Sony Alpha NEX NEX3A/B Digital Camera with Interchangeable Lens (Black)

So I've been waiting for a compact camera with either 4/3rds sensor size or larger and priced around $600. There are only a few on the market:

Sigma DP1, DP2 (Sensor size 20.7mm x 13.8mm)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 (Sensor size 4/3rds : 17.3mm x 13.0mm)

Olympus PEN E-PL1, E-P1, E-P2 (Sensor size 4/3rds : 17.3mm x 13.0mm)

Sony NEX3, NEX5 (Sensor size APS-C 22.2mm x 14.8mm)

I was leaning towards the Olympus but read that Sony was going to make a APS-C size sensor compact camera so I waited and finally got it.

I own lots of cameras, Nikon D700, Nikon D300, Nikon D50, Panasonic LX3, Canon S90, Canon SD960, and a bunch of others.

Pros about NEX3:

This thing shoots fantastic photos.

The 16mm : 24mm equiv lens is awesome.

HD video is pretty cool.

Innovative controls need to get use to.

Panaramic shooting mode.

Photos are very sharp.

Cool screen flexibilities.

Cons:

Only got the pancake 16mm for compactness, 18-55mm is too big and defeats the whole purpose.

It's possible to shoot manual but ISO is hidden under two menus to adjust, apperture & shutter is easy to adjust.

Battery does go fast even when turned off, the firmware update did help.

Weird flash attachment, wish it could bend upwards for ceiling bounce flash.

Wish they sold a snug fit leather case like shown on website.Other than that, it's a pretty sweet camera. I heard Nikon is developing their own so that they can keep up with the compact large size sensor market. I hope it's a DX format sensor so almost equivalent to APS-C sensor.

This could have been a very positive review, except for one very significant issue. I bought the NEX-3 after months of reading and researching. I chose it over Panasonic based on its sensor size, unique features, form factor, weight and several very favorable reviews in professional newsletters. I think the firmware upgrade in the Fall made the user interface and navigation much better and easier, and I have not experienced the battery issues that some have reported. Overall, I like this camera and I want to like it more and use it more, but Sony's lack of lens support for the platform thus far should be a red flag to anyone considering the NEX series. There were reports of a Sony NEX 5 telephoto lens SEL 18200 earlier this year. One report even said it was shipping. But no retailers have the lens and I could not find it mentioned in the lens section on Sony's NEX website. That leaves just two lenses in the entire NEX series -a 16mm wide angle lens and a less than satisfying 18-55 zoom lens. Instead, there appears to be a strategy to push NEX users toward the existing Sony Alpha lens series, which requires purchasing an adapter plus using lenses that are reported to be ridiculously slow in the NEX autofocus mode. That is NOT why I bought this camera and would have stayed with my trusty Panasonic LUMIX point-and-shoot and Canon digital SLR if I knew that Sony was going to offer so few NEX lenses. Meantime, I am beginning to regret buying a promising platform that once seemed like the ideal solution for me. I am watching enviously as competitors I had compared to Sony expand their offerings while Sony seems to be standing still or falling backwards.

Buy Sony Alpha NEX NEX3A/B Digital Camera with Interchangeable Lens (Black) Now

I took the Nex-3 to Vegas for a 4-day trip. Took quite a few pictures and was quite impressed with it, but I will return it afterward due to the following short-comings:

. Failed to power on at times: this problem happened intermittently (twice during 4 days of use) and was annoying. The firmware version was 1.0

. Unpredictable images: at times, a picture taken would have the object (my girlfriend) too dark. When I retook the picture, it would be brighter the 2nd time, but it's just unpredictable. I use Intelligent Auto mode all the time.

. Severely distorted images on the sides: people on the left or right side look fatter. This must be caused by the 16mm lens, and I wish I had the 18-55mm lens instead.

. Confusing User Interface & operations: beside the cumbersome UI menu, I one time ran into situation when the camera refused to take picture (I believe after a self-timed picture). I tried switching modes, powering off, as well as other things, but ended up taking out the battery to clear it. Whatever that was, I wouldn't want having to do it again.

. One instance when night-time recording of fireworks couldn't focus: as I was recording fireworks and paused in-between scenes, the camera was completely out of focus and I was powerless to do anything beside turning it off and on.

Other than those, I really like the look and feel of the Nex-3 (it fits my small hand better than the Nex-5). Non-flash pictures taking in minimum lighting turned out great (the most important feature for me). The screen is gorgeous. And the camera feels quite compact with the 16mm lens.

Other side notes: a mini-HDMI cable/adapter is not included, so you'll need to buy one in order to hook the camera to an HDMI monitor. The strap included with the camera has a super-cheap feel, so you'll probably want to buy one as a favor for your neck. And while you're at it, buy a capkeeper cuz the lens cap is much smaller then the barrel and is real hard to put on and can drop easily if you didn't put it on right. There's no printed manual, so you'll have to look it up in the included CD instead.

I wanted a Point-and-shoot camera that can give me good pictures in low-light conditions (at parties, clubs, or under street lights) and decent auto-focused videos, while being easy to use. The Nex-3 is almost there but is not there yet.

Read Best Reviews of Sony Alpha NEX NEX3A/B Digital Camera with Interchangeable Lens (Black) Here

I bought this camera with both lenses, this review emphasizes the performance of the 16mm kit lens. (See the other kit for the opposite emphasis.) I had no preconceptions and bought it on a whim, amazed by its size. It's easy to hold, but also easy to cover the AF lamp. With the 16mm lens is actually fits in a large pocket.

The 16mm lens is simply not acceptable for point-and-shooters, unless you enjoy performing manual correction on every image afterward. The primary use will be in portraits, which end up with distorted body parts at any reasonable distance, though the resolution is certainly high enough that you can step back and still get good shots. Be ready to undistort in PS, because there's no compensation in the camera. Because it lacks IS, it will seem like a major step backward to anyone used to getting sharp pictures with a handheld digicam. Only the zoom lenses have IS, and it definitely shows up between 16m and 18mm shots. The downer to the other lens is that it's VERY large, so the camera instantly goes from handheld to SLR size. Badly needs an in-between lens.

Easily the best feature of the camera is the merge mode that's appeared across most of the Sony line: 5 shots without flash at default shutter merged into one, compensating for any movement, makes for some awesome pics at any light level. However, my HX5 compact has the same feature and looks nearly as good (just takes longer), plus you still have auto mode problems.

An unfortunate downside to the camera is the lack of mode dial. Switching between Auto, 5-shot, and shutter was agonizing when I needed that quick shot, and blinding in the dark, plus is some modes the quick mode change button becomes something else, so that you have to go into the full menu. I despised that delay. I loved that flash could be turned on or off instantly by raising or lowering the physical flash module. It was high enough that there were zero red-eye problems. Sadly, using the flash means no other accessories. The inner lens ring also doesn't control anything that I could tell; I never got it to change aperture, focus, speed, etc. The screen tilt was useless to me without side-tilt.

Very problematic is that while Sony designed this camera around Auto mode, it just plain isn't fast or sensitive. In shutter mode, you can ramp down the timing and force it to use much higher ISOs, which still manage to look breathtakingly clear with the large sensor, but Auto mode just plain refuses to use them. If you try to use Auto in dark settings, it will bump the shutter up past 1 second, even with flash. (I got very pissy at the camera at a club when it kept using 3.4s with flash off and 1.8s with flash on, in Auto. ??? Everything was blurry in Auto, of course. It's the only camera I've ever owned to do this.) Due to this, the sensor is crippled, IMHO. If you are willing to use it in shutter mode at night, quality is fantastic. In daylight, Auto will blow you away just fine. Manual mode is such a pain that I skipped it completely; there's no way to adjust ISO quickly.

Video looks pretty good. I didn't use it much but it's definitely on par or better than any video camera I've used. Panorama stitch also looks great. Sport mode does not.

The battery is surprisingly small, only 1080mAh, when each of my AA are triple that. The camera will last a few hours, but my old Canon S2 can do 2-3 times as many pictures easily. I nearly ran out of juice one night. Invest in a spare.

My final verdict: A study in compromises that turn a fantastic sensor into a mediocre product. If you want it, get the 18-55 zoom lens kit. I took it back; the search for the perfect SLR continues.

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I bought this about 4 months ago and have shot about 2800 pictures using mostly the 18-55mm lens but also some old Canon manual focus prime lenses for which I bought a $20 adapter on ebay. In this review I'll confine my remarks to the experience with the 18-55mm lens.

My reason for buying this camera was that I wanted to take high quality indoor pictures without flash of my grandchildren, who won't sit still. Flash, in my opinion, ruins pictures. I didn't want the bulk of a dslr, and felt that the mirrorless large sensor cameras such as the Nex, Panasonic G, and Olympus PEN are technologically the future and appealingly small. Of those, I chose the Nex because it has the best low light sensitivity of the mirrorless system cameras, which was my main reason for buying a new camera.

The results greatly exceed my original hopes. I have gotten great people/children shots, indoors, in beautiful natural low light, with never any motion blur, and never any bothersome noise/grain, using the 18-55mm lens. It is a pleasure to use and the results are spectacular. I'm sure that this low light quality is also achievable with a dslr, but unlike a dslr this camera fits in my jacket pocket, dangles comfortably on a wrist strap, and is not intimidatingly large object pointed at children and people. If you have struggled with using a small camera getting glary flash pictures with red eye or, alternatively, blurred, noisy, low light pictures of moving people, (which is what I was tired of) this camera is great solution. The results are beautiful. For me that makes it worthwhile and I am thrilled with this purchase.

A few other notes that may be of interest. I carefully compared graininess/noise between my old canon point and shoot (a fine camera) and the Nex. Grain/noise at ISO 800 on the point and shoot is about the same as ISO 12600 on the Nex, IS0 400 is similar to ISO 6400. With the NEX you can comfortably shoot at ISO 3200 and not worry about noise. That is huge for low light. I find the focus speed with the Nex to be very good, very fast and very accurate. Also unlike my point and shoot the focus motor is silent so no focus noise gets into your movies.

Frankly however if you shoot travel photos outdoors in sunlight, you would need to be a very fussy person to care about the improvement in picture quality between this sensor and a decent point and shoot camera. Yes it is sharper even outdoors in bright light, but frankly not enough to make the upgrade worthwhile for me, but that is a personal choice. If you would only shoot travel pictures with a dslr, then you will like this because the sensor is the same as the those sensors. If you are happy with your point and shoot for those pictures, I'm not sure you will see the improvement unless you put pictures side by side.

Fujifilm FinePix HS25EXR 16 MP Digital Camera Accessory Saver 8GB NiMH Battery/Rapid Charger Bundle

I dont know what to say i got more than i expected: the box that everything came in was huge too!!

PROS

Got the bunch of accessories, and they gave me TWO battery chargers. One had a european plug converter (which is exactly what i need since i travel). Also the charger could be used in your car. Then there was a SECOND travel charger. Also cleaning kit, multiple screen protectors, and basically everything else they said. Box had lens cap, strap, tv cable, usb cable, 4 batteries and cd with software

The camera is amazing. Manual controls which i have been looking for for a loooong time. The screen tilt is great

Lots of options too. Best electronic viewfinder everrrr

Cons

The camera bag i received was slightly different from the picture. Its not very durable and looks cheap

Camera is huge

Thats it! I LOVE THIS PURCHASE!

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Sony HDR-PJ430V High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 3.0-Inch LCD (Black)

I've only had this for about a week, but so far I am very impressed. This is the first major purchase for me without reading a review. I waited several weeks but couldn't find one review, so I bought based on its features and on the consistently high Sony camcorder reviews. I'm actually not a fan of Sony, but they seem to make the best camcorder in this price rage. As you can see by the specs, this camera has just about every feature you could want and more so I won't go into the feature set. Yes, I wish it had a viewfinder but those are pretty rare these days. The touch screen isn't very responsive but it gets the job done. The video quality is outstanding. Initially I was disappointed until I realized the default factory setting was LP mode. Once you set is at the highest resolution you will be amazed. The stated recording time of 11 hours is based on the LP mode; the highest resolution recording time with the internal memory is about 2:45.

The USB cable built into the strap is nice, but I have concerns that over time it may become frayed or loose. It's the only means of getting data off the camcorder so if it breaks, you're in trouble. There is a hot-shoe accessory that has wi-fi but I don't know much about that yet. The biggest drawback is the USB cord in only about two inches. You'll want to buy an extender immediately because otherwise you need to hold the camera up next to your computer. The camera is light but still too heavy to dangle from the USB cord while it's connected to your computer.

You can add your own SD card and use that instead of or in addition to Sony's internal memory. Thank you Sony for not using a proprietary memory card (for once). The display also has a cool 5:1 Dolby graphic which shows were the recorded sound is coming from.

The projector works well. You need to position it really far back to get a large picture. I don't have a real screen to project on to, just my beige textured wall, but the picture is sharp. It needs to be used in a dark room because the lamp doesn't put out too much light.

The optical stabilization is achieved due to the lens being in some kind liquid housing. When you look at the lens and move the camcorder up and down, it bobbles around, which is very different but it seems to work well. When use an extended zoom, the image doesn't shake like most camcorders but it does gently wander up and down, left and right.

** UPDATE **

After using this more extensively for a few weeks, I am amazed at the image stabilization; it is truly innovative. I've never seen anything like it. Now the bad news, the navigation screen is difficult. Partly because of the small screen size (comes with the territory of having a small camcorder, I guess). I wish there was a 'home' button because getting back to the main screen takes time; I usually end up just shutting it down and turning it back on again. By the way, this thing does turn on very quickly. Just open the hinged viewer and one second later it's going.

Transferring video: When I connect this to my computer and cut/paste, the images and movies don't get deleted from the camcorder. You have to go back in a delete them manually.

The built-in mic and sound processing is excellent. I actually think it's better than my after-market mic (although it's hardly a high end after-market mic).

With the cost of this camera being high, I had high expectations of the video quality and I got it. The video quality is unbelievable! The audio can be recorded in stereo or 5.1. The audio can also be modified manually in case you are recording a loud subject such as a band you can lower the recording volume to prevent the sound from being distorted. The menu which can be accessed through the touch screen viewfinder is simple and easy to get around on.

The ONLY problem I'm having is getting the data off the camera onto my computer. There is a software download that Sony offers on their website called "Play Memories Home". This is supposed to allow you to export and even import material from the camera to the computer (and back), and it also does other things as well. After installing said software, I found that my camera and computer doesn't "see" each other properly and it doesn't work. I'll figure it out...

I was tempted to deduct a point in my rating due to my frustration but it wouldn't be fair. This camera IS great and that's the bottom line.

UPDATE:

The camera can't download from it's memory card to the computer. You must FIRST send the card's content to the hard drive of the camera THEN from there you send it to the computer. All this is simple and quick with the click of a button within the menu.

Buy Sony HDR-PJ430V High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 3.0-Inch LCD (Black) Now

Purchased this camera on the basis of the Balanced Optical SteadyShot feature. This feature GREATLY improved the ability to handhold the camera and use zoom. I was able to use it to great effect to capture some soccer video of my daughter from across the field. This was the intended purpose of the camera, and it works great for that.

Here are the pros:

Balanced Optical SteadyShot. This feature counts for probably 3x as much as any other feature.

Nice build quality.

Good zoom length (sometimes 10x is not enough).

Built in USB cable

The touch screen GUI is pretty easy to use. I like it better than the others that I tried.

Nice having some built in memory and an SDXC slot.

Here are the cons:

The camera's indoor quality is not great. I would say it's quite marginal and the noise makes it seem less than HD. I think it's hardly better than my old Sony MiniDV, which had 3CCD in a small package.

1080p60 video looks great, but is hard to work with.

Bundled video editing software is useless.

Very hard to work with 1080p60 video in Mac environment. I am still learning this, and it's obviously not the camera's fault that its 1080p60 video is so large, but for those looking for a simple solution, the 1080p60 format complicates your life.

Compared this to the Canon HF G20. Canon costs more money. Canon takes better indoor videos, hands down. The outdoor video was much worse, however, due to it not being capable of 1080p60 and some strange interlace effect. Interlace effect could be eliminated by doing a transcode but that is another step in an already tedious process. Canon cannot take video in the MP4 format either, though the Sony's MP4 output is not terribly impressive either being only 720p.

I am considering returning this camera and waiting for something better ad for 1080p60 software support to shake out, but I don't know. You can't wait forever. A lower end camera wouldn't have Balanced Optical SteadyShot, which seems a must have now.

Read Best Reviews of Sony HDR-PJ430V High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 3.0-Inch LCD (Black) Here

Hands down, this is an excellent camera and has all the features that any person will use... and more! I'll keep this review short and to the point giving you everything you need to know to decide if this camcorder is for you. Everything short of watching video samples online. Now onto the top 7 features that make this camera the top consumer model on the market.

1) The biggest improvement over last year's Sony models is the addition of MP4 recording format. Finally Sony decided to release MP4 video format in the camera. This is a huge benefit and essential for the needs of most home video makers. MP4 is the file format used by websites like YouTube and Vimeo. MP4 files can be immediately opened by any computer or smartphone and do not require additional computer software to view. In the past recording in AVCHD or other proprietary formats was a nightmare for non-professionals. Most people want to record and then watch their videos, without purchasing expensive software and waiting hours for video rendering.

2) This camera has Sony's new anti-shake hardware. Other anti-shake methods will move only the lens or the sensor, but this camera moves the entire lens block. Sony claims 13 times less shake and I am amazed at the difference. My Canon VIXIA HF M500 has a very water-like anti-shake feel, where the image floats when the camera moves. But this Sony is much more precise and keeps the image centered inside the picture window much better. Less movement of picture as the camcorder tracks the scene better. With standard handheld shooting, it's tough to get blurry or broken up video. Very impressive.

3) The number 3 awesome feature is Sony's built-in projectors that display the recorded videos onto walls for immediate viewing. This feature is just plain fun! Sure the projector's video quality can't hold a flame to an HDTV, but the hassle of hooking up AV cables to the rear of a wall-mounted HDTV makes the projector great. Plus, everyone who watches these projection videos is always impressed and has lots of questions. Which is perfect for a techie like myself.

Last year Sony released it's first line of camcorders with built-in projectors and still is the only brand to offer this. This alone makes an Sony camera worth considering as your top choice.

4) 5.1 Surround sound! Again, most camcorder brands will give 2.0 sound, but Sony gives 5.1 and you can hear the difference. Initially I didn't think much of the 5.1 surround sound feature. But when these videos are played on an HDTV with a 5.1 surround sound stereo system the difference really comes out. 2.0 sound will play only from the speakers to the right and left of the TV. But 5.1 plays in the front speakers, center speaker, rear speakers and sub-woofer.

Most internet uploads will only need a camera with 2.0 sound for laptops, tablets, desktops and headphones. But for home video viewing 5.1 is really great to have.

5) Wi-Fi features like remote control from your smart phone and uploading through your smart phone add another dimension of awesome. Usually remote controls run $100 and can be easily lost, broken or forgotten so having the smart phone act as one is perfect. Remote controls are excellent when shooting on a tripod and you don't want camera shake or you have to be in the video and there is no one to run it. And for still photo taking, using a remote and tripod gives the clearest photo possible. With unlimited cellular data plans, video can be uploaded onsite which is becoming more popular due to facebook and twitter. This is a great feature that may not be needed by every person, but can make using this camera a lot easier. No need to pop the memory card out of the camera to put into the computer to upload. Now it's all done in the camera!

6) My number 6 item may not be loved by everyone, but I think it's unique enough to be considered a selling feature. This Sony can shot 22 still image photos over 3 seconds. They call it "Golf Shot" because it can be used to analyze a golfer's swing. But this feature can be used by any action photography like skateboarding, bird watching, blowing out birthday candles, or just trying to take a group photo without people blinking. This feature essentially bridges the gap of still photo cameras and video camcorders. Sure the resolution is not anywhere close to a DSLR, but if you are looking for one device to do photos and video, this Sony surely beats point-and-shoot cameras for videos and smartphones that do both. For the last year, my Canon camcorder became my take along video and photo camera. The photos were good enough for internet sharing and the video quality exceptional. I know that my new Sony will do a better job.

7) And the final #7 reason why this Sony camcorder is at the top of the list, is the use of SD / SDHC / SDXC memory cards. If you come from a history of using Sony products and have many Sony Memory Sticks lying around, then you may not think this is all that great. However for people moving from other brands of digital equipment, this is very important. Nearly every other brand of camcorder, camera, mp3 player, tablet, etc uses SD/SDHC/SDXC cards for expanded storage. After years, Sony finally joins the crowd. I am grateful that Sony is making themselves more user friendly. Now we don't need to buy Sony-specific memory cards, but can use the stack of SD cards we already own.

VIDEO QUALITY...

Comparing the 1080p & 60 FPS video quality (recorded with AVCHD) to the 720p & 30 FPS video quality (recorded with MP4) it is possible to notice a difference. There are approximately 2 million pixels in 1080p versus 1 million pixels in 720p. With 2x as much data, already the video quality should be different... and with this camera it is. But it's not so much the resolution that stands out, it's the fuzziness the motion causes due to the slower frame rate (60 FPS vs. 30 FPS). Since this Sony camera gives you both true HD AVCHD and internet-ready MP4, I don't see this as a problem. When I want to shoot videos that I'll watch on my HDTV or save for family memories, then I'll use the highest quality AVCHD. But for 90% of my videos, I shoot in MP4 because I'm putting them online.

For those worried about loss in quality on MP4, it really isn't that great. Mostlikley only someone who watches a lot of videos will notice the difference. Think of it like DVD vs Blu-ray. DVDs are still very watchable and for short clips large video files are not wanted. Hard drive space alone can be expensive.

COMPARISON TO CANON VIXIA HF M500...

It is common knowledge that two brands dominate the camcorder market in performance and sales Sony and Canon. Last year I bought Canon's top range consumer camcorder, minus the bells and whistles. I'll compare the video quality of this new Sony to last year's Canon.

Comparing this Sony to my previous camcorder Canon VIXIA HF M500 Full HD 10x Image Stabilized Camcorder with One SDXC Card Slot and 3.0 Touch LCD4 I notice a subtle difference in video quality with Sony producing crisper images and more color saturation. You may want to watch some YouTube video comparisons to see the difference. Both cameras have MP4 recording format, which is very important in my mind and what I bought my Canon for last year. The sound on the Sony really is over the top compared to the Canon. Here it's like night and day. Toss in the projector screen, wi-fi abilities and slow motion, rapid fire photographs and this Sony is impossible to beat for a consumer level camcorder.

Highly recommended. I consider it the best consumer camcorder on the market.

I take pride in my reviews. If my review helped you please click the YES button below. It helps make this review easier for others to find. Thanks for reading and good luck!

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Pros: Excellent Video, Balanced OIS is awesome, 30x Zoom

Cons: Still pictures are useless... mic could have a little more gain...

I am very happy with this camera so far... It does everything I need it to do and more... The HD video is very good and the 30x zoom is great... The auto settings do pretty good in all conditions... I don't care that the still images are grainy and awful because I got it for video...

IT DOES NOT HAVE A BUILT IN FLASH like the AMAZON description states and also Sony site says (This will probably get corrected on both places so just ignore if they did) or at least I don't see one... The manual mentions nothing about a built in flash... There is a place in the cameras menu but it does nothing... I believe it is for an external flash... I will be calling Sony... You can see my unboxing and test video on youtube... Just search for XMSMLL and you will see it on my channel... there are 2 parts... I first bought the CX290/B and it just didn't cut it... then I got the CX380/B and returned that before even opening because I just had to have the BALANCED Optical Steady Shot... well worth it...

Hitech 12 Bay Battery Charger for AA - AAA - 9V Batteries

I am hoping this will last a very long time. It handles what I need it to do. The only flaw is that it cannot be mounted like on a wall to help keep it up out the way. Yes it is large but you will be surprised it is not much bigger than all the batteries it holds. This helps us a lot since we go thru 6-AAA batteries in 3-hours and we keep 6 on the charger at all times but should we forget, it does not take that long to get fully charged.

Personally, we love it!

Update 10-2012

The unit stopped working about a month ago. Out of all the slots available, 2 do not work on AAA. The 9v doesn't charge at all, infact, it didn't work since the day I got it...I just took to long in trying it. I now have the ability to charge 6 AA batteries or 4 AAA.

I originally bought it because of its capacity. I will be much more cautios on my next charger I purchase.

Simple and effective. Easy to operate. Batteries are easy to install and remove from individual bays. Charged all my batteries without an issue. Worked well with AC as well as car adapter. Definitely worth the price.

UPDATE: So I have been using this item for seven months and... one of the terminals is now broken. The spring-loaded contact is loose and will not hold a battery. It's not a complicated mechanism, so it's very disappointing. No reason for this part to break, unless the materials used are shoddy, or not constructed well.

Would I buy this item again? Yes. But now have to be extra careful when inserting and removing batteries. It's just a simple spring! Should not break if used as intended. The only reason why I am removing one star.

UPDATE 2: I purchased the special bit to open the unit so I can fix the broken slot myself. Discovered two things:

1 The contact is kept tight with a spring, with a rounded wire loop placed over a post. The loop was not placed over the post, so there was no tension. A simple fix.

2 Two screws keeping the circuit board in place (there are 3 total) were missing.

So the issue is the construction and quality control process. Whoever put this thing together did not care enough to do it properly. Materials are fine, but the effort to put it together is shoddy.

Buy Hitech 12 Bay Battery Charger for AA - AAA - 9V Batteries Now

It's been a pain trying to find a battery charger that can both charge single batteries and batteries of different sizes.

This thing works great! The only downside is it can seem a little slow if you fill every slot, but I expected that. Better for the batteries, anyway, so no stars lost.

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The only downside was that very dead batteries would not charge. Five minutes in my old dumb charger solved the problem giving the battery enough charge that the smart charger recognized it. Aside from problems with very dead batteries, it works super, and is generally superior to a dumb charger, if that make sense to people. The discharge option helped to resynchronize even NiMH batteries for which that function is not recommended, but I have been using it occasionally with low discharge NiMH batteries? These batteries are listed for holding up to 80% of their charge for up to a year,but invariable one goes stone dead before the other in normal use. In that case a dumb charger brings it back to life (a five to ten minute charge), and then the smart charger recognizes it. I suspect the manufacturer could likely fix this with a software tweak, but for the moment I still have my old dumb charger from Harbor Freight which solves that problem.

Want Hitech 12 Bay Battery Charger for AA - AAA - 9V Batteries Discount?

The description of this product is deceptive. It says "microprocessor controlled" but this is NOT an intelligent charger. Brand new freshly charged AA Eneloop batteries, "charged" for over 8 hours in this charger.

Depleted AAA Eneloops took 9 hours to charge. Depleted AA Eneloops took 18+ hours (I finally went to bed).

(And no, there's nothing wrong with the batteries. Brand new Eneloops, less than a week old.)

But the kicker is this: Take a "charged" battery out of this charger, let it sit for 5 minutes, put it back in the charger, and it will "charge" for another 4 hours.

And contrary to what the description says, the batteries do get hot. How they managed to combine such incredibly slow charging with heating the batteries is quite an accomplishment. You get the worst of both worlds.

Forget about this product completely, and get a real charger like the Sysmax (Nitecore) Intellicharge i4. You would have to get two of those to match the capacity of this one, and the total cost would be ten dollars more, but you will have MUCH better charging.

The Sysmax charger, in comparison, passes both tests. New Eneloops, and freshly recharged batteries, are recognized as "Full & Done" after just a couple of minutes, instead of overcharging for hours

This thing is junk. It's just going to ruin your batteries with overcharging.

I tried returning it for a refund, but the seller claimed not to have received the package.

Aven 26700-200-PLR Mighty Scope Digital with Polarizer- 10-200x Magnification

• Digital, hand-held microscope with 1/4" color complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, polarizer, and USB 2.0 computer output to display images, for inspection of reflective surfaces, measurement, and analysis
• Optical magnification of 10X to 200X, and resolution output of 1280 x 1024 National Television System Committee (NTSC) standards
• Six white LED lights with adjustable brightness to control illumination, automatic white balance, and the ability to be turned on and off
• Polarizer to inspect reflective surfaces and produce clear images
• Included software has measurement and image comparison functions.

Since no one had written a review of the Aven 1.3 Meg Mighty Scope, I researched the heck out of Aven on the Web, and decided to be the first one to try it. I bought it for sharpening knives, as the video shows, it is absolutely perfect for that task. The first side of my Buck knife shown clearly needs more sharpening, as the newly sharpened part hasn't reached the edge yet. Then the video flips to the other side of the blade, and shows that side is ready. Then back to the side I'm currently sharpening, showing it needs a tad more work before going to a finer diamond stone.

The software worked perfectly on the first try. It takes crystal clear pictures and videos with ease. The stand is HEAVY, and rock solid. My only complaint is that the price just went down thirty bucks since I ordered mine. I am 100%, absolutely TOTALLY satisfied with my Mighty Scope. It IS the real deal!

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I found this Aven scope to be of good build quality and fairly easy to use. The provided software is a bit quirky and dated, but nevertheless, after consulting the instructions, I was able to do decent measurements and snap some pictures. The provided stand is extremely helpful, though I wish the connection to the scope body was a bit more rigid.

Read Best Reviews of Aven 26700-200-PLR Mighty Scope Digital with Polarizer- 10-200x Magnification Here

hard to focus

scope mount does not work well. Hard to position

Stand and mount not rigid enough.

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The 10x 200x magnification is extremely misleading as that's only a function of the operator

holding the scope at a given focal length. Not only is this semi-impossible but the magnification is never really representative of what you would expect out of a "microscope".

USB screen view on computer also flashes while trying to focus.

Three thumbs down...........

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To be honest I don't have a lot of experience with this equipment just yet. I bought this to photograph my ancient coin collection. What I am finding is that this setup is good for getting into the details of the coins such as tiny elements of design. But it is difficult to impossible to photograph entire coins, just because of the lens resolution. It's possible, just need an adjustment system that gets the lens higher from the base. Also I am not using the built in lighting it's just totally bad for photographing coins. I use a completely independent lighting system.

Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video (Body Only)

Pros:

Rugged, full weather seals. Rain, snow, or dust won't slow it down.

Compact Size with a magnesium alloy shell of stainless steel chassis.

Selection of lenses designed for the APS-C imaging sensor

Shake reduction with every lens

Ergonomics

External Mic in video mode

Very quiet shutter

Industry first Composition Adjustment and horizon level (separate features)

Cons:

Battery life in Live View/Video mode.

Not a beginners camera unless you have a strong desire to learn about photography

High ISO performance could be a bit better

What previous Pentax users will notice:

Refinement, refinement, refinement

Low light autofocus is fast and accurate (inline with the competition now)

AF-Continuous is fast, but not class leading.

Ergonomics different from previous K10d and K20d (maybe good, maybe bad depending on your position)

Insignificant change in image quality from K20d

Can disable long shutter noise reduction for shots 30 seconds or less

Excellent sensor dust removal

Who should buy the K-7? Anyone looking for a prosumer dSLR (Nikon d300, d300s, Canon 50d, etc) that they want to take anywhere. This thing is for serious adventurers, with its full weather sealing and wide array of weather sealed lenses (DA* or WR series lenses). Going on a trip to Alaska? Hiking in the back country? Canoeing down the Colorado? Or even if you just want a smaller dSLR with all the features of the big boys from Canon or Nikon. This camera steps up the competition.

What new to Pentax users should be aware of? The camera makes slight noises when you pick it up or turn it on. The sensor is free to shift in its mount due to the shake reduction system. This is totally normal, but scares some first time users where they think something might be broken.

Detailed review:

I have tested out the weather seals in a driving rain, where I shot video using my DA* 60-250mm lens. The seals held up well and the camera still works, so all is good. Having used previous Pentax cameras, I have had minimal trouble with batteries dying in the cold like some friends with Nikon's and Canon's have. I had my K20d out in -30 F weather for 1.5 hours once. The camera had frosted over.

The camera is diminutive, but feels like a little tank. It is sturdily built and feels great in the hand despite the compact size. Without the grip I only have 3 fingers on the grip, but this is the same way I held my much larger Canon 5d when I had it. The K-7 is comfortable for me to hold for long periods, I support the camera with my pinky finger.

Pentax has a stellar selection of lenses for APS-C cameras with a wide array of fixed focal length lenses (primes) for best image quality, or large aperture zooms (f/2.8), medium aperture zooms (f/4), or "consumer" zooms (f/3.5-5.6). To find a list of Pentax lenses, visit Pentax Imaging USA's Website. If you want weather sealed remember to buy WR or DA* lenses, non of the others are weather sealed.

It is important to note that shake reduction works with every lens for the Pentax system, usually around 2 or 3 f-stops, but up to 4 for those with shaky hands. This is invaluable to have a 50mm f/1.4 with shake reduction for those available light shots, just remember that shake reduction allows a slower shutter speed so it isn't ideal for moving subjects. Also remember to wait a split second for the shake reduction icon to show in the viewfinder before taking your picture at slow shutter speeds.

The ergonomics are intuitive for the K-7, but might throw some previous K20d users for a loop. Users coming from the K-2000 (K-m in foreign markets) should be able to adapt quickly, as it is very similar. One of the new design paradigms is quick access to everything through the info menu on the back. Also use the info button to disable the LCD (for those that do night shooting and get blinded by it). There is a direct ISO button now too, for those that didn't know it was hidden under the OK button before. Typical of modern electronics there are several over-loaded button functions, so it pays to sit down with the manual and read over it, but overall it is intuitive. The screen often shows you what button to press (like a little symbol of the front e-dial is shown to change a particular setting using that dial). Similar to the K20d, but slightly different too. Be sure to download the latest firmware from Pentax for better use of the AF Select mode (for selecting your own autofocus point).

The video mode is reasonably good. It uses motion JPG compression (AVI) which results in huge file sizes, but minimal artifacts while panning or during motions scenes. It records 720p at a fast 30 frames per second, most of the competition only does 24 fps. Max is 4 GB per file, which might be 8 minutes or so at max quality, or 30 minutes at a lower quality. Like all dSLR video cameras the internal mic picks up every sound the camera makes, so ideally you should use an external mic for high quality video. Only two dSLR cameras allow that at the time of this review writing, and those are the Canon 5d which is twice as expensive as the K-7, and the K-7. The soon to be released D300s will allow an external mic too, but it has a targeted price of $500 more than the K-7. This makes the K-7 one of the best bargains in dSLR video.

The refinement of this camera is stellar. The shutter is very quiet for a dSLR (if you are coming from a point and shoot it is of course much louder), but it is unobtrusive and professional sounding. No more clackety clackty whirrrrr that the older K20d made, one of those noises that turned every head in the room. It is also nice the shutter acts separately from the mirror, so mirror blackout times are minimal and the shutter can be fired multiple times without cycling the mirror, like in live view.

This camera also has an extreme degree of flexibility in configuring JPG options, you can customize several different JPG modes ranging from vibrant, muted, natural, portrait, etc. You can change the key, contrast, saturation, sharpness and more. You can also take 3 shot HDR images right in the camera with decent results. Finally, you can do a wide degree of image processing right in the camera using built in digital filters and also RAW developing.

The composition adjustment can be used to make small shifts left and right and rotationally using live view mode. These are very handy for fine tuning the composition and are equivalent to shifting on a tilt shift lens (just to a lesser degree, 1mm each direction). The level is also handy, allowing you to easily see when the camera is not perfectly straight, or it can be set to automatically level the horizon.

So, I have had a pretty glowing review so far, what are the downsides?

I have shot 2000 shots through the K-7 now, and it has performed as expected. I have charged the battery maybe 3 times, so life is reasonably good, except when using live view or video mode frequently. The camera sometimes thinks the battery is going dead when it is low and turns the camera off. You can still shoot pictures if you turn it back on, but not much video or live view. However, you can still get a lot of use from the video or live view before this becomes an issue, and if it does you might invest in a battery grip or AC adapter.

My only disappointment with the camera is I wish ISO 1600 performed half a stop better. The noise is relatively pleasing though, and will lead to good prints or black and white conversions.

This camera has an intimidating array of buttons and options. If you are a beginner, and have no intent to learn photography in terms of exposure and aperture, I would hesitate buying this camera. Pentax's entry K-2000 might be worth a look in that case.

However, this camera really brings everything to the table and if you are an advanced consumer or even a professional looking for a feature rich camera, this Pentax is definitely worth a look. This camera is an amazing price considering the competition.

Every once in a while I get a product that is "just right". The first VW Rabbit, a Taylor Guitar, a couple of my many Macs and my Klipsch speakers come to mind. They have that extra something that makes me love them. Other brands may be as good but these products click. Add the K-7 to that short list.

I couldn't believe that I bought this as I already own the very good Pentax K20D. The K-7 is a better camera. As the current have-to-have feature is video, Pentax included that with this camera. Not being that knowledgeable about video, it seems like it does a good job, though it isn't a quick, push one button action.

But when it comes to still photos, it is superb. It feels good in the hand. It's noticeably smaller than the K20D and a bit lighter but don't make the mistake of thinking that small doesn't mean hefty. This thing is solid. It' build like a tank. I believe that the steel and magnesium body is tough. It sure feels that way.

Pentax has taken a good camera and fixed the little niggling problems that kept the K20D from being great. The slow, low light autofocus is fixed. That's fast and accurate now. The already decent high ISO performance seems to be about a full stop better. The camera now has a dedicated ISO button, too, which is a much appreciated addition.

Other little touches shine, too. The camera handles like a dream. It's well balanced with my not very light lenses. The 4 way controller now has separate buttons, that let you access the functions individually. Excellent. The ISO button and exposure compensation buttons have been moved to the top of the camera where they can be easily found by feel. The review button, also has been moved to the top and doesn't have to be picked out of a cluttered back.

Oh, and the photos this takes are excellent. It has a bunch of scene modes and effects, which honestly I haven't used. I shoot RAW, though Pentax has left their exclusive RAW/JPEG button on the front of the camera if you choose to mix your image formats. I already mentioned the improved low light performance. High ISO noise doesn't really appear until 800 and then it's not something that detracts from the quality of the images. It actually produces usable images at 3200 ISO. They are grainier than some other cameras but Pentax applies very little noise control and the photos have more detail than other cameras I've tried. I like the balance that Pentax has taken.

One other nice detail is that Pentax has replaced the fiddly key you need to turn to access the SD card with a simple latched door. It's still weather sealed. The one place where the camera seems just a bit worse is in the media door on the other side of the camera. The solid door has been replace by a rubbery plug that I'm not fond of. It still seems to seal the camera but it feels cheap, the only part of the camera that isn't top-top.

One other area that's been improved is the burst speed. I honestly don't believe that the slower rate of the K20D was really a problem for most people but the numbers didn't look as good as the competition. That's "fixed" with a 5+ frame per second rate. It just shows that Pentax really paid attention to what people said about the K20D and fixed it. Pentax also added a high dynamic range feature that does a pretty good job. That has two ranges. The high one shows that HDR strangeness that I've come to expect. The middle range does a pretty good job, though I still like to bracket the exposure and post process. Though I did use it this afternoon and got a decent exposure.

For a serious amateur, I can't image a better camera. Go to a camera store and pick one up. I'm guessing that you'll like this gem, too.

**Addendum I just spent the last week with my new macro lens. The new ability to zoom in with live view makes manual focusing easy to get spot on. And manual focus is necessary with extreme close ups.

A problem with all DSLRs is that the lack of the split screen built into the old film cameras makes manual focusing less precise than it was with them. There really are no models that I know of that don't suffer from this. Live view zoom solves this.(you can add a focusing screen but I understand that those mess with metering)

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I had owned a Pentax K10d and have been wanting to upgrade for a while. I did extensive research on the Canon T1I, Canon Xsi, Nikon D90, and Nikon D5000.

Pentax K7 won out in the end. I was willing to change systems, but the K7 is simply superior to everything at and below its price range. Even surpasses the ones that are a few hundred more as well.

I travel a lot and wanted something light and weatherproof. during the P&S days, I ruined 3-4 cameras because of dust and did NOT want that to happen to a more expensive dslr. Pentax came to the rescue and offers a weather sealed body. So I can take photos where there's lots of dust and even in the rain! what other slr camera can you do that with? The Pentax K7 is the only camera within hundreds of dollars that can meet this criteria.

Of course having great image quality and autofocus abilities were critical too. Yeah, the Nikon D90 might have great low iso performance, but it's a toy compared to the Pentax K7. Canons were nice, but they felt like toys... unless you go into the $1500+ range. the tight body of the k7 is a sheer delight.

I got immensely frustrated by Canon and Nikon because I really wanted to switch over... mainly because so many of my friends have their lenses and I could borrow them... but I couldn't do it because Canon and Nikon deliberately trip their cameras so that it doesn't cannibalize their other cameras. Also, they want to make more money by putting in the stabilization within the lens instead of the body. So you have to get a stabilized lens which is a lot of more money. Pentax ain't nasty like Nikon and Canon. They put their best foot forward instead of little toes like Canon and Nikon with their stripped cameras.

admittedly, one of the major problems with my K10 was the low light autofocus. it was hard to take shots with my 1.4 prime in a dimly lit room. but that problem is now gone! the k7 autofocus is quick and accurate. an additional bonus... one of the reasons why i hate flash is because it disturbs the people around you, but the loud shutter sounds of slrs are a distraction too. but with the k7, i think it has the quietest shutter of all slrs! this is a huge bonus when trying to take pictures without disturbing people around you.

all the cameras that aren't full frame are similar in image quality. some have more noise and more detail (like the pentax), and the others have less noise but less detail, but the differences aren't very significant. so it comes down to the value and the feature set. and this is where the Pentax K7 BLOWS away the competition. you might be a little turned off by the $1300 price, but at that price, there's NOTHING that comes even close.

Read Best Reviews of Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video (Body Only) Here

Starting with the impressive Pentax K10 a few years ago, I later welcomed the arrival of the K20 for improvements over a very capable camera. The K20`s 14.6mp CMOS sensor provided much improved high ISO performance so that shooting at ISO 2000 for concert photos was no problem. The individual lens adjustment for auto focus was also a huge plus since lenses that were barely usable on the K10 due to front or back focus problems functioned normally on the K20. I even found that the live view feature was pretty handy for such things as sunrise or sunset pictures where it would be impossible to look through the viewfinder without damaging your eyes. What remained a bit of a disappointment on the K20, however, was the often slow and inaccurate auto focus, the slow burst rate and the finicky white balance performance that much of the time needed constant fiddling to get close to accurate hues under various lighting conditions. There was also the anticipation that high ISO performance would be improved as well. Knowing the K20 limitations, I could usually work around them and still get impressive shots. But there's always the expectation of improvement, especially when you start bumping into those limitations and seeing how the competition is moving ahead of what you're shooting with.

So when the K-7 was suddenly announced, I had hopes for another measureable step forward to answer to the shortcomings of the K20. The first feature that caught my attention was not the HD video capability at 30fps, but rather the entirely new 14.6mp sensor "built from the ground up" with the intention of improving high ISO performance, especially in shadow details, as Pentax claimed. Additionally, there was the new 5.2 fps burst rate and improved autofocus performance. That was all I needed to buy the K-7. You can read about all the improvements this camera represents in the other reviews from those who also bought the K-7, so I'll keep my comments to those things specific to my experience after a month shooting thousands of JPEG pictures (no, I haven't played with RAW yet, and I understand that's where the K-7 really does well).

Pros:

The new smaller size is not what I would have liked. I actually was hoping for a slight increase in the size of the K20 since I just like the feel of a larger camera. However, the solid construction and layout when combined with the optional battery grip made for a satisfying package for comfortable handling. I also like the battery option of standard Pentax K-7 battery or 6 AA batteries in the grip. Without the battery grip, the small size does have advantages for portability/storage, however.

The auto white balance improvement over the K20 is huge! Even under various artificial lighting conditions, the white balance is surprisingly accurate. This will save me many hours of post-edit work just to adjust the color balance as I did with my indoor K20 shots.

The new shutter is much quieter and smoother. I never really cared for the shutter sounds of the K10 and K20 compared to Canon, Nikon and others. Although still not as smooth and "precise" sounding as other cameras, I can live with the K-7 shutter noise. In fact, the quietness is a big plus for taking candid shots when you don't want to draw attention to yourself.

The 5.2 fps burst rate is a substantial improvement from 3 fps for action shots and is still workable compared to the faster rate of other cameras in the 6 to 8 fps range.

The autofocus performance does seem to be improved, although the type of lens you use can make a big difference in focusing speed. I've found that in bright light the fastest focusing lenses are the ones not using the quiet SDM mechanism in the lens, but rather the noisy screw drive in the camera body, although these lenses tend to have less focus travel, helping with focusing speed. I've noticed less "back-and-forth" indecision in focusing with the K-7 in low light situations, but the overall speed is probably average amongst the various DSLR makes. The AF assist light is also a nice addition that helps in near-dark situations. Update: A leading photo magazine just tested the K-7 auto focus speed, and compared to their test of the K20, the K-7 looks to be almost 10% faster in all light conditions according to their tests. That same magazine also tested cameras like the Canon 50D and Nikon D300s where they were about 50% to over 100% faster than the K-7 in medium to low light conditions. Hands-on experience still shows that the Pentax autofocus system is far slower than the competition in lower/low light situations. This can be very frustrating when focus response slows significantly or continues to hunt back and forth while your one or two second photo opportunity has passed before the camera could finally achieve focus and get the shot. In bright light, however, the K-7 and the others are all about the same in focus speed.

Cons:

I'm most disappointed with the performance of the new sensor. Throughout my picture-taking with this camera, I noticed an overall tendency for my shots to be just a bit "noisier" than the K20 at all ISO settings. After careful JPEG comparisons between my K20 and the K-7 at ISO 2000 using the same lens and same settings, I found that the K-7 had slightly more "grain" than the K20. This was especially noticeable in shadows which is where the biggest improvement was supposed to be. The K20 sensor would best the K-7 at all comparable ISO noise reduction settings with the exception of the highest NR setting. Detail would certainly be reduced in both cameras at that setting, but the K-7 does seem to show more detail despite the increased noise reduction. The only thing I noticed is that the increased detail, or resolution, is accompanied by harsher edge detail like over-sharpening or the way watercolors can bleed along an edge. These issues considered, I would have been no less disappointed if the K-7 had come with the K20 sensor so long as the auto white balance improvement came with it. Not clear what the story is behind the K-7 sensor development (by Samsung) unless it somehow didn't quite measure up to what Pentax was expecting in time for the launch date of this new camera.

Despite the greatly improved auto white balance, I found that the K-7 still has a bit of a problem rendering red such as red lighting or red colors in stage performance situations. They end up looking a bit washed-out and pinkish.

I remain concerned about Pentax quality control. The first copy I did most of my shooting with turned out to have a "noisy" flexible back that squeaked and creaked near the buttons and thumb rest. Amazon was spectacular in getting me a replacement in a couple days. The new K-7 is solid very solid, but I've noticed that pictures on this copy are slightly underexposed. I've been told that there have been some other copies purchased with the same flexible rear body issue.

Forgot to mention the little issue with the SD card door: the card is way too close to the door hinge when it's open such that I can barely get my fingers on the card to pull it out. I almost resorted to needle nose pliers to do the job.

Overall:

The K-7 is still a worthy improvement over the K20 despite the disappointing "non-improvement" in ISO performance: for me the K20 now becomes a solid backup camera to the K-7. The multitude of features and improvement of the menu and controls and the overall quality of the pictures it can produce, hold up well to competitors in the same general class resulting in a really fine camera choice and better deal in the balance. Mounted with the best Pentax glass, I feel just as capable standing next to the pros shooting with high-end APS-C class Canons or Nikons the resulting pictures speak for themselves. With the K-7, Pentax is a high-value option for serious enthusiasts.

Update 9/23: The 2nd copy I received turned out to have an apparent defective sensor/light metering system or very odd normal behavior. At all ISO settings above 1250, the image (JPEG and RAW) is underexposed by at least one full stop. A "problem" of underexposure with the K-7 is covered in more than one professional review but Pentax says that they are not aware of such issues so this may be isolated. Looking back at pictures taken with my first copy, it also appears the problem existed to some degree with that one as well. As a result, I'm personally not confident in the integrity of the new sensor/metering system on the K-7 (and certainly not in the quality control) and will wait until next year before possibly trying my luck with a third copy. In summary, I feel the K-7 needs some serious improvement with the sensor, autofocus system and quality control to better compete with the likes of the 7D and D300s and be a truly outstanding camera as a result. Looking forward to seeing these improvements on their updated K-7 model in the hopefully not-to-distant future. For now I'll continue to enjoy my still capable K20.

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Background: I have been doing photography for 30 + years and digital photography since about 1997. I own or have owned Pentax ist*D, and K20D. I also have a Fuji S2Pro (Modified Nikon body), and Sony A100, A700. I have briefly used several modern Canon and Nikon DSLRs. I purchased the K7 for a 3 week trip to England and Ireland, mainly because I didn't want to lug around a DSLR and a video camera (Sony HDR-HC1). I bought the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 and did the trip with that single lens only about 10% of time did I desire a longer focal length lens.

Pros:

Solid. I dropped it 3 feet onto concrete (camera bag hung on something). The lens hood shattered but the camera and lens worked perfectly.

Compact and weather resistant -feels good and soaking rains of Ireland did no harm.

Great Auto White Balance even in low light and indoors; Fuji S2Pro is close on AWB but most other DSLRs really struggle with low indoor and mixed lighting

Fast (relatively)-about same as Sony A700 (5fps).

Fast and significantly improved focusing (versus K20D) especially in low light.

Better low light performance, focusing, color balance, noise.

Improved anti-shake is a significant aid in low light didn't need tripod. Remember, unlike Nikon and Canon the antishake is in the body so it works with all lens and this makes the lens cheaper.

Adjustable Noise Reduction. Very good low-light performance, best under ISO800 but acceptable to ISO 1200.

Tilt-meter that really helps, really needed on video but great for most photos

Controls: buttons for most important functions. In particular the push-button RAW button, exposure compensation, and ISO.

Unique Pentax exposure modes: Sensitivity priority #set the ISO for the lighting and it will pick aperture and shutters speeds for correct exposure and TAV where you set the shutter and aperture and it will change the ISO to get the correct exposure.

Customizable -every comprehensible way. There are a million little things (Lateral Chromatic aberration distortion adjustment, HDR capture, digital filters, bracketing options (unbelievable#, autoface detection.

Quality of photos is excellent particularly with a good lens.

Cons:

Not a video camera. Need to be careful about focusing. Focusing is a slow, one-time thing for each shot. It is hard to verify focus on screen (can't use viewfinder) particularly in bright light. One can't pan or zoom well. You get best results if you don't move the camera just let the activity in the frame create the action. In the same way that video cameras aren't replacemets for DSLRs for still photos DSLRs are not replacements for video cameras not yet anyway. That said, you can get good looking video if you are careful. Video eats up SD card space fast tell your story with short 5-10 second clips.

There is so much that can be done with this camera that it can easily intimidate -just leave it in "green mode" until you are comfortable.

I have trouble getting the SD card out of the camera it seems to hang and I end up pushing it in and letting it spring out multiple times.

Why doesn't Pentax use Compact Flash Cards? For the money they are cheaper, faster, and hold more. It would be nice to have 2 card slots and then this would be a true professional body.

Bottom line:

I believe the material/build, features and quality of the results make this the best DSLR camera value today. If you are just getting a DSLR for the first time think strongly about this instead of a Canon or Nikon.

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ViTiny UM05 Handheld USB Digital Autofocus Microscope with Steel Stand (up to 320x on 22" Moni

• Lens & CMOS sensor: 2M pixels; Magnification: 1x to 80X, 320x on 22" monitor
• Still Image Resolution: 1600x1200 pixels (JPEG or BMP file); Video Resolution: 1600x1200 pixels (AVI file); Frame rate: 30FPS (resolution: 640x480) and 15FPS (resolution: 1600x1200, MJPG)
• Autofocus: Single Autofocus or Continuous Autofocus; Light Source: 4 white LED lights; USB 2.0 High-Speed Transmission; Web Cam function
• Multi-functional Steel Stand: 360 degree rotation and height adjustment; Preview Window Resolution: 1600x1200, 1280x 960, 1280x800, 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480
• Far Distance Control Mode: Control all functions by Software without a single button touch on microscope; Software with Measurement Functions: Length, Circumferences, Radius, Diameter, Area, Angle, Image Comparison, etc.

I really enjoy this auto-focus digital microscope and I think it is one unique product on markets. The microscope is well built and has good quality. The steel stand is sturdy and helpful to make adjustment of the observation angles. The most enjoyable part is that with simple clicks, I can control the focus, lighting from the software. I found the measurement and comparison functions are useful too.

Amy

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I purchased this USB microscope so that I could take quality pictures of coins and do highly detailed close-up examination as well. I have only worked with the scope for a few hours, but was very impressed with the ease of set up and super quality still photos it produced on my laptop. No problems installing software or hardware.

The metal stand feels a bit flimsy and is totally manual control, it also controls the field of view / magnification, which I learned through trial and error. If you put the scope right next to the object, you get high mag/high detail, if you move it up the stand you get a wider view and lower magnification. Once I figured that out, it was perfect for looking at the whole coin, or just a key detail of the coin with the scope closer in.

The auto focus took a bit of getting used to, but eventually I figured that out as well--when you move the scope up and down, you need to run the autofocus to get a clear picture. No problems there after the learning curve.

Great pictures, directly onto my laptop. The software is a bit kludgy, but it works and I was able to get what I wanted. Key appears to be appropriate direct / indirect lighting, depending on the object you're scoping. There is an LED light on the scope, but that tended to get some unwanted reflections, so I used indirect lighting with much better results.

Overall, you get what you pay for. There is a learning curve with this (especially for newbies like me), but once I figured it out, this was a great little scope at a great price, and exactly what I was hoping for when I ordered it over Amazon.

Read Best Reviews of ViTiny UM05 Handheld USB Digital Autofocus Microscope with Steel Stand (up to 320x on 22" Moni Here

First the good news: I liked the seller (Oasis Scientific Inc.). They seemed to be genuinely nice, good people who sincerely tried to help me get this product working properly. They even called me -amazing!

Now the bad news: the product itself. Gee whiz, where do I begin? There appears to be no way to get the device out of the "default setting is operating microscope" mode (that quote is from page 68 in the manual). I repeatedly clicked the button that SHOULD exit that mode, and every other button I could find that might possibly relate, all to no effect. While images from the "microscope" (more about that in a minute) appeared on my computer screen, after countless attempts on two different computers (a Vista 64-bit desktop and a Vista 32-bit laptop), the remote control functions never worked. Those functions are one of the primary benefits of this model (assuming they work), and why this is so expensive, so when they don't work, this is just another cheap "microscope," but it isn't inexpensive.

Calling this a microscope is a bit of a stretch. The "320x on 22" monitor" is like saying I am 20 feet tall on a movie screen.

The white LEDs that illuminate the object being viewed often reflect off it and wash out portions of the image in addition to making colors appear too pale. Turning the LED intensity down (or off) can solve both problems but create another: an overly dark image. I usually obtained the best images by using natural light and *carefully* adjusting its intensity, such as by blocking some light coming in from the window. Question for the engineers who designed this device: There's an easy way to correct this problem. Can you think of it?

Even on its best setting, JPEG images from this device were very disappointing, exhibiting pronounced blockiness and blurring. I assume they are compression artifacts, yet I can't produce equivalent distortions in Photoshop even when I save JPEGs with a quality of 0.

I could never get the autofocus to work unless the "microscope" was relatively far from the object. Even when it worked, it would have been much faster to focus manually because the autofocus zoomed in and out, and in and out, before finally settling. The autofocus motor and gears sound like they're made of cheap, tinny metal and cheap plastic gears. For $190, I expected better quality.

Because the autofocus is so poor, it'd be nice to have a manual focus on the stand like some other models have in which screwing a knob changes the height and hence focus.

Besides the fact that part of the software (the remote control functions) never worked for me, some of the other software was also annoying. For example, no image would appear until I clicked Setting > Input Device. Oh, come on . . . can't that be the default? I also couldn't find any obvious way to set preferences, such as image size & quality and the default location to save images.

I installed the software from the included CD. A newer version is available from ViTiny's website, but it is a .rar file, which Windows (Vista 64-bit) will not open. It is utterly ridiculous to supply software updates in a format that Windows will not open without searching for a utility written by someone I don't know or trust, from a website I don't know or trust. Expecting me to go on a wild-goose chase, and waste more of my time, figuring out how to install that new software (which may or may not solve the above problems) is RIDICULOUS.

Ultimately, I returned the device to the seller and received a refund for it. Even-steven? Not quite. I got my money back but I'll never get back the many hours I spent TRYING to get this thing to work and communicating with the seller. This was so frustrating that I coined a new term: junkphobia, referring to a fear of buying products because too many of them are junk that wastes our time or fails prematurely. Ethical manufacturers should compensate users who lost time, money, or both as a result of product flaws. Instead, too many manufacturers do anything they can get away with. If their products cause you to waste time, too bad; their profits are more important than doing the right thing.

UPDATE: I strive to be fair, so I revised my rating from the original one star to four stars after receiving a comment from "experimentist" (see below), who seems to be the manufacturer. I am impressed they took the time to investigate the problems I experienced. He/she seems honest, so I'll assume the microscope I returned did indeed function acceptably on their Vista systems. By looking through the manual, I see images captured with very good quality.

Gold Plated DVI-I Dual-Link 24+5 Male to HDMI Female Adapter

It works great as I did not need anything else to connect the computer to the tv except the hdmi cable I already had.

I placed my order based on the product description on the title page and positive customer reviews. However, I just noticed the item displayed in the 2nd picture is for a DVI-D single link connection. I am expecting a male DVI-I dual link to female HDMI adapter. Seeing as my order has already been shipped, I'll wait to see what I get and keep you posted.

=== 4/6/13 Update ===

I got the adapters just three days ago and they are both DVI-D dual link, which is not what I ordered...but it will allow my MAC PRO to connect to a 1080p HD television via HDMI. For a backup analog connection, I do have a DVI to VGA adapter just in case. So, I'm satisfied with this purchase. I am leaving my rating at 3 stars, because I didn't get exactly what the titles said this eas going to be. Also, 2 rows of pins in the both adapters were bent right out of the box! I had to pull out a knife to get them properly aligned! Needless to say, I won't be buying from this seller again. They don't even know what they`re selling...

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I am using this adapter for my GTX 560ti since it only had one HDMI which is currently being used. This adapter was used for a second display which only can use HDMI. This is a heavy good quality adapter.

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These adapters have worked as expected.

I would recommend these items to anyone.

I needed several and the quality was consistent.

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Canon EOS D30 3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

If you want the ultimate in digital photography, the Canon D30 is the ticket as of December 2000 -especially if you already own Canon EOS lenses, because they're completely compatible. Canon won't call this a "Pro" camera, because it's not as weather-tight as pro models, but the body is rugged and the output is first-rate.

The D30 has enough features for professional photographers, yet a novice can get great looking pictures from the start. As you learn more about the camera and its capabilities, your images really start to shine.

Want to experiment with long-exposure photography? Go right ahead! Feedback is instant. No more waiting for processing. No more developing costs. Want to blow up your photo to 8x12 inches? No problem. With a little massaging via Adobe Photoshop (tm) and/or Genuine Fractals (tm), even poster-sized prints look great, using photo paper and a photo-quality inkjet printer. Software to get you going, including Photoshop LE, is included.

The D30 accepts IBM Microdrives (1 gigabite of storage in the camera!) as well as compact flash. The included 16 meg flash card is enough to test the camera, but you'll really want to get something bigger, right away. The D30 offers a variety of image compression options -including the Raw format, which allows the most flexibility and avoids jpeg artifacts. The wide variety of storage options means freedom to shoot at will and experiment. An included cable allows you to connect your camera to your computer's USB port and download images at will.

As I said, all Canon EOS lenses will work with the D30, but there is one difference to consider. Because the CMOS chip is smaller than a 35mm negative, the field of view is different. For example, a 100 mm lens on an EOS film camera works like a 160 mm lens on the D30. They call it a 1.6x multiplier effect, but what it means is that long-distance shooting is easier, and to get wide angle shots, you have to get a REALLY wide lens. For example, a 14mm aspherical wide angle results in a 22mm wide angle shot on the D30.

When the D30 was first released in the Fall of 2000, the demand was far beyond what Canon could produce... in the United States and around the World. As of this writing, the cameras are still in short supply, but well worth the effort and the investment. Kudos to Amazon for adding the D30 to their digital photography offerings.

All of the nice things you're hearing about this camera are true. If you already own a camera in the Canon EOS line and are ready to upgrade to digital, this is the path you want to take. It has all the features a sophisticated amateur wants, plus a healthy serving of "professional" features thrown in. And as others have said, all the lenses and most (not all) of the accessories you already have will work with the D30.

There are a few drawbacks, however... For one thing the autofocus relies on an incandescent lamp rather than the infrared found in nearly all other EOS models. This is a curious choice on Canon's part, it almost seems like they didn't throw in professional-quality autofocus for marketing reasons, since there's a true pro-level Canon digital SLR due out later this year.

Another drawback is that the included software, called ZoomBrowser EX, is not that great. It's designed to help you capture, download, and catalog your digital images, but it runs out of steam once your image library grows to a non-trivial size, and if you want to merge databases because you've done collection on another computer, the software more-or-less becomes unusable.

Also, you end up paying a lot more than $3000, even if you already have the lenses from your other Canon EOS camera. First comes the Compact Flash cards (you really need to get at least two of these so you always have a spare). Figure on getting at least two 128MB CF cards, if you really must have a microdrive that will cost you more. Plan on getting an extra battery too. Then there are the Canon accessories, like a better (infrared) autofocus lamp, an electronic timer for long exposures and intervalometer work (which the included remote-capture software does not do well), and you get the idea... you really have to budget $4000.

Having said all that, this camera really is a joy to use, and once you get used to the instant feedback, your shooting skills will improve, and you'll start getting compliments on how good you are. It really *is* that *good* of a camera. Just be warned that you are jumping into the deep end of digital photography if you get this camera. ... ;-).

Buy Canon EOS D30 3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) Now

Awesome Camera. If you are interested in the sharpest digital photos this is the camera for you. I recommend the Canon EOS D30 unequivocally; it is the best you can buy without breaking the bank. If you already own one of the Canon EOS' then your lenses will fit. The compact flash included is pretty skimpy and my Speedlite 430EZ didn't work. Picture quality is outstanding. Read some of the comparisons with the Nikon and you will see that the D30 beats it for about two grand less. I am totally enthusiastic about it. The instruction booklet is clear and easy to follow. You can use the new 340MB to 1 gig mini-drives to store a whole vacations worth of pictures. I recommend the Speedlite 550EX to expand your abilities.

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...

We have tried many digital and analog camera and we are currently working with a total of 7 cameras and one of the most valuable is the D-30.

Our main digital photo cameras are Olympus E-10 and Canon D-30. Both are working well with MicroDrive 340 MB.

A little comparison of the two cameras :

The Canon D-30 camera is perfectly designed for photo reports, quick sequences, dynamic pictures and offers the possibility to change the lense. We use this camera specially outdoor and she delivers brilliant pictures. The way how to make pictures with the D-30 is very similar to analog photography.

Olympus E-10 has a higher resolution, perfect for more artistical oriented pictures, the chip and the lense are very sensible for light and you can shoot in dark conditions. The camera is working slowly and quick senquences or dynamic pictures are very diffcult to shoot. The feeling of making pictures with the E-10 is different from traditional analog photography and only experience will teach the photographer to make correct decisions, specially regarding dark light conditions and the usage of flash.

In other words, if you are searching for a camera that : will mainly be used outdoor should have changeable lenses (compatible with almost all Canon EF lenses) setting quickly the correct autofocus storing quickly the pictures displaying quickly the images in the control LCD monitor large battery and image storing capacities then the D-30 is exactly what you need.

Precautions : use only brand compact flash memories (we had problems with CompactFlash memories of different noname producers) MicroDrives should not exceed 340 MB (big MicroDrives become hot and the reliability of the camera is not insured) 1 battery pack should be enough for approximately 600 pictures. Think to buy enough battery packs.

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Wow! This camera makes photography fun! I am by no means a professional photographer, but I do take a lot of pictures and try my best to compose, light, and develop good shots. This camera makes it very easy to experiment with different types of conditions on the fly. The resolution is more than enough to get excellent digital images, and the electronics are top notch so far. My first SLR, a film-based Nikon, is a good performer, but messing with the film is painful, and unless you take really good notes, you cannot match the settings to the frame as easily as you can with this camera. The D30 makes learning the techniques so much easier and more satisfying.

A couple of drawbacks -the default settings for capture format is large JPEG, instead of the native RAW format. It is a simple task to set this, but I took a number of pictures before I figured out (upon download to my PC) that I wasn't using the RAW format. Also, I recommend at least adding a 128MB flash card. The 16MB card you get with the camera is not useful unless you live by your PC -it really is only good for a quick demo. I can get 93 images (large JPEG) on a 128MB card, which was enough for me to shoot a day's worth of shots and then delete the stuff I didn't want at the end of the day using the camera's editing features.

This camera is more than enough for a wannabe photographer, and makes "going digital" worthwhile because you get everything you need in one package -ease of use, SLR features (changeable lenses), and a good price in this category. This is a nice product.

USB to MHL HDMI Video Audio Adapter Cable for HTC Flyer Sensation EVO 3D EVO 4G, Samsung Galaxy S2

I can say that this product works as described. Out of the box you'll get the USB to MHL HDMI Adapter nothing else not even a instruction manual to tell you how to properly use it. One thing you need to know about this product is that you do need an additional USB to Micro USB Cable to connect to the adapter in order to get it to work so basically you will need to connect your phone charger to the adapter and then connect your adapter to the smartphone and you got yourself a HDMI video out source to connect to your tv. The picture quality is decent. It fits the entire screen when you set it in landscape mode. However I did notice a little slowdown when you have the adapter connected but not too bad though. I have nothing much else to say about this product so overall I rated this product a 5* because of the price and it works.

Well I get this to complete the accessories for my Samsung Galaxy SII, so with it I will be able to share my screen with a TV, stuff that I do sometimes because the NBA.TV subscription, so I can share a game with my family and friends without using a computer for that.

Do what you expect, plug the mini USB to the multipurpose USB on the phone, hook the HDMI cable to your TV and the device and plug the power adapter on the mini USB on the side of the device, the regular power adapter or the mini USB to USB data cable that comes with the phone, so you can take power from the by using one of its USB ports.

I understand that the phone will run out of battery quick enough so you need to give it power, and since there is only one port for everything on the SII this is OK to make mandatory the use of a power source to make this work.

One of the reasons for me to not give this a 5 star is because of the cable length, is not a big deal but leave you with a little room to place the phone in a safe position with when you connect all the stuff.

Anyway there are a little options out there an this one is cheap, I also took the 5 stars away from this is because they mask the value of the device by putting a small value on the product price but almost two times that price in the shipping, so I found this like a trick, but I take my chances and there was nothing wrong, the device works as expected over a month of regular use.

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This is the greatest! The phone company must hate me but I'm watching Netflix everywhere I go now. Don't use it on a TV larger than a 32", the motion blur is horrible but that isn't anything wrong with this adapter.

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This item does not work with the Samsung Galaxy S3. I'm a computer systems engineer, so I'm confident it's not due to user error. Especially since there is no software and there are no options.

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I was actually satisfied with the adapter, the only real draw back it has is the sound tends to fall off during movies and videos other than that its Awsome 4 stars!