Flashe Reviews

I'm a boy scout leader. I own a few of these. The thing about these is that everyone likes them so much that they always want to use them. I end up passing mine out and ending up with one less. I must be their best customer. I always end up buying replacements.

This is the perfect size for around the house or in the car (we bought about 4 of them to keep them in both places). We use rechargeable batteries (2 - C size) and they work great. The light is just the right amount to see what you need to see without being a big bulky flashlight. Solid too - will lsat forever I think.

A typical example of a "good ole" American quality product! If you don't lose it I am sure your Grandchild will still be using it!

This camera has excellent reviews on the internet. However, if the camera is so good how come no one seems to be selling any new ones? I have visited several camera shops & they are not familiar with it & don't carry any in stock. I couldn't find a new one on the internet either. All I could find was a used one & a refurbished one on the internet. What is the deal with these cameras?

This is my second time i have bought this camera. The other camera unfortunately got smashed by a car. I just loved the camera so much i had to buy another one. I have taken some photography courses and some of the pictures i took with my minotla SLR do compare to the freedom zoom ex. It's a great little camera with lots of features that anyone can use. I highly recomend this camera to anyone looking for a good compact 35 mm camera.

I used lot of cameras including Canon Rebel 2000 SLR camera....but i never got the results like Minolta supreme zoom...the best things the results are real good even in night and under bulb light....

The Mag Instrument S2C016 Black Heavy-Duty 2 C-Cell Flashlight used to be my most used flashlight. Now a days, there is a lot going on with the technology of flashlights. LED, Lithium batteries, focus bezels, etc. The Maglight brand has fallen behind a bit technologically, but is still a great flashlight for minor emergencies NOT involving looking for criminals, terrorists or signalling for a chopper pick up. The Mag Instrument S2C016 Black Heavy-Duty 2 C-Cell Flashlight is perfect for a tool box or deep pocket. The product is very durable and they are proven reliable. Don't get me wrong. I've depended on Mag lites of all sizes for years. But head to head , the Surefire brands have quickly surpassed Mag lite in every important aspect of flashlights - usable light power, size, durability and weight. The Mag light brand just isn't keeping up with the new technology. And that's too bad for us who value product loyalty.
The Mag Instrument S2C016 Black Heavy-Duty 2 C-Cell Flashlight is STILL a good value and I have several in the house and the vehicles. But they're being replaced by Surefires as they wear out.
John Row

The 2 c-cell MagLight is durable and reliable. Being a pilot I use a flashlight for all night flights. For safety's sake I cannot afford to have a flashlight with a flimsy switch, cheap construction etc. Mag Instruments makes a great light period.

The 2 c-cell model is a bit large for the average kitchen drawer or auto glove compartment. But it works great for aviation and should be equally suited for boating, camping etc.

I have several D-cell Mag Lights and one AA-cell Mag light, but the former were too large and the latter too small to grab and run check on this or that when the need arose. The C-cell light is just the right size. I was pleased to see a History channel Egyptologist carrying the same one, a few months after I bought mine.

These are the slowest cards I have. On my Dimage 7Hi, to write 8 rapid shots to file, it takes:

On my Lexar 32x card: 27 seconds

On my Viking 256 card: 34 seconds

On my Sandisk 512 card: 45 seconds

Thats quite a difference if you want to take rapid photos. On a single shot basis, my camera has a big enough buffer that I do not notice.

I bought this card about 6 months ago, and so far I've been overjoyed with its reliability and performance... I've taken it on vacation overseas, and it's taken a good pounding as well as having been exposed to excessive heat (Arizona summer), and excessive moisture (Scandinavian summer).

I have a couple of other regular Sandisk cards, which I'm also very pleased with, although they're very slow. This card was a very pleasant improvement over the regular SanDisk cards with regards to speed. There's even a kinda chic look to it in my mind. The card is reasonably fast, although not impressively fast. It should do well for most users though.

I've so far taken several thousand pictures with it, with my Canon Powershot S200 and my Canon PowerShot G5 camera. Not even once have I had an image corruption or any other type of problem. It always comes through for me. I also have several friends that have used this card, there among one professional photographer. None of them have ever had any problems either, and they all swear by Sandisk cards for one simple reason - they are the most reliable CF cards around.

Pros:
* Durable and EXTREMELY reliable
* Good capacity

Cons:
* Not all that fast - I'd say middle of the road. It seems to be about 2-3 times faster than a regular Sandisk card though.

I mean - what good is it if you've got the fastest card in the world, but you keep losing pictures? That won't happen with this card.

Based on that, I would highly recommend this product (and any other Sandisk CF card for that matter).

I recently purchased this card to complement a new Canon Digital Rebel dSLR camera. I have never had the opportunity to use CF cards in the past, so this review may not relate to seasoned users. Still, my impression is that this card is quite fast and is a bargain this speed/capacity.

The new Ultra IIs have just been released and might be worth the upgrade, but my camera buffers just fine and I can shoot in single-shot mode with *very* little lag between shots. I've purchased SanDisk's CF I/II card reader to complement and this is an amatuer photographer's dream setup. By the way, my camera says it can take 157 shots with this card at the Fine JPEG/largest size. Highly recommended!

I have been very happy with my Vivitar 285HV since I bought it 2 years ago. What a great inexpensive flash that gives reliable and accurate results time after time. It is being used on my manual focus Nikon FE. I've been using the 4 auto settings most of the time.

Strengths:
Powerful output.
cost only a fraction of a Nikon SB16.
Lots of accessories available; (some are expensive, though!)
Good zoom head.

Weaknesses:
Big and heavy.
No swivel head

Similar Products Used:
Vivitar 550
Achiver

Let's get to the bad stuff first:

1) no swivel
2) printed numbers on calculator dial may wear off or get scratched off
3) plastic foot may break
4) sync cord, battery holder and AC adapter are hard to find in stores
5) of course, no TTL, but we already knew that

OK, the good stuff (really good)
1) very powerful, big grins on subjects after they hear the loud pop and see the light. This is one big gun.
2) meter is surprisingly accurate
3) zoom head and wide angle adapter
4) generous auto range of 4 apertures, variable power settings of 1/2, 1/4 and 1/16
5) if you use flash as main source of light, don't shoot closeups with flash and have no need for TTL, this is all the flash you need
6) did I say this flash is so affordable?

I've been using Vivitar 283 and 285's for years now. I was introduced to the 285 when my backlight died on a Glamour shoot. The style my client wanted was an over exposed background to ad a haze around the subject through the softener1 filter. This required a powerful flash. The only store near the salon was a Carmen's camera and all they had in their used department was this old 285, the man in the store, a professional photographer himself, assured me that with a slave unit on the manual setting this flash would be powerful enough to do the job. He even had an SB-4 power supply and this little plastic display unit, which made a perfect little backlight stand!

Not only did this flash recycle in time, it was powerful enough to do the job. This little flash even replaced my Metz for wedding work because of its compact size!

I also noticed at the time that many other press photographers were leaving their Metz's at home too! For travelling and backpacking I bring my 283, which is very light and also has the remote sensor feature so handy for close-up work.

The 283 also sits nicer on the hot shoe being lighter, making the camera less top-heavy. Which brings me to the only complaint I have with these two flashes.... or many hot shoe flashes for that matter. Shooting at crowded concerts or busy news scrums the vulnerability of the hot shoe is always on my mind, on more than one occasion I have broken this hot shoe and had to order a new one which requires a bit of assembly and downtime. To make up for this -the remote sensor makes it possible to use these flashes off camera even with the broken hot shoe and with the amount of used 283's and 285's out there at good prices, they are still the best darn portable mini flashes I've come across!

With an on camera 283 fill light, reflected, a slaved 285 with a reflector on a stand next to the camera and a 283 slaved for a back light and you have yourself a portable studio, but watch out your subject doesn't step on the backlight!

if this card were to magically appear in my pocket i would be exstatic. provided of cours that i had a sony device. its small, it works, its durable, and there is a good amount of space on it.

however, in the land of thing not magically appearing in my pocket, there are a lot of cons to this memory stick. for one, its exspencive. another reason is that its only good for sony products. yet another is that you have to use this little switch on the thing if you want to use it to maximum capacity. on the other hand this might... might, provide a usefull organizing tool for some.

in any case, if your looking for a memory card for a sony product that you've already bought, then this is a good buy. but if your looking into buying a sony product let this card be a deterent (not a big one mind you, but if your down to two competing products, then i would say go with the other one).

Good memory stick, handy and small, of course. There is a switch on it to switch from side a to side b. The switch is really tiny, so if you have big fingers, you might have a little trouble. It seems a little flimsy and is really tiny to use, and also to read the lettering. I wouldn't recommend it to someone that forgot their reading glasses. It is a timesaver,and a spacesaver, and there aren't really many other options for those of us who can't use the newer memory sticks.
All in all, a good product.

An amazing service considering you delivered to my country, at the end of the world (Chile).

This case offers only a little more protection than the case that comes with the Casio E-125. The same rigid cardboard-like material is sewn into the case to protect the screen. There is no extra padding. The soft leather is nice, as are the properly spaced holes so that you can use the PDA while it is in the case. But the added bulk of the case makes it impossible to fit the PDA into a jacket or shirt pocket. The little case that comes with the E-125 fits snugly around the PDA so that it still fits into these pockets.

I just received my new Casio Bi-Fold PDA case and I love it. this is the third case I have bought for my PDA and am finally satified. It has a place to carry my important cards, it folds out flat, so it doesen't get in the way of writing, it has a small note pad for those quick notes (which I have been looking for) and it was a great price. It looks like the third time was the charm.

Having recently purchased a Casio Cassiopeia E-125 and being instantly disappointed with the goofy little polyester/elastic pouch that came with it, I decided it was time to get something a little more useful for protecting my investment.

Casio; unlike Palm, Handspring & HP; does not provide a covering to protect the delicate and expensive color screen of the Cassiopeia. The competition almost always provides a platic or metal covering for there PDA screens; but Casio, for reasons unknown, doesn't bother.

So, with a bit of reluctance, I plopped down my money for the Casio Bi-Fold PDA case for the E-115. (Yes, it works fine with the E-125 as well...) The reluctance came from not ever having seen or handled the case; the only information I had to go on was that provided by Amazon.com. So I took a gamble and purchased the case. Boy am I glad I did!

The case is simplicity itself. Basic black leather in construction, with a little Velcro tab to keep the case securely closed. It opens like a book, with a small white pad of paper on the left hand side along with a small slot for stowing the occasional business card and such. The right hand side is the place for the Casio.

To install the PocketPC into the case, one simply inserts the unit through the top of a black leather "pocket." Holes are strategically located in this "pocket" in all the right places. There is a big rectangular cut-out for the screen, two smaller holes underneath for the cursor and select buttons, and several holes along the sides for access to the other buttons, ports and the all-important stylus. The unit can be inserted and removed from the pocket with great ease. Also, the leather pocket is held in place in the case by Velcro, so you can remove the Cassiopeia from the case with it's leather pocket securely attached. Unfortunately, you have to remove the Casio completely from it's protective pocket in order for it to fit in the synch cradle. I don't synch my Casio to my PC very often, so it's a non-issue for me. The main point is that all the Casio's functions can be utilized while the unit sits comforatably within it's leather case, with the exception of synching with the PC.

Another nice touch provided in the case is a small elasitic loop located in the "binder" for holding a pen. (necessary for writing on the handy-dandy paper notepad...)

Since the day I first installed my E-125 into this case, I've rarely removed it. It provides decent protection for the screen, and security for the mind. There are fancier and much more expensive cases available from Casio, but this little number is just right for yours truly.

If you are buying a Casio E-125, do make this case your very next purchase; you'll be glad you did.

While the quality of the build of this instrument is top notch, the technology is outdated. Several companies have improved the beam quality, bulb life and electrical reliability of similar products. Solid state technology (LED light) has made the standard D-cell light a dim unreliable unit. The company has rested on it's laurels for too long. Other companies have made brighter smaller longer life units in standard bulb (incandescent) and solid state (LED) formats for a number of years now. See companies like Streamlight, SureFire, Brinkmann and search for "LED Flashlights" for the whole array of new technologies.

Most of my Mag Lights have been retired in favor of LED technology lights with comparable output plus extended battery life and bulbs that last for 50,000 plus hours. Mag faces the risk of becoming the 8-track version of the flashlight in my opinion.

this truly is a work of art! the best flashlite money can buy,its been there for me in many dark places..

This is Maglite - the most robust, simply designed, durable flashlight ever. All except the tiniest maglites share a number of common features: super-bright bulbs, waterproof seals, a twistable head which adjusts the spread of the beam from spot to flood, and a spare bulb in a padded compartment in the base. This is the 2D-cell version, portable but still satisfyingly solid in feel. Larger versions take 3, 4 or even 6 D-cells.

Ok, if you are interested in this product, I'll assume that you already own a Rio, so I guess I can't try to talk you out of that.

GOOD - Small, easy to carry around, cheap compared to OTHER flash memory manufacturers.

BAD - Expensive compared to CD-R, MD, etc.

UGLY - Bad memory clusters will cause skips over time.

Basically, if you have a Rio, and need more memory, this is the stuff to buy. Don't try and find Camera flash cards, and figure out how to use them in your Rio. That would not only be a nuscence, but also would end up costing you more. If you don't own a Rio, and are considering buying one, take a look at my reviews of the PMP300 and the PMP500.

- E-Mail me at nairos@home.com if you have any questions -

I purchased the Rio 500 and love it. It is the coolest things since sliced bread, BUT. I travel a lot for work and use a Win 95 laptop. The Rio 500 does not support the USB uploads from or to a Win 95 machine. This stinks. All in all though, I think that the Rio 500 is a great toy.

My wife even thinks so.

A Rio with only 32mb is pretty hard to enjoy since it can only hold about eight songs at once. With the extra 32mb smartmedia your Rio can hold about as much music as a cd. Another good thing is that with the price of the Rio going down, it costs less to get the Rio PMP300 & a flash card than to buy a 64mb mp3 player.

I got my Ultrastinger from Amazon today. It has a cracked/torn rubber nipple over the on/off switch, and from all the fingemarks and other tell-tale little marks on it, it's clearly a USED, PRE-OWNED item. Other evidence: the product box was not shrink-wrapped or sealed as it should be, and the battery was fully charged (new flashlights do not come with fully charged NiCad batteries).

I am outraged that Amazon would re-ship a returned, defective item, but that's exactly what has happened. This makes me very wary of ordering from them again. I immediately ordered that UPS come to pick this up and take it back at no charge to me. Now I have to "wait 7-12 days" AFTER they get this POS back before I get a refund. Nice.

Also, now that I've seen the way the rubber switch cover fails, I've decided not to get this product anyway. I'll have to look into another manufacturer.

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The Streamlight Ultra Stinger™ Rechargable flashlight ROCKS!!!

I am a gadget nut, and I have a very large number of flashlights. IMHO, there is no better all-around flashlight than Streamlight's Ultra Stinger.

It truly is amazing how bright and light-weight this flashlight is. It puts out up to 75,000 candlepower yet weighs only 1.1 pounds. Not only is it bright, but you can focus the light to a small, penetrating beam that can be seen for miles.

Don't let the light weight fool you, however. This flashlight feels rock-solid in your hand, and it can take a licking. I take mine running almost every night, and have dropped it on the pavement more than a few times, and it just keeps going.

The Ultra Stinger is also durable and reliable. I've had my current model for over two years now, and the battery is still fine. I did have to replace the light bulb once, but that's not bad considering how many hours it's been in use and how many times I've recharged it.

The only flashlight that even compares to the Ultra Stinger is the SureFire 10X Dominator™. The Dominator weighs only 1.25 lbs and has a two-lamp assembly that allows you to run it at 60 lumens (roughly 36,000 CP by my calculations, about half the output of the Ultra Stinger) for up to 3 hours, or at an incredibly bright 500 lumens for up to 20 minutes. Yes, 500 lumens (or roughly 300,000 CP) is 4X brighter than the Ultra Stinger, but the light is UNFOCUSED, so the brightness is lost over any real distance as the light diffuses. When you factor in the ridiculously high price of the Dominator (the best price I could find on the Internet was $360!), you can see why I recommend the Streamlight as the overall champion. The Dominator is a great flashlight in its own right, of course, so probably the best idea is to get both.

I have several other flashlights from Streamlight, and they are all very well-made. Nevertheless, whenever I want a nice bright flashlight, I always go for my Ultra Stinger. My only serious question about it is, how can Streamlight make the Ultra Stinger so bright and light-weight, while their other models don't even come close? The brightest flashlight in the SL- series is the SL-35, which weighs 2.8 pounds (almost 3X more than the Ultra Stinger) and puts out up to 40,000 CP (Slightly more than half that of the Ultra Stinger). Plus, it's more expensive! The MSPR on the SL-35 is $229.95 vs. $174.95 for the Ultra Stinger. That math doesn't add up.

Other unbelievable examples: Streamlight's 3.3 pound 8-Watt Vulcan™ spotlight can generate up to 50,000 CP, and the 7.4 pound 20-Watt Litebox™ spotlight can kick out up to 70,000 CP. How is it even remotely possible that the Ultra Stinger, weighing in at 1.1 pounds and sporting a 10-Watt bulb, can out-shine these oversized hogs? The obvious answer is "runtime" - the Litebox™ can run at 20 Watts for up to 3.5 hours compared to a 1 hour runtime for the Ultra Stinger. Who cares - I'll take the Ultra Stinger every time!

Streamlight should take their older lights off the market and replace them or update them with the better technology found in the Ultra Stinger, like they did with the new Stinger HP. The Stinger HP weighs 12.2 ounces and kicks out 40,000 CP. Plus, the beam can be focused, while the SL- series is "pre-focused".

I'm sure that Streamlight is on the case -- the HP models are nice, and I really like the Pro Polymer LED lights, too. I just wish that they could come out with an affordable competitor to the $1,800 Maxabeam 6 million CP spotlight.

BUY THIS FLASHLIGHT -- YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID!!!

I have never seen anything like this before in my life. The ratio of power to size blows my mind. I had someone shine this at me from about 50 feet away and it actually *blinded* me for about 10 seconds and I felt physically ill for about 10 minutes. If you buy this flashlight, you won't need a new one for about 50 years... because that's how long this thing was built to last.