Last January 20, 2017, at the very cozy restaurant Marmalade Kitchen in Bonifacio Global City, Sony launched its latest flagship APS-C mirrorless camera: the α6500.
The α6500 has the following specifications:
it shoots 24 megapixel stills
does 4K video shoots
425 focus points
shoots at 11 frames per second
307 buffer images
in-body 5-axis image stabilization
a touch screen
an electronic view finder
has wifi, bluetooth and NFC antennas
among other things.
To demo the camera, Sony Philippines treated the attendees to the cooking of Chef Portia Baluyut of Rustic Mornings. And while she cooks, Food and Lifestyle photographer Gabby Cantero demonstrated what the α6500 can do. She shot stills and videos and she even made a short demo on the way she does food photography.
The Sony α6500 starts at 82, 000 Philippine Pesos, body only.
The photos were made with the Canon G7x Mark II. You can find my review of that camera here!
Photos edited on an iPad using the iOS app VSCO
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Last January 19, 2017, at the newly-opened BGC Art Center, Canon Philippines celebrated its 20th anniversary in the country. On hand were people from the press, independent bloggers, and of course, people from Canon and Ogilvy.
It was such a lovely event, highlighted by the remarks from Lim Kok Hin, president of Canon Marketing Philippines. In his speech, Mr. Lim Kok Hin highlighted the company’s commitment to making great products and more and direct interactions between the Canon and its consumers.
Also highlighted were the new Canon products like the Canon Powershot G9x Mark II, the Powershot SX430 IS, and the Pixma Ink Efficient G4000 with wifi and fax, among others.
It was a lovely event and it is always a lovely affair to meet with some of my favorite people from Canon and Ogilvy as well as my fellow bloggers and friends in the media.
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The photos made with the Canon G7x Mark II. You can find my review of that camera here!
Whenever I buy a new pair of shoes, my first category is always style. (Yes, the wife always laughs at me because of this. For her, the first category should be comfort…) But anyway, the second category is comfort. There really is no point getting a pair of shoes which you will not wear because you don’t like the way it looks, nor is there any point in getting a beautiful pair of shoes which hurt your feet no end.
So, I am happy to find one of the perfect combination of form and comfort in the New Balance 300 Deconstructed. It is a very nice pair of shoes for walking around the city, or spending a casual night out.
Highly Recommended!
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Photos made with the Canon G7x Mark II. You can find my review of Canon G7x Mark II camera here!
I don't like putting stuff in my jeans pockets. And I don't like hanging keys and whatnot on the belt loop of my pants, something that a lot of people tend to do - I don't want those things jingling when I walk!
That is the reason why I used to use cargo pants and shorts and belt bags on a daily basis.
Much to the wife's disappointment...
But there are a couple of things I really, really like:
Color orange aside, this is a low-profile bag. It's a cross-type body bag, and it's big enough to handle most of the things I could've put in my cargo pant's pockets but small enough to be really manageable even in tight spaces. I can put inside a battery pack, a couple of lightning cables, a point and shoot camera, two Olloclip lenses (wide+fisheye and wide+telephoto), my wallet, an iPhone 5s and an iPhone 6s+. Those are actually a lot! (I have now replaced my iPhone 5s with the newer iPhone 7.)
Imagine putting all of those in your jeans pockets (or even a pair of cargo pants). If you ever attempted it, you better make sure that you have a sturdy belt. Because, otherwise, one wrong move and you will be flashing people with your, ahem, undies...
There is a pocket inside that is supposed to protect your cards from card snoopers, an RFID-safe pocket, but, if you want to protect your cards and passport, they should not be in a wallet because the compartment is very small. Pacsafe could have made this bigger...
And speaking of tight spaces, Pacsafe prides itself by being, well, safe. There is a wire mesh running around the bag underneath the outer cloth of the bag and this will prevent people from slashing your bag and getting your valuables contained in it. There is also a couple of thick wires in the strap so people would need actual wire cutters to pry the bag from your body. And lastly, there are zipper locks that will take some effort to remove, so snatchers won't be able to easily open the zipper of your bag when you're not looking.
All-in-all, these are great theft deterrents when you are in a crowded place.
With all the safety features, great design and beautiful color, the Pacsafe VentureSafe 150 GII is Highly Recommended!
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I'll be honest. I am an iOS user and am a big fan of Apple.
Most things Apple.
So, it seemed unimaginable for me to use, much less like, Samsung branded smartphones. But that's exactly what happened when I used the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime for the first time.
First, the basics.
It is a smartphone that has a 5.5-inch display. It has 3 GB of RAM and it has a 13-megapixel main and 8-megapixel selfie cameras. It has 16GB of internal storage though storage can be expanded using a micro-SD card. It runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and it has a huge battery rated at 3300mAh. It has full HD resolution display and the phone comes in either gold or black. The one I am reviewing is the gold version. It has wifi, bluetooth, GPS and dual SIM trays. Surprisingly, though, it does not have NFC. There's a headphone jack, of course. It can connect to cellular connections via GSM/CDMA, 3G and 4G/LTE.
The build quality, as can be expected of most phones in this day and age, is great. It has a brushed metal construction and the glass front seems to wrap around the edges. This makes the phone feel smaller than the iPhone 6s+ though both have the same screen size. It feels good in the hand and, in some cases, one-handed operation can be achieved. It has a fingerprint sensor located at the front home button.
So how did it feel like using the phone?
Well, the phone is really snappy. I deliberately opened a lot of apps and, despite having 15 or so apps running in the background, the phone did not suffer any significant slow downs. The fingerprint sensor is very responsive, even more responsive than the one that is in the iPhone 6s+, especially when my fingers got sweaty when I work out. I am just wondering, though, why there are only three slots for fingerprints. For me, the minimum number should be four: two thumbs and two forefingers... Anyway, I was surprised to find out that I really didn't have to press the home button for the J7 Prime to begin unlocking the phone. I just need to rest my thumb on the home buttons and the phone will unlock it.
As an iPhone user, it took me some time to get used to the buttons at the base of the phone. Normally, with the iPhone, I rest my thumb on the right or left side of the home button. However, as there are buttons beside the home button on the J7 Prime, I almost always invoked the "Back" and "Multitasking" buttons on it. It took me a couple of days or so to get used to it and now, I actually miss it on my iPhone...
But of course, smartphones are smart simply because of the apps available to it. There are stock apps made by Samsung itself, like its own calendar, mail, web browser, etc. However, I just used the ones provided by Google as my main drivers for all of my Google-related subscriptions. I can say I am fairly happy with it. But of course, I downloaded other non-Google made apps also, like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. And these apps are as functional as their iOS counterparts, though it feels as if the apps equivalent on iOS are more mature. Also, I miss other apps that are made exclusively for the iPhone, like Tweetbot and Hipstamatic. But these base apps are of course all great. (Snapseed, the one made by Google, is of course a great photo editing app also.)
So, as far as social media is concerned, the Google Play Store has you covered. And of course, there is also the Galaxy App Store where you can buy apps also. The Samsung App store even has some apps that are exclusive to Galaxy users.
The sound produced by the J7 is very nice when used with a decent pair of earphones. And yes, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack here. The loudspeaker of the phone is loud enough, though it is not as loud as the one on the iPhone 6s+. Also, the sound produced by this speaker is on the tiny side and mids and highs tend to be muffled.
And, because I am primarily a photographer, I used the camera on this phone extensively. It shoots Full HD 1080p movies, though there is no 4K video capture. But what is more surprising for me is the exclusion of slow motion and time lapse, a couple of things that I really, really like and look for in cameras that I use, whether cameraphones or actual cameras... For stills however, this camera has a lot of gimmicks for potential users. There is Panorama, HDR, and "Beauty", to name a few. Yes, "Beauty". In this mode, the phone smoothens out whatever wrinkles you may have on you. I tried it out, and, well... Don’t use it extensively. The “smoothened” out portion of your face might have some artifacts from whatever software ninja the phone did. Just look at the change in color on my right cheek on the photo below...
There is also a "Pro" mode in the camera app and with this switched on, you can actually control the cameras exposure compensation, ISO value and white balance. However, you cannot control the aperture priority nor the shutter speed for each shot.
Images come out nice. Photos in brightly-lit conditions come out nicely, though the phone cannot really handle scenes with high dynamic range: details are lost in the dark portions of the pictures. Photos that come out straight from the camera are punchier as compared to the ones produced by the iPhone 6s+ when taken from amply lit rooms, like in a restaurant. That is, the photos produced by the J7 Prime are more saturated. I like it. However, under bright sunlight, photos come out washed out.
Also, photos produced by the J7 Prime have a warmer tone to them, compared to the iPhone 6s+.
My gripe with the camera however, is that it is slow to focus. The focusing speed of this phone pales in comparison to that of the iPhone 6s+. What’s more, you can set the focus point of the shot before you actually push the shutter release button. But, when you do press that button, the camera will refocus and there is even a chance that the camera will focus on something else. I was hoping that the camera of this smartphone would have fared better… The other smartphone that I am reviewing, the Huawei P9 focuses faster than the J7 Prime.
All in all, the camera in the J7 Prime will serve many people well and only really discerning photographers will be able to tell its shortcomings. And anyway, when you let Instagram process the photos, things will actually even out. It will be up to your preferences how you want your own photos to look.
As a final note, the camera has no optical image stabilization, so that's another thing you have to consider when you make photos in low light conditions. The f/1.9 maximum aperture will be a big help but you can only take this so far when the amount of ambient light go down. And of course, when the light decreases, the amount of noise in your photos increases. So, in low-light conditions, proceed with caution... Sample video can be found here:
Anyway, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually enjoyed my time reviewing the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime (though that name is really a mouthful...). It is really a very capable phone and it is a nice entry to the world of Android (if you are an iOS user). I had a great time using it and I am a little sad that I have to return it.
The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is Highly Recommended.
Photos shot with an iPhone 6+ using the iOS app Hipstamatic
The Fitbit Charge HR is the best selling fitness tracker of 2015. So, it is only apropos that Fitbit discontinued that line by replacing it with something so much better:
The Charge 2 seems like the offspring of the aforementioned HR and the Fitbit Alta. The Charge 2 combines the width, the heart rate sensor and the band style of the Charge HR with the OLED display of the Alta and its jewelry-like appearance.
Just like the Alta, the Charge 2 is being sold not only as a fitness band but as a jewelry accessory also. It has removable bands, so you are not stuck to the band that came with the unit. Fitbit also offers bands that are made up of leather, though I don't think it is a good idea to use the leather band when you are working out... The leather is supposed to go with your dress or your tux.
And for me, the Fitbit Charge 2 succeeds in doing that - to be a fashion accessory rather than an obvious fitness tracker. For me, the glossy appearance of the display makes it feel like its a jewelry-like accessory. I just wish that all Charge 2 came in the all-black, gun-metal look. For me, the silver metal on the side of the display causes a distraction to the over-all look and feel of the device. However, despite this, and because of its form factor, I consider the Charge 2 as a bracelet, rather than a watch or a fitness tracker. So, I don't mind pairing it with my G-Shock watch, if ever I had a desire to wear that proper watch.
As I have said, the band of the Charge 2 is user-replaceable. So that means, you can wash the band after so many sweaty work-out sessions. Note though that if you decided to wash the band, you should detach it from the Charge 2 body as it is not water-proof. The Charge 2 is only sweat, splash and rain-proof. It's a pity that Fitbit did not make the Charge 2 waterproof. I don't swim for fitness reasons, but I have sometimes been caught in the rain while jogging and, every time, I feel that the Charge 2 is gonna die on me. But thank goodness it has not happened. Yet, I hope that the Charge 3, or whatever Fitbit will call the next version is already waterproof.
The Charge 2 is a complete fitness tracker and can give most fitness trackers a run for the money, including the more expensive ones. It tracks exercises automatically: if you spend 15 minutes or more of continuous activity, Fitbit will be able to properly guess what you are doing for you. As an example, I had forgotten to set my treadmill run several times already, but when I sync my Charge 2 to my iPhone, the Fitbit app already said that what I did was run on a “treadmill“. If you are not happy with the app's classification, you can change it after the fact. You have several choices on the type of activity, like biking, interval workout, yoga, pilates, basketball, etc.
And speaking of interval training, you can set the Charge 2 to give you cues when you want to change paces between fast phase and rest phase. Say you set your interval workout to be a sequence of 3 minutes of sprint and 5 minutes of slow jog. Once the 3 minute sprint is up, the Charge 2 will vibrate and you can then slow down to a moderate pace. Then, the Charge 2 will vibrate again once the 5 minute rest period is over.
The Charge 2 doesn't have a built-in GPS antenna, but it can piggy-back on the GPS antenna of your mobile phone. I tried walking with this feature on and my pace and distance travelled were fairly precise. However, by looking at the map, it seems I was able to jump over buildings in a single bound... However, that is the phone's GPS's fault, and not that of the Charge 2.
The heart rate sensor of the Charge 2 is heaven sent. With it, I can tell at what heart rate zone my heart is. From normal, to fat burn, to cardio and to peak. Peak is what all of us should attain. This is the heart rate zone that will really improve your fitness level. If you constantly reach this zone, then you will have a healthier heart in general. And comparing the heart rate measurement of the Charge 2 with that of the heart rate sensor on the machines in the gym, my iPhone and a dedicated BP monitor, I can say that the heart rate measurement of the Charge 2 is really precise.
The Fitbit Charge 2 can also determine your VO2 Max number. With this number, you will be able to find out your fitness level compared to other people of the same age group. I am happy to say that my fitness level is between very good and excellent...
I love my Fitbit Charge 2! :)
The Charge 2 can also measure the quality of your sleep and you don't have to set it before going to sleep. Based on your lesser movements and lowered heart rate, Fitbit will know that you are already sleeping. [On a side note, my other Fitbit tracker, the Surge, thought I was asleep when I watched Batman Vs Superman... Just saying…] When you sync the tracker to the app when you wake up, you will be able to determine the quality of your sleep and your resting heart rate. For almost a year now, I am happy to say that, since I first wore a Fitbit wrist tracker with a heart rate sensor, my resting heart rate has gone down by 5 points. However, I have a friend in the Philippine Navy whose heart rate is 17 points lower than mine! I don't know if I will be able to catch that...
The Charge 2 can also measure your floors climbed, something that the Apple Watch Series 2 can't even do. That fact, that the Apple Watch can't measure floors climbed is really baffling for me. Even my very first Fitbit, the One, which I had in 2014, can measure floors climbed! The Charge 2 can also remind you to stand and walk for three minutes (or 250 steps) per hour if you have been sedimentary. This is a very nice reminder though I think I have only achieved getting 10-three minute hourly activity for one day…
I have heard this somewhere: sitting is the new smoking... So the Charge 2 can, in principle, prevent us from being stuck in our desks and couches.
There is also a new "Relax" app within the Charge 2. With this, the tracker can tell you to breathe, hold your breath and breathe out. It's a new mindfulness activity that seems to be in vogue at the moment. The watchOS 3 in the Apple Watch also has this. I don't, however, use this much because I feel I am not "chill" enough... The wife, who actually practices Zen meditations, will actually benefit more from this.
And of course, all of these stats are combined beautifully in the Fitbit app. Actually, your data from the tracker is essentially useless if you don't use the app. With the app, you can see your progress and your past achievements. Fitbit has one of the best, if not the best, and most comprehensive app among fitness tracker makers and the stats captured by the Charge 2 is beautifully displayed, stored and summarized in its fitness app.
The Charge 2, when paired with your smart phone, can alert you to incoming calls, text messages and calendar events. However, the display is not big enough to make the notifications meaningful, so I just turn the thing off. It can do in a pinch though you should not expect much from the 1.5-inch display.
The battery life of the Charge 2, according to Fitbit is five days. I can almost get that value though by the end of the fifth day, the Charge 2 is practically begging me to put it in the charger. And speaking of chargers, this is one thing that I am absolutely not thrilled with Fitbit. Each tracker has its own proprietary charger. I love the iPhone and the iPad but I hate the fact that the charging cable that I have to use for them is not a common standard, like USB 3.0. Well, Fitbit is worse... The chargers used for the One, the Surge, and the Charge 2 are all different! Even the charger for the Charge 2 and the Charge HR are not the same! So, if you are upgrading from an HR to the 2 and you thought that you can use the same charger... Well, no... At least for the iPhone and the iPad, I only need to use the one charging cable.
All-in-all, the Fitbit Charge 2 is a winner and is what most people will need if they want to enter the world of fitness trackers. It is more capable than a lot of trackers in the same line and it can even give more advanced, more expensive trackers a run for their money. If you want to start using a fitness tracker, get the Charge 2. If you're Charge HR is already failing - its battery, its band - then get the Charge 2. If you want to complement your Apple Watch, which cannot really measure the quality of your sleep, get a Charge 2.
The Fitbit Charge 2 is Highly Recommended!
Photos shot with an iPhone 6+ using the iOS app Hipstamatic
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