Fujifilm Finepix F10 6.3MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Finally this camera repreents a major move for Fuji. After years of trying to hype up interest in their cameras with SuperCCD claims of 12 MPs etc But falling completely short with excess noise, Fuji has come out with a decent camera this time. This camera compares very well to the 7MP cameras like the Canon SD500 and the Sony P200 and in some cases even better results than the Nikon Coolpix 7900, Sony 150. I think its closest competitor is the Casio Exilim EX-Z750 which although priced slightly higher than the Fuji has some really compelling features.

Here are the PROS

1) It has a nice sturdy metal body, although not as sleek as and thicker than the Canon SD line.

2) Low noise although has purple fringing on some pictures.

3) Low light: Actually usable ISO 1600 setting. In some cases this eliminates the need for the the image stablization.

4) Very good battery life. Fuji says 500 pictures per charge...really good for this small camera.

5) Priced very well. Blows away pricing as compared to the 7 MP cameras which it compares to very well. For example the Canon SD500 is about $175 higher or about 50% MORE than the Fuji F10 with rebate. It is up to you to justify whether the SD500 takes 50% better pictures than the Fuji. I dont think so. In the SD500' defense it does look and feel better than the Fuji and uses the cheap SD cards.

6) Finally a good movie mode (at 640 x 480 and very crisp 30 fps)

Here are the CONS

1) Uses those pesky xD cards which are harder to find, more expensive and smaller capacities than the SD cards.

2) No optical viewfinder. This will come back to haunt you in bright sunlight when the LCD gets completely washed out.

3) Really stupid design flaw of the use of the dock/adapter for any of the ports, including USB, A/V out, or Power. You just have to remember to carry the dock/adaptor with you at all times.

4) Hard to use menu system. Canon and Sony totally blow away this camera is ease of use menu system

5) Slim to None manual controls but you are buying this camera for its point and shoot capabilities and not manual controls.. right !!

this camera is plain simply awesome. when i finally ran out of battery, i realized i had been using the thing for a FULL WEEK without recharging. the battery life is amazing. and so is the speed. the camera is on with zero delay, it focuses instantaneously, there's virtually no shutter lag. the menus need some getting used to if you come from other brands, but ultimately they're well laid out. the image quality is excellent. iso 80 thru 200 images are virtually noise free. the camera allows you to push the sensitivity all the way up to iso 1600. this means, no flash for interior shots, evening outdoor shots where flash wouldn't reach far enough anyway, all with no shake and very low noise. there is plain simply no other compact digicam out there that can do that. others give up at iso 400, the f10 easily goes up to 800. iso 1600 pix are a bit noisy, but still usable.

the only thing the camera is lacking is more manual controls. if you want shutter or aperture priority, you'll have to seek elsewhere. however, there is exposure correction and manual white balance controls.

this camera is a milestone. it's worth the money.

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I've just replaced my Sony DSC-W1 camera with the Fuji F10. All that time, I thought my Sony delivered good picture quality; well, compared to the Fuji it is nowhere close.

Based on dcresource and dpreview Web Sites, I decided to purchase that Fuji F10. The pictures it takes are simply truly amazing: colors, accuracy, full of life. For the first time ever, people are actually saying "wow, this picture of me with your baby is great, could you e-mail it to me?". The flash is so powerful, that I'd recommend turning down the ISO (you can actually switch to post-shot mode and take the same pic three times and compare them live). Movies are great (compatible with Windows and Mac, even iMovie). The so-called 'terminal' (very tiny connection box used for A/V, USB and charge) is not annoying, though a cradle would have been better.

The menu navigations are clumsier than Sony, Canon or Casio, but you'll get used to it in a matter of minutes.

My only wishes would be a way to adjust the shuter speed so that going up in ISO does not brighten the subject so much, a live histogram, and a cradle.

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I have spent endless hours reviewing almost everything that I can find online about small digital cameras and have looked at numerous ones in stores. I recently narrowed my decision down to the Canon A620, Canon SD550, and Fuji F10. The Fuji F10 was actually the camera I intended to get in the first place but was somewhat swayed by a store clerk and Canon users. The A620 was bigger than what I wanted, and I actually saw no difference in print quality between it and the SD550 Digital Elph when using the auto setting. I am an amateur, though and do very little with manual controls.

I don't doubt for a minute that Canons are good, and it may depend on what you are looking for. However, there is absolutely no comparison between the SD550 and Fuji F10 when shooting in lowlight areas and quite often for color on the finished product. I took several shots in different settings with the cameras set on auto and no flash. The Fuji captured pictures that Canon couldn't get. I personally also found the Fuji easier to handle. With one hand, you can flip between review and photo mode and don't have to keep re-setting the flash preference each time you use it. Once I got used to the menus, I personally had little problem finding anything and maybe even less than with the Canon.

Fuji's battery life is unbelievable. Although I don't understand the reasoning behind the dongle setup, I didn't find it to be a big deal. I may buy a separate more portable battery charger for travel that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter too but probably wouldn't need it given how long the juice lasts. As is the case with many digital cameras, the memory card isn't sufficient. I plan to get a 1GB card and shoot away. I am currently not using a card reader and understand that there may be a particular reader that is needed for a 1GB card.

I must admit that I do like Canon's Zoom Browser better than the Fuji software, but you can use whatever software you want. The main drawback that I can see to the Fuji is the lack of an optical viewfinder when taking pictures in bright sunlight, but there is an adjustment for brightening the screen. If you are shooting under those conditions, you should probably have the sun behind you anyway and could probably simply shadow the screen with your head. There is also no histogram, but I enjoy seeing the shutter speeds when I am focusing.

From what I have read, I am also less concerned about a cracked LCD screen or finish wear on the Fuji. Time will tell. I also considered the Fuji to be a good value at $100 less than the Canon. Sorry, Canon.

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I'm a professional photographer. I like to have a small camera to keep in my pocket at all times. I used a Pentax Optio S4i for a year. It was a great little pocket camera (tiny) but the image quality really fell apart when you set the ISO higher than 100. I wanted a pocket camera with image quality rivaling a professional DSLR. This is the camera. There are plenty of things to complain about... the confusing menus, the lack of manual controls... etc. But I shopped around a LOT and this camera has the best image quality (I've seen) at 400 thru 1600 of any pocket camera on the market at any price. It operates very, very quickly too.

Motorola MFV700 7-inch Digital Frame with Video-In-Picture and Wireless DECT 6.0 Camera (Black)

I purchased two of these for gifts, both to be used as baby monitors. You have two components the frame and the camera, each with it's own power adapter. The frame also has a mini remote control.

The camera: Plays the typical MIDI sounding nursery rhymes and lullabies. Very narrow field of view. We had to mount it 6 feet above the crib to see the entire thing (just your typical crib.) To mount it, there are two screw mounting slots in the base. You can mount it on a wall or put it on a shelf. Low light quality is also decent.

Frame: Accepts USB key and SD card. Plays slide shows and lets you do a screen grab from the monitor. The left side shows a calendar or a slide show. The right side shows a clock in the lower 1/3rd and the video feed in the other 2/3rds. Unlike the video and photos show, this can NOT be changed. The video feed can't be moved or resized and the clock can't be moved or the style changed. Four different people tried we went through all the options. It's just not done.

Because of this there's a lot of wasted screen space on the right. The quality of the feed is decent, not great. The audio is fantastic.

Controls: There are controls on the frame back and on the included remote. The controls on the frame allow you to control many of the features, turn down the volume (but not up!) and display the video camera feed. The remote has more options and lets you turn the volume up as well.

Other observations: If you look at the sample photo with the baby closeup, the camera would have to be about 1 foot away. Not practical or safe. The Motorola website has no information on this product no manuals, no help nothing. The photo with the clock on top and the video on the bottom? No way. Outright deceitful by Motorola. Even the video feed dimensions are wrong it's obviously a fake image. It's also SLOW. The demo video shows modes changing instantly. It takes at least three seconds. It's so slow you'll be pressing the buttons again and a gain thinking you pressed wrong. Also the sample photos of the frame the video quality is not even close to those images.

The menu system is not intuitive and even hair-brained in places. What buttons do is not consistent. See the video.

For simplicity and ease of use, it's 5 stars. For not giving you what's advertised, obvious design flaws, and releasing a product that does not match the marketing, photos or promo video 1 star. Even the manual has strips of paper glued over some lines obvious last minute editing/removal of features from the manual. It's just obvious that the design specs and final product did not even come close to each other. Video quality, features, options all are sub-par.

My guess and it's obvious from the promo the video feed portion was supposed to be positionable and able to display full screen, there were supposed to be multiple clock and calendar types, and a much better video feed/quality. Then the budget was cut, the options removed, and a very basic unit produced. Again, that's my best guess but watch their promo video that's not what you get!

I bought this when it was a lightning deal--$99!--and was really excited when it arrived. We've been looking for a monitor, so that we can keep an eye on our toddler when we (eventually) get her going to bed on her own. Having the monitor included in a digital picture frame (along with a calendar, clock with alarm, temperature monitor, etc.) was a huge bonus. But there are some caveats, which might not be right for everyone.

So far, very few problems linking the camera and frame--once or twice the camera feed wouldn't display, and I had to restart the frame, which isn't a big deal. The space occupied by the camera feed is pretty small, which might not be great for everyone, and the night vision, while adequate, isn't very clear--but hey, it's vision ... at night. We can see enough to know whether the kid has fallen off the bed or is sitting up. We also haven't tested the distance yet to see whether we could use it in a bigger house someday. The sound sensitivity so far is spot on: after one cough or fuss, the speaker turns on every time, alerting us to any potential problem.

Note that there is no internal memory, so you'll need a USB drive or a memory card handy. And there is also no internal battery in the frame, so a loss of power means resetting the date and time.

For me, the only other misgiving is the lack of more detailed instructions on how to properly crop and resize pictures so they display correctly. You see, the frame seems to resize pics that were taken on your camera, so that they display properly, but if you pull them from your computer, they appear distorted, mostly stretched horizontally. As someone who prefers not to look fun-house-mirror fat in all my pictures, I spent hours attempting to get the sizing right, so that the pictures from my computer filled the entire frame, just like a real picture would. I won't get into all the details, the thousands of times I cropped, resized, deleted, groaned. But I've detailed below EXACTLY how I finally got it right, and the settings I like now that the pictures are properly sized.

The specs for this frame say that the dimensions are 480 (horizontal) x 234 (vertical), but the aspect ratio is 16:9. Now, this is confusing because according to most of the tutorials I read, dividing the vertical by the horizontal should give you the aspect ratio. Well, 234/480 is .4875 and 9/16 is .5625. I may be doing it wrong, but these two numbers should match. I finally discovered that dividing 234 into 416 is the only way to get .5625, so I set all my picture dimensions to 416x234 and, by golly, the pictures finally look true to life. It would be nice to see this in the documentation somewhere, and I wish I were smarter and understood why the 480 seems like a useless dimension when resizing pics.

I found a great program () that allowed me to resize all my pics to exactly 416x234 and batch-resize by selecting "Open Sequentially" from the "File" menu. Be sure to display the pics in full screen, and you should have beautiful pictures that fill the whole frame. It's a preference on my end, too, but I think they look great with a brightness of 9, a contrast of 8, and saturation of 6.

Overall, a great buy. It fills many needs around here, most specifically the fact that we are terrible about putting new pictures in frames, or printing pictures in general. Now we have many pictures on display, in full-frame glory, along with other great features this frame/camera offers.

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My Husband and I have been looking for a video baby monitor for our two babies. We saw this item and fell in love with the item description. We purchased two, but after setting the first one up in our youngest babys room we didnt even bother to unpack the 2nd camera. The visual quality was awful. The night vision even worse! We had to put 3 nightlights in his room to be able to barely see him. The screen is delayed and sometimes shows colored lines. We were under the impression that the whole frame could be used to look at baby sleeping, instead its a tiny picture in picture. This item was not made for everyday use. At night you have to prop it up at the right angle so you even see the live feed of your baby in their crib. Even with only the video feed and no pictures scrolling accross the screen its bright enough to light our entire bedroom. The last straw was the camera not picking up sound on occasion. I woke up yesterday in the early morning, when I looked over at the monitor he was crying in his room and I never heard a noise. We packed up the camera and are sending it back to Amazon.

I hope nobody else waists their time and money with this product.

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Motorola how could you put your name on this junk worst video quality I've ever seen . I used to think Motorola made a quality product . So disappointed

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very use fool product ,nice picture tremendous amount can be have on a card, camera works well night time is ok

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Panasonic VDR-M53 DVD Camcorder w/24x Optical Zoom

I just bought this camcorder and am not a good reader of manuals. I had it recording in a matter of minutes. You do have to format the mini dvds, but that is easy to find in the manual. The quality of the recording looked great on my computer screen. I bought office depot mini dvds and they worked fine, for the great price. This Panasonic is great and recording straight to mini dvds is a wonderful idea. I would have given it a 5 star rating, but the finalizing of the mini dvd took a while and you have to plug it in, you can't do this using the battery. Also I was warned, that if you use the dvd-ram instead of the dvd-r, they will not work on all players and they prefer to work on Panasonic equipment. This is why I opted for the non re-writable mini dvd-r from office depot. I also bought the PNY SD card from them and the card reader, all very affordable and easy to use.

It does not have any USB connectivity. There is no way to hook this up to your computer except through the TV type of hookups. Other than that it works great.

You need a software to convert the DVD to something els to be able to edit it on your computer though (to edit movie and make copies)

I like that it write direct to DVD so if you don't want to edit it, there is no need to bother with the computer.

Be aware it only works with certain types of DVD's. Won't work with DVD-RW. Has to be DVD-r and only a certain typre of RAM disk.

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If you buy this camera, remember to buy also additional DVD copy software (IntelVideo Copy around $70), plus only Panasonic DVD-Ram mini DVD disks (also expensive). Also, after my experience, if you erase one DVD-ram disc at least twice, on the third use the movie will have many video or audio problems. Not knowing this problem, I ruined my friend's baby shower video. Panasonic customer service is not helpful at all. A representative was even surprised that my camera does not have USB cable!!! Other then that let's say, once you cannot return this camera to the store, because I opened it and used it, you can still enjoy lightness of the camera. One more thing: you need to purchase the light also; this camera does not have built-in light you will need it. ... So, how much does the camera cost after all???

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Has good features, but the biggest downsides are it does not have a USB port and it uses DVD-RAM discs (re-writable) which do not work on most of the DVD players.

Note that it does not use DVD-RW discs that come with most notebooks and desktop computers and allow re-writing.

So there seems to be virtually no way to transfer your videos to your computer, other than buying a DVD Multi drive that can read DVD-RAM discs.

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I bought this camera because of consumer reports great reviews. But I'm bound and determined to get my images onto my PC. I purchased a DVD-RAM compatible drive for my PC and still can't get it to recongnize either DVD-RAM or DVD-R disks. Do I need special software? And if so what? Roxio DVD builder is not doing the trick.

Other than that, the camera works great, images and sound are clear, and camera is easy to opperate. If you figure out a new cell phone, you can figure out this.

PowerShot A2500 16.0 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 720p HD Video Recording (Silver)

Got this yesterday and like it, had Canon PowerShot A2300 IS 16.0 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Black) before. Just to note, PowerShot A2500 is an entry-level pocket camera which is very similar to PowerShot A2300: 16-megapixel 1/2.3" sensor, DiGiC 4 processor, and 5x zoom 28mm wide angle lens, 2.7" LCD. Even 720p HD video capabilities are the same.

Pros:

1. What really distinguishes it from its predecessor is Smart Auto Mode recognizing 32 shooting environments and adjusts settings for better quality. It automatically selects the best shooting settings for optimal quality based on the environmental factors (lightning I guess) to provide point'n'shoot simplicity.

2. 16.0 Megapixels, with loads of resolution pictures are still clear. High resolution is also good for producing biggest printouts.

3. 5x Optical Zoom is sufficient in most cases.

4. DIGIC 4 Image Processor. Not as fast as DIGIC 5 though fast and powerful enough to give you advanced system options, provide quick-shoot with reliable performance and low battery consumption. As far as I know DIGIC 4 is currently Canon's most efficient processor for budget cameras. BTW it has some Eco mode, that is said to be providing even faster warm-up times and saves the standard battery, but I haven't tested it yet.

5. Very lightweight, just put it into your pocket, can take it everywhere.

6. Price tag $99. You can't get any better camera for the price.

Cons:

1. Like A2300 it lacks optical image stabilization, though it's got digital image stabilization.

2. 1/2.3" sensor. Well, entry level CCD providing good pictures, not of a DSLR quality, that's all I can say.

Summary:

Sure this is not the best camera in the world. I definitely knew it when I bought the camera. BUT, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of pictures I shot.

If you're like me (not a pro) and looking for a budget point-and-shoot camera taking family photos and events, mostly shoot in daylight or good lighting, I'd definitely recommend it, taking into account its price tag of $99 just about right.

IT IS EASY TO USE AND THE QUALITY OF THE PICTURES IS AMAZING. I DON'T THINK THERE IS A BETTER CAMERA IN THE PRICE RANGE OF THIS ONE. JUST SPENT 12 DAYS IN ITALY AND TOOK OVER 1000 PHOTOS THAT ARE LIKE POST CARDS.

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This is my first digital camera and it's so easy even I can take great pictures. I especially like that I can take stills and videos with the same camera. I highly recommend this camera.

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This camera is perfect for me. Easy to use, takes high def pictures, and small enough to put in your pocket or fanny pack.

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So lightweight and easy to use I wish I had gotten one sooner. loaded with great features.

only cons. haven't had time to learn how to use all the features yet.

Yukon Digital NV Ranger Pro Binocular

I recently purchased the Yukon Digital Ranger Pro monocular with the intention of using it to glass and stalk feral pigs on family land. After using it three times there are some areas in which this tool REALLY performs well and others where it is not a replacement for low-or-zero magnification NV. THE GOOD: Once you figure out how to focus the monocular, you can resolve a VERY sharp and VERY detailed image from quite a long distance. For example, you can easily identify a feral pig from a calf at a distance of about 300 yards and you can pick out the shape of a license plate (not read it, though) on a vehicle from 400-500 yards. Both examples were on overcast nights without visible stars or moon, some ambient light from the sky but not much. The IR beam that the Ranger Pro casts is very powerful and can be used to BRIGHTLY illuminate a target for a hunting partner with a Gen 1 rifle scope on a dark night, which I think is VERY cool. I also like that you can connect this device to your digital video camera and record what you are doing, but that isn't practical unless you are hunting out of a blind or from a hide. So, in short, you get a very sharp picture with 5x magnification, an excellent IR illuminator (I can confirm that the beam is invisible to pigs), the ability to record to the digital camera you already have and a relatively small pricetag for the image quality (have to go over $2k for conventional phosphor tube NV to get the same quality). If you don't need to see a REALLY SHARP image beyond about 200 yards, you get the same thing out of the regular Yukon Digital Ranger for about 1/3 the cost. THE BAD: It would be very difficult to use this device while moving. You have to stalk, stop, glass, resume stalking. If you want continuous visibility in low/no light conditions, you need something other than this device. It eats batteries although you can stretch it's effectiveness by intermittent use, don't count on more than two hunts out of a set of batteries (leave the 12v charger plugged in when not in use because it disconnects the battery pack otherwise the small IR illuminator continually draws a small charge). I recommend feeding this thing with rechargeables. The LCD display in the eyepiece will blind you for a moment in the eye you use it on, I can see this being a major problem in some situations. This device has trouble quickly acquiring targets at different ranges if you have a set of targets at 50 yards and another at 100, it takes both hands and a few seconds to examine both. I really wish this device had a set or auto-focus and/or a push-button zoom capability like many digital cameras do either would make it a much better product.

All-in-all, I am happy with this product. It suits my needs and offers some unique advantages, HOWEVER, for

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Minolta Dimage S404 4MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

This camera is an upgrade for me and I'm embarrassed by how much I paid for so little camera last time around. So, I chose carefully and have not been disappointed.

Best shooting so far has been at the Tidal Basin last Friday just past the peak of the cherry blossoms. The camera took some amazing shots of the Washington and Jefferson monuments surrounded by the pink splendor. I displayed the shots on my big screen TV to the whole family without any problems. Color was perfect and the automation in this camera really frames the shots well. I'm a so, so photographer so this is a big plus.

Next I tried it out at the Dolphin show up at the National Acquarium in Baltimore. The results were excellent, especially the zoom. I caught the dolphins in the midst of almost every trick including the huge leap to the top of the auditorium to touch the ball. I also took some incredible photos through the glass of the seahorses. The exposure took some tweaking but I was able to figure it out with less than 10 shots. The family oohed and ahhed when they saw them.

For those of you who own Minolta and have grown used to the interface and quality of features, this is a no-brainer. For the price, I expected a bit less and have been consistently amazed by the quality of pictures it takes, especially in automatic mode. My SLR has been sent to the cabinet until I really need it for more complicated shots.

Be sure to have at least 2 sets of batteries and keep them in your bag. Each trip I exhausted the batteries and had to change them. Also, for the $$$, I recommend a 256MB card so you can take 100+ high quality images. That's what 4.0MP is all about.

I am completely sold on this Minolta. It takes fantastic photos, is simple to use and a pleasure to work with. I have been taking photos seriously for over 15 years and have owned over 30 camera, from Canon 35mm to large format cameras. I have not been impressed with digital cameras, though I have used them, until now. This camera delivers crisp, clean images, comperable to a 35mm film camera, and features all the benefits of a digital camera. If you are thinking of a new camera give this one a shot. You can preview your shots, delete them, tweak them on your home PC, it offers it all. I have compared this camera to the Canon G2 (at almost 2x the price) and remain impressed with the Minolta. A few shortcomings battery drain and a hard-to-see backpanel (in FULL daylight that is otherwise it is fine) moderate my review from raving to complely impressed. Definately buy the rechargable batteries, Monster, the company that makes Monster Cable, makes some which are very good. I have seen people in these reviews complain that the digital cameras are not 'up to film' in the images they create, but that is a bit of a non-sequitar to me, if you want a film camera, get one. If you want a digital camera you cant do better than this one literally for the price.

Enjoy it...

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First of all know what you want from your camera... I wanted to be able to print at least 4x6 prints of every picture I took with this camera. That put me in the 4 mega pixel range. I was looking at the Canon G2, Canon S40, Olympus D60, and the Olympus C4040. I'd gone to the local retailers and tested them all out. Then the Minolta S404 came out and hit my personal price sweet spot -> [price]. All the other ones I was holding off on because I knew I would need to spend more money on extra memory and probably an extra battery pack. That put the others out of my price range.

I'm at best an amatuer photographer and this camera turns out to be a very good match for my skills. Most of the time I use the all auto feature, but I've many of the more sophisticated features including macro (real good close ups of plants and small animals), night shot, and portrait. I've worked with some of the more manual features such as black & white and the exposure settings. The camera is extremely easy to use including the menus one uses on the LCD. I'm a computer programmer, so using some of the features is almost second nature.

The photos have come out absolutely wonderful both on the computer screen and in print. I've had 4x6 and 5x7's made. There's an 8x10 on the way in the mail. I've taken this camera to a school field day, a company picnic, Baltimore (Inner Harbor and Aquarium), and Mount Vernon, Virginia. I've also taken it on tour of the neighborhood, where I used the macro function exclusively. I've kept the image settings mainly on 2272X1704 pixels (size)-fine (picture quality) and 1600x1200 pixels super fine . From time to time I'll use 2272x1704 super fine.

Using the biggest picture and the highest quality settings produces an 11 MB file. The image capture is excellent, but it takes 15-20 seconds to save the image to the compact flash. I thought I'd broken the camera the first time I took one of these large pictures. I don't consider this a draw back, just something to keep in mind.

The look and feel of the camera -it's all there. It comes in a silver metal case and definitely does not feel like a light weight piece of trash. The brightness of the LCD can be changed by the user. All the way from off to super bright. When using the camera in bright sunlight don't expect to see the LCD too well. That goes for any machine with an LCD.

Batteries... This camera eats the alkaline batteries it comes with. They last long enough for you to test it out and decide whether or not this camera meets your needs. Buy at least 8 rechargeable AA batteries (the camera takes 4, so you'll have two sets). Get the highest rating possible I have 1600, but I've seen 1800 too.

When I bought the camera, I also bought a 128 MB compact flash card. If you take pictures like I do, you'll need it. I also bought a compact flash reader. I've found it easier to use than the camera when downloading pictures to my computer. Not to mention, it saves the camera batteries.

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I've just been playing with the camera for a few days and, with reservations, I am really impressed. This is a very easy camera to learn how to use. Even in full auto mode there are still options available, such as flash mode, drive mode and exposure compensation. Auto mode also give the macro, portrait, night portrain, and landscape programs. The picture quality is quite good too in auto. The only option at the auto setting is the standard (default) setting. That still gives very good 5x7's and this is the next to lowest quality setting. With a 127M card at 2272 x 1704 pic setting the camera will hold about 100 shots.

What I don't care for is that there are only 2 aperature settings each at telephoto and normal/wide angle. This limits the control over the depth of field in manuel setting. Speaking of manuel settings, don't get the idea that once you bypass the auto setting that you are going to grab focus or zoom rings to manually adjust the settings. Everything is still operated through the control button on the back. This makes adjusting the zoom and the focus a little hit and miss. You'll just have to get the hang of how to play with the button. The autofocus is a little slow if the camera is set to focus only when the shutter button is pushed down. If you are needing to keep up with a lot of action, set the autofocus on full time or turn it off and prefocus manually.

I know that the above paragraph sounds a little negative, but all I'm trying to say that if you are expecting a near professional quality camera, it's not going to come at this price. In all this is a good quality point-and-shoot camera with a lot of options that you can get creative with, and even with the restricted aperature settings, I think that I'm going to get a lot of good use out of it.

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I've used this camera for two months now and I'm really pleased. I researched digital cameras for about a month (reading reviews on the internet, visiting local camera shops and talking to people who own digital cameras) before I made my final decision. I wanted a camera that was easy to use, took nice enough pictures to print for framing and/or photo albums, and wanted to stay within a budget of $500.00

The S404 was the only camera in my price range that was 4 megapixels and a 4X optical zoom. I did compare it with the Sony DC75 and the Olympus 3020 and I think you can see a difference between the 3 megapixel and 4 megapixel when you have pictures side by side. The Sony and the Olympus did have more in manual controls, but only a 3X optical zoom and the Olympus didn't have sound with it's video. Another nice feature on the S404 is the voice memo you can attach to the picture. This, plus the fact that subject program buttons (Macro, Portrait, Landscape and Night), the flash/red eye and zoom are exactly like my 35mm point & shoot camera, a Minolta Freedom Zoom 140EX. This was an added bonus for me, I felt like I already knew the S404.

...

Now the fun began. I wanted to try every feature on the camera. Outdoor pictures were great, however in bright sunlight I do adjust the white balance to "daylight". The Macro is fantastic, you can see every detail (very close to my SRL shots), the Portrait mode is a really nice feature and gives your pictures a professional look. I used this for my daughter's high school graduation pictures. After reading some people were having problems with indoor pictures, I tried the different ways and found the best pictures were when I was using "auto", they look great to me. I haven't had the opportunity to use the Night Portrait yet, but I know it works beautifully on my point and shoot and I'm hoping for the same with the S404. I did view some photos other people took of fireworks on the 4th and they look great!

I take all my photos in the 2274 x 1704 imagine size and the fine quality mode. I started using superfine, however I really didn't see much of a difference, and fine uses a lot less space. I do download my pictures using the Dimage Image Viewer Utility, save them, and then I can open them in any other program.

I just started using the print index feature and having 4 X 6 prints made at the local camera shop. (I found this is where the flash card that came with the camera comes in handy, I can drop this one off and I still have one in my camera). WOW!!! YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE FROM PRINT FILM!!! Although I have been getting beautiful print outs with my HP 930C, I have been using a lot of ink and photographic paper. From now on, pictures I want for the photo album I will have printed at the camera shop. The paper is a little heavier, it's probably cheaper and saves time.

This camera is easy to use, fits your hand nicely, and takes beautiful pictures. I met all my objectives with this camera. If you can find one, I highly recommend it!

Problems

As mentioned in other reviews, the auto focus sometimes misses. However the more I'm using the camera, the less this is happening. I really dislike the lens cap, I wish Minolta could have figured an internal lense cover which would close when the camera is turned off.

Pentax Optio W20 7MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

This is my second Optio (due to an unfortunate accident snorkling in Hawaii) and I can't believe the pictures and adaptability of this camera. The W20 has more features than the W10 I had previously, and this takes even better pictures. I can pick a mode and take great pictures and video, either on land or under water. My only recommendation is to get the silicone cover that is available if you are going to use it underwater. It will keep your fingers from manipulating the lock mechanism that opens the waterproof door to the battery and memory card. The camera is a great size for those of us with larger hands that have a hard time holding the new smaller cameras, and it is an added benefit that the lens never protrudes from the camera body. All of the zoom and focus is internal in the camera. Makes it really easy to slip into a pocket. I liked this style of camera so much I went and bought another one. Even after I compared it to the Olympus and Casio.

I bought this for snorkeling excursions. I have three 7 MP cameras and was tired of using disposable underwater cameras. I used this camera for the first time while on a cruise a week ago. I also took my Sony Cyber-shot 7.2 MP as a back up.

Land Photos: I was very impressed with the quality and the great zoom feature. Easy to use menu and buttons. Pictures were actually better then my Sony ones due to the better zoom.

Underwater: I used it three times during the week under water. I only kept it under for the 30 minutes as stated in the manual for fear of damage. At first it was very hard to see the screen with a mask on, but I finally found the trick is to keep the shutter button pushed 1/2 way so the screen stays on all the time. Buttons very easy to use underwater. Just set it to underwater mode before you go in.

My first set of photos were of nothing, but after a few minutes of practice (on my fin) I got great shots of many fish at different depths. Works best in high light, shallow waters, but in the darker Atlantic at about 20 feet, I also got some nice shots.

Hint: Try and stay above the rocks/coral and in the best available light to get the best photos.

I love this camera and would highly recommend it and did to all who asked.

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I bought this camera over a year ago before deploying to Iraq. I really put it to the test. It managed to survive intense heat, rain, mud, dust storms, and being constantly throw to the ground with me during combat. I carried it with me for over a year and it still takes great pictures.

I haven't used it a great deal underwater although I did test it out in the Lake a couple months ago. It did well.

As far as features I'm not a great expert in that area. It does have an incredible zoom (compared to my last camera-Sony).

I would recommend this to anyone needing a cameara for an "adventure."

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I've had this camera about a month now and am extremely pleased with it. I've taken it into numerous caves, where dripping water and muddy conditions are common, and it has survived being dragged around. Moreover, it has taken fantastic closeups of tiny features. I am amazed at how good the macro feature is, especially when there is virtually no light.

The camera also fared well being dunked in muddy pools on a canyoneering trip. It was so nice to be able to keep taking photos and not worry at all.

Photos from a distance look okay, nothing too spectacular, but the camera exceeds in doing super for what I bought it for: going into wet and dirty places and not worrying about it.

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I own several cameras, and I use each for different kinds of shooting. For snapshot stuff like vacations or parties where you don't want to hassle with a big camera, and are willing to sacrifice some quality, a tiny camera like this is great. Add in the waterproof feature and the great quality videos it shoots, and this thing rocks! I use it for sailing and skiing and all kinds of outdoor activities, and not having to worry about sand and dust and water is the greatest. It's not a 'dumbed-down' camera however. There are lots of sophisticated features that I'd love to see on my expensive cameras, like a detailed histogram that shows blown out and zero-level areas in real time. You can also just put it in "green mode" and point and shoot with reliably good results. The flash chooses pleasing filled exposures, too.

The white balance could use some fine tuning, the dynamic range is not as good as I would like for some outdoor situations, and the microphone gives fairly bad sound quality, but I highly recommend the overall package.

SeaLife ReefMaster Mini Digital Underwater Dive Camera (Waterproof to 200 Feet) with 32GB Card + Ca

read the manual, the camera is sophisticated more than you may think;

the camera is a battery hog on multiple daily dives replace batteries EACH day after finishing your scheduled dives;

pay attention to remove and save your SD card to computer _DAILY_ otherwise, after replacing batteries, you may discover that all your footage was lost (overridden) by the camera's software;

set manual (instead of default automated) flash-mode; better switch the flash OFF (unless you're going to have a night dive and have "night" shooting experience);

make sure to set "underwater" filtering mode a must otherwise all pictures will appear faded.

Knowing the above the camera is a very good fit and fully recommended for the price.

This camera is awesome. Easy to figure out how to use. We took it on vacation and used while snorkeling in the Sea of Cortez. We have great pictures of sea lions, fish, and the coral reef that we would not have had without the camera.

Because we are new to underwater cameras, we learned quickly that once you submerge the camera underwater you really can't take good photos above water again till the camera lens is cleaned. The battery life was excellent. Took about 300 pictures during the vacation. We never had any malfunction problems with the camera.. The pictures don't show great detail when viewing through the viewfinder on the camera. We were thrilled once we downloaded them to our computer..

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Carl DC-100 Personal Rotary Trimmer with Swing Out Ruler Arm.

I have purchased Carl brand trimmers for years. I do a lot of scrapbooking and this is the only trimmer that has stood the test of time. I had to get a new one only because I carelessly left it on the floor when it fell and it ended up under the chair leg when I sat down. Bummer!

So, when I was searching for another one, I came across this listing that stated that this one had a "swing out ruler arm." My only complaint with my last one is that it didn't have one of these. Well, much to my dismay, the write-up given on this listing is for a different model of Carl trimmer. THE DC-100 DOES NOT HAVE A SWING-OUT RULER ARM. I still gave the item 4 stars because I do love this trimmer, and I did keep it. I'm just bummed that Carl hasn't made this trimmer with a swing-out ruler.

I hope others read this before buying, since you will not get what the item title and description states. (BTW...this company has the same write-up on their website for this trimmer.)

Had this for awhile, but the design has one fatal flaw that I can't understand: The blue thing that holds the cutting blade has this plastic lever that constantly bangs into the paper you are trying to cut, bending/ruining your paper and stubbing your finger painfully as the cutting action comes to a complete stop because this blade lever thing keeps hitting the edge of your paper. Why this obnoxious design flaw wasn't caught up front is inexcuseable.

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I just ordered a new cutter to replace one that broke (it was dropped onto a hard floor). I've had it for a few years and it has worked very well for school projects and trimming photos. I think the confusion over the "swing arm" title stems from the design of other cutters where the arm is only hinged on one end and is able to swing up and out of the way completely. I have an older cutter (different brand) that does this. It allows a larger piece of paper to be placed on the base and partially cut. I have been satisfied with the Carl DC 100 for almost all my projects.

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I'm confused about another reviewer's comment about no "swing out arm." I still use the DC-100 model that I received in 2004, and ordered another for a co-worker in 2008. The length of my ruler does lift up for me to place my paper, then sets back down. A different co-worker just used mine and has asked me to order one for him becuase he liked it so much. If this listing is in fact for the DC-100, I would expect to receive the very same cutter.

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The quality and cut of the blades is excellent. The convenience of this trimmer's small size is greatly appreciated. The only thing I would recommend is a little sturdier design. I cracked mine when it fell off my desk; however, a little packaging tape fixed the issue and I was back in business. Overall great trimmer!

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Canon EOS Rebel T3i Digital Camera AV / HDMI Cable (6 feet)

it just connects perfectly from my Canon T2i to my LG LCD TV.

Then it's discovered, and as all HDMI cable, sound from movies are directly on TV.

just works (and is cheap)

Don't pay $40 for a brand name cable. That's not smart. Buy this cable and use the money you saved to buy yourself a steak dinner or something.

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c a m e o n t i m e a n d i n p e r f e c t c o n d i t i o n t h a n k s !

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Great for displaying your pictures on a big screen TV! I should have ordered a longer one so I could sit farther away from my TV, but no complaints.

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this works perfectly like the original cables. great picture and great price. I lost my cables that came with the camera and Amazon always got my back.

Panasonic PV-GS65 3-CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

Because this is my first camcorder, I researched and compared cameras online for weeks before I made up my mind. A great place to get info is camcorderinfo (I can't write the full address because amazon blocks it out! you figure what's missing.) I picked this particular panasonic because it seemed the best balance of features and price. For a beginner like me with no previous experience, this camcorder is excellent. These are the features that I really liked:

1. The quality of the video is supposed to be very good due to its 3ccd's. At this price level, panasonic is the only one. After all, video is really what it's all about. Everything else is icing on the cake.

2. It has a mic jack. again, at this price, no other one.

3. Remote control

After a few weeks of using it, I like all the controls. Reviewers complain about the zoom being on the middle finger and at first it's a little awkward. Yes, it should have been on the index, but you only need 15 minutes to become an expert and then you don't think about it anymore.

Also, after reading the manual in 10 minutes, one can become an expert in the joystick control. I also have a Nikon coolpix digital camera, and it has a very similar mode knob, which made it easier for me to learn.

With so many nice features at this price, I was concerned that it was too good to be true, so i got extended warranty on it, and it made me feel a lot better. The 90day warranty is no too reassuring.

Some accesories are almost necessary, besides the extended warranty:

1. 4hr battery. The 1hr battery it comes with may last only 30min. or less depending on how much zoom you use, if you view the LCD, and if you play and fast forward or rewind

2. Case. I got a Lowepro Rezo 110 aw. I like compact, and this one is very small and could fit all the cables and everything in it.

Because now i am getting to like this video stuff, i also got:

3. Tripod (Opteka 60", $20, a super deal!) so i don't always have to be behind the camera. Also, even though this camera has "image stabilization", it can only do so much, and there is a BIG difference with video taken with a tripod. It looks really professional. Most people's video moves and shakes so much that you can't even watch it for 10 minutes

4. DVD-R drive with nero software to make videos

5. firewire card to import video to my pc.

This last point is the reason I gave it 4 stars. In doing my research I missed a fine point about video transfer. This camera has a USB port but it's only for the still pictres, not for video. According to the manufacturer's description, the next model up, the gs150, can transfer video through its USB port, thus it could have saved me from buying a firewire card. Therefore, I figured the net savings of going with the gs65 is only about $70. Had I known this I would have gone with the gs150, considering all I have spent in video accessories anyway.

Last, I took some still pictures and they were pretty bad compared to my Nikon coolpix. Maybe I should try again, but everywhere I read says camcorders are just not to be used for taking stills. This particular camcorder does not even have a flash. If you want a camcorder that takes nice stills, you'd have to spend thousands, thus, it's not worth it because you can spend just a few hundred for a decent digital camera. I knew this ahead of time, so this really did not affect my rating.

Overall I am very happy I went with this one because it's a great starting point for under $500. I still think this is a better choince than Cannon or Sony at this price.

UPDATE FEB 2006:

I am happier with this camcorder than when I originally wrote my review in August 2005. It turns out that most video editing software today only works with firewire, not with USB2, although this may change in the future. Thus I don't mind having gotten the fw card after all. I am sure the GS150 is a better product, but everytime I have taken video it has given me great results: sunlight, indoors, and night (with light). This camera will surely carry me through the next few years, and if I decide I need a better one, I will probably go with something better than the 150. If you can afford the price, this is excellent an entry level.

As a result, I am getting more serious about video and have looked for more accessories. I am suprised to find out that consumer camcorder technology has not fully come of age yet like digital cameras, so it's not very clear what are the best accessories. These are a few more I bought:

1. Rode Videomic: super enhances sound and picks up conversations very clearly!

2. Bescor KLK-65XT, VS 65 Video Light: great power light that works both on AC and battery (kind of bulky, but still portable)

3. Cool-lux Light & Sound Bracket, Camcorder Dual Mount Bracket for Video Lights & Microphones: This lets me use both mic and light.

My in-laws have not met our baby, and thanks to all this technology they have seen him grow. I am very happy I made this investment.

I did a LOT of comparing before I bought this camcorder. The "lack of zoom" wasn't that big of a deal to me compared to the other features. My hands are too shaky for zooming in much beyond 10x anyway. I did use a little bit of the digital zoom (to 12x) and my video (although shaky) seemed to still be exceptional.

The low light recording on this camera is tremendous for it's price range. I also like the S-video output, which for some reason seems to be the first thing to go when camcorder companies ditch options to drive down the price. Mic input is also a nice feature usually lacking on a camcorder in this price range.

I haven't taken any stills yet, but samples I've seen on the web show that it does a pretty adequate job and unlike some other camcorders, you can take stills to the SD card while shooting video.

The lack of software might be a concern to some, but chances are if you bought a video capture card or a "Firewire" card for your PC, you have some acceptable editing software anyway.

The following minor cons aren't really enough to detract from the overall value of this camera:

1. I don't like is that you have to flip out the LCD panel to turn on manual focus. Some of the more advanced filming options are only available in manual mode.

2. The thumb "joystick" and it's associated icons isn't the most intuitive or easy thing to use, although I do think it's better than a bunch of buttons all over the place.

Basically, if you'd like to make some high quality home video and are looking for an affordable camcorder, then this is the one for you...

Buy Panasonic PV-GS65 3-CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Now

I just compared the GS65 and GS35 at my local electronics store. To my surprise, they were already in stock and on sale! The GS65 has significantly better color than the GS35 due to its 3CCD style. However, is the better color worth the sacrifice in the zoom range? That's a question you'll have to ask yourself. Not only do you loose some optical zoom in the telephoto range, the GS65 starts at a higher zoom than the GS35. Therefore, it also looses out in the wideangle range. By comparison, the lens on the GS65 is 2.45-24.5mm (35mm equivalent of 44.7-447mm) whereas the GS35 is 1.9-57.0mm (35mm equivalent of 35-1040mm). The extra optical tele and wider base focal length may just be enough for some users to outweight the color difference. Except for a headphone out and the features mentioned above, the two models are nearly identical. I was happily surprised at the ease of use and accuracy on the joystick thumb control. Although, the menu button was just out of reach for my thumb.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic PV-GS65 3-CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Here

Great product from Panasonic. This is my first digital camcorder and I am very pleased with the quality. Used it to do research on fiddler crabs, and needed zoom and picture quality and it was excellent. The picture was crystal clear as I took shots from 7-8 feet away and zoomed in to max. It also picks up sound even from a whisper and that was a great feature needed. Easy to use and easy to transfer video to TV viewing.

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I bought this camorder around 3 months ago and so far I am very happy with it. First off let me say that I am a complete amateur when it comes to camcorders. I did a lot of research online though before buying this particular camcorder and saw nothing but positive reviews and for a 3 CCD camcorder I only paid $400 for it, which is the same as a good 1 CCD camcorder. I have a 20 month old baby and I use it primarily for home video footage. I was able to take it out of the box and use it very quickly. I keep the setting on 'auto' most of the time and that works just fine for me. The picture quality is excellent, the colors and vibrant and the camcorder is easy to use. I read a lot about camcorders not performing well in 'low light situations' and this camera does pretty well, even though I do notice that when I shoot video in my basement (which is not very bright) the picture is slightly grainy. However when the room is bright or when I am outside the picture is incredible. The zoom is not great but I am not shooting more than 10 feet away anyway, so that doesnt bother me. I am going to buy a video light and see how that improves my indoor video. Overall, I am extremely happy with this camcorder and highly recommend it.

Nikon 25624 EG-CP14 Audio/Video Cable

I purchased this audio/video cable a few months ago for my Nikon Coolpix L26 camera. It works well. I have had no problems at all so far with this item.

Cable quality good, provided connector as required for camera to display photos from Plasma TV.

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My son ordered this cable to attach some gaming devices to our televisions to improve his gaming experience. It worked but not as well as he hoped.

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It worked okay but the cables didn't seam to fit just right like the original set. Got a new camera shortly after this purchase.

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No problems altho, to be frank, I only use the Yellow plug (video). Item shipped promptly and is a good value cable.

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RCA CC9370 AutoShot Compact Digital Camcorder

I've really just started out with this camera, so my rating at the moment is based on the ease of use. It's incredibly easy to get up and running in no time at all. All the controls are easy to reach and understand, and the video quality is very good. The only problems I've had was the first time I attempted to hook it up to my computer through the FireWire. It took Windows ME a long time to "install" the camera, but once it did, it took next to nothing to download the video in Windows Moviemaker. I'll be exploring other software soon. I'll update this review when I'm more familiar with the camera, but for beginners like me, I think this is a great choice.

I recently purchased this camcorder for my wife, who will be taking it back to Canada when she visits her parents for a month. We've been trying it out, and have been extremely impressed by the ease of use, not to mention the excellent video/audio quality. The menu system is easy to get used to however, if you're anything like me, you'll probably be fumbling with it to get to the effects you wish to use it doesn't seem that there is any way to switch between them quickly. As well, the digital still (photoshot) function of this camcorder is wonderful who needs a digital camera? (Okay, so that comment will probably get me into some hot water).

The only gripe about this camcorder is that it is next to impossible to find extra/replacement batteries as the included battery only lasts for one hour (if that...), I decided to pick up an extended life battery unfortunately, the RCA.... website did not have anything listed! However, I did find one site ...which does carry both the standard and extended life battery, although you pay a premium for both of them (I expect that this will change, as this camcorder is a great product).

Great zoom functions, too. I love it!

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It is easy to pay a lot more for a comcorder but hard to see why you would want to. This little camcorder is light and compact, has controls that fall readily to hand, and has every feature I can imagine the general user wanting. The LCD viewfinder is bright and startlingly clear, and the image recorded is excellent -light years beyond older VCR images.

It is best to read the instruction book carefully before getting started. A half-hour or so spent doing so will make everytihing else simplicity itself. One thing it took me a little while to figure out is that the important automatic features (focus, aperture, image stabilization) can all be made to work in the "Manual" mode, and the handy automatic use of random transitional effects between scenes (fade in out, etc) works ONLY in the Manual mode.

Everything else is pretty intuitive. Have only had this item a month or so, so can't speak to reliabilty, but so far am more than pleased with this camcorder.

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As stated in an earlier review, you will have virtually no luck finding batteries under the RCA listing. However this camera is able to use all batteries compatible with the JVC DVL500U. (I believe that this camera is actually built by them.)

Haven't had it long enough to make any detailed comments. So far so good. I have been succesful transferring files/videos via 1394 to a PC running Sonic Fusion Video Factory. However, I did not have success using Ulead Video Studio that wasa bundled with my 1394 I/O card. (I believe that this is a problem with the Ulead software, not the camera however.)

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I bought this camera yesterday and everything with this camera is great. Considering price and feature. I haven't found anything I really don't like. I haven't tried to connect to my PC or anything but feel confident that it should go smoothly. My only complaint is finding a battery, like many other people. I final found a few sites but the best place is Radio Shack. Just ask for a 7.2v li-ion. They run around ...for a 3 hr battery. JVC batteries work as well.

Sony Cybershot DSCT7 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

I've already been the happy owner of a Sony DSC-F828 "big" camera for over a year, and still consider it perfect for my serious photographic needs.

However, precisely _because_ it is so big, it can be very inconvenient to bring along, and also very intimidating to potential picture subjects.

Enter the new Sony DSC-T7. I didn't realize just how _much_ smaller, or more precisely, how much thinner it is than all other digital cameras until I saw it in person. It not only fits in a shirt pocket, it fits in a shirt pocket _along_with_ a Treo or an iPod. Because its 3x zoom lens is folded, it does not protrude at all when taking pictures, meaning most subjects won't even realize a camera is pointed at them, let alone that it is zoomed in and high resolution. This greatly easy getting natural expressions in informal photos.

Next, the specifications of the T7 are better than those of other similar Sony cameras such as the T1 and T33 in ways I care about, such as doubling the number of pixels in the 2.5" LCD screen, including an auto-focus assist lamp, and USB 2.0 support without needing driver software when used with Windows XP.

One of my pet peeves about digital cameras is that they are not protected from the elements. The T7 helps this in two ways. First, its on/off switch is a solid lens cover. Second, the camera fits easily in the smallest size zip-loc sandwich bag, and can easily be operated while in the bag, providing serious dust and splash protection.

One further protection is needed, but easily handled. The LCD needs protection, which I provided by covering it with a sheet of screen protector plastic left over from an old PDA.

As you might expect from such a thin device, battery life is somewhat limited (about an hour of continuous use, set up for maximum brightness, continuous focus adjustment, and automatic flash. For that reason, I bought a spare battery, and since the charger is bigger than the camera, suggest other buyers do the same.

Similarly, plan on getting more memory immediately. The supplied 32M is good for only 14 pictures at top resolution. I settled for 512M, the largest I could actually buy at time of purchase, but would recommend the new 1GB size if available to you as you buy. The memory door appears a bit flimsy, so it seems best not to need to open it too often.

I bought this for my point and shoot wife to take on a week-long trip, and thereafter to have it with us whenever a shot might present itself, but not surely enough to carry the large camera, or in situations where keeping the large camera clean and dry might be an issue.

If you too are a serious hobbyist, do be aware of unavoidable limitations: 1) 5MP is good, but not as good as the 7MP of a few also (barely) pocketable cameras. I decided smaller size outweighed higher resolution, but you may feel differently. 2) F4 is 2 full stops dimmer than the F2 of my other camera, which matters quite a bit when the light is low, as does 3) the ASA maximum of 400, rather than 800. There's also 4) no place to attach a filter. For a second camera, these are all perfectly acceptable compromises, in my opinion.

Highly recommended as a second camera for hobbyists, or as a first camera for folks who want a very convenient and very high quality point and shoot camera.

My main criterion for my 2nd digital camera was: can I jog with it in my pocket? Of all the 5mp+ I looked at, this is the only one that really won't be annoying. And has now been tested on several jogs with great success. It is very solid, sturdy, and dense. It really is as wide and high as a credit card, and LESS than a cm thick, not counting the sturdy lens cover. That cover was a big selling feature for me, as I am afraid of those flimsy metal leaves that close to 'protect' some lenses, while in my pocket. Although it has slid open by itself in my pocket, but the auto-off protected its battery.

After 3 weeks, I have taken many great photos with it. It has an amazing macro capability: better than 1:1! It really is like a magnifier, the icon they use for that mode.

I miss the time-lapse feature of my Canon S50 ("intervalometer") and hope Sony gets a firmware upgrade to include that. Although this is not a full 'manual' camera, it has many adjustable features, and seems to choose well when you let its AI do the adjusting. The video is awesome, esp. at full res (640x480) as is the sound. In fact, you could set it to low res, just to use it as a sound recorder-well over an hour on my 512M stick. At high res, you get only ~10 min on a gig stick, but considering this is not a camcorder, that is fine for capturing many moving 'images'.

I LOVE the very fast start-up, well less than 1 sec. Great for catching those spontaneous shots while riding in a car. And it is quiet: no motors whining to give away your photographic intensions. (The zoom motor is virutally inaudible).

I was very pleasantly surprised how intuitive all the buttons are laid out, and menus too. Sony did a lot of usability testing. Much better than my Canon. And the buttons are the sturdiest of its class of tiny cams.

It has a tiny tripod hole, so needs their adaptor/desk-stand to mount (included). Battery is tiny but not as feeble as some reviews reported. I love Sony's 'infolithium' that tell you how many minutes you have left. Get an extra, tho. The screen is awesome, and can be booped up for easy view in broad daylight. Who needs a viewfinder?

Sensitivity and noise are pretty good-night images possible. Image colors are over the top, so I turned down the 'saturation' setting.

It is so tiny, you better use that long neck strap so you don't lose it. I keep it tied to my belt loop and forget I have it with me at all times now.

If you want the best really small digital camera out now (May 2005) then this is the one.

Buy Sony Cybershot DSCT7 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Now

I had this camera for several weeks now and took over 100 pictures. The pictures are really good with this size of camera. People who complaint abut the picture quality of this camera either they expect too much from Sony or they never use an ULTRA-COMPACT camera before. You cannot compare this camera to the bigger (compact) camera from Canon, Nikon or Pentax. The depth of this camera is about half of the Canon SD lines (ex. SD400) and Pentax S5i OR 1/3 of the Canon S lines (ex. S410).

I currently own both Sony F828 (8MP) and Pentax S5i (5MP). I get this camera because it's thinner and has a larger LCD screen than the Pentax .

Of cause, the picture quality cannot compare to a semi-pro camera like Sony F828 but it's about the same as or better than Pentax S5i. This camera is great to take outdoor pictures or indoor pictures with short distance (under 5 feet). You cannot use this camera to take group photos (saymore than 4 people) because the flash is not strong enough to produce a good picture. Some people complaint about the noise but all they need to do is to lower the ISO to 200 or below to avoid those noises.

I did not notice much about blurry pictures. The pictures come out great 90% of the time for indoor. Outdoor pictures are always great. Color is very decent also.

Pros:

1. Small easiest to carry and decent picture quality

2. looks great

3. high quality built and feel great to hold

4. battery is very decent compare to my Pentax

5. histogram

6. very good movie resolution with no time limit.

Cons:

1. add a charging station so that the battery does not have to come out when charging

2. a little bigger and stronger flash is good

3. a little bit pricy but built quality is great compare to my Canon or Pentax. Hey, why people are willing to pay more $$$ for an entry level Lexus when they can get an Avalon or a Camry with same options for thousands less.

if you're looking for a camera to fit all situations (day, night, group photos), you need to get a BIGGER cameras but it's more difficult to carry around. I got rid of my Canon S410 and got a Pentax S5i about 6 months ago because the Canon is too fat to fit in the pocket

Read Best Reviews of Sony Cybershot DSCT7 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Here

Outstandingly awesome! Feature rich, yet simple to use and YES, it does have an OPTICAL zoom. The quality of the photos are great. And it's very small I can wear it around my neck and forget it's there because it's so light. As an avid photographer for many years (even back when the equipment wasn't digital!), I can say this is an incredible piece of technology.

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I was looking for a ultraslim camera to replace my 2 years old Canon S400 which is still too thick and heavy for me as a snapshot camera. When I first saw the T7, I was attracted to its super sexy style. So the T7 automatically sit on top of my short list for the next camera. (the others are Panasonic FX7, Canon SD400 and Nikon S1) Before I made the decision, I have read a lot of reviews online regarding the T7, people are either love it or hate it, and I understand why soon after I got my hands on the it...

I purchased the Sony T7 from a local store (although Amazon offer a better price, it would be a huge hassle if I don't like it and decide to return it). But soon after taking a few pictures with the camera, I discover that this is definitely not a camera for me.

For those people who highly rated this camera, those are the people who love sexy and stylish gadgets, in this category, T7 should be a perfect choice. It is super stylish, slimmer than anyone could imagine for a 5MP camera and it is definitely an eye-catcher and a head turner that people just can't keep their eyes off it!

However, after I calm down from it's stunning appearance and start using it, I immediately realize the reasons why so many users of T7 left negative feedbacks. The camera is too small that it is awkward to hold and take pictures steadily. Lens and the large LCD screen are prone to the fingerprints. All of the pictures took indoor is grainy and noisy, even with the help of flash. The flash is so weak that it hardly reach over 6 ft. Using the red-eye reduction function will further induce handshaking effects and ghosting effects when taking pictures indoor due time required to steadily hold the camera is longer. Ironically, a camera of it's size is prone to red-eye since the lens and the flash is so closely located.

In short, the image quality of all the pictures T7 took are disappointingly lower than the pictures took with my 2 years old Canon S400. The supporters of T7 may argue that T7 is much smaller than S400. That's true, however, personally, at this price, I would expect the picture quality is on par or at least come close to my 2 years old S400.

PRO

Super slim, super stylish and attractive

Body feels sturdy and well build

2.5" large LCD screen

Very fast start time

CONS

Difficult to hold steadily

Weak flash

Weak battery life (Additional battery pack cost $50)

Use MS Duo/Duo Pro (Which costs approx 50% more than SD with similar speed)

Pictures taken indoor are noisy and grainy

Prone to red eye, but prone to hand shake when using red eye reduction

Lens and LCD screen are prone to fingerprints

After playing with the T7 and the comparison tests with my old S400, it is very clear to me that T7 isn't a camera that worth its price. The bottom line, how good is a camera if it can't take even decent quality pictures even though it looks cool on the outside? I am going to return it to the store and luckly they don't charge for restocking.

I am going to continue my research on the other cameras on my list (Nikon S1, Panasonic FX7 and Canon SD400) which are just a little thicker than T7 and cost approx $100 less! So far, I have seen less complaints on each of these cameras than T7.

C2G / Cables to Go 29670 TruLink 1Port 60 GHz WirelessHD Video Transmitter and Receiver Kit (Black)

I picked up this unit with a HDMI switch box to avoid having a bunch of devices near the TV on the wall. Quality-wise, the video and sound are absolutely great, as long as the units have line of sight to each other. The signal slightly degrades if you put the receiver behind the TV, so be ready to use the included wall mount.

The one thing that really bugs me is the fan noise from the transmitter and receiver. You can't stop it. Even if you put the unit to "Sleep" with the remote, the fan never turns off. While watching a show with the volume up loud, it isn't a big deal, but expect to hear the fans anytime the TV is not on, especially if you have the units mounted in difficult to reach positions, since the only way to really get the fans to turn off is to flip the physical on/off switch on the back of each of the two units.

If they would fix the fan noise, this product would be worth every penny. I plan to sell this one once I find something that works this good that will actually turn off (or not be heard) when not in use.

I chose to purchase this C2G unit primarily because it (unlike others I researched) supported true uncompressed 1080p @ 60 GHz resolution & its 36 antenna array supposedly would provide a strong wireless signal. My PC is about 18 feet from the HD TV & the C2G was installed with a direct line of sight. The received television image was OK, but not near as good as I had hoped for; I was expecting utmost quality considering the specifications on this C2G and the price of it. The connection signal would go out once or twice per hour for approximately one minute leaving me with a blank TV screen; fortunately, I could revert to the PC monitor when this occurred. I returned the C2G; instead, I purchased on Amazon the "Sewell Hammerhead VGA to HDMI Converter" so as to just run a long HDMI cable to my Audio/Receiver from the PC. Yes, the cable will be exposed when I use it; but, at least I now have the quality I desire. I doubt wireless can accomplish my goal.

Buy C2G / Cables to Go 29670 TruLink 1Port 60 GHz WirelessHD Video Transmitter and Receiver Kit (Black) Now

Very good product and absolutely fine quality. There is WirelessHD standart inside no compression and 7 gigabit wireless channel. But works only in line of sight. Also, works with something (chair, table) or someone (human, dog, etc.) between Tx and Rx, but no walls, or any, to fully cover 360 range in round of devices. Also, not so cheap, as in China.

Read Best Reviews of C2G / Cables to Go 29670 TruLink 1Port 60 GHz WirelessHD Video Transmitter and Receiver Kit (Black) Here

WiFi Baby (2012 Version -1st Gen) - iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC Baby Monitor. Wireless Video, Au

I was able to setup the camera on my home wifi network following the instructions that came in the box with very little trouble. It was when I tried to set up the camera for external viewing that I ran into issues. After giving it a go myself I caved and contacted customer service. I expected the worst and was actually completely blown away by their service. I emailed them just last night at 11pm and received an email back this morning. Gary setup an appointment with me tonight. You read that right, the same day, AND they work nights and weekends to accommodate their customers!! And he called me at the precise time that we agreed to. No offense to my Indian friends, but Gary is definitely American (as far as I can tell haha), is super nice, and is very patient. Within a half an hour, on the phone and with the screen sharing, he had everything working. THEN he sent me an email summarizing everything he showed me and all my settings. Are you kidding me? For the customer service alone, this company deserves more business! That is VERY rare these days. And the only reason I had trouble with setup was I was attempting to port forward on my Apple airport instead of my Verizon router. Otherwise the setup for everyone else should be a breeze. If not just contact Gary and experience what real customer service should be like (someone listening at Verizon, Comcast, AT&T...?), serious.

As for the product, the camera works great, the night vision is very clear, and audio is very good. I have only used it on wifi for a few hours so we'll see how well it holds up. Baby isn't coming until January so I'll spy on the dog until then. I downloaded the baby monitor app on iPhone and iPad and they work great. Only wish the app were cheaper, but I'm fine with that.

What really sold me was the use of the wifi network, so no interference, and external viewing, because my parents are on the other side of the country. With everything finally setup the way I want it, I'm a very happy customer.

Oh, and you can always get a slight discount if you buy direct from their website by purchasing 2 wifi babies. I split it with my neighbor who is also pregnant. Highly recommend this product. That is all

I am very tech savvy, but have spent over 40+ hours with technical support trying to get this to work properly. Yes, their tech support has tried and made some progress but it still doesn't work after all the effort. I have had to purchase additional devices for my home network and completely reconfigure it several times and have nothing to show for it. I just want a baby monitor and not a second career as a network engineer.

I would have returned it, but it was given as a gift. Read the fine print before you purchase, WiFi Baby will not accept returns after 30 days. Unfortunately someone purchased this more than 30 days before gifting it to me, so I am stuck with it.

The product description is VERY MISLEADING if not completely false. First of all, the service you purchase only works from a PC or MAC. You must purchase the iPhone / iPad app separately. That's right, you are stuck in front of a desktop or must carry around a laptop unless you shell out a couple more dollars to buy a third-party piece of software to use with your smart phone. The 'anywhere' access is misleading. They require you to use a third party DDNS service, which they do not own or support. You can choose to use free DDNS hosting sites, which may not have any guaranteed reliability, or pay again for another service.

You are looking at $250 for the WiFI baby (which is really just a $150 Y-Cam with the WiFi Baby logo on it), plus ~$60 for the network extender since the camera has such limited range, plus $12 for the app to use your smart phone, plus way too much time configuring and debugging your network config, plus a couple of calls to your ISP to make sure they will allow DDNS and port forwarding to work, which all adds to one humongous waste of time since you still don't have a working video monitor at the end of it.

Update:

After several more hours of testing, I am able to get a connection on an iPad about 75% of the time and about 25% of the time on an iPhone. I am trying to contact the software vendor to diagnose the issue since WiFi Baby tech support will not respond to me anymore.

I have since contacted Tech Support with online 'tickets' about 5 times and no one will respond to me. After many calls, I was able to finally speak to a person, who told me my only option was to submit help tickets online and didn't really care that no one had responded to my requests for 2 weeks. I have found that manually powering off and re-powering the camera sometimes solves the connection issues, but it is aggravating to have to walk to the baby's room to fix the camera so you can monitor the baby...

The camera picture is high quality and the night vision feature is really quite good. However, the sound is terrible. My camera produces an awful grating sound, not white noise, when there is no ambient sound.

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Sometimes you come across a brand experience that was just so amazing, you have to tell people about. For me, that experience came this weekend from an unlikely place a baby monitor manufacturer.

One of my tasks on my to do list was to set up our two newly purchased baby monitors at the house. Being the geek that I am, we had purchased cameras from WiFi Baby that would be viewable on the iPhone, iPad and Android. Initial set-up was a breeze but I ended up running into some pretty technical problems with the dynamic IP's on the cameras. After wasting a few hours trying to solve it myself, I decided to drop an email to WiFi Baby to see if they would be able to help.

Since their website clearly said that customer service was only available during the weekday, I didn't expect to hear anything from them till Monday. But in the first of many pleasant surprises, it only took them about 30 minutes to get a response on Saturday afternoon from Gary, the WiFi Baby Technical Supervisor. While the speed of response was impressive, its really what came next that set WiFi Baby apart. In their email back to me, Gary offered to set up a time over the weekend at any point that I would be available. Once we had a time, he followed up with a simple program to install for screen sharing so he can help me with the problem I was facing.

Once the appointed time rolled around, Gary called my cell phone and we got to work. He immediately took the control of my computer and walked me step by step through everything that needed done. It took about 15 minutes and everything was running perfectly. He even tweaked a few of the settings on the camera that would make for a better experience (changing the date stamp and fixing the lighting). If that wasn't enough, he even helped me get the app set up on my iPhone, which was impressive since it was third party software. Almost any other company would have claimed to not be able to help due to it not being their program. But WiFi Baby recognized that customer service was the ultimate goal and that meant helping at each step of the process. And I almost forgot the best part. Gary followed up about 30 minutes after our call with an email detailing every single step he took so I could fix it myself at a later date. And it wasn't just a generic note but a detailed email with every personalized step. Wow.

Everyone knows of the great customer service from companies like Zappos or Apple. But it is really amazing when you have a chance to run across equally stellar service from a small business. WiFi Baby clearly recognizes the value of going above and beyond for their customers. Needless to say, they have won me over as a loyal customer.

Read Best Reviews of WiFi Baby (2012 Version -1st Gen) - iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC Baby Monitor. Wireless Video, Au Here

This product is AWESOME! It's exactly what we hoped it would be. For a moment after we'd set it up, I was a little concerned it wasn't going to work like I'd thought though. Thankfully they have amazing free phone tech support. Anyways, here are what I consider to be the most important things to know about Baby Wifi:

1. Great camera quality (both daytime, night vision, etc.)

2. Great sound quality.

3. Camera looks to be well-built, is attractive, and low profile.

4. It's pretty easy to set up yourself for indoor wifi-only use (if you're somewhat tech savvy and know how to follow instructions).

5. You'll need to download a separate iPhone/iPad/Android app to use on your mobile device. We purchased the one Baby Wifi recommends called Baby Monitor HD by Sunshine Apps. It cost another $11.99 for each device.

6. It works with 3G/4G networks as well when you cannot be on your wifi network. This was the BIGGEST selling point for us, but this was precisely what we couldn't figure out how to set up on our own and was our reason to call tech support. It turns out you need to go through some additional steps to have a static IP address for the "Away" mode on the app to use this feature. This was a bit over our heads, and so I was very thankful for Gary's help (our phone technician).

As a last note (directed more to the people at Wifi Baby), the Wifi Baby website should probably be updated in several places that relate to setting up the Baby Monitor app. I found a few places where links, instructions and tutorial videos didn't make sense because the Baby Monitor HD app must have had a new release recently. Although I completely understand that this is a small growing business and they're just trying to keep pace! Anyways....can't fault them though...again b/c the customer service was phenomenal!!

Want WiFi Baby (2012 Version -1st Gen) - iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC Baby Monitor. Wireless Video, Au Discount?

I have been using the ycam along with the Baby monitor app for about two weeks now. Getting it setup was alittle tricky so I finally gave in and submitted a help ticket on the babywifi website. I was able to setup an appointment that same evening. This item is basically a ycam with in packaging from wifi baby. But the extra $50 is totally worth having someone set it up for you step by step. Gary from wifi baby is awesome. There is about a 4 second delay in the sound. But otherwise pretty good. I have it setup on both my husband and my iphones, an itouch, and have the website viewing bookmarked on our laptop. Yes it is a little annoying that you have to pay for the Baby monitor app separately. The app running continuously drains your battery so you have to just keep the phone or itouch plugged in at night. But at least I know with this camera system there are no random strangers that can pick up images of my child in his crib like a monitoring system that uses radio frequencies. Over I have had a great experience with this product.