Photography Gadgets

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Here's a cool little video some of you might have already seen. I've been researching the Olympus Pen as you know, but was on the fence after Sony announced their tiny Interchangeable Lens camera. I think I really need to get a hands on with both of them before I can decide what might work best for me. I know the Sony isn't available just yet so I guess it's a waiting game for now. Does anyone have opinions on which is the better buy and why? I'd like to hear about Photography and Videography pros and cons from what you think would be a better buy.

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Olympus Pen
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Sony Nex
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Summer is no doubt just around the corner, and you'll probably find yourself in some type of water situation whether it be pool side or ocean beach. It's a bit expensive trying to dive down with your DSLR's, so it might be smart to just grab a cheaper Point and Shoot. The guys over at DigitalREV.com do a review on a couple of waterproof camera options you might already be thinking about. Too bad they didn't actually take 'under water' photos or videos, but i'll let them slide considering they had an actual Bikini model to keep the review interesting.

Here's some of the Cameras they review:

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adobe-tv-lightroom-3

If you own a digital camera and shoot in RAW, Adobe Lightroom is a 'must have'. Lightroom 3 is now available and although it looks similar, it's faster and more feature packed than before. If you haven't tried it out, go for the free download from Adobe's website. Features should include support for 'tethered shooting' (no more EOS utility), and also support for importing DSLR video files? If you think you'll get lost around the application or all of the new features, you should always check out some of the free training videos over at Adobe TV.

tethered-capture

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I know this blog is more about photography and video, but the iPhone does these things quite well too. The new iPhone 4G wasn't a big secret, and now it's been officially announced today by Apple I believe as ' iPhone 4 ' with a new operating system OS called ' IOS 4 '. Supposedly there will be 100 new features including a front facing camera, second microphone on top (this all leads to video conferencing on a mobile phone), and a higher pixel display quality at 326 pixels per inch. A more scratch resistant screen, and LED flash, and still 25% thinner than the previous iPhone 3Gs. Wow, there's alot of new things which i'm sure includes faster processor and now 4G speeds. I haven't caught anything online, but there was rumors of the new iPhone shooting in HD. If so, that would be an awesome little camera for the Tiffen Smoothee. Check out the new iPhone Video Stabilizer from Hague. Anyone hear anything about that HD recording?

New Hague iPhone video Stabilizer
Check out the new iPhone Video Stabilizer from Hague.iphone-stabilizer-hague
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Tiffen iPhone Stabilizer

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Update: Readers commented with 720 HD 30fps and new iMovie for iPhone. Check out the Comments for more iPhone 4 details. Thanks readers! I guess those video Stabilizers (above) would be awesome now!

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If you've read deeply into any of this blog, you'll find i'm pretty biased with all Canon Camera stuff. Sue me if you're disappointed, but as far as DSLR Video related stuff is going on, Nikon's been pretty late in the game. Well here's another late entry by Nikon (or by some knock-off artist). After much much rave around the Canon Coffee Mugs, here comes the Nikon Coffee mug! So for all you Nikon shooters who had to sit in the cube next to the guy bragging about his fancy little Canon Mug (yes I do that), you can finally stand your ground. Check out the prices and availablity on the Nikon Coffee Mugs here.

Canon 24-105mm Lens Mug Coffee Cup ' 2nd Generation Update '
In other related news. The Canon 24-105 Coffee cups have had a complete redesign. So we knew that the 70-200mm F/4 Canon Mug was legit. Then someone had the idea of designing a cup based on the Canon 24-105mm F/4 L lens with IS. We knew this was a cheap knock off and the quality of the design was even terrible. So this wasn't something I really talked about. Well I just got news that the 24-105mm cup has had a redesign they are calling '2nd Generation'. With better letter printing, overall build, and even working switches on the side (not even the 70-200 has this feature), the new version is looking really really really good. I'm grabbing mine now.
Check out the prices and availablity on the Canon 24-105mm Len Cup.

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24-105-2nd-gen
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I find it weird that some people still keep the OEM straps on their cameras. It might be great for a tourist type outing, but it's not very comfortable for professionals. Most people end up replacing it with different straps such as the BlackRapid R-Strap. If you must have a strap, try something smaller like the basic handgrip strap that makes it easier to grip the camera while shooting. It's cool, but it does require to mount under the camera which doesn't work well when moving to video rigs like Tripods, Sliders, Shoulder Rigs, or Steadicams. This strap works great for photos and videos, but uses the tripod mounting hole on your camera.

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This little strap is much more practical. This is small, out of the way, and a more simple design used to give you a hand strap without taking up the space of the Tripod mounting hole.

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VisualRebel picked up on one of my earlier posts found here about cheap ways to shoot Macro. I'm not sure if anyone really believed the quality you can get from flipping a lens backwards, but the proof is in the pudding. This video was shot by VisualRebel using a standard 18-55mm on a 550D / T2i, and handheld used the cheap $99 dollar 50mm F/1.8 in reverse. This awesome little video does a good job in showing the quality of Macro with equipment you probably already have. Now take this setup outdoors with more light, and get in on those creepy crawlies like National Geographic.

Here's a tip folks, if you want to use the exact same setup as VisualRebel, the filter on the 18-55mm is 58mm and the 50mm filter is 52mm. You can buy this special adapter for less than $4.00 dollars + Free shipping to 'mate' the two together (one in reverse) so you don't have to do any handholding. Save yourself the headache. For less than $4.00 + Free shipping, you can get this adapter to hold the lens for you.

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I'm not sure what's the best combination of lenses to do this reverse trick, it's more trial and error. Apparently this video shows superb quality and definitely sounds like the cheapest (and lightest) combination for reverse macro. You can find other Rings here to match different size lenses against other size lenses by clicking here.

If you've already got two lenses to do reverse Macro, then the adapter is cheap. If you're looking to simply work with 1 lens, especially the 18-55mm, remember to check out my review on the cheap Macro Bellow found here:

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I'm opening up the lines here people. For some reason i'm not a fan of the name Transcend, but I really can't remember why. I must have had some really bad painful past experience that i'm mentally blocking out. I've seen these cards in several T2i's when talking to random people at some social gatherings, and well they all had good things to say.

I'm checking out the prices now which seem to be about the same on eBay or Amazon if you coun't the shipping Amazon charges. With 2,483 customer reviews averaging practically 5 stars, am I missing something? Has Transcend turn the tides into making better products? Comment people, the DSLR world want's to know...

[Update] Looks like the first few comments all say the Transcend is reliable and fast. You know how it works on this blog, once I write an article, prices will start going up. Grab it while it's cheap.

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I recently posted a review on the aftermarket Battery + Grip for the 550D / T2i. Someone asked me how I would be doing my test comparing the battery life. Since I can't shoot continuous video until the battery dies, I thought doing a Timelapse test could possibly show if the photo count would be significantly more or less. For this test i'll be using the Intervalometer (timer remote) purchased for just $23.00 dollars + free shipping. One important thing to remember when buying an Intervalometer is the maximum number of pictures it can take. Some are limited, not sure why, but the one here had a 00 mode for unlimited shooting.

I won't be using the grip because that will take forever for the batteries to die. I'll just be comparing one battery against the other trying to figure out how many photos it can take before the camera batteries run out of juice. I'll let you know how the test goes when I can find a full day to run the timelapse (and something interesting to shoot too). You can purchase this Timer remote for as little as $23.00 + Free Shipping.