Gadget Guru
Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 06:58:18 PM

Archive for the ‘Cameras’ Category

Canon EOS 60D

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Canon EOS 60D
The Canon EOS 60D is a sturdy DSLR camera with 18 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor that will allow you take loads of great pictures and videos.

The Canon EOS 60D is a sturdy DSLR camera with 18 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor that will allow you take loads of great pictures and videos. The bright three-inch screen, which can be adjusted to almost any angle, has over a million dots, providing an extremely sharp picture.

There is a large, bright viewfinder. The pictures themselves are of fabulous quality, providing great detail and amazingly accurate colours. The Canon EOS also allows you to take 1080p videos at 30, 25 or 24 fps, or 720p videos at 50 or 60fps. Videos are saved in MOV format. Full manual controls for the video are available, and there is a socket for plugging in an external stereo microphone.

The user interface is slightly different from that of older Canon models, so it may take you a little bit of time to get used to it. Fore example, you have to press a button in the centre of the mode dial in order to turn it.

However, once you have mastered the controls, you will be astounded by the beautiful, clear pictures and videos that you can take with the Canon EOS 60D.

More: Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Canon EOS 60D Rating

Appearance

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A high-quality, robust and professional-feeling piece of kit

Image Quality

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Images are razor sharp, as one might expect from an 18 mega pixel camera.

Performance

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This really is verging on a full-blown professional camera, and the performance reflects this.

Features

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Packed with the usual features you'd expect from the Canon EOS range, plus some high-end tweaked extras
Overall
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This really is a superb camera. If you're thinking of buying the upcoming Canon EOS 600D, don't - buy this instead. The 60D out-performs the 600D in almost every aspect and, because it's now half a year old, you can bag yourself a 60D for around the same price as the less professional 600D
More: Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

GigaPan EPIC Pro

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Gadget

giga pan This superb gadget is aimed at the serious photography enthusiast. It’s a kind of computerized camera stand that creates panoramic images of scenery or city-scapes, or whatever you point it at. You attach your digital slr camera to the stand, then connect a wire to your camera’s remote control input, and it takes pictures at intervals, automatically changing position to take hundreds of photos, then the supplied software seemlessly stitches all the photographs together to make one huge panoramic, high-resolution image that you can zoom in to and see fine details.

The company also offers to stitch your photos together for you for a fee, and their website allows you to share your panoramas with other users. The GigaPan has a built in spirit level so you can setup your shots properly then you pan one way and tell the computer where the upper right extremity of your photo needs to be, then pan the other way and tell the computer where the lower left needs to be – after this the computer takes over and gets your camera snapping away if you set it to auto-focus, otherwise it lets you focus each shot manually each time it moves.

You can also take full 360 degree photographs, in which case you just tell the computer where you want the top and bottom to be and it will take shots in a full circle so you can make images the same as Google’s street view, only yours will be better quality because you’re standing still and not mounted on top of a little van.

Sony HDR-XR550E

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Sony HDR-XR550EThis is a mid-range camcorder in terms of price, hovering around a grand, and performs better than many of its more expensive counterparts.

The image quality produced is deep and vibrant in most levels of light quality, and creates some pretty amazing videos even in very low light situations – ie. bars, wedding parties and such. The colours can also be adjusted later with the supplied software.

The camera also features slow motion video, which creates some very nice effects, and wide angle filming. Full specifications are below, this is a very good camcorder that does exactly what it says on the tin and will leave most people pleasently surprised and very pleased with the results of their filming.

Specifications

HD Video Codec  MPEG4-AVC/H.264

SD Video Codec  MPEG2-PS

Media Storage Type  240GB Hard Disk Drive

HYBRID  Movie Recording on Memory Stick? and SD/SDHC Memory Card

Image Sensor  1/2.88 “Exmor R” CMOS Sensor

Image Processor  BIONZ?

Lens / Filter Diameter  Sony G Lens / 37mm

Optical / Digital Zoom  10x / 120x

Audio Format Dolby Digital 5.1ch.

Zoom Mic  Yes

Maximum Still Image Resolution (Photo Mode)  12.0 Mega Pixels (4000 x 3000, 4:3)

Image Stabilisation Optical SteadyShot (New Active Mode, Active lens Method)

LCD Screen Size & Type  3.5 (8.9 cm) Xtra Fine LCD (921K dots / Wide 16:9), Touch Panel with TruBlack

x.v.Colour  Yes

Face Detection  Yes

Smile Shutter  Yes

Intelligent Auto  Yes

D-Range Optimiser  Yes

Intelligent Flash  Yes

Quick Autofocus  Yes

Golf Shot Mode  Yes

Colour Viewfinder  Yes

Record Start / Stop & Zoom Buttons on LCD Frame  Yes (shown on LCD screen)

Direct Copy  Yes

Quick Startup  Yes

HDMI Terminal  Yes (Mini)

USB Terminal  Yes (USB 2.0 High Speed)

Dimensions (W x H x D)  70 x 74 x 143mm

Mass (w/o Tape, Battery, etc.)  Approx. 500g

Supplied Accessories

AC adaptor  Yes

Rechargeable Battery Pack  NP-FV50

Remote Commander  Yes

Component Video Cable  Yes

AV Cable  Yes

USB Cable  Yes

Application Software Picture Motion Browser

Buy Sony HDR-XR550E 240GB Hard Disk Drive HD Camcorder with 12 month Manufacturer warranty at Amazon.co.uk

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