SeaLife DC1400 14MP HD Underwater Digital Camera with 32GB Card + Case + Battery + LED Torch &

I bought this so I could use it on diving trips coming up in Hawaii and Bonaire. As of yet I have not tried it underwater but I have used the inner camera for outdoor photos. So far the photos are good, the only problem I have is with the lag time between photos, but I knew that going in to this purchase. Easy to use and when the underwater case is on the buttonsa are large and easy to use. The back piano keys are very easy to use and should be great when underwater even with gloves on.

Digital Life High Performance VGA Monitor Cable - 16 ft. High Performance VGA cable

I purchased this cable to display video from my laptop to my TV. Initially went to a major electronic store to purchase the same item for a little over 50% than Amazon's cost. Other than the great deal, the cable was easy to plug into the laptop and TV. The settings on the laptop and TV was somewhat a puzzle for me but I just pulled out the manuals for each. The quality of the cable works for me on the most part. The display image is sharp but I am not liking the size displayed on the TV. I am not sure if I can adjust the size but this has nothing to do with the performance of the cable.

I was extremely hesitant to purchase any VGA cable that was priced as low as this. All the reviews for similarly priced cables talk about how the picture is bad because of color, flicker, etc. I decided to search for a Monster VGA cable, because the name suggests high quality. I never expected to find a Monster, name brand, cable for under $20. I bought it with the hopes that it would work fine. This cable is excellent! I have an HD Laptop. This cable delivers the same HD picture to my HDTV and the cord is 16 ft long. I feel like I got a great deal.

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Bought this in May to connect my laptop to my hdtv. Around 5 months have passed and it is starting to malfunction. The tv started turning purple and flickering and I checked the connection. Wiggling the cable at the connection was confirmed to cause the problem. It is not the connector on the tv... it is where the cable goes into the connector on the cable itself.

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This cable works fine but I cant screw it into my Mac adapter. I need longer screws. The connection's not super tight so occasionally it disconnects and I have to plug it back in. I think I'm going to tape the two together since I never use it any other way. All of my other vga cable always screwed in fine. Don't know why this one doesn't.

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This cable was ordered for my office. It was exactly what we needed and exactly as described. We would order it again if necessary.

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Nikon Coolpix P50 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Zoom

For me the equation was simple: I wanted a good camera at a good price. Nikon has a strong reputation for its optics, and they have produced high quality cameras. My wife and I owned an earlier CoolPix camera that took very good pictures, but was poorly constructed. The P50 truly lives up to its Nikon heritage. The camera is small, but has the heft and feel of a solid instrument yet it is easy to handle. The large Nikkor lens captures the light without a trace of distortion. The menus are intuitive, and the features are just right for a serious amateur photographer. Experimenting with the macro feature on camera, I inadvertently caught a bee in mid flight. The P50 captured the details of the cilia on the bee's head and thorax, and almost stopped its wings in mid beat. This is a fantastic little camera at a fantastic price. Above all, this is a camera that lives up to the Nikon reputation for quality.

I gave away my Nikon Coolpix 3200 and waited awhile before purchasing another Nikon. At the store I didn't go for the most expensive Nikon Coolpix--just one that was recommended for low light shooting. I'm moderately familiar with photography so I do not mind experimenting.

This camera is very nice! The many types of programmed settings for indoors and low light are very handy. Usually when I want to take a great photo I will fire off several shots (I have two 2 Gb memory cartridges) using a variety of settings until I get close enough. The built-in retouching functions (D-lighting) are nice and work well. When I'm done I download onto my computer and perhaps do some contrast adjustment and cropping. The results are great.

Please, PLEASE read the manual. It will definitely help anyone to use this camera to its fullest potential. I've ordered the AC adapter and charger/batteries to add to my tripod (already own). I also recommend purchasing a tripod; with the camera's timer you can take nice shots even in indoors and low light.

None of my pictures have turned out grainy (yet), and if they ever do I check the settings. Photography is not idiot-proof, you must experiment! I'd recommend only using point-and-shoot settings for daylight/outdoors. Oh, and take multiple shots of a subject, there is enough memory in the camera to do this. Back in the old 35mm film days pro photographers would take rolls and rolls of pictures just to get that ONE great picture. Try the same approach and do not be satisfied with just one shot. This camera will let you do this easily.

If I had a friend who had at some prior knowledge of taking photos I'd recommend it. If you are just a beginning picture-taker, look elsewhere.

Anyone who takes their time to learn all the ins and outs of this camera will be rewarded with a fine product for many months and years to come.

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I just purchased this camera after owning a few compact cameras and DSLR's. So far the camera is a gem. Small but easy to grasp, simple and fast to use, change settings, and above all, I've been thoroughly impressed with the image quality, color rendition, and image stabilization features. The optical and digital zoom combined with these features achieved sharp results.

The software that knits together panorama intended shots (using the panorama scene feature) is better than most with very little distoration.

A single 2 Gig SD card represents 500 best quality and size photos on this camera even at 8.1 megapixels.

The noise levels above 200 iso is diminished by the higher megapixels and NR builtin the camera.

This is a great travel camera given its wide angle for shooting buildings, landscapes, panoramas and people.

I highly recommend this camera.

Cons: No raw image support and movies are not highly compressed and use up the memory quickly.

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P50 is relatively inexpensive, so you can't ask too much. But I can say that this camera works pretty well as a travel mate. Pocket-size, wide-angle lens, AA batteries are what you really need abroad. Easy to hold with one hand. Overall image quality is very good. Coolpix P50 offers plenty of image details till 200 ISO. Noise shows up at 400 ISO and, quite obviously, above. Blurred shots can result in tele mode (102 mm max focal length). I haven't been able to take advantage of the image stabilization (electronic, not optical, vibration reduction): certainly, it's my fault. Compact, well-built, serious body. "Manual" is not very much so. At each focal length, you can manually choose between just two lens apertures (e.g.: 2.8 and 5.6 when at 28mm). On the other hand, "Program exposure mode" is very effective: better to relay on it. As usual, the optical viewfinder doesn't cover the whole picture, but in sunny days I experienced it's by far a better solution than the 2.4-inch display. Default images are a bit on the "soft" side: my advice is to increase contrast afterwards. At the end of the day I'm satisfied. Among the few pocket-size cameras sporting a 28 mm wide-angle lens, P50 is a relatively cheap and smart choice.

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I purchased this camera for several reasons. First was the 28mm wide angle lens which is rare for a Point and Shoot (P&S) as most start out around 36mm and higher. The second reason was for the Manual settings, I have always used Nikon Coolpix in the past and had long sought this option. The third reason was that this camera takes AA batteries and thus I can use this to travel without having to buy a power converter so that I can recharge a battery pack.

So far I have been very happy with this camera, it does everything I could ever want and lives up to the Nikon name. Some people complain that it does not have a long enough zoom, but long zooms can lead to very bad pictures when using P&S as you lose a lot of light AND when using long lens you must compensate with quicker shutter speedsthis can be tricky for most and generally leads to low quality images.

Essentially this camera is great for going out and taking pics of family and friendsLandscapesand Travelling.

Sony Cybershot DSCW1 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

I have been very happy with this camera since I purchased it over a month ago. My requirements for a digital camera were resolution of at least 5 MP, compact size for travel, and some scene or manual modes. Two features sold me on this camera:

1. Compatibility with AA batteries. Most cameras this size use proprietary batteries, which means if you forget your battery recharger on a trip, you could be in trouble. With this camera, you can take out the included AA rechargeables once they run down and use regular AA batteries. While lithium batteries such as Energizer's E2 series are best, even alkalines will work in a pinch.

2. Larger LCD area. The extra inch makes a huge difference. You can tell immediately whether people blinked, and the screen is large enough that family and friends will enjoy flipping through the photos you've taken without having to squint. The larger area also makes it fun to zoom, rotate, and crop photos right in the camera.

In addition to indoor settings, I have tested the camera in the Colorado mountains, suburban Chicago, and downtown DC. The scene modes did an especially beautiful job with the mountains and lakes. I had been worried after some reviews suggested that Sony cameras make colors look washed-out and faded, but I did not experience this. My images have also been very sharp, and I can see details far in the background, such as signs in shots of city streets. I also like that you can set the camera to record images in a 3:2 ratio, so that if you are planning to make 4x6 prints, the camera saves exactly the image that will be printed. My only complaint is that the red-eye mode doesn't completely eliminate red eye in indoor shots, but I understand that this is typical for compact cameras.

Since this camera and its LCD screen could easily be damaged in a purse or backpack, I would recommend a semi-rigid carrying case such as Sony's LCMWA model.

This camera will not be right for everyone. If you're looking for a simple point-and-shoot and don't want to worry about settings, consider Canon's PowerShot S500 Elph. If your photos mostly will be indoors and redeye is your major concern, consider Nikon's Coolpix 5200. If you'll be doing a lot of telephoto zooming, consider the Pentax Optio 555 with its 5X optical zoom. But if you're looking for a versatile compact 5 MP camera in the advanced consumer/prosumer segment, then look no further than Sony's DSC-W1.

After reading every online review I could find, I decided to purchase the DSC-W1 and after taking about 300 images, I am quite pleased with it.

The camera is light and small. It has plenty of "scene modes" that make it easy for anyone to take a picture. You can also take 640x480 movies with sound for as long as your memory stick pro will hold them. (If you are using a regular memory stick, the time is limited.) The camera is lightning fast, both in startup time and time to store an image after shooting. There is a "burst mode" too that can allow multiple shots to be taken in succession, but it is too buried in the menus to be useful unless you know that good action is coming.

Night photography seems to be working out quite well with this camera. One thing I liked over similar cameras in this category is the 30 second exposure time, which is fairly high. (Many didn't allow anything more than 10 seconds.)

I ditched the included Sony batteries after reading a review somewhere and bought some Powerex 2300 batteries from MahaEnergy. I haven't been able to go through two sets of batteries (the camera takes two AA's.) in a day's time. In fact, one set seems to do just fine almost all of the time.

The Sony supports up to 400 iso, though there is a fair amount of noise at this level. I've been using Neat Image to clean it up though and I have no qualms about shooting at this speed as long as I'm using software to clean it up.

I'm just beginning to learn how to photograph things somewhat well, and I do have a few gripes. Most are very minor, and most would have been solved if I would have saved up the money to buy a digital SLR instead of trying to force this point and shoot to try to be a digital SLR.

First, macro mode doesn't seem to let you get very close. With my friend's Olympus Camedia, I seem to be able to all but rest my lens on the subject. With the DSC-W1, I can't seem to get much closer than 6 inches with it getting too blurry to take a picture. You can get some close shots, but if you are really looking at getting into macro photography, you might want to look at the Olympus, or at other cameras.

Night photographers will find it irritating that there is no sort of remote cable release or remote IR release. You can get around this problem with the self timer if necessary, but some shots you just aren't going to get. There isn't any sort of built-in stabilization either, though I wouldn't expect any on a $400 point and shoot. A tripod is required gear if you are going to take shots in dim light without a flash.

Also, it is worth noting that the camera doesn't have a hot-shoe. You are going to be using the built in flash. The built-in flash seems to be okay, and I'm imagining that the average point-and-shoot photographer won't care.

Overall, I'm really pleased with this camera. If you want to be really get into the technical side of digital cameras, save up and buy a Canon Digital Rebel or some other spiffy SLR. If you want a camera that you'll be happy to put in your pocket and take with you, the Sony is an excellent choice.

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I bought this in Jan 2005 and I love this one. I have done quite some research before I bought this one. Some research sites recomended are

PC World

Steves Digital.

ImagingResource( This site has a comparometer by which you can comapare images from 2 cameras side by Side. Although thi site is little biased towards cannon as they did not use the correct settings for sony camera.

But one thing was clear from my researchCannon Camera are the best in Image quality(I'll give 5 to Cannon on image quality and 4.8 to sony. 4.2 to Kodak, 4 to Nikon. But One ditinct advantage that made my choice to sony was the Spped of the shot. Basically sony cameras take shot between .2 -.3 seconds after the button is pressed and cannon takes 1.1 1.3 seconds to take the shot. With my kids it is imposiible to get a posed Picture I want with cannon.

Here are some of the feature comparison between Sony and Cannon(I ignored all others because of image quality)

1. Image quality Sony 4.8 Cannon 5.0. although at uptill 8x 10 the quality is same.

2. Image clarity and details Sony 4.7 cannon 5.0. Cannon has the lot more details. A picture of grass shows sharp edges of grass in cannon but sony is little blurry. But at 8x10 u don't need that kind of sharpness.

3. Color Sony w1 4.9. cannon 5.0. again cannon is better but not by far. Sony P93 and P73 are worst in color but W1 does a good job and V1 and T1 are closest to true colors

4. Night shots Sony 4.9 Cannon 4.5. Here is the difference. Sony's shots in dark lights are the best.

5. Shot TIme. As I said earlier Sony is the best by 2-3 times better performance than any other camera. Besides startup time on Sony camera is about .3 seconds where as cannon is about 1.7 seconds. This is due to faster processor of Sony.

6. Batery Life I could take 170+ pictures with sony using LCD and using the review mode Extensively. For cannon I don't have the numbers but I heard it is around 100 pictures(official number is 250 for both). Besides the charger is included in Sony but not in cannon using AA bateris. This saves another 30-40 bucks

7. Price Both are same with cannons Flashs card being cheaper than sony' memory stick. But amazon.com gives 128 MB stick free which gives you 60 images at 5 MP resolution. Cannon' Battery charger for A85,95 series is going to add 40$ to your price range.

8. Noise reduction Sony is the best. no comparison in digital processing with any other brand.

9. LCD SizeI've had couple of camcorders and trust me u need a bigger screen like W1 or else u miss details while reviewing, and while on a trip you try to take the best pictures only and delete the others.

10. Appearance and weight. All are same weight (couple of ounces here and there) but Cannon uses 4 AA bateries which makes is little more heaview and the battery torage space required in camera makes it even more bulkier(Bigger size) to carry.

11. Lens extensions. Cannon has better acceries available but I'm not professional either:)

Overall I'll say Sony is the best overall camera. Image quality compared to cannon is not the best but it is not off by far either. But If you don't care about the time taken to get the picture after button is pressed and are very hung on perfect image qualitygo for cannon. But within 200-325 Price range , Sony is the best and W1 is the best in that range. It is also voted the best Point and Shoot camera by PC world(PCworld ratings are known to be best in electronics).

Summary

Sony W1 is good at.

1. Faster snap time

2. Best Night shots.

3. Very true colors(4.9 sony W1 and 5.0 to Cannon)

4. Excelent Scene Modes.

5. Decent Manual controls(You don't need them with scenic modes)

6. Very good image quality.

7. Lighter and better Look camera over all.

Cannon is good at.

1. Image quality.

2. Very true colors almost perfect.

Hope this helps

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After two years of lackluster pictures from a 2MP Canon PowerShot S-100 (constant underexposure, short battery life). I began looking for a digital camera replacement. While I want to take high quality pictures, the bulk of what I take are family and travel snapshots.

After endless procrastination on my part, my wife surprised me with the new Sony DSC-T1 5MP ultracompact camera. It was very cool to play with and takes very good looking pictures with the default settings. The T-1 is a neat camera.

While I liked the DSC-T1 a lot, I had some core concerns with it that are fully addressed by it's sibling camera, the DSC-W1. Not only does the W1 have about a half dozen more features than the T1 it's also $100 less than the T1!

I want to emphasize that both cameras take very good pictures, especially for a person that wants to take high quality snapshots that is, pull it out and snap off a few, quickly review the shots and perhaps make some manual adjustments to optimize the pictures.

What's also appealing to me about both cameras is their movie mode support. Both cameras take credible mpeg movies, albeit without zoom support (I'm not aware of any digicam that allows you to adjust the zoom mode once the movie recording has started). In the "best" movie mode (30 frames/sec), you'll consume about 1 Mb per second of recording. However, I find that I only shoot 30 to 60 seconds of "useful and viewable" footage at a family gathering anyway, as well as 20 to 30 photos. In this regard, a 256 Mb Memory Stick Pro card gets me by just fine for a day.

Note that most digicams in this price range shoot 30 fps movies for only a set, limited time of 15 to 30 sec per clip, or they'll shoot longer clips at 15fps, which is pretty poor quality to me. The T1 and W1 allow you to shoot high quality 30 fps video up to the capacity of the Memory Stick Pro card you elect to use. This is very useful to someone like me who never has viewed the old family videos I recorded on my video camera. Now I load photos and videos on the PC and actually view the video clips!

I am also very impressed with the on-camera editing modes of both cameras. I can shoot images at a 5 Megapixel size and easily downsize them to 3 MP, 1 MP or VGA size, as well as crop them on the camera. With the long battery life of the W1, I do most of my editing on the camera and upload satisfactory images to the PC, lessening the need to open photo editing software. This is really fantastic!

The last general note is that some people criticize the quality of the photo software that comes with the Sonys. I wouldn't know. I never installed it. I learned a long time ago that you are generally better off getting a memory card reader for $20 and uploading the images via a USB connection, then using a third party application to edit the images.

The DSC-W1 has the following features that are important to me that the DSC-T1 lacks.

Cost $100 less for the W1.

Flash only a 5 foot distance for the T1, but 12 feet for the W1. Most of my family indoor shots are from 5 to 10 feet away. Isn't that true for most of us?

Tripod mount I need it a few times a year for family gatherings if I'm going to be in the picture. Also useful for obtaining the best steady shot composition for family portraits. The T1 lacks a tripod mount.

"AA" battery support I can't overstate how important it is on ANY digicam to utilize common "AA" batteries. No matter how well prepared I try to be, there have been occasions where I forgot to charge the proprietary batteries on my Cannon, much to my condemnation at that family gathering. In a pinch, you can stop at a convenience store and pick up a pack of "AA"s to get you through the day with the W1. Also, "AA" rechargable batteries and rechargers are so inexpensive right now. The propriety battery on the T-1 lists at $60. While the price will come down, I doubt you'll find them readily available at the convenience store.

While the T1's battery life was acceptable, my perception of the W1's battery usage is that it is VERY good. I do a tremendous amount of shooting photos and movies on the W1 in the course of a day, as well as subsequent replay and editing on the camera itself. I still can't believe I have battery life left on the same set I started with after my typical photo and movie session with the W1...

Viewfinder Both cameras have the excellent 2.5" LCD display. Both cameras are well suited for taking pictures through the LCD viewfinder. However, there are times in bright light, in crowds, in busy/moving situations where the optical viewfinder is useful and warranted. The W1 has the optical viewfinder and the T1 does not.

Manual exposure The T1 and W1 both take very good snapshot pictures in a variety of lighting conditions. However, it's nice to have the flexibility of controlling the manual exposure if you need it.

Other features While I don't need them, the W1 allows for the addition of wide and telephoto lenses and special filters with an optional lens adapter.

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I've just read all these complaints about blurry pictures, and felt compelled to write as it is obvious that some people just don't understand how photography works. The W1 starts by reading the available light, just like any other camera. When it has done that it decides on an appropriate aperture and shutter speed. In actual fact, it tends to choose rather larger apertures and therefore faster shutter speeds than other similar cameras. It can't do anything else if it set much faster shutter speeds the pictures would only be underexposed. Compare the exposure settings to those on any other camera in the same situation and you will find they are the same. The big difference with the W1 is that, because of the large screen, you tend to hold the camera well away from your face when you shoot, inevitably causing camera shake.

One solution if you want to hand-hold indoors is to increase the ISO setting to 200. Incidentally, you are hard-pressed to take hand-held pictures OUTDOORS on any camera at ISO100 in the UK at any time of the year except in mid-summer. Increasing the ISO to 200 doesn't seem to cause too much noise. You can also try using the viewfinder and propping your elbows on something.

I've only had this camera a few days, but it seems very sharp to me. You just can't expect it to defy the laws of physics.

Tera Grand - Premium Mini DisplayPort / Thunderbolt to HDMI Adapter Cable with Audio Support - for

This item works perfectly as described.. The only thing you have to do is make sure to switch your audio out to the HDMI setting or else you will only get picture and no sound.. From the main home page hit option and the sound icon on the top right of the screen and your HDMI out setting will pop up and select that and you will have sound and video.. Enjoy this is the best one I've seen the works for video and sound and the price is reasonable. This was tested on 2012 mac air 13in

I've been waiting a long time to find the right adapter that would allow me to hook up my Macbook Pro to my Large screen HD LCD and finally found it in this product. This Mini DisplayPort does exactly what it's been advertised it will do. Audio is superb and the quality is top notch! No complaints!

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I had another Mini DP -> HDMI adapter that started to short, so I was looking for the cheapest solution that would actual work (video AND sound).

This adapter does exactly as described, has a narrow form factor, and is a fraction of the cost of others.

Tip: If you're having trouble with the display not working, try Detect Displays in display preferences (also Command + F2). Sound you must adjust in preferences to go to the HDMI device.

Hardware: 2011 11" Macbook Air (Thunderbolt), OSX Lion

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I bought this item for $5.99, so I really had nothing to lose. Hooked up to my Mid-2012 MacBook Pro and my five year-old Philips LCD TV, all I had to do was to go to System Preferences > Sound > Output and select my TV's HDMI input, which miraculously appeared in the menu. Perfect picture and perfect sound from one cable. Highly recommended!

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I tried it on 2 different Macbook Pro's (2011 and 2012). It did not work on either one. I also called Apple, and they said the problem was with the adapter. Will be returning.

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Cables To Go 54161 9in Mini DisplayPort Male to HDMI Female Adapter Cable (White)

I don't know why, but seems like this adapter cannot satisfy me. The image quality is not good at all. You can see the parallel line of figure, I mean double line. So I strongly suggest you still use the Berkin's minidisplayport-DVI-HDMI

Stop working after 2 weeks of use. Didnt bother to try to get a replacement.

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It has been few years since I bought this and it is still working. It is still in great shape, no wear and tear.

I use this about 2-3 times a week to hook up to HDMI.

It never game me any problems.

MAC BOOK PRO 2008

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The Amazon shopping page neglects to mention that audio is not supported by this adaptor. When I checked the Cables 2 Go website, they indeed note this limitation. The video signal works fine for me from the MacBook Pro to a Sony Bravia HD television.

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This adapter does not support Audio transfer.

I should have researched it further and gone to the Cables to Go website there they plainly state this.

I have always had good luck with Cables to Go, so I didn't question it when it was described on Amazon.

On the Apple site they recommend the Moshi adapter.

This is what happens when I try to save a few bucks.

Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom

Just bought this camera from Circuit City about two weeks ago. The first camera I had to return the next day because the image on the LCD was stuck upside down. The camera powers up pretty fast and you can begin recording in just a couple seconds. I love the fact that you can browse through the video and play anything on the fly. I would have thought at this price point it would take better still shots (only 1mp)but that wasnt really the reason I bought it anyway. Low light is ok.. it's no better or worse then my JVC Mini DV. I like the Sony 'night shot' feature. It allows you to take video in total darkness with a built in infrared mode. Do yourself a favor though and purchase an extended battery. The one that comes with it is pretty worthless at only a 1 hour rated life. I purchased the extended 9 hour battery and can realistically get about 4-5 hours without having to charge. The touchscreen is a little different but you get used to it quick. Kinda wish it had a viewfinder but that's on the next model up.

Mainly I purchased this because I was sick of dealing with tapes... I have a whole box of VHS and Mini DV tapes that I now have to take the time and convert to usable formats on my PC. The beauty of this camera is that all that goes away and the video is going to be in it's purest form for this level of camera. It doesnt take hollywood level video but at least you are removing one step out of the equation when having to re-render it. The software that comes with it is pretty worthless. about the only thing I liked was it has the ability to archive any changes from the camera whether video or photo and auto back it up with one click.

Don't buy the SR-40 or SR-60 you will be disapointed with the features vs. price. If you are looking to upgrade from tape go with this one the SR-80 becasue it is the best value over the two lower models. If you can afford it (i couldnt) Get the SR-100 becasue it has the better camera (3mp) and a viewfinder.

Compare the reviews of Sony vs JVC before you buy a HD Camera!!

This camcorder does capture good video. But the main drawback is that it records in MPEG2 format (DVD quality). Initially its nice and easy to capture video and watch it on your computer by downloading the files using the USB 2.0 connection. It gives you instant gratification. But after capturing 4 or 5 hours of video, you will notice that your videos aren't so great as you expect it to be. Its not the fault with your camcorder. Its because all of us shoot extra footage, unwanted scenes, shakes, etc which we want to edit. You may want to add a title or two, add transitions, add backgroud music, combine your photos with the video, etc. Basically you may want to edit your footage. Its here when you find the major drawback of this camcorder. The MPEG2 quality video is not good for editing. The video quality is so compressed that you won't have sufficient bandwidth to edit the video.

MPEG2 is a LOSSY compression technique used to compress large video files into smaller files that can be fit into a 4 GB or 8 GB DVD. Since the camcorder compresses the video and then writes to the hard disk, the source file that you download to your computer is already compressed and has lost much of its data during the compression. If you edit this already compressed file, you lose more data during the process thus resulting in poorer video quality.

When you edit these videos, add some transitions or special effects, increase/decrease brigthness or noise, etc, the newly edited video loses further clarity and thus makes your video look ugly and pixelated.

In summary please don't buy this camcorder if you are serious about your videos and would like to edit them. But if you are not bothered about editing and want to watch your unedited footage forever, then go for it.

That said, if you still think you want to go for this camcorder, please read the review on its other features:

1. Super NightShot Infrared System: Not a useful feature. Its amazining to initially see how this camcorder is able to "see" using infrared light. But the moment you shoot your subject using infrared light, you never want to shoot again as they will appear like devils when shot using this infrared light. Remember infrared footage appears almost black-and-white and not color. And the subject's eyes really look like devil.

2. 2.5-inch wide SwivelScreen LCD display with touch panel capabilities: Sony convenietly "forgot" to mention that this screen is NOT widescreen. Most of the camcorders now-a-days come with widescreen LCD. Its a good feature if you always want to shoot in widescreen. In fact I would suggest you to shoot in widescreen only as all future TVs and current LCD/Plasma TVs are widescreen. You can future proof your video by shooting widescreen. This camcorder DOES support widescreen video but the LCD is NOT widescreen. So when you shoot widescreen, you see black bands on the top and bottom.

3. Digital still photos: Please don't rely on this feature. The best photos from this camcorder as as good as the worst photos from any popular digital camera. Technology has still not matured to the point where a camcorder can shoot as good as a digital camera and vice versa.

4. 20x optical/120x digital zoom: Optical zoom is very good. You can handle upto 10X optical zoom without a tripod. Any more zoom requires the use of a tripod. I was able to zoom in and read a car tag from the top of Sears tower, Chicago. I love the zoom feature in this camcorder. Don't use the digital zoom feature. Turn it off. As mentioned above, MPEG2 compression already makes the video bad in quality. The digital zoom further makes it worst.

5. Professional-quality Carl Zeiss lens: Yes its good. The image quality is truly great. No doubt about it.

6. Super SteadyShot picture stabilization system: Good enough to avoid small vibrations caused when going on a ship for example. But not good enough for the shakes encountered when walking with the camcorder. Don't expect to get great footage in such conditions. For great footage, you must still rely on a steady hand or a tripod.

7. On-screen zoom and record buttons: Not an useful feature. The camcorder tends to shake more when you use these zoom buttons on the LCD because the LCD is always projecting outside when shooting video. Hence you shake the camcorder more when you touch the LCD than when you touch the camcorder's body.

8. USB 2.0 interface: Good interface. Fast enough to download 30 GB in 1.5 hours. Firewire interface would have been great. But USB 2.0 is also good enough

9. Image Mixer Software: Very useless software. The free Picasa software from Google is far better in organizning your videos and pictures than the software that comes with this camera. Forget about this software.

10. InfoLithium battery with AccuPower meter system: Great battery life. I could shoot for upto 1 hour 20 minutes with one battery. Remember we always don't shoot continously in everyday life. We turn the camcorder on and off repeatedly when shooting. This battery last for 1 hour 20 minutes during normal shooting as explained above. If you shoot continously you may get longer battery life.

11. NOTE: This camcorder does NOT have an Active Interface shoe. Other Sony camcorders do have this feature. This allows you to add other Sony accessories, for example, extra flood light. If you are not planning to add any accessory, then don't worry about the absence of this feature.

12. DVDDirect compatibility: This feature allows you to directly burn your video and photos to DVD. I don't think this is a very useful feature. Its always better to download to computer, and burn only the good files and photos to DVD instead of burning all of them.

Overall summary. Buy this camcorder only if you are not serious about editing the videos. Its a good buy for point-and-shoot-and-view pleasure only. In my opinion, a mini-DV camcorder (DCRHC42 for example) is still a better bet than a DVD or hard drive based model. The only inconvenience in a mini-DV model is that you have to be a bit techy to download video to computer. If you are ok with that, the mini-DV still provides good value for money as its far cheaper than DVD or hard-drive models.

Buy Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom Now

I agree with the previous reviewer. The low light performance of this camera is pretty bad. Deeps reds are more like deep pinks...but other colors are quite natural, though a bit flat.

It is a nice camera otherwise: very compact, HDD makes a world of differenc in ease of use. Handgrip takes some getty used to.

Stills are useless. No built-in flash makes situation even worse.

Would have liked to have component video out so that we can get widescreen output diretly from the camcorder to TV.

I may end up trading this for the big-brother DCR-SR100....

Read Best Reviews of Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom Here

This camera is working out great for me. I love that I can play back movies instantly. The microphone works very well. Better then I expected in fact. I would agree that shooting in low light is not great, but it is adequate. It is also annoying that the image is shot in 16:9, but the LCD is 4:3. When I playback on my 16:9 TV I find that there are things in the shot I didn't see on the viewfinder. That's good actually, because the image on the TV is better than what I thought I was going to get.

Overall I am very happy with this camcorder and would certainly recomend it.

Want Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom Discount?

This Handycam is Great for only one reason the 60gb hard disk. It means never having to worry about tapes or DVD etc. It's small and light.

I returned a Sony DVD handycam which malfunctioned within the first 30 days of receiving it and bought the SR80 instead.

I'll focus on the negatives:

a) VERY POOR low light performance. Shooting indoors is a pain. For example you try to shoot a dance floor in a night club forget this camera can't deliver. I am about to purchase the light attachment hoping to alleviate this problem. The only way to get halfway decent low light shots it to shoot in a party mode where the image loses all sharpness.

b) The original lens that comes with this camera ahs a very narrow focus it's like you have tunnel vision. I bought this in time for my daughter's 6th birthday party and the results were terrible. It was impossible to get a decent shot unless I was at least 10 ft away from the subject and I am talking about trying to get more than one person in the frame. I bought the wide angle lens for about $40 and this has made a lot of difference. The lens however is not sharp when you have zoomed out to the max. I also found that I cannot use the camera in most conditions without the wide angle lens. Why Sony would sell a camera with such a poor lens is beyond me.

c) Sound is OK. It's supposed to be Dolby Surround. It provides only mono sound with the Bluetooth remote sound attachment.

d) Super night shot is useless beyond a few feet. Trying to shoot our Christmas tree was a nightmare. The wide angle lens also blocks the infrared light that is supposed to light up what ever.

e) 1 mp Digital stills: Why do they even have the option? Results are terrible. There a cell phones which shoot better pictures?

Pros:

1) Image stabilization is excellent.

2) I already mentioned the benefit of having the large hard disk.

3) Good battery life.

4) Nice wide LCD makes it easy to operate even for people with big hands.

5) Easy to navigate interface.

6) Hot shoe for external attachments like additional light and Bluetooth microphone device is necessary.

7) Day light shots are great.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-135mm AF-S DX f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF Nikkor Zoom Lens

No matter how you slice it, this is a great camera.

If you're considering this camera you likely to be in one of two camps: A Nikon person trying to determine whether or not to buy the N50, N70 or the D200; or you already know you want something more on the pro end of the pro-amateur spectrum and are trying to choose between a Nikon and a Canon. If you're in the latter camp then you can't go wrong with either the D200 or any of Canon's offerings. They both make excellent cameras. If you're already a Nikon person, get the Nikon; if you're already a Canon person, get the Canon.

That said, I'm a Nikon person, and after 5 years of having fun with my film-based N80 I wanted to make the leap into real digital photography. I say real, because I've had a Canon Sureshot for 4 years and it's great for snapshots, but when it comes to landscapes or dealing with any kind of lighting issues, it just doesn't measure up. Since I'm a Nikon person (all my lenses work with the new digital SLRs) I looked at the N50, N70 and D200. There are plenty of sites out there that compare these three cameras (against each other and the competition) to death, so I won't bother with all the details.

We buy cameras to take a variety of different pictures and my choice was driven by my needs, so my review is going to be colored by the kinds of pictures I tend to take. My favorite pastime is landscape photography. For this, any of the three cameras will take great pictures. The 6 mega pixels on the N50 and N70 are more than enough to take great pictures I've got a 20x30 poster of Yosemite's Half Dome taken with a friend's N70 that is as crisp as anything I've seen. Having 10mps gives me more room to play with when it comes time for cropping, though, and that's always nice, but hardly a reason to shell out an extra grand.

My next favorite photography subject is my yellow lab, Happy. If he's standing or sitting still, then all three of these cameras take excellent portrait shots. But when he's moving, such as launching himself off the end of a pier to fetch a toy in the lake, the D200 really shines. Its 5fps burst mode takes perfect pictures. It focuses each shot and with its rich 25 picture buffer built into the camera, I've yet to fill it up. What this means is that it doesn't matter what speed your memory card is. The camera takes its pictures and puts them into its buffer. Then a separate set of processors moves the picture from the buffer to your memory card. I would have to hold the button down for over 8 seconds before the burst mode would slow down (it would simply slow down to the speed of your memory card here it wouldn't stop taking pictures). This clarity of the pictures in burst mode is what made me choose the D200, and with the 18-70mm DX kit lens you'll get some brilliant photos.

While all three cameras let you take great picture, the D200 makes it very easy to change the most often used settings. Picture quality (e.g. resolution and depth), White Balance and ISO can be changed by holding down a single button with your left hand and rotating the command dials with your right. This means you don't have to take your eyes off of what you're looking at through the viewfinder in order to change these settings, and I find myself changing at least one of these on almost every picture I take. To be sure, you can change them on the N50 and N70 as well, but just not as quickly or easily.

Other things I liked about the D200 are:

o Build. It's made of metal and has a very nice heft to it. The D50 and D70, much like my N80, are made of a very good plastic, and I've never had any problems with the N80, but the D200 just feels good

o LCD. The 2.5 inch LCD makes it easy to determine whether or not you're happy with a picture in the field.

o Color. The auto white balance for the D200 is awesome and the colors are brilliant.

o 4 settings banks. You can preprogram four settings (ISO, WB, Picture Quality, etc) so you can get to it quickly.

One last point the D200 is very difficult to get a hold of these days, but it's slightly easier to get in kit form (which comes with a lens). The 18-55mm lens is nice, but I prefer the 18-70mm (remember, with digitals you have to multiply the focal length by 1.5 to compare it with their film counterparts, so the 18-70 for digital is more like a 28-105 for film). The 18-70mm kit will run you about $300 more than the body itself, and it's worth it.

If you don't already have a big zoom lens then the new 18-200mm Nikon VR lens is awesome (equivalent to 28-300 for film). It takes stunning pictures and has all the zoom you're likely to need. It runs between $700 and $800 and is even harder to get than the D200 (which is why I don't have one yet :-).

In summary, you can't go wrong with any of these Nikons. The D200, however, is definitely the king of the hill. Happy picture takine!

I just had the opportunity to use 2 nikon D200 cameras on a trip to Antarctica. All I can say is "wow"! I have been hesitant to make the move to digital due to the relatively low resolutions of the early amateur digital SLRs. The specs for the D200 caught my eye. Of particular interest were the 10.2 MP resolution, the magnesium body and the enhanced environmental sealing. In fairly adverse conditions the cameras performed flawlessly. Particularly notable were their ability to work in cold conditions, something I was concerned about at the beginning of the trip. While other people's cameras were having battery issues in the cold, the D200 kept shoothing. The camera handles very well and is easy to shoot with. There is a bit of a learning curve to understand all the custom settings and menus. The good news is that most of the controls build off of familiar Nikon concepts so they are not hard to pick up. The output of the camera is amazing and while I have not had the chance to review my shots on anything but a laptop, the early returns are very positive. The new autofocus system is quite good, though one of my few complaints is that it sometimes seemed balky with certain subjects. I am willing to write this off as perhaps my not have a full understanding of the various focusing modes, but time will tell. The monitor on the camera is really good and viewable in bright light. Being able to shoot at 5 fps was nice when trying to shoot diving humpback whales. In this case the DX size sensor comes in handy, extending effective focal length by 1.5 the 35mm equivalent. With wide angle the DX is a little more frustating and I see a new lens in my future. I am very happy with the D200. I think Nikon is feeling some heat from Canon and had to come up with an offering that upped the ante on the price performance curve. The D200 looks like they got a lot of it right.

Buy Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-135mm AF-S DX f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF Nikkor Zoom Lens Now

The Nikon D200 is a professional camera which is also aimed at the serious amateur digital photographer. It is essentially the upgrade unit from the D100/D70s, and it incorporates solid improvements over those excellent cameras.

The most obvious upgrade feature of the D200 is the 10.2 megapixel images that it creates. The advantage of more megapixels is twofold. Firstly, many digital photographers "crop" their images in post-processing. For example, if you take a photograph of a flying bird such that the bird occupies only a quarter of the image, you may want to crop the image such that you eliminate half of the image, leaving the bird dominant. More megapixels means more detail will survive the cropping, which is essentially a form of magnification. Secondly, if you wish to print images larger than about 8 x 10, more megapixels again equates to more detail.

In my opinion the most impressive improvement in the D200 over the D100/D70s is the autofocus system. The D200 gives the user numerous different autofocus modes over and above those offered by the D100/D70s. These are designed to make it easier and more effective for the user to photograph moving and erratic subjects, such as fast-flying birds, or athletes on the playing field for you sports photographers. This, combined with another big improvement of the D200--the fabulously bright and wide viewfinder--makes it much easier to photograph difficult fast-moving subjects. The D200 viewfinder is wonderfully bright, making acquisition of difficult subjects much easier. Combined with the improved autofocus, I am bringing home more "keeper" photographs of erratically flying birds in which these photos are in perfect focus.

The D200 also offers up to 5 frames-per-second continuous shooting, and has a big buffer so that the camera will not slow down to write to the CF card. This is really useful when shooting fast-moving subjects. When combined with the excellent autofocus system, the user can shoot fast shots with confidence that most or all of them will be in focus. This is another improvement over the 3 FPS of the D70s.

Another obvious improvement of the D200 is its body construction. The quality and durability of the D200, which is housed in an all-metal body which is weathersealed at all critical points, has to be experienced to be appreciated. The unit is built very solidly, but happily does not sacrifice weight for durability like some Nikons (remember the F5?) have done in the past. Despite being all-metal, the D200 is light enough that you will probably not mind carrying it all day on vacation (like I like to do) or during outdoor photo shoots. Although this camera body is of pro-quality, it nevertheless retains enough lightness and is sufficiently compact that amateurs will not feel overwhelmed by its size or weight when carrying it around on vacation or whatnot.

Other reviewers have noted that the D200 is much more similar to Nikon's other professional cameras, and I am inclined to agree with this. I am only an enthusiastic amateur, and I am convinced that the D200 is about as much camera as virtually any amateur can effectively appreciate.

The D200 menu system is very good, and it is an improvement over the already very good menus contained in the D100/D70s. The camera allows the user to set up four "banks" of settings that are completely independent of one another. Thus, you can have one bank with settings optimized for portraits, one for fast-moving subjects (e.g. birds), one for landscapes, and one for point-and-shoot "party" shots. (This is how I have mine set up, credit to "Nikonians"). While this sounds complicated, the way Nikon set up their menus actually made this quite easy to grasp, and after about thirty minutes of playing with the camera I was quite proficient with the menus. Good job Nikon.

By the way, the exposure system on the D200 is also an upgrade from the D100/D70s. Nikon really spared no effort to make the D200 a quantum leap over its already excellent line of amateur DSLRs. This is the first amateur digital camera that I have used that seems to get exposures as good as my old F5 film camera (one of the great Nikons during the film era) although the D100 and D70s came pretty close.

With the D200 Nikon continues its tradition of offering a nice on-board flash. This flash is fine for snapshots and fill-flash of close subjects. Serious shooters will want either the SB-600 or SB-800 external flash units. Again, here Nikon has given the camera pro features--the D200 built in flash can act as a "command" unit for other flashes. Serious amateurs and pros will appreciate this feature.

As if to prove that it re-engineered the D70s/D100 from the ground up, Nikon also improved the battery situation with the D200. The D200 battery has built in voltage testing, which means that the battery indicator on the D200 is actually accurate, a first in my experience with any DSLR camera. This means that when it says that the battery is half-discharged, that is actually the case. (On other, earlier units, when the battery indicator moved from "full" this usually meant full discharge was imminent.) This is important because the D200 does go through a battery significantly faster than did the D100/D70s. This is partly because of (yes, another upgrade) the larger LCD viewer on the back of the camera, and partly just to the more complex electronics in the unit. Serious users will want to buy one or more extra batteries to stash in one's pocket or vest.

The 18-70 DX kit lens is a very nice little lens. It features some ED glass for better contrast in the images. Since it is a DX lens, it is small and light, while sacrificing nothing in image quality. This is a great first lens or walkaround vacation lens for portraits, snapshots, and landscape shots.

One very minor quibble with the D200. The default sharpening settings are somewhat soft. Some users have been unhappy that when they take the D200 out of the box and start shooting, that their images are not tack-sharp, as to be expected from a high-end camera. Not to worry, simply set sharpening to +1 or higher in the camera and it will produce sharp images. Better yet, experiment in post-processing with sharpness settings. Bottom line is that the unit will and does produce tack-sharp images, but not with the default menu settings.

Overall, the D200 is a pro camera at amateur pricing. It is used by pros and serious amateurs, and with its feature set and impeccable quality and ergonomics, it is an impressive offering by Nikon. This is one of those cameras that is really fun to use, and it produces fine, sharp, and bright images limited only by the skill of the photographer. Highly recommended.

Read Best Reviews of Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-135mm AF-S DX f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF Nikkor Zoom Lens Here

When the D200 was announced with its feature set and price, I was shocked at the low price. I was on the wait list at several places, but luckily picked up one at BHphotovideo. I've had one or two minor glitches such as the mirror/shutter locked up. A quick call to NikonUSA and tech support told me to reset the menus. I did that and I was back in action in 10 minutes. The images it produces are incredible. I upgraded from my Nikon D70 which is also an excellent camera, but I wanted several features that the D200 has. My AI/AIS manual focus Nikkor lenses can be used on the d200 and exposure metering & Aperture Priority mode are features I really wanted. This makes macro photography a snap with my AIS lenses. Other added features included Mirror Lock Up, 5fps drive, faster read/write on the CF cards, vertical grip, improved focus speed and the list of other improvements is long.

Image Quality This is was photography is all about. The colors jump out at you as they are vibrant. The 10mp images allow for cropping when necessary and you can still print large. The b&w mode is great. This camera beats the medium format film cameras and I have a Hasselblad and a Rollieflex as well. So when I want higher quality than my d200, I have to grab my 4x5 camera...

Shooting raw NEF the files are about 16mb. But shoot compressed raw and the files are only 8-10mb and no one has been able to tell the difference in quality.

Cons: Still very hard to find as demand is so high. Need big CF cards, get 2gb or 4gb CF cards as you will not want to stop shooting this gem.

Bottom line: The D200 is a pro quality camera body for a consumer price. Wedding photographers have embraced it. There are few photographers who could outgrow it. It's got a ton of features so be sure to read the manual while you're charging up the battery. Unless you shoot high speed action sports, this should be all you need. If you need a faster motor drive, then get the D2x.

Want Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-135mm AF-S DX f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF Nikkor Zoom Lens Discount?

The excitement over this camera is justified!

We've all heard about the excellent build quality and it is true.

This is in many ways the best camera I have ever owned. The interface is intuitive and really is beyond compare in my experience. Every adjustment is right there at your finger tips making it fast and easy to change settings as different lighting and situations present themselves. This camera fits my hands like a glove!

So far the matrix metering is impressive. The amount of detail captured in the shadow area is exceptional!

Contrary to rumors I have read the D200 does offer capture in black and white mode.

Nikon has done a lot right here!

One other thing the software is another excellent feature. You can import existing pictures, regardless of brand camera used to capture. The upload is quick and offers the ability to tag, export, mail, adjust, resize and more. Very nice and comprehensive user interface there as well.

Packaging and accessories are first class!

One side note, the battery does not last anywhere near the 1800 captures described in the descriptions I have read. One battery does not get me through a day of shooting, particulary when using a VR lens. Plan on getting a couple of hundred shots in between charging possibly more if using manuall focus and shutting off frequently.

Overall I am very happy with the purchase of this camera. It's the best value on the market in my opinion.

*Continued assessment after even more extensive use.

Ok...I am even more impressed than I was when I wrote the above portion of this review.

The amount of well thought out features on this camera expand the photographers capability greatly.

Start with having four custom menu's that can be set and ready to use just a click away. For instance, one set-up for sports, one for flash portraiture, one for night capture and so on.

This camera produces the best life-like as witnessed at the time of capture color I have expereienced since discovering photography almost 30 years ago.

I mean superb color! Pariculary in the greens and blues. Every color really!

The images produced have the least amount of digital noise I have seen. This means better pictures, enlargements and best of all a lot less time spent in the processing. I even jack the ISO(International Standards Organization) up to 800 or a 1000 with excellent results! There is some noise at 1600. About the same as some of the other cameras I've used when set at ISO 200.

The EV(Exposure Variation) adjustments are easy to access and you can set the increment value to 1/3, 1/2 or 1 full stop depending on personal preference.

Oh! You can do picture Overlays in the camera! Yes right in the camera as long as they are captured in RAW and on the same memory card.

Add to that multiple exposure capability as well.

This camera puts a lot of capability in your hands!

Good luck!

(Hot Sale) HooToo® HT-IP210F(White) Indoor 0.3 Mega Pixel RJ45 Wireless IP Network Surveillance Ca

This is the third Hootoo PTZ camera I have bought and installed in my home security system. I also have a Foscam, and an Agasio. I like all three brands. The Foscam does seem to work best, but the Hootoo cameras are right there too, and seem to give the most bang for the buck. I can highly recommend this Hootoo camera to anyone thinking of getting a PTZ, pan-&-tilt, wireless ip camera.

Configuring any of these little ip cameras can be a challenge to the novice. Instructions that come with them are usually written by people who do not clearly understand English. Thus, can be pretty confusing. They also depend on the user having working knowledge of wireless and wired networking. In addition to configuring the camera, the installer should know how to configure the router for reserved ip addresses on your local home network, port assignment and forwarding, and DDNS to view the cameras from phones and other remote/off-site computers.

Most routers come with pre-set DDNS providers, which you will need to establish accounts with (either paid, or free) prior to configuring your router, if you intend to be viewing from remote locations outside you home network.. The cameras can also be setup independent of the router for DDNS. However, the DDNS providers the cameras are pre-set to were all in China. I would think that users in other countries might have problems with that, because when they view their home networks remotely while traveling, they would be viewing them via China. Personally, I wanted a provider with servers on my home soil and closer to home. So, I chose to use one of the DNS providers pre-set in my router, which was in my home country (the U.S.).

So, before you start to configure your camera, be sure to become familiar your router, and be comfortable with making "advanced" configuration changes to it. Each router has a different look and feel (even sometimes different models made by the same company). As stated above, probably a good idea to get your account with a compatible DDNS service too, prior to starting the install.

Once you know your way around your router, then connect your camera directly to the router via Ethernet cable to one of the empty LAN ports, and let the camera boot up. When it has completed it's boot, then install the software on the CD that came with this camera ... This "ip camera tool" program will find your camera and report the ip address it has been assigned by your router. Enter that address into the address window of your browser and then connect to the camera.

It will ask you for a username and password. The username is "admin", and there is no password (i.e. just type "admin" as the username, and then press the "enter" key). I recommend you set your own password. Once you pass the logon, then you will be into the little web-server in the camera.

The camera will show you a live streaming video of what it is seeing. I like to just play a little first. To make sure the camera does all the basics. Play with the controls, set the resolution, etc. Look at the different menus and settings you can configure.

For basic wireless use, you will need to configure the SSID of your router into your camera. If you have wireless encryption set, then you will also need to program the password and encryption type (WEP, WPA). You might want to reserve an ip address (the one initially assigned is usually best) and set a port for your camera in the router at this time. Then configure those in the camera, too. Once that is done, then you should be able to remove the Ethernet cable, and reboot your camera. It will connect wirelessly. Refresh the connection in you browser. Then test it out and finish your other setups.

One note on the transceiver (radio) and little 3dbi antenna that comes with. It doesn't have great range. The picture will be choppy and controls will be slow, if you have a weak radio connection between the router and camera. I replaced the little antenna on one of my cameras with a huge 9dbi to get it to work better when the camera was about 20 feet away from the router, and separated by a couple walls. I've got another Hootoo, and a Foscam in an enclosure, about 100 feet away, and have them coming in through a wireless range extender.

=======================

About picture quality, etc.

This is a low end video camera that costs less than $100 .... If you want HD picture quality that matches your HD TV, on a ip camera that can pan and tilt, then pay the $500 (or more) for an HD, pan and tilt, ip camera, and another $300 (or more) for professional IR illumination lights!!! You get what you pay for. However, with these cameras, I've gotten my complete money's worth!

I find that the picture quality for this camera is great during that day. Exactly like a low-end video camera should be. At night, the LEDs on the camera illuminate the area and return a viewable picture to about 20ft. I have had to add some IR illuminators to the areas that I want to view better (I bought two 40-LED illuminators on Amazon, $12 ea). Also, the microphone and speakers work great. Although, they do not work with any browser, except Internet Explorer, with ActiveX (ActiveX is just a Microsoft software add-on that mimics Java). If you have ActiveX configured properly in IE, the little viewer onboard the camera works like a charm for all features, and with any of the PTZ cameras. I'm currently using one IE browser to monitor four of these cameras (two Hootoos, an Agasio, and a Foscam) ... The software is not perfect, but it's free!

I also view my PTZ cameras on my Droid smartphone, and with third party video security software ... The various software and platforms work perfectly with all of the cameras.

The product comes with everything stated IP camera, network cable, antenna, CD, user's manual, power adapter and some drywall screws.

The camera had some thin strings of glue on it apparently from the packaging. I couldn't easily remove the glue, so I left it on the camera. There wasn't any glue on the lens. The camera is about the size of a can of coca cola so it was a little bigger than I expected.

Setup was nice and easy. I opened the CD and copied everything to my computer (MacBook Pro). I then connected the camera (with the network cable) to my router, and started the camera software. It easily found the camera, and after a few clicks, I was able to make the changes to the settings to match my environment. I then disconnected it from the router and placed it on my desk. I was able to set the camera to do motion detection and send copies via FTP of the pictures to my computer. The software is easy enough to figure out so that I didn't even have to read the manual.

The pictures are nice and fairly clear for what you would expect out of VGA (640x480). The web interface is nice, and the camera scrolls up/down and left/right.

My concerns: On motion-detection, the camera sometimes detects motion and sometimes it does not. However, this may be due to the sensitivity setting that I chose (5 out of 10). And, I have the camera pointed outside, so if the wind blows the tree limbs, it will take pictures. And, one out of every 50 images, the image will be a little messed up where the bottom 1/3 of the picture is blank.

I could not get my router to properly forward the IP address and port number to the camera, so I couldn't test it to see if I could connect to it outside of my home network. This is probably a limitation on my router. But, I was able to use my iPhone to connect to it inside my network, and the software worked well. The buttons to control the camera are a bit small on an iPhone. It also worked on my iPad, and the buttons were a little easier to control.

It works well enough that I am planning on buying a couple more of these cameras.

Overall, despite a few concern but because of the price and features, I will still give it five stars. I will come back and amend my review if I find out anything important to report.

Buy (Hot Sale) HooToo® HT-IP210F(White) Indoor 0.3 Mega Pixel RJ45 Wireless IP Network Surveillance Ca Now

Great bang for the buck device. Bought 2 originally to test, and bought 2 more for other areas of the house. Motion detection, Night vision, email alert, PTZ work. It may be seem a little quirky at first and the instruction booklet may be small, but it works. The first 2 cameras took a little over an hour to set up completely. This includes router configurations and my phone app. I am an IT guy though.

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I just set it all up and seems do work, took a little tinkering while reading the manual, but its doable, i would recommend haveing a little knowlegde on routing and routers!

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Took a few minutes to figure out the port forwarding on the router but after that the camera worked great. Emails come instantly and my phone has no problem accessing the camera. Great value for the price.

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Olympus Tough TG-830 iHS Shock & Waterproof Digital Camera (Black) with 32GB Card + Case + Batt

The camera came very fast and was packed very well so that there was no damage. This camera is awesome and can do so many things!! Even the fast action gets extremely good pictures.

I was looking for a smaller camera that took great pictures. I wanted to be able to take action shots that wouldn't be blurred. Most "sports" features are supposed to allow for that, but I would still have blurry pictures. With this camera, I don't get blurred pictures. The "magic" features are a lot of fun to play with. I have been able to take excellent pictures with this camera...as good as my Canon Rebel. The GPS and compass are fun features as well.

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Pentax Optio E80 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black)

So I will start off by saying that cost was of major concern when I was shopping for my camera, and the price, honestly, is pretty good. But I'm here to tell you what you are and aren't getting for that money.

Value-

I admit, I was purely going by review ratings (kind of), capabilities, name brand and price when I was shopping. But the price was pretty good for what it is, and the video features of this camera were better than others that were in the price range. The positives are the included USB cable but on the other hand, since it takes AAs, no rechargable batteries were included, instead just two alkalines were packed. You'll have to get your own memory card too, but in this day and age, they're realtively cheap anyways.

Appearance-

The slick black design is really nice and the contrasting chrome lens framing is good balance. It is by far more attractive than my old Nikon 5200. The big screen is also really nice, and the buttons are simple, minimalistic and quite just how I like them.

Construction and Quality-

The camera is solid and balanced and the buttons have a nice feel to them. However, while excused by the low price, I have my doubts about the plastic housing and its durability. Will the glossy black shell lose its luster and color?

Also of concern is the trap door for the batteries and memory card. My old Nikon had a nice sturdy metallic housing, but its ultimate failing was the battery trap door that didn't sit flush after one of the tabs broke. The same design was used for this new Optio, and it worries me a bit more, since the Nikon had a latch holding back the battery while the trap door on this Optio has to do the work of holding back the two AA batteries.

Made in China. This was a negative for me, but discussing my reasons would be off topic. Decide for yourself. If I would have known and was made aware of competing products that weren't made in China, I would have probably gone with something else.

Practicality-

It fits in my pockets just fine, no protruding parts, so it slides in and out of jean pockets just fine. The use of AAs is a great concept, since you don't have to buy model specific batteries, instead just alkalines or AA rechargables. Great for a couple years down the line, if you want to keep the camera and the rechargables are shot. Cheaper and easier to find!

The filing system is quite handy, and instead of just one folder of all the pictures you've ever taken, it creates a new folder for every day and sorts the pictures by date. In playback mode, simply press the zoomout button 3 times, and it will show you a calendar with all the days that you took pictures. You can also disable this feature if you want to.

There is also an easy mode that turns off all the advanced information and just tells you the amount of pictures you still have room for, and the battery life, with larger text. This is useful if you don't want all the complexities or have a hard time seeing all the small text.

Performance-

The camera would be just fine for someone who wants a camera that will take decent looking pictures, nothing more. The focus, the colors, and the sharpness are all fine most of the time. But if you want manual settings, like to get close ups or have other performance requirements, that is where the camera falls short. I'm not talking about megapixels, so if thats the only thing you understand or want to hear about, skip this section.

Autofocus: The focus works great on subjects that are far away to an armslength away. But if you enjoy getting close to flowers or small, detailed things, you'll find yourself having to tell the camera to refocus a few times before you get a sharp image. My old Nikon was better in that respect, and I got really nice images of coins, flowers, and patterns, something that I'`m having more trouble doing. I find myself having to keep the camera a bit further away from the subject, even with macro. But of course, with twice the resolution, I can crop off the extra background and still have a high definition image.

Autofocus (cont.): In my old Nikon, you had the capability of defining which area of the picture you wanted autofocus to focus on, something lacking here. I miss that feature alot, but its not a complete deal breaker.

White balance: The WB is not user definable or atleast I haven't figured out how to force a WB setting. The auto WB works most of the time, but there have been times where the WB was completely off and it was refusing to make white look white. Unacceptable if you want that control over the consistency of color in camera.

Video: The video works fine, but the audio quality is not quite what I'd like it to be. But then again, I do alot of video work and probably have higher expectations than most and I usually just use this camera for still images and not so much video. But the quality is acceptable and presentable. No real zoom during recording.

Summary and concluding remarks-

This camera looks good, is built well and all at a great price point. The camera lacks a metal casing, but otherwise feels fine, but the battery trapdoor is of some concern. For normal, pedestrian uses, the picture quality is fine, but the camera lacks user-definable settings for more sophisticated and/or demanding users. The video quality is ok and will do just fine for a family video or your vlogs. It takes widely availabe and cheap AA batteries and SD memory cards, so no worries there.

Is this camera full of features and advanced capabilities? No.

Does it take good pictures/videos? Yes.

Are there better cameras? Yes.

Its it worth the price? At the Amazon discounted price w/ free shipping, yes.

I decided to buy this digital camera because of following three points: First, it's cheap; second, it can take full HD (1080p) picture; it's movie-taking (Half HD; 740p) ready. I'm just an amateur "photo-taker (I'm saying that I'd prefer to say "photo-taker" rather than photographer)," who just needs to take some pictures and movies for own blog posts or memories.

The taken pictures are almost too good for me; that's perfect although I haven't taken any picture outside at night. Full HD pics are pretty much better than the qualities of pictures that I took with my previous camera, Pentax Optio S30, which offers 3.2Megapixels.

For movie-taking, I think it's perfect for those amateurs who don't know much about how-to-take perfect movies; it just perfectly functions to take movies for life-logs. Although the resolution is 740p, Half HD, I don't expect that my movies are perfectly acceptable to watch with a full screen on 54 inch TV or something. (I just want to keep those movies for my memories; then, 740p is almost too good for movie-taking.)

It's also lightweight, much lighter than my previous camera, Optio S30. So, I always take it with Eneloop, rechargeable batteries from SANYO. I can totally recommend this camera for those who are looking for the one with a affordable price tag to take photos and movies for memories and personal blogs.

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We have owned (and still own) two other Pentax compact cameras: an Optio 60 and an Optio P60. We have fallen in love with the simplicity of the menus, the quality of the photos, and the incredible battery life of the E80. This camera is so intelligent and quick that it is simply amazing. Even low light pictures, macros, and photos of fast objects come out looking spectacular. This camera offers performance which you would have paid $300+ for only a year or two ago. The small size means it fits in shirt pockets or pants pockets easily. We don't even keep track of battery life because basic rechargeable AA batteries last a very long time in this camera. We are so thrilled with the Optio E80 and we can see this coming along on every vacation, to every party, and to every special event where a bulky camera is not needed.

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I thought this would be a great camera I could carry around easily and catch those moments "I wish I had my camera" for but on my 3rd use and trip to the aquarium my camera would not work I got new batteries I got a new SD card and nothing. I dont recommend this camera!

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it's hard to find a true manual focus camera under $200, let alone under $100, so if you want to be able to take the occasional closeup photo (particularly without the flash) and what hobbyist doesn't, then you are hard pressed to find a cheaper way to do it than with this camera. other features you won't find on most sub $100 cameras are 2-second timers (most only do 10 second) and 720p video clip ability (most only do 460p). some tech notes for accessories; best to buy >2000ma rechargeable batteries, and class 6-10 memory cards to get the most capability out of this camera. the green "newbie" setting and simple large icons make this a perfect first camera for a pre-teen/teen, while hiding a lot of functionality to explore as their photographic education and sophistication grows.

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Canon EOS Rebel T4i Digital SLR Camera Body & EF-S 18-55mm IS II Lens with EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6

This camera has exceeded my expectations completely! I am a novice photographer so I have only my opinion here to offer. However, having said that, if you are just starting out and want an entry level camera that will provide many options to assist with your evolution as a photographer then I recommend this camera. It allows for automatic picture taking ( ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed and White balance) or you can try the manual function. A really fun camera! I am very pleased.

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Savage 53" x 12yds Background Paper (#81 Rustic)

I'm in LOVE with seamless paper because of the quality and color of this paper. I made a "fake" wall with a piece of rustic pine paneling and a piece of trim and the pics were AWESOME. I can't wait to order more!

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Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body) + 16GB Deluxe Accessory Kit

I was very pleased with the fast shipping and with everything included in the kit! Of course the camera was exactly as I expected but the kit was better than I expected. The tri-pod is a good quality full sized tri-pod. I would definitely recommend this product if you are looking for something at a great price and quality!

The most important part, the camera, came exactly as described. The remaining items weren't as pictured, no where close. The camera bag is just slightly large enough for the camera with one lense. The DVD did not come with the package. You'd assume that the camera would come with a battery and the one they list would be a spare. Not the case, only one battery was received.

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Pentax K-R 12.4 MP Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and 50-200mm f/4-5.6

I was looking at different cameras while I was making the switch from point and shoot to dslr. Pentax had really nice features but was not nikon or canon. I was a little nervous about it since Pentax does not have as big of a market share as some of the other camera companies. Everything I read was very positive about the k-r and so I decided to go for it. At this price, it was a bargain compared to the ones with similar features.

The camera showed up and I took it the next day to photograph my sister's wedding. All weekend I played with it, taking pictures of family and friends, decorations, kids, etc... I had a great time and came away with some really solid looking pictures. My brother was shooting with a nikon D90 (which is a little older camera) and I thought my pictures looked sharper and more true to color. My wife was worried that she would not be able to use the camera due to the complexity of some dslrs. She loves the camera and uses it constantly. It has actually gotten her very excited about photography. One negative thing is the plastic-y built lenses that it comes with. The lenses work very well, turn out great pictures, but aren't quite as solid feeling as others I've held. I have not had any issue with them and may never have any issues with them. One more issue is the shutter noise which is very robust. I actually enjoy the sound most of the time but have noticed when I'm trying to take candids of our baby, it can call attention to the camera and lose the shot. The camera itself is built very solidly and is very responsive. The grip is large and feels very comfortable (I have large hands and Canon cameras were way too small for me). It will take pictures as fast as you can click and the features are fairly easy to navigate once you get going. I really like the option of using the included rechargeable battery or buying the adapter and sinking in some AA batteries. The focus matrix on the viewfinder was one of the reasons I chose this over the k-x and I'm glad I did because I use it all the time. Another plus is the camera does not weigh too much so it was much easier than I expected to take with us. I'm very happy with my purchase and do not regret anything about it. I think the Pentax k-r is a very solid camera and even after using the cameras of friends and family, I would make the exact same purchase that I did a month ago.

Great product.

I love Nikon, and tend to be a Nikon fanboy... but wow! Pentax is superb! Image quality, AF, ISO, and all are amazing out-of-box, and even better on manual mode (if you know what you are doing haha)!

I had such a tough time choosing between this and a Nikon D3100. I kept on looking and looking and looking at reviews, previews, test images...etc. And all ACTUAL proof or side-by-side comparisons showed that this Pentax K-R (and even the K-X) was the winner.

Yeah, it only has 720p, but that is still HD quality. I'm not buying this for filming, I'm buying it for a friggn camera. And I tested out the video on it, and it looks really sharp! Don't know why so many people with their biased opinion based on the video quality? They must have not ever have actually touched either cameras.

I snagged an amazing deal on this one with the 2 lenses and paid $595 instead of the listing price ($699 for the cheapest at the moment), So it was just a amazing find. Loving it, and will treasure it for many years to come.

Buy Pentax K-R 12.4 MP Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and 50-200mm f/4-5.6 Now

I wanted to make a transition from the point/shoot used camera I own. I felt that I need more liberties, more decisions to make when taking pictures. I am not pretending to become a serious enthusiast or even a professional, but I would like to improve my skills. I have used an old mechanic Pentax K-1000, and I trust this dear brand. I made some research for entry level DSRL. I have read reviews and compare features, and known since then that K-r was for me. K-x is the cheaper sister for this, but it does not have a lithium battery as K-r does. The kit deal for this one is incredible: two zoom lenses! I have used telephoto zoom lens and have no complains about it. I have not used the other one yet.

The camera has behaved nicely. It does offer the quality results it features here and at pentaximaging website. I have only used the MF because I need to practice in doing myself (XD), but the AF has received feedback that it would not work at certain light conditions. It does have expanded ISO sensibility, but it does have a noise drawback after higher ISOs. Its HDR mode is really fantastic because it offers pictures taken in ways you would not dream about with a point/shoot camera, and it does not need to be blown out or over-saturated. And I have only started using few of its many features, and I cannot wait to test the rest of them.

If you are another person really interested in photography as a hobby, and want to expand or improve your skills, this entry level DSRL is for you. You could start little by little changing from auto mode to priority mode, and then moving into fully manual mode. And this kind of camera is made for that, and more! I highly recommend this camera. Of course, there are better DSLR out there, but this one works more than just fine, and at a very good price (I only wish it would be weather resistant as K-7). This has been the best purchase I have ever made on Amazon, or else.

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This review was written by someone who buys a new camera every year, always seeking better photos, bigger zoom, more mega pixels. My quest for outstanding photos led me to my first SLR, a Pentax K-r with two lenses. Rejected was my first love, an Olympus Pen camera which has a lens factor of 2x meaning a 200mm lens has an equivalent of 400mm. The Pentax has a lens factor of 1.5x so my 200mm lens has an equivalent of 300mm. For wildlife and bird shots even that reach seemed lacking, so I bought a 50-300mm zoom lens and a 1.4x teleconverter. After a few uses I sold the teleconverter because of its finicky focusing and noise. The 300mm lens has enough reach for most occasions, but I still lust for that far-reaching mega zoom which may propel me to sell the 300mm lens and buy a new Nikon with an advertised 42x zoom. It never ends with me.

So how does this first time SLR owner like his Pentax K-r? For the most part I do like it, and I have taken some outstanding photos along with hundreds or thousands of throw away shots. Having an SLR doesn't guarantee photographic success. The K-r's 350 page operating manual would indicate that this is a complex piece of apparatus that takes time, practice, and study to achieve those longed for great shots.

My success has been mixed. I've found that it's best to concentrate on one aspect at a time before moving on to another. The filters alone and the various scene settings take many hours of practice to master. Some produce excellent shots, and others just aren't worth the effort. One can process images in-camera with a slew of filer effects; the effects can be eye-pleasing, but I prefer to post process photos on a big screen using software. I will say that in the scene mode the night scene HDR setting for low light pictures has produced some magnificent results, without the extremes of highlights or shadows.

Random thoughts:

The camera comes with software for organizing and retouching photos. I loaded it onto my computer but have seldom used it.

Even with intensive searching I haven't been able to find any supplementary books about the K-r. I did download an e-book for the K-x that's actually pretty good and most of the content also applies to the K-r which is a very similar camera.

I don't like lugging around three lenses and a handful of filters. Mostly I just keep on the 50-200mm filter and back up if I'm too close to the subject.

Be aware that though this camera can use AA batteries, you have to buy an adapter to make that happen, an adapter that isn't cheap. I've had no problem with the battery life of the standard battery. It's actually very good.

The Pentax K-r feels good in the hand, comfortable and sturdy. With practice accessing the controls can become second nature. My problem is that I have three cameras with different ways to access the same features, such as bracketing.

The on camera menu is extensive and quite complicated. When on vacation, I made sure to keep the manual in the camera bag for ready reference.

This camera really shines in the bracketing mode. I've achieved some of my best photos using this technique and later processing the pictures with Photomatix pro. Taking the three bracketed shots in the raw mode has produced even better results.

Finally Looking to step up to SLR? The Pentax K-r with its self-cleaning CMOS sensor is not a bad choice if one is willing to devote time for practice and study. Other options are the smaller but more expensive SLR's from makers like Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony. Just don't expect all of your photos to be great right out of the box.

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I'll cut right to the chase on this one. There are several issues that this camera has which make it an iffy choice for the newbie just getting their first DSLR. First off, the camera significantly overexposes high contrast scenes which plays a role in the second major issue which is clipped/burned out highlights. And I can tell you that this problem is way worse than competing Nikon and Canon models. IF you are willing to dial in some negative exposure and utilize the highlight correction option (which only fixes the problem to a point) you will get better results. And shooting RAW doesn't give you much latitude either. To be fair, the K-x had some issues along these lines too, but they seem to be worse in the K-r. Also the K-r seems to be applying more noise reduction in this camera over the K-x which takes a bite out of fine detail. The default settings also produce images that are flat and lacking in contrast. Some intervention in the image style can fix that issue, but why should I have to go through all that trouble when cameras like the T3 and the D3200 can produce much more acceptable results by just using the regular manual settings (shutter speed, aperture, and ISO) and don't require a trip into the menu system. Overall, I don't particularly like the K-r's output. It does have good high ISO performance, I will say that. But my advice is to get a used K-x or wait for the K-30.

Video mode is okay. And the video looks okay. But it is nothing to write home about. You really don't get a lot options in video mode. If you are looking for a sub-$1,000 DSLR that can double-duty as a stills and video camera, the Canon Rebel T2i or T3i is your best bet.

The camera feels nicely made and is very solid. It is a rather small DSLR but it is very comfortable to hold in the hands. There aren't a lot of direct access buttons on the camera, but that is very typical for this class of camera. However, changing most settings is a breeze on this camera. The menu is very similar to Canon's in how it is laid out. Including a straight-forward menu with the most commonly accessed shooting settings.

The LCD is much improved over the K-x and is more viewable in direct sunlight. The viewfinder is the same viewfinder found on the K-x, and it was a very decent viewfinder, so I have no complaints about the K-r's viewfinder. The camera also features a hybrid battery bay which allows the use of the supplied lithium ion battery, or (with a special adaptor) 4 AA batteries. The one relative let down is that I think that the battery life with the supplied Lithium Ion battery is mediocre. So buying the extra adaptor so you can use AAs in the camera is highly reccomended.

The camera's performance is pretty solid. It has nice start-up and shot-to-shot times. It can shoot 6fps and has a pretty decent buffer, so if you are wanting a good budget action shooter, this is an excellent choice. The autofocus speed is pretty good even with the kit lenses. However, the autofocusing with the kit lens is somewhat loud and it sort of sounds like a power tool. The camera is also loud when snapping a photo. So if quietness and discreetness in a camera is a major consideration for you I would probably stay away from this one. However, I personally like the sounds this camera makes because it has a solid, old-school sound to it when it takes a picture (if that makes any sense).

For what they are, the kit lenses are not bad. But they are not the sharpest lenses in the world. But compared to the kit lenses supplied by some other manufacturers, they are not bad. Fortunately there are a number of nice kit lens upgrades in the $300-$500 range which will provide a noticeable upgrade in image quality over the kit lenses.

The K-r has some important improvements over the K-x which improve on its photographic usability. Better burst shooting, better LCD on back, the hybrid battery bay and improvements to the Autofocus system. But as I mentioned before, the image quality has too many flaws by default to reccommend to the first time DSLR owner.