New Point and Shoot meets AFL at the Dome

I’d like to talk about the long and arduous process I put myself through in choosing a suitable point and shoot camera for my upcoming travels. I own two Canon DLSRs and an old Powershot S50, but I wasn’t prepared to lug a big body and even bigger and expensive lenses all around Asia for 53 days.

Oh – yes, I’m leaving my office job and travelling through seven countries from June until August. You’ll be able to read (I hope) a daily blog update from me, including photos, once I kick it off. [Read more]

How to choose a DSLR Camera

Well, I get asked all the time – “which camera should I buy?”
So I wanted to write a piece on exactly that. Well, guess what? Like everything in this world it’s been done before.

- and here it is …
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-buy-a-dslr-camera/#

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Samsung 10 Megapixel Camera Phone

If you are one of these people that thinks the more megapixels a camera has the better it is, and if you believe that you can take great pics with a cameraphone, then you are going to love Samsung!

The Korean smallgoods and el cheapo electronica manufacturer has cornered the mobile megapixel market by releasing the world’s first 10 (yes, you read that right, TEN) megapixed cameraphone. This is on top of 2004′s 5 mpx, and 2005′s 7mpx models.
There’s a bunch of other genuine camera functions including flash, 3x optical zoom & LED autofocus, as well as add-ons such as MP3 capability, TV-out, Satellite TV (probably useless in Australia) and bluetooth. And it’s small. I’ve no idea how well the phone itself works, or whether the software and buttons are easy to use, but if you want a relatively OK camera that takes better pics than any other mobile phone out there, then this is definitely for you.

Samsung SCH-B600 10 Megapixel Camera Phone – PhotographyBLOG

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a place for digital cameraphones, and occasionally I even wish I had one on me. However, the negatives far outway the positives in my mind. The colours always look so fake, the images plastic, and the response time from when you press the button to the time the shot is taken is woeful! My totally portable solution for those occasions when the DSLR is too big will continue to be a dedicated, quality Canon or Sony compact digital.

If you are not a photographer and only want to carry one gadget around, then seriously consider this one!

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Why the Canon 30D is the best Digital SLR

If you are serious about your digital photography, you need a Digital SLR. SLR stands for “Single Lens Reflex” and these cameras offer the best quality and most flexible creativity options available to you in a camera. There are three levels of Digital SLR camera to consider. Each is basically separated by your budget considerations, and how serious you really want to be about your photography.
It’s widely accepted that (as of today’s offerings) the following cameras make the shortlist of best in breed:

Professional

• Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II
• Nikon D2X
• Canon EOS 5D

Semi-professional

• Nikon D200
• Canon EOS 30D
• Fujifilm S3 Pro
• Olympus E-330

Hobbyist (entry level)

• Sony Alpha 100
• Nikon D70s
• Canon EOS 350D
• Pentax *ist DS2
• Olympus E-500 Evolt
• Nikon D50

With any of these cameras and a good lens (I recommend you buy the camera body alone, and choose a quality lens separately), you can create amazing shots, limited only by your imagination.
Your choice of camera body will subsequently limit you to a range of lenses, so choose wisely according to what types of lenses you may want to use. Having said that, most lens manufacturers make a full range of lens types. Once you spend money on a lens, you will keep it for life, so the camera manufacturer becomes one you stick with for a long time.
Another thing to consider is whether you want camera anti-shake technology built into the camera body, or whether you are happy to just buy a lens with this function built in. Dust protection is yet another technology that new cameras are beginning to include. Digital cameras are more exposed to electro-magnetic attraction of dust particles on the sensor than film cameras. This can result in dark spots on shots with a lot of sky.

In my opinion, the Canon 30D is the best value digital SLR available.

It’s an excellent combination of style, picture quality and value for money. You can pick it up from anywhere between $1950-$2250 if you shop well. The 30D excels at low-light photography, meaning you can shoot at much higher ISOs than other cameras, with far less digital noise in your resultant shots. This makes it a great choice for me with my live rock photography. It doesn’t include dust protection or anti-shake technology, but more than makes up for this by offering the very best quality a digital camera can offer. It uses a 1:1.6 ratio sensor, meaning that a lens focal length needs to be multiplied by this amount to get the true focal length. So, a 100mm lens is really a 160mm on this camera. This is great for zoom lenses, but not so good for wide-angle shots. If you plan to do a lot of landscape or commercial photography, then the next Canon in their range, the 5D, is possibly a better option as it has a 1:1 sensor. However it is a lot more expensive and doesn’t really offer any further improvement on the 30D.

The 30D has a popup flash. If you are serious about your photography you will use a dedicated flash unit, but there are times when you are taking snapshots and the onboard flash can be very useful.

For a very detailed review of the Canon 30D, as well as most other cameras on the market, check out Steve’s Digicams.

Passwords, passwords, passwords – Aaargh!!!!

In todays’ digital, security-conscious world, there is so much information to remember.
Once upon a time it was only your bank ATM PIN. Now every web site you are interested in requires you to register, and your Internet Banking login details are impossible to remember.Then you have everything else that matters like insurance, drivers licence, birthdays, combinations, email accounts, memberships, emergency info. The list just goes on and on!!!So what gadget do I use to solve this problem, you ask?

I use SplashID for the Palm OS on my Treo 650.

Of course, you are unlikely to have a Treo, as Australia hasn’t yet caught on to this best-of-breed convergence device. But don’t despair – SplashID has a version to suit PocketPC, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Symbian (sony Ericsson), Series 60 (Nokia) and the Blackberry, so you should be covered.Now there are plenty of alternatives to SplashID out there. However every one I have trialled has been buggy, awkward or unattractive. I just keep coming back to this.
SplashID comes with a Windows desktop to make it easier for data entry, and you can even just buy the desktop, so that’s pretty cool if you haven’t jumped on the phone/PDA convergence bandwagon yet.

SplashID is probably the most important tool I have on my Treo, and is always be the very first installation I run whenever I upgrade.
Trial before you buy at the SplashData downloads page.
I think you’ll find yourself “splashing” out USD$30 in no time at all.

Technorati Tags: palm, treo, splashID, security, passwords, pocketpc, smartphone

Palm/Pocket PC Wine Guide 2006

I’ve been trying to find a decent Palm-based wine guide for so long. This might be finally be it.
Every time I walk into Vintage Cellars, Liquorland or First Choice, I stare at the shelves for ages. I wonder whether I should simply buy that safe Koonunga Hill or Wolf Blass Yellow Label, or go out on a limb and try something new. I got lucky one day when I chose some Zilzie – boy is that good! But, I’ve also had my share of poor bottles.

My choice of phone is the PalmOne Treo 650, and it doubles as a Palm PDA. So, everywhere I go, the Treo goes with me. Now when I’m looking for wine, I can simply refer to my Treo to help make my decision. I can also keep track of my own wine cellar – excellent for when you drank so much of a good wine that you simply can’t remember what it was!

Also available for Pocket PC (for those of you who haven’t quite cottoned onto the joys of a stable, easy to use, lightweight PDA operating system).

It retails at about $25 after currency conversion, and you can download it directly from Landware’s site.

Now, it’s not perfect for Australians due to the lack of Aussie database content.  And I’ve yet to find any online data that I can import into the database.  I’ll keep looking and place a comment here if I find it.  An option for some of you might be to use a quality Australian Windows-based database to host your own collection, and export to a file that you can then import into your mobile software.

Do Not Buy This Game!

World of Warcraft is the most successful massively multiplayer online role playing game (or MMORPG) ever with upwards of 6 million active subscribers worldwide.

It is a beautifully designed game with two huge continents to explore, a highly detailed back story, armies of enemies to fight, a seemingly unlimited number of quests to go on and oodles and oodles of loot to buy, win and steal.

It can take you to another world where you can quest or just converse with thousands of like minded people from around the world.
So why am I telling you not to buy it? [Read more]

Bluetooth Headsets for Women

Everyone knows that women have more style and class than men, and why should female gadget lovers be left with black, white or silver when buying their gadget of choice?

If you chicks want to look your absolute hottest whilst taking that train to work, exercising at the local gym or simply chatting to your best friends on your mobile, then you need one of these little beauties.

Any mobile phone with bluetooth capabilities can be “paired” (made to work with) one of these headsets. If you own an ipod you could also purchase the bluetooth adaptor for iPod to get your music through your headset, but I wouldn’t recommend it. After all, music should always be heard in stereo.

Guys – stay away. These are not for you (unless you dress in girls clothes on a regular basis). Of course, you should still be a nice person and buy one for your girlfriend or sister.

The BluePearls range of Bluetooth headsets give women a choice of lightweight and small units, and the LIFE model (which comes in three colours, strangely black, silver, white) includes nine colorful, patterned faceplates in the pack. One for every day of the week and two more for Saturday night.

You can pick these up from the BluePearls shop, and the LIFE model is ticketed at USD$89.95.
Currently, the ordering process is not that easy for overseas customers, but I’ve been told by Bluepearls that they definitely ship to Australia, shipping is USD$15.95 (USPS Global Priority Mail), and they will create an account for you inside their billing module if you email them your details (information@bluepearls.us).

technorati tags:bluepearls, bluetooth, phone, headset

iPod Bluetooth Adaptor

This may seem to be a surprising post from me, given I don’t like iPods.
However, the rest of the world does, so I need to let you all know about iPod-related cool things.

It should be pointed out that the iPod has the best user interface of all portable music gadgets, and it looks cool, so that’s why it is so popular. It just so happens that I like functionality and audio quality over simple form, which is why I have never liked the iPod. But more about that in a later post.

The Jabra A125s is a bluetooth adapter for your iPod. What that means is you can buy some wireless bluetooth headphones, plug this thing into your iPod charging port, and immediately receive music without wires!

Some say those white wires are part of the allure of the iPod, so it will be very interesting to see how well this sells. Others say that bluetooth audio is not of great quality. I don’t think you’ll notice any difference from your wired headphones. To begin with, the iPod earbuds are awful! Get rid of them! Secondly, prior to this release you generally only found bluetooth audio available in mobile phones that could also play MP3s, and the audio quality from those things is generally awful in the first place.

The downside to this gadget is probably the battery life drain to both your iPod and the actual headphones themselves. But, I love the idea for exercising.
The Jabra A125s will be released in August and is currently expected to be retailing in the States for US$75. Once they are released your first port of call for an online purchase should be Hello Direct and you will probably be able to buy them from Mr Gadget or Expansys in Australia not long after that.

Question: Do you prefer wireless to wired?