Author:

Admin

Olympus PEN E-P1 DSLR Reviewed at DigiCamReview (Cameras)

Posted by Admin – July 9, 2009

Olympus PEN E-P1 Sample Photo
DigiCamReview.com have posted their review of the brand new Olympus PEN E-P1 production model, bought from Jessops in the UK. The E-P1 is now widely available in the UK from most camera stores. They’ve also posted sample videos on Youtube.

Read the Olympus PEN E-P1 Review at DigiCamReview.
View Olympus PEN E-P1 Sample Photos at DigiCamReview.

The world’s smallest digital camera with changeable lens, it features the same size sensor as other Olympus Digital SLRs (meaning better image quality with all the low-noise benefits of a DSLR), but with a camera body and lens size much more in line with a compact point and shoot such as the Canon G10! It is be available with a compact 17mm lens (34mm equivalent, UK Price with viewfinder £749), and 14-42mm 3x zoom lens (28 – 84mm equivalent, UK Price £699). It’s also available with both lenses for £849 (including VAT and free postage) for the 14-42mm Black & 17mm Silver Pancake Lenses & VF-1 External Optical View Finder Kit with Silver body. The camera features dust reduction, a 12.3 megapixel live view sensor, 720p video recording (1280×720) with stereo sound and HDMI out, anti-shake sensor, 3″ screen, 3fps shooting, SDHC support, and ISO100 – 6400.

Share

Chickenfoot (Reviews)

Posted by Admin – July 5, 2009

Chickenfoot are that most poorly described of entities; a super group. They’re a four piece featuring ex-Van-Halen legends Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar on bass and vocals respectively, solo player Joe Satriani on guitar and Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers on drums. I only have a first impression as I just received their self-titled debut album, however, it sounds good. Of course, Hagar’s vocals dominate the whole piece, giving an 80s feel to proceedings and one suspects that there is nothing new here in terms of material, songwriting originality, but hell, this is good, old fashioned hard rock and it’s done excellently by musicians you wouldn’t ordinarily hear mentioned in the same breath. They won’t tear up the charts, but I think that is a compliment personally. Accomplished musicians are making more of an impact than they have for the last 30 years. Dream Theater’s new album, for example charted at number 6, their highest ever position, despite the fact that this is their 25th year performing together. Clearly there is room for people who can play, although I find it absurd that I have to suggest that success in music might once again be accessible to talented musicians.

Chickenfoot are 8/10 for me, low on originality, high on performance and balls. It’s only rock and roll, but I like it.

Share

Apple iPhone 3.0 (Phones)

Posted by Admin – July 3, 2009

iPhone 3.0 adds a lot of function that, were it not Apple, would have been expected a standard. MMS, copy and paste are glaring omissions rather than additional functionality. Apple can get away with this sort of thing, however, and clearly people were not too bothered if you look at the sales figures.

One significant, and, staggeringly underrated and under-reported upgrade is the functionality of the YouTube application. It has finally gone from being a facility to search and view videos to managing subscriptions, managing user videos, favourites and pretty much the full functionality of YouTube when accessed from a PC/Mac. The iPhone imaging software and battery life has also been updated, but not to huge effect. The only other significant addition was search. I didn’t get it really. How much stuff do you have on an iPhone? Maybe it’s just me. I know all the media and apps on mine so perhaps I am just not forgetful enough to need this, but it fits nicely and works the Apple way, smoothly and it is unintrusive when it is not being used. Nice but no use to me. Perhaps there should be a way to turn it off?

This isn’t as much a review as an excuse to say this: it’s a stop gap update. Substantial, but it leaves me feeling like I had one beer – really good, but I need more to feel happy about it. Personally I am, after this update, expecting iPhone 4.0 to be a quantum leap in mobile tech. Android is looming and I have thought that I might check it out. As much as I love Apple, I wish they were open source and the Google kit is starting to look, frankly, awesome. What I do know is this: when everyone thinks they are catching up, Apple usually does something extraordinary. I just hope that iPhone 4.0 is due this Christmas. I am due an upgrade then. I cannot comment on iPhone 3G S until I get one.

In other news, iPhone 3.1 beta is already out to developers.

Edit:

Upon logging in to my Mobile Me account this morning I discovered an excellent feature (admittedly, I paid little attention to the iPhone 3.0 keynote so my ignorance is my own fault) called Find my iPhone. Within a few minutes I had set up my iPhone to be detectable anywhere in the world. Mobile Me kindly shows me where it is on Google Maps, allows remote wiping in the case of theft and obviously allows me to hunt it down so I can baseball bat the thief. Chalk that as a huge mark in the plus column for iPhone 3.0.

Share

Olympus PEN E-P1 Sample Photos Posted at DigiCamReview (Cameras)

Posted by Admin – June 28, 2009

Olympus PEN E-P1 Sample Photo

DigiCamReview.com have posted sample photos from the brand new Olympus PEN E-P1 production model, bought from Jessops in the UK. The E-P1 is now widely available in the UK from most camera stores.

View Olympus PEN E-P1 Sample Photos at DigiCamReview.

The world’s smallest digital camera with changeable lens, it features the same size sensor as other Olympus Digital SLRs (meaning better image quality with all the low-noise benefits of a DSLR), but with a camera body and lens size much more in line with a compact point and shoot such as the Canon G10! It is be available with a compact 17mm lens (34mm equivalent, UK Price with viewfinder £749), and 14-42mm 3x zoom lens (28 – 84mm equivalent, UK Price £699). It’s also available with both lenses for £849 (including VAT and free postage) for the 14-42mm Black & 17mm Silver Pancake Lenses & VF-1 External Optical View Finder Kit with Silver body. The camera features dust reduction, a 12.3 megapixel live view sensor, 720p video recording (1280×720) with stereo sound and HDMI out, anti-shake sensor, 3″ screen, 3fps shooting, SDHC support, and ISO100 – 6400.

Share

The Olympus PEN E-P1 Unboxed (Cameras) Pics

Posted by Admin – June 27, 2009

Olympus PEN E-P1

This is a brand new Olympus PEN E-P1 production model, bought from Jessops in the UK, they are now widely available in the UK from most camera stores.

Olympus PEN E-P1

The world’s smallest digital camera with changeable lens, it features the same size sensor as other Olympus Digital SLRs (meaning better image quality with all the low-noise benefits of a DSLR), but with a camera body and lens size much more in line with a compact point and shoot such as the Canon G10! It is be available with a compact 17mm lens (34mm equivalent, UK Price with viewfinder £749), and 14-42mm 3x zoom lens (28 – 84mm equivalent, UK Price £699). It’s also available with both lenses for £849 (including VAT and free postage) for the 14-42mm Black & 17mm Silver Pancake Lenses & VF-1 External Optical View Finder Kit with Silver body. The camera features dust reduction, a 12.3 megapixel live view sensor, 720p video recording (1280×720) with stereo sound and HDMI out, anti-shake sensor, 3″ screen, 3fps shooting, SDHC support, and ISO100 – 6400.

Olympus PEN E-P1

Olympus PEN E-P1

Olympus PEN E-P1

Olympus PEN E-P1

Click for more photos here: Olympus PEN E-P1 Unboxed Gallery
Update: View Olympus PEN E-P1 Sample Photos at DigiCamReview

Share

Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Camera Announced (Early) (Cameras)

Posted by Admin – June 15, 2009

Olympus E-P1
The Olympus E-P1 is the new micro four thirds Digital camera from Olympus, and is the world’s smallest digital camera with changeable lens, it features the same size sensor as other Olympus Digital SLRs (meaning much better image quality with all the low-noise benefits of a DSLR), but with a camera body and lens size much more in like with a compact point and shoot such as the Canon G10! It will be available with a compact 17mm lens (34mm equivalent), and 14-42mm 3x zoom lens (28 – 84mm equivalent). More pics at Engadget. The camera will feature dust reduction, a 12.3 megapixel live view sensor, SD card support, 720p video recording (1280×720), 3″ screen and ISO6400 (source). Update: Full details now on DigiCamReview.com

Share

Casio Exilim EX-H10 Ultra Zoom Announced (Cameras)

Posted by Admin – June 11, 2009

Casio Exilim H10

Casio has announced the new Casio Exilim EX-H10 – a new pocket zoom camera with a wide angle 24mm 10x optical zoom lens, 12 megapixel anti-shake sensor, 3″ screen, and 1000 shot battery life. The camera will be available for £299

“The new EX-H10 by Casio combines cutting edge Japanese technology with the most stylish, ultra-slim design in their first “Superzoom” camera. An impressive 10x optical zoom will take users to the heart of the action without compromising image quality; and a 24mm wide angle lens allows the camera to squeeze more in each shot – making it ideal for landscapes. The perfect travel partner, this slim camera can fit easily into a pocket and will keep shooting for nearly three times longer than its rivals. Casio’s pioneering long lasting battery in the EX-H10 has the incredible capacity to take 1,000 shots with one charged battery, ensuring that a fully charged camera will shoot all week*.”

Casio’s EX-H10 also helps users to get faultless shots with a range of easy to use photographic modes, including: Auto Best Shot, Make-up Shot and Face Recognition, so that whatever is being shot the EX-H10 will adjust its settings for the ideal image.

10X optical zoom lens and 4X digital zoom – This new camera boasts up to 40X zoom with the combination of 10X optical and 4X digital with 12.1 million effective pixels. Take pictures of entire buildings or far away objects without losing focus.

24mm wide lens – No need to step back to take that panoramic shot. with a 24mm wide lens the EX-H10 has the capacity to view a landscape, building or entire scene in just one frame.

1,000 shot battery life – Casio has improved the battery life of the camera to make it one of the longest lasting camera batteries on the market. So even for the most extravagant of snappers this camera will last the week*.

The EX-H10 retails at £299 and can be purchased from all good camera stockists and www.casioatcarnaby.co.uk.

Share

Panasonic Lumix TZ6 ZS1 Review at DigiCamReview (Cameras)

Posted by Admin – June 4, 2009

Panasonic Lumix TZ6
DigiCamReview.com have reviewed the new Panasonic Lumix TZ6 (aka ZS1) and rated the pocket zoom as one of the best ultra zooms available, offering a 12x optical zoom lens, a 2.7″ screen, and a 10 megapixel sensor, the camera features optical image stabilisation and still fits it your pocket. It’s available for £205 making it one of the cheapest (and possibly best) pocket zoom cameras available.

Share

The Red Rover Mini Restoration Project… Part 2 (Cars)

Posted by Admin – May 21, 2009

After respraying the front I decided the back needed some attention as the paintwork was in very poor condition. Some of these first pictures should give you a general idea as to how poor the paint surface was…

Mini Restoration Mini Restoration

Sanding and stripping the back. The boot particularly had a lot of bubbles in the paint.

Mini Restoration Mini Restoration

Filling and kurusting holes and prepping for spraying (Masking tape and brown parcel wrap used).

Mini Restoration Mini Restoration

Grey primer, and red primer sanded smooth. Lots of sanding and priming done on the boot due to all the bubbles in the paint. Sprayed inside of boot with primer and Flame red (89) as well.

Mini Restoration Mini Restoration

Final coat of red and rebuilding. To “finish” the paint I sanded with 1500 wet and dry, T-Cut, and then polished with Zymol Cleaner Wax. Once ready I took it for a drive and charged the battery and made sure all the lights were working.

You can follow the Mini Project Log at Hexus, and view large photos in the Red Mini gallery (on joshwaller.co.uk).

Share

The Red Rover Mini Restoration Project… Part 1 (Cars)

Posted by Admin – May 21, 2009

Red Mini Mini Interior

So I’m very very slowly bringing the Mini back to it’s former glory. So far I’ve beefed up the sound system with a subwoofer, and front speakers, although I do need to mount these all properly, so this is just at the testing stage at the moment. The head unit is very nice though – a Sony GT420U – with USB and AUX in it supports pen drives, and USB hard drives!

rusty front Mini Rocker arms and springs

I’ve also been looking at the front of the Mini as there’s a lot of surface rust under the bubbling paint. Very little of it has gone through so with some elbow grease and some sanding it should smooth out okay, ready for a respray. I’ve also decided to respray the rocker cover, as that was suffering from some rust.

Rocker Cover Before Rocker Cover After - Red

Here’s the before and after shots of the rocker cover, now that it’s been painted red. I’ve sanded the rusty bits with a B+Q Mouse Sander, and covered the rusty bits with Hammerite Kurust from Halfords. Next I should be able to fill any dents, and smooth ready for the primer.

Mini Sanded Sprayed

Most of the front of the car now smoothed and sprayed with two coats of primer.

Mini Sprayed Red Ready to drive

Once the front was put back together, I changed the oil, and took it for a drive. When it got back, I decided it was time to do something about the back of the car, follow links below for pics.

You can follow the Mini Project Log at Hexus, and view large photos in the Red Mini gallery. (originally posted on joshwaller)

Share

Switch to our mobile site