Showing posts with label camera video monitor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camera video monitor. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Olympus T10 Black 10MP Digital Camera

Olympus T10 Black 10MP Digital CameraMy canon camera that i was using previously broke, and money being tight this is the camera i could afford. I knew with it being a $50 camera (the amount i paid) I couldn't expect it to behave like my more expensive canon. My first thought when i took it out of the box was that it felt really plastic-y and cheap. I put the AA batteries (which BTW did not bother me, since my canon used AAs) took a picture of my daughter and was happy with the results. In fact the next month i took it with us on vacation and had no complaints about the quality of photos. Then the pictures started getting darker and darker. It was like the flash was going. toward the end if the pictures were taken outdoors on a clear sunny day they looked great. But indoor pictures were dark, as if i had taken them without the flash.

This camera also has video, but no sound on playback. When you download it to your computer though there will be sound. You just can't listen to it on the actual camera. You can zoom in and out during video recording. It took me a while to figure out the right mode for this. On one of the modes it won't allow zooming. (i wish i could tell you which mode, but my camera is broke now). Which brings us to my camera's end. A couple of days ago the battery compartment broke, so the batteries won't stay in. I suppose i could just tape it closed, but i don't feel like re-taping it every time i need to change the batteries. All together it lasted me about 11 months.

This camera is all I expected it to be for the price, only drawback is the use of AA batteries other than that is a nice camera for kids or for places or situations you don't want to bring your good camera with you.

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I've had this camera several months and have never been so frustrated. I operated my last digital camera with no problems and edited images just fine. But this camera is ridiculously complex and the manual is absurd. Get this -I'm a Technical Writer with a master's degree and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE MANUAL IS SAYING. I'd buy another camera but I don't want to spend the money.

If you're planning on buying this camera, I suggest that you look at the manual online before purchasing it. Wish I had. I would never have purchased it. Beware!!

Tammy

Read Best Reviews of Olympus T10 Black 10MP Digital Camera Here

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Lorex LNC104 LIVE Ping Wireless Network Camera

Lorex LNC104 LIVE Ping Wireless Network CameraThis good basic network camera. It is compact and has good daytime and night vision picture quality. It has a microphone and a speaker can be attached for two-way communication. It has a Micro SD-Card slot that allows it to record on its own; you can also record to your hard disk or a Network Attached Storage device. It can connect to your network by ethernet and Wifi. Apple routers do not support WPS (WiFi Protected Setup), so you need to use the manual setup instructions if you use an Airport or Time Capsule. I found it no more difficult to set up on my Apple Airport-based network than any other network camera. Once you have the camera installed, a QR Code on the back of the camera an be used to to configure the client software on your iPhone or iPad.

A detailed user manual, Mac-specific instructions, and Mac client software are all available on the Lorex support site.

Where the LNC 104 fails to measure up is in software:

Mac OSX. The L-View Mac client software, which is in beta and must be downloaded from Lorex is bare-bones and obviously a work in progress. An update came out recently which at least gives it basic functionality. You can now record to your hard drive, but if your want to play back your clips, you need VLC Player, a free open-source media layer. Ironically, VLC Player includes a feature not found and any version of the Lorex software: the ability to copy and convert clips to more useful formats.

-iOS iPad. The basic functionality of the iPad version is OK. There are a couple or problems areas for me, however. The Lorex iPad software only works in landscape mode. This is a pet peeve of mine; the only time I ever voluntarily use my iPad in landscape mode is when I'm watching a long-form video like a movie or TV show. The Lorex software prevents your iPad from going to sleep; if you walk away from it while it is running (it does not even need to be connected to a camera), it will drain your battery. There are rudimentary playback controls for clips recorded on your iPad, but none for clips played from the camera's SD card. There is no way to export clips into a more useful format.

While I was writing this review, both my iPhone 4S and iPad 3 lost the ability to connect to the cam (at the same time). The desktop client, the web, and my iPad 1 all continued to work. The iPad 3 and iPhone 4S had to be re-started to regain the ability to connect to the cam.

-iOS iPhone. The iPhone app has the same functionality and issues as the iPad version except that it works in landscape or portrait mode and it needs to be connected to the cam before it overrides the system's effort to go into sleep mode and drains your battery. The iPhone version does have the ability to convert recordings made on the phone to .avi format files, but how this is done and how the resulting files can be accessed by other apps is not apparent. The user manual says only: "...you can...also convert the video files to .avi files for sharing."

-Windows. The Windows version is not without its share of irritants. If you want to play back a recording on the SD card, you click a button in the viewing window which opens a dialog box with a list of the daily folders. You open the folder for the appropriate day, scroll to the clip you want to view, then click Playback or double-click on the clip name. The dialog box closes and the clip plays. If you want to see the previous or next clip, you have to repeat the entire process. Depending on the the capacity of your SD-Card, you can have dozens or even hundreds of clips on the card. The Windows version now has the ability to record clips to your hard disk. Like the Mac version, you must download and install VLC Player in order to view any you have recorded.

-Web Interface. As you might expect, the web interface gives you the most information about the cam settings. To display video in the web interface, Internet Explorer is required because an Active-X control is used. This means you cannot view the cam image via the web page at all on a Mac or if you use Firefox or another non-MSIE browser in Windows. However, even with Internet Explorer and the Lorex Active-X control installed and enabled, all I ever got was a black frame with "Locating..." in the middle of it.

I found part of the web interface to be unnecessarily confusing and perhaps a little flaky. To me scheduling basically means creating a list of things to be done at a specific day and time. This task is available under Scheduling, but they have also lumped a bunch of behavior controls under the same heading. To me, it makes more sense to have the set-ups for alarms, notifications, and recording criteria under one heading and setting the days and times to do those things under a separate header. I understand the need for complex scheduling in security cams and I've done it on other systems, but there should also be a "Use the settings I've specified 24 hours a day, 7 days a week" check box to simplify the process when appropriate.

I was able to set up email notification and motion activation. The email notifications include a still frame as a jpeg file. However, it seems like anytime I made a change in the settings, I ended up starting from scratch. Accessing the web interface from Safari on a Mac, I was able to delete but not download clips from the SD card. Firefox on the Mac could see the clips folders, but none of their contents. Using MSIE in Windows, I was able to delete and download the files and view the downloaded files using VLC Player.

I think this is a great network cam if all you need to do is set up a camera and monitor the situation in real time. You can accomplish that in iOS, Windows, and even the Mac beta version. However, I find the process for creating, viewing, organizing, editing, and exporting clips to be cumbersome at best. If you do not know the exact date and time a clip may have been recorded, finding the pertinent clip could be very time-consuming. I also think the process for setting camera features and scheduling could be more intuitive.

I was able to get this camera working with no trouble at all. I installed the PC based software and that worked great. To get at all the detailed settings, you need to go to the web interface for the camera. The camera supports two way audio, so you can talk to anyone who is at the camera location. I have my camera set up at my cabin in Wisconsin through WiFi and I can monitor the weather and the neighborhood dogs! Quality is great. I am really impressed with this camera and recommend it.

Notes:

To get the software from the Lorex website, you must first go to this products web page, then you will find a tab on the bottom for downloads.

WPS setup was fast and easy. Just hit the button on your router and then on the camera.

Quality of the picture is really good. I can monitor the camera from my Android phone, Kindle Fire, and PC.

Customer service was great and replied fast to my question. I wanted to know how to record only when the motion sensor when off, not all the time. Here are the details:

*******************

For motion setup, In the manual under SD card recording/Schedule. The general steps are:

1. Enable SD card recording in Schedule mode.

2. In the Schedule menu, set the SD recording for PIR, Motion or

PIR+Motion.

3. Create an everyday schedule that covers the entire day.

*******************

Buy Lorex LNC104 LIVE Ping Wireless Network Camera Now

This camera is functional, and I eventually got it to do maybe 60% of what I bought it for. But overall the software for all the systems I tried is pretty crappy and buggy; and the features I bought it for are nonexistent and/or very well hidden.

I bought this camera for monitoring my pets, who apparently bark a lot when I'm not home. So naturally, I wanted a web camera that could record when triggered by sound, and preferably alert me remotely. In fact, I found this particular model by searching for something like "pet monitoring audio trigger", which led me to the "Pet Monitoring Solutions" page on Lorex's website. Although that page doesn't list the model number, the page behind the "view details" link on the bottom clearly lists the camera as LNC104.

The "Pet Monitoring" page makes lots of appealing claims, including:

"you can set the system to record automatically whenever your pet makes a sound with the audio trigger function"

and

"The SD compatible IP camera can store up to 16GB worth of footage" (and also mentions uploading said footage to social media sites)

After fiddling with the camera and puzzling out the instructions for a few hours, I finally found an audio trigger function. However, bizarrely, it is only available on mobile devices, and only for triggering push notifications, not to start recording or send email alerts or any of the other kinds of alerts that are available for motion detection. Luckily for me, I was going to use it on my Android tablet, anyway. After another hour or so of deleting and re-adding the camera to the list (and watching it spontaneously change its own settings), I actually got the push notifications to work! on a local network. sometimes. with a delay of a few seconds. So if the dogs only bark once or twice, by the time I see the notification and "tune in", it'll be all over and I will get no information.

OK, fine so maybe I can just use the sound notification to alert me to events, and record using movement triggers, ont the 16GB of space the camera is supposed to have? Not so fast. This camera does not, in fact, have any built-in space. It does have a micro SD slot that can take up to a 32G card. So I guess now I have to find or by a microSD card. and then manually compare my sound-triggered observations with the timestamps on the motion-triggered recording. Yay.

Other annoyances:

-extremely unintuitive menu design; setting up recording schedules involves going to at least two separate menu "families", one to schedule the times in question and a separate one to say what you want to do during these times. The various trigger options are spread out in different, inconsistent menus, also depending on what it is you want to use the trigger for. "alarm" can either mean push notification or making the speakers("sold separately") attached to the camera itself make noise.

-proprietary video format (?) the software for running the cameras comes with a separate player that you need to play the videos. the format is .sdb, and a quick googling does not show it as a widely used video format. I haven't looked into it too much though. This seems to preclude the advertised "uploading to social media"

-inconsistencies between manual and software, for example: manual says that 1 is lowest and 10 is highest sensitivity; android software says the opposite. Still not sure which one is right I ended up just setting it to 5.

Conclusion:

should have just downloaded the open-source iSpy softaware and used it with my webcam.

Read Best Reviews of Lorex LNC104 LIVE Ping Wireless Network Camera Here

got on special price because it has two way voice. was rather easy to setup on wired. Took a little more effort on wireless because the MAC address on the card does not match the MAC address needed for my router where I want MAC filtering.

Color fidelity is off in the green direction for whites. But with the Lorex App, you can view your home and talk to your dog from anywhere in the world.....I happen to be in China this moment and can talk to me wife and dog with no problem. the sofware works well. Better than the FOSCAM I also have.

Want Lorex LNC104 LIVE Ping Wireless Network Camera Discount?

Summary: Small device that came with few instructions and no Mac software in the box, but in the end it works well and does what it says with some minor effort.

What's in the box:

The Lorex LNC104 comes with a folded, color instruction sheet that is written for PCs, a CD that has the PC software and a URL for the Mac software, ethernet cable, USB cable and a power supply brick (white w/white cable to match the device). I was not initially impressed with the PC instruction booklet, but I did find that combining it with the online instructions for the Mac at the Lorex website was sufficient for me to sort things out.

Installation:

The software is pretty crude by today's standards. You have to know to "right-click" on certain portions of the display to make settings, connect to the camera for setup, etc. Also, the look is "industrial" at best. No eye candy here it looks like it came from the Windows 2000 era at best. I mention this, because you MUST have the instructions handy or you will be very, very unlikely to figure the installation or use out yourself in any reasonable amount of time. It is strange that the interface would not include more obvious buttons, tabs or menu items to set up and operate the cameras, but it doesn't. That said, the software does work, it only crashed on me once.

You MUST have an ethernet connection initially or it is unlikely that you will be able to connect to the camera. It is apparently possible to connect wirelessly if you have a router that has a WPS broadcast button, which allows wireless password sync with the camera, but I've not seen very many of those. In fact, the only one I ever had was a proprietary T-Mobile / D-link router for the old T-Mobile "hotspot at home" feature on the their older wifi phones. Perhaps there are more, but my Apple AEB's don't have the button, so I had to wire in the camera to start with and then, using one of those "right-click" instructions mentioned before, configure the device using the Lorex web configure tool. Now, interestingly, this web configure tool seems a lot nicer than the downloaded software. Almost as if a different team wrote it one from this decade. Hate to sound so snide, but I'm just not used to having to stay slaved to printed instructions. There are no setup "wizards" here. It's all about "simon says" and if you get one wrong, it doesn't work. For instance, when I attempted to set up wireless operation, I used the printed instructions and got to the point that the web based setup tool said to pull the ethernet connection to enable wireless operation. The printed instruction didn't say to do this until I ran one test with the wired AND wireless connection in place. Turns out the hardcopy was right.

After going through all the wired, then wireless setup, I decided to download the Ping application for my iPhone 4S. It is, as to be expected by this time, not very slick looking, but it works. Setup was a lot easier than the initial setup.

Use:

Once the setup is done, the use is pretty simple. The camera is a VGA resolution device, so the pictures are far from HD. That said, daylight pics are decent. The featured low light images are pretty gunky looking, but usable so far. I did not carry out extensive testing on that part it's supposed to have an IR illuminator as well as a sensitive camera,

One issue is that although the box claims you can have conversations with another person using this device as it has a small mic and a speaker, this feature is not too useful iMHO. I have pretty great internet service and have no issue using VOIP from Skype, Ooma, GoToMeeting, etc. With the Lorex, the time lag for sound is about 2-3 seconds. This makes communication really tough. I think the best use for the sound capability is Mic only to listen for issues around the camera.

Why I removed one star:

1. No Mac instructions in the box. Although the PC instructions were helpful when used with the online Mac info, this is not a huge deal and they should have taken care of it. These are small files and small apps. It is almost as if they had a shipment deadline and were catching up on the Mac portion while the PC stuff was being manufactured and shipped. This puts the burden of consolidating documentation and software on me, the customer.

2. Time lag. A couple seconds is a long time for a potentially real-time device. This is 1.5 seconds longer than I would have thought.

3. The awkward back and forth setup between wired and wireless communication. I have to believe this could have been made easier. You usually don't have to do this with other wireless wifi devices.

4. Crude software. Like I said, it works, but it looks like a home hobby project and you must read the instructions to use it. This is below par for both Mac and PC nowadays. But, to repeat, it does work, which is why I don't mark it down more.

Trick features:

Being able to access the video stream from Mac, PC, Android and iPhone is great. Being able to do this with up to 20 (I only tested 2) devices at once is cool.

During handheld setup, you can input the device info to your phone via a QR code on the back of the camera. The implementation was rough (no surprise) but worked well enough.

Trick feature I didn't yet test:

Remote access via wif at Starbucks. If I get to this, I will update the review. Since I have cable, with DHCP addressing and a NAT in the path, I don't see how I will be able to access the device out of the home as is promised on the box, but we'll see. I suspect this can only be accomplished if i get a static address for my home (not going to happen $$$).

Conclusion:

I guess I would recommend this to a friend if they found it at the right price. IMHO, this would be under a hundred. No great shopping experience here, it just feels like it should be in that price range to represent good value. The best way I can describe this device is, it's a Bexperience. That is, it could have been an A grade play, but the software is just good enough to work, but not good enough to be happy about not by some margin. All the tested features worked and the device appears to be well made for indoor use. This includes a nice metal pivot arm instead of the expected cheap plastic hardware. If you have the patience and aptitude for a no-wizard setup experience, and the price is right, go for it.

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Friday, September 5, 2014

Lorex LW2003 LIVE snap Video Baby Monitor (White)

Lorex LW2003 LIVE snap Video Baby MonitorLorex LW2003 LIVE 'snap' Video Baby Monitor

Since the video review is not very detailed, I want to add a few more comments. First, I absolutely recommend this monitor. I've listed some specific strengths and weaknesses below.

What I liked:

1. Good range. In my two story house I got decent coverage throughout. The signal was a little weak when I stretched it to its furthest possible range, but I never lost the picture.

2. On the small screen the picture is crisp, with good color. You will never have to wonder what you're seeing. Look carefully at the image on the video I took of the outdoors and you'll see a crisp blue autumn sky with colorful foliage.

3. I think the portability is a key feature. The monitor can be removed from its base and slipped into a pocket as you move around your house. Very nice!

4. You can add cameras, all of which show up on the monitor. You can then select which camera you want to "zoom" to on the screen. Hopefully you won't be monitoring four babies at once, but the capability is there.

What I would like to see improved:

1. Customer service! I always try to test this during a review, since it tends to be the "Achilles Heel" of modern commerce. I first let the customer service rep (Asian, but very understandable) know I was writing a review and had a specific problem I needed solved (see below). It became clear immediately that the rep was not familiar with the product. After about 20 minutes he admitted he could not solve my problem, but he promised I would receive a return call or email within a couple of hours. After ten days I have heard nothing. Unacceptable!

2. The monitor is promoted as a camera which can take snapshots of your baby, and the advertisements feature beautifully lit photos of babies. This is bogus. The camera has a whopping .3 megapixels. This is perfectly fine for the small monitor screen, but trying to use it as a camera to photograph your baby will result in a blurry, pixelated photo if you try to even print it 4x6. It puzzles me that Lorex even included a microSD card and adapter for you to transfer your pictures to a computer. You wouldn't really try to photograph your beautiful baby with a .3 MP camera, would you? Which brings me to another point . . .

3. The reason I called customer service was the image from the camera when I took a snapshot was not only rotated (easily fixed) but reversed. For instance, any printing would look backwards. I'm not sure if this is peculiar to the sample I received, but it's annoying to be sure. Yes you can fix this in a photo editor, but you shouldn't have to. I have no idea what's going on, and neither did customer service. The image is fine on the monitor screen, and the problem only shows up when you transfer a picture, which you are unlikely to do anyway given the poor resolution.

So let's sum up: I really like the Lorex Baby Monitor and I would definitely buy it. I take off one star for the failure of customer service to respond to my problem and the misleading pictures which imply the monitor can be used to take good quality pictures. If you purchase it with the idea that you are only monitoring your baby (pets, etc) and not capturing lifetime memories, you'll be very happy.

We have owned this monitor for about 48 hours now and wanted to provide our first impressions quickly.

First, we have previously owned a Summer Infant video baby monitor with our first child two years ago. We were not happy with it. The sound wasn't great and the video eventually went out on it after about a year of use. With our second kid we decided to get another video baby monitor and looked for one that supported more than one camera. Let's just say that there isn't a high quality video baby monitor out there that I have found. I'll start with the pros.

Pros:

Video quality is as good as its peers. It won't wow you, but it serves its purpose. At night it has pretty good range and is more than adequate.

Little interference. We have cell phones, wi-fi, cordless phones, an audio baby monitor and many other wireless devices and we have not had any interference.

Range. Pretty good. We had the camera at the front of the house and were able to get a signal at the back. It was probably 35 feet away and had 4 5 walls in between.

Usability. The buttons are laid out well and intuitive. We like the form factor kind of like an old school candy-bar-style cell phone.

Two-way communication. It works when you can get the 'up' button to work (see cons).

Cons:

Build quality is subpar. The plastic is kind of cheap. The buttons are not responsive. The menu button and the up/talk button take multiple attempts to activate. It is as if the plastic buttons do not align properly. It can take 4-5 attempts to activate the menu at times. Very annoying. When scrolling through the menu the down button works perfectly but the up button works erratically. Often I just end up scrolling through the entire list using the down button. The other buttons, 1-4, left/right, power don't seem to have a problem so it may just be this particular unit. It makes me wonder if we will get a full year of use out of the monitor before it goes belly up, though.

VOX does not work. The monitor has a setting called VOX that only turns the monitor on after it detects a noise. It doesn't work on ours. We have power save off as the instructions indicate. We have put it in an empty room (i.e. quiet) and turned on the VOX to its lowest sensitivity (highest noise required to activate) and it just cycles on almost immediately after turning off. It just cycles on/off continuously. When setting it to its highest sensitivity we see no difference. We have turned VOX off and just use the power save feature (video turns off after a preset amount of time).

Audio. It is ok. Without VOX there is a constant light hum since the audio is always on. It doesn't get super loud either (not a big deal for us). No interference in the audio is a plus, though. The speaker is placed on the back of the unit. When you don't have the receiver in the cradle, the speaker can be muffled when you set it down. It will not stand up on end, so you either set the monitor down on the speaker or on the lcd screen.

Cradle. The cradle is a little annoying. The cradle has a male end of a mini-usb that the unit plugs into to charge. The slot the unit slides into on the cradle isn't really tight so it takes a little finesse to get the mini-usb to line up on the unit. Not a big deal but isn't as easy as we would like when checking out the monitor late at night.

The monitor is ok. Not great. I wish there was a high quality video monitor out there. I would definitely pay up for one instead of going through a new one every year.

Buy Lorex LW2003 LIVE snap Video Baby Monitor (White) Now

So far I like this baby video monitor.

The video quality is great

Night vision works well

It works even with my WiFi 802.11g, 2.4 GHz cordless phone, 2.4 GHz wireless speakers and a microwave oven.

Battery life is good. I've had the receiver on for 5 hours and the battery indicator is down to 33%. This is with VOX and Power Save both off.

I dropped this 2x on our (hard) floor and it still works (phew).

I expecially like the 2-way communication. I don't use it a lot to talk to our baby. I found it to be useful when my wife is with our baby and needs to tell me something. Not only can I hear her through the handheld monitor but I could reply! It's like having a video walkie-talkie.

Uses a micro-USB (I think) connector for power. This is the same connector used by some electronics (like my old Garmin nuvi 350, my Logitech Harmony 550 remote, etc). If you want an extra charger in another room you could likely use one you already have that came with another product.

The camera has a rechargeable internal battery. I find this convenient when I want to temporarily move the camera (i.e., to keep an eye on our baby when in her swing) without fussing about power cords. I don't know how long the battery lasts as I only use it like this for a few tens of minutes.

Wish list:

Support multiple handheld receivers (so more than one parent can monitor the baby). I have not seen any digital video baby monitors support this.

It would be nice if the camera can be mounted on a tripod to make it more portable (i.e., bring it to my home office when bring the baby's bassinet there, etc).

I wish the handheld had a flip-out stand so I can prop it up while away from the charging base. This would be nice to have but not that critical for me.

What I don't like:

The plastic looks and feels cheap

The silver logo (not red and black as shown in product pictures) looks even cheaper -sort of like it was just spray painted on it (like an engineering project or a cheap Chinese knockoff... heck those even look better sometimes). I know this is less important than the technical features but still, appearance does matter. The monitor gives off a cheap vibe in my opinion.

Volume on the handheld monitor is kinda low

A crib mounting bracket would be nice to have. I considered mounting the camera on the wall but it was too far from our baby (and she does not typically face the wall!). Instead, I strapped it onto the crib myself but will have to move it once the child gets older and can reach it.

What I hate:

Sales and customer service is a joke! I have never seen live sales chat active and I've been checking for a month or longer. I sent an e-mail to customer support and nobody replied. I also left a voice mail for sales support and again no reply. [update 11/22/2011: Now tech support seems to be more responsive. I inquired about a replacement charging dock and received a prompt reply]

Recommended?

Sure! I still recommend the product but all bets are off if you need technical support.

Read Best Reviews of Lorex LW2003 LIVE snap Video Baby Monitor (White) Here

I felt that I had done the research and that I made a good choice. I should have known that with all wireless technologies there are weaknesses. This unit operates on the 2.4-2.6 Ghz band the same as all the wireless routers and phones in my neighborhood. Lorex also stated that going through walls would be different for each application, This was the case for me, I am in the next room and only have drywall and doors but the signal was weak. It was so bad that I would only have intermittent reception at best. The video was clear when it did work but the audio was choppy.My old fisher price monitor was clearer. When I called Lorex, all they had to offer was to move the camera around which made no difference. Since this is a safety monitoring device I had to opt to return it and to do more research on video monitors. I also noticed people mentioned in other reviews about the speaker being on the back. This is a problem when you set it down because you can only face it that way when out of the charging craddle.

Want Lorex LW2003 LIVE snap Video Baby Monitor (White) Discount?

After our second daughter was born September 14th, 2010 we decided to purchase a video monitor. After several hours of reading reviews and researching online I decided to go with the Lorex LW2003. The primary factor in deciding to go with the LW2003 were the good reviews of its predecessor, and the many features the product description touted, primarily the distance it advertised from the base unit.

Upon un-boxing it I felt as though I had made the correct choice. It appeared to be well built and the design just seemed better than our neighbors several year older Summer "night and day." The screen size was certainly much larger at 2.4 inches and the display unit was more like a cell phone than the larger unit of the Summer night and day. Upon turning it on I discovered that the underside of the glass covering the screen either had a piece of something in it or the screen had dead pixels. It was difficult to tell which, but I think it was probably something under the glass. I could have lived with the display issue and had planned on it. However what I could not deal with was that the advertised 450 ft of distance capped out at closer to 15 feet out our back door, approximately 30 feet from the unit. I realize that the 450 ft is labeled as (clear-line-of-sight) notwithstanding this my neighbor's much older, and much less expensive Summer "night and day" unit gets reception from several hundred feet away, across the street, through two houses and into our kitchen. Juxtaposing the performance of that unit with my newer Lorex2003 is very discouraging, particularly because the Lorex advertises a greater distance, and yet just a few feet beyond our back porch the monitor display reads, "searching for base unit." I can only assume that the wireless technology utilized for its "interference free digital signal" does not transmit nearly as strong of a signal.

If distance outside your house is not important this may be an ok unit for you. For my family with a new born and an active 3 year old who likes to play in the back yard it is not sufficient. For us it is nice to be able to step out of the house and have our monitor with us in case the baby wakes up while we are watching our older daughter play. This unit does not allow us to do that, while others, namely the Summer unit discussed above clearly does.

So I boxed it up today and I will be dropping it off at a UPS drop off tomorrow. I am thankful for Amazons return policy, but I won't be purchasing another Lorex. It looked like a good design, but when it comes to electronics function is always more important than form in my book. I will probably go with a Summer unit, or maybe the phillips unit.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Nikon D4 16.2 MP CMOS FX Digital SLR with Full 1080p HD Video (Body Only)

Nikon D4 16.2 MP CMOS FX Digital SLR with Full 1080p HD VideoI pre-ordered this camera, and have now had it for about two months and taken over 10,000 shots with it. I'm upgrading from a Nikon D700. I'm not a pro, but I do occasional commercial jobs. I've updated this review several times, and will continue to do so as needed.

Vertical orientation: Nice. The vertical grip isn't nearly as contoured as the main horizontal grip -there's just not as much stuff to grab your hands onto (no deep pockets for your fingertips). Too bad. But when holding it for any length of time, it's sure a lot easier than holding twisting my arm above my head and rotating the camera. Note that the vertical grip has a programmable button on it, which I use for Mode (A/S/M/P). I understand the D3s didn't have this, which seems crazy -I use it all the time. I wish the vertical grip had all the buttons as the main grip does -e.g., there's only one programmable button, so if you want to use it for Mode, then there's no way to change EV +while vertical, or start taking a movie. Also, I wish the two function buttons (DoF preview, and the one above it) were replicated in vertical mode. They're not, which is silly -there's room right there for them.

I shoot one-handed a lot, at events where I have a flash in one hand an a camera in the other (using a set of PocketWizards). I thought the weight of the D4 would make this harder. But no: when holding it vertically, the D4 is a lot easier to manage than the vertical D700. (I never had a vertical grip for the D700, so I can't compare.) Even holding it horizontally, the larger grip makes it easier to manage the D4 than the D700 one-handedly -it makes the camera honestly feel substantially lighter. One gripe: the vertical joystick for adjusting the focus point is still a bit too much of a stretch to use with one hand.

Shutter: yep, it's 10 fps. Let it rip! Great for capturing faces of both kids and adults at just the right moment.

General ergonomics and build quality: Great. Totally solid.

Weight: Having never had a pro-sized body before, I feared it'd be too heavy. But no: once you throw a 70-200 2.8 on there, the difference between this and a D700 is pretty small, certainly not a big deal. I carry it around on an Op Tech slider strap bolted into the tripod port, plenty stable and strong.

Battery: 2000+ shots (including lots of live view and some movies), and it's down to half. That's plenty of capacity for me. The charger is a real monster to carry around, about 4x the size of a D700 charger, too big to just slip in a pocket. One BIG PROBLEM: after charging it the second time, I had the camera turned on and sitting out overnight. The next morning, the battery was completely dead. I have no idea what happened -the D700 never ever did this to me. Was the camera turned so the AF was being pushed all night? Or is there a bug in the auto-off? No idea, but I'll post if it happens again. (Update: This has now happened to me three times, where the battery has gone from 100% to 0% overnight. Very frustrating. The first time I thought it was because the camera was in my bag and the AF-On button was being pressed, so it was trying to focus all night long. But that's not it, since it was on a shelf the other two times. Since I don't see others who have had this problem, I'm sending it back to Nikon for service.)

[Update: Beats me what the root cause was, but Nikon replaced the logic board and I haven't seen the issue come back.]

Lit up controls: Nikon won't point this out, but they don't *all* light up! Most do, but not the trash, or playback, or EV+-, or Mode, or Live View. Huh? All the buttons on my cell phone lit up 10 years ago. It's not that hard.

XQD card: Fast to write, fast to transfer. I love it. Being able to shoot off dozens of RAWs without stopping is great. Nice of Nikon to include the card and reader (but really, I'm not sure they had any other option here -the market isn't exactly flooded with these cards).

Live View: Works a million times better than it did on the D700. It's kind of funny though: it now makes the pro-DSLR able to shoot as easily as a $200 point-and-shoot. But whatever: Live View is nice to have. It's fast and intuitive. One advantage that isn't obvious: you can use it to set the focus point to the far corners of the frame, well outside the small area of the sensor covered by the 51-point AF grid. How I wish Nikon would allow the main AF system to focus in the far corners too: those 51 points still only cover about 20% of the camera's full frame! More in DX mode, but come on, Nikon. This is probably my single biggest complaint about the camera (or any DSLR) -bigger focus area please!

Focus modes: I was initially bummed to see that the three-position focus-mode switches from the D700 had been removed, replaced by 'software' settings using the main control wheels. But after using them I'm fine with the change, even in favor of it. The number of focus modes has increased (because you can change between 9-, 21-, and 51-point tracking easily now, which were hidden in a menu before), and the design works pretty fast. Disadvantage is that it requires two hands to change modes, where you used to do it with one.

The built-in AF motor is noticeably faster than on the D700. Live View mode uses contrast-detection focusing which was ultra-slow on the D700 (especially using motor-driven lenses like the AF-D's), but pretty usable now.

Face Detection (in Live View) works great. It's super easy to get low-angle shots holding the camera away from your body. If the subject moves you'll see a green box on the LCD follow the face around -it's pretty cool to watch it track.

Believe it or not, Face Detection also works through the pentaprism viewfinder. It took me awhile to believe this, but it really does. I proved it to myself by displaying a photo of a face on my laptop's screen, and focusing the camera on it. And like magic, no matter where it was, the focus indicators would lock on to the eyes. If I panned so that one eye left the FOV, then the focus would jump to the other eye. This is really cool. However, in reality it only works moderately well... I mean, if you're shooting at 24 mm in a busy room, and there's a few people in front of you, the camera is likely to focus on the wall instead of the people. Switch to Live View and it'll lock right on to the faces. Switch back and it jumps to the wall. My thought is that when using the viewfinder, the camera is dong face-detection on the smaller 91,000-pixel metering array. When using Live View, it can use millions of pixels from the main chip. Small faces can get hidden in 91,000 pixels (that's sub-VGA resolution!), but are seen in the big chip. I'm not knocking it, since it's clearly state-of-the art... it's just not perfect.

One cool thing about face detection is that it also finds faces on playback (even if face detection wasn't used on that shot). Scroll the front control wheel and it'll zoom in to just the face on every image, so you can easily check focus on the parts you care about. Super.

Metering modes: Too bad that the three-position metering switch is now an electronic controller, set in the viewfinder. But it turns out to be no big deal, because the metering on the D4 is really an improvement from the D700. I used to have to go to spot metering a lot for faces in the shade, and the auto face-detection now catches that so much better than it used to, that I haven't been using spot metering very much. Really, the new metering is very, very good. It has its quirks though: like, let's say you're taking 10 shots in a row of someone's face. If on one shot they turn or are blocked and the face-recognition doesn't work right, then that shot is likely to be underexposed by a stop relative to the rest in the series (see my example photo of this posted on Amazon). In the end underor over-exposure by a stop or two is no big deal on this camera if you're shooting RAW, because the files give you tons of leeway to work with to fix the exposure in post. But it's always best to get the exposure right the first time, and the D4 does a better job of that than the D700.

'Quiet' and 'Silent' modes. Quiet mode is indeed a lot quieter than the regular shutter. It seems to move all the mechanical parts slower -so you hear it for longer, but it's definitely quieter. Limited to 1 fps or so, and it doesn't work in Continuous mode (except if you're in Live View, in which case it does). Silent mode takes 2 MP shots in Live View mode (essentially movie stills shutter must be between 1/30 and 1/125 sec, and JPEG-only, no RAW). I could see using it occasionally, though I wish the resolution were higher. Also, in order to *enter* Silent mode, you have to be in Live View, and you have to pull up the mirror to do that, which makes the normal 'chunking' sound one time. An interesting note: in Silent mode, the exposure counter increments like normal (DSC_0101, 0102, etc.), but the EXIF value for 'Shutter Count' stays unchanged, just like it should. ** Silent mode is exclusive to the D4, and isn't on the D800.

Image quality: Beautiful... really crisp and sharp and smooth. The D700 was great too. For some reason this looks better. The number of pixels and the ISO are only slightly improved from the D700... the improvement to my image quality is dramatically better, more than the one or two stop improvement would suggest. Maybe Nikon's color processing software's improved, who knows what. But I didn't expect much improvement in image quality, and I got it.

ISO: It's a stop or two better than the D700. The ultra-high ISO's (like 200,000+ = H4.0) are there, but pretty silly. Even in bright sun, they're so full of noise so as to be useless. In low light they're even worse. (I guess you could use H4.0 if you were trying to monitor license plates of speeding vehicles under moonlight, or something crazy like that... but no normal photographic application is going to use that.) Up to ISO 10,000 or so, images are very clean. Focusing works really well in low-light, better than the D700 for sure. A nice change is that Auto ISO can now be easily turned on/off by holding ISO and rotating the front control knob -no more going into the menus.

One big change to exposure calculation is that the shutter speed can now be set based on the focal length. In the past, you'd set it (in the Auto ISO menu) to use a minimum of say 1/30 sec, which is great at 24 mm, but not what you want at 70 mm. OK, terrific -I was really stoked on this, since it makes a lot of sense and is more accurate in setting the shutter speed. But there's a huge problem in how it's implemented, in that it's blind to whether you're using a VR lens! So if I'm at 200 mm, it'll pick 1/400th sec for me. But I paid the big bucks for the VR lens so I don't have to shoot at 1/400th... I know I can handhold it just fine at 1/50th. The net effect here is that you'll end up shooting at a higher-than-necessary shutter speed, putting you into high-ISO territory, when you'd be otherwise safe to shoot much slower at low ISO. Alas -maybe Nikon will get this right with the D5. I ended up turning off this focal-length sensitivity setting, and telling it to shoot at 1/100th or faster regardless.

Ethernet connection: Plug in a cable, and the camera has a built-in web server, for doing tethered shooting. Not something I'll use much, but it seems to work. No additional software needed -just a web browser. I also used it for tethered shooting through Aperture straight out of the box, and it worked fine, no new drivers needed.

Auto white balance: as advertised, seems to work better than before. No big deal, but a nice bonus. One weirdness though is that the white balance seems to be less consistent than it was before. For instance, shooting outside in the shade, in the past I could set the right WB correction in Aperture and it'd be right-on for every shot in the series. No more -a good number of individual shots require more hand-tweaking now. This seems like a bug, like maybe the RAW files are getting tagged with the wrong color temp. It could well also be a bug in Aperture's handling of the D4 RAWs; I haven't tried it with Lightroom yet. A bonus with

Display: Better than before. Not really a big deal to me. Minor point: the display itself is polarized such that if you're wearing your polarized Ray Bans, the screen will look dark until you turn it to vertical mode. The D700 was polarized, but at a 45 degree angle, so it was still visible in horizontal mode. The display has a really viewing angle, meaning that if you hold it overhead in Live View, you can glance up at it and at least get *some* sense of how your framing is, even viewing the display nearly edge-on. It doesn't pivot of course, but it's definitely usable for a lot of overhead shots.

[** Update: Nikon replaced the main display for me when mine failed. The new one is different, and is viewable in landscape mode while wearing polarized shades. I doubt it was an intentional change on their part, but for me it worked out as a minor bonus!]

Viewfinder: The image looks a bit bigger and fuller than on the D700. Not that big a deal -I could always see my subject just fine before. Maybe a bit less squinting necessary now.

Extra configurability: Nikon now lets you reprogram even more of the buttons than the D700 allowed. I like one of the options in particular: I've set the Fn button (below the DoF preview button, next to the lens mount) to go to image review. Normally it takes two hands to hit the image-review button, but now I can do it quickly and using the right hand that's already on the camera anyhow. Just one more thing I miss now going back to the D700.

HDR, timelapse, multiple-exposures: they all work as advertised. Probably won't use them much.

Video: I'm not a video shooter but I tried it out outside under streetlights, where the video was super-clean. Inside with a night light it was a total failure at high ISO's -too much noise to see anything at all. Others know a lot more about video than me, so read their reviews instead.

Minor operational change: On the D700, the control wheels went dead right after taking a shot, requiring a half-press to wake up the metering system again, if you used the control wheels to select through images. On the D4, they stay live after the shutter press. Awesome. This was always a minor annoyance before, and I'm glad it's changed. It's hidden on an obscure setting within Custom F10.

Flash: There is none. Occasionally I used CLS for remote triggers on the D700 and you obviously can't do that any more. And sometimes I don't want to carry around the PocketWizards for just a snapshot flash-fill. Oh well -can't have it all. For what it's worth, the PocketWizards (TT5's) work perfectly, no problems at all. I called up the PW people about an unrelated issue and they confirmed to me (as of June 2012) that the PW's work great on the D4... not working yet on the D800/800E, they said.

Flash exposure: The EV+and the Flash EV are now separated. It use to be that lowering the camera EV would also lower the flash output (so dropping the background while keeping the subject lit would require two sync'd setting changes). No more. Nikon took after Canon here, good to see. This stuff works fine with the PW's. ** This Flash EV setting (custom e5) is exclusive to the D4. It's not on the D800.

Reviewing images: You can zoom out to see 72 images at a time, and use the joystick to cruise around these. But regardless of all of the image-processing power onboard, it's still frustratingly slow to scroll backward by 500 or 1000 images. There's apparently no in-camera buffering of the thumbnails -they're reloaded from the card every time, so it may still take you a few minutes of slow scrolling to find that cool shot from a few days ago that you want to show someone.

Manual: 456 frikkin' pages. I like camera manuals and this one's pretty well written. It's not literature but it explains the settings clearly enough.

Why not the D800? 50 MB images are too big for me, and I'm not going to be printing any banners or posters from my work anyhow. Almost everything I do goes online. Virtually any camera has enough resolution for me. I'm more interested in handling / ergonomics / ISO / dynamic range / speed, than resolution. If I was doing landscapes instead of people, I'd of course go for the D800 instead.

Is six thousand bucks too much to spend on a camera? Probably. But Nikon bodies remain in high demand, and used prices are high. I can likely sell this in a year or two for not much less than I paid for it. (My three-year-old D700 has only lost 1/3 of its value since it was new, or about a thousand dollars over three years.) Is having a camera like that worth a dollar or two a day to me? Absolutely.

P.S. I'll answer any questions below. And if you found this useful, feel free to click and tell me so!

[Update June 2013. 45,000 pics and one year later, it remains awesome. I only have a few frustrations and minor things to add:

o I wish the front buttons -Function and Preview -were more programmable, and I wish Nikon put a duplicate set you could reach in vertical mode.

o I prefer the analog buttons to change exposure mode on the D700, over the menu here.

o I don't use Live View very much -it's just so much slower than viewfinder mode that even though focus on a face in the corner very nicely, I can usually do it myself faster.

o Don't mind the weight at all. Feels great in the hand. I use an OpTech slider strap into an arca-swiss knockoff plate bolted into the bottom.

o I use 10 fps *all the time*. On safari, with kids, anything. It's wonderful.

o XQD card is great, though I wish there was a good way to take advantage of its speed to download to my older Mac, which only has a USB2 and not USB3.

o Nikon replaced the main logic board after I reported problems with the battery suddenly dying overnight. No problems since then.

o I wish the 51 focus points went further across the FOV -they're all clustered at the center.

o I'm not a big bird shooter but I have been amazed at how well the focus tracking will follow a bird who moves in & out of the frame, well away from the original focus point.

o Picture quality is just great. I get a ton of keepers, and when I don't, it's always my fault and not the camera's.

I managed to drop the camera -8 inches onto carpet with an 85/1.4 on -and it knocked the camera completely out of focus, and apparently knocked the main display loose so it flickered a lot. (So much for indestructibility of a pro body...) I sent it back to Nikon explaining the situation, and they were nice enough to fix it for free, which involved replacing the front bayonet mount. But the camera spent *nearly two months at Nikon* to get fixed! It was on "parts hold" for over a month, and when they returned it, they sent to to the wrong address to boot -an old address of mine.]

I have been using the D4 since the middle of March.

I am a professional sports photographer, so I am shooting two games a day during the week and sometimes four or five games over a weekend. I shoot a lot.

The D4 is an upgrade from my D3. I skipped the D3s, which I understand is a strong performer as well.

The D4 excels in a couple of very critical areas for me. The first is low level shooting. With the D4 I will no longer have to light grungy, dank, dark college gyms for basketball and swimming. The camera shoots very usable JPEGs at 10,000 ISO. This is remarkable. Very little noise, and if you are not shooting to make huge prints, the noise is hardly noticeable. I am sure the NEF files at that size are workable as well. I tend to stay away from the highest ISO ratings, only because I haven't needed them.

I cannot wait for fall night football games as the combination of high ISO and a 2.8 lens will be perfect.

The auto focus on this camera is amazing. The D3 was good. The D4 is great. The combination of this with a 200-400 AFS Zoom is just heaven. I've gotten more, better and great shots since I got this camera than in the whole season before it. My clients have noticed it and commented. Very impressive.

The white balance is much better than the older models. It gives you a true color and needs little tweaking. But if you need to tweak--it can do that too.

A lot of people will complain about the XQD card. I wont. It is fast. When you stick that card in, with the camera set at JPEG Fine, you have about 71 images in your "burst." Why you would ever use 71 images at once is beyond me, but they are there. For example, I shot a lacrosse championship game the other day. It went into two overtimes. I was able to shoot the action going into the final shot--and then shoot a stream of jubilation shots without missing a beat. That would have consumed all of the memory of the D3. Yes, the cards are expensive, but if you shoot raw, you are going to need the space.

The battery is new, having to meet new Japanese standards. But, I've gotten nearly 4,000 shots out of it before seeing the low battery light come on.

I am not used to the Video yet, so I cannot comment on it too much. I need to work out the bugs and give that a shot before the fall sports season starts. As my clients evolve in their media savvy, I am sure that an ability to shoot short video clips of their games will come in very handy. I need every competitive edge I can get these days.

All in all, this camera is everything a pro would want: High quality, innovative, fast, big, weather sealed, and backwards compatible with my equipment. The D3s will give it a run for low level light shooting, but if you are moving up from a D2 or D3, the bells and whistles make this worth every dime.

Buy Nikon D4 16.2 MP CMOS FX Digital SLR with Full 1080p HD Video (Body Only) Now

This will be an ongoing product review and something I will be updating as time goes on.

Ordering from Amazon -

As soon as I saw the news on nikonrumors.com that amazon had opened up the website for D4 orders, I placed mine. Thank you nikonrumors! This was January 6th. Since then, Amazon sent their usual emails informing me that the product was backordered and such. The only problem was amazon.com kept listing March 20th as the release date and March 21st as my "Estimated Shipping Date". Of course this didn't happen. In fact, at least for those that watch dpreview.com, this happened to all amazon.com D4 orders. The only bummer about the whole ordering experience was that the Amazon customer service was pretty much useless and uninformed. In the future, amazon should be quicker to correct their release dates. At least I got the camera..moving on...

Camera shipping from Amazon -

In the past I have been contacted by Amazon concierge to make sure my order was going smoothly. DIdn't happen with the D4. Not a big deal. Camera shipped next day UPS Saver on March 28 and arrived March 29th just past 5pm. Shipped was free due to the release date screw ups. Camera was boxed OK..and it did the job. I would have packed it better..but it arrived ok. Signature required.

D4 contents -

Good news here! The D4 came with the Sony XQS Card Reader and one 16 gig Sony XQS card. Very cool considering my 32 gig order is still pending. The Card reader and card were in a white envelope placed on top of the camera contents.

Additional contents -

1x EN-EL18 battery

MH-26 Battery charger (charges 2 batteries)

Instructions in both Spanish & English

Warranty Programs

Nikon ViewNX2

Strap

USB cable

Caps body, hotshot

Clips USB & body

UF1 & UF2 connectors

D4 Specs (and compared to the D3s) -

Weight 41.6 oz (D3s 43.7 oz) (Weight difference is noticeable!)

Pixels 16.2 million (D3s 12.1)

FPS 10/11 (D3s 9 FPS)

ISO 100 12,800 with lo-1 as 50, HI-4 as 204,800 (D3s 200 12,800, Lo-1 100, HI-3 102,400)

Video Full 1080 HD up to 30 FPS (D3s 720 at 24 FPS)

Monitor size 3.2 inches (D3s 3.0)

Viewfinder 100%

Integrated network port

D4 camera (first impressions) -

Ergonomics & Buttons WOW a lot has changed here. If you are coming from a D3s like me, all sorts of little changes mean some big adjustments. Here is my list of just what I've found so far -

Metering selector is gone!!! It used to be on the prism and adjusted with your right thumb. Not any more! It is now replacing the "Lock" button and press with your left hand and adjusted INSIDE the viewfinder.

Focus Mode Selector Gone too! The button to toggle between manual and autofocus is still there, but to toggle between C & S is now inside the view finder

Hand grip is different for both portrait and landscape photos including a small black piece of rubber attached near the camera bottom

The camera back Just looking at the back of the camera has sent me back to the full manual to learn this camera from the beginning. This includes changes to the thumbnails, picture control, and playback buttons and removal of the Area AF mode selector button.

Overall I like the changes, and love the ability to see changes inside the viewfinder. Might be a while to get my fingers to adapt. Overall it's good.

New D4 Network capabilities -

New to the D4, the camera can do FTP photo and movie uploads, control camera functions from a laptop using an optional software package (Caera Control Pro 2), and take pictures using an iPhone and remote browser. You can also control multiple cameras and do synchronized releases using the WT-5.

New D4 Chips & Batteries -

The battery and XQS memory chips are new to the D4. This means having to spend more money to buy new stuff as opposed to those that upgraded from the D3 to D3s. Sure it is good for the long term, but is a bit of a pain right now. If you shoot any other camera as well, then you will need to lug about two battery charges. If you don't have a backup camera, you will still need two sets of chips.

Shooting the D4 -

Quiet shutter option. There is a new shutter setting for a quiet shutter. This is on the command dial next to the high speed shutter release.

a bump up in FPS is subtle, but nice. I have yet to fully test this, but for shooting motor sports, I like it

Viewfinder is now 100% and nothing to dislike about this!

The virtual horizon is now inside the viewfinder! I constantly have to correct my pictures and love this feature. This is used by setting the Fn button in the menu to use the virtual horizon feature. The horizon only works when holding the camera normally not vertical. Still...great feature and I love it.

ISO -

The D4 takes pushing up the ISO beyond the D3s. But the difference is minimal as far as I can tell.

Overall (so far) D4 is every bit as good as the D3s and then some. The upgrades to the buttons are annoying, but I think will really be more useful in the field than the D3s version. The new chips and batteries are just progress in my mind. Not a big deal, just a little more money that has to be spent. I've only had this camera one day (and one night) and plan to add to this as I hit up some car races and concours...

Read Best Reviews of Nikon D4 16.2 MP CMOS FX Digital SLR with Full 1080p HD Video (Body Only) Here

Got one of the first ones out based on the glowing reviews and being an owner of several Nikon dSLR bodies; from the D70 up through the D3x/s cameras.

This takes the best of all of them and puts them in one body. The D4 relies heavily on the control dials, and most are intuitive. Spo changing settings can be done quickly.

Take the exceptional resolution of the D3x and add the superb low light performance of the D3s; then make it all faster and better, and you have a D4.

I was worried that I would feel "eh" about this camera, but my reaction is far from that. If you have some good Nikkor glass, or want to start at the pinnacle of digital photography for under $10,000, the D4 meets your needs with aplomb.

I may be poorer, but am delighted with this purchase.

note: I would have bought from Amazon, but they weren't expecting stock, so I went with a reliable authorized dealer. I like buying from Amazon though as they are very generous with returns should a problem exist; and even with $6,000 bodies, problems do crop up, even when new.

If you want your photos to be as good as they can be, and can afford the entry fee, this is the camera

If $6,000 is too much and speed is not crucial, the D800 or D800e probably do nicely at half the cost.

Remember this is a FX format, so no multiplying focal lengths by 1.5x. The sensor is the size of a 35mm negative.

Focusing is also faster on the D4. It's all good.

Delighted with this purchase

(D700, D3s, and D3x for sale. Used. Perfect condition)

Want Nikon D4 16.2 MP CMOS FX Digital SLR with Full 1080p HD Video (Body Only) Discount?

I'm a non-professional, photo enthusiast who shoots about 15K photos a year, mostly travel photography. I upgraded from a D300 mainly because of it's inability to capture my then 15 month old son who had starting walking. The D4 changed all that in the sense that I now have literally thousands of perfectly focused photos of my son crawling, climbing, jumping, running and yes falling; all in a 3 month time span. That to me is worth $6K and my wife agrees. The dynamic range and skin tone are excellent. On the D300, I would have to do a 5 shot bracket to have a nice HDR blend for landscape shooting. With the D4, the recovery in the shadows are so awesome especially with the newer Lightroom 4 software that I can often get away with one shot (-1 EV) and it'll look 90% as good as a 5 shot blend from the D300.

And of course, it's very durable. I have taken it to extreme humidity and heat and it has functioned beautiful. Never locked up at all so I haven't even needed to update the fireware. I'm currently in the 19K shutter actuation range and have recharged the batteries four times. Note though that I don't use video or Live View heavily.

Will it make you a better photographer? Likely not, I showed my wife pictures from our Montreal trip three years ago taken with the D300 and 18-200 VR1, and compared them to our recent Asia trip taken with the D4 and 24-70mm lens. She said my skill level has changed but the subject and content are pretty much similar.

In one word, the D4 is a MACHINE. Responsive. Accurate. Fast. From the D300 to the D4, it's like going from a 150 hp minivan to a 500 HP Porsche 911 turbo.

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Friday, March 21, 2014

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC20S 2.1MP Digital Camera w/ Leica Lens and 3x Optical Zoom, Silver

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC20S 2.1MP Digital Camera w/ Leica Lens and 3x Optical Zoom, SilverI bought this, my first digital camera a month ago and it has exceeded my expectations! I did a tremendous amount of research to figure out what features I most wanted in a digital camera. I was basically looking for a small DC I could take around and take lots of pictures with.

Despite Panasonic being pretty new to DC's, I noticed a lot of the features that I was looking for on the LC-20 and decided to take a chance. What first caught my eye about this Panasonic was the Leica Lens. Being somewhat familiar with photography, I have always known Leica to make excellent (and expensive!) lenses. I don't have a digital photo printer so I can't comment on how well these pictures print out.

This baby had just about every important feature I was looking for: 2.1 mp, 3x optical 2x digital (but everyone knows digital zoom's useless), compact, light, plugs directly to my computer via USB (don't need to buy a separate reader), burst mode rocks; and it uses 2 AA batteries (included with charger!) which have averaged a good 70+ shots with the LCD screen on.

Movie mode with sound is a great addition too with a 20s film clip eating 3.25megs each. One feature that I thought was awesome and I'm still learning to use is Burst mode. This was another feature I highly desired, seeing that one of the major complaints my friends had with their DC was the 1-2 second lag in between picture-taking. Burst mode allows you to take 3-5 pics per second, with one drawback being you can only take as many pictures as fast as the flash will allow. This basically translates to being able to use burst mode most effectively outside during the day.

I talked to friends before I bought this camera, most of whom own one of the Canon Elphs (great line of cameras too), others have Olympus Camedias (huge and bulky) and Sony's (not bad, but pretty pricy for what you're getting). I tried theirs out before I made my purchase and I can safely say I'm much happier with my camera for the following reasons:

-The Panasonic powers up FAST! Power-up to a picture taken is about 3 seconds.

-The delay between hitting the shutter button and the camera actually taking the picture is very short, less than or about a second.

-Burst mode! Although it really only functionally works during the day when you don't need a flash, one of the most frequent complaints I heard from friends is it's impossible to time action shots. Burst mode helps remedy that.

-AA batteries are cheaper than proprietaries and can be bought anywhere if you find yourself on vacation or just out and unable to recharge quickly

-The camera fits well in my hand

-The macro feature is a definite bonus

-I recently took this camera skiing and can happily report that I could turn the camera on/off, and take pictures pretty easily even with my gloves on.

Some drawbacks that I've come across:

Don't even bother with the packaged software. Even using plain old Windows Explorer beats it.

Doesn't include a DC adapter, but this is easily remedied by buying a set of 4 rechargables for a total of 6, that'll take care of 200+ pics at a time)

Of course 8MB isn't enough, but you need to buy a new memory card with every DC on the market anyway; my 128MB card can hold 159 1600x1200 pics without compression. That jumps to over 1000 pictures if you lower the resolution to 640x480 and use compression.

Uses SD (SecureDigital) memory cards, which are slightly more expensive than Compact Flash and Sony Memory Sticks (and hardly anyone else uses them so you're stuck if you want to switch brands later). These memory cards are SMALL, though, about the size and thickness of a dime.

Some people may say 2.1 mp is a drawback, but these pictures come out crisp and clear at 1600x1200 and are already pushing 700kb. If you want 3-4mp, you'll probably need to invest in huge memory sticks not to mention a bigger hard drive. Digital pictures add up! I've already taken over a thousand in the past month!

The key to buying a DC will be to ask yourself what you will be using the camera for most. Is it something you want to bring with you EVERYWHERE? If so, you'll probably want something ultra-small, smaller than this camera (and thus probably twice the price of this camera). I just wanted something to replace my Point-and-Shoot, something that allows me to take a lot of pictures without worrying about the cost of film, development, etc. IMHO, this is a great starter DC. It's relatively cheap, has a lot of great features, and it's compact enough to carry in a jacket pocket. Overall, it has exceeded my expectations and continues to please.

Plusses: sharp, properly exposed pictures; easy to use; small; light; photos easy to transfer to a computer.

Minuses: neck strap inappropriate; poor battery access; maximum time exposure a bit short; no manual shutter speed control.

The camera came with a neck strap; 2-1600 mA-hour AA rechargable NiMH batteries; a 2 battery recharger, an 8 MB SD memory chip; a video cable to play back movies on a TV (haven't tried it yet); a proprietary USB cable (one end is for this and some other cameras only not cheap to replace, so keep track of it) for connecting to a computer to get the photos off the memory chip; a CD with USB drivers and Photo software (haven't tried the photo software yet), and instructions.

You can let the camera decide what settings to use, but you also have quite a bit of control. You can photograph at 640×480, 1024×768 or 1600×1200 resolution, except movies are 320×240 only (but with sound). Manual ASA settings are 100, 200 & 400. You can force exposure changes of ±2EV in ¼EV increments. You can turn the flash off or force it to flash. The flash isn't for beyond about 8' (2.4m), or for movies. Zoom is 3× optical and 2× digital (digital can be turned off). You can make the camera focus and adjust for light on a particular object, and then hold the setting while you compose the picture and shoot. Macro shooting is done in a separate macro mode at distances starting at about 8" (20cm). Time-delay self trigger is easy to use, and can be set for a 2 or 10 sec delay.

The color display can be shut off to save battery power, but the optical viewfinder isn't quite as accurate. You can review the picture you've just taken and magnify it to see how sharp it is, or you can change modes to review all the pictures stored on the chip. While reviewing a picture, you can delete it to make room on the chip. Photos are saved as .jpg files; movies are saved as Quicktime .mov files. The internal menu system is clear and easy to use.

You can't manually set shutter speed; and time exposures appear to be limited to about 8 seconds. Movie length is limited to 19 seconds. On the camera, you can't review movies you've taken, and (the instructions say) watching them on a TV with the video cable will be without sound.

Pictures are sharp and properly exposed (if I don't mess up). The camera is light and will fit in a shirt pocket, but then the neck strap interferes. I'll probably make a wrist strap for it. Depending on what you're doing, the batteries can get empty quickly. Get 4 extra 1800 (more is better, not 1600) mA-hour NiMH batteries. That way you can have 1 pair in the camera, one pair being recharged, and still have a backup. I haven't bought (or made) an AC power supply for the camera yet (Panasonic does offer one), but with 3 pairs of batteries, I haven't been stuck without power yet. As soon as a pair is empty, I start recharging them. Recharge time is 5 hours.

If you're running Windows NT, you won't be able to use the USB connection (unless you can find a memory card reader that comes with USB drivers for NT Panasonic doesn't have them for the camera). You'll also need more memory chips, 8MB is 8-12 photos at maximum resolution. 128MB total (one big chip or several smaller chips it pays to shop around, too) should be more than enough if you can pull the photos over to your computer from time to time.

The neck strap is too much for such a small, light camera. It also gets in the way when using a tripod. A strap that can be configured as either neck or wrist strap might have been a good idea. The triangular metal eyes used to connect the strap to the camera tend to catch in positions you don't want them in.

The display on the back of the camera is a bit unprotected, so be careful. If you use the neck strap, make sure you adjust it so that when you walk, the screen isn't banging against a metal zipper, snap, belt buckle or button, etc. Get (or make) a soft carrying case with room for charger, extra batteries and extra memory chips. When visiting friends or relatives, you might want to bring cable(s) and software, too. The camera came with a Panasonic "rebate" offer of 2 extra 16MB memory chips, which arrived in a small plastic bag inside a padded mailer; nothing protective for transporting them in normal use. A SanDisk chip I bought came with its own protective case. I haven't solved this problem yet...pillbox? matchbox?

The camera is tricky to use in low light and close quarters, particularly if focusing is required (you won't be able to see anything on the display, and a camera has to "see" to focus). A tripod has helped, but not for moving objects. You may not be able to get the chip (or batteries) out of the camera while it's screwed to a tripod base.

You must remove the memory chip to change batteries, and the battery and chip slot cover is a 2 piece articulated cover that is tricky to open and close for battery access. This makes changing batteries harder than changing memory chips; but you'll be changing batteries more often. The arrangement looks a bit flimsy to me, so if you're rough on equipment or all thumbs, this camera may not be right for you. Otherwise, I definitely like and would recommend the camera.

I got the camera for making photos to view on screen, for which it has proven excellent. I can't say if 2 megapixels is enough for printing. Having never used other similar cameras, I can't give a comparative recommendation.

Buy Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC20S 2.1MP Digital Camera w/ Leica Lens and 3x Optical Zoom, Silver Now

After having used this digital camera for two months the conclusion is simple: This camera is great!

The quality of the pictures is really good (at normal/small prints). I am very pleased with the many opportunities digital photos give me, I can just print the pictures from home, send them to my family, edit colors etc.

The ability to see the pictures right at the spot comes in very handy (and I can just delete them if I don't like them). Once you have the camera and a printer it is completely free develop the pictures!

The only drawback this camera has is it's ability to take indoors photos in low light conditions. But using the software that comes with the camera I can easily change that. It takes a little time to learn to use the Arc photo sotware, but once you get used to it is easy (even though I only really use Arc PhotoBase).

The camera has plenty of settings for my use and they are easy to use. I have found that some pictures look better when I turn the photo compression off and set ISO to 200. The pictures will take up a little more space, but the memory is not all that expensive compared to the camera.

One function I am using a lot is the video (with sound). It is very neat to capture small video clips and transfer them to PC (very easy using USB) so you can send them via email. I can also review the pictures on TV using the cable that comes with the camera.

After having this camera two months I have taken over 300 photos, even though I didn't use to take photos at all. I have pretty much takne the camera with me every where! Most of the photos came out in a great quality due to the cameras automatic settings. This really makes it easy to take good photos!

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC20S 2.1MP Digital Camera w/ Leica Lens and 3x Optical Zoom, Silver Here

For my first digital camera, was looking for a reasonable priced 2 mp model and looked at Canon A40, Casio and Fuji equivalents. Running the specs side by side and removing the "nice to haves" left the Panasonic the clear winner for me -good value for money, lots of usefull features, compactness and a Lieca lens stood out in the comparisons. Panasonic and Leica is a good combination and works well in this camera.

The LC20 has good looks and feels the part It is attractive and is ergnomically very good. Video is a bonus, but not a replacement for a video camera.

Haven't seen any barrel distortion, colour bleed or other faults. The pictures are very sharp, clearly defined and relatively undistorted. The colours are natural and not "over saturated". Some people have reported a little under exposure rarely see this, but it is easy to compensate for with the software. Have seen some complaints with the software, but have found it okay to use.

Start up time is quick, refresh time between flash shots is up to 5 seconds. Battery use depends on lcd screen use etc. but is not too bad. I bought 4 more 1800ma/hr batteries, so won't run out of power.

Comparing the results with photos taken by friends / family digital cameras this camera more than holds its own.

A little knowledge of photography was helpful as good results in full auto mode in all situations are not always achieveable. Outdoors, just set in auto and shoot for consistently good results. Indoors in lower light situations as with most digital cameras, the flash is not particularly strong, the lcd screen is a little hard to see in low light and the auto focus sometimes takes a little time to work.

If you take the time to read the manual, and learn how to adjust the sensitivity and make exposure compensation adjustments and you will get much better results. Found that changing the sensitivity to ISO200 in low light produced good results, ISO400 can produce noisy pictures.

Positives:

Great value ... came with additional 16mb card, battery charger, case and strap; Compact; Great leans; Good macro; Bright lcd screen and very good menu functionality (intuitive); Quick start up time; Leica lens; Good quality pictures;

Negatives:

No real negatives, but use the battery door carefully. It appears a bit "plasticky" but if you take care no problems.

Want Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC20S 2.1MP Digital Camera w/ Leica Lens and 3x Optical Zoom, Silver Discount?

Having always been a Panasonic believer, I bought this camera two years ago for a purchase price of $550, after playing with the camera for a year and four months the camera overheated and died on me (at a draft horse show that I had been waiting for for a long time). I sent the camera into Panasonic and was quoted an incredible $350 to fix the camera (market value for that same camera at the time was less than $250). I wrote the CEO of Panasonic only to be directed to someone else. They offered to take the cost of the part and have me pay for labour ($90) and shipping ($20), I asked them if they could instead send me a coupon towards the cost of a new one (as I would have rather spent the $110 on the purchase of a new one with warranty) and they said they couldn't. (more like they wouldn't) Needless to say that I was not impressed and would not recommend this product to anyone. It was a horrible experience dealing with the customer service sector of Panasonic, unfortunately for them they have lost a fond customer and repeat buyer.

Friday, March 7, 2014

BlueRigger High Speed HDMI to DVI Adapter Cable (6.6 Feet/ 2 Meters)

BlueRigger High Speed HDMI to DVI Adapter CableI upgraded my system and decided that I should upgrade my cables in the process. Besides, I also wanted to use the HDMI connector and avoid a possible signal degradation issue when using an adapter.

This cable has a very well-built feel to it, nice feeling materials. It connects well with the extended screw grips in the DVI side, and the HDMI side plugs in firmly and stays where it's put. I like the matching blue ends to help identify these connectors among the dozens I have due to the several systems behind my desk.

I use this cable to switch between multiple connections on my monitor and it's working great for that purpuse. I can switch to the VGA port to use my KVM and support several systems there, or back to my DVI port and this system. It allows me great flexibility in chosing which device uses the monitor at the time. The length is about right for placing a system on the floor behind a desk and them reaching up to a monitor that's mounted on a arm system like I have. It's long enough that I can swing the arms around and nothing binds. See my other reviews if you are considering a monitor mount as there's a nice one for a good price on Amazon too.

This BlueRigger cable is pretty thick, has a sturdy build quality with gold plated solid connectors. It supports Full HD (1080p) content and the output picture quality is seriously awesome. A Great Buy, 100% recommended.

Buy BlueRigger High Speed HDMI to DVI Adapter Cable (6.6 Feet/ 2 Meters) Now

Adapters seem to be the only thing available in stores when you need HDMI to DVI. They jack you on the standard cable and bend you over again for an overpriced adapter. This cable is superior to most adapters because it's Dual Link (which stores don't offer) and provides greater bandwidth which produces a better picture. Where as with a Single Link cable or adapter you will likely get distorted squares or blocks that look horrible. My bet is the stores would rather uneducated consumer buy a new video card instead of a proper cable. To understand more about Single vs Dual link search Wikipedia for "dvi port".

BlueRigger support is also responsive if you should ever need them.

Read Best Reviews of BlueRigger High Speed HDMI to DVI Adapter Cable (6.6 Feet/ 2 Meters) Here

I'm using this adapter cable to go from a dvi connector on my computer graphics card to a plasma tv HDMI input. The picture is amazing campared with the s-video I was using before. Sound is not output with this so you have to add cables for the sound.

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I purchased the HDMI to DVI adapter cable to connect my laptop to a second monitor. I was just looking for the cheapest cable that would do the job and found this one. This cable uses quality parts, looks great, and is very well made. At a previous job, I was an engineer designing cables (not for BlueRigger) and I can attest to the quality of this cable. I will definitely purchase other BlueRigger cables in the future.

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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Mobi MobiCam Audio Video Wireless Internet Kit

Mobi MobiCam Audio Video Wireless Internet KitI bought this camera mainly because it had the internet feature so I could share my toddler's room with my out-of-town family.

The Bad:

1. The internet connection feels like a rip off. You only get TWO hours of monitoring per MONTH unless you want to pay $9.95/month! If I buy an internet hookup, I expect to be able to watch my monitor any time or have my family be able to watch any time as well.

2. The internet connection is awkward. You have to hook up the physical monitor to a computer constantly with a bunch of wires & adapters (see below). So, at night (when I actually use the monitor), I have a choice of having the monitor hooked up to my computer OR being able to watch the monitor next to my bed. Who wants a computer running next to their bed all the time with a tangled mess of wires? See below.

3. Hookup consists of a USB to your computer, going to some adapter unit which goes to stereo & video RCA jacks as well as an S-video, which then goes to an 1/8" jack which finally hooks into the monitor. This is not just a USB cable like it says! This is ridiculously awkward.

4. Software is cheap! You have to install drivers, reboot, hook up the camera, install the software, etc., etc. It took a couple of hours to get this up & running, which is pretty bad in a plug & play world!

5. Your monitor hooks up to your computer which broadcasts your monitor to their website. Granted, they make you set up a website & password to make you feel secure about it, but you cannot control anything other than if you have the camera hooked up or not (& of course who you give the website & password to).

Overall, I am sorely disappointed that I got the internet hookup. I wish I had gotten the extra camera instead for the same price.

This kit includes drivers, webcam software, and pass-through cable to connect the MobiCam monitor to your PC via USB.

An additional monthly subscription fee is required if you actually want to view your MobiCam remotely via the Web. They allow up to 2 hours viewing time per month, but with grandparents that live 7 hours away, 2 hours won't get them through a month. So, if you decide to get this, then pay the $ and allow grandparents to experience the child's life while they still can.

I began to worry when I noticed one of the requirements, as listed on their box, is a "steaming" internet connection. This shows a lack of attention to detail and poor quality assurance; I would have immediately put this thing back on the shelf and walked away after reading a typo like that on product packaging. How good could it really be if this is how they're marketing themselves? But, this was given to us as a gift; so, I tried it out. My fears worsened after I began to read the included manual my 9-week old son could produce a better technical document than what they put out...I was embarrassed for them.

I installed the software on my desktop, and was able to get it working after some trials & tribulations with my firewall. However, the web cam software (mpeg4decoder.exe) crashes consistently, taking Windows Explorer down with it. I decided to try the software on my laptop to see if it worked any better on a different computer. Upon installation, Avira AntiVir identified the webcam software as a backdoor server (BDS/Hupigon.Gen).

Also, the software can only be installed on one computer. We would like to use it on our desktop on occasion, so I can use my laptop to access the internet and view my son when I'm away on business. We would also like to use it on the laptop downstairs, when my wife & I are both at home and viewing the MobiCam monitor downstairs, while baby sleeps upstairs.

In summary: buggy software needs to be fixed; questionable virus/backdoor distributed with their software; software should be allowed on multiple computers (e.g. iTunes); fix horrible writing & typos in your documentation and on your product packaging show us you care about your product.

Buy Mobi MobiCam Audio Video Wireless Internet Kit Now

I just tried to install the Internet Kit and the installer prompts to download files from the Mobi web site. When that was done, I ran the executable to install the files and found it to be infected with a virus from my scanner. Tried it again on a test pc with another virus scanner just to be sure it wasn't a false positive and sure enough, it is infected.

Read Best Reviews of Mobi MobiCam Audio Video Wireless Internet Kit Here

I bought this thinking we could see the kids if we were out and left them with a babysitter. What I found out was in order to do this the monitor must be connected to the pc. We only have one laptop! We don't have internet on our phones. There is also a $10 month charge. Had I known exactly how it worked and there was a monthly charge, I would not have bought it.

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The picture is poor on the handheld device to say the least. When I connected to my 60" TV it was not much better and it was wavy! I bought this camera to use in my toddler's room at night. The night vision is awful. Can't see my son 10 feet from the camera!

The box misleads buyer into thinking you are buying a wonderful surveillance system that has motion detection that will text message you! You can view your child from your BlackBerry! Or you can monitor your children at home from your work computer! NO WHERE ON THE BOX DOES IT STATE THAT YOU HAVE TO PAY EXTRA FOR THESE FEATURES AND MUCH MORE!!

At night you can turn off the video monitor and just have sound. However there are two green lights on the front that never go off and light up my entire bedroom! I have quit using this system and will never buy another mobicam product. Huge waste of money!

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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Colours Design Protective Decal Skin Sticker (Matte Satin Coating) for Flip SlideHD Digital Camcord

Colours Design Protective Decal Skin Sticker for Flip SlideHD Digital CamcorderThis was so easy to apply and it made my Flip camcorder look very unique and the disign was extremely well done. It looks like it came from the factory that way. My daughter has a Flip camcorder also so this makes out phones easy to tell which one is hers and mine.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Pentax Optio W30 7.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Pentax Optio W30 7.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical ZoomAll the reviews & manufacturer hype the water/dust-proofness of this camera, which is fine, because it does a great job, is easy to use, and is fairly sturdy. However, we used to have a Canon SD400, but we wanted a waterproof camera. This W30 is a good camera, but I think we were spoiled with the picture/lens-quality of the Canon.

Good: Water/Dust proof with not much fuss. It just works! Easy to use. Compatible with new SDHC cards (my current card is 8GB!!!). But 16GB and 32GB are on the way. This allows a HUGE number of photos and video to be recorded on ONE CARD. Just make sure to keep spare batteries. One battery will 'roughly' last about 1 hour of video and a 100-200 photos (some with/without flash).

There are no external moving parts (such as lens extension)to get trapped with dust/water, since the lens 'extension' is internal.

The menu/capture-speed is good, but not 'quite' as fast as Canon's Digic II cameras (like SD400, or later).

USB connection is a standard USB mass-storage device, so it should work on Windows, Mac, or Linux with no problems (thank goodness).

Also, this camera seems to be pretty durable/tough. I dropped it several times on CEMENT/concrete, and it got a few cosmetic scratches on the case, but all operations and the lens were fine. But I might put a plastic screen protector on the 2.5" screen to prevent scratches. Another recommendation is to get a silicon skin for pool/underwater use (to prevent case scratches from the pool/rocks), or a neoprene case to keep the lens intact while traveling (since there is NO LENS COVER).

Bad: Video uses Quicktime-MOV files, which is good (potentially), but it's a bit grainy, and the compression is not great. But I can fit a 'rough estimate' of maybe 2-3+ hours of video on an 8GB card.

Ugly: Lots of grain/noise in low-light or even some normal daylight photos. You can workaround this by manually changing the ISO speed to 64, 100, or 200 to reduce noise, but then you may get some blurry shots (due to camera/object motion).

OVERALL: If you don't need a waterproof camera, get a Canon SD-series (they're EXCELLENT). But if you need/want something more 'safe', get this camera. It's easily the best water/dust-proof camera on the market.

While initially impressed with the camera, my enthusiasm waned when I took it snorkeling. 20 minutes later the camera was rendered inoperable as water had entered the battery compartment. I contacted Amazon who to their credit sent me a replacement camera immediately at no charge. Sadly the camera suffered the same fate as the first except this time water found its way into the screen within the first minute of submersion. I again contacted Amazon who informed that

"As it seems that the problem with this item is more widespread than

we originally thought, we are not able to send another replacement.

We will gladly refund you in full for the return of this item.

please return the set." Fair enough. I then placed an order for the SeaLife ECOshot SL321

So, excellent customer service from Amazon, dissapointing product from Pentax.

Buy Pentax Optio W30 7.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Now

I bought the W20 early this year for a month we spent in Hawaii. It was a great camera. Long story short, I lost it in the ocean. I just picked up a W30 while on business in Hong Kong. It is much faster than the w20. I haven't taken it underwater yet but the image stabilization works well and did I mention it powers up amazingly fast. Great product.

Read Best Reviews of Pentax Optio W30 7.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Here

UPDATE: (I wanted to make this one-star, but the edit function won't allow me to change the rating...)

My experience with this camera took a 180 degree turn when it leaked (while submerged about 2 feet for 20 minutes) in saltwater and failed. Bummer, since it was on day 2 of my vacation, but Pentax would surely make good on it with a new unit (it was only 4 months old at the time).

My real reason for the one-star was Pentax's HORRIBLE customer service. Six weeks of waiting and a number of calls to relatively useless support people about when to expect the camera would be returned, and I finally got the camera back in its box from Pentax. Great. Put the battery in and nothing. So I called back to support, and when I did, they simply said "Oh, we found water damage in the camera so we didn't repair it. It would have cost more to repair than the camera was worth". They insisted that I had 'misused' the camera (on my word, it was 2 feet of water for 20 minutes...) an effectively told me to piss off.

My beef with Pentax is threefold: (1) the camera didn't live up to its specs (not even close!), (2) they advertise aggressively for action sport usage (see full page ads with famous surfer Kelly Slater holding his W30), and (3) a total lack of any sense of customer service. They didn't even have the courtesy to include a note in the return box explaining that it wasn't fixed and why.

I replaced it with an Olympus, and will never buy another Pentax product in my lifetime!

INITIAL REVIEW:

After reading the reviews of the W30 and the Olympus SW770, I decided to go Pentax for the better picture quality, taking somewhat of a chance that the waterproofing would work reasonably well.

So far, so good! I use the camera mainly for surfing (tuck it inside of my wetsuit) and was worried about the waterproof-ness given the sometimes rough crashing waves and dunkings that mother ocean gives. I've taken it out 3 times now, and no problems yet. The LCD screen is hard to see when it gets wet (and nearly impossible underwater) but the pics are always much clearer in real life than they seem on the LCD.

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I bought this camera for a holiday in the Caribbean. After using it for 20 minutes in shallow water, it failed. I returned it to Pentax who (eventually) claimed the warranty was void because it had sand on the battery cover which has compromised the waterproofing. This is nonsense. How it could have worked under water with sand on the battery cover was beyond the Pentax technicians ability to explain. Also, the possibility that any sand on the battery cover had lodged there after the camera failed was also too much for the Pentax customer service (an oxymoron if ever there was one) to explain.

So, lousy camera and even worse customer service.