During my most recent trip to Taipei, in Taiwan, I attended one of the world’s largest computer trade shows,
Computex. I was commissioned by memory specialist leaders
Sandisk to create a
video and a series of images (post to follow shortly) to be showcased at the trade show.
I travel a lot shooting for magazines and brands and I am always either taking pictures or connected to the internet. Basically I was able to stay connected and take pictures and videos in the morning but by lunchtime or by the end of the day my battery was dead. I would have to charge my cellphone at every opportunity, so every time I would spend more than ten minutes at the same location, I would take advantage of the local electricity to recharge my phone. This gets old fast, so during a break from one of my presentations for Sandisk I had a walk around the floor. The Anker booth was very close and I had already noticed them. I had a good look around their booth and even took some quick iPhone pictures so I could later go back and compare specs on their products.
After all the comparisons I went back and picked up the Anker 2nd Gen Astro3 because it is the perfect solution for keeping your phone’s batteries running non-stop – it is affordable, durable, and most definitely useful. The device comes pre-charged out of the box and only takes about 4-8 hours from my experience to gain full of charge again. One unique feature with this device is that it comes with 3 USB outs. Most external batteries only have 2, but this device has been able to accommodate 3 which allows you to charge multiple devices at once. This is quite handy and in the following weeks I have used my ASTRO 3 on numerous shoots. It’s always great to be on location in the middle of nowhere, without electricity and still be able to charge your creative director’s or client’s phone. I have also found it very useful aboard planes, trains and basically anywhere on the go.
The Astro 3 is going to be packed away as a permanent part of my photography and travel kit.
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| Above – My camera bag of choice is the Thinktank Airport Takeoff. I am always changing out what’s in my bag as I like to customize my gear depending on the project. There are a couple of things in my Kit that never change: My Anker Astro 3 and My Anker Bluetooth speaker have become solid parts of my kit, much like my Sandisk memory cards or my BlackRapid camera strap. |
Here is a quick rundown of the Anker Astro 3 specs:
* Powerful 12000 mAh capacity specification
* The unit is compact in size and weighs in at 10 1/2 ounces.
* Attractively designed and covered in a rubberized coating that is easy to grip and it hides most fingerprints.
* There is no push button for starting the charging of your device or to read out the battery’s charged capacity using LED lights. You have to shake the battery to start a charging process or to read out the battery’s charged capacity.
* It has 10 LED lights in a circle that show the battery charge.
* There is no ON button so when you plug in a device just shake the battery and that begins the charging process of your device. It is recommended that you unplug your device when it is fully charged.
* There are three USB power output ports. The Smart USB is rated at 5VDC at 2.4 Amps and it is the most powerful battery charging port I have seen so far. The other two USB ports are rated at 5 VDC and 2.0 Amps. I could charge my iPhone 5 in one port and my iPad 3 in the other port.
* You can charge three items simultaneously.
* The battery pack can output 4 Amps at one time and that is also the highest rated battery pack I have tested up to this date.
* The battery uses Lithium Ion battery technology.
* The battery pack can be recharged 500+ times
* Warranty is 18 months
I have been so delighted with my Astro 3, I decided to have a better look at the Anker website. I am always on the look out for handy practical gadgets. I have wanted a portable speaker for a while, because having music on set can really make or break the mood, but with my shoots being all over the world it’s complicated to find a powerful, quality portable speaker. Until now. This Portable Speaker is a boombox in the palm of your hand.
The speaker sounds excellent for its size and is loud enough to fill a decent-sized room. My set has never quite been the same since I purchased the Portable Speaker. My team smiles a lot more and my models dance a lot more, all in all helping me create the best mood and atmosphere for any shoot anywhere.
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| Keeping all my Anker gear safe and in one place thanks to ThinkTank |
With so manny cables and wires and adapters and chargers to keep track of, I try and have my gear as organized as possible and that means I have a specific case or bag for all my gear.
In my hunt for the perfect camera bag I found ThinkTank Photo. They are a great camera bag company who makes bags for photographers, by photographers.
To keep tabs on my Anker stuff I picked up a camera bag that’s normally used for mirrorless cameras.
The Mirror less Mover 5 is scaled to fit today’s compact, mirrorless cameras, this collection of bags offers the same top quality materials and craftsmanship that Think Tank is known for.
