Thursday, January 28, 2016

Review of the MeFOTO SideKick 360+

An insurance plan is something nice to have. For example, you wouldn't want to be caught without a car insurance when, say, you hit another car. And when you get sick, a health insurance is a big, big help if you don't want to be strained financially with hospital bills and such.

However, if you are not using either, it seems as if you are just throwing money away. Well, think of it this way: the reason why you haven't been using your health insurance is because you are not getting sick and the reason why you haven't been using your car insurance is because you haven't been in an accident.

As the adage goes: it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

So, this is supposed to be a technology blog so why am I writing about insurance?!?


Well, it's because of the iPhone 6s+. I love the phone, I love the size, I love every millimeter of it. The downside: the MeFOTO 360 that I was using for the iPhone 5s doesn't fit the bigger phone anymore. (I reviewed the 360 here.)

So, I looked for a tripod clam for the iPhone 6s+. One of the downsides of living in the Philippines is that not all brands are available here, or, the brand may be here but not all of the models they are selling are available. I am a big fan of MeFOTO, and they have tripods here, but the clamp that will fit the 6s+ is not available.

So I looked for something else, some other brand.

It turns out, at that time, there wasn't any other brands that were familiar to me that carry clamps big enough for the 6s+. There are other brands, mostly unknown, that one can use to clamp the phone, but I didn't trust them. They seem flimsy and I feel they will break at the first instant that I use them... (Well, I am exaggerating: they'll break after three uses...)

And this is where the insurance idea enters...

So, you spent several hundred dollars (several 10-thousand pesos) on a phone then you will spend less than $10 U.S. dollars (about 500 Philippine pesos) on a clamp?!? That doesn't make sense to me...

So I didn't give in. I didn't buy the cheap clamps. What I did was buy the MeFOTO Sidekick 360+ on Amazon. And I didn't look back.


This time around, I got the white version to differentiate it from the Sidekick 360. The finish of the 360+, the white one, is different from the orange one. Whereas the orange 360 has a metallic, rough finish, the white 360+ has a glossy finish. But the quality of the clamp is still very good. Construction is superb, the knobs turn easily.


You can still configure the clamp and use it as a phone stand, either in a portrait orientation for reading ebooks or in a landscape orientation when you're watching movies.



But, this is, for me, where the 360+ shines the most (and is also true for the 360): when it is used for iPhone photography. The base of the 360+ is ArcaSwiss compatible and you can simply attach it to a tripod that has the same head. You don't need adapters anymore if you want to use your tripod and your phone to take pictures or to shoot videos.


And yes, you can now be included in the photos when you want to shoot "groupies". And your selfies will also be improved because, instead of using the lower-quality front camera, you will be able to use the much, much better rear camera of the phone. Just don't forget to set the camera on timer mode.


So, is the MeFOTO Sidekick 360+ worth it? Definitely. With this accessory, I won't have to worry that the clamp will suddenly break down while I'm using it. As much as possible, I don't want my phone's date with concrete a possibility.

The MeFOTO Sidekick 360+ is Highly Recommended!


I just wish MeFOTO will start selling them here...

Photos shot with an iPhone 6+ using the iOS apps Visco and Hipstamatic.




Thursday, January 14, 2016

The Canon Philippines New Year Event at the Bonifacio High Street

The Canon Event was held at Single Origins, a third wave coffee shop in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) High Street.




It was held so that the company can re-connect with the press and for the company to showcase their new products.




The following cameras were on display:

- Canon Eos M3, the Company's entry to the mirrorless, interchangeable-lens camera system


- Canon Eos M10, the stripped-down version of the M3 


- Canon Powershot G9x 


- Canon Powershot G5x, a retro-styled advanced compact and the one which got the most of my attention :)


- Canon Powershot G3x, an advanced fixed-lens camera with 25x zoom (yes, 25x zoom!!!)


Also on display was the Canon Pixma G3000 printer, a model that offers high volume printing using a low-cost, refillable ink cartridges.


Several speakers from Canon also highlighted, among the other things, their new product, Canon Cloud Computing.

Lim Kok Hin, President and CEO, Canon Marketing Philippines:


Pauline Estrada, Corporate Communications Officer:


Jojo Bolima, senior director for Business Imaging Solutions:


Vinchy Sanchez, director for Consumer Group Division:


Armi Liu, assistant director for Professional Print Production of Business Imaging Solutions division:


Roseann Co, Senior Supervisor, Corporate Communications:


Before the event wrapped up, business cards were drawn to determine the winners for a portable printer and a Canon Eos M10. Too bad I wasn't lucky enough to have my card drawn. :(

But all in all, it was a very nice event. I love the Canon brand and being with people from the company, and people who also have love for the brand, made me feel right at home.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee, plus the smell of gadgets, made for one interesting morning.

More photos from the event:








All photos shot with a Canon DSLR of course! :)

Labels

Photography Chicago There's Always A Shot Review Philippines Gadgets Outdoor Photography Accesories Metro Manila Street Photography Events Photography Inspiration Photo Journalism Summer Photography Advice Travel Winter Accessories Photography How-to Portraiture The Wife Apple Autumn Shot A Million Times iPhone Video Review Product Review Holidays Long Exposure Spring Architecture Princeton iPhone Accessories Inspiration Taguig Art Indoor Music iPod Canon Cameras Event Fireworks Photography Technique Photojournalism How-to Museum Product Photography Books Fine Art Fitness Health Personal iPhone photography Flowers Fujifilm Panorama iPhone Photo Blue Hour #MoreFunInThePhilippines Food Photography Landscapes Lenses Filipino Fujinon Launch Mac Shoes Sony California HDR Japan Makati City Musings Navy Pier Night Photography Photoshop Science iPad Android BGC Bags Blog Contest Family Fashion Fitbit Friends Internet Motion Blur Non-iPhone phone Road Trip Running Sunset USA iPad Accessories iPhone Apps Animated GIF Apple Accessories Battery Bluetooth Cebu Cycling Dance Earphones Food Garmin GoPro Gym Home Luzon Macro Natural Light Photography Outdoor Run Pageantry Parade Quantified Self Quezon City Smartphone Sports Tabletop Photography Time Lapse Video Videography Workout iOS 4K Advice Anime Animé App Review Apple Watch Architectures Asia Athletics Beach City Scape Cosplay Dining Drop-proof case Duathlon Editorial Emotion Flower Globe GoProMax HD Halloween Holy Sites Home Theater Hyperlapse Joby Laptop Accessories Learning Long Zoom Love Lowepro MacBook Manga Manila Milky Way Mind Museum Minnesota Mobile Phone Mobile Phone Photography Movies North Luzon Orange PSHS Pasay City People Photography Event Post-Processing Power Rain Requests SM MoA Samsung Satire Sound Speakers TPLEX Tagaytay Tanay Televisions Temples There is always a shot Walking Workshop iPhone Case iPhone Xs Max

Comment Guidelines

Keep all comments relevant to the original post. Do not post comments which contain profanity, hate speeches or solicitations of any kind. Posting comments to this blog constitutes your agreement to adhere to these guidelines.