorder.
Despite the negatives I love the fact that I can get close up shots of birds from a safe distance without disturbing the birds and the camera will focus almost right at the edge of the lens. One could do close ups of ants if he wanted to. One really needs a tripod for the extended zooming range. You cannot hold this camera still at the 50X digital zoom.
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I bought this camera, hooked up the firewire and loaded movies into MovieMaker on WindowsXP a couple of times. Then, I tried to use it and it did nothing. I tried other cables, other firewire devices, and determined the problem was in the camera, so I returned it. Amazon was great about the return and sent me a new one and the same thing happened. The firewire worked a few times and then did nothing. I even tried it hooked up to another computer this time with no results.I found a piece of paper tucked in the instructions saying that you must turn off your PC and camera, connect in a certain order and then turn them on or else the camera may be damaged. Are they serious? They expect me to shut down my PC and restart everytime I want to load video from this camera? I sure wouldn't recommend this camera.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH10 16.1 MP Compact Digital Camera with 8x Intelligent Zoom (Pink)

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Regarding THE LUMIX FH10Instructions on the small chip you insert in the adapter card are not clear at all. What is its purpose, when do you take it out,etc.
It would have been very helpful to have included a picture showing all the steps and benefits of using this chip.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Tripp Lite P568-100 HDMI Gold Digital Video Cable HDMI M/M - 100 feet

I have to say I was surprised by how little signal loss and interference there was on these cables, given that the cable itself is relatively thin, so I expected to have shielding problems, but that has not been the case at all.
I highly recommend this cable. Great value and great performance.This 100 Foot HDMI cable does everything I wanted. There was almost no signal loss even in 100 feet. I did install a signal amplifier, which I had already ordered, but I really did not need it.
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The cable works very well. The picture it transmits is very clear. I actually ordered two cables, but only needed one. I had no problems returning the unused cable, and my charge account was credited very quickly.Read Best Reviews of Tripp Lite P568-100 HDMI Gold Digital Video Cable HDMI M/M - 100 feet Here
The cable works very well. The picture it transmits is very clear. This 100 Foot HDMI cable does everything I wantedWant Tripp Lite P568-100 HDMI Gold Digital Video Cable HDMI M/M - 100 feet Discount?
I bought this item for my new home. We installed it under the wall and closed all the wall, then we notice that it doesn't work. My TV showas red spots all over the screen. Now what can we do? I cannot return it because it is under the wall and I cannot use my TV.Friday, January 31, 2014
Canon Video Cable VC-100 for Digital Cameras 4564A001

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An invaluable part of my camera bag. Never leave home without it. Never know when you will want to slideshow your images on a huge wide screen!Read Best Reviews of Canon Video Cable VC-100 for Digital Cameras 4564A001 Here
This is the cable that came with my Canon XSi DSLR needed to view your photos on a TV Screen. This cable worked just like the original and there were no problems and the fit and finish was excellent. Pricey at $8.00 ea but recommended.Want Canon Video Cable VC-100 for Digital Cameras 4564A001 Discount?
This display is very mis-leading. Looking at the picture, it's an audio/video cable. That's what I wanted. AFTER I paid for it, I saw the wording saying it was a video cable (only). I was pissed. The picture depicts an audio/video cable!!!Sunday, January 5, 2014
15 Inch Hi-Res Digital Photo Frame with 4GB Flash Memory - Perfect for Your Home or as Advertising

Very stylish looking too.
You won't be disappointed.Screen is bright and crisp, but suffers from limited viewing angle. But the hardware is not the issue. As others have noted, "random" slideshows are not really random and exclusively display only the older pictures in your set. Transitions are also irregular and can become quite long. My theory is that the unit assumes all pictures it will encounter will have the same JPEG properties (compression etc) as the first one it happens to open. When it finds pictures that do not conform, it can't open them, and thus hangs on the current picture for more time until it finds another picture it can open. Finally, since even in random mode it ALWAYS starts with the exact same picture, it always initiates with the same JPEG settings. This may be right or wrong as to the reason for the unit's behavior, but accurately describes the net results: some pictures are on for 3 seconds (or however long you set the delay), while others are on for long enough to become quite annoying (10 30 seconds). In a large group of pictures, the sequence is obviously non-random and the unit completely fails to display the more recent shots (even after leaving it running all night, dividing up pictures among different sub-directories, writing them to the internal storage in different orders etc you get the picture, I put in some time and effort and tried everything I could think of to work around the issues and make this thing behave like it should).
Another issue is the auto on/off functions. You can set it to turn on at a set time, and off again later. I try to conserve energy so this is important to me and I do not want it running when no one is around to see it. It can only run on the same schedule every day though, no weekdays vs. weekends etc, and only one on and off event per day. Other digital picture frames I have seen support more detailed scheduling with the ability to run mornings and evenings but turn off in the middle of the day or use a different schedule on weekends, and this thing has calendar and clock functions so it has the hardware capability they just chose not to make very good use of it.
Returned it. With a firmware update to address these problems, it could be a pretty good product, but I am not keeping it "at risk" as to whether Nix gets off its duff and issues one. Failing to display any recent pictures is kind of an important defect for a product whose entire raison d'etre is displaying pictures.
Wish I could point you to a better frame in this size range, but thus far I have not found one. Ironically, the smaller, less expensive frames (e.g. Pandigital) seem to be much more polished products than the larger ones.I'm actually unimpressed with this unit. And disappointed as well. The picture is quite grainy and I have the correct settings chosen and am using 5mp images that are the same size format as the screen. The remote control takes some effort to use. Have to push buttons multiple times to get the unit to respond. Pictures are ok but appear washed out, and there doesn't seem to be any contrast or brightness controls anywhere. I figured I'd go with the more expensive unit to get a better quality. Ehhhh. I'm unimpressed. I think it's going back. Can buy a whole small tv with a DVD player for what this costs, and just out the pictures on a DVD... Idk. Just unimpressed... Not the quality I expected.
Update 7/30.
Ok after figuring out the kind of cumbersome interface I do have to say the frame now working well. Seems easiest to just load the pictures on an sd card and just leave the card in the frame. And with the "optimum" setting chosen the pictures look really good. This frame definately has a better LCD panel than the cheaper models. It can be seen well from all angles and is nice and bright. And the 4x3 format is much better for photos than the widescreen sizes. I use a mac and found that if you click enhance in the iPhoto software the pictures look much better on the frame. The auto on/off was not working. But it started working once I discovered that in the menus you have to push enter after you make each selection, even though enter does not appear to do anything. And then you have to push exit on the remote for changes to set. So now the auto on/off seems to work. I do like the frame. Still think it was a little pricey. But the picture quality is really very good. If you are worried about your power bill. I measured the amp draw. Running the frame is the same as running a 25 watt light bulb... Would cost a couple dollars a month to run 24 x 7. I did finally find the picture controls. They are on the second screen of the setup screens. Hard to find as there is absolutely no indication in the software that hese is a page 2.Bought this photo frame as a compact way of displaying the 1,000s of images we've collected over the years. The screen display is bright with lovely colors as advertised, though back-lit faces are displayed much darker on the Nix than on my PC monitor. The unit has brightness and contrast controls but I've found it to be more effective to adjust the images on my PC to make sure faces are not in deep shadow.
The frame is constructed well and I very much appreciate that it does not have NIX in big letters on the front like one of the competing models. The instructions for the frame support say to keep pulling it out until it clicks. I never did obtain a click and it does not lock in place and I feel that if I pull on it any harder it will break. Seems cheap to me to have flimsy plastic support without a locking mechanism on one of the more expensive frames on the market. Whenever I move the frame to slide a memory card in or out, I must make sure that the support is extended. I would have gladly paid a couple of extra dollars for a sturdier support to avoid a catastrophic crash. Especially since I live in earthquake country.
The 4GB USB memory card that came with the frame is not recognized by my Dell PC although every other USB flash drive card I've ever inserted into it before and after has been accessible. So the drive that it comes with the frame has been useless for me. Luckily I have a spare SD card that I've loaded up with images for a trial run. I was able to insert the SD card in the Nix unit upside-down which I've never been able to do in any other device. It did not harm the unit but it makes me wonder about build quality.
For my purposes, the primary opportunity for improvement is in the random image selection algorithm. Every time I turn the unit on and put it into the slideshow mode the algorithm seems to start all over again and re-selects the same set of images it started with every other time I've entered the slideshow mode. I would much prefer that it start up where it was when turned off last and display images that have been selected fewer times than other images. I have now seen about 50 of the 900 images on the SD card dozens of times and the rest of them not at all. We do not want to waste energy by leaving the unit running when no one is watching it. This is quite frustrating and something for potential buyers to consider seriously as this is one of those things you just can't know about until you've tried it.
For the transitions between the images in slideshow mode, you can choose None, Random, or any one of a set of transitions to be used constantly. The one we would like to use constantly is the Fade transition. Unfortunately, it is not an elegant fade like every other slideshow software product has. It is better described as pulsating where parts of the new image overlay the existing one in steps. It gives my spouse the heebie-jeebies to look at it. The None option does exactly that and it works fine though it is abrupt. All of the other transitions are gimmicky in an elegant setting.
Sorry I cannot comment on the musicor video-playing functions since I did not purchase the unit for those features.I bought this Nix 15" digital frame as a gift for my mother's 90'th birthday. I've been loading pictures directly into the frame's memory all week. The pics are a variety of landscapes and portraits, some from my own camera card, along with a couple of dozen that were emailed to me from different relatives. Before loading them onto the frame, some had been cropped, but none had been photo shopped. All were JPEG. Also, all of them were taken in a horizontal/landscape camera position except one. I was relieved to find that I didn't have to resize any of them, but the frame did crop off the bottom of the legs of the people in the only verticle picture that I installed. The slide show is the only feature that I've used, but that is why I bought the frame. The sharpness of each picture is great, however, in a few, the colors are brighter than the natural colors. I did try to tone down the brightness (red faces and brighter clothing) using the brightness and contrast features, but it tended to make some of the other pictures look faded. I might be able to refine it more, but I haven't had the time. I'm thrilled with the overall crispness and detail of the pictures and that there are so many choices for timing the slide show (secs, minutes, or hrs between photos).
There are 5 things that I would highly recommend though:
First of all, take all of your pictures using a horizontal (landscape) perspective or try to crop them to that shape. It's possible that you might have better luck getting your vertical pictures to not get cropped by the frame if you use a USB flash drive. Secondly, if you are going to load them directly into the frame's memory, select the order that you want them to be viewed in before loading them onto the frame. If not, you cannot change the order once it's on the frame. You can delete pics or add new ones (which will show up on the end of the slide show), but can't just switch them around for better sequencing. Although, if it's important, you could delete out all of the pictures and reinstall them in the desired order or create a new file with those same pictures in a better sequence. Thirdly, the stand seems a little flimsy considering the wt of the frame. It extends out easily from the back, but when I pick up the frame, even just to move it over a bit on the table, the stand drops back down inside of the frame, leaving the frame unsupported. At first, I barely caught the frame in time because the stand closed up every time I picked it up to move it. This happened several times. I'm planning on stuffing a piece of foam rubber in back to keep the stand fully extended so that my mother won't have this problem. Fourthly, place the frame in a spot that is below eye level from where you'll view it, such as a desk, coffee table, or end table. This is because the frame tilts back, making the photos look dark if you have the it at eye level or higher. Lastly, some of the features on the frame, require you to use the remote control, which at first seemed like it didn't work. It does work however if I try pointing it at different angles to the frame.
This might seem like a lot of issues, but after all of the complaints that I've read about on all sorts of digital frames, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the pictures and how easy it was to download them onto this frame without any difficulty. Also, for my purposes, it was user friendly. And, it's the ideal gift for my mom --and what's more important than that!!!