Trinity Plus

So with the newest member of my gear family, everything now looks as follows:

• Nikon D5100 +
• Sigma 24mm Super-Wide II f/2.8 Macro + Hood
• Nikkor-H 50mm f/2,
• Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX + Hood
• NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR + Hood
• Yongnuo 565 EX Speedlight + Diffuser
• Nikon F-mount standard extension tube M

Sniper Zoom – Nikkor 55-200mm VR Lens

Got a pretty solid deal on one of these via craigslist- only $90 with the ability to see it for myself prior to buying it. Seller was a very cool guy, so this thing was in as good of a shape as when he got it himself.

Came with the back cover, Canon-style front cap I swapped for a spare Nikon-style I had, and the stock reversible lens hood.  Best part- it’s still a 52mm lens and I can share all the caps and filters between this guy and my stock 18-55. Not as good for zoom itself, but for a budget beginner its awesome.

It didn’t take me long to start snapping some test shots and they go as follows:

This was our local theater’s sign taken from ~400 feet, at night. I believe I cranked ISO to 1600 to be able to shoot at at least 1/40 shutter speed to avoid blur. VR was indispensable for these long range shots.

Other shots were just random local ones to test both the zoom and the overall glass quality.

And as they say, save best for last-

A Proper Upgrade

If I do say so myself-

Freshly discounted (decided to get local juuuuust in case, gotta love Micro Center’s 15 day return policy- no questions asked) Nikon N5100 with 18-55 VR lens. So far, I’d say so good- it does all the basics I needed in a photo apparatus that SX nor anything below it could offer by default. Where and how this new, proper specimen will take me only time will really tell.

Here are a few, downsized random test shots from this evening:

Auto mode, no flash, about 2MP size for the pic.

SX20

D5100

A Little Upgrade – Canon Powershot SX20IS

Figured I’d one up from my Galaxy S2 and see what SX can do before Black Friday. If it isn’t quite enough, gonna consider getting a full DSLR via sales everywhere. What I’ll never get used to in most DSLRs and more current POS cameras are the lithium batteries. I simply don’t trust them. And getting extras is a total pain.

Recording Contours in HD

Got my Contour HD 1080 camera in over the weekend and finally got around to testing it out. Not too bad, not too bad.

Aaaand the video itself (with a minor typo, hahaha)

OMFG – Nokia 808 – 41MP Camera Phone

I’m utterly speechless, read for yourselves:

http://www.gsmarena.com/d_dinning_interview_nokia_808-review-728.php

Via GSMArena

PS Vita Impressions and Review

So now that I got a chance to play with this guy for a few days, here comes a proper overview.

PSP 1000, 2000, Vita.

The weights go roughly as follows: 1000 at 280 grams, 2000 at 180 (207 w/ extended battery), and 285 for Vita.

New perks and quirks are all very cool- touch screen front, touch pad all across the back, great dual analogs unlike the old flat nub, buttons feel very good and responsive. The cameras are only alright, but considering Wifi b/g/n, bluetooth, gps, and 3g the system sports, camera quality in both can be overlooked in favor of it having them at all (and a mic to boot, say hello to Skype whenever it hits PSN).

Front, then rear camera tests.

So far, everything works great. Wifi is lightening fast compared to old PSPs with only b band equipped. On-Screen-Keyboard works very well too, no complaints about input thus far. Vita even sports this feature by default, which I find as an extremely great touch-So, as far as games go, I only got Dynasty Warriors Next thus far, but the game fully utilizes everything but maybe cameras in the unit and that makes it an excellent launch title. From touch screen, to the back pad, to even the gyro and motion sensors of the system- you’ll be using them all for special attacks and mini cut-scene fights. Gyro sequences are especially cool because it simulates looking around in-game by moving the system around yourself.The battery life isn’t too bad, I would guestimate maybe 3-4 hours including sleeping/standby in between (of up to a day in total thus far, since I do sleep once in a while ;p ).

All in all, this is an extremely promising system that sports truly powerful hardware (like a quad-core CPU, that even the smartphones these days haven’t yet equipped), and enough useful quirky ways to control the system and the games without making your eyes bleed like the 3DS.

Are Smartphones Today Really That Smart?

Now that the new craze seemed to have fully set in all over the world, I’m sure the new generation is starting to forget how good the older counterparts not only were, but still are today. I want to compare the new to the old and highlight some key differences between the two based on my daily driving of both phones and their practicality with respect to my daily life.

So, the contenders: Nokia E6 and Samsung Galaxy S2.

I’ll begin with MY needs for a mobile phone-like device- quick and comfortably typing ability for both sms messages as well as web browsing/forum posting/etc; solid and reliable battery life, since I often and easily can end up without the ability to charge for 2-3 days; solid and reliable GPS, preferably with downloadable maps to avoid having to rely on mobile data usage; a good or decent camera to avoid having to carry extra gadgets; lastly, good overall connectivity as far as wifi/gprs/bluetooth goes.

With the above said, it is pretty clear why I prefer and use my Nokia as my daily driver even though it does have its flaws- iffy camera (on E6 anyway); not a portable laptop as far as processing power goes; rather small screen when it comes to looking at anything. In retrospect, Galaxy S2 lacks the exact opposite things like comfortable and quick typing; there’s a battery life in this one? where?; no phone strap slot (in the AT&T USA version anyway), so it gets to be a pain to fish it out and keep it in hands when in bumpy situations.

I notice that almost everyone today is obsessed with these Apps (and why not call them, programs or progs, like we all used to back in the day?) and having something useless always connected to the mobile net ALL the time. Are they really necessary though? Constant data usage tanks the battery life to a point where, you may not even be able to use your phone as a phone because it’s always about to die and you wouldn’t want to be completely stranded. Now, the first biggest flaw that these Android phones have-  they cannot turn the data on and off per need to use it. Here is where I love my nokia- when anything, be it browser, email sync, or MMS message needs to use the net, the phone will turn the net on for the duration of its use and then turn it off, going back to “idle” kind of mode. Saves battery? Like you wouldn’t believe. On the actual App note, they’re really nothing more than silly games or shortcuts to websites, and given the sheer fact that you have java-enabled mobile net, you can’t just open up the browser and check a particular website itself? Is wifi N and HSDPA+ really that slow today that we need “mobile optimized” shortcut apps?

Next up, and I didn’t realize how much I used this feature until I was stranded without it (with the same level of comfort) is the GPS program with downloadable maps. In case of Nokia, unlike various Android apps out there, FREE GPS program with downloadable maps. And maps don’t even weigh that much, North America is only 1.5GB that easily fits on phone’s internal memory. As with everything today, you can sync your saved places to a cloud account and download them in case something happens to your current phone or you upgrade to a new one. Very simple feature, but the key is having reliability vs simple presence of it. Now, no need for data AND a small screen? On an older E72, that meant being able to gps about 10 hours (turning the screen off until you need to look at it) and using the phone on a single charge for a whole weekend. Lets see any Android device top this one. Last point that could have gone without saying, is having downloaded maps doubles your phone as an interactive map no matter where you are instead of being stranded simply due to a lack of internet.

Physical qwerty keyboard would only really matter to heavy typists like me, but there is a rather large lack of qwerty Android handsets on the market with decent overall specs. I don’t know how you guys and gals get used to typing on a touch-screen, but I just cannot let go of the battle-proven tactile keys.

Call me old fashioned, but I really don’t see much of a productive purpose to all these new toys until the manufacturers seriously take some basics into their accounts, like they used to back in the day. If I have a device that has WiFi a/b/g/n, bluetooth 3.0, HSDPA+ with all 5 possible bands, good gps, and most importantly battery life to support all of that properly, I think I can go without some pretty screen sliding animations, beer glass apps, and super-robust CPU speeds that are virtually never used in your pocket.

Bonus round question, so why do I own both of these? To use each one per its intended usage, with Galaxy being my super-thin camera and tablet rather than a shot all-in-one device. It also covers up Nokia’s only real weaknesses- small screen when it comes to viewing something comfortably or showing it to others, and a decent camera (and god only knows why nokia essentially downgraded it from the previous models).

iOS vs Android – Android Wins!

Very cool commercial video by T-Mobile that has been circulating the net lately.

Too bad AT&T Galaxy S2 had a better CPU than T-Mobile one :p

More Galaxy S2 Fun – Panorama Shots

Click these guys for larger versions since the page width does NOT do any of these justice.