I have had "real" dSLR cameras for the last 8-10 years but there are many situations where the only camera with me is my smartphone or it is the camera that is the most convenient to use. Unlike many smartphone users where this becomes their only camera, my smartphone is my supplemental camera. I believe in using the right tool for the right job.

I have bought 30-50 different lenses over the years but the two that I have consistently come back to are the Olloclip and the Moment Lens. 

The Olloclip

There is no denying the Olloclip has become a sensation. Since their Kickstarter launch, they have continued to grow their portfolio with new products and by supporting new smartphones (iPhone 4/4s/5/5c/5s/6/6 plus and the Samsung Galaxy S4/5).

Until their most recent iphone version, the Olloclip was always designed to work (sans case) by attaching to the corner of your smartphone. The new iPhone 6 version is snaps on the top middle and works with both the front and back cameras (your welcome selfie lovers.)

The new iPhone 6 version also comes with with the above keyring holster so you are less likely to lose yours (trust me this was a problem with their older products). This one $79 package gives you 4 different lens options:

• Fisheye
• Wide-Angle
• 10x Macro
• 15x Macro

 So from a value perspective, it is a great offering. But... The new clip on the middle design is a pain in the ass. Aligning  the lens with the iPhone camera takes time and patience. Plus sometimes you will knock it out of alignment by mistake. Remember that the iPhone 6 and 6 plus have beautifully smooth bodies with rounded edges which means there is nowhere for the lens to clip or grab onto. There were times when I lost a great photo opportunity because the lens had moved and I had to waste a couple of seconds to realign the lens.

The second complaint about the Olloclip is something I have had since the beginning: you cant use it with a case. Taking the case of your phone every time you want to take a picture quickly becomes annoying and I will not carry a nude iPhone.  

The Moment Lens

The moment lens feels more like a "real" dSLR type lens. It has an all metal construction and attaches to your phone with a 2 piece bayonet system that is easy and solid. Moment lens is $99 per lens (each lens performs one function). You immediately realize this is aimed at the more high end market. Everything just feels more solid and higher quality. The lens is big and beautiful. And it produces exceptional pictures. 

The above image shows the mounting plate you stick onto your smartphone. It comes with a very strong 3M branded sticky tape already applied onto the plate. To install the lens you insert the lens into the plate's grove and turn it 90 degrees to lock in place. 

The mounting system allows you to use the lens system even with some thin cases (I use it with the original Apple leather case and it works great. This is a good time to mention that the Moment lens works with iPhone 4/4s/5/5s/6/6 plus, ipad Air/Air2/mini/mini retina and a handful of android devices (Nexus 5, Samsung Galaxy S4/5, Galaxy Note 3/4).

The negative part of their plate installation system is that once the plate is installed, it will require a tremendous amount of force to remove. They include a second set of 3M tape but when you remove the plate, it will be bent and not reusable. Extra plates cost $9.99 each which is expensive considering you just shelled out $99 for a lens.

Since I've had my lens kit, I have replaced my iPhone 3 times which means I have had to buy more mounting plates. Moment lens believes it can solve the plate problem by creating a new case that adds dSLR like functions and I think they are right (it is on kickstarter now). Unfortunately this case won't work with last year's iPhones or any Android device.

Conclusion

If you are a photo snob and are looking for the best quality lenses you can buy (and lenses that will work for your future devices) then Moment is king. Even though it is bigger, heavier and more difficult to carry. 

If you want something that gives you more photography options but you are a filter obsessed person anyway (aka less concerned about quality), go for the Olloclip.

Before I start the review about the actual device itself, I want to take a step back and talk about why you may want an external flash for your smartphone (iPhone or Android).

The importance of Flash in photography

Every hobbyist and professional photographer knows and understands the technical fundamentals of a camera (ISO, Shutter, Aperture, etc). But even with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of photography, your picture will only look Mehhhh!

Truly beautiful photos are works of art and are snapshots of how the photographer sees the world.  One of the most the most powerful and useful tools a photographer has is the use of light (natural or artificial).

This is why Apple spend a lot of time and money developing their True Tone flash.  
The Apple camera system takes a quick snapshot of the scene and measures the ambient color to produce a flash colour that is more pleasing (the Apple True Tone flash can produce up to 1000 different colours to perfectly match the target). But..

Let's talk about some important facts regarding photography :

1 - Don't be afraid of the flash

Many people fear the flash because they believe it will produce harsh unpleasing pictures. Sure but that is like saying you don't want to drive because you may hit someone. It all comes down to how you use it. The proper use of flash can be a beautiful artistic expression. The improper use of flash can produce mug-shot like snapshots. 

2 - Your built in flash sucks

Whether talking about a point and shoot, dSLR or smartphone, your device's built in flash should only be used as a lighting of last resort. Ideally you want a flash that is bigger and that can be positioned in different ways. 

Nova: Even though the iPhone 5s/6/6plus flashes are amazing, they are still close to the camera which makes them a flash of last resort. If you want great pictures, your flash has to be farther away which is what the Nova does.

3 - Bigger is better

You want the strongest and largest flash that is practical for the situation you are in. Strongest also means it has to have a mechanism to someone throttle the output power but that the power is there if you need it. Plus having a larger flash area means light will be more distributed (less concentrated) and will therefore look more natural.

Nova: The Nova is several times larger than the built in flash which means it produces a softer more pleasing light than the built in flash.

4 - Bounce that flash

You want the flash surface to be as big as possible so one very cheap and commonly used technique (with an external flash) is to bounce it off a wall or ceiling. 

Nova: Because the Nova is a portable unit, it allows you to bounce the light of a wall, ceiling or any other object.

5 - Use light to paint your subject

A newbie thinks the purpose of the flash is to get perfect well balanced exposure but a true expert sees light as a paint brush with which he can decorate his canvas. Just look at the above picture taken in an abandoned factory. The way Jason used light is incredible.

6 - Use colour gels with your flash

Photographers use flash gels to ensure the light from the flash matches the ambient light they are working with. As an example if you are taking indoor photos under incandescent light (which is more warm) you don't want to use a cold blue-ish light.

Nova: Because Nova allows you to play with the colour of the output light, you can get really creative. In addition to these settings, you can tape thin colored plastic to the flash (instead of expensive photography gels) and get cool artistic pictures.

7 - Use flash to supplement natural light

In most cases, start with the available natural light and then supplement with your flash. Learn how to master natural light first. 

Introducing the Nova Photos Smartphone Flash

So why did I spend the time to write the above general photography recommendations? Because they ALL apply to smartphone photography and this is why any serious iPhoneographer or Androidographer should consider purchasing one (or a couple).

The Nova Photos flash is a credit card sized self contained unit with 40 LEDs and is controlled by their iPhone app (android coming too). The device is powered by a built in USB rechargeable battery.

When charged, it automatically connect to their Nove photos iphone app via bluetooth (no power switch to toggle) and is ready to serve in seconds. 

Since this is a portable device, it can be used for normal photography ( using the high quality back camera) or for annoying selfies (using the lower quality front facing camera). Now you can annoy your facebook friends with selfies taken in the dark.

The Nova Photos iPhone App

Its a pretty basic app for taking pictures. No filters or advanced photography features. 

Basically it is used to connect to the flash and set the flashes colour temperature and output power. All pictures are saved to your "normal" camera roll.

They have opened up the flash to developers and I'm hoping the fine folks behind Camera+ add support for Nova in a future release.

The quality

The device is all plastic but doesn't feel cheap. It feels relatively well built and you should get years of use with proper care. The internal battery is not user serviceable which means when the battery starts to die, you will need to buy a new Nova. Most common rechargeable batteries give you 300-500 full charges so you should get 2-3 years of good use before the battery becomes an issue.

On a full charge, I was able to get about an hour worth of casual shooting (about 100-150 pictures). You can't charge and use the device at the same time. As an example, I would have loved to connect the flash to an external battery with a long USB cable and continue using it (but this is not an option). 

The flash doesn't have a 1/4 20 mount which means you can't use it with any of the iPhoneography rigs available. The only option I found was to use it with a smartphone clamping system like the Joby GripTight (link) , Glif Adjustable (link) or the ShoulderPod S1 (link). You can use these to prop up the Nova flash in any desired direction.

The color 

The Nova Photos flash does allow you to change the power output and change the colour of the flash. The warm LEDs do a great job but I found the cool ones not blue enough.

I wish the cool setting was more cool (aka blueish).

I wish their app had a feature to "measure the brightness and color of the light" to automatically tune the flash output (similar to how TTL works on a dSLR. 

Conclusion

After testing this thing for 2 weeks, I say get it. At $59 its pretty easy to justify for almost anyone that spent $800 on a smartphone (link).

• It is better than the built in flash
• It is more versatile than the built in flash
• It works with your Facetime camera (aka selfie camera)

It isn't perfect... I made some recommendations that I hope Nova listens to. One other recommendation is the ability to use multiple Nova flashes at the same time for more creative options. I would like their app to be able to control multiple flashes (ideally each with its own settings).

Energizer has release a new line of "Eco" branded alkaline batteries that contain 4% recycled material. While speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Michelle Atkinson, the Chief Marketing Officer admitted that there is a problem related to recyclers not processing alkaline batteries right now. Energizer hopes that by creating economic value for this recycling, they can jump start this new line of business for recyclers. 

Why aren't alkaline batteries being recycled today 

Companies stopped using mercury in the mid 90s therefore most jurisdictions allow consumers to simply discard them with their normal household trash. Sure there is some steel (top and bottom covers) but this is so small the recovery cost would outweigh any sale receipts. 

Energizer Eco Advanced only contains 4% recycled material

My first reaction when I learned about this battery was "Only 4% recycled material hardly seems like a breakthrough". Energizer has said it wants to continue research to increase the proportion slowly over time (reaching  40% by 2025). 

On a positive note, Energizer claims this is their highest performing alkaline battery to date, which is definitely a good thing. There is a very slight price premium per pack for these Eco batteries compared to their regular products. 

Conclusion

Recycling is a fantastic exercise and anything that allows us to reduce our use of natural resources is definitely commendable. The reality is that these batteries only contain 4% recycle material which is nice but not earth shattering. 

Plus it is important to keep in mind that many store brand batteries cost much less and perform almost as well as the name brands. So Energizer is hoping the Eco budget will appeal to an environmentally conscious crowd that is less cost conscious (aka willing to spend more to feel good about themselves).

The major breakthrough will be when they finally get over 40% recycled.

Related Articles:

• Secret to picking the right AA battery

• Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable battery review

You want to know who the CEO of Bombardier is so you ask Google "CEO of Bombardier" and it answers with the above. 

You can use this same search for countries "prime minister of Canada"

Or for sports teams "commissioner of the NHL"

You're at your desk and need to perform a quick math calculation but can't find a calculator nearby? Type "Calculator" in the Google Search box and voila.

You get a real interactive working calculator in your browser. 

You can also enter a calculation in the Google search field

Or enter some basic algebraic equation 

You just ordered pizza and want to find out how much you need to tip the delivery guy. Go to Google and search for "Tip calculator"

Enter your information and voila.

You know there is a Secretary day but can't remember when? Ask Google. Search for "Secretaries day" and voila.

You can search for historically significant dates such as "When did WW2 start"

You can ask for dates related to important people such as "When what John a MacDonald born"

Do any google search you want then type "Do a barrel roll" and watch the entire Google search results page turn around.

Just ask Google for "Weather" and it will give you the weather in your area. Ask for "Weather in XX" and it will give you the weather in that location.

I'm heading to San Francisco in February for a CIO conference and want to know the average temperature so I just search for "weather in san francisco in February" and Google provides the answer

Everyone wants to be healthier by eating more fresh foods but fresh foods don't come with nutrition labels. Use Google as your own private nutritionist. Searching for "brussel sprouts", Google presented me with:

Google has nutritional information on over 1000 different fruits, veggies and processed products. 

How many carbs in a cup of white rice? Google knows

I can ask Google when the next game for a particular sports team is. In the above example I can see the Canadiens are playing the Predators on Jan 20 at 730PM in Montreal.

I can also check the scores of the last Montreal Canadiens game versus the Islanders by simply searching for "montreal canadiens vs islanders"

Let's say I know nothing about the NBA and want to know what teams are in the NBA, I can search Google for "NBA Teams" and would be presented with an answer ribbon.

Clicking on any of the team icons would present an infopage about that specific team

If I want to know how the teams are doing, I can search for "NBA team standings"

Same thing can be done for any other major sport

2014 was the year of the hack. The year of the spectacular hack. You know this because these major incidents were reported in your run of the mill 6PM news show (not just the tech press).

As we start a fresh new year, what can we expect?

This isn't your father's malware

Virus' and malware started out (in the early days of computing) as a way to show hacking was possible but didn't harm anything. Then we started seeing basic virus' that wipe the MBR of a hard-drive but this was easily recoverable. Then we had a lull where virus' were boring and unspectacular. 

A couple of years ago we started seeing malware designed to convert your home computing devices into zombies to power the DDoS attack armies of evil doers everywhere (computer, smartphone, router, smart devices, etc). End of last year we finally found out about Regin (link, link). Regin seems to be the most sophisticated espionage tool the world had ever seen. 

This uber capable malware is stealthy and remained unknown for years while it gathered intelligence for its master from government, research institutions, telecommunication companies, airlines, corporations and individual. Researchers believe this was state-sponsored but aren't pointing a finger to any specific country. 

Looking at the tools we use to detect and analyse malware, we also see a significant increase in the number of highly targeted and extremely sophisticated that easily slips through traditional antivirus based security tools. Late in 2014 we even saw a couple that are also cautious not to run in a clean virtualized environment to prevent detection by behavioural scanning engines.  

Expect 2015 to be an "interesting" year with highly advanced malware that will require a new bread of detection tool.

Enter a flight number in the Google search box and it will show you the up to date departure and arrival time information. 

I travel many times during the year and when in a foreign city, I use Google to find things I may need (pharmacy, bank, restaurant, etc).

In the above example, I searched for a Pharmacy near a Montreal landmark.

I can search for anything else my heart desires. This is incredibly valuable when traveling to a location you have no knowledge of. Plus the ratings and telephone numbers are right there for immediate use.

A question I receive regularly is 

Here is my answer to that question.

I have been a happy Canon shooter for the last 7 years. I use to own a tone of Canon glass (lenses) and accessories but they are all gone. Replaced by something I wouldn't even have though of 6 months ago, a Sony A6000 mirrorless camera. It has turned out to be the best everyday and travel camera for the average Joe.

Travel Camera Requirements

As a frequent traveller, I am always looking for ways to cut my travel weight. How can I upgrade my gear to be smaller, lighter and more usable? I quickly realized these requirements weren't only applicable when travelling. Owning the prosummer Canon dSLR cameras, I often found myself leaving the kit at home and snapping pics with my iPhone. Why? Weight and size. There were many times (even when in my home city) that I just didn't want to carry a large backpack (Lowepro) just to take pictures so I surrendered to sub-par smartphone quality pictures.

The Sony

I watched a Youtube video from Nikon pro photographer Jason Lanier about why he left Nikon for Sony (link). As I continued reading and talking to photographers I had met over the years, more and more of them have been converting to Sony.

There are hundreds of technical write-ups and reviews about the Sony A6000 (which is the new brother of the older NEX-5/NEX-7), so that's not the purpose of this article.  The purpose of this article is to provide food for thought.

Why I love the Sony A6000

It is small, light, fast and offers incredible pictures. It delivered wonderful 24 megapixel images at 11 frames per second (in good light). 

At first I was looking at the Olympus Micro Four-Third systems but was put off by the small sensor. The Sony's cropped sensor is bigger than the Micro Four-Third ones (Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, etc). Bigger sensors are better especially in low light. 

As a non-professional user, I don't need a hundred lens options but I do need a good selection and you won't be disappointed. I have tested some Sony lenses and everyone of them has been excellent. I am now testing the Sigma 30MM (f2.8) which is turning out to be a little gem (write-up coming shortly). There is an incredibly rich lens ecosystem for the Sony E-mount system.

The camera itself is small, light and compact but all of the lenses are also light, small and compact. A Sony 18-200 is 30-40% smaller than its smallest Nikon or  Canon counterpart. 

The Sony A6000 has an unbelievable 179 points of phase-detecting auto-focus. The Canon 70d (which is their comparable prosummer camera) has 19 auto-focus points. Auto-focus on the Sony A6000 is fast and accurate which means less blurry shots. This is especially wonderful when you are visiting a foreign land you may never come back to.

Even in automatic mode (which I rarely use), the camera takes wonderfully detailed and sharp pictures. It has a fantastic ability to properly determine the situation and switch the camera into an optimized shooting mode.

The Sony A6000 has an electronic viewfinder (as opposed to the optical viewfinder included in most Canon and Nikon prosummer dSLRs.) Some complain that an EVF is not as good but I disagree. An EVF means you are seeing exactly what the camera will capture which means there are no surprises (filters, modifications and in-camera improvements).

Last but not least is the price. You can pickup a Sony A6000 with 2 great kit lenses for under $1000 which is an incredible value. Amazon has it with a 16-50mm and 55-210mm lens kit for under $1000 (link)

Negative points

There are only 2 negative points that I want to mention.

The camera is not weather-sealed.This means that if you use it in dusty environments, you can expect dust to penetrate the device (and don't use it under the rain).

The WIFI smartphone based control system is functional but far from efficient. I wish Sony would improve it.

Conclusion

Overall this is a fantastic camera. I loved it so much, I sold my Canon equipment in the first month. It is a fantastic camera for travel and a fantastic camera for everyday use. Since buying it, I find I carry it around more and therefore have better pictures.

The pictures I take are tack sharp, clear and well balanced. I normally take all my pictures in RAW format and use DXO Optics Pro 10 to improve them and produce phenomenally wonderful final JPG images.

DPReview Review

You can use Google as a timer. Just enter "Set Timer for XX minutes" and voila. At the end it will beep.

You can also set a timer for a specific time by entering it as "Set timer for hh:mm". It will set a countdown timer to that specified time and again beep at the end. You have to press OK to stop the beeping.

Pressing the little square box makes the timer go fullscreen