Cameras

This web cam can be used both inside and outside. It is especially good at night when there is little light around. A near 3metre long USB 'C' to USB lead fits into the back of the unit and there is also a 13amp USB plug supplied so you need to be less than that distance from a 13amp plug.

While working from home might mean you can provide your own security, when away you might need some assistance.

While good quality modern SmartPhones can take excellent videos and images they do need some help first a good quality Gimbal as however steady your hand may be a Gimbal makes all movements smooth. Second lights unless you are outside on a bright sunny day you need help and here Zhiyun has a range of offerings light enough for a single person to setup and still be able to take the images.

When the door bell rings, do you know who is calling? This next product could help.

Not all laptops and notebooks come with a webcam and nowadays most screens for desktop do not have a webcam. So this latest offering from Creative Labs has a place. It also has an advantage that both the camera and the microphone use the same USB connection so no chance of a situation that I have come across previously of the microphone working and the camera not or even vice versa.

With so much more video being produced out of studio one thing needed is lights even a well-lit room does not look top notch so this solution from Zhiyun could well help solve it. During lockdown a great deal of meetings moved to online from home where ordinary room lighting did not hack it. The doughnut ring light was popular but is there something better like this Fiveray offering to give you professional standard lighting from a single internal battery powered unit.

This is the latest in a range of Gimbals from Zhiyun. It has the ability to expand its length and even an attachment that enables image background fills so the Smooth Q4 Combo is far more than just a camera Gimbal be it used hand held or with the supplied tripod to enable you to control it remotely from a second SmartPhone.

Up till now all the camera gimbals I have looked at were designed for SmartPhones either for direct use or in one case to control a second phone remotely in the gimbal. Here a much larger and more robust offering that can be used with DSLR offerings and most likely by semiprofessionals looking to produce output for others to see and use.

Plantronics is a name some will know as they produced headsets and Bluetooth earpieces for many years. Then there was another company that did things in larger office environment, just over two years ago the two companies’ combined to produce Poly. Like so many things then went on hold through Covid and now we see what they combined to produce.

A gimbal was something that gave professional camera people the ability to capture video smoothly whilst they were on the move, now SmartPhones capture such good movies they also need Gimbals so that you and me can also move while capturing movies and in a way they need to be better as we amateurs are not used to moving while capturing images.

This is the latest Samsung offering to cross my desk, my unit has a matt sky blue back, a shiny slightly darker blue sides and a very shiny front. There are a vertical line of three cameras top left of the back and a forth camera and LED flash beside these.

If you take images while out and about and like to get instant photographs from what you shoot then something like this offering from Fujifilm could well be the answer. I recently reviewed an offering from Polaroid that turns out to be not so instant so this more compact offering from Fujifilm has the word Instax in the title so let’s see.

While Polaroid cameras have been around for a very long time new models and colours continue to be launched. Even new film types for a range of different scenarios. I was sent both i-type and 600 film types to test with one of their latest PolaroidNow, but I see other types are also available.

Offering to add visual capture facility to your car is a device from a company with strong Korean connections.

Providing camera storage is a product from HEX.

While hardly what you would call the ideal circumstances, the period of self-isolation has provided the type of situation that can help with the setting up and checking out of a home security device. By taking on the role of an intruder, you can see how the product works.

Every new Pen camera from Olympus is a pleasure to review. For such a small overall unit to give brilliant quality images and video without you having to be a semi-professional user is great. This latest offering camera only was sent with the new 14-42mm lens so I could review it.

With a title of Hive View, the subject of this next review has to be a security camera that has been designed to keep you informed as to what is happening in the home when you are on your travels.

This offering was sent to me body only but with a 12-40 lens for my testing. I was surprised first by the way it arrived in a brown box with each part bubble wrapped and second when I mentioned no manual to be told no printed manuals are supplied now with any of our cameras. Even for someone used to using an interchangeable lens unit surely no manual is not the way to go, however you can still download one in PDF from the website.

Adding to its original SmartCam device, Neos has increased its functionality.

This is both a camera and a printer all in one unit, you can take pictures on it and print them on Zinc paper or as it has Wi-Fi to your phone take images on your phone and send them wirelessly to the units printer for immediate printing while still out and about.

I suspect most people know of ‘R2D2’ a droid in Star Trek, this camera looks rather like it, it can pan and tilt so unless there is something solid in its line of vision whoever is there gets seen and unlike most other cameras this continues to see where the suspect goes as it can track their movements.

It been a while since I have reviewed a camera that can fit in your pocket, of course most recent SmartPhones have better than average cameras but I do not know any that can shoot underwater as this latest offering from Olympus can.

Neos might not be a familiar name to regular reader of Gadgetspeak.com but its product might be relevant.

When assigning blame after a traffic accident, an independent witness could prove useful

Smile please you are about to be printed could mean Polaroid is out and about.

This is a flagship camera for Olympus and is often sold body only. I was sent the unit with a 12-40mm lens. It arrived at a time when I had several events at iconic place, the OXO tower, the Shard and perhaps the most poignant the 100 years from the end of the First World War at the Imperial War Museum which is currently the home of the Ceramic poppies.

All of us of a certain age remember the original Polaroid cameras, this one looks very much the same, however this has a big plus over the original it has Bluetooth and can link to your SmartPhone. So with this new camera old technology meets new.

This is the second of three cameras from FujiFilm; this is an interchangeable lens camera that made a short visit to me courtesy of a Christmas In July event. Even after nearly two weeks of use I am still barely out of using Auto mode although it has accompanied me on a range of visits while out and about in the course of my travels for a range of events.

This is an enthusiasts camera, quality in a small package, but still able to give excellent ‘auto’ images and if you know better then the various special scene and manual mode allow you to get that extra special image to say great.