Technology And Gadgets

Yes, I got yet another lens!

After getting my nifty fifty only the other week, I have added another lens to my now-growing collection. I wanted and needed a wide angle lens, and after reading reviews and info for a couple of weeks, I finally decided on the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 AT-X 116 PRO DX lens, and took the plunge and bought it. I do have a specific reason for this lens which will come clear later in a few weeks on my blog 😉 but I have always wanted and needed a good wide angle lens for my camera.

If you have a Canon 600D or any of the crop sensor cameras you’ll know that it’s 1.6x factor; That means even with the lens kit which is 18-55mm the actual range you get starts at 28.8mm, so it not too wide. This lens has been made for the APS-C sensors in mind, so the 11mm is really wide, and you get a great range. This is also the first “good” lens I have bought….The others have been the standard, plastic-cheap (although not cheap!) lenses, and they have been really good so far. When I got this I was impressed with the build quality, I read everywhere that it was “built like a tank” and it is! 😀 The first thing you notice is the weight; As I say I have only ever used the Canon lenses at the entry level range, and in comparison this is so heavy and feels very well built.

I am not a pro photographer so this lens is absolutely brilliant for me, at £425 it is hugely expensive for my usage, but since I do take lots of pics for the blog as well as taking it with me if I travel, it’s worth me having. If you are into cameras then you’ll probably know that this is not that expensive for a lens, such as a £2,000 Canon L series for instance 😛 For the regular folk who just like taking good pictures, this is expensive, but it is an investment 🙂

It does have a zoom feature, it’s only a few mm but I decided it was better than a prime with no zoom. The other lens I could have got was a Samyang 14mm, it was quite a bit cheaper, but this had far better reviews, it’s wider and has that little bit of zoom. The autofocus and manual focus are easy to operate, just slide the larger ring either up or down depending on what you want. It comes with a hood, which is detachable, it’s larger at 77mm so my filters I have for my other lens will not fit, but I am not worried about that.

This will be a great lens for landscapes, travel photography etc. so I really look forward to using it, I’ll probably be using it for general blog photography too, we’ll see how it stacks up for that 🙂

I finally got myself a new lens, the infamous cheap “Nifty Ffity“. I read good reviews on this, and it’s a “must have” if you believe what you read. It has some good features such as 1.8f aperture which lets in a whole load of light which is great, coming from a 3.5f aperture on my lens kit.

Read More

I have been in need of a new pocket camera for a while. Over Four years ago I got the Sony HX10 which was an amazing camera, really good quality, it fit in my pocket and went with me on many journeys including London and Stockholm, as well as countless nights out.

I’ve been using a DSLR for 2 or 3 years now, and I love it, I don’t think I could do without one, and even thought of getting myself up the DSLR ladder with a new camera. But first thing is first, and I wanted to get a new compact camera.

My iPhone is pretty decent when taking snaps when I have no other option, and it’s always with me, but the quality is lacking. Is there still a market for a camera which sits in-between a camera-phone and a DSLR? I think so.

I have been looking around for a long time for the perfect camera with the qualities I need. First of all I want great quality images. Second it has to fit in my pocket; I’m not talking jacket pocket, I’m talking about it fitting in my jeans comfortably. Those two features are what I am looking for, and everything else is a bonus. I decided on the Samsung NX Mini, and I have to say it’s really good! 🙂

Read More

Something we long for is a quality camera in our phones. But we always want more, better quality pics all the time without having to resort to using a separate compact camera or DSLR camera for ultimate in photo quality. Camera phones are pretty good now, and will always get better, we have the Nokia Lumia 1020 which packs a 41MP camera into a phone, and many cameras can be connected to your phone’s WIFI, so you can share your high quality snaps on Instagram or your favourite social networks.

Read More

It’s the question I have been asking myself for months, and will probably still be asking after I have bought one of them. Which do you go for, the PS4 or the XBOX One? Here is a little comparison between the two, and how they stack up…

Read More

For Christmas I got an HP Envy 110 printer. I had been looking to get a printer, or even an instant camera like the Fuji Instax or a new style Polaroid. I think that photography has now come full circle; Once we wanted actual photographs, then we were satisfied with superior digital copies to keep on our computers to view, and now I think many more are going back to wanting a couple of actual photos you can touch.

Read More

I have blogged about gadgets a fair bit, and most of these have featured on my blog at one time or another, but here there are in a boys toys style guide. Christmas is right around the corner, so here are a couple of men’s gadgets for you to consider getting yourself as a treat for this Christmas.

Nintendo Wii U

I’ll start with the newest gadget, in fact it doesn’t come out in the UK until this Friday, 30th November. The Wii U is the next generation console from Nintendo. It features a larger style controller, which is almost tablet like, and you use the touchscreen controller with the standard controls to play the game. Since this has not been released yet, it’s hard to say if it will be as big a hit as the original Wii, but it’s sure to be on many Christmas lists this year.

Tablets Galore!

For the past 2 years we have seen so many tablet computers hit the market. This year we have seen a couple of big players come into the mix and try and give Apple a run for it’s money. The Kindle Fire is a 7″ with a colour screen, 2 options for 8GB or 32GB or memory, and prices are £159 and £199 respectively. If you want a different premium-budget offering the other big player in the game is the Nexus 7 from Google. At only £159 or £199 for the 32GB model it should be considered.

If you have a bit more cash to play with and want something different from a piece of fruit, then Microsoft surface could be for you. Currently the one available is Surface with Windows RT, and starts at £399.

If you want to go for Apple, then the iPad 4 is their latest model, and they now have their iPad mini, the 7″ version. I adore my iPad 2, so I do highly recommend them. I have said this for ages and will continue to do so until things change; The Apple App Store is simply the best at the moment, these devices are all about the apps, so I would always choose the iPad.

Pioneer WeGo

If you are a wannabe DJ or just like music, then this is a cool gadget to get. It’s a DJ controller for your computer/laptop. This basically means it’s an external soundcard, which you plug into your computer via USB, and you can use the jog wheels and various effects/buttons on the device to mix tracks with the supplied software. Lots of fun and great for parties. Only £249 to be a party DJ.

Sounddocks

I have blogged about these recently, and these two are the most stylish and also produce amazing quality. The B&W A7 is a premium sound dock for your iPod/Apple device, and supports Airplay. Being £699 it is not cheap. The Bang And Olufsen Beolit 12 is the most stylish one I have seen, a little less quality but has a rechargeable battery making it very portable, and costs a little less at £599.

Laptop

Windows 8 is out, so it’s the perfect time to get a new laptop. I really like the look of ultrabooks, and the new Samsung Series 9 are really great. I still love a “proper PC”, it’s what I have always used and I still prefer them to Macs, but I do like my Macbook. If you do like a Mac, then there are a large range of Macbook Pros and Airs, all come with that Apple premium of course.

Digital Camera

Everyone is a photographer these days. It helps that DSLR cameras are now a lot less expensive. You can pick up an older Canon 1100D for just over £300 which is very reasonable. If you want something for your pocket, then maybe go for a Canon Powershot, S100 or S110 are very powerful pocket cameras but also come at around £300-£400.

I know there are people who like PES over FIFA, and there is the “PES or FIFA” kind of war and it has been going on ever since ISS was around. I have to say I have almost always been a FIFA man, I did play PES for a bit and do on my 3DS, and I like it, but I also like FIFA, and I like FIFA more than PES, it is just a better game.

So, FIFA 12…It’s really good! FIFA seems to get harder and harder as the years go on, there seems to be more you need to do and think about when you play, and the refinements are really good.

I had my game set up on PRO, and found it really hard. I got beat something like 5-1 off Real Madrid, so I thought I better turn it down a bit to Semi-Pro for a while. So yesterday I had a tough game, then Tweeted “I love FIFA 12 but its hard” and played another game, and this happened…

I was quite impressed with myself

I usually play teams which are “better”, I am usually Newcastle or CSKA Moscow when I play, but since I support Spain I like to play as them from time to time, but still play against good teams. I guess that was just the game of my life because I don’t usually score so many goals

The good thing I like about this game are the challenges. They had them on the PSP version of a FIFA game which I love. This time round not only does it mimic real life, it updates on a regular basis. So the first challenge was to win as Dortmund after 60-odd minutes from being 1-0 down; The challenge I did yesterday was to come back and draw 2-2 with only 3 minutes left (3 minutes in real time) and you start with a penalty. I really love doing the challenges, it gives you a reason to play with a team you may not usually, so you play “more” of the game.

I have always liked this style of game, “pick up and play” if you have a spare 20 minutes, it’s a good style of game for a busy person or someone who doesn’t spend their life playing games.

I loved FIFA 11 and thought it was great, I think this is even better. It is so fluid and it is getting more realistic all the time.

I finally got my camera! The Sony Cybershot HX5V. Woohoo! 😀 So you are probably wondering about it right? Well since i only just got it this is my initial review…First i would say i have only used it a little bit, had a mess around, but so far, i love it 😀

Read More

Now we know about the iPad, we know the spec, we have an idea of the price, but WHO is the device marketed at?

the iPad has had lots of negativity and criticism directed to it from the Apple fanboys, in an Apple Internet forum around 70% of people said they would not be buying one…These are Apple fans, so how is it going to go down with the mainstream?

Read More