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AP ROO review & photoshoot (pic heavy)

murklemark

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28/7/10
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Hi guys, following on from other reviews i've done, heres my review of my new arrival, AP ROO @12.

This watch was a bit of a 'hail mary', i've been interested in AP's for a while but never tried one on, this one popped up in the T4D sales thread and i thought it was a good opportunity to try one out, so like a whippet i bought the watch (along with a few more) and awaited for the purchase to arrive...

The Service
Again Roberts service was impeccable, i placed the order but unfortunately my online bank was down for maintenance, luckily Robert said he'd keep the items on hold for a couple of days until i could send him the money. Once the money was wired over it took a couple of days for Robert to email me my EMS number. All i can say is hope Roberts lady is as impressed with his speed as i am, the watches arrived 5days later! They were very well packaged and in perfect working condition when they arrived. Great service.

The Watch
On the sales thread the watch was billed as having a smooth quartz movement, though the seconds hand is a little smoother than my other quartz's you can still tell it's a quartz, the real difference is in the sweep of the chronograph hands, they are all really much smoother.
I've never seen an AP in the flesh before, and i have to say it really is a nice watch. It's obviously a very heavy and chunky watch, but it isn't to overstated or over the top. It has very clean and simple lines with a nice contemporary dial, even though it's not as big as other chronograph watches it dial doesn't feel too crowded and it's easy to read. I'm a big fan of the internal date mag which keeps the crystal clean and give the watch a solid silhouette. The rubber strap has the standard vanilla smell, it's not bad quality, feels a bit plastic, but it's very comfortable to wear and compliments the colours and textures of watch well.
For a $120 quartz rep it feels very high quality, the pushers are smooth and feel solid, the clasp doesn't feel cheap and it secures easily.
I'm not sure how this watch compares to a higher end rep or gen, but as a first time AP i'm very impressed, even though the watch is quite heavy it sits well on the wrist and clasp layout makes it easy to adjust and remove.
If anyone is sitting on the fence about buying a ROO, i suggest you go for it, i'll certainly be eyeing up a new one.

The Pictures
Anyway now time for my pics, enjoy.

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MM
 

Pakz

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15/4/11
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Hummmm, looks very nice, and I love your pictures (only thing I regret is that you used high ISOs -1600 mostly- when with 100 or 200 ISO and longer exposure that would have been even better)

Is it possible for you to shoot a video of the thing, both in normal mode and with chronograph started? I wonder how "bad" the quartz looks on that...
 

murklemark

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How would the photos of come out differently using your method? I am very new to photography, I didn't have a tripod so I couldn't use too long of an exposure and kept the details.
I'll look into a video, I'm not sure how it compares to a 7750.
 

Pakz

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How would the photos of come out differently using your method? I am very new to photography, I didn't have a tripod so I couldn't use too long of an exposure and kept the details.
I'll look into a video, I'm not sure how it compares to a 7750.

The difference is mainly in the grain of the picture... It's way tighter and cleaner with low ISO and "long" exposure. And the colours are better, with more depth and density.

The only thing is that you need a tripod or some stuff to put the camera firmly on, so that it doesn't move (even by a split millimetre). Tripod is really a plus, but a bag of dried beans, or rice, is a cool tool for those shots. You "lock" the camera on top of it and you're done.

Another useful trick for those shots is to use the 2 seconds timer. That way any movement you impart to the camera when shooting dies before the picture's taken.
 

mbjoer

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Is it possible for you to shoot a video of the thing, both in normal mode and with chronograph started? I wonder how "bad" the quartz looks on that...

+1
I'd be very interested to see a smooth quartz in use.
Also wonder how long the battery works when you run the chrono?

It has been mentioned here that a smooth sweep eats batteries very fast.
 

MrYesterday

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3/12/10
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Itinerant
Awesome, Mark. I just got my first Roo, too. They're amazing watches. Much bigger, and more substantial than I ever imagined. Great watch, and superb pics!
 

Yannou

Senior Member
10/2/07
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Awesome, Mark. I just got my first Roo, too. They're amazing watches. Much bigger, and more substantial than I ever imagined. Great watch, and superb pics!


Be carefull...you will be addicted...:biglaugh:
 

kaniel

Renowned Member
28/10/10
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The screw on 1 o'clock is not on right position.

Nice watch and pics!!
 

murklemark

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The screw on 1 o'clock is not on right position.

Nice watch and pics!!

Yeah i noticed that when looking back over the pics, but i haven't look into how one of those screws comes out yet.

Ok guys heres a quick vid of the quartz smooth sweep, i did it on my slr so it's not amazing quality but you get the idea.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDwhKAYsd3U"]YouTube - DSC_1096.MOV[/ame]
 

Pakz

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15/4/11
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Thanks, that was very instructive....

Pity they don't make the "real seconds hand" sweep like that! (well that probably has a very strong impact on battery life, so it's understandable).
 

vpx

Renowned Member
2/11/10
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The upper right screw would bother me to no avail. I'm assuming the caseback screws are going to be just that, screws (not nuts like on the sec@12) so that would point to the notion that the bezel screws are pressed in.
 

murklemark

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You can sleep easy VPX the offending screw was coaxed out and set in the correct position.