Olympus E-P1 top view.

First Impressions

From the moment that I took this camera out of the box, I was impressed. The build quality is fantastic (lots of metal) and the styling is spot on. It’s the small manual digital camera that I have always wanted, and it has a big sensor which is icing on the cake. Like most people, I thought that I was going to miss the viewfinder, and that has not been the case. The LCD is bright, and easy to compose with, and its a breeze to manual focus with as well.

Subsequent to purchasing the E-P1, I found out that the Four-Thirds and the micro Four-Thirds mount used by the PEN are the most adaptable mounts on the market. I have since purchased and been busy playing with my Pentax K-mount to m4/3 mount adaptor, and its a lot of fun.

Usage

The PEN is really easy to use, thanks to the smart button layout, and the dual control wheels for aperture and shutter speed. The menu system is intuitive and easy to use while shooting.

Auto-focus is significantly improved thanks to the latest firmware update, and even before the update, AF was better than most big Internet camera reviewers would lead you to believe.

Olympus E-P1 rear

While the LCD is good, it could be a lot better, but I think Olympus put a lower-resolution LCD in the PEN to help with battery life, and for what I use the PEN for, its fine for my shooting needs.

The nice thing about only having an LCD for composition, is it allows you to use some angles that you wouldn’t otherwise consider using. I can put the PEN right on the ground, compose and shoot without having to lay in the dir to get a shot.

The 14-42 Kit Lens

The kit lens surprised me. It was sharper than I thought it would be, and it has some pretty nice bokeh. Its such a compact lens, its easy to under estimate its abilities.

Dandelion Head, taken with 14-42mm kit lens

I do however feel that Olympus should be selling the E-P1 with a 25mm 1.4 lens, (50mm equiv). I think the PEN would really excel and impress with a nice fast normal prime. Panasonic does make a 20mm 1.7, and Olympus does make a 17mm f2.8 (34mm equiv). I plan to try both at some point (hopefully) and purchase one of them for my daily camera carrying needs.

E-P1 with 14-42 Kit Lens

Image Quality

If you are going to buy a digital camera without an on-board flash, its going to need some decent low-light capabilities, and the PEN does really well for a smaller than APS-C sensor up to ISO 1600. If needed, you can increase the ISO to 3200, and 6400 ISO, the images are noisy, but still usable. The noise in the high ISO images from the PEN is actually quite pleasing, it has an almost film-like quality, which works well when converted to black and white.

Its 12mp I feel is just about perfect, the images are a bit smaller than the .DNG raw files out of my K20D, so its nice to save on some space where I can.

Conclusion

If you are considering a PEN, you won’t be disappointed. I think its a great camera to help a beginner learn composition, as its allows you a bit more freedom to compose. Its also a bit easier to adjust exposure in manual mode, which will take some of the fear away from new manual mode shooters.

After three weeks, I’m very happy with mine. It has made photography fun, and its a great source of inspiration. In the short time that I have had my PEN, I find that I am making better photographs, and trying new angles that I would have never tried before.

Happy shooting.

First off, the first thing you notice with the Kindle is just how nice the screen is. Amazon designed the kindle so that it would disappear in your hands as you are readying and that is certainly true. The screen is clear, crisp, and renders detail in photos exceptionally well considering it only has 16 shades of gray to work with.

Whisper net seems to deliver books as fast as I would expect it to, purchasing a book from amazon.com on my computer, then turning to my kindle a few minutes later and the book was showing in my list already. Wireless delivery is very handy as I don’t have to search for the USB cable and copy the books manually.

Starting with Version 2.3, the Kindle now supports native PDF reading without the need to convert. There is a catch however, and that is you cannot zoom the text. Most of the PDF files that I read are formatted to fit an 8.5×11″ sheet of paper, not a 6″ screen. You can rotate the PDF and hold your Kindle horizontally, but this only goes so far, as some PDF authors seem to be using 6 and 8 point font as standard text. The solution is to use an application such as “Calibre” (http://calibre-ebook.com/) which is free. Once I converted my PDF files to .mobi, I can zoom the text and read them comfortably.

Compared to the US Wireless version, web surfing is disabled, with the exception of access to Wikipedia. Given the greyscale screen, this was not a deal breaker for me, and I do enjoy getting free, 3G wireless access to wikipedia.

I wish I didn’t have to purchase the leather case/cover seperately, this I feel should have been included with the Kindle, as I would say some sort of case is a requirement to protect the unit. The leather cover is really nice and worth the extra $30 USD.

All in all, I am very happy with my Kindle 2. I was torn between the Kindle and the Sony PRS-505, but I am glad that I went with the kindle. 2GB of internal storage is a lot of storage, and once I have read a book I see no need to keep it in the device unless it is reference material.

If your in the market for an e-reader, I’d recommend the kindle.

iPod/iPhone control in the stereo deck is a much safer way to control how you listen to music in the car. When I get in, I place the phone in my center console, connect the USB cable and off I go. Unless my phone rings, I don’t have to touch the device at all. When the phone does ring, it fades out the music/podcast/whatever and pauses the playback while you are on the call. This has the added benefit of allowing me to actually hear my phone ring while listening to loud music.

Sound quality is excellent with the stock speakers in my car, and the difference in dynamic range over the stock head unit was astounding. I’m not a huge audiophile, but I tend to be a stickler for audio quality. I was pleasently surprised at how good it sounded, and very happy that I didn’t need to spend any additional dollars to upgrade my speakers.

The JVC KD-R600 also has the ability to change the color of the display, including 30 pre-set colors, and the ability to change the color using the jog dial to one of 30,000 options. I haven’t played with the custom colors yet, I’ve set mine to the dark blue to match the interior dash of my car.

I have noticed a couple of minor issues, and they are mostly iPhone related, but its worth mentioning. I notice that my iPhone seems to crash and reboot about once every week or two, I notice it mainly in the car as thats where I use it the most, but I have noticed my phone rebooting while I was watching TV, so I’m not going to blame my JVC KD-R600 just yet. Podcast playback suffers from an annoying quirk, it doesn’t seem to list the episodes in the order in which they should be played back, so if I happen to fall behind, then I have to try and figure out which episode to play manually. I’ve noticed this while using the iPhone via the Aux connector as well, so its not a JVC issue, its just tedious via the jog dial control. Podcasts with chapters tend to to start the chapter over again if you pause, disconnect, and then re-connect and hit play later, this appears to be related to how the JVC detects the chapters, so this issue falls under the KD-R600.

For about $160 Canadian, I’d recommend the JVC KD-R600 to any iPhone or iPod users out there as a great way to charge and use your iPod/iPhone safely while driving.Useful Gear, JVC KD-R600 mini review

Two posts ago, I was talking about the virtues of my new Rogers HTC Dream phone, and while it was good, and I was enamoured with the 3G speeds after using an EDGE BlackBerry. After about a month of usage, I found my self avoiding using it. I tried to love Google’s Android OS, and despite its charm and open stature, I found it lacking.

It was slow, the keyboard was awkward, and everything aside from Calendars, Mail, and Contacts required manual synchronizing. The lack of a notepad application by default was also very annoying.

Enter my new 16GB iPhone 3GS. Its fast, light, intuitive, and now eliminates my iPod touch, which makes it one less device to stuff into my pocket. I was also shocked at just how fast I am with its keyboard. I’d estimate that I am about twice as fast on my iPhone as I was on my blackberry, and about three times as fast as my HTC. Thats a pretty big statement, the HTC and blackberry both have physical keyboards, which means that tactile feedback isn’t everything for touch typists such as myself.

I’m glad I made the switch to iPhone, my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. Now this may not be forever, since I was late to upgrade, I’ll have access to the HTC Dream for a while, and in the future, I may go back. But for now, I love my iPhone.

Rogers White HTC Dream

Android, Google’s Open Source OS for smart phones has finally come to Canada in the form of the HTC Dream (T-mobile G1 in the USA). Roger’s Android phone features some changes from the default Android 1.5 (Cupcake) OS that makes it unique to Canada, most notably, built in support for ActiveSync, allowing you to get push email from a Microsoft Exchange server.

There are some caveants, the most important being, if you want to use your Rogers HTC Dream with an Exchange Server, it must be running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 applied. In our testing, we discovered that HTC has formatted their https commands differently than the iPhone, and other ActiveSync devices causing a “Sync Protocol Error” to be displayed on the phone.

Overall, I quite like the device, and I am quite fond of its ability to run an SSH client full screen, and allowing me to use the 5 line qwerty keyboard to control servers and routers that I need access to remotely.  Web browsing is also nice and fast thanks to built in HSPA 3.5G support (7.2Mbps download, 2Mbps upload).  The built in mail client is very similar in operation to the Apple mail client that comes with the iPod touch, and iPhone.  I really like the built in Calendar’s ability to sync with Google Calendar, as well as exchange, showing the events in both calendars in different colors. This allows me to keep my personal calendar separate from my work calendar.

As expected, all of the Google apps really shine on Android, Maps, Talk, Youtube and Mail all work seamlessly with Google, and are activated with the very first setup screen when the phone is started up for the first time.

The Rogers version of the HTC Dream comes with a 2GB micro SD card already installed in the phone.

So far, I’ve only had the phone for 6 days, I’ll be posting a more detailed post on the phone after I’ve had a chance to use it for work for a month.

Post a comment if you have a question that you’d like me to answer.

I’ve had a couple of small hiccups with the integrated intel video and my widescreen monitor, but this is nothing new. A quick installation of ’915resolution’ and I was up and running in widescreen once again. The built in Intel graphics work very will with the integrated compiz fusion graphic features enabled by default. Hardy Heron exibits a level of polish that is on par with OSX. The extra graphical features are not of the gee-whiz variety, like OSX, they provide a pleasing and integrated level of animation into the desktop.

Aside from being an LTS (long term support) release, 8.04 boasts several updated packages and enhancements including:

• GNOME 2.22
• Firefox 3 beta
• Pulse Audio
• Policy Kit
• Transmission
• Brasero
• KVM (virtualization) now integrated into Kernel 2.6.24
• iSCSI Support
• Active Directory Integration
• Memory Protection
• Wubi
• Xorg 7.3

You can read more about these new features, and try the Beta out for your self by visiting the realse info page.

I’m very excited about seeing what the final release will look like once its available on April 24th.

Using the set of Alkaline batteries included with the camera I was able to take approximately 90 shots with about 60-75% flash usage.

I also picked up two sets of 4 Energizer Lithium Ion single use batteries. I plan to keep these as the emergency set in my camera bag. I expect this set to perform close to, or exceed the anticipated number of shots in the manual. If I were to take a long trip, I would also consider picking up a set or two of CRV-3 Lithium batteries as these are supposed to yield 1000 – 1100 shots.

Since they were readily available, I picked up some Energizer 2500mAh NiHM Batteries and a charger. So far, these batteries have worked well for my needs. Typical charge time is about 8.5 hours with the supplied charger. The first two charges were yielded very few pictures, but it looks like the third charge is the sweet spot. I have four sets of the Energizer NiHM’s and all three have taken about three charges to achieve normal usage. Some sets have not been charged beyond the third charge as I am still working my way through them (There have not been too many sunny weekends where I live so far).

To sum things up, the Energizer sets appear to be working quite well. These batteries are affordable, and easily available. The average cost for a set of these batteries ranges from $14 – $20 Canadian, which is comparable to a set of single use Energizer Lithium AA’s. Time will ultimately tell how reliable these batteries are, but so far, I don’t have too much to loose. It should be noted that re-chargeable Lithium ION batteries are not recommended for use in the Pentax K100D Super, the manual claims that this is due to the voltage characteristics of these batteries. In normal use, I don’t find the limitations of NiHM AA battery technology to be a problem, so far I have not needed to break out my emergency set of single use lithium’s, and I don’t expect to any time soon.

If you have been disappointed with the Energizer, Duracell, or other readily available batteries, I would look at trying a set of Sanyo Eneloops, which are available at Costco (last time I checked). These batteries come highly recommended from many forums and photography groups around the Internet. I plan to try a set of these batteries sometime soon.

I origionally switched to Linux over 10 years ago because my modest hardware could not keep up with Windows, and I was rewarded with a reliable, stable, and responive system. Fast forward 8 years and I am now a very satisfied Ubuntu user, however, I have never been a fan of desktop enviroments such as GNOME and KDE. I normaly prefere something very light weight such as WindowMaker.However, I found a way to keep a “mostly default” Ubuntu install with a light weight desktop. I had used Xfce a couple of years ago while experimenting with Redhat 8,9 and Fedora, and I quite enjoyed it.

Xubuntu delivers a light weight desktop on Ubuntu, prefering light weight applications, and also utilizing ubuntu repositories. Ubuntu is nice, and works very well, but I just don’t like GNOME, or its heavy memory usage. I’m also cheap, and I do not like spending a lot of money on hardware. Requiring less than 192Mb of RAM, Xubuntu is now running on my main desktop, laptop, and office desktop. Its also running on my backup home workstation.

So if you are finding Ubuntu a little heavy on your machine, give Xubuntu a try! Switching from Ubuntu to Xubuntu is quick and easy, and if you do not like it, you can easily go back.

To install Xubuntu from Ubuntu type:

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Enjoy, if you have any questions please leave a comment.

Some have called it the best BlackBerry ever, and I tend to agree with them. The curve is only my second BlackBerry, previously I was using a BlackBerry 8700r.

Now there was nothing wrong with my 8700r, and the only reason to upgrade to the Curve/8300 was the fact that the rest of my department was in the process of standardizing our phones.

Its going to sound corny, but the Curve is sleek, its stylish, and its very light. Did I mention that this phone is *light* its incredible. It took a couple of hours to get used to the trackball, having used the famous BlackBerry wheel for a year or so, but now I would have trouble going back to just the wheel.

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Highlights of the Curve/8300

• Media Player — MP3 player sounds great, only complaint is that its a bit clunky feeling compared to an iPod, but its a minor complaint.
• 2.0 Megapixel Camera with Flash. Works great, takes great pictures for a camera phone.
  Voice activated dialing! – Works as advertised, no complaints so far.
• The OS interface changes (Menu key, trackball, escape key placement) all add up to a great user experience, its much faster to use the applications.

Whats in the box (Rogers Wireless):

• BlackBerry Curve
• BlackBerry C-S2 (same as the 8700)
• International Travel Charger
• USB Cable
• Software CD-ROM
• Quick Start Guide
• User Guide
• Stereo Headset
• Leather slip case[1]

Now, the only thing that disappointed me with the BlackBerry 8300 was that it did not come with a Belt Clip/Holster. I really liked the hard plastic one that came with my 8700. The leather case that comes with the 8300 fits in your pocket nicely, but it just doesn’t work for me personally. I recommend picking up the BlackBerry 8330 Lambskin Belt Clip Holster, its a great stylish phone case, even the SWMBO commented on it (which is rare).

Call Quality on the curve is excellent, my 8700 was excellent as well, and it was nice that the such a small smart phone can keep pace on the call quality side. Major kudo’s to RIM on this one.

The keyboard is excellent, its a bit different than the 8700, but I’ve easily adjusted to the Curve.

Build Quality is excellent, some have called it the sturdiest BlackBerry ever, I havn’t dropped mine yet, so I can’t comment on that front, I am very hard on cell phones, so if it can be easily broken, I’ll break it. I will go out on a limb and state that I do not expect to break my 8300.

Its worth noting that I did not break my 8700, it has a lot of scars, but still works well. (I’ve broken 4 Treo’s, and 5 iDen (Telus Mike) phones previous to going over to BlackBerry.

If you plan to use the camera, I strongly recommend that you get a microSD card for the phone. Once you have the microSD card installed, you will be able to download the camera phones using “USB Mass Storage” which means your phone will simply appear as a drive letter in Windows, and more importantly, no proprietary software required! (I use Linux, so this is very important!).

I highly recommend picking up the Curve if you are in the market for a BlackBerry.