Slices of Tokyo in 4k (UHD) #7Days7Minutes (2013-03-14)

Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Jimbocho, Nakano and Akihabara in 4k. With a Darc twist, as always.

Shot on a JVC GY-LS300

Music by MannyMarx ( http://mannymarx.com)
Buy his new album "Diaspora" http://mannymarx.bandcamp.com/album/d...

More of my stuff here:
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CP+ rant, Miso Ramen, plum blossoms and more... #7Days7Minutes (2016-02-22)

It's been a while since I've vented frustrations on this vlog, but what's a vlog, if not a place to vent. I make up for it with scenic shots of places no other J-vlogger will show, and some bonus CP+ fanservice to make up for it though.

music:

Good Shit (Kurorak) http://kurorak.bandcamp.com 
licenced under creative commons http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Anguish (YouTube creator's library)

Taking the piss #7Days7Minutes (2016-02-01)

The first minute sets the tone, and it goes downhill from there.

Music:
"No Idea" by Manny Marx
http://mannymarx.com

"Wataru Lights" by morgantj
licensed under a Creative Commons license.

"Linguistic" by Miles M with Ray O
https://soundcloud.com/russellcrossfire

Mt. Fuji, Akihabara and a few camera tests #7Days7Minutes (2016-01-25)

This is one of my more abstract 7D7M videos.
Bits and pieces from my last job mixed in with a visit to Akiba.

I am a bit busy these days so this is going to be the norm for a while.

Music:
Kurorak - Good Shit
https://soundcloud.com/kurorak/good-shit

Wontolla - Shape in the Snow
https://soundcloud.com/iamwontolla/shape-in-the-snow

both tracks licensed under creative commons.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Nagasaki, cats, Japan from the sky and more | 7 Days 7 Minutes (2015-05-25)

Music: "Ant Tube" by Tyler Abstract - https://soundcloud.com/tylerabstract

REVIEW: Sony AX100 4K Handycam (AkihabaraNews.com)

We had the need for an extra camera to shoot the IE/KMD Venture Day 2014 event last December, so we asked Sony if they would be able to throw us a bone. We got their FDR-AX100 Handycam. While nearing a year on the market, it was still the only thing that could do what it did, with the possible exception of Panasonic’s recently released DMC-LX100.

Since then however, Sony has announced the AX100’s replacement, the FDR-AX33, which, on paper at least, has addressed all the AX100’s flaws and added or improved on a number of key features. Provided that it’s as good a video shooter as its predecessor, I can say, quite simply, that If you want a 4K camcorder, Don’t buy the AX100, get the new and improved AX33.

And that would be that, except that I did spend near on 2 weeks with the AX100, shot a bunch of stuff and had planned to say a few things about it, before the AX33 pulled the rug from under my feet… So here is the gist of it:

Read the full(ish) review on AkihabaraNews.com

I also put together a vid for it (those of you who dont care abut tech and just wanna see japan can watch it below)

Sony α7 Ⅱ (Alpha 7 2) Part Two: The Beautiful Lovechild of Sony's α7 and Olympus' OMD-EM1 (AkihabaraNews.com)

My take on Sony's latest mirrorless interchangeable lens camera announcement.

OH YEEEEAH!

The Sony α7 Ⅱ (Alpha 7 Mark 2) has been announced (official vid embedded below), and it’s generating a buzz like no Sony interchangeable lense camera, possibly any Sony stills camera, ever has.

In part, this is due how well they managed to keep it under the radar. With the new stacked sensor announcement and the rumor mill’s fixation on the supposed ‘Pro’ full-frame E-mount that apparently is coming early next year, we were effectively blindsided by the α7 Ⅱ. 

The other big thing, for me at least, is the significance of this camera’s spec list with regards to the inevitable release of the α7R Ⅱ and the α7S Ⅱ sometime over the course of next year, because, as with the original α7, it is the base upon which the next camera I’m likely to buy will be built.

But back to the α7 Ⅱ…

Read the Rest on AkihabaraNews.com

REVIEW: SJ4000 HD Action Cam (AkihabaraNews.com)

My latest Review

The FauxPro: Showcasing SJCAM’s almost but not quite GoPro, the SJ4000 HD

The SJCAM SJ4000 action camera comes in a box that has no branding or name printed any of the surfaces. Apart from “SPORTS HD DV water resistant 30m,” there is nothing telling you who made it… Which is downright shady.

Pop it out of its box, and you will immediately recognize the design ‘inspiration’ for the camera. It is, for all intents and purposes, a knock-off GoPro, and as such, for the rest of this review it shall be called the FauxPro.

Read the rest of the review on AkihabaraNews.com

more of my stuff on the green pig here.

Casio Sent some new toys (EX-FR10 )

I'm going to be playing with their new  (action?) camera for a little while. As always, WHen I'm done, the review will be on akihabaranews.com. As always. On paper, Casio cameras seem like gimmicks but in person they are extremely high quality and very appealing. I wonder how good the image and video quality will be.

Sony a7S Tokyo Street Shots ~5 hit combo~

READ MY REVIEW OF THE SONY a7S HERE.

I took quite a few street shots for the Tokyo Street Shots addendum to the a7S review. They also helped me get to terms with the camera for my review of it. Ive put all of them up on my flickr and dropped 5 here to entice you to go check the rest out.












Still here? go see the rest on my flickr!

REVIEW: Sony α7S (Alpha 7S)

My latest camera review... I'm doing a lot of these recently:

In my many ramblings on cameras and photography (or arguments, when Canon/Nikon sycophants are involved), I have always stuck to 2 main points:

1: The 1940s flappy mirror box design (DSLR) is ancient tech that is marketed by old men for old men, and it’s holding back imaging technology.

2: Sensor size and megapixel count don’t matter if they’re not optimized. It’s all about getting as much light as possible onto that sensor to make the most of its size.

So, more megapixels means less light per pixel, and a larger sensor with fewer megapixels captures more light and detail than a sensor twice its size.

With the ever increasing push for high megapixels in both the full-frame and APS markets, there were really no options for low-light performance or image quality that warranted the almost exponential price and size premiums over the smaller Micro Four Thirds system cameras (like the Panasonic Lumix GH4).

Armchair enthusiasts point to reviews and beat their chests about this, but real world experience has told me that unless your photography requires that extra 5% of performance that the highest-end (double-sized and triple-priced) DSLRs provide, anything bigger than the Micro 4/3 sensor was a waste… Until Now....

Read the rest on AkihabaraNews.com

7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-07-28) Osaka, Faux-Pro, Abeno Harukas and more...

The camera is called the SJ400 Action Camera.

00:00 Faux Pro
01:00 Riding Into The Sun
02:00 Taking a Trip
03:00 300 Metres
04:00 Old School
05:00 No Power
06:00 Walkies

Abeno Harukas Location:

A Tribute and Farewell to my Old Buddy

Financial woes have forced me to part with my well used, trusty Lumix GH1. It has been my backup camera up till now for all the times the GH3 messed it's pants and needed to be sent back to Panasonic for repairs. It was my first Digital interchangeable lens camera and my first proper camera that I bought with my own money.

REVIEW: Casio Selfie-Cam (AkihabaraNews.com)

My latest review. Check it out:

The Casio EX-TR35 is a peculiar beast... 
Were you to look at the specs, you’d see a 12 megapixel 1/23 inch backlit CMOS sensor mated to a 3.8mm (Full frame equivalent of 21mm) lens in a small, but not particularly impressive, plastic body.

Nothing to write home about. And definitely nothing to explain why Casio is selling them hand over fist in China and Southeast Asia, from between ¥70,000 and ¥120,000 ($700 - $1,200) each, depending on where you get it.

read the rest at akihabaranews.com



RELATED:

REVIEW: Casio EX-100 Compact Camera (AkihabaraNews.com)

My next big and beastly review is up. I put a good deal of effort into it and I reckon it turned out pretty damn well.

A Flagship with Many Flags
On paper, the Casio EX-100 seems the greatest imaging device in the history of our species.

It can do things that sound mind blowing for a camera this small and almost too good to be true for a consumer imaging device of any kind.

It features a 28-300mm range f/2.8 aperture 10.7x optical zoom lens. It has a 1/1.7-inch back-lit 12 megapixel CMOS sensor, tiltable 3.5-inch display (180-degree up and 55-degree down), Wi-Fi, 5-axis image stabilization mechanism, and a really fancy sounding engine (Exilim Engine HS3)

This camera has a list of features so long that, even in the 3 weeks I had to play with it, I couldn’t truly explore every single one of them.

Read the full review here.

Props to Reno at AkihabaraNews.com for putting the tonnes of media and words I dumped on him together.

Related: 7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-05-12) Casio EX100, Timelapse, Kabukicho and more...

Tokyo Street Shots - SPECIAL EDITION: Panasonic GH4 & Legs! (AkihabaraNews.com)

For those of you who don't know yet, AkihabaraNews.com publishes a bunch of my Street Photography every week. This particular batch was shot with the Panasonic Lumix GH4.

Click the pic... or HERE to see the full set.

While you're at it check out my review of the GH4 too.

REVIEW: Panasonic Lumix GH4 (AkihabaraNews.com)

GH4! 
When the GH3 came onto the market, there was no denying that Panasonic was deliberately targeting the pro market. The GH2’s consumer-like colorful smoothness gave way to a magnesium body that was larger, more ergonomic, and dressed like Darth Vader.

Their online marketing material included testimonials from professional photographers and filmmakers from around the world, giving further evidence to the notion that it was a professional device.

By and large, they succeeded and found their niche in the market as purveyors of the best (arguably only) true hybrid photography system.

Now, a year and a bit later, Panasonic is about to unleash the GH3’s successor It’s called the GH… wait for it… 4!

No jokes... This might be my best piece since the Otaku Magazine days.
Go! Read it now! there be pretty pictures and vids too!

The reason i've not updated in a while...

Is because I'm playing with a pre-production Panasonic Lumix GH4

The review will be up on AkihabaraNews.com soon enough.

Last day with it today. Gotta get some last minute footage and shots before returning it to Panny.

I just wish I had the money to buy one of these. Hell I wish I had enough money to pay my my fair share of the bills instead of relying on the cat while I chase my dreams and sink deeper into debt.

Olympus at CP+ 2014. Girls were there, too. (AkihabaraNews.com)

Promising Return to Form for a Former Industry Heavyweight  

With a large booth showcasing their full range of cameras, lenses and accessories, Olympus came out in full force at last month’s CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging tech show.

In the center of it all was an aviary of sorts, home to spectacular ornithological subjects displaying splendidly colorful plumage. They strutted around as subjects for viewers to take test shots with provided sample cameras in the OMD range.

[RELATED]
• AkihabaraNews: Olympus
• [INTERVIEW] Sigma tells us about their new dp2 Quattro
• CP+ 2014 Day 1: The best in Camera and Photo Imaging Technology

Apart from being a birdwatchers paradise, it was easily the best sample shooting area of the entire show.

More at Akihabaranews.com

Including a hands on with the new OMD -EM-10, their new power zoom kit lens, hi-res versions of the pics above and some test footage using the new EM-10.

Well go on then! read the rest!

[INTERVIEW] Sigma tells us about their new dp2 Quattro (AkihabaraNews.com)

I contributed more to the mighty green pig:

Wild form factor for a very traditional albeit high tech tool.

Were there a ‘best of show’ award for cameras at this year’s CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging expo, the new dp2 Quattro from Sigma would definitely be a contender. It’s functional yet eye catching form definitely had heads turning and internet tongues wagging.

As Always... read the rest on AkihabaraNews.com

And watch the video too. It took me no small amount of time and effort to subtitle that thing.

and there are some juicy tidbits of info from sigma regarding their future in it. Don't say I don't do anything nice for you:p