CASIO Excursion Tests New EXILIM EX-FR10 Action Cam & PRO-TREK Watch (AkihabaraNews.com)

♫
Media dudes are climbing a mountain.
Why are they climbing a mountain?
Media dudes are climbing a mountain.
Why are they climbing a mountain?

On Monday the 29th of September, CASIO held their first ever media retreat to give the who’s who of Japanese-language tech publications and a jumped-up hooligan from AkihabaraNews the lowdown on their new modular EXILIM EX-FR10 action camera and PRO-TREK PRW-3000 series watches. It was a two day affair in the northern Japanese Alps where we essentially got to hang out with the dudes and dudettes in charge of developing and marketing the aforementioned products, learn about the features, and shoot the shizzle with them, all in an environment that they envision the products mainly being used in. Of the 8 or 9 websites and magazines who were representing, ours was the only one that caters to an audience beyond these islands. Why any of the others would have passed on a trip like this is beyond me, because essentially it was an all-expenses-paid mountain vacation for camera nerds.

Read the rest at AkihabaraNews.com 

Got some really good photos in there too

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:

SCENE IN TOKYO: Touchscreen Vending Machine (AkihabaraNews.com)

I provided the video for this week's 'Scene in Tokyo'

Read the original post on AkihabaraNews for Some well written words on the subject by Reno Tibke.

The artisans behind mass production - Matsubara Reed Ltd. (JETRO)

Matsubara Reed is a company that makes metal reeds (read the article to find out what a metal reed is)

They didn't let me take photos sadly so no extras this time. I'll get to the articles with pics next week when I return from Nagano cos the internet here is not very good. 

The artisans behind mass production - Matsubara Reed Ltd.

Precision pieces crafted by hand

Unlike the items made with the reeds, the reeds themselves are all crafted by hand. It's a time-consuming and intricate process. Each piece needs to be perfectly finished and accurate to the smallest detail to ensure they meet the specific needs of the companies that rely on them.

Because there's no unified standard, each customer provides the density and measurements they require to Matsubara Reed who then designs each reed-assembled and finished by hand-to those exacting specifications. The jobs done by the craftsmen in the company are not particularly unique, but the intricate nature of the work means it can take up to ten years to truly master the process.

reed(笑) the rest...

REVIEW: Lightning Rabbit Premium Gadget Cables (AkihabaraNews.com)

Lightning Rabbits are cables. Some very nice cables. We reviewed them...err, commented on them. A 2000-word TL:DR expose on a gadget cable is a level of geekery to which we cannot rise, so comments suffice.

And so, read on for our impressions of this nice little accessory developed by LAT28 DESIGN:

• • •

What we Have Here Are: 
• Five-foot fabric-wound gadget cables that;
• connect USB power and data via;
• Apple Lightning; Apple 30-pin; or Micro USB;
• and have nice aluminum terminal covers and;
• come in three lovely colors.

We tested on an iPhone 5S, an iPhone 4S, an Android phone, 3-4 different cameras, and some other random gadgetry. Our test cables were the ‘Classy Silver’ colorway (orange and purple cables are also available).

Data transfer was never a problem, so herein we're really we're talking form, use, and value. So, to get the ball rolling...

Read the full story at AkihabaraNews.com

You get some of my witty commentary and a gallery of my photography (albeit of a cable) but hey published content is published content. No jokes though. If you must buy a cable, these are pretty good.

The Sound of (almost) Silence - Reviewing King Jim's MM-1000 Digital Earplugs

My latest review:

Back on one of our Untitled Tokyo Two Man Tech Shows, we discussed a product that a Japanese stationery and gadget company, King Jim, had just released. At the time we called them noise cancelling earphones and wondered how they would perform being that King Jim isn’t really a known purveyor of quality audio equipment. We have since spent some time with their MM-1000 Digital Noise-Cancelling Earplugs and can tell you a little more about them...

Read my full review at AkihabaraNews.com

I shot Ken Watanabe!

Okay so did every other press photographer at the NTT docomo summer launch... but I was there

 and I shot him! SO THERE! 

He was one of the celebrities who star in docomo's new commercials and he was there saying a bunch of positive stuff about docomo's phones that they payed him to say (as one does)

Though when he wasn't earning his paycheque, he didn't really seem like he wanted to be there.

I also shot Tori Matsuzaka, Maki Horikita and Satomi Ishihara.

Head over to Akihabaranews.com to find out more about the actual event, see all the other pics I took there and find out about docomo's phone and tablet lineup for 2014.

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.

Untitled Two-Man Tokyo Tech Show 05

Next Untitled Two-man Tokyo Tech Show is up. this time we checked out a Sony event in Ginza and I advocated throwing a science fraud under a tank.
 

as always blah blah click on this link too: AkihabaraNews.com

Honda’s New NM4 Concept Bike Straight out of Cyberpunk Anime (AkihabaraNews.com)

At the 30th annual Osaka Motorcycle Show on March 21 2014, Honda unveiled two preview concepts of their new NM4.

Honda's new concept bike looks like it’s straight out of a late 80s, early 90s vision of 2014, and they intend to put it into production. Yes. Get one in red, cover it in stickers, ride around Neo Tokyo being a delinquent. (‘Akira,’ anyone?) 

Read the rest at AkihabaraNews.com 

Untitled Two-Man Tokyo Tech Show - Episode 4 Nakano (AkihabaraNews.com)

original posting on AkihabaraNews.com

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

*untitled Two-Man Tokyo Tech Show - Episode 3 (AkihabaraNews.com)

The next *untitled Two Man Tokyo Tech Show is live. Check it out and make fun of us in the comments. Be sure to check out all the stuff we talk about on akihabaranews.com

The BORG at CP+ 2014 Camera and Photo Imaging Tech Show (AkihabaraNews.com)

Another one of my pieces for AkihabaraNews.com as always, if you dig, check it out at the source.

The iconic Star Trek villains did spring to mind upon seeing the name of this Takara Tomy owned optics company (who also made the original Transformers, JSYK). While these lenses won’t be trekking across the stars turning sentient beings into cybernetic organisms, they do have a connection to the stars: BORG makes telescopes. Initially, their foray into photography was simply to mount their astronomy glass to cameras so customers could capture what they saw with their existing camera equipment. Successes with that eventually led to developing lenses specifically for photography...

Read the rest on AkihabaraNews.com

Untitled Two-Man Tokyo Tech Show (AkihabaraNews.com)

Untitled Two-Man Tokyo Tech Show 
We're still kinda working on that title - suggestions are welcome! Episode 2 does shave about 8 minutes compared to our first outing in Akihabara, and it's still packed with dorky goodness. Both fortunately and sadly, the absence of our drunken friend, Mr. Kikuchi, was really the key to keeping Episode 2 manageably watchable in the time department.

This Week - Win an iPad Mini case!

Read more at AkihabaraNews.com

Darc comment:

Watch this yo! and give us some direction. We love doing this but we do it for you. Tell us what sort of tech you want us to focus on.

CP+ 2014 Day 1: The best in Camera and Photo Imaging Technology (AkihabaraNews.com)

CP+ 2014, or the Camera and Photo Imaging Show is currently being held over 4 days at the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Centre (Feb 13 -16).

As is spashed on the event website and proclaimed by our press kit, the event theme is:

“Joy and Beauty through Advance Photo Imaging Technology” [sic]

…and were it phrased as a question, the best answer would be YES! That’s right, All-CAPS yes.

To break it down, all the big (and many not so big) names in the Photo and Imaging industry are here with their latest products on show. AkihabaraNews has a good deal of in-depth coverage on the way, but the quick and dirty highlights run along the lines of:

Read the rest of the post on Akihabara News!

I 'm serious. It's a pretty good short piece, even if I say so myself :p go read it!
There is also a good deal more coming.

New Earphones.

My Klipsch S4is had succumbed to the gym. I replaced them with a set of Sony cheapies for the workout, but it still left a big hole in my audio world for when I needed to listen to tunes on the go. Having tried them at Dubai International on one of my layovers, I decided to get me a pair of Monster Turbine Pro Gold,

The klipschs were great ‘phones. But these are a whole new world…

And price bracket.

New Toy

I know it’s not the best lens in the catalogue and that you all have one lying around cos you got it with your kit… but I didn’t and with the release of the powerzoom model these now go for ¥7000 brand new on Yahoo Auctions. It’s practically free. Gives my landscapes and skies more width so I am pretty happy. Now we just need to see how the LUMIX GH3 performs before I decide whether I spend money on a dinosaur mirrorbox monstrosity or if I stay with the future of cameras (m4/3) and shell out for some Xseries lenses.