Entering The World Of Android Based Media Players

This is gonna be a good one. An Apple Fanboy Going Android..... WTF!?

Yep, it's true to some extent. The reason for letting myself into the Android world is a media player one. Up till recent I was quite happy with my Popcorn Hour A-110, which I bought 6-7 years ago. Happiness started to fade when transfer speeds and connections to the device started to fail. Networking was never its strongest part, even though it had a 100mbps interface. For some reason it never got above the 10Mbps speeds. Had something to do with the processing priority of the device.

Anyway, lately, larger FTP transfers failed for whatever reason, and using SAMBA transfers.... well, don't get me started on that file transfer protocol. Sending communications by pigeon-mail is faster. And since streaming over the network was not an option for the larger (far less compressed) x264 encoded movies or TV shows, I started to look for an alternative.

The alternative should be able to connect to remote media sources, and have enough processing power for the network adapter to get decent a throughput. Also some additional multimedia features were on the 'very-nice-to-have' list. These features included (but were not limited to);

stream various content from the web
not limited to just video
easily modifiable (apps etc.)
prepared for the future (4k video?)
xbmc (or something alike)

With this list of requirements, there were about a gazillion candidates, because every player out there tends to support this. So I needed to narrow down the candidates. I did exclude the current Popcorn Hour because of the physical size of there latest models.

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Willem and filed under Gadgets, Hardware, Personal, Review, Tips'n Tricks, Video and tagged minix android media player synology nas.

Continuous Macro Lighting

When shooting macro, you need a lot of light. Normally you would use one or more (off-camera) flashes to facilitate this. The downside of a flash is that you only get the light when you press the shutter button. This can be challenging a relative low-light environment.

A solution for this is continuous lighting.

The traditional continuous lighting setups would get really hot. A couple of hundred Watts of power was nothing, and, in a small workspace, things could get hot (literally).
Thankfully, we have LED lights nowadays. Small (battery powered) devices with a lot of bright LED's, which are very affordable.

I bought a set of video lights on Amazon with 160 LED's (NanGuang CN-160) each. The devices are battery powered and give a lot of light. The video lights have a dimmer, so you can control the amount of light.

They take several types of batteries. Including 6 AA-type rechargeable batteries. The problem with the AA batteries is that they drain relatively fast, so I got a set of supported batteries, which normally go into a Sony camcorder (NP-F750F). Not the originals, but a cheaper knock-off. Another advantage of the larger batteries over the AA-types is that the amount of light produced is significant higher, and lasts for a longer period of time.

The lights itself are relatively light, but with the batteries they tend to weigh around half a kilo each. So this is not a practical setup for handheld macro photography in the field.

To give you an idea of how much light they produce: The following photo was made in a dark room with one of the video lights on full power with the included diffuser. The camera (handheld) / lens settings were:

Camera: Fujifilm X-T1
Lens: Sigma 105mm F/2.8 Macro DG (F-mount with a X-adapter)
Shutter: 1/600
Aperture: F/8
ISO: 400

All I need right now is to create some sort of a flexible (portable) workspace with a way of positioning the lights independently around the subject.

UPDATE: I received my cheap flexible tripods and (even cheaper) ballheads by mail today. This should make the lighting for my macro photography a bit easier.

The total cost of this setup is around €150 (depending on the currency exchange rate).

2 * CN-160 LED Lights: €52
2 * Falcon batteries (SONY compatible NP-F750-F incl. charger): €75
2 * 10-inch Flexible Desktop Digital Camera Tripod: €18
2 * POPLAR Octopus 1/4 Monopod / Tripod Ball Head: €9

Note: The setup is sufficient for the (cheap) LED-lights, but I wouldn't trust them with my Leica or Fuji camera.

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Willem and filed under Gear, Hardware, Photography, Tips'n Tricks and tagged CN-160 video lighting macro.

Just Apply Pressure

to wreck the SD-card slot cover of the Fujifilm X-T1. An obvious design flaw if you ask me.

Thankfully, I handle my camera with care, but I don't want to think what would happen if I applied a bit more pressure on closing the memory-card compartment.

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Willem and filed under Annoying, Gear, Hardware, Photography and tagged Fujifilm sdcard design flaw x-t1.

Sony A7(r) Mirrorless Full Frame Camera

Sony launched the A7(r) camera today. It's a full frame camera without a mirror (like a Leica M). Also known as an Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC).
It was something I didn't expect (mainly because I'm not that into the Sony rumors). The release of a full frame E-mount camera startled me somewhat. Why? Because the E-mount cameras today (Sony NEX cameras) are well known to work with various lens mount adapters (e.g. Leica M-mount, Nikon F-mount, etc.).

This camera could replace my Nikon D300. I mainly use that camera for macro and the occasional telephoto. I can still use my Nikon lenses on this body through an adapter. Even my Leica M-lenses can be used. This could be the camera to rule them all (all being MY current cameras). It's light, small (smaller than the M9 or the new M type-240) and packs a lot of (photographic) power.

I know what I want for X-Mas

Steve Huff has some additional images from the camera in various setup's (mainly with Leica lenses :-))

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Willem and filed under Hardware, Photography and tagged Sony A7 A7r E-mount.

Out of Ink? Buy a New Printer

A couple of years ago, I bought a Canon Pixma IP4500 printer for approx. €80. The reason for buying was that I was able to print documents (concert tickets, etc) and the occasional photo. Generally, I send my photos to a lab, so I don't need an expensive state-of-the-art photo printer.

Recently, I ran out of ink for the printer. The third time in three or four years. The IP4500 holds separate cartridges for each color. This means that I need to invest around €15 for each cartridge. Total costs: >€60.

While I was standing in the store, I saw a new Canon (color) printer for less than €50. This included the ink (for that model). Well, that was an easy decision. Out the 'old' printer and in a new multifunctional printer (Canon MG2250). It prints, scans and copies, while the old printer could only do one thing; print.

There are probably several persons out there that would recommend off-brand inks. Sure, it's possible to buy off-brand, but that introduces the hassle of:

removing of chips, and taping them to new containers, and/or
drilling holes to inject new ink into the container.
Resetting software by pressing 5 buttons with three fingers for 20 seconds to lure the printer into thinking that everything is alright. And this can (and will) re-occur very once in a while.

All that to save a couple of bucks. No thank you.

Anyway, I have a new printer (with ink), and the old one is heading for the garbage dump.
"Why not sell it", you ask? Well, no person will ever want to buy it (with no ink in it), since they can get a new printer WITH ink for less money. How fucked up is that?

I wonder if we will ever throw away a car, just because it ran out of petrol and buying a new car (with petrol) is cheaper.

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Willem and filed under Annoying, Hardware, Personal and tagged Canon Printer Ink.

iPhone Stuck At Infinite Loop After iOS Update

The old iPhone 3G got stuck in an infinite restore loop after upgrading to iOS 6.1.2 this evening. As you might understand, the misses was not amused....

The infinite restore loop means that it keeps saying that it needs to be restored from within iTunes, but after doing that several times, you tend to loose faith. After trying it several times on a Windows laptop I tried it on my iMac. While it was restoring for the who knows how many times, I did some research on the Interwebs. The results were not encouraging.

I started gathering information, and some tools (like Tiny Umbrella) to break it from its infinite loop. After the restore the iPhone booted just fine. No idea what made it break its loop. Could be coincidence, could be my iMac. No idea.

Anyway, the misses is busy restoring the data. She (or iTunes) made a backup just before the backup. So all should be back to normal in a few minutes.

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Willem and filed under Apple, Annoying, Hardware, iPhone and tagged Infinite loop restore iOS.

Timetravel Made Possible With The Samsung Galaxy S2

And yes. Another rant from an Apple fan-boy (I guess).

As you can read here, I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 at home, and the device is still in the original box. I did open the box, just to check the device, and as you may have read; the device went straight back into the box. Since then, it has been out of the box about four times, and not more than an hour. The main reason (for getting it out of the box) is that there a software updates that should fix problems with the device. I guess not the problems I have with the device..... I want to give the device a chance. I really do, but they don't come close to the Apple iOS experience. The Android eco-system has still light years to go.

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Willem and filed under Annoying, Hardware and tagged Android Galaxy S2 Kies Samsung Timetravel.

MacBook Wireless Borked Again, Still, etc.

A while back I had regular issues with the wireless adapter on my MacBook after I had upgraded to OSX Mountain Lion, but after the removal of Little Snitch (I still ran the beta version) it seemed that times were a changing... Seemed that is.

This morning I was fiddling about with my photo website, and needed to see the results in several different browsers. One of them being Google Chrome.
Trying to launch the Chrome app, it crashed immediately. Reopening didn't help. So I tried to download a newer version, since I hadn't updated mine since the upgrade to Mountain Lion. The result; It still crashed. Even after removing all Chrome (and Google) references on the disk, it still crashed.

So, it became time to consult the book of knowledge, and see what the Internets had to say about my little ordeal.

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Willem and filed under Annoying, Apple, Browsers, Hardware, Tips'n Tricks and tagged Google Chrome Lion Mountain wireless.

Ziggo Internet, Juniper Firewalls and DHCP

At the house I have currently two ISP delivering broadband. Well, broadband isn't the correct word, since the the one of them is only a mere 256kbps (I think). The other is a 'whopping' 20Mbps.
The 20Mb connection is provided by XS4ALL, and the 256kbps is for free (if you have a phone subscription with Ziggo). The 256kbp is the minimum they provide to transport the phone calls, but if you're a masochist you can also browse the internet over that connection.

So, two ISP @ home. Combine that with a Juniper SRX firewall, and a dual ISP setup is born. The theory of that setup is that I connect both ISP's to the firewall, and use the 20Mb line as a default internet connection, but when that one dies, I automatically get switched to the backup line (256kbps).

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Willem and filed under Annoying, Hardware, Internet, Security, Tips'n Tricks and tagged Dual ISP Ziggo dhcp srx Juniper.

Unable To Turn On Wireless In OS X Mountain Lion

Last night I was minding my own business on the couch, when the wireless connection on my MacBook (UniBody) decided to call it a day. According to the symptoms (no bars visible in the WiFi icon in the menu bar, no visible wireless networks in the vicinity), the WiFi adapter was turned off. Turning the WiFi back on was not possible though.

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Willem and filed under Annoying, Apple, Hardware, Tips'n Tricks and tagged Lion Mountain wireless.