Category: Product Reviews

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Powered USB Hub for More Ports

It seems that laptop computers never have quite enough ports for all of the hard drives and other peripherals you may need to connect. I found that to be especially–and painfully–true with the original MacBook Pro featuring the powerful M1 processor but with only two USB-C ports.

While there are many USB hubs available that provide additional ports for expansion, many of these hubs can prove frustrating because they aren’t able to provide a reliable connection for bus-powered hard drives, meaning hard drives that use a single cable for both data and power without an external power adapter.

Through trial-and-error I found a USB hub that provides a great solution including providing power for devices such as bus-powered hard drives.

The USB hub I’m using now connects to a USB-C port. It includes two USB-C ports on the hub, with one of those being used for power input. This is what enables the hub to power the various hard drives and peripherals I might connect to the hub.

With power plugged in the hub still has an available USB-C hub, and since the power goes into the hub the second USB-C port on my laptop remains available. The hub also includes two USB-A ports, an HDMI video connection, SD and Micro SD card readers, and an Ethernet port.

I’ve been very happy with the port expansion provided by the hub I’m now using. You can learn more about the Anker 8-in-1 USB hub here:

https://amzn.to/363PaVt

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Loupe for Sensor Cleaning

Carson SensorMag™ Loupe with LED Illumination.

In a few of my recent Ask Tim Grey eNewsletters I have addressed the subject of cleaning the sensor on a digital SLR camera. Part of that overall process involves evaluating the sensor (which really means evaluating the filter in front of the sensor) to see if there is any dust or other debris that needs to be cleaned.

One of the common approaches to checking for dust on a sensor is to capture a test photo of a blank wall or similar surface. However, in my experience it is far more effective (and I think easier) to simply get a close look directly at the sensor with the help of a loupe with a built-in illumination source.

I have been using the Carson SensorMag™, and have found it to be very helpful in evaluating whether the sensor on my camera needs cleaning. I use the SensorMag to check the condition of the sensor before cleaning, and again after cleaning to make sure I’ve done a thorough job.

The SensorMag provides a 4.5X magnification, along with strong LED illumination built-in. This loupe can be set on the lens mount of the camera body when the camera is set to manual sensor cleaning mode. In addition, the loupe can swivel out of the way so you can still make use of the LED illumination while cleaning the sensor.

You can find the Carson SensorMag here to get more information:

https://amzn.to/2LDw4cQ

And of course there are also a variety of other similar products from other manufacturers that provide the same features. The key is to make sure you have a loupe with good magnification and with a built-in LED illumination source.

(Note that as an Amazon Associate I may earn from qualifying purchases for some of the links included on this website.)