Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Panasonic DMC-FX33 - more impressions
My Panasonic DMC-FX33 had its first field test and it is quite remarkable. Most of all, I am happy with the quality of video recording. I have had cameras that claimed to record mpg videos for at least six years, but not actually produced good enough quality. This Lumix creates excellent QuickTime movies. The motion is captured extremely well. I truly have no reason to have a camcorder, other than for some special effects. Playback through the TV was also great and simple. The jpgs and QuickTime files are all shown in the same lineup. Very convenient.
Philips HTS3544 power problem
Problem
I have heard before that Philips HTS3544 can experience some sort of power problem, but I was yet to encounter it. So, it happened! Came home from a brief trip and the unit would not turn on. The red indicator was red, but the receiver was not responsive to either the power button or the remote. Two factors may have contributed to this:
I unplugged the home theater for about 5 seconds, waited for the red light to go off, and then plugged it back in. It worked just fine. I assume that a bunch of settings were lost, but at least I can watch DVD again!
I have heard before that Philips HTS3544 can experience some sort of power problem, but I was yet to encounter it. So, it happened! Came home from a brief trip and the unit would not turn on. The red indicator was red, but the receiver was not responsive to either the power button or the remote. Two factors may have contributed to this:
- There was a power outage the day before I left. I did not turn on the HTS3544 since.
- I turned off the entire array of electronics with a master switch, so the unit did not have power for three days.
I unplugged the home theater for about 5 seconds, waited for the red light to go off, and then plugged it back in. It worked just fine. I assume that a bunch of settings were lost, but at least I can watch DVD again!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
What puts 'home theater' into 'home theater system'?
A little bit of semantics, the way I see it. After I installed Philips HTS3544 one thing became quite clear to me. Yes, I do love the sound, the woofers and all. But I understood that the HTS3544 (or what have you) is only the 'system' and the home theater is the actual space where you install it. In other words, the room where you install the unit has to mimic a real theater. This includes, the space, the furniture, the light. This is what I mean when I say that the system only properly refers to what you get out of the box. No more, no less. Without it you will definitely not have a theater experience. With it, but without the actual theater part taken care of - it just will not be the same. The biggest problem in my case now is that I just don't have enough room to put the rear speakers where they belong - in the back of the room, so that they are located behind me. So, for me this true home theater thing is something clearly in the future, which makes it all the more fun to be planning for it. So, I will be collecting pictures of setups that other people have, in hopes that this will eventually inspire me.
See also:
Home media room design
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Panasonic DMC-FX33 digital camera manual and specs
Panasonic DMC-FX33
Just bought this one at Costco at $199 - a very nice deal. I will have to write a lot more about it. More precisely, it's a DMC-FX33K, the K must stand for black, just as DMC-FX33A is blue (aquamarine?) and DMC-FX33S is silver.
First impressions: very conveniently sized, nice rubbery surfaces. A quality video mode and anti-blur mode are very promising. You have to take out the battery in order to charge it, but that's pretty much standard these days, unfortunately.
Instructions in English
http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/DMCFX33.pdf
Official specs:
| Camera Type | Stylish Compact |
| KEY FEATURES | . |
| Camera Effective Pixels | 8.1 Megapixels |
| Optical Image Stabilizer | MEGA O.I.S. (Mode 1 / Mode 2 ) |
| Optical Zoom | 3.6x |
| Image Sensor | 1/2.5", 8.32 Total Megapixels CCD, Primary Color Filter |
| Extra Optical Zoom | 4:3 Aspect Ratio: 4.6x for 5 Mega, 5.7x for 3 Mega, 2 Mega, 0.3 Mega 3:2 Aspect Ratio: 4.6x for 4.5 Mega, 5.7x for 2.5 Mega 16:9 Aspect Ratio: 4.6x for 4.5 Mega, 5.7x for 2 Mega |
| Digital Zoom 1 | 4x (Max. 14.3x combined with Optical Zoom without Extra Optical Zoom) (Max. 22.7x combined with Extra Optical Zoom) |
| Focal Length | f=4.6-16.4mm (35mm equiv: 28-100mm) |
| Lens | Leica DC Vario-Elmarit Lens |
| Lens Construction | 7 Elements in 6 Groups (5 Aspherical Lenses/6 Aspherical Surfaces) |
| Aperture Range | Wide: F2.8/F8.0 (2 steps) Tele: F5.6/F16.0 (2 steps) |
| PERFORMANCE FEATURES | . |
| Conversion Lens Compatibility | No |
| Focusing Area | Normal: 50cm - infinity Macro/Intelligent AUTO/Motion Picture/Clipboard: Wide 5cm/Tele 30cm - infinity |
| AF Metering | Face/1-point/1-point high speed/3-point high speed/5-point/Spot |
| Focus | Auto Focus System, Normal/Macro (Dial) |
| AF/AE Lock | No |
| AF Assist Lamp | Yes |
| ISO Sensitivity | Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1250 / 1600 (High Sensitivity Mode: Auto(1600-6400) |
| White Balance | Auto / Daylight / Cloudy / Shade / Halogen / White Set / White Balance Adjustment (+10steps, except for auto set) (Selectable at Portrait, Soft Skin, Self-Portrait, Sports, Baby, Pet, High Sensitivity, and Highspeed Burst mode) |
| Exposure | Program AE |
| Exposure Compensation | 1/3 EV Step, ± 2 EV |
| Backlight Compensation | Yes (at Intelligent AUTO mode) |
| Auto Bracketing (AE) | +/- 1/3 EV ~ 1EV step, 3 frames |
| Light Metering | Intelligent Multiple |
| Shooting Mode (Mode Dial) | Dial: Normal Picture, Macro, Motion Picture, Playback, Print, Intelligent AUTO, Clipboard |
| Scene Modes | SCN (Portrait, Soft Skin, Scenery, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Self-Portrait, Food, Party, Candle Light, Fireworks, Starry Sky, Beach, Aerial Photo, Snow, High Sensitivity, Baby 1&2, Underwater, Sunset, Pet, Hi-Speed Burst) |
| Advanced Scene Mode | No |
| Shutter Speed/Shutter System | 8 - 1/2,000 sec. Starry Sky Mode: 15, 30, 60 sec. |
| Self Timer | 10 seconds / 2 seconds |
| Auto Review | 1 sec/3 sec/zoom |
| Review | 1x/4x/8x |
| Picture Adjustment | No |
| Color Effect Mode | No |
| Color Mode | Standard/Vivid/Cool/Warm/Natural/Black & White/Sepia |
| Recording Format | Still Image: JPEG (design rule for camera file system, based on Exif 2.21 standard), DPOF Corresponding Image with audio: JPEG (design rule for camera file system, based on Exif 2.21 standard)+ QuickTime Motion Picture: QuickTime Motion JPEG |
| Image Quality | Fine/Standard |
| Motion Image (Quick Time Motion JPEG) | 4:3 Aspect Ratio: 640 x 480 pixels, 320 x 240 pixels 30 fps, 10 fps 16:9 Aspect Ratio: 848 x 480 pixels 30 fps, 10 fps |
| RECORDING IMAGE SIZE (Pixels) | . |
| 4:3 Aspect Ratio (Still Image) | 3264 x 2448 2560 x 1920 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 640 x 480 |
| 3:2 Aspect Ratio (Still Image) | 3264 x 2176 2560 x 1712 2048 x 1360 |
| 16:9 Aspect Ratio (Still Image) | 3264 x 1840 2560 x 1440 1920 x 1080 |
| Motion Image (4:3 Aspect Ratio) | 640 x 480, 320 x 240 30 fps, 10fps |
| Motion Image (16:9 Aspect Ratio) | 848 x 480 pixels - 30 fps, 10 fps |
| CONVENIENCE FEATURES | . |
| Burst Shooting Mode | Full-Resolution Image, 3 frames/sec Max. 7 images (Standard Mode), Max 4 images (Fine Mode) High-speed Burst Mode: approx. 7 frames/sec (recorded in 2M for 4:3, 2.5M for 3:2, 2M for 16:9) |
| Unlimited Consecutive Shooting 2 | Yes |
| Easy Zoom/Zoom Resume/Motion Zoom | No |
| Still Image Recording with Audio | 5 seconds |
| Audio Dubbing | Maximum of 10 Seconds |
| Real-time Histograms | Yes |
| Composition Guide Lines | Yes (2 patterns) |
| Built-in Memory | approx. 27MB |
| Scene Mode Help Screen | Yes |
| Auto Angle Detection | Yes |
| Flip Animation | No |
| Travel Date/World Time | Yes/Yes |
| Title Edit | Yes |
| Text Stamp/Date Stamp | Yes/Yes |
| STANDARD FEATURES | . |
| Built-in Flash Type/Mode | Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off 0.6-6.3m (Wide/ISO Auto), 0.3-3.1m (Tele/ISO Auto) |
| External Flash | No |
| Viewfinder | No |
| LCD Monitor | 2.5" Diagonal Polycrystalline TFT LCD Display (207k pixels) Field of view: approx. 100% Auto Power LCD mode, Power LCD Mode, High Angle Mode |
| Playback Mode | 9, 25-thumbnail display, Calendar display, Zoomed playback (16x max), Image rotation, Category Playback, Slide Show, Favorite Pictures, Create Still Pictures, Resizing, Trimming, Protection, Aspect Conversion, DPOF Print Setting |
| OSD Language | English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese |
| Recording Media | Built-in Memory SD Memory Card SDHC Memory Card MultiMediaCard |
| Microphone | Yes |
| Speaker | Yes |
| Interface | DC Input, A/V Output (NTSC/PAL), USB |
| Direct Print | PictBridge |
| Color | Black |
| Power Supply | Lithium-ion Battery Pack (3.6V, 1000 mAh)(Included) AC Adaptor (Input: 110-240V AC)(Optional) |
| Battery Life 3 | Up to 280 pictures(CIPA Standard) |
| ACCESSORIES | . |
| Included Software | ArcSoft® MediaImpression™, ArcSoft® Panorama Maker™, USB Driver, Lumix® Simple Viewer, Photo Fun Studio |
| Standard Accessories | Battery Charger, Battery Pack, Battery Carrying Case, AC, AV & USB Cables, Strap, CD-ROM |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 2.04'' x 3.74'' x .87'' |
| Weight | .29 lbs |
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