Wanscam Ip Camera AJ-C0WA-C116 Wifi IR CUT Wireless 20 Meter Night Vision and 6mm Lens Waterproof O

1st off.. due to Sandy the Storm, it took a little longer to get my product. With that said, setting up this cam was faster than light.. ok it wasn't that fast but with the included ( lacks paper manual) CD and PDF user/setup manual even you could set this up pretty damn fast.

Once you get it hooked up thru your modem / router and follow the PDF, i was able to see my video on my computer... Then disconnected it from the router and the wireless took over and still was connected.

I had even disconnect the power to install the camera on a pan & tilt device i had from x10 cameras and reconnected and it still was working wirelessly.

Once you download the setup software, then the search tool on your computer, it easy found my cams / router info automatic. I'm using a Arris 3.0 modem with a Linksys E2500 router.

You may not like the 36 leds for night vision. They are red and VERY NOTICEABLE to anyone at night. Good or Bad, depends on if you want people to know you're WATCHING.

Unless you have a outlet for power within 3 ft where you will mount the cam, plan on buying either an POWER ADAPTER ( AMAZON 2.1mm X 5.5mm DC Plug Extension Cable for Power Adapter, 25 Feet) for getting power or a POE ( power over ethernet PoE Injector/Splitt​er with 3.5 mm x 1.35 mm DC Size Connector) kit and CAT CABLING.

Purchase again. YES

never got a chance to try it.maybe next time try a deferent shipper instead of UPS . OH ,THATS RIGHT THERE WILL NOT BE A NEXT TIME....

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The camera wouldn't stay connected to wireless network, and setup instructions poorly written. Not very a good at all !

Read Best Reviews of Wanscam Ip Camera AJ-C0WA-C116 Wifi IR CUT Wireless 20 Meter Night Vision and 6mm Lens Waterproof O Here

HDMI Cable - 2 Male Connectors - 2 Meters

Just in case someone may feel guilty for not paying a lot more for, basically the same thing, let's look at our top of the line offer, Monster HDMI 1000HD Ultra-High Speed HDMI Cable (2 meters) and do a quick comparison.

This item supports the HDMI 1.3 standard. Any HDMI 1.3 cable can carry up to 10.2 Gbit/s. Hmmm... I suppose the Monster is much better, right? Well... it "guarantees a certified cable bandwidth of 10.2" Okay, but the Monster also supports "x.v.Color, and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD". It turns out that, all of the above, and more, are part of the HDMI 1.3 specs and they are fully supported by every cable that complies to the standard and can be had for about 95% less in the Premium Gold. The expensive brand presentation simply enumerates the HDMI 1.3 specs as if it being HDMI 1.3 compliant was a really big deal. It is not a big deal. Even a cable that costs 95% less is HDMI 1.3 compliant.

My suggestion: if you think that the proponents of the expensive brand have a point when they claim that their product is a lot more durable, buy TWO Premium Gold wires and still pay almost 90% less than you would pay for one of the expensive ones.

My personal experience: I've never paid 'a lot' for an HDMI cable because it makes no sense to pay more. I took home one of the 'expensive' ones once because the salesman promised to take it back if I wasn't amazed by the difference. It made zero difference and I returned it.

_________________________________________________

The following are the HDMI 1.3 specs and all certified HDMI 1.3 cables (including Monster) are going to support them.

Maximum signal bandwidth (MHz) 340

Maximum TMDS bandwidth (Gbit/s) 10.2

Maximum video bandwidth (Gbit/s) 8.16

Maximum audio bandwidth (Mbit/s) 36.86

Maximum Color Depth (bit/px) 48

Maximum resolution over single link at 24-bit/px 2560×1600p75

Maximum resolution over single link at 30-bit/px 2560×1600p60

Maximum resolution over single link at 36-bit/px 1920x1200p75

Maximum resolution over single link at 48-bit/px 1920×1200p60

sRGB

YCbCr

8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio capability

Blu-ray Disc video and audio at full resolution

Consumer Electronic Control (CEC)

DVD-Audio support

Super Audio CD (DSD) support

Deep Color

xvYCC

Auto lip-sync

Dolby TrueHD bitstream capable

DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream capable

Updated list of CEC commands (only on HDMI 1.3a,b,c)

Bought thee cables and frankly can not tell the difference between them and the much-higher priced cables. I have even swapped them out in the same setup and I can hear no difference. And, I am not tone deaf, having had 13 years of musical training.

Buy HDMI Cable - 2 Male Connectors - 2 Meters Now

Cables for computers and electronics have always been way overpriced in brick and mortar stores. Psychological studies have shown that people will ususally overlook the price of an add-on or upgrade if it is less than 10% of the main item you're purchasing. Also, people want to be able to hook up their equipment as soon as possible. Hence cables for $600-$1000 TVs cost $60 or more. The salesman may give you a deal by offering them at half price, $30. (That's exactly what my salesman did.) Instead, since I wasn't in a hurry, I bought these for a fraction of the price. They meet all the same standards and they work great.

Read Best Reviews of HDMI Cable - 2 Male Connectors - 2 Meters Here

Purchased this cable to update my PS3 to the 1.3 version of HDMI. The cable is solidly build, thick and the connection to the PS3 and TV were solid. There is nothing cheap about this cable except the price. My personal opinion is to avoid the cheap HDMI cables sold and spend the extra dollar on a cable that is solidly made.

Want HDMI Cable - 2 Male Connectors - 2 Meters Discount?

I bought six of these cables about a month ago. I gave them a good review when I hooked them up. They SEEMED to work fine. Until about 2 weeks ago, that is when the first one went. Two days ago a second one went out. I have had HDMI devices since their inception and I have never had a cable problem. I dont understand WHY something so simple is so hard for a company to produce with QUALITY????

Needless to say I am tossing the rest of them because they are not worth the postage to send them back and going back to my OLD cables until I can get six new belkin or a simular brand to replace these 1.3 version cables. My old ones are either 1.1 or 1.2..that is the only reason I changed them to start with.

Dont waste your money..seems like a good deal..but in the short run you will pay twice for them anyway.

Good luck to you.

Save 86% Off

CamRanger Remote Nikon & Canon DSLR Camera Controller, Wireless Camera Control from iPad, iPhone, i

What is it?

The CamRanger app and hardware enable wireless remote control of supported cameras over a private wi-fi network. It can be used simply as a remote shutter release. However, it is actually much more powerful than that because it can be used to remotely control a wide range of camera settings and shooting behaviors, as detailed below. Currently, a number of Nikon and Canon DSLRs are supported. I have tested CamRanger on an iPhone 4S with a Nikon D90. Most of my observations probably apply to other Nikon models. There are some differences between Nikon and Canon implementations, as described in the CamRanger user guide. I refer to the hardware component as the CamRanger "pod".

Addendum: after publishing the first version of this review, I discovered that focusing was not working properly with my D90. After a couple of e-mails with Dave at CamRanger, he agreed that things were not as they should be. He fixed this issue promptly in an updated version of the CamRanger app. Needless to say, I'm very happy with the customer support. Also, focusing now works properly with my D90.

A small bit of terminology

CamRanger can be used in Live View or non-Live View (Dead View?) modes. In Live View mode, the image being recorded by the camera sensor is streamed in real time (with a delay on the order of hundredths of a second) to your iDevice screen (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). Touching the screen on your iDevice will cause the camera to focus on that part of the scene, provided of course that you are using an auto-focus lens and AF is enabled on the camera. With Nikon cameras (but apparently not Canon), you have a choice of two connection modes: PC or Camera. Camera mode means that you can interact directly with the camera controls, and can see all the usual information on the camera's top LCD (provided that Live View is NOT also enabled). In PC mode (and Live View mode), the camera is unresponsive to direct manipulation of camera controls, and the top LCD simply displays "PC". PC mode enables remote control of the camera shooting mode (P,S,A,M). In Camera mode, you must rotate the dial on the top of the camera to change shooting mode. (It should be noted that turning on Live View while in Camera connection mode effectively changes the connection mode to PC.) If you want to use touch focusing with a Nikon, you will probably need to be in PC mode (see discussion below).

Basic Camera Settings

Unless otherwise noted, the following applies to both PC and Camera connection modes.

Shooting mode (P,S,A,M,Scene): as noted above, this can be controlled remotely only in PC connection mode (on Nikon cameras). A tiny glitch is that in Program (P) mode it is not possible to remotely alter the shutter speed/aperture combination selected by the program. That is, one cannot remotely engage what Nikon calls Flexible Program. This seems a minor point: people who use CamRanger are unlikely to use Program mode in the first place.

Aperture: full remote control

Shutter speed: full remote control

Image format: remote selection of RAW, JPG, RAW+JPG, and JPG quality -but NOT JPG size. JPG size will be as last set on the camera.

Metering mode: full remote control in non-Live View mode

Drive mode (single-frame, continuous low speed, etc.): full remote control -plus the ability to set the number of frames in continuous shooting mode

White balance: full remote control

Auto-focus mode (AF-S, AF-C, etc.): full remote control

Exposure compensation: full remote control in 1/3 EV increments (up to ± 5 EV on a D90)

Exposure bracketing: full remote control three exposures (± 2 EV in 1/3 increments on a D90). Note: the exposure compensation and bracketing options available in the CamRanger app are the same as if the D90 were being operated manually. This suggests that the available CamRanger settings will depend on the camera being used.

Focus mode (AF, MF): remote switching between auto focus and manual focus available in PC connection mode only. This is perhaps the least intuitive control. If you are in Live View, touching the screen will make the camera focus on the part of the scene that you touch, regardless of the AF/MF CamRanger setting (provided the switches on the camera and lens are set for AF). However, if CamRanger is set to AF, the camera will re-focus before making an exposure, using the focusing area last selected on the camera. In other words, CamRanger must be set to MF in order for remote touch focusing to work properly. In effect, this is remote manual focusing (MF) by using a touch screen, and it overrides the AF camera/lens settings. You need to be in PC connection mode in order for the switches on the camera and lens to be set to AF while at the same time being able to be set CamRanger to MF. At least that is how it works on the D90. I don't know how this works on Canon bodies, and even other Nikon bodies may work a bit differently.

Live histogram: in Live View mode only

ISO: Full remote control, with the caveat that Auto ISO must not be enabled in the camera menus. Unfortunately ISO selection is NOT disabled on the CamRanger when the camera is in Auto ISO mode. This gives one the false impression that ISO is being controlled remotely. Auto ISO cannot be turned on and off remotely.

Focus Control

See the discussion above about MF/AF focus mode. Remote autofocusing is accomplished in Live View mode by touching the image on the iDevice screen to place a focus point. Furthermore, remote focus can be fine-tuned by pressing six upor down-pointing triangular touch-screen "buttons" in the CamRanger UI (rather than by touching the image). In non-Live View mode, the camera will focus automatically according to the settings made on the camera (single-point AF, etc.), with the obvious caveat that AF must be enabled on the camera/lens. It is not possible to remotely select the focus point in non-Live View mode.

An automated focus stacking feature is also included. It is possible to set the number of shots in a sequence. One is also given the option of small, medium or large focus increments between captures. But there is no indication of what small, medium and large actually mean. A sequence is started from the the closest focus point, which is chosen in Live View mode. However, there is no way of knowing, except by reviewing images, how far the focus stacking sequence progresses. In other words, getting reliable results will involve some trial-and-error tinkering. An alternative is to do focus stacking manually by touching successive focus points on the iDevice screen. Hopefully, this feature can be be improved in subsequent software versions.

Time-lapse Photography (Timer and Intervalometer)

CamRanger can be used to control a time-lapse sequence of exposures, or to make a single exposure at some point in the future. The user sets the number of exposures, the time interval ("shot delay") between exposures, and the delay before the first exposure. The number of exposures can be set between 1 and 10,000, and the interval between shots can range from 1 sec to 59 min 59 sec. Once a sequence is initiated, the communicating iDevice can be turned off and/or disconnected from the CamRanger wi-fi network. The CamRanger user guide states that the interval between exposures is not precisely controlled, particularly when it "is only a few seconds or less." It's not clear how long (in time) that a sequence can be, given that the limiting factor will be battery life of the CamRanger "pod".

HDR Sequences

CamRanger can control automated HDR exposure sequences. Steps between successive exposures can range from 1/3 to 3 EV (in 1/3 EV increments). The attribute being varied can be aperture, shutter speed, or ISO. The number of exposures in the sequence can also be set, within a range that is determined by available camera settings (e.g., maximum shutter speed), the step size between exposures, and the settings for the initial exposure. The initial exposure is the "darkest", as set within the CamRanger app. In my tests, the time between exposures was about 2 sec, which is rather long given that subject movement is generally undesirable in HDR images.

In some ways the CamRanger implementation of HDR is an improvement over the native implementation on the D90. In particular, a native "automated" HDR sequence on the D90 is limited to no more than three exposures with a maximum range of 4 EV between the lightest and darkest images. However, if the drive mode on the D90 is set to continuous (high), those three exposures will take less than 1 second.

I tried to see if I could work around CamRanger's slow HDR shooting. Using CamRanger, I remotely set the camera drive mode to continuous (high) for seven exposures. Then I used CamRanger to set up a 7-exposure HDR sequence. I ended up with 49 exposures, seven taken at each step in the HDR sequence! Hopefully HDR sequences can be sped up in the future.

Image Review

With Nikon cameras, you must shoot JPG or RAW+JPG in order to review images (other than thumbnails) on your iDevice screen. (With Canon, you can just shoot RAW). You cannot review images on the LCD of your camera as long as the USB connection is maintained between the camera and the CamRanger "pod". This is true even if the connection mode is set to Camera. Image review on your iDevice can include a three-color histogram as well as blinking highlight and shadow clipping warnings.

Small Irritations

1. Almost every time I want to establish a wi-fi connection between my iPhone and the CamRanger, I am prompted for the network password. The "fix" is to simply try again. It always seems to work on the second try -no password needed. (This is a known "bug".)

2. On an iPhone, the CamRanger app does not switch to landscape view when the phone is rotated. (I believe this is NOT the case on iPads.)

Conclusion

Overall, CamRanger is truly impressive from both software and hardware standpoints. The variety of camera settings and shooting behaviors that can be controlled remotely (wirelessly) is astounding, especially for a third-party implementation. Certainly, nothing made by Nikon comes even close. All features seem to work quite well, although focus stacking is a bit crude, and execution of HDR sequences is slow (as detailed above). So far, I have only used the CamRanger "pod" within a few feet of my iPhone, so I cannot speak to the communication range. Nor have I made explicit tests of battery life, or tied to shoot video sequences. I have not tried using the CamRanger app in bright sunlight, where visibility of the the iDevice screen might be an issue. Finally, I'm guessing that the Live View capability with touch focusing will be very impressive on an iPad, with its much larger screen (compared to the iPhone). Finally, I've had excellent customer support from CamRanger.

I purchased one of these devices after being quite disappointed with my acquisition of the Nikon WU-1b Wireless Mobile Adapter for my Nikon D600. The CamRanger is the REAL DEAL! I couldn't be happier with it's performance. Once the software is downloaded from iTunes and the unit is registered in the software, it works like a dream. As an old dude who shoots a lot of ground level macro nature subjects (mushrooms), I no longer have to get my face close to the ground to compose and focus my images. With the iPad on my lap or on the ground next to me, I observe the screen to set the composition and then lock it in with a Really Right Stuff ball head. If I use auto focus, I simply touch the iPad screen at the precise point I want in sharp focus, or I can focus manually and use that huge iPad screen to easily see when my image is sharp. F/stop and shutter speed settings are all done on the iPad screen, as well as releasing the shutter. One can also make incremental focusing adjustments on the iPad for focus stacking, as well as program multiple exposures for HDR shooting. After the capture is made, the image can be brought up on the iPad screen to view the histogram and verify proper exposure. The images will always be stored on the camera's media card and can also be stored in the iPad or smart phone. This product is a nature photographer's wet dream!

Buy CamRanger Remote Nikon & Canon DSLR Camera Controller, Wireless Camera Control from iPad, iPhone, i Now

The CamRanger hardware is a slightly rebranded TP-LINK TL-MR3040. I say slightly because outside it has stick on labels that say 'CamRanger' and show the 'serial number' CamRanger has assigned to the unit. Inside the battery cover it is all about the TL-MR3040. To see the base hardware Amazon has the TL-MR3040 here:

http://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Portable-Battery-Wireless-TL-MR3040/dp/B0088PPFP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357480671&sr=8-1&keywords=tl-mr3040

I received the unit in a plain cardboard box. There was absolutely nothing in the box except the router, cabling, carrying case, and charger. No documentation of any kind. Documentation is included in the iOS CamRanger app but one must be connected to the device to see the documentation. This means you must figure out how to get it connected before you can see the documentation telling one how to connect it-not a particularly good situation.

I made a few guesses and had it up and running in about 3 minutes so the lack of proper 'in the box' documentation, while annoying, isn't a deal breaker for me--YMMV. The documentation can be downloaded from the CamRanger web site in the form of a PDF file and I suggest anyone contemplating purchase of this device do so and read it before purchase.

There were many very small scratches on the device which I suspect are the result of handling by whoever adds the CamRanger specific labeling and installs the CamRanger firmware. These scratches aren't obvious under normal lighting but I suspect that the soft plastic case scratches easily-time and use will determine that.

The CamRanger web site has a link to a video showing the unit in operation so I won't go into that other than to say my unit performs as shown in the video. No surprises so far.

Most of the cost of the unit appears to be in the firmware and iOS software added to the router by CamRanger and is what I would consider, on first glance anyway, to be a bit steep. If the unit proves to be physically robust and CamRanger continues to update the firmware and software at no additional cost then the price gap will narrow. It should also narrow from competition as other vendors enter the arena. As it is I am slightly taken aback by the cost but I feel that if it was produced by Canon or Nikon the cost would be even higher.

Some have said that the battery cover is fragile and can be problematic when opening it for the first time. I didn't have a Quickstart guide to read as one was left out of my shipment so I opened it very gently. CamRanger support just emailed me a Quickstart guide and I can see where confusion can arise. The directions for opening the battery cover aren't totally correct IMHO.

The directions as to where to begin the opening process are correct, but an easier (to me at least) method is to pry the outer edges up and out slightly using fingernails until the end of the cover on the Ethernet side is up slightly--about 1/4" and then gently pull the Ethernet end of the cover slightly away from the router while also gently pulling towards the Ethernet end. This action will successfully remove the cover without overly straining the little plastic tabs holding the battery cover in place.

I will add more to this review as I become more familiar with the unit.

Read Best Reviews of CamRanger Remote Nikon & Canon DSLR Camera Controller, Wireless Camera Control from iPad, iPhone, i Here

I bought this unit through the CamRanger website and have owned and used it since February, 2013. I wrote a pretty extensive review about it and have been in contact with the creators. I'm a little conflicted giving it a 3 of 5 stars rating because mostly it's a 5 star product. I see many glowing reviews and most of them are pretty accurate. Understand that this is not an "intervalometer". Nor is it a "wireless interalometer". The features go way beyond that!

You can do focus stacking, automated HDR, remote shutter operation, remote setting of just about everything!

But here are the things that detract for me for MY use. Mind you I'm a night photgrapher, a Nyctophile. The good news is I believe nearly all of these issues can be remedied with a firmware/software upgrade, except for a few. Note that my testing has been with several Canon cameras (the 40D, 50D and 5Dii). Because the application allows you to do what the camera exposes, your experience will be different depending on the camera you use. Nikon's are noticeably more feature stunted something I observed when I unplugged it from my 5D ii and plugged it into a friend's Nikon 800.

1. While you can set up a timelapse sequence, there is no way to stop it from the iPad or iPhone application. The only method seems to be to turn off the device.

2. There is no indication that a timelapse sequence is underway, how many frames have been taken, or how many are left to shoot.

3. CamRanger doesn't remember the last settings used. So, for example if I go to "Timelapse" I have to always start again by dialing in the shot length, delay, etc. Unfortunately the number of shots is a single spin wheel only. It takes quite a lot of spinning to get to say, 500 shots. Likewise the exposure length is a slider that is fidgety to set a precise exposure length.

4. I couldn't convince the CamRanger to take an extended Auto Bracket. I could coax it into doing what my 5D II is able to do natively, but not more. For example if I wanted it to shoot at 1/2, 2, 8 and 32 seconds it doesn't seem possible because that sequence spans the range from conventional to bulb mode.

5. The application doesn't remember the focus mode. To do focus tweaking you have to leave autofocus ON on the lens and disable it in the application. Unfortunately it doesn't remember the application settings so if you go out of range or start over, oops... your camera will try to auto focus.

6. There are a number of modes and operations where the application insists that you manually turn off live preview (or turn it on). Oddly, the app has a button to do it, but it won't do it for you.

7. I would like to have sub-second delays between exposures (a star trail mode). This apparently is not feasible due to the nature of the USB interface.

Hardware Issues

8. The only way to charge a battery is in the device (at least that I'm aware of). The battery life has been good, however, and it can be powered via a separate power source.

9. The on-off switch is a tiny little button that is nearly impossible to find and operate in the dark.

10. I wish the case that came with the device had velcro strap so I could attach it to a tripod leg, and enough space to hold all the components (charger, extra cable, spare batteries).

About the Cost

I am aware that there are homebrew solutions at much lower cost if you are using an Android phone. That's not what I have. However, the application except for the flaws noted, is well done, and the number of features added to your camera in a well packaged, wireless solution is pretty amazing for the price. One night spent warm in my car while I monitor (and change) my camera settings from 40 feet away; one evening spent cozy indoors while I monitor my astrophotography going on in the frigid outdoors; not having to break my neck to fine tune the focus while my camera or telescope are pointing up at impossible angles; and being able to show my photography students real time results on a nice big iPad without having to hover around an LCD all make this solution well worth the price.

Want CamRanger Remote Nikon & Canon DSLR Camera Controller, Wireless Camera Control from iPad, iPhone, i Discount?

Does everything it claims to do, easily and flawlessly. Wonderful for architectural work. Much easier and more efficient than tethering. I have used this great little item on both my Nikon D800E and Canon 5D Mark III without a single hitch. I love the fact that you have the option of loading the images only to the camera media and not to the ipad as you could easily use up the ipad memory with images when shooting on these high mp cameras.

Connection to either camera is fast. The little baggie supplied with the unit hangs nicely from my tripod. I have recently added a Tether Tools iPad holder to my tripod which allows the whole setup camera, tripod, CamRanger, and iPad to be moved through a photo shoot with one hand. No trailing teather cable or going back to drag the laptop to another room for tethered shooting! This is a mega leap forward for my workflow something I have been looking for several years.

Supereyes 2.0MP 0.1~400X Handheld Easy Control USB Digital Microscope Loupe Magnifier with LED and

I have both Mac and PC, this elegant piece works on both of them, Win 8 32 bit and Mac OS X 10.8.2. They have a mini software CD but for Windows only. It didn't really bother me since I don't have DVD-ROM in my netbook. So I download the software from the website: On Mac, I use Photo Booth to open it. It is so simple to use!

I like the way of the manual focus control. You could push the black button up and down to find the focus, so only one hand is in need. The image quality is very good! I use it to check my acnes, and found a lot of hidden pimples, which I am unable to see on a mirror. There is a shoot button on the device. If you want to take a photo, you could click the button without move your hands to the mouse. But based on my test, the button only works for Windows, not for Mac. The LED adjust button works on both systems.

I also used it to check my coin collections. The microscope clearly shows the scratch on coins. I guess it has some sort of "auto light balance", since it will adjust the brightness automatically to match the light reflection from the coins.

I am very satisfied with my purchase! Definitely 5 stars! But I do hope the manufacture could provide more colors.

~

I've ordered hundreds of items on Amazon in recent years; most products have been great, occasionally some not-so-great, and very few have been inferior products. This is the first one that was so bad it compelled me to leave a review.

Call me unreasonable, but when you realize ten minutes after the UPS guy left that the software seems only to install in an Asian language, and then the tripod literally comes brand new out of the case in a half dozen little broken plastic pieces (the threaded tripod mount was in fragments of the cheapest, grittiest, shoddily-made plastic I've ever felt therefore no way to mount the scope), it's safe to assume I don't need to go any further with the camera itself before I package the whole thing back up and get it ready for return.

Not that it matters at this point, but additionally, you need a lighted magnifying glass to read the poorly written instruction manual (I'm young and have 20-15 vision in both eyes), The broken-English disclaimer card in the case that asks you to contact them to work out any problems before leaving negative feedback suggests to me they already know how unreliable and cheap the product they're selling is. I was really hoping this would be a good product, and I understand there are good ones out there, this just isn't one.

This is a Mickey-Mouse, unprofessional pile of cheaply made Asian junk in a box. Shame on this manufacturer.

Buy Supereyes 2.0MP 0.1~400X Handheld Easy Control USB Digital Microscope Loupe Magnifier with LED and Now

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS5S 16.1 MP Tough Digital Camera with 9.3x Intelligent Zoom (Silver)

So I was in the market for a new camera and I wanted a tough camera because well cell phones these days who really needs a basic point and shoot camera and also I Scuba Dive and previously had a Canon Elph with a waterproof enclosure. Every time I would take it in the water I had a moment where I crossed my fingers and hoped the case wouldn't leak. With the recent 2013 model releases I narrowed it down to the Nikon AW110 and the Panasonic Lumix TS5. I finally decided to go with the Lumix TS5 for 1 major reason. Panasonic sells an external enclosure in case you plan on going deeper then 43 feet. (not on the market yet but I plan on getting one)

I had read a lot of mix reviews on the TS4 about leaking which made me a bit nervous but I'm going to hope and assume they have rectified all the issues with the TS5. I've had the camera about a week now. I'm going to start off with a few negatives for me first (these are mostly pet peeves).

Negatives:

1. What is the deal with the battery charger? Why Panasonic didn't build the charger prongs into the charger is beyond me. Now you need to carry around a charger plus a cable to plug into the charger and the wall.

2. The manual states you can't keep the camera under water more then 60 minutes, that is not listed anywhere on their website would have been nice to know prior to purchasing.

3. The manual states, if you drop the camera and then it leaks its not covered under warranty. Um isn't the point of a tough camera so it can be dropped? Why is that voiding the warranty?

4. My biggest complaint though is this proprietary connector they use to connect to your computer (hello micro usb standard Panasonic?), also the connector looks almost identical to the micro HDMI slot) so you gotta pay attention to make sure your putting it in the correct slot because their smaller connector cable sort of fits in the micro hdmi port. (made that mistake by accident already once)

Positives:

1. The picture quality seems very good. While I have only used the camera twice so far most of the pictures came out great. I took the camera to a concert the other day, being very dark I was concerned how the pictures would show up. The camera has a feature called Hand Held Night Mode, and it basically took a bunch of shots in a row and I'm guessing merged them together so the final photo was actually good looking. I had the camera on auto made and it automatically selected this.

2. The zoom is decent at 4.6X and adding the digital zoom up to 9.3X I had no issues getting a clear shot (even when it was dark).

3. The NFC is a nice feature as I own an Android phone and all you need to do is tap the phone and the camera together to pair them. You have to install the Panasonic App, but you can do a bunch of things with it. Remote control the camera, copy photos from the camera to the phone etc. (**disclaimer** occasionally I've had issues with the pairing on my HTC EVO LTE)

4. The video recording and sound is great. I record a 30 second clip while at the concert the other day and it was very clear and the picture looked great (from no zoom to fully zoomed).

5. Had no problems catching moving objects and even with my shaky hands the pictures came out un-blurred.

Miscellaneous:

On a side note I needed to confirm some things with Panasonic the manual stated, Panasonic Tier 1 support is worthless, finally escalated to Tier 2 and they were a lot more helpful.

1. The camera has a rattling noise when it is off. Panasonic's response was: This is normal. The camera contains an Optical Image Stabilizer. When turned on the optical image stabilizer is engaged and thereby compensates for hand shake or camera movement. However, when it the camera is turned off the Optical Image Stabilizer is disengaged and allows movement of those components. This is the rattling or clicking that you hear.

2. The manual says "do not use for Scuba Diving" I wanted to confirm if that meant at any depth or in general. Their response was: Recreational Scuba diving goes to ~120 ft. We included this statement due to the camera's depth limitation.

3. The manual says "Waterproof function of the camera is for sea water and fresh water only." I wanted the make sure I could take the camera in the pool. Their response was: You can use it in a pool, which is fresh water. We included this statement as it cannot be used in hot tubs (due to high temp) or used as an inspection camera in hazardous situations such as polluted water, chemical spills and so on.

I have not yet taken the camera in the water or dropped it or used it as a "tough" camera so I can't really comment on any of that, hopefully I can update this review as I use it over the course of the next few months. But for now I will give it 5 stars as it hasn't shown me any reason to rate it lower just yet.

First this is a great camera and a pretty reasonable price. The included features are fun and certainly creative.

Going to just put some thoughts downpositive and negative

1. Very slippery grip and I would purchase a floating grip. My last underwater camera was an Optio WG-1. Very different shape and that camera was surrounded by a non-skd type grip. This

only has them on either side. ( but is is comfortable )

2. The "manual mode is almost manual. I assumed that i could adjust aperture and shutter at my discretion. This only has two apertures available F3.3 and F10. The shutter speed is from fractions of a second to 4". I guess i was expecting DSLR manual. so milky waterfall scenes "could" get donemore playing with the exposure valuewhich can be done With Bracketing for you HDR fans ( still useful )

3. For the time lapse you can adjust the intervals from 10/20/30/40/50/60 seconds ( nothing else ) and then by the minute for up to 30 minutes with up to 1000 shots. ( unsure about this to make nice cloudscapes you not only have to drag the shutter you have to keep a tighter interval then 10 second---but still fun! )

4. During TIME LAPSE the max open shutter speed is 4 seconds, I guess i was going to try some backyard astrophotography like my d7000 and show the rotation of the circumpolar stars but 4 seconds is really not enough to get the fainter details. Generally i use high aperture 1.8 and 30 seconds for milky way type shots ( still interesting and while not art is it fun )

5.Creative filters are fun and interesting. ( Beats trying to post edit them someplace when in-camera works great! )

6. Very fast autofocus and the IQ is very good! scene modes are fun and HDR is very good. ( can i keep saying this is a fun camera ? )

7. Starry skies scene mode -unlike above #4, is a long term open shutter 15 or 30 seconds-fixed. I can see this being useful for fireworks also. ( to cloudy to get a lot of use lately )

8. Stupid double buttom "menu/set". To access you must double click. This is just a gripe coming from a dlsr. My Optio was similar. ( just need to get used to using it )

9. NFC and wifi --well wifi works well but i cannot get app to work on iPhone--but works great on my daughters galaxy note. and no NFC for iPhone ( so just move along nothing to see folks )

10. The most important---most important button is the lower right "trash can/Q menu". While shooting in any mode and any scene pressing this will pull up a nice graphic interface of what is available for you to use or adjust. This is the creative side that we use when in other than program mode! White balance-ISO-mp size-video settings-burst mode ( up to 60 fps!reduces mp size )

11. This has a dozen different video sizes and formats avchd and mp4 1080 i,p,g,720 same with 60 fps!! going to get twixtor and try some things plus a few old school web type 640x480 ( really ? )

12. Zoom is quick and quiet but i wont use digital zoom on any camera as it only degrades the quality--BUT this has a nice intelligent zoom that seems ok so far.

13. Lastly for now, this is a very nice camera and while it doesn't have everything i wantedi can drop it and throw it in the river and it still take great pics. Macro with 1 led light was ok but not at good as my Optio, but the wireless fun, greature aperture and shutter speed with options make up for it. Amazon was great with upgraded shipping and the price was good. Compared many cameras and while the nikon was close ( 240 fps slo mo )the wider aperture and better than most controls were a good selling point fo me. Thanks for reading

Buy Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS5S 16.1 MP Tough Digital Camera with 9.3x Intelligent Zoom (Silver) Now

Over the last several years I have been a hardcore Canon man (point and shoot only). I've never been into DLSR's as I like to travel light on my adventures and a point-and-shoot works better for that. Recently the GoPro Hero3 has been getting a lot of buzz and it got me thinking about getting a newer camera with better video and camera resolution. I have several outdoor adventures planned for this summer and so I wanted to upgrade before the season so that I could capture all the memories in higher resolution. I did a lot of research into the GoPro Hero3 and studied its amazon ratings and reviews carefully. The mixed reviews and troubles with the hero3 firmware led me to another possibility. A ruggedized, waterproof point-and-shoot.

There were several features of the GoPro that I really liked:

Waterproof, weatherproof

Remote control via Smartphone app

Video quality

Ability to mount in a variety of ways

I began to research the leading ruggedized camera offerings and found the Lumix TS5 which has barely been released. As of this review, there were only 2 reviews for it on Amazon and only a few CES 2013 videos on YouTube. I searched Twitter and found more info and actual field video footage from Europe where it looks like a few guys got their hands on the camera early. I took a chance and ordered the camera and received it last Thursday (4/11).

The Lumix TS5 came with the features I really wanted, particularly the Smartphone remote control capability and GPS tagging. The reason I wanted the remote control is so that I can mount the camera to my bike helmet and be able to start/stop the video recording without having to remove my helmet first. I also wanted a good upgrade in video quality from my current Canon. The GPS tagging is a bonus and I used to do that manually by keeping my camera clock in sync with GPS time and then later correlating the timestamps to determine position when the photo was taken. Now I don't have to worry about it.

So far my impressions of using the Lumix TS5 for a few days is favorable. I was a little worried about the menu interface going from Canon to Panasonic, but I have found the menu system to be very easy to navigate and haven't had an frustrations. I was able to set all the major functions up without having to refer to the manual.

I am using the Panasonic Image App with my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3 and it works well with the camera. I have tested the remote control functions and haven't had any issues with connecting the phone to the camera via WiFi.

The GPS tagging works well and the GPS receiver seems to quickly acquire and maintain signal. After I imported my first test images to Picasa, I was pleased to see that Picasa automatically brought up the Google map view of the photo location. The Panorama feature will also come in handy as I usually create panorama images manually using Microsoft ICE.

I can't yet talk about the battery life as I haven't had the camera long enough to really field test it on a weekend adventure (ATV, hiking, etc). My guess is that the GPS and WiFi will really eat up the battery life and I am already anticipating the need for more than one battery on an excursion. I have been looking closely at the Wasasbi batteries and am waiting for them to come out with a model compatible with the TS5. Again, the TS5 has barely been released and so there isn't a lot out there yet.

I bought the Professional Mini-Ball Head Camera Mount () and bolted it to my bike helmet. I then mounted the TS5 to the helmet and used the smartphone app to remote control the camera. My intention is to be able to capture footage of mountain biking in Moab this summer. Check out my youtube videos. Just search for alpha1145.

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The Video is from a group of still pictures using the time lapse picture option. Then with the camera in the review,menu option you can create a time lapse video and select a group of time lapse photos. You can edit or remove each of the pictures prior to editing. Once a time lapse video is created you will have all of the still pictures as well as the newly created video. Very cool feature!

I bought this camera after mine broke on my first day of vacation. I wanted a tough, waterproof camera and this TS-5 was the best that I found after comparing it to several other waterproof cameras. This TS-5 had a larger battery, which allowed 340 pictures on a charge and that is about 100 more then the closest similar camera. By the way I bought additional batteries (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIVVT04/ref=pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1) that allowed me to take 700 pictures on a charge.

This camera has a time lapse option that s a great feature when used with a tripod. You have several options such as 10 second intervals up to 30 minutes to take pictures of the changing sky or a blooming flower etc. once you have set and taken time lapse photos the camera has an option to convert it to a movie at 6 frames per second or 30 fps to create a seamless movie from the still pictures.

There is also a feature that will allow you, while reviewing video that you have already recorded, to save/convert any frame to a still picture. This will also keep the newly created still picture in perfect focus. I recorded a bird drinking and flying off and was able to create still pictures of it taking flight. This was a very cool effect and is simple to use.

I would recommend a tripod to use some of these options. I bought a flexible tripod, which allowed me to wrap the legs in a small tree and use the remote control function to take video of a birds nest feeding new born chicks. I found myself keeping the camera with me all the time to try to get familiar with the functions and I had a lot of fun doing it.

This camera was the only one that has built in WIFI. The remote control function uses this feature. The camera generates its own wifi signal and you just have to connect your tablet, I-Pad, I-Phone or other smart phone to that SSID wifi network, did use a I-Pad and an I-Phone 4s and each worked fine. You do have to download the free Panasonic app to use this feature. With the remote control function you can take video, still pic's and zoom. You can also review still pictures only with this, not video, as well as drag and drop them to save them on your smart phone or tablet. You can setup a link to apps like Facebook and send them right from the camera if you setup a Lumix Club account (free) and it will create a Lumix folder for uploads to Facebook and other apps.

Once you have connected to your own wifi setting you can go to the wifi history and rename that setting and save it as a favorite connection, this will remember your network SSID and password and connect quickly without having to re-enter your password, which can be a pain if you do this a lot. With the wifi you can automatically save pictures to your connected device as you take each picture. You can also use this to send pics to your pc without having to connect your camera or remove the mem card. However this did not work with my IMac, nor does the software that comes with the camera work on a Mac. This was not an issue for me as I did open the camera and put the mem card into the Mac and copied all pics that way.

The GPS, Altimeter,depth gauge and compass features are also very cool, but I have not used all of them yet. The camera can use the GPS to tag your city and your pictures. I have not been on a vacation to take advantage of this, but I am looking forward to trying it out in a remote setting.

This camera has a bunch of preset settings for different situations such as night time shots, pictures through glass, far off scenery etc. it also has an automatic setting that will automatically change according to each situation to take a great pictures. The camera powers up very fast, about 3 seconds so you can shut it off to save the battery and turn it on quickly to take fast shots. You can use burst shooting to take several frames with one push of the shutter button to make the best picture out of the many frames used. This camera focus quickly as well.

I haven't even used this under water yet and I absolutely love this camera. Is has these great features plus it is a waterproof (up to 43 feet), shock proof (for a drop up to 6 feet), dust proof and freeze proof and a rugged tough camera.

I would recommend extra batteries, a hard case, a tripod and a floating strap in case you drop it in the ocean. As some other reviewers stated you may want to use the heavy or thick part of the strap instead of the thin string to attach your strap to the camera.

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I purchased this camera due in large part to the issues with noise when recording video I keep reading about with the Olympus TG-2. Well, the video on my TS5 is unacceptable. I could care less how the video looks (it looks great) because the noise is incredibly irritating. This is present both when playing back on my camera as well as on my television. There are steady repeating grinding noises when taking a video in my room by myself with no ambient noise...

Pictures look fine but the video is a dealbreaker. I don't understand why my 7 year old standard Sony digital camera as well as my 4 year old Olympus waterproof camera do fine with video but this has a grinding noise when recording.. What is the deal with this and the Olympus and sound in their recording feature?

EzFoto 11-Inch Articulating Magic Arm for mounting HDMI Monitor LED lights, with 15mm rod clamp

I really shouldn't be going into much detail about this arm but I feel there are a few important details one should know before purchasing this particular one. Hopefully it will save someone the frustration.

Just the articulating arm part itself works pretty well. Nice solid, sturdy construction and a convenient single knob control of all the joints is the only reason I even gave it 2 maybe 2.5 stars.

However, the 2 attachment adapters are lousy and do not work very well, if at all.

The 15mm rod rail attachment adapter does not clamp tightly. Once you attach the arm and put any mount of weight on it (like a field monitor or light or audio or whatever) the clamp will move around the rod and slowly fall. You have to constantly move it back into position. And then it will slowly shift and fall again once you touch whatever is attached to it.

You might just think to tighten the heck out of the knob; but you'd have to use a pair of pliers to get enough leverage to do so and if you did, the cheap plastic knob it is made of, is guaranteed to break! It may be fine to hold something small and light sitting on top of it but it is definitely not designed to clamp the weight of an arm sticking out and holding another piece of equipment. For me: useless part.

The worst is the adapter attachment for a hotshoe mount. It is poorly manufactured. The first one I got was defective, The screw down knob was tapped at an angle and could not be tightened down to a hotshoe mount because of its angle. And it would wobble back and forth when mounted.

I notified the seller and they promptly sent a replacement adapter part. The new part was also defective. It was much straighter but would not screw down all the way due to the way the threads were molded. I even tried using metalsmith tools to carve it out but still would not screw down completely. It would just get stuck.

I gave up. Fortunately, I also purchased a Marshall monitor hotshoe ball mount for $10 (excellent quality, btw). I threaded the arm onto it and they work pretty well together.

As for the 15mm rail attachment, I will have to modify it somehow. Or buy a separate one.

Overall, the arm works pretty well and very solid. Unfortunately, the 2 mounting adapters must be made by a separate manufacturer and do not work: Making the arm pretty useless if you can't securely attach it to anything.

If you have / or are willing to buy better attachment adapters with a 1/4" 20 thread for whatever you are going to attach, then this arm will work well.

Or you can just gamble and hope for the best.

The arm itself seems fine, and tightens to create a rather sturdy mount for 7" monitor or audio adapter box. However, the rod mount is junk. It says it's supposed to fit 15mm rods, and it might work if your 15mm rods were actually 16mm rods. I couldn't get it tight at all and ended up stripping the adjustment knob less than 5 minutes out of the box. I have been able to attach the arm to my rig's cheeseplate with no problem, though. If you can get past the idea of the rod adapter actually working, you may be pleased with this purchase.

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I just got this in the mail for the intended use as a monitor arm. It seems sturdy enough for the job but the adjustments aren't the most fluid. I shouldn't expect so much from a 30$ arm I suppose. I will most likely use this for my light panel which isn't as heavy or expensive. As with anything, you get what you pay for.

Note worthy: the knob on the 15mm adapter is made of plastic as well as the main tightening knob on the arm itself. (had I known this I wouldn't have purchased)

On the other hand the shipping was very fast and it seems to hold a good deal of weight relative to its size. I'm just worried that it won't hold up.

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It is an artefact need for mounting lights and it not complicated to be attached into the rig. I'm satisfied.

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Like others have said, this it perfect if you don't need to connect it to a 15mm rod. If you need it for the rod, get a double rod block and attach it to that.

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Samsung HMX-U20 Ultra-Compact Full-HD Camcorder (Red)

Got the Samsung HMX-U20 to document spaces in my line of work. I thought the item itself was compact and just what I needed. I was right in that it was compact and it works great to documents spaces and more, but the con I had with this item was that when a space was dark, it did not adjust to compensate. I know typical camcorders have that LUX ability and, not sure if it is just this compact item or all hand held flip items like this, but when a space is not bright, you might as well turn this thing off. That would have to be my only con on this item.

Since then, I have used it for several more documentations and it has been fine. the HD is great and visually it is crisp. Images (photos) also come out nicely.

I'm really torn on this one. On the one hand, this camera shoots really nice video outside. At noon. With clear skies. The time lapse feature is also really cool (if a bit gimmicky) and I wish more brands would implement this feature into theirs, and the optical zoom is a great feature.

On the other hand, when you try to use it inside, or outside in less than absolutely perfect conditions, the video produced is completely unacceptable. There is so much noise that anything you shoot is just unwatchable. It's a shame because like I said, when you have PLENTY of light the video is so clear and sharp it's nearly stunning. Now, there IS a twilight mode on the camera you can turn on, but it doesn't seem to have any noticeable effect.

Luckily, I don't have any of the audio noise that other reviewers have complained about, but I should've listened to them anyway. This one, whether brought down by audio noise or by video noise, needs a lot more work before it's ready for primetime.

Certainly plenty of potential with this one, but I didn't pay $130 to beta test Samsung's camera. It's going back today.

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I read the Amazon reviews of this camera before buying & so knew the problems people have had. I bought the SDHC memory card for the camera & have experienced NO PROBLEMS AT ALL WITH THE CAMERA. I took the camera on a trip to Italy & used a non-HD setting for my videos with great results. The still pictures aren't as good as those from my Canon EOS, but that's to be expected.

I didn't use the time-lapse function so can't comment on that function of the camera.

I uploaded both stills & videos to my Mac & had no trouble editing them using iPhoto & iMovie.

This is a great mini-HD camera for the money!!

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I've had my unit for several weeks and its a lot of fun. It's not my primary camera nor is it my primary camcorder but I wanted something to play with that gives HD and could take pictures and this fits the bill. I live in Hawaii and love to film different locations. The HD does justice to the beauty of the islands. The pictures are fine and the unit is very lightweight, easy to carry. I use a Gorilla tripod with it and do most of my filming using the tripod. Handheld is not good, the picture is too shaky. I don't use it indoors much so low light is not a big requirement for me. The other feature I really like is the time lapse photography. Never having had a camera that did this (too expensive), this feature is an added bonus and lots of fun. I use 1 sec intervals most of the time. I use a Class 4 16GB SDHC and that gives me over 2 hours of video recording time (154 mins at 720/60p).

Pros: Lightweight, beautiful HD videos, Time Lapse, uncomplicated controls, several resolutions (720/30p, 720/60p, 1080/30p), expandable memory, 3x zoom for still photography (digital zoom for video)

Cons: No flash, no image stabilization

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It only works with windows not mac that makes it useless for me. Why didn't you say that in your advertisement.

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Aiptek GO-HD High Definition 720p Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom

I've owned this for about a week and am taking it on a trip to do a more complete analysis. I'll post back later. I currently have mixed feelings on this camcorder. It does take good video and is priced right. There are a few negatives to be aware of though which (I guess) are to be expected on such an inexpensive unit:

1. The battery life (for me) is sucking. I will take it on my trip for a better test and if the batteries can't record more than 10 or 15 minutes each it'll go back. If I can get the 30 minutes that it is documented to have, I'll be happy. Note: I do realize that 30 minutes is probably "up time" for the unit whether it is recording or not. The batteries are only 1000Mah and have a loose feel inside the camera too. Will a more robust non-oem battery be coming out?

2. The buttons (to me) were ackwardly positioned causing a "shake" on the camera... and I guess I didn't realize how much my other camcorder's image stabilization must help me. Really needs 2 hands to hold without a shake and I can adjust but really, I think that the design, grip, and button placement could be a ton better.

3. The thing completely froze up on me once and I had to reboot it by removing the battery. I read online there is a firmware update but haven't pursued that yet. And I don't know what the firmware actually fixes.

4. The sound quality is not consistant. Many times I speak as I'm taking the video and mostly it sounded like a towel was over the microphone. The quality of those further away from the camcorder was only marginally better. Almost like the gain is turned up to far or something? I don't know and will test further.

5. No lense cover? Come on Aiptek. That's just cheap and plain dumb. And if I find the lens starts getting micro-scratches over the next week or two it'll go back for certain. It does have a descent carrying case included though. However, the safty loop that you wrap around your wrist so you don't drop the camera STICKS to the velcro on the carrying case whenever you take it out or put it away. This loop will end up being frayed or looking abused shortly because you have to "umph" to rip it off the velcro. This makes me wonder how much real world testing went on before this cam hit the street.

Besides these negatives the fact that I can throw it on my belt and carry it on my trip without feeling encumbured makes me want to use it more before making an ultimate decision as to keep or return. It will really come down to battery life (maybe it will improve as I use the batteries a few more times) and sound quality.

Oh, and it does work with BOTH the A-DATA and Patriot 8G SDHC card that I have.

So I'm giving it 3* for now. Doesn't mean I'll keep it or bring it back... just trying to give a fair review. I'll update my rating (if possible) and the review after a real road test shortly.

UPDATE: 3 WEEKS LATER, AFTER ROAD TEST

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Well I really wanted this little wonder to work. And it did for the first day of my trip. Then it just quit working. The only thing I can figure is that the roads I was on (Tijuana) were very bumpy. It was in the protective case 100% of the time when not in use but the plastic shell housing must be tell-tale of the low build quality on the inside. It just plain stopped working. The screen backlight would come on, but the camera would not initialize. Conclusion: THIS ITEM IS NOT VERY RUGGED AT ALL. It does not hold up to any real use and certainly not the tumbling that my old Canon digital camera (s410) always holds up to. It is a dead clunker now and it is going back to where I purchased... fortunately... with a good return policy. Moral of the story is buy this only from a site that has a descent return policy.

I'm not upset. It was great just throwing the broken cam in the bottom of my laptop bag where it took virtually no room at all. That is the point of a "go anywhere" sized camcorder. I was willing to trade some features for price... but not ruggedness. After all. It is the size itself that makes it something you want to bring anywhere. I'm going to hold off and wait for a similar product that is rugged. It is only a matter of time. It is too bad Apitek didn't built something with more stamina but someone will and I'll be there to buy it when it is out. After all, other than the zoom there are no moving parts in this thing to wear or break. So it must just be bad build quality.

Amazon won't let me change my star rating but if I could, I'd rate it down to 2 stars: more than one star because of price, features, and innovation but no more than that because... well... it has to KEEP working in the real world.

In short, unless you are willing to treat this thing with kid gloves (and I pretty much thought I did) I'd avoid it. The cheap price is tempting, and only spend as much as you can afford to lose because if you read other reviews, you'll also read about the cheap plastic on the outside among other quality issues. I'm here to tell you that what is cheap where you can see it, is evidently even cheaper where you can't.

There are three reasons to buy this: 1) size, 2) resolution, and 3) cost. My old camcorder was huge, and the thought of lugging it around on vacation this summer in Europe motivated me to look for a new one. This thing fits in your pants pocket (the use of the SD card keeps it small). I wanted something with hi-def resolution so I don't look at the videos in 5 years on my hi-def TV and think how old-fashioned it seems. And I didn't want to spend a thousand or more dollars. This fit the bill on all counts.

Some problems: 1) There doesn't appear to be any image stabilization, so I've needed to hold on to it with both hands to keep it stable. 2) It deals poorly with movement. I'm not sure if this is the codec or the optics or what, but panning around can introduce some weird artifacts. 3) The zoom is quite noisy. If you're filming some quiet scenes, it's probably better not to zoom. 4) As with most camcorders, it needs light. It does have a built-in LED light, but it doesn't do much. 5) As with most camcorders, the microphone picks up the filmer's voice fine, but not the subject's very well. 6) The battery life is low. It comes with two batteries; you'll need them both. If you keep these limitations in mind, the size, cost, and HD resolution can make it worthwhile. If you can afford it, get the HV20 or another $1000 HD camcorder and many of the above issues will be reduced or eliminated.

A note for Mac users: I couldn't get my Mac to see the camera directly, but a card-reader plugged into the USB port could read the video/still files just fine.

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I picked up this camera not expecting anything much... but I was surprised!

The video quality is very good and its pretty much a no brainer to use.

For mac users it works great since its a .mov file . All I had to do was pull the sd card out of the camera and into a reader hooked to the mac and copy the files over... they play with quicktime as is with no further processing. I used quicktime pro to edit what I wanted and all went well. But since these are h2.64 files you will need to use viddy up or divx to send your creations to youtube.

Over all the camera exceeded my expectations. these kind of camera's are really designed for quickie type videos that you want to view on your pc . They are convenient because the file is ready to go with no need for tape conversion then the dreaded compression which take forever... they are ready set go as soon as you copy the file. Also a 1gb sd card yields 30 mins and a 2gb is one hour. the camera comes with TWO batteries.

For the price you really cant go wrong.

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I am fairly happy with performance so far. The zoom motor is loud. My wish list would be for a microphone in. Low lighting isn't too bad for video, but not good for stills (there is a good flash strobe though).

Docking station [called "Instant Theater" ] is for the most part a box padding [really is an alarm clock or whatever, I don't get it]. This "dock" doesn't really integrate well with this camera as it is designed for the lower end Aipek cams with mp3 function (this doesn't have that). It was hope that you could charge the battery or cam and it doesn't. You can only charge one battery at a time (there are 2 batteries in the box, last 30 minutes each) with either USB or DC adapter.

I ordered an 8GB SDHC card and it hasn't arrived yet so using a 512 MB card for now. The manual doesn't address the SDHC (at least the printed one), but I believe the web site at Aiptek does.

You save a lot of $$ over the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2, but the Sanyo does offer HDMI and 10X zoom. Most HD video files are so large that it is hard to computer-edit. I've found these files small enough with the H.264 codec that it isn't too bad. One can use NERO to do this [DVD burner suite]. The low light video is simply fantastic at this price point. The cons are mainly sound [mono only], lack of fine controls [maybe a plus], fantastic sills at 5 megapixels, no videotape, and small pocket size. THIS ISN'T A CHEAPIE TOY, it is well-built.

Two batteries came with mine ~ but remember only 30 minutes with each battery for video. You can charge through USB or AC adapter.

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I had this guy for 3 days before it went kaput, in those three days I shot nearly 3 hours of video, in various lighting conditions. So I think I got a pretty good taste of its capabilities.

First the Pros:

1. PRICE!! HD 720P for under $300...its a steal! Lose it or break it, you won't be crying (as hard) like you would over your $1200 HDR-CX7.

2. Size, its tiny, it literally does fit in your pocket, without you looking like you have a Camcorder shoved in your pocket. No excuse not to have it with you all the time.

3. Video is decent, especially outside in the sun

4. Shoots H.264 (Pro and a Con, as you will see later on)

5. Very fast power up and shooting time, no more waiting for a shot or between shots.

6. Looks sweet when playing back directly from the camera on my HD SRXD TV

Now the Cons:

1. Auto focus is awful, its loud and its no very accurate, I wish they at least gave you a manual focus ring to compensate

2. Optics are small, low light shooting is bad (what can you expect from such a little inexpensive camera though)

3. Its build quality leaves a little to be desired, you can see where they saved the money

4. 2 sets of cables to output HD Video, The camera has 2 miniplugs for AV output, one hidden under a tab (the HD) and one above it, not hidden. If you want to output to an SD TV the Yellow/Red/White work just fine, if you want to output to an HD (which I would assume is why you bought the camera in the first place) you need to open the tab, connect the composite cables Red/blue/green, then connect the analogue SD cables and steal the Red and white audio connection from them, leaving the yellow to dangle.

Don't get me started on the Audio Only "docking station"

5. Not many manual settings, or overrides, the controls are very very basic

6. The Audio recording is not so good, I think the problem is cheap mikes

Playback and editing (Be careful what you wish for)

I have an old computer, a P4 2.4 with 1 Gig ram, and Nvidia 7600 AGP video card. Playing the HD output files from this camcorder I was not able to get over 10 FPS, from the 30 FPS in the file (this is not a knock on the camera) The issue is the codec's complexity combined with my computer's old age made for a very frustrating playback (it almost made me buy a mac)

Editing was tough for my poor machine, to convert 6 minutes of HD into a FLV files of 640x320 took 3 hours! Again not the camcorder fault, but if you think you will be whipping off Discovery channel HD type documentaries with this baby make sure you have the rig to handle the task

The idea behind this camcorder is great, the price is even better they could have executed a little bit better, I was willing to forgive a lot of the short coming because of the price and the newness of it, and I probably would have kept it, had it not started adding the sound of film projector ticking to all my movies on the last day.

Remember a poor quality video, is better than no video.

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JVC Everio MS120 Dual Flash Camcorder (Red)

I purchased this little camcorder about a month ago along with JVC BN-VF815US 1460 mAh battery. Overall I am very impressed with this little camcorder. I have been using a Panasonic DV Tape camcorder for 9 years and it was time to get away from those darn tapes. With the JVC there is no moving parts (no hard drives, no tapes, no DVD) just a couple of flash cards.

In addition to the camcorder, I had to upgrade my video editing software. I was using Pinnacle Studio 10.8 for my old Panasonic but I could not import the MOD file format from the new JVC. I purchased Corel Ulead VideoSutdio 11.5 plus from Amazon for only 40 bucks and I am very impressed with it as well.

Here are the pros of the JVC:

1) Low cost (under $275)

2) Solid state no moving parts records to flash memory.

3) Great color and low light performance compared to equivalent Panasonic, Canon and Sony. Check out the review on camcorderinfo.com ( Its for a slightly higher model (MG670) than the MS120 but they share the same lens, sensor, user interface and body.

4) Can see the screen in sunlight. With no view finder I was worried about seeing the screen outside but with this screen its not that big of an issue.

5) 16X9 windscreen native (can also do 4X3)

6) Auto lens cap. Lens cap automatically opens and closed with screen.

7) Auto on and off. Along with the lens cap, the power automatically turns on and off with open and close of the screen. No more videos of the ground (or my wife's feet) because you forgot to power off the camera after the last shot.

8) Instant on Once you open the screen, you can start taking video within a second or two.

9) Low power consumption No moving parts means less power and longer battery life.

10) Each video is saved and managed like a file on the camera. Its easy to delete or view these files right on the camera. No more hunting through the tape.

Cons -

1) Difficult to hold the hand strap is very thin and does not have much support. You need to use two hands to hold it still enough.

2) No optical image stabilization The digital stabilization is decent but you need to keep this one steady. Maybe that why they put that thin strap on this thing. Again two hands.

3) Like other camcorders in this range, they take decent but not good still photos. You still need to keep you digital camera near by.

4) MOD format. Works with most newer video editing SW but did not work with my 3 year old version of Studio 10.8. Words great with older version of Ulead VideoStudio 11.5

5) Low light performance while low light performance is good compared to competitors, it does not have an IR filter like my old Panasonic.

6) No hot shoe I never used the one on my Panasonic so not a big deal.

7) No viewfinder Can still see well in sunlight so not a big deal.

After my disastrous experience with Sony's HD Webbie, I was in the market for a video camera that was both high quality and user friendly. Those who've read my review for that product, or who have used the product themselves, know that Sony intentionally designed the Webbie to shut down recording after 25 minutes of footage, ostensibly to retain the integrity of the Camera's internal components. This means that footage must be recorded in 25 minute intervals, with necessary breaks in between to re-start recording. For all of its positives, this glaring drawback made the Webbie useless to me, and, I would presume, most others as well.

In my search for a new camera that was as close to the Webbie as possible without being useless, I came across the JVC Everio. I'd never owned a JVC product before, but had heard good things; formerly a "Sony Man," the Webbie debacle had left me willing to try out other brand names and see what they had to offer. With one drawback-the still camera option-it turned out to be a worthwhile decision.

IMAGE QUALITY AND RECORDING FEATURES

Image quality is probably the number-one thing people are looking for in a video camera, so I'll address it first. The Everio is definitely not HD; if one wants to use this for professional purposes, and are bereft some high-quality video editing software, the Everio is probably not for you. The Webbie does, without a doubt, create higher-quality recordings. That being said, this is probably the highest quality video available without going HD. Think of it as "semi-HD." The camera comes with multiple video quality settings, which permit for more recording time for lower quality or less recording time for higher quality. The lowest quality setting is analagous to a high-quality cell-phone camera or a middle-of-the-road webcam. The highest setting is that "semi-HD" category.

Contributing to the video quality are the image stabilization feature and the superb 40x optical zoom, which loses no video quality. The Flip, for example, will rapidly degrade in video quality the further one zooms in, and is only really useful for recording about two to three feet in front of the camera. Not so with the Everio.

In addition, the Everio comes with multiple image options-Black and white and sepia, which speak for themselves; Strobe, which simulates low-quality webcam recording (for whatever reason), and a very nifty "Old Fashioned" feature that simulates an old 1970s-1980s era film, with a grainy filter and washed out colors. For the more industrious user, JVC also makes several accessories for the camera, including a polarized filter for bright, outdoor recording, and various conversion lenses.

The Everio's primary drawback in video recording is that it has limited capabilities in adjusting for low-light recording. This is not to say that video recorded in low-light is of a poor quality, simply that it is lower quality than video recorded in medium or bright light. To offset this, the Everio comes with a built-in LED bulb that is pretty bright, and can light up a medium-sized room in the dark. It doesn't quite fix the problem, but it does a lot to make sure that one's video recorded in a darker area isn't a lost cause. That being said, there is no night vision feature, so if that's a necessity, this isn't your camera.

STORAGE MEDIUM

Like the Webbie, the Everio utilizes the SD card feature. This means that in order to record, one inserts an SD card into a slot on the camera and records onto it; it's an identical principle to recording onto a VHS. Once the SD card has filled up, one can either save it and record on another card, or transfer the footage onto one's computer or a DVD, then wipe the card and use it again and again.

Unlike the Webbie, though, the Everio has TWO SD card slots which work in tandem. Say, for example, one has an SD card with an hour's worth of recording time, but wants to record two hours of footage. Simply insert a second SD card into the camera, and when the first reaches capacity, the Everio will automatically begin recording on the second card. With two high-capacity SD cards, one could theoretically record for days without having to stop.

CONSTRUCTION/EASE OF USE

The camera is made of a medium-high grade durable plastic, and should be able to stand up to a moderate amount of abuse. At the end of the day, though, this is a piece of eletronic equipment, and isn't designed to be beaten up. It's somewhat cumbersome in construction, but definitely easier to manage than some of the older mini-DV/DVD recorders that were only slightly smaller than a 1980s VHS camera. Imagine holding a 12oz can of soda sideways and you've got the idea. Those with larger hands might find it too small, those with smaller hands too big. In either case, it's a fairly easy adjustment (I've got larger hands, my girlfriend has smaller hands) and not a hindrance to operation. A leather strap on the side of the camera allows it to somewhat rest of the back of one's hand, but it's not a terribly well thought-out feature and most probably won't put it to use.

The camera is operated via the view screen, which does double duty as a touch-activated menu screen. Options are scrolled through via a sensor to the left of the screen, identical in function to the touch-activated scroll bar found on several laptop mousepads. The Everio has a tendency to scroll through options too quickly, and can be somewhat sensitive to touch, which can be mildly frustrating. Those experienced with laptop touch pads, though, should have no problem at all.

POWER

Unlike the Webbie, which has an internal battery and can only be charged by plugging in the camera, the Everio runs on an external battery that snaps into the back of the camera. The battery can either be charged by keeping it in the camera and then plugging the camera into the wall, or by buying a separate battery charger. As of the writing of this review, JVC makes three types of batteries for the Everio; the most basic, one of which accompanies the camera, runs for about two hours on a full charge. One can purchase one of the two upgrades, which run for five and eight hours.

CAMERA

Like the Webbie, the Everio comes with a built-in digital camera. This sounds like a great feature, and was a contributing factor in my purchase-why buy a video and digital camera if one can have both in the same product? Unfortunately, here is the area where the Webbie blows away the Everio, hands down, and is what prevented me from giving this five stars. The Webbie's built in camera, although worthless in low light, produced excellent images in medium and bright light. The Everio's camera feature, quite honestly, is garbage. For the superiority of the film quality the Everio is capable of, its still image capabilities are worthless. The pictures one gets are of cell-phone camera quality: Grainy, heavily pixelated, and in need of contrast/lighting correction. Even with a great photo editing program, one will still be left with sub-par quality pictures. The camera also lacks the stabilization feature of the video camera; the tiniest movement produces an image that looks as though it was taken from underwater. The subjects, as well as the camera operator, must remain perfectly still for anything even vaguely resembling a nice picture.

CONCLUSION

This is a great piece of equipment, and for the average consumer, the best bang for your buck. It certainly isn't HD quality, and won't take the place of your digital camera, but for everyday user, and even amateur filmmakers who don't have the monetary resources for a "top of the line" camera, this is the product you've been looking for.

Buy JVC Everio MS120 Dual Flash Camcorder (Red) Now

When I went to the store to buy a video camera, this seemed like the best choice. The price was right and the video quality as seen through the LCD monitor seemed crisp and sharp. However, there are problems.

First, the still pictures it takes are garbage, so don't think you're going to replace your digital camera with this. That wasn't much of a drawback for me, since I mainly intended to use it for video.

Second problem: while recording video or when reviewing recorded video on the camera's monitor, it always looks great. But when you watch it on a TV or upload it to your computer, it usually looks absolutely horrible, even if the video was taken in full sunlight. The Auto settings for this thing are completely worthless, and what you see in the LCD monitor is often not what you get in reality. It took me A LOT of experimentation with the settings in order to get my video quality to be any good, but it is possible.

The third, and biggest problem is the format in which video is recorded. When you upload video to your computer, it is in MOD format. Yes, it will play in the Everio Media Browser that comes with the camera and it will even play in Windows Media Player, but if you want to edit it or put it on a DVD, you're in for a very frustrating time. I had a simple movie I needed to edit using Windows Movie Maker, and then to put on a DVD. WMM wouldn't recognize the MOD format. Yes, the camera comes with software that converts the MOD files into WMV files, which Windows Movie Maker recognizes, but the quality_really_suffers with the conversion. So, I spent a week searching for programs on the internet that would convert MOD files into something compatible with WMM, but which would retain the quality of the original MOD file. It was very difficult.

So, my recommendation is to find out beforehand whether your video editing software can handle the MOD format. As I understand it, the newer (meaning within the last year or 2), higher-end programs can do it, but not everyone wants to spend the $ for that. So, do your homework before buying this, or any camera.

Read Best Reviews of JVC Everio MS120 Dual Flash Camcorder (Red) Here

This camera has great bang for your buck.

Pros:

-Great Zoom, digital zoom still holds decent quality

-Light

-nice interface

-Quality optics

Cons:

-Light plastic construction, dont drop it

-Low light performance isn't great, not a problem for me.

-Still picture taking quality is poor

-Need to keep it rather steady

I just wanted a small camcorder for quick action movies for sports/snowboarding/rock climbing that i could upload and mix with an audio track and the everio delivers. I am happy with the product so far for what I paid.

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i love this camcorder. so easy to use, light, and the best part is the dual memory card slot. Beautiful color, light, pictures... the only thing was recording while moving, the camcorder is so light that any movement you make will ruin the video.