One of the main features of the PENTAX Optio WG-2 is Digital Microscope mode. With the aide of the 6 LEDs surrounding the lens, PENTAX boasts that you can take super clear macro shots at around 1cm distance from the subject. That is incredibly close so I decided to do a few test on some flowers that my wife got on Mother’s Day. These images have all been re-sized for web usage with very slight adjustment to exposure and contrast in post editing using Lightroom 4.

I’ll say that the images are pretty clear and show a surprising amount of detail, although the images themselves do appear a bit blotchy when you look at them up close in full resolution. However, I’m still very impressed with what I see as not many cameras can even focus at 1cm away and though the images are very noisy, they still look very good in my opinion.

Shop Links

• PENTAX Optio WG-2 (Vermilion Red or Black) - Pentax Optio WG-2 Kit
• PENTAX Optio WG-2 GPS (Orange) - Pentax Optio WG-2 GPS (orange) Kit
• PENTAX Optio WG-2 GPS (White) - Pentax Optio WG-2 GPS (white) Kit

Please Support TheGamerWithKids

I love to bring you guys the latest and greatest reviews whether it be apps or gadgets. However, I can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of the items mentioned on the site, please do so by clicking our links to Amazon first and then purchasing the items.  This way, we get a small portion of the sale and this helps me run the website.

*This review is made possible with my affiliation with G Style Magazine. It is also featured at the G Style Magazine website which is a tech blog that focuses on the fashion aspect of tech. Please visit their site for the complete review and more images.

Related articles

• First Impressions – PENTAX Optio WG-2 Rugged Camera (thegamerwithkids.com)

Sony just announced their new NEX-F3 entry level E-Mount camera and wow does it impress. It’s the followup to their popular NEX-C3 with lots of updated features that could even make their NEX-5N a bit less appealing. Here are some of the updated features:

• APS-C size image sensor with 16.1 effective megapixels
•  180° tiltable LCD for easy self-portraits
• Built-in flash, helpful in low-light conditions
• Auto Portrait Framing for easy, top-quality portraits
• AVCHD (50i/25p) ensures smooth, high quality video
• Clear Image Zoom doubles effective focal length while maintaining full pixel count
• Great results made easy with Superior Auto mode
• Long 470 shot battery life and easy USB charging

The two features that really jump out at you if you’re a current NEX-C3 or NEX-5N user is the new 180-degree tiltable LCD screen and the built-in flash, similar to the NEX-7. I don’t really care that much about the new screen seeing as the NEX-F3 does not have touch functionality like the NEX-5N but that new built-in flash would have been useful on my NEX-5N.

Still, this is a terrific entry level mirrorless system camera and Sony has really upped the ante here. Most of you should already know that I really enjoy my Sony NEX-5N so it’s no surprise that I”m excited about the NEX-F3, despite it being entry level.

Press Release

You may remember a couple of weeks back I had the pleasure of testing out the FujiFilm FinePix F770EXR when it first came out. That was a very compact, 20x optical zoom camera which I actually liked very much. Great image quality and the super zoom really came in handy. Well, FujiFilm this time sent me their latest FinePix HS30EXR which is the complete opposite of the F770EXR when it comes to size. The HS30EXR is very comparable to the size of a standard DSLR, just a tiny bit smaller and even has a protruding lens on it like a DSLR. The only difference here is that it’s a fixed lens that can’t be swapped out. If for some reason the F770EXR wasn’t enough for you, the HS300EXR  should certainly be more than enough with many more features such as a larger optical zoom range (30x), ability to manually focus, an electronic viewfinder, tilt display, and a whole bunch of buttons to play with.

Exterior

The first thing you’ll notice right off is how very similar to a DSLR the HS30EXR is. In fact, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think that this was a DSLR and not a fixed lens, super zoom “compact” camera. Picking the camera up, it has a noticeable weight to it and is not light be any means. The size of the body and the lens contribute to that. If you’re looking for a small, light-weight super zoom camera, I suggest FujiFilm’s smaller F770EXR. The entire camera it matte black, but has no pare plastic exposed. Instead, most of it is coated in that rubbery soft touch coating and portions of the camera are textured to look like leather. This also adds to the DSLR-like feeling you get from the HS30EXR.

Looking at the front of the camera, you’d be hard-pressed to tell that it isn’t a DSLR. There is a huge hand grip on the left and thankfully, it has a textured rubber skin on it for extra grip. It also has a nice groove in it for your fingers which makes it fairly comfortable to hold. To the very top right of the hand grip is where the AF assist light is. I’m not sure I really like the position of this here seeing as how your fingers can get in the way of the light and the position also seems like the popup flash and lens might also hinder its usage. Of course the main feature you’ll notice up front is the fairly large lens. It is about 3-inches long when retracted but can be as long as 5-inches when fully extended. I do like how FujiFilm has this lens marked though where you can easily see what the 35mm equivalent focal length would be at any given turn of the zoom ring. It starts at 24mm and goes all the way up to a whopping 720mm! That’s a pretty broad range coming from 1 lens, which is pretty amazing. One thing to note about the lens, I do find it kind of strange that the focusing ring for the lens is located on the rear near the body instead of up front where they usually are. Not sure why this is but it definitely takes getting used to. Above the lens, you’ll notice 2 little dotted dimples. These are where the stereo microphones are located.

Rotating the camera clockwise to the side, these is where the ports are located. The port cover is a rubber cover that is textured to match the surrounding plastic on the side. You don’t notice it at all and it blends in quite well. I like what FujiFilm did here with the ports and offered up a standard mini-USB port which means that a majority of you already have one of these cables handy. I like when companies use these because it means that I can use my 1 mini-USB cable for a variety of gadgets. I absolutely hate it when cameras come with a custom port that requires a new kind of cable that I am forced to carry around just for that camera. On this side of the camera, you’ll also notice a small speaker opening as well as the neck strap eyelet. Just above that is the flash release button that pops the flash up when you need to use it.

Moving to the back of the camera, those coming from point-and-shoot cameras may be a bit overwhelmed by what they find. What you find out back are a whole bunch of buttons for various functions and settings. Not only are there the usually array of buttons on the right side of the display, you now also have 5 more buttons located on the left side of the display that are used to adjust a variety of shooting options and well as playback options. Most of these buttons on the left though will only be used mostly in the C, M, A, S, and P and Auto mode and will only be functional in the other modes based on what you are doing. Most of the buttons are pretty self explanatory and are labeled pretty well so you’ll be able to at least figure out what most of them do without reading the manual.

The FujiFilm FinePix HS30EXR features a rather nice tilting screen that can tilt to face both up and down. The tilting mechanism feels pretty solid but doesn’t seem to be as nice as the ones I’ve seen from both the Sony NEX-5N and the Olympus PEN E-PL3. Just above the windscreen you’ll find an electronic viewfinder, much like what we saw with the Panasonic Lumix G3 that reviewed a couple months back. However, the viewfinder on the HS30EXR seems better because it has an eye sensor that automatically switches your view from the viewscreen to the viewfinder which I find rather handy so you don’t have to fumble with the button.

The last bit back here on the far right where you’ll find a really nice hump that allows you to grip this area better with your thumb and also helps with the positioning of your thumb in order to use the command dial.

Turning the camera once again clockwise, you’ll find the rather generously sized hand grip. This is thanks in part to the rather large battery included. There is something different here though that I haven’t seen yet with all the other cameras I’ve looked at. Unlike most that have the memory card slot located where the battery is, the HS30EXR has the memory card slot located on the side of the camera separate from the battery. I rather like this design because it is much easier to take the card in and out from the side, especially if you are using a tripod which can get tricky if located on the bottom.

Now lets take a look at the top of the HS30EXR. Looking at it from above, you get a sense of how big and how DSLR-like the camera really is. Up top we get a hotshoe right above the popup flash which is generally where this is located. To the right of the flash, there are 2 dials – the mode dial and the command dial. The mode dial obviously is to choose which mode you want to shoot in while the command dial is used to quickly adjust settings like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Aboce these 2 dials, you’ll find the Exposure Compensation button and Continuous Shooting button. Again, more buttons means less having to fumble through the onscreen menus. Above those two buttons, you’ll find the shutter button with and on/off dial surrounding it.

The bottom of the camera is pretty typical. The battery door is located at the bottom where the hand grip is. The tripod mount hole is also there except I do not really like where FujiFilm has it placed. It is not placed on the center axis of the lens and I think it is located too closely to the batter door. That means that if you have a tripod attached, you will not able to open the batter door and would need to remove it to get to the battery.

Final Thoughts

The FujiFilm FinePix HS30EXR is quite a camera. It’s a natural step up from more compact point-and-shoots for those who want something with more advanced features and more control over the settings. It’s also for those who don’t quite want to deal with a DSLR and the need to buy numerous different lenses for it. The range that the HS30EXR covers takes the place of about 2 or 3 lenses and at a far more reasonable price. With the price of most telephoto lenses these days, I could buy 2 or more of these cameras.

I really like the build quality on this camera and it seems to be really solid to hold and use. It feels very comfortable in my hands and the huge hand grip makes it easy to also shoot one handed if need be. There are a few weird quirks about it like the position of the manual focusing ring and the the position of the tripod mount, but these are things that are easy to live with and does not really affect the overall use of the camera. Overall, I really like the camera so far and hopefully, the photos and feature set of the camera win me over like the design of the camera has so far.

Shop Links

FujiFilm FinePix HS30EXR - Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR Digital Camera

Please Support TheGamerWithKids

I love to bring you guys the latest and greatest reviews whether it be apps or gadgets. However, I can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of the items mentioned on the site, please do so by clicking our links to Amazon first and then purchasing the items.  This way, we get a small portion of the sale and this helps me run the website.

*This review is made possible with my affiliation with G Style Magazine. It is also featured at the G Style Magazine website which is a tech blog that focuses on the fashion aspect of tech. Please visit their site for the complete review and more images.

Related articles

• First Impressions – FujiFilm FinePix F770EXR (thegamerwithkids.com)
• Sample Shots – FujiFilm FinePix F770EXR [Fresh Beat Band Concert] (thegamerwithkids.com)

One of the first things you’ll notice about Candy Toss is the unique art style used. It has a very paper-like style to it. It’s very flat, but also has dimension to it. It is very colorful and I really like how “cute” the character designs are, which should appeal to a lot of people’s senses. There is even ambient music and sound effects thrown in for a overall complete playing experience.

To play the game, you must throw candy at your friends so that they can eat them. You can either try the direct approach or figure out other ways to get the candy to them. Like other physics games, you have to aim your candy and then figure out how much power to use. This affects speed and arch of your shots. It’s pretty basic and should be easy, but it isn’t always the case. For starters, the power levels seem to be off a bit and way too powerful for the size of the levels. Most of the time, you’ll never need to go full power and even when you power up half way, it can still be a bit too strong of a throw. There also the issue of how you aim. I find the aiming to be a bit too erratic and inconsistent at times with no real clear way of how to aim and set power. It’s something I’d like for them to improve upon as it’s makes this generally fun game a bit too frustrating at times.

Despite some of its problems, Candy Toss is a good game. I really enjoy the graphics and the whole atmosphere of the game as well as the the whole premise of the game. I just want the controls to be improved upon. If they can do that, this game would be perfect.

Candy Toss is available now in the App Store for $0.99. It is a universal app and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Description

★★Candy Toss★★
A cute, cheerful and joyous game with full of emotions and especially smiley Melon Mango will not let you stop playing it. It’s time to show your love towards your friends. Mango’s friends are hungry. Candy is what they really want. Remove the hurdles, feed them and make them happy

★★CANDY BONUS★★
Mango by giving more candy to his friends in least time span can get much more bonus points than he can imagine.

★★EXCITING LEVELS★★
There are 25 exciting levels in this game; starting with the simple and becoming the more and more troubled and confusing ones. More levels will come soon.

★★SAVE CANDY FROM BIRD★★
You lose your shot, you lose your candy. Bird will take it away (Challenging huh….???)

★★ The Promise ★★
✔Much, much, more levels coming.
✔Regular updates.
✔We listen to you, so keep posting on the wall.

Hey hey….!!!!

Don’t forget to play it with the right directions and balanced level of energy…!!!

[via App Store]

Related articles

• TGWK’s Review – George of the Jungle v1.3 (iOS) (thegamerwithkids.com)
• TGWK’s Review – Patchworld v2.3.1 (iOS) (thegamerwithkids.com)

I got this in my inbox today and thought it was a really interesting children’s app. It’s called Toontastic and its developed by Launchpad Toys. Toontastic is a story telling app that allows children to draw, animate, and narrate their very own stories and then share them with others. Toontastic was named a Top 5 Education App for 2011 by Apple, and a Top 10 iPad App of 2011 by the New York Times.

The app is free in the App Store so it doesn’t hurt to give it try. I’ll be checking this app out as well and have a review up for it at a later time.

Musubo, a name that I’m not really too familiar with, sent over one of their new iPhone 4/4S cases to me, the Eden. This is one of their new 2012 models and was recently shown off at this year’s International CTIA Wireless 2012 show. Musubo is a company that focuses on both style and function and tries to seamlessly merge them into a beautifully designed case. Like I said above, I was sent the Eden case, which as you can tell is modeled after a plant which is supposed to symbolize peace and tranquility. I will say that it is a very beautiful design and very smartly designed once you get to examine it in your hands.

Packaging

One of the first things that really caught my attention about Musubo and the Eden case was the expensive looking packaging it came in. Unlike most packages I’ve seen lately that are mostly made out of paper and very thin bubble packaging, the Eden came in a rather thick plastic shell case wrapped in a rather large black silicon band. It’s very nice looking and really gives the whole package a feeling of quality and durability. It’s almost like Musubo wanted to make a really good protective case, for the case.

Construction

The Eden is made of polycarbonate plastic, which is what most really strong hard cases are made from, and coated in a glossy white finish. When you first see this thing, you’d think that the Eden was a 1-piece case, but it’s not. It’s actually made of 2 separate pieces that combine together. The inner “colored” piece is actually a separate piece made of soft silicone rubber and helps cushion the iPhone when dropped. It also keeps the back glass portion of the iPhone from touching the plastic portion of the case, which also keeps it from accidental scratches.

The Eden is not a slim fit case. It will add maybe 3-4mm to the thickness of your phone so for those who want to remain “thin” this might now be the case for you. However, the added thickness isn’t really noticeable in your hands. It also doesn’t completely protect the front of the case as the top and bottom edges are exposed so dropping it here could possible cause some damage to your phone. It does however have raised corners which helps keeps the screen from touching the surface if placed face down. I also like how the front edges of the case do not touch the front screen, which helps if you have a screen protector on. Sometimes when the edges touch the screen, it causes the screen protector to bubble up a bit on the edges. This one doesn’t do that which is a big plus.

Like with most of Musubo’s other cases, the Eden also includes a bonus folding video stand which I’ve never seen come with an iPhone case before. Usually I’ll see them built in as part of the case design but I’ve never seen one come with a case separately. The stand actually isn’t that bad, considering it’s a freebie that is thrown in and it’s a nice little bonus.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Musubo did a great job designing the Eden. The case feels like it is very capable of protecting your iPhone while still looking quite fashionable. I like the generous amount of silicon used on the rear to help pad the iPhone but I’m also not really that happy that in doing so, it does make the iPhone much thicker. This is a very pretty case though I think it would appeal more to women than men, mainly based on the design and the wide range of colors it comes in. Still though, if you are looking for something different and eye catching, the Eden is definitely that and one of the more fashionable cases I’ve reviewed in a while.

You can purchase the Musubo Eden now for $34.99 which is a good price considering it also comes with a screen protector and a bonus folding video stand for your iPhone.

Shop Links

Black - Musubo Eden Case for iPhone 4/4S- Black

Blue - Musubo Eden Case for iPhone 4/4S- Blue

Purple - Musubo Eden Case for iPhone 4/4S- Purple

Orange - Musubo Eden Case for iPhone 4/4S- Orange

Green - Musubo Eden Case for iPhone 4/4S- Green

White - Musubo Eden Case for iPhone 4/4S- White

Rose Pink - Musubo Eden Case for iPhone 4/4S- Rose Pink

Please Support TheGamerWithKids

I love to bring you guys the latest and greatest reviews whether it be apps or gadgets. However, I can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of the items mentioned on the site, please do so by clicking our links to Amazon first and then purchasing the items.  This way, we get a small portion of the sale and this helps me run the website.

*This review is made possible with my affiliation with G Style Magazine. It is also featured at the G Style Magazine website which is a tech blog that focuses on the fashion aspect of tech. Please visit their site for the complete review and more images.

Related Articles

• TGWK’s Review – Cygnett ICON Art Series iPhone 4/4S Case Featuring Nathan Jurevicius
• TGWK’s Review – Cygnett Apollo iPhone 4 Case (aka Fused)
• TGWK’s Review – X.Doria Engage Form for the iPhone 4/4s

The game itself isn’t very hard to figure out. If you’ve played any physics based games before, it should be easy to get in to. Tap on the screen and drag your finger outwards. The farther away from George you drag, the farther and harder he’ll throw. Drag in the direction you want him to throw and depending on the amount of force, it will also affect the curvature of his throw. As you progress through the levels, you’ll be presented with more and more different kinds of obstacles that you’ll need to use or overcome to reach your goal. It can get pretty challenging and also a bit frustrating at times, but that’s usually the case with games like this.

George of the Jungle is a challenging game but one that is easy to pick up and play. There are a few inconsistencies that I’ve come across with how the physics in this game are presented and sometimes, the way objects move in the game are a bit off, but I’m sure these are all things that can be fixed in updates. Overall though, it’s a decent game but at the moment, there are only about 30 levels you can play through and it doesn’t really take that long to go through all of them. Again, hopefully the game gets some more levels soon in an upcoming update.

George of the Jungle is available now in the App Store for $0.99. It is a universal app and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

We haven’t given anything away in a while here so this should interest those who might want to win something fun. We’ll be giving away 1 copy of Game of Thrones as well as the limited edition art book. Based on the popular HBO TV show, Game of Thrones the game, will feature an all new storyline.

About the Game

Game Of Thrones, the new roleplaying video game based on the popular HBO TV series and internationally bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire book series, is coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC May 15.  Featuring many familiar locations from the books and likenesses from the TV series, Game of Thrones also delves into a new storyline for fans to discover while immersed in 30-plus hours of original game play.  The game can be preordered now with a limited edition hardbound art book, Game of Thrones: Visuals from the RPG, at the following link: http://www.gameofthrones-thegame.com/purchase.html

How to Enter

Entering this giveaway will be simple.

1. Leave a comment below with you email address or your twitter account name along with which console you’d like the game on as well as whether or not you’re a fan of the show and why. You do not however need to watch the show to win, so if you’ve never seen an episode of it, it’s okay.
2. If you’re on twitter, please follow us at out twitter account, gamerwithkids so that we can DM you if you are chosen. I will not make you tweet stuff daily as I find that to be a bit sill sometimes.
3. Winner will be chosen randomly from those who leave a comment. Basically we’ll take your names and pop them into random.org. That will decide the winner.
4. I will email or DM the winner. They have 48 hours to reply back to me other wise they forfeit the prize and I’ll random pick a new winner.

Giveaway will end on the 15th so all comments made between now and the 15th will be eligible. Obviously since this is a game for mature audiences, please only enter if you are over 18.

Update: Contest is now closed. Winner will be chosen soon and will be contacted today.

Here it is. The random winner of the Game of Thrones Video Game is…….

…@LordWalker135. I will be contacting you shortly.

This is actually really exciting news, even if the camera is going to cost a pretty penny to get. Leica today announced that they’ll be releasing the new Leica M-Monochrome 18-megapixel full frame camera. What makes it exciting is that this will be a fully monochrome sensor meaning it will only shoot black & white. I’m a huge fan of black and white photography as I was really into the format in my younger days when shooting film. The Leica M-Monochrome however comes at a hefty price of $8,000. As intriguing as the camera is, I’m again not sure I would spend that much on a camera, even if it were a legendary Leica.

DP Review has a full gallery of sample images from this very interesting camera that you can check out here.

[via Engadget]

When I saw this, I thought to myself, “wow, I thought a Leica in general was already expensive but a $50,000 special edition?” That’s right, what you’re looking at is a $50,000 Edition Hermes that will be limited to about 300 pieces. That’s an insane amount for a digital camera, even if it is a Leica. I will however say that it’s a pretty nice package they’ve put together but again, I couldn’t see myself buying one, even if I did have that kind of money to burn.

Press Release

[via Engadget]