Camera Store Seattle WA

Reader Score: 9.67 (out of 10)

Review (Summary): "... One problem with traditional cleaning brushes is that sweeping dust simply slides the dust around, and there is a possibility of leaving some behind. Some brushes overcome this by "charging" the bristles with static electricity prior to use, to allow them to literally attract and pick up dust particles. This usually requires the use of compressed air or special paper. The Arctic Butterfly 724 achieves this effect through spinning the bristles at high speed using a built-in motor. As an added benefit, spinning the bristles also dislodges any residual dust trapped in the bristles. Do this 3 times for 5 seconds, and you're ready to go. ...

... I found that it worked as advertised, with no problems picking up dust and leaving the my sensor spot-free. The spinning mechanism is a very novel way of self-cleaning and charging up the bristles, without having to resort to compressed air. As a result, it is very quick to use and put away, with minimum fuss and mess. I was very impressed too by the sturdiness and quality of the construction, and the hardy protective cases supplied. ..."

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Reader Score: 6.10 (out of 10)

The Canon Pixma MP130 photo all-in-one is a bargain desktop printer, scanner, and copier that creates decent photos and great text prints. Tailored for a small desk, the printer works faster than rival HP PSC 1610, but while both furnish memory card slots, this Canon lacks photo-friendly features such as a PictBridge camera port and photo inks. Still, you can use the Canon MP130 without a computer to make photo prints from memory cards or page-at-a-time photocopies in grayscale or color. Connect this device to a PC or a Mac to scan and edit images using the generous package of bundled software. For business-friendly features, such as an automatic document feeder (ADF) for multiple page copying or a built-in fax machine, you should consider the Brother MFC-420cn. But if you're happy with a low-cost, family-friendly inkjet that scans and copies on the side, the Canon MP130 will do. ...

Reader Score: 8.15 (out of 10)

Head-to-Head (Summary): "The Sony Alpha A100 and the Pentax K10D compete head-to-head with the most similar feature set among 10 megapixels DSLR cameras. These two digital cameras share the same image sensor, built-in stabilization and dust-reduction. As a matter of fact, these are the only two currently shipping 10 megapixels DSLR cameras with built-in stabilization. Later this year, they will be joined by the Olympus E-510 which has a smaller 2X crop sensor with 4:3 aspect ratio.

The effectiveness of stabilization is not systematically measurable because it depends on so many factors including the photographer's movements. Instead, it must be measured empirically. For this we took shots of several targets while varying shutter-speeds and quantified the number of sharp shots. The results showed that the Sony Alpha A100's built-in stabilization performs statistically better and more consistently than the Pentax K10D. However, the difference is less pronounced than anticipated...."

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