Camera-Accessories Reviews

I was expecting a complete overview of photoshop techniques. When I did read it, it seemed this book was focused on adjusting color for photos. It is a comprehensive study of the topic, and I learned a great deal about adjusting the color of photos, but a comprehensive walkthrough of photoshop features, it is not.

This book leads to more questions than answers. The manner in which this book is written is frustrating.

I remember an earlier edition of "Real World Photoshop" that was rather boastful. On the back cover, it stated catagorically that certain effects and filters were NOT included. Not that many of the filters in Photoshop don't have a place; they just don't have a place in the day-to-day production work professionals use Photoshop for.
RWP 6 is no exception. It doesn't include sections on how to use the Dry Brush filter, for instance. But if you want the absolute best advice about color profiling and color management; how to use (and not to use) the Unsharp Mask; how to get great scans, and generally how to more effectively use this graphics wunderkind, Mssrs. Blatner and Fraiser have the best advice in the business.
The first edition of this book I owned covered Photoshop 3, and I've owned each successive edition as Photoshop matured into its current version. Blanter and Fraiser do an excellent job of making sure references to older items or techniques are updated or deleted to reflect new or different capabilities. If you own Photoshop with the intention of earning money with it, invest in some RAM, and Real World Photoshop. Both will make your Photoshop experience faster, more efficient, and more profitable.

This item is a great idea, however it does not install on windows
xp professional, even though the intel faq says it does. The intel customer support says that there are major problmes with the mouse, keyboard and gamepad (they only list the minor problems on there compatibility faq)), they dont bother to tell you that they do not work at all on many peoples xp professional

However if you have 98,me,xp home, or 2000 professional(wow 2000 pro and not xp pro) then buy this product, it is an awesome gamepad and can function as a mouse that doesnt even need a surface to use.

This game pad is not only beautiful to look at and hold but is very functional as well. The mouse function is perfect for playing 3D video games such as American Mcgee's Alice and Clive Barkers Undying. It can be programmed to be both a mouse and a keyboard at the same time! The response rate is fantastic and the wireless freedom is outstanding! This pad is very durable and should last for years as long as you don't abuse it to badly.

This item is super-cool and works perfectly for me. This is one of the few devices where I just inserted the CD, pushed a button, and it worked. The software that configures the gamepad to push various key combinations on your keyboard worked perfectly and was easy to understand and operate. The gamepads feel good, respond quickly, and are studded with lots of buttons. Only when playing MAME Joust did I have a problem, the gamepad trigger was not fast enough to flap the wings. I just changed to button A and everything worked fine. I went out and bought a four player race car game and am trying to buy two more controllers now!

Needed an inexpensive wide angle zoom, this fit the bill. I trust Vivitar products and this one hasn't let me down yet. Takes 77mm filters. Note: This lens is a true ultra-wide angle lens, and as such image quality will suffer if used with standard, inexpensive filters. When using filters, spend the extra money and get one of the ultra-thin models from Hoya or similar. Otherwise you will notice rounding at the corners on shots taken at 19mm caused by the overhang of the filters getting the way of the shot (called "vignetting"). Makes a neat effect if intentional, but can mess up your shot if not.

Good, but not spectacular zoom. Very good sharpness when the aperture is closed to 8, or smaller vallues. Metal mount, plastic body. Worth the spent money.

I am an amateur photographer (read: take lots of pictures at parties, of the dog, on vacation etc.). Until I bought this lens, I had a 28-80mm (came with my Minolta XTsi) and a 70-210mm (bought when got camera) but I always wanted a wide-angle lens. Problem is that most wide-angle lenses are *very* expensive. (For instance, I searched for other wide-angle lenses when I bought this and the next closest one was $300!)

This 19-35mm AF zoom lens is perefect and works with Minolta and many other cameras. If you are not a professional you will NEVER notice the difference between this and a $300 wide-angle lens, so why bother spending more than you need to?

If you do buy this, pick up a basic UV filter (77mm thread) for it. Might as well protect your investment.

This unit is quick and extraordinarily simple to use: put in the battery, plug it in. That's it. The indicator glows red for "charging" and green for "charged." There is nothing else to it. The prongs fold away so you can carry it in your camera case without worrying about them scratching anything. The only improvement I could suggest is that it have space to charge two batteries simultaneously.

This little charger is great. There are no wires to deal with or ways to screw up your battery. Just pop in the battery plug it in and your set! So small I even lost it!

This charger came with my Canon Powershot S200 camera, and I've been using it very frequently (taken close to 10.000 pictures with 3 different batteries in the last 12 months). I've been using it with 2 Canon brand batteries, and one generic battery, all of them without a single problem.

I've taken it abroad and used it with 240V without any problems. All you need here is a pin converter (cheap at any travel store) and not a voltage converter.

It's plastic and hence very lightweight, which kind of gives a cheap feel to it, but it's been amazingly durable. The prongs fold into the charger and out of your way, so it's very portable. It's a bit big - about the same size as my camera.

It does sometimes make a very high pitched continuous sound when charging, something that can often be remedied by giving a bit of a nudge, or by just adjusting it in its socket.

It charges my batteries in about 2 hours. A red light goes on when inserting a battery for charging, and it turns green when the battery is done charging.

Pros:
* Built in voltage converter - runs on both 120V/240V (with a pin converter).
* Lightweight (plastic)
* Prongs fold into charger
* Has turned out to be amazingly durable.

Cons:
* A bit big
* Sometimes you'll experience an annoying high pitched sound when charging.
* Does not feel very durable

All in all, I would highly recommend this charger. It's come in very handy at home, and when traveling abroad.

This item broke after 6 months. This is a very handy item to have especially since you can charge batteries while you are using the camera. You have to be very careful plugging and unplugging into the ac outlet or the unit breaks easily.

This charger is speedy and compact -- necessities for effective picture-taking.

But the plug (which pivots out from the unit to plug into a wall) is flimsy. After only five months of occasional use, the pivot came loose and now the plug doesn't carry power into the charger. So I can waste time getting warranty service, or I can spend $80 for a new charger.

I love this item as you just plug it in, no extra wires to mess with. The plug is connected to the battery charger.

I don't know how it started but I somehow got it into my head that I needed one of these gadgets. After tracking down a shop which would let me demo one I handed over my cash and rushed home to try it out "properly" !

I already own a portable DVD player so I thought the Eye-Trek would be a great compliment.

The unit is pretty easy to connect up. The glasses connect to a small cigarette-packet sized unit. You then connect this to the video and sound outputs on your device (portable DVD player in my case).

You wear the Eye-Trek like a pair of shades - I have to wear prescription glasses and the Eye-Trek fits comfortably over these. The side arms also contain the earphones which you just unhook and place in your ears. The unit is quite light but I felt a bit of an idiot with my specs underneath (contact lenses might be better).

Press a button on the main unit and the display appears. You have to go through a warning message and a password screen.

I tried out a few DVD's to test the unit - Gladiator, Fantasia and Kevin and Perry Go Large.

First impressions were WOW!. It really did appear as if a huge projection screen was in front of me. The image was in focus and it felt comfortable quite quickly. I'm not sure if it really is 52" display but if felt like the picture was on the wall on the other side of the room.

After a few moments though I did start to think the image was a bit grainy - nowhere near TV quality. The colours were a bit faded but you can alter the contrast/brightness settings although it won't be perfect.

After a couple of films I decided to return the unit. For me, the lack of decent resolution was the main reason - it's just too grainy.

Also, there are just too many cables - a cable between the Eye-Trek and controller unit. You then have a video connection and left/right sound connections and a power supply lead and PSU. This is supposed to be portable !

I haven't given up on the Eye-Trek though. Olympus produce a high-end version which I have ordered and so will report back with my findings.

This is a great product when a tv is not available. I have used another model (fmd-20p) before. Great with my PS2. ... a great product.

I travel a ton - and got tired of people sitting next to me watching my movies on my portable DVD player (panasonic). Now I watch in total privacy and ignore everyone around me - it's perfect!

As for the display - it's just like watching a 51-inch screen from about 6 feet away (my best guess). Much better than squinting at the tiny screen on a portable or the airline screens. I look forward to my next roadtrip in a car as well.

I highly recommend the eye-trek, I've only had it for a couple weeks and have already fallen in love.

The clarity of this camera is fuzzy. I can only see shadows and not the clear faces of the people.

The Veo Connect USB PC Camera is essentially the Veo Advanced model minus the built-in microphone. For the price of the camera, stability, and functionality, this is a good buy. If you're using AOL 9.0, AIM, Yahoo, or MSN, you can do no wrong. If you're looking for a cam to use for a business, i.e. Webcam sites that charge a fee (which I won't get into here,) or you're looking for a professional quality camera for other reasons, don't buy this. The Veo connect is perfect, and targeted at, those that just want to keep in touch with family and friends who don't need a plethora of features. It's a simple user interface, good software & compatability, and extremely easy to set up. Plug it in, load the software, then use your favorite Instant Messenging service. The camera runs at a nice 30 fps which is good and there is an adjustable focus. I've looked over webcams for over the last 6 years, going all the way back to the black & white one's put out in 1997. I was pleasantly surprised get out of my office, connect this one to my laptop, and chat with friends from the recliner. Nice camera overall.

this is an awesome webcam the picture is really clear, other webcams require a lot of light but this one you don't need that much light to see a image. this is a great camera it's small you can't hardly notice it's there. and it has this hot little blue light when it's on so you know when it's working.

I bought one of these quite some time ago to use with my SLRs (Canon T90s) and it turned out it was totally useless for them. It was way to wobbly so I ended up buying a Bogen tripod and ball head for around [$$$]. This tripod went into the closet until lately when we bought a DV JVC camcorder and for it this tripod works very well. The camcorder is light enough for the tripod to hold it steady enough. The fluid head is a bit of a joke (not really fluid), but it works for what we use it for. And the bubble level is a nice detail. You cannot put many pounds on this and don't expect to take razor sharp pictures on long exposures. But it's an inexpensive alternative for smaller digital cameras and camcorders. It's lightweight and easy to carry.

It's been a long time since I used a tripod but I managed to get it set up without reading the instructions. There are no instructions so save the box for helpful hints. Tripod is fit for my purpose: mostly indoor use planned. It is hard to get it truely static when pressing shutter release on Minolta Dimage X. I was also horizontally challenged - the base has a little level that is below (BELOW) the camera pad. I would not take this on a rugged outdoor adventure with many uneven surfaces (They will need to make a titaniium one to get it this light but durable; start saving now.) I would not use it around kids, old folks, crowds, or any combination of these because your expensive electonic gizmo is going to going to fly thru the air with the greatest of ease. A nylon or tyvek travel case would be a helpful item.

This is a pretty decent tripod, for the price. However, don't be misled by the "fluid effect head." That's why I happened to buy this particular tripod, and it turns out that I already owned one!

I had purchased a tripod made by Ambico which was almost identical about 14 months prior to this purchase. At the place where I bought it, it cost me around 20 bucks. I had decided to get a different tripod because the fluid effect head wasn't nearly fluid enough for me. When this one finally came, I compared the two, and my old one worked just as good as this one.

If you're looking for a cheap tripod that gives you great bang for your buck, then this tripod is for you. If, however, you're looking for a tripod that truly is fluid, look somewhere else. Oh. And if you're going to get this tripod, shop around a bit. You might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.

I'd love to review this lense, unfortunately it isn't the one that I received. I purchased this lense, but received a much slower 28-105mm F3.8-5.6 UC-III lense instead (62mm filter). Make sure you get the actual lense you are paying for.

I enjoyed this lens very much when I got it. Problem is that it's Auto focus isn't working on my Canon EOS-5. It worked fine in the begining. It's not now. I'm going to send it in and see if they fix it and if it works well afterwards. Never been dropped and hasn't been used all that much. Not sure if it's just mine or if others have had this problem. It might need to be reprogrammed. Buy with caution.

...I used the lens at a wedding and it was just perfect. It's a little tough on the focusing and the zoom but that's ok at least I know it's going to stay put.

I can't wait to use it on my digital SLR and see how it looks.

I am very disappointed with this case. It is a very close fitting wraparound two piece case. It has five snap buttons that need to be aligned and snapped together to close it. It is rather difficult to push the camera into the long sleeve and keep it aligned so the snap buttons line up for closure. It usually takes me a few tries to get it right.

If you have the camera in this case and a quick photo opportunity appears, forget it. By the time you get the camera out of this case, the opportunity will be long gone.

Once the long sleeve is off, you can use the camera with the lower part still attached, as long as you don't need to change the memory card or the battery. To open the door that covers these, you need to manouver the leather piece around the neckstrap boss out of the way before it opens. If you want to plug the AC adapter in, you will have to completely remove the lower part of the case, as it covers up the opening for the AC adapter plug.

On top of all that, it has no place to store any accessories, not even a miniscule memory stick. Any self respecting owner will have an extra memory card and a spare battery along, wherever he goes. It would be good to have a place for those in the camera case.

It does what it is designed to do so in that sense it's a 5-star case. Beyond that it's quite poorly designed. You shouldn't have to have a Ph.D in structral engineering to put a camera in a case. The button closure system here is ridiculously over engineered. You will actually have to practice putting your camera in this case.

And as for taking it out quickly to get a shot ... well, good luck.

This camera is definately for the serious photographer. Well worth the extra $ for quality in pictures. Surprised by the color quality and detail clearness in close range. Easy to hold and balance. Eyepiece and screen veiwers let the user choose what they prefer in taking pictures. Alot of options. Had this camera two months, and still learning how to use the options.
Very thrilled to have this camera.