Marantz AV7701 Audio Video Preamp/Processor with Networking and AirPlay (Black)

You looking to find the "Marantz AV7701 Audio Video Preamp/Processor with Networking and AirPlay (Black)" Good news! You can purchase Marantz AV7701 Audio Video Preamp/Processor with Networking and AirPlay (Black) with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $1,699.00    

Product Feature

• Marantz Proprietary audio technologies for superior sound : HDAM and High Current Feedback Technology
• Aluminum front panel and illuminated porthole display, polished and black anodized premium finish. Fold up door conceals additional 2-line FL display
• 7 x HDMI in / 3 x HDMI out Lets you connect your HDMI-equipped devices with a single cable. Enjoy high definition audio and video on up to 3 displays.
• Multi Zone HDMI output allows playback of 2 different video sources simultaneously on 2 televisions,
• Audyssey MultEQ XT, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume

Product Description

The Marantz AV7701 is a 7.2-channel A/V pre-amplifier equipped with state-of-the-art 4K up-scaling video circuitry, 3D pass-through, and networking features such as AirPlay and DLNA. The 4K up-scaling feature transforms video programs of SD and HD picture quality to a resolution as high as 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. The V7701 �s audio circuitry incorporates a rock-solid regulated power supply with custom transformer and a high-speed current feedback amplifier circuit that reproduces a natural sound space, allowing signals from a Blu-ray Disc player or other components that support high-definition audio formats to be amplified with optimum fidelity. Since the AV7701 also supports AirPlay, DLNA 1.5 and other networking features, it can play music files from an iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad wirelessly via AirPlay, as well as from a network-connected PC or HDD. The iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad can even be used to control the main operations of the AV7701. HDMI output is provided from 3 ports, 2 of which can be used for simultaneous output of video sources in the Main zone and 1 in a separate room. The Marantz AV7701 is a versatile pre-amplifier that meets the diverse needs of today� s most demanding music and video enthusiasts.

Marantz AV7701 Audio Video Preamp/Processor with Networking and AirPlay (Black) Review

Running Klipsch KSP-400 mains, C6 center, KSP-300 surrounds, KSW-300 sub, Emotiva XPA-1 5 channel power block. All speakers have powered subs so 5 subs. AV7701 replaced a Denon AV5803 receiver. The results is brighter highs and midrange and tighter bass. The sound is both loud and accurate. I listen to mostly live concert Blu Ray disks of 70's music and at loud volume. Dream Theater and Evanescense too. The setup took time with phone calls to tech support every day for a week. Here is what i discovered with tech support. Run Audyssey and keep it on. Audyssey backed off my subs -12 db the max which i didn't like. I then with the help of tech support created my own settings for bass volume which is 0db and cross-overs. I run all speakers as SMALL, set the volume controls on all powered subs to oh 12 o'clock or more and set the cross-overs to 40 hz on the mains, 60 on the center and 100 on the surrounds. That made a huge difference as the sound is accurate with a ton of bass which is real tight. Movies sound amazing, scary, loud and accurate with loud tight voices out of the center. But the blu ray disks just shake the house down with accurate highs and midrange. Volume rearly can I approach -20 db. My advise is to run Audyssey but create your own overrides to your personal taste. Use tech support to help you until you find the settings that make you happy. The pre amp will deliver clean clear sound but the struggle is getting there. With tech support you will find your setup. Without tech support you will never find it unless you really understand all of this. Its a lot of trial and error, it takes time.

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Blackmagic Design Smartview Duo Rackmountable Dual 8 inch LCD Monitors

You looking to find the "Blackmagic Design Smartview Duo Rackmountable Dual 8 inch LCD Monitors" Good news! You can purchase Blackmagic Design Smartview Duo Rackmountable Dual 8 inch LCD Monitors with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $660.25    

Product Feature

• Switchable between SD, HD and 3 Gb/s SDI. Reclocked loop through output.
• Auto detection of 2K, HD or standard definition inputs
• Display Resolution 800 x 480; Contrast Ratio Typically 500:1; Color Depth 16.7 Million Colors
• Display Size: 8" diagonal
• Rack Height: 3 Rack Units

Product Description

Blackmagic Design HDL-SMTVDUO SmartView Duo Intelligent SDI Rack Monitor Affordable SDI Monitoring with the new SmartView Duo. Get the ultimate in low cost SDI monitoring with SmartView Duo. Perfect for post production, broadcast or live events, SmartView Duo features two large 8 inch LCD screens in a compact rack mount design that's less than an inch thick. SmartVideo Duo handles all SD, HD and 3 Gb/s SDI video standards, and all screens can be remotely adjusted via your ethernet network. Use SmartView Duo in racks for local monitoring, for multi monitor video walls in master control rooms or for camera monitoring for production switchers. With SmartView Duo you can afford to put SDI monitoring everywhere you need. Perfect for Live Production SmartView Duo is perfectly designed for building a video wall for monitoring all sources into live production switchers, and because it's so incredibly thin, it's even perfect for portable setups where you need to save space. Imagine having all your video sources displayed on large 8 inch LCD screens so you can see camera focus and quality. Now you can build full live broadcast presentation monitoring that's small enough to be fully portable. SmartView Duo is lightweight and thin, so it's perfect for outside broadcast vans or even installed into portable monitor racks to reduce shipping costs of flyway kits. Monitor Everywhere. Good quality SDI monitoring is expensive and often makes it hard to put monitoring on all the devices in your racks, or control rooms because costs add up quickly. SmartView Duo eliminates this problem and includes two large beautiful 8 inch displays in a compact 3 rack unit size. You get full loop though SDI connections, and ethernet network connection for setup. SmartView Duo includes easy to use software for Mac and Windows so you can see all the monitors on your network for remote adjustments. That's perfect when you want to color match all screens in a video wall remotely from your laptop.

Blackmagic Design Smartview Duo Rackmountable Dual 8 inch LCD Monitors Review

I had been eying the Blackmagic Smartview Duo for awhile and finally saw a few in use at another facility. It swayed me enough to get three of my own. First of all, each screen is not HD resolution. The actual resolution is probably much closer to SD, but you wouldn't be monitoring critical content on an 8" screen. Having said that, the video looks great and generally accurate. The PC/MAC software control panel lets you adjust the image coloring and brightness per screen or you can link them both together if you want both screens to be the same. The screens can get VERY bright. I ended up dialing mine back to 30%. If you have more than one of these on the same ethernet network, you can even adjust them all at the same time, nice. The monitor has a DB9 GPI triggered tally system where you can get RGB or any combination of colors using simultaneous triggering of the GPI tally. I used red to indicate that a graphics operator is on-air when a video switcher is on that source (requires use of GPO or Tally outs on your video switcher and appropriate cabling). The monitor supports all currently used SDI and HD-SDI resolutions and frame rates with loop-through. Also nice is the Ethernet loop-through, so you can daisy chain all your Smartview monitors without the use of multiple runs of ethernet to a switch. This is very helpful from a wiring standpoint as you will save a ton of cabling by only using one ethernet drop to your monitor. You can even loop it back out to a computer.

The only real drawback I can think of is the lack of a power switch or power control. You have to physically disconnect it from power to power it down. I have been leaving mine on 24/7, but plan on putting them on a power timer or IP controlled power switch (Ubiquity mPower). I wish Blackmagic would add a firmware update allowing either Ethernet power control and/or power down upon loss of source.

Most of the consumer Reviews tell that the "Blackmagic Design Smartview Duo Rackmountable Dual 8 inch LCD Monitors" are high quality item. You can read each testimony from consumers to find out cons and pros from Blackmagic Design Smartview Duo Rackmountable Dual 8 inch LCD Monitors ...

Panasonic AG-AC7PJHD/SD AVCHD CAMCORDERVideo Camera with 23x Optical Zoom with 3.46-Inch LCD(Black)

You looking to find the "Panasonic AG-AC7PJHD/SD AVCHD CAMCORDERVideo Camera with 23x Optical Zoom with 3.46-Inch LCD(Black)" Good news! You can purchase Panasonic AG-AC7PJHD/SD AVCHD CAMCORDERVideo Camera with 23x Optical Zoom with 3.46-Inch LCD(Black) with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $1,226.15 $1,150.00   

Product Feature

• Full HD (1920x1080) and SD (480i) recording to SDHC/SDXC media
• High-resolution 3.32 megapixel 1/4.1-inch MOS imager
• Wide-diameter manual focus ring for smooth precise operation

Product Description

Shoulder-mount AVCHD Camcorder

Panasonic AG-AC7PJHD/SD AVCHD CAMCORDERVideo Camera with 23x Optical Zoom with 3.46-Inch LCD(Black) Review

I have just received this cam today, and I took it out for a test. At HX (9Mbps) the footage quality is so clear and detailed that when you move it to the next 3 higher settings you can't really tell the difference on a large monitor or HDTV unless you are a pro and you know what to look for.

At this same setting, I noticed it uses about 3.64 Mb for each 4 seconds of footage, so if we round it 4 to 4, you'll get 4 hours and 20 minutes out of a 16Gb SD card, matching perfectly the life of the camcorder's battery (4 hrs 50 min).

I am buying a sturdier tripod; even a "solid" photo camera tripod will shake when you touch the controls because there is too little base and top heavy. The two built-in shoes and the microphone and headphones jack are awesome features, and I got them set up with a 160 LED light and a wireless receiver, which complete the functionality and make the overall unit look very professional. I'll see if I can upload some pics.

At the current resolution (9 Mbps HX) I zoomed in on a P-thouch label, and I could literally see the pixels that the letters were made of, I am impressed beyond words with the footage quality.

Think about it this way: if you spend 6 months taking two courses, reading the top 10 books on movie making, and shooting at least 100 hours, experimenting with good editing software, and you finally produce a good quality film for your clients, nobody will ask if you shot with a $400 camera or a $4000 camera. On the other hand if you buy a $5000 camera and your skills leave to be desired, the camera won't make up for your bad creation.

One last word, there are a couple of consumer cameras out there that claim to shoot 60p. [revised] Now there are cameras that will shoot 60p in 720 and 1080 at affordable prices. All in all, for around a thousand bucks, I can't think of a job this camera can't do.

Every feature I need, manual ring control, and a ton of "auto" features. Love it!

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Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras

You looking to find the "Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras" Good news! You can purchase Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $609.00    

Product Feature

• Digitally optimized diagonal fisheye auto-focus lens
• Minimum shooting distance of 5.9 inches
• Offers a 180-degree field of view
• Supplied with a gelatin filter holder

Product Description

Digitally optimized diagonal fisheye auto-focus lensThis digitally optimized diagonal fisheye lens is equipped with a new multi-layer coating technology that reduces both flare and ghosting. By taking advantage of both the distortion aberration, specific to fisheye lenses and the minimum shooting distance of 15 cm (5.9 inches), the photographer can shoot creative images.

Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras Review

Have been using the Sigma 15mm Fisheye for some weeks on a 5Dii and have taken about 1.000 shots with it. The short story: its a great lens that has lots to offer for anyone who like wide angle shots. Colors and flare resistence is tops. Centre sharpness is very good even wide open, while corners tend to be soft and suffer CA unless it is stopped down.

Fisheye lenses have a mixed reputation, which is a shame as they are some of the most versitile lenses around. Some of the bad reputation comes from the fact that some people think all fisheyes are "round". However, the Sigma 15mm is diagonal fisheye, and fills the picture across the entire sensor.

But why a fisheye at all? Three main reasons;
1) its wider than a standard lens (so 15mm fisheye is much wider than a 14mm standard lens)
2) by not correcting the light (as much as a traditional lens), the fisheye should have less flare and
2) better - even spectacular - colors.

And when it comes to flare resistance the Sigma 15mm shines. Colors are also great, but fisheye lenses can be very tricky for the camera's light meter. So with my 5Dii I often shoot @ f/-2/3 to f/-1� to compensate for overexposure at bright daylight.

Some people complain that the Sigma may hunt at low light, but I do not find it more difficult to use than most other lenses - actually I find it quite good. It has worked fine from early morning, over heavy rain to dark night.

Versatile? You bet! The important aspect of shooting a fisheye is to use the focal plane very actively in your shots. There is a dramatic shift in the look and feel of a shot depending on the tilt to the horizon and where in the picture plane your objects are.

Also, as long as you shoot "rounded" objects such as people, a fisheye often works better than a traditional wide lens like the Canon 14L. On the other hand its not very good at buildings unless you use software to correct.

Finally, the ability to use software to straighten out the curved lines makes fisheye lenses more versitile than ever.

For me the Sigma has been a hit. My impression from reading reviews etc. on the net is that there is no significant difference between the Sigma and the Canon, so get whichever is the cheapest where you live (that's what I did).

[Please disregard the previous review about vignetting. This lens has almost none even on a full frame. The user just forgot to take of the entire lens cap before shooting...]

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Pentax K-30 Weather-Sealed 16 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens (Black)

You looking to find the "Pentax K-30 Weather-Sealed 16 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens (Black)" Good news! You can purchase Pentax K-30 Weather-Sealed 16 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens (Black) with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $689.99 $675.09   

Product Feature

• 16 MP APS-C CMOS sensor
• Full weather sealing for worry-free use in any weather condition; Rugged coldproof design for sub-freezing use (-10C, 14F)
• Full 1080p30 HD video features h.264 compression, flexible exposure control, and HDR finishing options
• Advanced SAFOX IXi+ autofocus engine features AF assist lamp, light source sensor, and improved optical components
• 3-inch LCD is wide angle viewable, and features 921,000 dots of resolution

Product Description

Encased in a compact fully weather sealed body, the Pentax K-30 digital SLR comes equipped with a host of advanced photographic tools for the easy creation of great pictures in any weather condition. This compact but solid Pentax K-30 digital SLR comes equipped with a host of advanced photographic tools for the easy creation of great pictures, while delivering high standards of image quality, data processing speed and operability. � � Developed using the highly acclaimed Pentax K-7 as its base, the K-5 inherits the exceptional reliability, user-friendly operation, array of advanced features and compact, lightweight body of its predecessor. � � � However, it is more resourceful and flexible in photographic expression. Combining a new high-speed, low-noise CMOS image sensor it produces super-high-resolution, rich-gradation digital images with approximately 16.3 effective megapixels, even when shooting in the continuous shooting mode at a maximum speed of approximately 6 images per second. � �It also offers an extra-wide sensitivity range between ISO 100 and ISO 25600 (when expanded via a custom function) and full HD-proportion movie recording at 1920 x 1080p @30/25/24 fps w/h.264 compression to expand the boundaries of high-quality visual presentation. � � In camera sensor shift image stabilization that allows usage with any K-mount lens. Adding other improvements and refinements--such as a faster autofocusing speed, an upgraded HDR (High Dynamic Range) function now usable in handheld shooting, and better operability through an overall review of the design and shape of all components - the K-30 is designed to be more functional and maneuverable in every detail, and in its response to the demands of the photographer in any weather condition.

Pentax K-30 Weather-Sealed 16 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens (Black) Review

DISCLAIMER: This review is from a still-shooter's perspective. I don't use video that often so look elsewhere if you want an in-depth review of the video functions on this camera.

Updated 7/24/13

The K-30 is an excellent DSLR for still shooting and offers a very robust feature set for the money. It has since been replaced by the K-50 in Pentax's lineup but the differences between the two are minute. So unless you want access to the new DAL WR lenses, you can save yourself some money by going with this model (I suggest getting the kit with the 18-135 WR).

Image quality from this camera is excellent. It has the same look as files from the K-5 (except for slightly inferior dynamic range)..bright, punchy, and sharp. The camera produces exceptionally clean files right through ISO1600 and even through ISO6400 it does a good job balancing noise, noise reduction, and detail capture. The 18-135 WR is a good starter lens due to its focal length. It's sharp at the wide angle but gets sort of soft at the telephoto end (not an uncommon problem with zoom lenses). But despite middle of the road optical performance...you aren't going to find a kit with an 18-135 weather sealed lens for under $1,000 from the other guys...so it's still a worthwhile purchase.

Speaking of RAW files... Pentax saves RAW files in the Adobe dng file format exclusively with this camera and does away with the .PEF format on their older cameras. This is a wonderful feature because this universal file format will open in most photo editing software (I use Apple's Aperture and I had no problem opening the files).

The only real downsides to this camera image quality-wise that I can think of is that the camera has a tendency to underexpose a little and the colors are somewhat inaccurate (and a tad oversaturated) in its default setting. However, these are only minor demerits and are easily adjustable in the camera settings. And on the exposure issue, I would rather the camera underexpose and retain detail than overexpose which makes it harder to recover lost detail in some instances.

In other areas of performance... the AF performance is a distinct improvement over the K-x and K-r and is about on par with the K-5. In most shooting situations, it performs quite well, but it can struggle in low-light situations sometimes. One good thing about the 18-135 WR lens is that it has a built-in focusing motor so that helps AF performance overall. Shot-to-shot times are good, and the camera's burst speed performs as advertised with a decent buffer.

The K-30, like its predecessors, offers a pretty good set of still shooting features for the enthusiast crowd. Things like Chromatic Aberration adjust as well as the highlight correction option which helps preserve detail. You can also convert JPEGS back to RAW in this camera which is something very unique. It also has a RAW button on the front of the camera like the K-5 did. The viewfinder is great, 100% coverage with a high degree of magnification.

The camera is comfortable hold and shoot with. It is not a light camera overall, but it feels very solid and well-made and of course its weather-sealed. I have yet to test its weather-sealing so I can't vouch for how good it is, but from the reviews I've seen, it works as advertised (just don't completely submerge it in water though). I especially like having dual dials which is something that isn't terribly common on a sub-$1,000 DSLR. Overall the menu system is similar to its predecessors although the main interface has been redesigned a little to make it look more modern. The LCD on back is generally nice but has issues in direct sunlight like a lot of them do. One thing the camera does have is pretty snappy AF performance in live-view, which sets it apart from most other DSLRs. It's not lightning-fast, but it is faster than any other DSLRs I have seen, and is only bested by Sony's DSLT models and most Micro 4/3rds cameras as well.

The battery port is the same as the K-r. It comes with the same Lithium Ion battery pack which delivers okay battery life. However, like the K-r, AA batteries can be used with the same adaptor that was used with the K-r. So that's one bonus if you're thinking about upgrading from the K-r.

As for the video... it's good from what I have seen and an improvement over its predecessors. But Pentax does not offer an external microphone jack... which is a puzzling omission at this price point. If you are equal parts stills and video enthusiast.... the Canon Rebel T5i/700D is a better choice in this class of camera.

Despite being a year old, the K-30 remains good value for money. And since its successor offers no real benefits over this model (only slight improvements), you can save yourself some money and buy this model instead while it's still around. For still shooting, it's one of the best APS-C cameras on the market.

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