Case Logic TBC-302 FFP Compact Camera Case (Black)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I recently purchased a Canon S90 to complement my 5DmkII on a safari in Tanzania. Throughout the trip I had the S90 on my belt for quick and easy access; the case isn't bulky and seemed to protect the camera well enough from the occasional knock as the land cruiser hit big bumps.



On my last day in Tanzania I was walking through the streets of Arusha when suddenly I felt a hard tug that almost spun me around. I turned to see a man starting to flee. I started off in pursuit--concerned more about the memory card than the camera itself--but after a few steps realized the camera was still at my side, only a slight rip in the strap indicating anything had happened.



Recommended as a sturdy carrying case with a reasonable amount of padding for impact protection (you won't want to drop it from very high or expose it to strong blows).



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Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS25 16.1 MP Compact Digital Camera with 20x Intelligent Zoom (Black)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I just got this camera in time for the first nice weather weekend on the East Coast and we went to NYC with the family for a nice day in Central Park.

I purchases a ZS10 2 years ago and skipped last year's model to buy the ZS25 this year.



It is a very fast camera from start up time to auto focus time and shutter release. I can't even tell the difference in speed compared to my DSLR (5 yrs old)



Lumix is known for superior lens quality - I read an article that they have a very close working relationship with Leica which speaks for itself. So I wasn't surprised at the image quality - even at max zoom. BTW keep in mind this is a 24 mm to 480 mm lens - meaning that 24 mm is a nice wide angle - comes in handy for indoor and nice group shots.



The reason I sound so exciting is the video capability of this camera. We went to a school concert the other night and I took some incredible videos of our little girl on stage. Just make sure you switch the recoding mode to MP4 - the default setting is on AVCHD the compression mode that no computer can read!

The videos I took were great - not too noisy even though it was real dark.



I am very pleased and feel this is a great little camera that is compact but gives you lots of shooting options.



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Dropcam Wi-Fi Wireless Video Monitoring Camera

CUSTOMER REVIEW



My review is focus on one aspect so as not to be too long, but still useful. **Please note the updates at the end**



The Dropcam is a very good, very easy to use device. Many of the top rated reviews here do an excellent job of listing the pros and cons. Also, the firmware has been updated since many of the negative reviews were posted, so there have been subtle improvements (not enough) with motion detection, and also the iOS and Android apps are now easy and great.



The best use case of this camera, by far, is indoor remote surveillance of a kids room, a family room, or a workplace.



Here's the real, overpowering negative about the device for me: it uses about 60GB of upload data capacity each month. The camera transmits its HD video feed to the DropCam cloud servers ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. The cloud service is what makes the user experience so easy, and what allows you to view your camera from multiple places, phones, tablets, all with just a userID and password. It's good in that you don't have to learn about firewalls, IP port forwarding and such just to make it work. But, that also means that it sends enormous amounts of video of a room with nothing at all happening in it. If your ISP has a quota or a limit to how much you can send per month, this camera WILL DEFINITELY USE A LARGE PORTION. In Canada and with some US ISPs, the limit is 50GB...i.e. less than this camera sends!



- Lots of ISPs offer a quota of 250GB, so this camera won't put most US customers over their limit. Just know that this will soak up a good portion of your allotment.

- Each additional camera will add to the bandwidth you use.

- Consider that you are also downloading the video feed from your ISP, so if you are in the same place as the camera viewing it, it doubles the bandwidth used. Yep, that's right, your video goes up to the cloud server, then back down to you.

- FYI, the upload rate is about 400-600 Kbps

- The camera does use excellent compression, so the HD video is as compact as it can be in 2012.

- If you have anything less than awesome Internet service, the camera will slow down your uploads of other stuff, like photos, attachments, etc. Upload speed is always much slower than download on consumer Internet service, and that's what this camera uses.



So, take this important point into consideration. It may still be a great product for you, but you need to know the costs. For me, I planned on using this at a lake house with slow Internet, so it doesn't work for me. I'll have to find another use for it.



****Update, September 2012

The camera has just received a software update that lets you switch between SD mode and HD mode. All DropCams that are turned on and connected to the Internet will get the update automatically. The standard definition mode uses half the bandwidth of the HD mode. Overall, there is a big improvement regarding the problem I cited in my original review. The update has other benefits in motion detection, etc.



As for me, the 30GB a month is still too much, so I will continue to use the available software switch to turn the camera on and off, and only enable it when I want to watch.



****Update, May 2014

Dropcam keeps on adding features that improve the camera. This is the upside of a cloud service. They can update features on the cloud, and then you get them, even on your older Dropcam. Lately, they've added ACTIVITY RECOGNITION, which is really great. This means that their servers storing your video can recognize certain patterns that tend to occur on your camera, and then distinguish those patterns going forward. An example would be a camera pointed at a front door with the street in the background. The Dropcam cloud might identify cars moving on the street as one activity, and a person walking up to the door as another, and a person walking away from the door as a third. You can then go into the web site, name the activities, and then set up alerts and search on each individual activity. Thus, you could quickly find all instances of somebody walking up to your door, or get a notification each time it happens. Or you could wonder "What time did the kids leave" and then filter only by people walking away from the door. Good stuff.



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