Etymotic mc5 Review

I'm sure many of you travel on the train quite often, or are also frequent flyers like I am. If you are, I am sure you will have come across many expensive, heavy and impractical noise isolating/canceling headphones. However, there are also lightweight, cost-effective earphones, such as the Etymotic mc5's which I picked up for £59 at Heathrow a couple of weeks ago.
At first I was rather dubious, wondering what such an exceptional brand could offer for such a low price (since most good noise isolating headphones are well over £100) . The box itself seems very high-quality at first-glance, and really stands up to the high-quality, refined Etymotic reputation. 

Inside the box lie the earphones, the carrier-pouch, the filter-removal tool, and the extra earpieces. The earphones feel very high-quality, since they are made of polished aluminium, as oppose to rubber or plastic, and are available in black, blue, red and green. The earphones are accompanied by four different earpieces, two three-flange earpieces, one pair of foam earpieces and a set of standard earpieces. All of these are part of the ACCU-fit assortment of earpieces. There is also a filter removal tool, and two extra filters, the filters act as a barrier to stop ear-wax or other dirt getting in to the speaker. 

When first put in the ear, many people will find them extremely uncomfortable, as I did, however after one or two days, you will get used to the way to insert them, and will really appreciate the amazing sound quality that these headphones boast. The reason for the uncomfortable feeling when inserting them for the first time is partly due to the fact that these earphones are products of years of research, and the best way to isolate noise is to have the speaker inserted relatively far into the ear. As a result of this research, Etymotic have managed to achieve up to 36dB-42dB of noise isolation, equivalent to 98% ! This is the highest amount of noise-cancelling of any in-ear-monitor on the market! You may think that in order to achieve such high isolation figures, the sound quality must have been sacrificed, however, the earphones are extremely accurate, and have a frequency response of  20Hz-15kHz. The earphones have a 4ft long kevlar-reinforced cable. The earphones can also be paired with the custom-fit ear-tips which you can have custom-produced for you, and will be more comfortable, and extremely noise-isolating, these come at the price of £89. 

All in all, the Etymotic mc5's are a pair of very good value, high-fidelity, noise isolating earphone. They are ideal for someone who flies frequently, takes the train often, or just for someone who likes to listen to their music, in high-quality, without all the background noise. They are great earphones that you can now pick up from around £55 on-line form somewhere like Amazon.

Nikon D40 Review

Nikon D40

The Nikon D40 is essentially a very good and comprehensive entry-level digital SLR to use. The D40 has many of the functions you need and although it is not used any more, it is widely available for a low price (£180-£200) on the second-hand market.The images are captured on its 3008x2000 (6.0 megapixel) CCD sensor. It has a sensitivity range of 200-1600, and you can boost it up to 3200 in the on screen menu. Considering the lower resolution I find the images of very high quality. The D40 does not support "sensor cleaning" which is a shame, because it is quite common to get small specs of dust on the sensor when changing lenses, which results in black smudges on the final images which then have to be photoshopped. It shoots in 5 different qualities, NEF(RAW), JPEG BASIC, JPEG NORMAL, JPEG FINE and NEF(RAW)+JPEG BASIC, shooting in RAW allows the photographer alot more freedom with editing when one gets back to the computer. The maximum shutter speed is 1/4000s which   is great for capturing action, and high light-intensity shots. You can put the shutter speed right down to 30s which is good for capturing light trails and the likes. There is also the bulb mode, in which you can leave the shutter open for as long as you choose to, but for this you really need a remote, and there are none (yet) compatible with the D40. The continuous drive mode allows you to take pictures at 2.5fps which is also great for action shots. The metering can be set to spot, center-weighted and 3D matrix metering II; which is great for capturing macro shots.

Stunning low-light image I captured with the D40

What the Nikon D40 really stands out in is its ease of use. The D40 has an extremely well developed user interface, and you dont really need any prior knowledge to take pictures with it. The aperture and shutter priority modes are also very easy to use by using the wheel located at the top right of the camera. There are many different scene options as well such as night portrait and macro which are really helpful for specific shoots.

Image courtesy of Ken Rockwell

Image courtesy of PhotoReview

The D40 is also extremely light compared to its competitors, this makes it an easy camera to take with you on short day trips or even long holidays. It weighs 522g (including the lithium ion battery).

Another area in which it excels is its super bright and clear lcd screen. The screen measures 2.5" and is extremely bright and clear, perfect for examining your images right after taking them. You may think that this bright screen would sacrifice battery life, but no! On one charge you can take an excess of 1000 images ! this makes it easier to travel around, not having to hassle with spare batteries.

The Nikon D40 is compatible with all nikon AF-S and AF-I lenses which makes it great for using with a wide range of focal lengths.

In conclusion, I find the D40 an excellent camera, even if it hasnt got high resolution or "live-view", it still takes breathtaking images, and it is definitely a good option to look into when investing in the amateur SLR market.
If are considering buying a D40, the best place to look would be Amazon