Best Telescope & Microscope Accessories
Slide specimens include coprimus mushroom (cross section), dense connective tissue (section), dog cardiac muscle (longitudinal section), dog esophagus (cross section), dog skeletal muscle (longitudinal section and cross section), dog stomach (section), honeybee worker leg-composite (whole mount), house bee mouth parts (whole mount), human blood (smear), hydra (longitudinal section), Hydrilla verticillata leaf (whole mount), Lilium anther (cross section), Lilium ovary (cross section), nymphaea of apustio stem (cross section), onion epidermis (whole mount), pig motor nerve (section mount), pine leaf (cross section), pine stem (cross section), pumpkin stem (cross section), rabbit spinal cord (cross section), rabbit testis (section), sunflower stem (cross section), Tilia stem (cross section), young root of broad bean (cross section), Zea stem (cross section). Microscopes are instruments used to enhance the resolution of an object or image. Compound microscopes use a compound optical system with an objective lens and an eyepiece. (25) Prepared slides Fitted wooden case. Set comes in fitted wooden storage box to prevent breakage and ease handling.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"At the date of this review the description doesn't list the specimens, here they are: pine leaf,coprimus mushroom set, sunflower stem, broad bean root, onion skin, tilia stem, pumpkin stem, lillium ovary, lillium anther, zea stem, aqustio nymphaea stem, hydrilla leaf, pine stem, dog esophagus, human blood, dog skeletal muscle, pig motor nerve, rabbit spinal cord, rabbit testis, dog cardiac muscle, connective tissue, honeybee mouth parts, honeybee leg, hydra, dog stomach section."
"LOVE this slide set."
"I am a college professor and have used slides similar to these many times in anatomy and physiology lab."
"Listing of the slides: Aqustio Nymphaea Stem, Bean Root, Connective Tissue, Coprinus Mushroom, Dog Esophagus, Dog Heart Muscle, Dog Skeletal Muscle, Dog Stomach Muscle, Honeybee Jaw/Mandible, Honeybee Leg, Human Blood, Hydrilla Leaf, Lily Ovary, Lily Anther, Onion Skin, Pig Nerve, Pine Leaf, Pine Stem, Pumpkin Stem, Rabbit Spinal Cord, Rabbit Testicles, Sunflower Stem, Tilia Stem, Zea Stem."
"I was able to put them all back in order with the slide list that was provided in the box."
"Goes perfectly with the AMSCOPE M30-ABS-KT2 Microscope Kit."
"Love these."
"I bought this for an 11-year old child and gave it to him along with my old microscope and a selection of blank slides, covers, and stains."
0.4X Super Wide Angle Lens + 180° Fisheye Lens & 10X Macro Lens, Meet all of your demand! When you use the Fisheye lens, please DO not detach the Fisheye lens from the Macro lens.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The fisheye is super cool, but expect a small black ring around the picture. The order is. 1: wide. 2: macro. 3: fish eye. I also have a screen protector on my iPhone 6 and this product has a clear image with both cameras."
"I loved the idea of these but when we took them on our trip to Europe we discovered the caps come off the lenses very easily when traveling which caused the lenses to get a little scratched and the pictures to came out blurry when using the wide angle lense."
"I was very excited to try the lenses."
"This particular lens was not a good fit for my phone because the lens on the Samsung phones are a little wider so the lens ended up creating a black frame on the edges of my pictures."
"So cool."
"Set would also be better if it just included two clips rather than the one, so you could keep both of the lenses in the clip all of the time, then you wouldn't have to fumble for 10 minutes getting another lens threaded and on the clip."
"I lOVE my new lences!!!! Two amaZing little lences that are usefull 100%! I Tried it at home, took pics of a condo , and its amazing!"
"The macro lens by itself has an extremely shallow depth of field which makes it tricky to get your subject in focus. The large wide angle lens does work a little better, but there's still quite a bit of barrel distortion and the corners of the image are very soft. Amir: If you want a 5 star review from me you should improve the way the lens mounts to the clip. A twist lock similar to how SLR lenses work would be so much nicer. After a day or two of rolling around in my backpack the lenses have all fallen out of the bag. Update #2: Dropping to 2 stars after using the product some more and receiving 10 separate emails about this review, all clearly generated by a script."
Six colored eyepiece (planetary) filters.A tight fit is better, so remove the least amount of foam possible before testing the fit.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have a Celestron refractor and reflector, and they came with OK eyepieces, but with all the choices I have now, 5 different zooms and a 2X (so more like 10 choices) plus the 2X works with my existing eyepieces - The possibilities are endless."
"I have had some of the cuffs around the eye pieces wear down after a year of use, but they really are not important to me, because I use it in complete darkness."
"I like the variety of accessories in this kit, even though only a few are used regularly."
"The lenses are tightly protected in their cushions, which is the best feature since I tend to swap lenses around while star gazing."
"The problem with that is there is no way for me to identify which eyepiece to spend my money on without experience."
"With this kit you get two or three very decent eyepieces, a couple that you will not use very often, a barlow (2x magnifier) so you can get more power from the good eyepieces, a moon filter among others, and above all a great eyepiece case."
"First of all folks, please know that a "lens" is the glass on the business-end of a refractor telescope, or the optic on your CAMERA. Secondly, any "set" of eyepieces is generally going to be 90 percent useless. That's because most of the higher powered eyepieces in the set will only get used once or twice -- until you finally realize that high powers are only useful on a telescope if you're in a VERY DARK LOCATION, with almost perfect sky conditions (an extremely rare combination!). And if you shop smart, you'll find a high-quality 32mm Plossl and a 2X Barlow -- Televue for example, are hands-down the best production optics available! [NOTE]: These are not Celestron's "Feature" eyepieces -- they are their "accessory" eyepieces, and like Meade's accessory EP's they are only of average quality, and are usually way overpriced, like most Meade/Celestron accessories. My advice is to save for a Televue 32mm or 25mm Plossl, ($110 to $135 online) and 2X Barlow, ($115) and buy a Moon filter online from a reputable dealer (Orion offers an excellent Moon filter [#05662] for about $15, which I've been using since 1997)."
Best Telescope Accessories
Five superior-grade 1.25-inch Plössl eyepieces: Four-element design with a 52-degree AFOV, superb color, resolution, edge sharpness, and clarity. Since all the eyepieces necessary to study the planets and moon in detail are provided, these filters will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the solar system. Six colored eyepiece (planetary) filters.A tight fit is better, so remove the least amount of foam possible before testing the fit.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have a Celestron refractor and reflector, and they came with OK eyepieces, but with all the choices I have now, 5 different zooms and a 2X (so more like 10 choices) plus the 2X works with my existing eyepieces - The possibilities are endless."
"I have had some of the cuffs around the eye pieces wear down after a year of use, but they really are not important to me, because I use it in complete darkness."
"I like the variety of accessories in this kit, even though only a few are used regularly."
"The lenses are tightly protected in their cushions, which is the best feature since I tend to swap lenses around while star gazing."
"The problem with that is there is no way for me to identify which eyepiece to spend my money on without experience."
"With this kit you get two or three very decent eyepieces, a couple that you will not use very often, a barlow (2x magnifier) so you can get more power from the good eyepieces, a moon filter among others, and above all a great eyepiece case."
"First of all folks, please know that a "lens" is the glass on the business-end of a refractor telescope, or the optic on your CAMERA. Secondly, any "set" of eyepieces is generally going to be 90 percent useless. That's because most of the higher powered eyepieces in the set will only get used once or twice -- until you finally realize that high powers are only useful on a telescope if you're in a VERY DARK LOCATION, with almost perfect sky conditions (an extremely rare combination!). And if you shop smart, you'll find a high-quality 32mm Plossl and a 2X Barlow -- Televue for example, are hands-down the best production optics available! [NOTE]: These are not Celestron's "Feature" eyepieces -- they are their "accessory" eyepieces, and like Meade's accessory EP's they are only of average quality, and are usually way overpriced, like most Meade/Celestron accessories. My advice is to save for a Televue 32mm or 25mm Plossl, ($110 to $135 online) and 2X Barlow, ($115) and buy a Moon filter online from a reputable dealer (Orion offers an excellent Moon filter [#05662] for about $15, which I've been using since 1997)."
Best Tripod Accessories
• Suction Cup • Adjustable Arms • Standard Base • Quick Release Base • Drawstring Bag. Quick release base makes moving between shots and locations quick and convenient.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The bottom footage is really shaky, clunky from the dogs legs or what not. The top mount gives a good POV of the dogs head and what they're getting into. I would recommend using superview 1080p by 60fps, just because dogs run fast!"
"but if u wear it on your head it can fell from it, better wear it on a hat or a cap."
"this comes with so many attachments and different ways to mount the camera."
"If you have ever owned a underwater camera which gets foggy (this is what happened to me) then it will work great for you. I had my camera sitting in the Hawaiian sun for hours then jumped in to a 65 degree cold fresh water spring. You can use these multiple times you just put them in the oven for 5 minutes at 300 degrees to dry them out."
"We used this floaty on our camera attached to a wrist strap. A couple of times the strap came off our wrist while doing waterspouts, and this floaty saved our camera!"
"Mostly what I like is that it is one sided, so you don't really have to be careful in aligning the thrum screw perfectly to get a good grip, you just place it on and start turning."
"Of course when a dog is walking or running there is going to be a lot of moving parts so perfect crisp footage will most likely never happen but this is the best thing there is in terms of a POV footage for a dog."
"Attaching the Floaty pad: The Floaty has a large adhesive pad to attach it to the back of the GoPro case. The Floaty covers essentially the entire back face of the GoPro case, so aligning it when attaching it to the back can be a bit tricky."
Best Professional Video Accessories
Size: Large. Large case for 2 GoPro cameras and accessories; compatible with all GoPro cameras including GoPro HERO6, GoPro HERO5 Black, HERO5 Session, HERO4 Black, HERO4 Silver, and HERO Session.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"right now when you hold the closed case by the handle with opening to the pouch faces downward. but if running with the case they can. 2) instead of 1 big pouch where all your stuff gets mixed around 6 smaller pouches would make better sense."
"This case isn't quite large enough to hold all my GoPro gear, but it's pretty big."
"Overall, it's a good little case where I can store all my GoPro "stuff"."
"However there are a few construction issues that make it hard for me to recommend the case: After less than a year, the mesh pocket started peeling away from the top of the case (its glued on and the glue released). The foam core is not glued to the bottom of the case and thus it is easy to lose small items underneath the foam."
"Better than a plastic bag, but maybe a little bit "over the top" given the overall size and the fact that GoPros are indestructible."
"I think it would be better if it were either Velcro (as small items such as SD cards slide out very easily) or 2-3 smaller pocketed areas to better hold and organize smaller attachments or gear."
"It is smaller than you might think but that makes it easy to keep just my must have items and not have to lug around a heavy case."
"The one in the photo showing it all placed in the mesh pocket and such - there is no way you could close and zip that one."
Best Camera Lens Accessories
★ PREMIUM HIGH DEFINITION OPTICAL GLASS: Xenvo lenses are powered by premium optical glass, allowing you to capture stunning quality photos in high definition. ★ PREVENT UNWANTED GHOSTING & LENS FLARES: The high quality optical glass used in the construction of Xenvo lenses prevents unwanted ghosting and lens flares from disrupting your photos. ★ TRUGRIP NON-SLIP RUBBER GRIPS: The TruGrip Lens Clip which attaches your lenses to your mobile phone is constructed with non-slip rubber grips for a strong, secure, and unshakeable hold. MAGNIFY NEARBY SUBJECTS FOR BREATHTAKING, SUPER CLOSE-UP PHOTOS: Capture all the intricacies and details with precision-focus for razor crisp macro photos every time. ✔ DURACASE AND QUICK-RELEASE LANYARD - TRANSPORT AND PROTECT YOUR LENS KIT: Perfect for taking your lens kit and LED light with you on the fly. Designed for hobbyists as well as today's most demanding professionals; content creators, bloggers, and social media marketers who count on their smartphone camera to grow their business and brand. Package Contents: TruView 0.45x Wide Angle Lens, Clarus 15x Macro Lens, Lens Clip, GlowClip Mini Rechargeable LED Light + Charging Cable, Quick-Release Lanyard, DuraCase, Cleaning Cloth, AND Lifetime Warranty.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I was NOT compensated for this review. I was concerned when I purchased this lens set that it would feel cheap and result in blurry pictures."
"Photography is my hobby and using these lenses with my iPhone has made the task so much easier. The rechargeable LED light is quite bright, although I don't know how useful it is, as personally, I haven't found a situation to use that. The lens carrying case is great, makes it easier to just throw it in my backpack."
"Best IPhone camera lens I have ever purchased!!!"
"It's so worth it to buy this wide lens from Xenvo."
"I am reviewing an Iphone camera lens kit from ENVO. Below I have assembled some comparison photos you can see the difference between lens & with/without the kit installed. While I was testing the lens, I noticed that I had to take my case off in order to fully optimize the quality. ' Included in the box is a white micro usb cable so you can charge your LED flash light kit. I noticed that the part that goes on the front side of the phone started to slip off. Then I realized that there is a protective film inside the clip that you take off so the kit doesn't slip. '. The LED flashlight included was easy to use, all you have to do is plug it into your headphone jack and turn to your provided settings. The quality of the product is fantastic, Great customer service and no shipping problems. I believe that where it was free, discounted or purchased that my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased."
"As a quilter, I've struggled to get full shots of a entire quilt in frame when using my iPhone or my DSLR (don't have a wide angle lens for it), and this product will absolutely help!"
"The instructional videos were a great customer service tool and lends to a company that cares about it's product AND consumer."
"Super happy with this purchase!"
Best Camera Flash Accessories
High-Speed Charging Technology PowerIQ ensures intelligent high-speed charging for all your devices and VoltageBoost prevents cable resistance from slowing your charging speeds. Matte Finish Enhances grip and prevents smudges and fingerprints. • Compatible with the new 12 inch MacBook, 2015 (USB-C cable needed), Apple and Android smartphones, tablets (including the Nexus 7) and other USB-charged devices EXCEPT for the iPod nano, iPod Classic, HP TouchPad, Dell Venue 11 Pro, some Asus tablets, GPS and Bluetooth devices. Light and Compact: A super-high 13000 mAh capacity with two high-speed-charging USB ports is all contained in a portable charger smaller than a wallet.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Now with the new Panasonic batteries, I also bought another Anker Mini in the PowerCore series not because of 3350 mAh over 3200 mAh, but rather the Panasonic battery and the faster charging time for the PowerCore version."
"At 8.4oz this is a good weight for backpacking/hiking to keep gear charged."
"I had a smaller anker and it still works, but I wanted to upgrade to a larger power bank to have more charge."
"I have purchased a few over the last three years and Anker chargers work extremely well. Thanks Anker!"
"Great battery and even better price!"
"Charging on an iPhone SE was reasonably quick and there are clearly 3 or more full charges left as the 4 lights showing remaining charge were still all on afterwards."
"This one starts charging as soon as a device is plugged in."
"I’ve been trying to get this to work for the past three days."
Best Camera & Video Accessory Bundles
Wireless Flash Trigger Set with Remote Shutter Function Simply slide the transmitter onto your camera's hot-shoe, and your flash onto the included receiver. - Operating Distance: Up to 30 meters (100 feet). - Flash sync speed up to 1/250s. - Serves also as a wireless shutter release. - NOTE: This trigger does not support I-TTL mode, but the flash by itself does. Compatibility: The Flash will work with all Nikon Digital Cameras with a standard hot-shoe mount including: - Coolpix P6000, P7000, P7100, P7700, P7800. - DSLR D5500 D500 D750 D810 D7200 D610 D3300 D40 D50 D60 D80 D90 D3100 D3200 D3300 D5000 D5100 D5200 D5300 D7000 D7100 D200 D300 D600 D700 - NOTE: Wired trigger not Compatible with Nikon: D5 D500 D4s D4 D3 D3x D3s D810A D810 D800 D800E D2 D2H D2Hs D2X D2Xs D300 D1 D300s D700 D3400. Wireless flash trigger Set offers both off-camera flash and wireless camera trigger capabilities up to 100 ft. 1-Year Limited Warranty.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"So, in short: Pros: - Works well as described. - I even tried S1, S2 modes which also works well (In S2 mode you can use the wireless trigger to trigger the shutter of the camera & the camera’s flash will trigger the AP-N1001’s flasher). - Great wireless trigger when connected to the camera. - Good battery life. - Comes with the batteries for the wireless trigger set (but doesn’t incl. I’m very happy with the wireless trigger too, cos I can use it to trigger the camera (especially when I set the AP-N1001 flasher to S2 mode (slave) so it’ll go off as soon as it detects the camera’s (Nikon D7100 in my case) flash goes on. I have a very cheap wireless IR trigger I bought for the D7100 but it’s not very reliable, sometimes it’ll shoot as soon as I press it, but sometimes I need to press multiple times. But this wireless trigger (when connected to the camera) triggers as soon as I press it."
"The included User Manual wasn't the easiest to figure out in terms of tweaking for perfect photos - at least not for a newbie, but the controls of On/Off are simple enough and it wasn't tough to quickly figure out the settings even without the manual. The ability to soften the flash with a plastic diffuser (included) and by user settings, was great. NOTE: Photos included with this review are without any flash, with diffused flash and with the flash and no diffusion (the brightest with a setting of +2 on the flash)."
"I have used the flash on the camera body for several years."
"It's very simple and easy to use and unlike more expensive flash kits, it recycles quickly."
"Most of my shots are of athletes and parades and needed a good reliable flash for your Nikon 5100 and have been VERY happy with the results."
Best Camera Tripods & Monopods
Size: 60-Inch |. Configuration: Tripod Only. Weighs 3 lbs; Extends from 25 inches to 60 inches when center post is fully extended; Carrying case included.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I absolutely LOVE this tripod. I have no clue how such a versatile tripod can go for so low...but hey just one more reason to LOVE Amazon.com!!"
"Two different bubble levelers, one for the base and another for the camera, an independent crank riser for additional height, multiple tightening locations to keep your camera in place, and the ability to hold your camera in both landscape and portrait. Since receiving this tripod, I did a "test" where I installed my camera and left it alone for almost five days with the legs fully extended and positioning locations locked / secured."
"The few bad reviews seemed to concern the tripod being shaky when the center tube extension was cranked up and/or the total lack of instructions.I think the two issues are related and Amazon could eliminate 5 of the 7 bad reviews by including instructions. It's not hard to figure out but don't clip your new camera into the quick release mount until you are sure you know how to remove and replace the mounting plate and FULLY lock the cam lever. It's not really quick at all if you don't have a second mounting plate and need to unscrew the plate from the camera and screw it onto the scope. I bought this tripod for my second digital camera, which is about half the size of my first one. Who knows what cameras will look like 5 years from now, but I bet they will have a screw mount in the bottom and a tripod will still be a good idea."
"All in all, this is a fairly sturdy tripod for the money and it comes with a nice carrying bag."
"I used this tripod for a shoot on top of the Blue Ridge Parkway in icy temperatures with a very strong wind blowing, and it did not even budge a little bit."
"I bought this tripod for a photo shoot I did with my roommate and we did a fairly good amount of walking and this tripod did not feel heavy or burdensome to carry at all."
Best Camera & Photo Cables & Cords
![[3 Packs] iXCC 10 Feet Long Micro USB to USB 2.0 Cable, Super Durable A Male to Micro B Charge and Sync Cord for Android/Windows/MP3/Camera and other Device](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61z%2BBnLhrdL._SS600_.jpg)
Compatible with Kindle, Kindle Fire, Smartphone, tablet, MP3 player, camera, hard drive, e-reader, external battery, handheld game console, all devices with micro-usb connector.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"best usb charge cable I have fasted charge and high quality feel."
"The items I connect to it now gets HOT & my Cellphone reads "Power Supply ineffective" or something like that."
"So instead of hanging off the side of the bed or even *gasp* unplugging the phone, I got this cable!."
"I have come back to my phone after a few hours of charging and found it, multiple times, very low on battery because it disconnected awhile ago. UPDATE: The seller reached out to me and offered to send me additional cords to try, which was great customer service."
"Like most folks nowadays I have any number of devices with rechargeable batteries so something or other is always plugged in, often several at a time."
"Turns out that not every manufacturer takes as much care as these guys when they make these cables those other guys had 2 1/2 stars because their cables couldn't carry a charge or even data over the 10ft of cable."
"Maybe its me , my phone, or the cord, but they are very good for me as I do a lot of photowork, photography ,& lots of editing my pics & using drawing spp too on either phone or tablet so I need to be plugged in all the time when using these apps. But I'll keep buying them as there aren't many 10ft cords plus don't know if its just my overdue with my electronic tablet phone, a Galaxy note 4."
"Wrapping the cable around your phone to get a charge damages your charging port over time, and renders the device unusable until unplugged."
Best Camera & Photo Filters
The vivid collection filter 3-Pack is part of PolarPro’s Cinema Series line. Precisely engineered for the DJI Mavic camera-filter can be left on during startup (fits both Mavic Platinum and Mavic Pro).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"They work great."
"So first off this are great quality made filters and work as expected expect my DJI mavic gimbal would glitch out with these on."
"I don't know a lot about cameras or filming - but these things are a no-brainer if you want to improve your videos with a single step."
"This is a great filter kit."
"Flying in mid summer over the ocean these are likely the only reason you could see anything in my videos."
"works awesome."
"I haven't figured out yet how to make these work well with my videos, but it's definitely better than without it."
"You need this if you have a DJI mavic pro and want to take smooth video."
Best Camera & Camcorder Batteries & Chargers
Now upgraded with premium quality battery cells to ensure superior performance and safety. MultiProtect Safety System Surge protection, short circuit protection and more advanced safety features keep you and your devices safe. • Compatible with Apple and Android smartphones, tablets (including the Nexus 7) and other USB-charged devices except for the iPod nano, iPod Classic, HP TouchPad, LG G2, Asus tablets and some GPS and Bluetooth devices. What You Get: Anker PowerCore+ mini (3350mAh Premium Aluminum Portable Charger), Micro USB cable, travel pouch, welcome guide, our fan-favorite 18-month warranty and friendly customer service.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Not All Batteries Are Created Equal. ***NOTE***. This review contains technical observations which I have reported to Anker. The battery I opened was verified to contain a high quality Panasonic-Sanyo NCR18650BF Lithium Ion cell, which is one of the finest cells available on the market today. - 9.99USD at Time of Review for PowerCore+ Mini in Black. Nay: - Inconsistent Fulfillment, Frequent Product Updates/Changes May Result in Order Errors and Old Product. - Inconsistent Performance of Internal DC Boost Converter Between Batteries, Affects Output Current and Capacity, Actual Available Capacity Varies Between 8.5Wh and 9.5Wh. - Possible Inconsistent Quality Control - Based on my numbers Anker deemed 2 out of 4 batteries to be possibly defective and shipped replacements (not arrived at time of this writing). In order to minimize power loss in the USB cable during whole product testing I custom-built an extra-short USB cable using 22AWG conductors, meaning that all of my numbers will be best-case scenarios for each of the batteries I tested. This was the case for me when I ordered two PowerCore+ Mini's in Black last week, and two Astro Mini's in Black showed up, although they were so close to the PowerCore+ in appearance (in fact, they are identical in appearance) that I didn't even notice the error until a couple of days later when during testing I noticed that the tail cap of the battery had "Astro Mini" written on it. At time of this writing both the Astro Mini and the PowerCore+ Mini are listed as separate products on Anker's website, and share the same capacity ratings, but have some minor published differences. During testing of the Astro Mini's I observed some troubling discrepancies that prompted me to order additional batteries. Anker's packaging has always been efficient, easy-to open, and well-thought, and these batteries were no exception. Each battery came with a short Anker USB Micro cable, a tasteful carrying case, and a short and sweet support pamphlet that tells you how to get questions answered or stuff fixed. Each battery's USB port is also covered with a sticker to remind you that the battery automatically cuts power to the port to conserve energy when not in use, and that a quick tap of the small button in the corner is all you need to get the juice flowing. Well, just do a quick search for "Lithium Ion Fire" on YouTube sometime and you'll see quickly why the FAA restricts how much lithium you can carry on an aircraft in the form of batteries, and why most major couriers won't allow you to ship Lithium batteries via Air Mail unless you have a hazmat contract with them. Serial numbers on devices this cheap are the hallmark of a manufacturer that cares because while you are unlikely to file a police report for a stolen ten dollar battery, Anker certainly wants to know which manufacturing batches are having problems, if any. ***WARNING***. I don't pull punches with batteries or battery vendors, and I didn't intend to judge this battery by its casing alone. Eventually I was able to saw off the rest of the casing without putting a scratch on the battery cell itself, and was able to reveal a Panasonic-Sanyo NCR18650BF cell soldered to a small DC boost converter PCB and USB ports. The NCR18650BF cell is a beauty of a battery cell, and represents one of the highest capacity and quality cells available on the market today. Every battery cell has two capacities. What this means is that "12.06Wh" capacity that you see on the product is only true for a couple of weeks right after Panasonic made the battery cells. By the time those cells are stored, sold to Anker, then stored again, used in manufacturing, stored again, shipped to Amazon, stored again, and then eventually shipped to you, these cells have a usable capacity of around 11.52Wh to 11.70Wh, which is actually what is reflected in the official datasheet for the NCR18650BF. I ran the NCR18650BF cell just by itself against a load of .2C or .67A and a cut-off voltage of 2.50V, the same test that Panasonic uses to get their original rating, and got a capacity of 11.4834Wh, which is just slightly under the "Minimum" rating for the cell, but it's close enough that I can't fault Anker for it. This is the real-world, best-case, available capacity of the cell before it goes through any other losses, such as those introduced by the DC/DC conversion up to 5V, before the voltage drop in your USB cable, and before the conversion losses in your device as it charges the internal battery. The harder you run the battery, the lower the available capacity of the cell is. To determine how hard the USB circuit runs the battery and look for efficiency losses, I removed the battery and connected the circuit to the monitored output on the lab power supply. Using the electronic load I applied a 5V 1A load to the USB port and monitored current draw from the power supply: USB Load Battery Load DC Boost Efficiency. 5.000V @ 1A = 5.00W 1.349A @ 4.2V = 5.67W 88.2%. 4.991V @ 1A = 4.99W 1.637A @ 3.6V = 5.89W 84.7%. 4.988V @ 1A = 4.99W 1.825A @ 3.2V = 6.06W 82.3%. Anker claims 90% efficiency with their DC converters, but since they do not publish their testing process or procedure it is impossible to know under what ideal conditions they performed their tests. Based on conversations with Anker, they are constantly updating and making changes to their designs, which is great, but because these changes aren't publicly tracked and because the batteries are sealed, there is no simple way to know what the characteristics of your battery are. It bears noting that so far all of the tests that we have discussed were performed on a battery that was labeled as "Astro Mini" and it is possible that my battery was manufactured during the early stages of the production shift. That capacity will be lower when drained faster and as you can see above, in order to charge your device at 5V @ 1A, the drain on the battery cell is more than twice that. Since modern lithium cells have a stated nominal voltage of 3.6V, I used the current draw of 1.637A and cut-off voltage of 2.50V to re-assess the capacity of the bare NCR18650BF cell to determine the actual available capacity at the higher drain rate. At the end of the day, what really matters is how the customer will use the battery, so let's get to... [Real-World Capacity and Performance]. These tests were all performed with the batteries fully sealed, assembled, and as they came directly from Amazon. In total, I tested four batteries, two of which were marked as "Astro Mini", and two of which were marked "PowerCore+ Mini", all of which were marked 3350mAh/12.06Wh. They were all designated Units A through D. For the testing procedure, I charged each battery through the USB Micro port per the instructions from Anker until they were full. I then connected each battery to the electronic load and programmed the load for a constant current draw of 1.000A, and measured the output voltage ten times per second until the battery died. Item Received Item Model Available Capacity. Astro Mini (Black) (Unit A) A1105 8.769Wh. Astro Mini (Black) (Unit B) A1105 9.345Wh. PowerCore+ Mini (Silver) (Unit C) A1104 8.607Wh. PowerCore+ Mini (Black) (Unit D) A1104 9.578Wh. The difference in capacity between the best-performing battery and the worst-performing battery was over 11%!!! My notes regarding each unit tested are as follows: Astro Mini (Black) (Unit A): Discharge remained flat and stable until the battery was approximately 75% depleted, at which point the voltage became unstable and dropped significantly. Based on the erratic behavior of the drop I believe the boost circuit began to overheat as it tried to cope with the lower input voltage of the battery cell. Based on conversations with Anker this is likely due to Anker's "Voltage Boost" feature which provides a slightly higher output voltage in order to compensate for the loss in the USB cable. While this does provide a slightly faster charge, it also results in a slightly lower available battery capacity, although this small discrepancy alone does not account for the near 1Wh difference between Units C and D. PowerCore+ Mini (Black) (Unit D): Out of all four batteries, Unit D exhibited the best performance. The output was not only super-flat through the discharge cycle, the available capacity tipped the scales at 9.578Wh @ 1A draw, which was better than any other of the batteries that I tested. I would also like to make clear that charge rate and battery capacity are completely independent of each other. I ordered four of the same battery, and ended up with four batteries that performed completely differently, which brings me to... [Anker's Response]. On 11/23/2015 I forwarded my results to Anker Support along with relevant purchase dates, serial numbers, and other information they requested. It means you're potentially throwing away vast amounts of battery capacity in your external battery pack by using an inadequate cable."
"Friends, We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of our Anker PowerCore+. I noticed my phone was near dead and so I hooked up my trusty Anker and went about my day. #sadface. Anker is survived by his older brother (also a PowerCore+), who was purchased in September and is still going strong."
"Fully charged this will bring my HTC EVO 4G LTE up from grave to full pretty close to twice. It will charge a iempire 5s grave to full twice with a bit left over."
"I was thinking of ideas to protect these from water and debris in my pocket or backpack."
"See my images). - Comes with a nice little bag that can hold the battery as well as a cable. (Note that it comes with a USB > Micro USB cable to charge the battery but you need to use your USB > X cable where X is the type of connector your phone or electronic device uses. The competitor (Jackery® Mini Premium) has 4 lights to show the amount of battery left, but on the other hand it's square so it's harder to carry in your pocket and that's the reason I got the Anker®. See my images for more details:"
Best Camera & Camcorder Remote Controls
Add HiLight Tags to mark key moments while recording, or access the Settings/Tag button to quickly change settings (HERO6 Black, HERO5, HERO4 and Session cameras only).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The bottom footage is really shaky, clunky from the dogs legs or what not. The top mount gives a good POV of the dogs head and what they're getting into. I would recommend using superview 1080p by 60fps, just because dogs run fast!"
"this comes with so many attachments and different ways to mount the camera."
"If you have ever owned a underwater camera which gets foggy (this is what happened to me) then it will work great for you. I had my camera sitting in the Hawaiian sun for hours then jumped in to a 65 degree cold fresh water spring. You can use these multiple times you just put them in the oven for 5 minutes at 300 degrees to dry them out."
"We used this floaty on our camera attached to a wrist strap. A couple of times the strap came off our wrist while doing waterspouts, and this floaty saved our camera!"
"Mostly what I like is that it is one sided, so you don't really have to be careful in aligning the thrum screw perfectly to get a good grip, you just place it on and start turning."
"Of course when a dog is walking or running there is going to be a lot of moving parts so perfect crisp footage will most likely never happen but this is the best thing there is in terms of a POV footage for a dog."
"Attaching the Floaty pad: The Floaty has a large adhesive pad to attach it to the back of the GoPro case. The Floaty covers essentially the entire back face of the GoPro case, so aligning it when attaching it to the back can be a bit tricky."
"We watched several videos on how to fit this and adjust it for your dog and read things online and it just wouldn't stay without being too loose or too tight. We used the white fitting to try to hep and tightened the camera as much as possible but eventually the camera would always fall forward or backward as the dogs run around."
Best Camera & Photo Case & Bag Rain Covers
Altura Photo Professional Rain Cover for DSLR Cameras The Professional Rain Cover Protector from Altura Photo® delivers maximum protection for your camera and lens with a durable, lightweight, waterproof, nylon material. We highly recommend using a dedicated lens hood with your rain cover for improved fit and weather protection performance. Designed to protect and shield your small or professional DSLR camera and lens from rain, snow, salt spray, and any other unexpected weather conditions.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"At some point, you just have to decide for yourself and keeping the camera dry is what this rain coat does very well."
"Only one quibble, and since there aren't any reasonable alternatives, it's hard to fault the manufacturer: The "window" through which you look to see your camera controls is made of a vinyl, typically called Eisenglass by boaters (since the material is widely used in windows in boat canvas items)."
"When you move your hands, the front moves (even if you use the provided drawstring). There is a Velcro loop on the inside for attaching it to your camera and prevent this... but I can't for the life of me figure it out (the layout is front to back, when I think it should be side to side)."
"It was more of a cover and run thing and not a stay-and-shoot cover like the Altura rain cover."
"I shoot with Fuji X-E1 cameras, with zoom lenses and was having a difficult time find rain covers for them as most are specifically built for Canon or Nikon DSLRs. The material is thick, has the extra feature of sleeves for your hands and a clear backing which allows you to view your screen or take a shot looking through your finder."
"Great product for the price!"
"We shoot high school sports and I ordered 2 of these for my Canon cameras for my wife and I because it has been raining every Friday night lately."
Best Digital Picture Frame Screen Protector Foils
this is the Screen Protect Semi-Hard Sheet for the Sony Alpha A6000 Camera from Sony. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I found it easier to remove both the back AND front plastic from the protector first, before applying, because leaving the front plastic on while applying makes it too fiddly."
"I was also able to remove a few times to reposition until it was just right."
"I made a good effort to remove any oils or lint from the screen and, followed the directions to line up the corner and made sure the vertical edge was lined up and, then laid it over the rest of the screen without flexing it."
"It fits perfectly on my a6000 and is easy to apply with no bubbling but it already has small scratch marks though I'm careful even with this protector on."
"This screen protector is very easy to apply and fits the screen on my A6000 perfectly."
"I was a little bit skeptical since I normally use thin tempered glass on my devices that have screens."
"it is very easy to install and really protect the factory screen on my camera."
"You just peel off the back side, align it with the top left corner of the screen and lay it across the screen."
Best Camera Flashes
Wireless Flash Trigger Set with Remote Shutter Function Simply slide the transmitter onto your camera's hot-shoe, and your flash onto the included receiver. - Operating Distance: Up to 30 meters (100 feet). - Flash sync speed up to 1/250s. - Serves also as a wireless shutter release. - NOTE: This trigger does not support I-TTL mode, but the flash by itself does. Compatibility: The Flash will work with all Nikon Digital Cameras with a standard hot-shoe mount including: - Coolpix P6000, P7000, P7100, P7700, P7800. - DSLR D5500 D500 D750 D810 D7200 D610 D3300 D40 D50 D60 D80 D90 D3100 D3200 D3300 D5000 D5100 D5200 D5300 D7000 D7100 D200 D300 D600 D700 - NOTE: Wired trigger not Compatible with Nikon: D5 D500 D4s D4 D3 D3x D3s D810A D810 D800 D800E D2 D2H D2Hs D2X D2Xs D300 D1 D300s D700 D3400. Wireless flash trigger Set offers both off-camera flash and wireless camera trigger capabilities up to 100 ft. 1-Year Limited Warranty.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"So, in short: Pros: - Works well as described. - I even tried S1, S2 modes which also works well (In S2 mode you can use the wireless trigger to trigger the shutter of the camera & the camera’s flash will trigger the AP-N1001’s flasher). - Great wireless trigger when connected to the camera. - Good battery life. - Comes with the batteries for the wireless trigger set (but doesn’t incl. I’m very happy with the wireless trigger too, cos I can use it to trigger the camera (especially when I set the AP-N1001 flasher to S2 mode (slave) so it’ll go off as soon as it detects the camera’s (Nikon D7100 in my case) flash goes on. I have a very cheap wireless IR trigger I bought for the D7100 but it’s not very reliable, sometimes it’ll shoot as soon as I press it, but sometimes I need to press multiple times. But this wireless trigger (when connected to the camera) triggers as soon as I press it."
"The included User Manual wasn't the easiest to figure out in terms of tweaking for perfect photos - at least not for a newbie, but the controls of On/Off are simple enough and it wasn't tough to quickly figure out the settings even without the manual. The ability to soften the flash with a plastic diffuser (included) and by user settings, was great. NOTE: Photos included with this review are without any flash, with diffused flash and with the flash and no diffusion (the brightest with a setting of +2 on the flash)."
"I have used the flash on the camera body for several years."
"It's very simple and easy to use and unlike more expensive flash kits, it recycles quickly."
"Most of my shots are of athletes and parades and needed a good reliable flash for your Nikon 5100 and have been VERY happy with the results."
Best Lighting & Studio Equipment
NIX Advance Frames: Plug & Play to display Photo and Video Memories with ease. With over 8 years of experience and a dedicated full time customer service team, we are committed to delivering high quality frames and services that allow you to display digital memories in a sophisticated way. Perfect gift for a loved one: This frame is perfect for everyone; from professionals, to parents and grandparents, they all deserve a frame that works and lets them enjoy all the memories. USB & SD/SDHC Ports: Plug and play to Instantly display all your digital photos.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I wanted superb picture quality, and I needed a frame that would recognize portrait orientation and adjust accordingly."
"Yes my five star review for the NIX X12D Digital Photo Frame is for the product itself BUT more importantly it is for the AMAZING customer service assistance my wife and I received from Daryl. Thank you NIX for not only building a capable, sturdy system (our grandson is not always gentle with electronics - so far so good) but more importantly for hiring support personnel such as Daryl who go the extra mile."
"Sometimes nothing played with one flash drive, while another flash drive kept repeating photos or froze photos for up to a minute, even though I set it for 3 seconds. I did not do that because I never had to do it with the older frames, and several people wrote reviews on Amazon that they tried doing that, but it did not help at all. The remote and the software are newly designed and more user friendly. Needless to say, none of that silly photo resizing is necessary, as it was not necessary with my older frames."