New Motorbike

New Motorbike

Honda CBF 125

Hey my new bike is coming tomorrow and i'm so excited.

Pretty nervous too as I've never rode a manual bike, but that's the fun part of learning.

I hope to keep you up to date with regular vlogs.

Watch this space.

YONGNUO YN560-II SPEEDLITE

An overview of the YONGNUO 560-II Speedlite

Budget flashgun review

The yongnuo 560-ii is a budget manual flash that is easily on par with the more expensive Nikon and Canon speedlite's.

Just because this is fully manual don't let this put you off as it is so simple to use and not so difficult to master. It has a power rating which is on par with the more expensive brands with a GN of 58, a built in diffuser and reflector a zoom from 24-105. with less than 3s recycle time a PC connector and external power connector whats stopping you. 

I dont have a commander or wireless trigger mode in my Nikon D3200 but i can still use the slave modes with my flash on manual and down to its minimum level to trigger the YN560-ii and it's great. I have found that you don't always need to have the sensor facing the camera either. The only downside is you cant always get the effect off camera with the flash as you would like unless you stand quite far back as the camera flash is still pretty bright even at the lowest setting. 

So it may be worth investing in some Yongnuo wireless triggers, which i will also be reviewing soon. 

Should i buy the YN560-II speedlite

If your just getting into photography and want to do some strobist work then the answer is yes as it wont break the bank and just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's no good (in this case anyhow).

I did a great deal of research about budget flashes and unless your desperate for one with ttl then this is the flash for you.

Which smart TV should i get

Which smart TV should i get

This is a question someone asked me on my youtube channel.

"I'm hoping you could possibly help me being as you own the Samsung ES8000 tv. I have been going back and forth like a yo yo deciding upon my next tv. Reviews are stating Sony "as the best" but ive looked at LG, Samsung and Sony and cannot decide for the life of me. 
Have you had any issues with your tv and in comparison to the "hugely" popular Sony KDL 55 HX8 series is it a better tv or is there anything i should know of about the Samsung that might not be good?
I saw in the video examples of the gestures, did you have to shout at you tv for it to respond? and does the hand gesture work well? Any pointers and pluses and any problems encountered would be great to know."


I havent experienced any issues with the Samsung es8000. I do however have to say that the hand gesture feature can be more of a hinderance that a practical application. The reasons for this are 1, there has to be a fair amount of light in the room for it to work, so for me this is a negative because i watch a lot of movies at night and in the dark, which normally means i am tired or relaxed and cant be bothered looking for the remote. 2 many thing can set it off, like feet, iPads and your head which is really irritating as you have to keep moving to make it go away. so most of the time the camera is pointed up.
As for the voice control, it does work to some extent but by the time you have said "hi tv power on " 10 times you could have found  the remote and be watching a movie. If you watch through external speakers a lot then beware, the most random of words will set the voice control off. It will have a tizz for about 20 seconds flashing up not understanding then cancel itself off. 
Please ask any questions you like and i will try and answer them for you.




YouTube chanel

Nikon D3200 DSLR review

Nikon D3200 DSLR review

The Nikon D3200 is a great little camera and with 24 mega pixels it has fantastic picture quality.

At first the camera wasn't that easy to use which initially put me off but once you become accustomed to the camera you realise its no that difficult, which took all of 10 minutes.
The built in flash works well, it doesn't wash out pictures and has full manual control(although you have to go into the menu to do this).
The video quality is impressive and there is an input for an external mic which is great, however i would stay away from the auto function and go with the manual settings for video so you can set the ISO and shutter speed.
There is no exposure bracketing feature which makes it harder if you want to HDR photography which is a disappointment but i think the quality makes up for this.
There is a Maximum ISO of 12800 and on night photos the noise is kept to a minimum up to ISO 3200 and even then is barely noticeable on 6400.

This is a great DSLR perfect for entry to mid level users. Below are a few sample photos taken with this camera. Please post any questions and comments.

Digital system cameras

Digital system cameras

So can digital system cameras replace a DSLR. Or at least an entry level DSLR. This is what I will endeavour to find out, and I would like all of my readers opinions.

I currently have a very basic olympus e-410 DSLR which, don't get me wrong is a good little quality camera but I want something with better features. Something that is small which still has plenty of manual features, like aperture, shutter and iso control.

I will start by comparing the which fall under £400 and then by features and options/ accessories available.
This week I will look at the Nikon 1 j1.

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So looking at it, there seems to be a lot of controversy about this camera, and spec wise doesn't live up to its competitors. There are also updates now called the J2 and recent NIKON1 J3. They all look the same and i cant really see and point in the update, apart to make more money. I don't want to be too critical until i have look at some competitors in detail but i'm certainly not going to rush out and buy one.