Category Archives: Camera

Ancel IR101 Thermal Camera Review

Having a Tech Blog almost certainly involves having some fancy tech tools. One of the coolest (pun intended) tools I’ve stumbled across is the Ancel IR101 Thermal Camera.

Thermal cameras are awesome for identifying heat related issues as well as a whole bunch of other uses.

And for full disclosure, as always, Ancel provided me this IR101 to review. I’m not being paid to post this, and I’m not an affiliate of theirs, and there is no pressure, nor payout for a good review.

The device pictured has an Apple Lightning connector and is for older iPhones and iPad’s with that connector. The Ancel IR101 is also available in a USB-C form factor for newer iPhones or Android phones. And there is a cable which can convert the lightning connector on the camera to a USB-C male connector. And in fact, I bought this cable, with my own money.

There are a lot of choices for smart phone thermal cameras and the strength really lays in the application or software used. So far, I am really loving the app (Ancel IR in the Apple App Store) and working my way through all the of software options. And there are a lot!

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Vlogging Camera Light Comparison

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Vlogging Camera Light Comparison

I’ve been really trying hard to up my photography and video game here on the blog. Lighting of course is one aspect of that journey. I have recently purchased a couple different brands of Vlogging Camera Lights, and I’ll shake them down here.

The fun part about this is that I spent my own money so I can call it like I see it. It’s not that I don’t do that already, but when someone sends me an item to review I try hard to WORK WITH THEM. If I find something wrong I contact them and most places are happy to hear the feedback and WORK WITH ME. But when I spend my own cash there isn’t any pre-established back and forth.

And I review so much gear provided by others I seldom get to write about the things that I spend my own money on.

So, I’ll use these lights and then I’ll tell you what I think about them. Let’s get started.

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Ultimate Guide To Using A Raspberry Pi 5 In A Photography Studio

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Ultimate Guide To Using A Raspberry Pi 5 In A Photography Studio

Yep. I said it. You can use the Raspberry Pi 5 in your Photography Studio.

Imagine connecting a high end studio camera to a Raspberry Pi 5 and taking some studio quality pictures by tethering your camera to your Pi 5.

Then you can control it via VNC from a nearby computer or laptop. Or of course you could hook the Pi to a KVM or plain old Keyboard, Mouse, and Monitor.

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More Camera Tethering

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More Camera Tethering

I’ve spent a full week or two going through my old collection of cameras to see if they still can connect to a computer. My camera tethering experiment has been a mixed bag so far.

I’ve come to some unusual conclusions. Read on.

My first conclusion is that camera manufacturers only support a camera for so long. Most cameras, provided that you don’t toss them around, will last for decades. So the only reason to stop supporting them is so that you’ll buy a new one. By the way here is the photo from the “studio” shot above.

This needs to be stated: For every camera I mention below they still function perfectly as a stand alone camera. Pick them up, push that shutter release and they will copy your vision to its memory card. I am only talking about the tethering function not being supported. The cameras are still good and viable.

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Canon Powershot A640 Review

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Canon Powershot A640 Review

You might be asking yourself why I’m reviewing the Canon Powershot A640 which was released to consumers in 2006. By my estimation that makes it nearly 20 years old.

And you really might be wondering why I’m writing about it 19 years after I bought mine.

By today’s standards it has features that a lot of cameras today should have at the same price point.

I am not referring to sensor size or megapixels although it has a respectable 1 1/8″ CCD sensor with 10 Mega Pixels. And DPReview.com gave it a pretty decent review in late 2006.

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Camera Tethering

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Camera Tethering

I have written several articles on camera tethering over the years. And here I go again. I am FAR from any kind of professional photographer but I do have this blog and I do sell the occasional item on Facebook.

So allow me to discuss why I believe tethering is important.

Let’s dissect the photo just above for a moment. I am using a Canon A640, circa. 2006 tethered via a USB-B Mini 5 pin connector to a USB-A cable on the computer end. The laptop cost a whopping $75 and the white background cost around $35.

This is neither the best camera or laptop that I own. Far from it. I’m just making a point here. I’m using this setup to show how great results can be obtained without spending a ton of money. Additionally, there are pros that use tethering way more successfully than I ever will. I’m just a guy who stumbled across this great method of getting better results with the tools that I have. To this day I will not buy a camera that cannot be tethered to a computer.

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More Benfei Adapters

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More Benfei Adapters

I’ve been extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to test LOTS of Benfei Adapters.

As I have stated before I mostly use a MacBookAir and it essentially only has two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.

That simply will not do for a guy like me with so many gadgets and electronics projects going on at any given time. I’m into audio. And I’m into photography. And a dozen other things. The only way to function with limited ports is to own ADAPTERS.

For example, my Mother In Law likes to stream church and watch it on her TV. Sometimes we all come over and watch with her. The only way to make that connection on her older TV is to have an HDMI adapter coming off of the computer.

I make quite a few videos with higher end cameras and microphones and by golly, I need adapters to read the CFexpress, SD and TF cards.

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Auto-Vox Back Up Camera Review

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Auto-Vox Back Up Camera Review

Auto-Vox Back Up Camera

The nice folks at Auto-Vox have provided me their Wireless Solar Back Up Camera ($116.98) to review.

This is a perfect product for me to shake down since I don’t have a backup camera on my small camper. I have tried other backup cams, however, this camera has a solid mounting mechanism which attaches behind your license plate.

Other manufacturers sometimes use magnetic mounts. I’m always afraid one big bump will either misalign the camera or have it fall off completely. No worries here with a positively mounted bracket. That being said the camera barely fits on my camper license plate mount because it is attached to a turn signal/brake light.
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Rongta Kids Digital Print Camera – Best Tech Gift for Christmas

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Rongta Kids Digital Print Camera Ages 3-10

Rongta Kids Camera

I retired a few years ago from a career that was paying me 6 digits a year and allowed me to travel the world. I can attribute the skills that led to my career from my exposure to tech toys from my youth. Radio Shack kits, radios, CB radios, cameras, etc. I feel it is vital to expose young children to technical hobbies. Enter the Rongta Kids Camera.

The Rongta Digital Print Camera is not only fun but is sure to inspire your young children to learn photography and computer skills leading to imaginative creation. And hey, it’s fun! Listed price is $49.99 at Amazon with a $20 coupon. John’s Tech Blog’s readers can receive an additional 10% off by using the code 10JohnsTech

The code is good until 20 December 2024. That is darn near half of the original price. And just in time for Christmas!
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Taking Better Pictures Cheaply With Canon G7

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Taking Better Pictures Cheaply With Canon G7

If you are like me you frequently scour eBay and Facebook Marketplace for great deals. Or to pick up collectibles or hobby items. You know as well as I do that there are ads out there with HORRIBLE pictures in them. Maybe you are guilty of this as well. I know I have put up some for sale ads before with substandard photos. This blog may seemingly take a backwards approach to solve the problem. Most of us think that we need new and better equipment to improve our photos. That simply isn’t the case. We can vastly improve our images with a camera that is nearly 20 years old. I’m going to use the venerable Canon G7.

Canon G7

The G7 was released in late 2006 and unless I miss my guess it was released first in Japan. I was living in Japan at that time and I was positively giddy at getting my hands on one.

The G7 was a gem however, I had a bad case of upgrade-itis and sold mine and got a G9. My first thoughts were that I should have never gotten rid of the G7.

And then one day I stumbled across one at a super great price that was in pristine condition and I decided to see if the magic was still there.

The principle allure of using this old camera is that it can be tethered to a computer which is a feature that you just won’t find in non-DSLR cameras these days. There are a couple of caveats though.
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