Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

What can I say? I really like this camera! I'm a 35mm photo-hobbiest that previously owned/used a Mavica FD-81, and was looking for something that was smaller, faster, and took cleaner pictures. I originally was looking at the S50, but with that model on it's way out (being replaced by the S55 possibly, depending on sales of the P50...I'm told), I looked into (and bought) this model.

This camera may actually begin to replace my 35mm. First off, the camera's lens takes some excellent pictures: clarity, color, etc. Combined with the tons of manual override features, it gives me the visual control I found lacking in other models (you can even disable the digital zoom altogether, a big feature for me). And the LCD capabilities also stand out against the competitors: (1) you don't have to use it (a view window is provided, which is centered to the lens...so you really get what you see) and this almost triples your battery life, and (2) LCD image review allows you to zoom in/out of pictures to verify that you got the details you were looking for. Expansion speaking, Sony uses the memory stick technology in their cameras (I can share my 64 MB sticks between my mp3 player and this), it has a slot to attach a more professional model flash, and the camera lens supports add-ons. As well, the speed is phenominal it takes the pictures quick...and you don't have to half-press the button to focus before you take the pic...just press once and it'll auto-focus and take the picture on it's own.

There are only two real downsides of note to the S75: (1) size and (2) ease of image distribution. There are a lot of cameras out there that are both smaller and lighter; however, I found this model to have the same size and feel as my Nikon 35mm, so that didn't bother me. As well, I miss being able to use the straight-to-disk feature of the Mavica. Also, beware out of the box it's set to 2048x1536 fine (which will blow up to poster-size without pixilating, BTW) which will eat up the 8MB stick in about 5 pics...reducing it down to 1280x960 let me fit a lot more before I upgraded my memory stick.

If size and weight is your ultimate selling point, take a look at the P1 or the P50; but if you want the pictures and the control of a real 35mm, this is definitely the camera for you.

This camara is NOT for somebody that want to just take a few snapshots every once and a while to stick on a web page, and maybe make a print once in a blue moon for a really good shot. If you want something like that, there are camaras that are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and easier to use.

This camara is NOT for somebody who is a photo fanatic. If you want razor-sharp prints the size of posters, or if you want to take pictures of hummingbirds in flight, there are camaras that have interchangeable lenses, higher resolution and better image controls.

If you are semi-serious about your photography, require a good lens, decent control over the photos, and spectacular batter life, this camara is an excellent value.

Equipped with an excellent (if bulky) Zeiss lens, this camara can produce much better pictures than other three (and even four) mega-pixel camaras that only have tiny, small things. One thing you must remember is that mega-pixels are useless if the lens cannot deliver detail that fine to the camara. This lens can. The 3MP it has will do just fine for any size print up to and including 8x10's.

The user interface for the camara is simple enough, which makes up for the somewhat lousy manual. My only complaint about the controls is that the cursor movement button is hard to center correctly. This is a minor point, as I have never had it cause a problem other than me having to hit the button twice.

The pictures are razor sharp and the camara is capable of perfect white balance. (For those that don't know, bad white balance is what causes some pictures under flourescent light to look green, and incadescents look yellow.) All you have to do to adjust it to perfect every time is to keep a white index card in your camara case and then use the "one touch" balance control to re-calibrate it in a couple of seconds.

You can make small movies with this unit, but they aren't suitable for anything but posting to the web. Let's face it, this isn't a camcorder.

The included rechargable lithium battery is more than enough for a full day or two of shooting, but if you won't have access to a car or electrical outlet, it could be a problem, since it isn't a AA you can pick up at any corner store. (That means that you can't use this camara for your 10-week trek through the wilderness.)

This camara includes only an insultingly small 8 MB memory stick. However, I believe that everyone with a 3MP camara should own a 128MB chip, and NO camara maker includes one that big. Buy one when you buy the camara. Since other manufacturers besides Sony now make them, they are very reasonably priced.

You can buy accessories like a flash, an adapter for 52mm filters, additional lenses, etc., but the cheaper non-sony brands are tough (but not impossible) to find.

The included software (MGI Photosuite) is not really that good, but not bad for a bundled package. I reccommend, and use, Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro.

All in all, for the price this camara costs, it is the best available and has no competition.

P.S. If you have windows XP, you MUST change the USB Transfer mode from the default. If you don't, it won't work. See the manual and the sony website for details.

Buy Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom Now

The image quality of the Sony has lived up to my high expectations; it is incredible. As a long-time amateur 35mm photographer and professional graphic artist, I really wanted a true digital SLR digital (couldn't afford $3k with lenses), but as a digital rangefinder, I am giving away very little with the DSC-S75. The manual mode combined with available spot metering gives me the control I need, and the controls are very easy to set much easier than on most film SLR's. The overall size is small, but the rubber grip gives me a good place to hold it steady. Compared to the Nikon 995, the build quality is obviously superior. The heft of the controls is superb, and the materials are first-rate. The Nikon feels like it is made by Fisher Price. The image quality of the Sony is crisper and the colors truer, to boot. Tell me again why the Nikon is more expensive. The battery lasts a LONG time. It lasted more than 2 hours with the LCD on the whole time and with a lot of flash use. I had presupposed that I'd need a second battery, but I am sure I will get tired of shooting before this camera does on any given shoot.

I will list my quibbles here in hopes that Sony might see them and rectify them, but they by no means outweigh my extreme satisfaction with this camera.

Quibbles:

*Needs more white balance presets For now I use the one-push calibration, but if you don't have a gray card or a sheet of paper handy, more than 2 measly presets would be nice.

*AF lock is awkward to use It works, but not well at all. You have to push a button to lock focus AFTER releasing the shutter button from its halfway down position, and you risk the focus going blurry again (catching it in the middle of its trying to refocus) before you engage the lock button.

*Manual is lacking in detail There is no guide relating recommended apertures to distances for the different settings of the flash. You either use auto mode or you take guesses at the correct f stop. It also doesn't explain what the camera does with the flash in auto mode. I am sure I'll figure all this out with some experimentation, but as a techie I like to know EXACTLY what is going on.

*Metering only shows +-2 stops, and doesn't work at all when in aperture or shutter priority mode and the camera deigns that there isn't enough light to get to the desired exposure. It just blinks a light at you.

*The 8mb memory stick is a joke. 128mb sticks are now available for [$$$], but this must be factored into the price.

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I was dead set on getting on of the Sony P1s it was small and took high quality pictures. Sadly, the store had run out, but an enterprising showroom assistant suggested checking out the DCS-75 instead. I'm so glad I did! This camera is amazing. I've never owned a digital camera before and wonder why I waited so long now. 3.3 Megapixels is probably more than enough for most people for snapshots I have the setting down to 640 x 480 and don't go much above 1280 x 960 for anything. However, should you want to, the camera can take 2048 x 1536 and can save in a variety of formats, including .TIFF. It will even take movies of up to about 1 minute, although the quality of the movies is not fabulous. There are some standard special effects settings too (if you don't trust youself with Photoshop or the like)such as black & white and negative. The menu system is easy to understand although I'd recommend having a quick look through the instruction booklet to find out about all the extras. I found it easy to find my way round the camera after only one reading. The camera has a nice chunky feel like and old school 35mm and the handgrip feels good and secure. The LCD is a sensible size at about 1.5 inches (although like all LCDs is hard to see in very bright light)and combined with the viewfinder makes it very easy to focus and frame in just about any light. An adjustable LCD would have been even better, but there you are. The only thing that I found wrong with this camera was the piddly little 8mb Memory Stick. I would strongly reccomend getting a 32 or 64 Mb, as the 8 meg will fill up in about 10 shots if you go for size and quality. Also some sort of protective covering offered with the camera would be nice: I bought the semi-hard carrying case for it after dropping on a corner and denting the aluminium casing... What more can I say a fabulous camera.

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I probably spent 2to 3 hours researching my anticipated purchase of a digital camera. I told myself that I would spend no more than a couple of hundred dollars but the more I looked into it, the more I realized that a decent camera could not be bought for that price. So I changed my goal to find a camera that had all the features I would need for the least amount of money. I must have read everything on the net about digital camera's that ever was and I started narrowing down the list to a few names, then finally all roads kept pointing at the DSC S75. So I found a deal and made the leap, fully expecting to be a little disappointed when the camera finally arrived. The camera arrived and I began shooting the same day. Yeah, there was a bit to learn, but the more I learned, the more impressed I got. The quality of the pics are quite amazing. Oh, I also bought the Lexar 128mb stick so I would not have to keep deleting the pics cause I had no more room. I got a fantastic deal here on Amazon on that, even better than you can get on Ebay. I also bought the HP photosmart 1115 printer and it arrived about 3 days after the camera did. Anyway, back to the pics. They came out super good. Now I am hooked, I just ordered the flash, and now I am checking out the telephoto lense options. Photography many years ago was a big hobby of mine, and I do believe this camera has brought that interest back to life. This camera has auto settings, aperture priority options as well as shutter priority. This camera has so many cool things to take advantage of that I guess it will be a while till I get proficient with all the possibilities. I wanted to be brief with this review, but with this camera that is difficult. I can just say that I am glad I did my homework, I feel like I got an "A" on the exam. Oh, just thought I pass this one on to you, I read a professional reviewers article on this camera, he that said this camera was probably the best digital camera under the $5000 professional range. I thought he might be biased, but now I am not so sure.

Wansview MJPEG NCB-541W Wireless Monitoring IP Camera With built-in Microphone Black US

• Manufacture attaches a label at the bottom of each IP Camera, providing free DDNS. When IP C
• With built-in Microphone, it enables user to monitor the sound on the site. User can also connect this equipment to the speaker, and it supports two-way intercom function.
• It was equipped with pan/tilt function, horizontally 270 degree and vertically 120 degree . Its outlook is smart, easy and convenient to install in many sites.
• Supports SD/MMC card to expand storage;Luminous Flux: 10 lumens
• Manufacture provides free software, support Multi-view, Long time recording, video replay etc?Support mobile phone to view.

This is the first remotely-controllable webcam I have had, and being able to have it look in a new direction is a fun novelty to me. I use it as a "window" on my computer screen, much like the real window view out into my back yard from a different room, visible now even from my computer workstation, a pleasant addition to the work environment.

The only aspects yet to be resolved in my setup is how to get the wireless to work, which could be the old router I have. It would be nice if the automatic-adjustment of brightness had a bit more dynamic range, but is the same as on older fixed webcam I have.

StarTech.com DISPLPORT25L 25-Feet DisplayPort Cable with Latches - M/M

I got this cable because the 6ft cable I've got is slightly short for me. I don't want to type a bunch of technical troubleshooting info in this review. So here's the short version: I have reason to believe that the pinout may be wrong on this cable. (Yes, possibly only on the one I received... ) And that it was feeding power back from my monitor into my computer. The previous cable I was using didn't (and doesn't) do this.

StarTech makes great cables, and this one is no exception. There is a happy medium between being inflexibly thick and cheaply thin, and this cable strikes the perfect balance, with a high quality rubber coating. The locking DisplayPort connectors connect with a satisfying "click," and I have thus far had no issues with picture quality or reliability. I would definitely buy StarTech cables in the future.

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My PC does not boot when this cable is inserted in my Asus 5870 HD video card.

However, everything works perfectly when I use my good old trusty DVI cable.

It seems that I an not the only one who has been having problems with this cable.

I highly recommend that you stay away from this product until it get fixed.

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This cable has very poorly made plastic housing by the connectors that just falls apart without trauma. The end of the cable became stuck in my GTX 560 and would not come out. Without the plastic housing, I couldn't get the latches to depress. The cable had to be cut and the head pulled out with pliers. I don't know if that display port on my card is damaged, and I'm not going to try it again.

The company said my cable was more than 30 days old and they would not replace or refund it. They did not listen to my complaints about the product and they did not even apologize.

I have seen similar reviews of problems with this cable. It's the worst!

These people should be ashamed of themselves.

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I purchased and received this while on a trip to the US, once I got back home I found out it is faulty and DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. The covers on one of the connectors even fell off letting me see some pretty shoddy soldering on the cable itself.

Returning it to get a new one is more trouble than it's worth since I'm no longer in the US.

Would definitely not recommend.

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

Easy to use. The battery life was pretty good I used it for 6 dives and 2 snorkelling trips, as well as some pictures on land, and the battery was still going strong.

For the price, this is a great buy! The underwater settings could use a bit more red, but it did it's job in capturing our dive trip. My one concern is with the battery reader it will go from 3 bars to none in one picture. Sometimes it will tell you the batteries are dead and turn off, but if you turn it back on it's working just fine on full batteries. One time it was flashing low battery and continued to work for another half hour. Other times fully charged batteries would not read at all, so we missed pictures on a few dives due to this. VERY frustrating, always carry an extra set (or 2) of batteries with you when using this camera and never trust the reader to tell you if the batteries are low.

Updated I have since uploaded the photos to my computer. A small complaint, but I normally organize my photos by day. I set up my camera to the correct date and time. When I uploaded the photos, they were all dated 6/1/2012, despite using the camera for a full 2 weeks. The times were completely random as well, so I couldn't use that to figure out which dates I took which pictures. With underwater pictures, it's very hard to tell one day from the next unless I had some land photos in between to use as a reminder.

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A camera is a great addition for a scuba trip. This one is simple, but took good (if not great) photos. I'm very glad I bought it before my most recent dive trip.

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It is hard to see what I am taking a picture of, under water and in the sun. It took very clear pictures thoughnot so blue like some underwater cameras.

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Having just returned from a 10 day sailing and snorkeling trip in the British Virgin Islands followed by a week of scuba diving in St. Lucia, I must say I am very pleased with the quality of my underwater pictures! This is one great little camera! Unfortunately, the above water pictures (land) are not as clear as I would like. So I don't recommend using if for that. The rechargeable batteries that come with the camera don't seem to last even 20 minutes before you get the low battery warning and the camera goes dead. I recommend the use of Lithium batteries instead. They are the only way to go! One set of those lasted more than a week. I like the wide angle lens for use underwater as it allows you a greater field of vision. Unfortunately mine did acquire some moisture inside which caused it to fog up so I could no longer use it and will need to replace it. The camera comes with a 32 GB memory card but the instructions advise you to not use more than an 8 GB memory card! I enjoyed the simplicity of this camera, it's very easy to use underwater!

Canon PowerShot A80 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Canon A70 was the biggest hit since it hit the shelves.

So everyone had high expectations about Canon A80. I think everyone should be more than satisfied with Canon's new model. If A70 was the best compact camera in it's class, then A80 is the best of the best. If you try the camera I am sure you will agree with me.

I don't want to talk too much about the techical issues, you can read it on the official pages and on several digicam review sites.

Let's talk about what made me return to Canon, may be it can help you decide if you are new to digital photography or just have a dc of another brand and cannot decide.

I had the following cameras in order: Canon A40, S40, S400 then switched to Minolta F200 and finally returned to Canon A80.

I would like to explain to you why I went from one to another and why I think that A80 is the best of all.

First, I need an entry level quality digital camera at a low price, I got the A40. Then I would have liked more megapixels in a more compact metal body, I got the S40. Then I went for a subcompact light weight dc with brand new technology (DIGIC) and fast performance (S400). Then I realized that I miss manual controls and need sharper pictures and got a Minolta F200. Finally, realized that F200 has a very high battery consumption and an extremely high noise even at ISO100. I bought an A80 this week for several reasons: I saw some pics and used some cameras of differend types, and think that Canon is the BEST in the compact middle-range category. All the reviews and tests I've read about A70 was positive, so I had no doubt that A80 will be even better. One thing I was unsure about is the quality of the LCD on A80. S400 had sharper and darker LCD, but A80's is still better than average and I think satisfies most people. Don't bother with the resolution of the LCD if you read different numbers on web pages, it is nice and clear.

The flip-out and twist LCD is a big advantage to others: not only you can use the LCD when shooting over people's head or on the floor, but the monitor can be easily protected from scratches. I can't explain how big this advantage is till you see and try it yourself. Good work Canon!

If you know Canon digicams, then you know how fast are Canons. A80 is no exception, this is by far the fastest camera I used beside my S400. If it is up to Canon, you won't miss an important shot!

And there are all the things you've already read about: 4MP,3x optical zoom, full manual control, AF-Assist lamp (great!) etc, etc. You know it! :)

Some questions and answers:

Shall I upgrade from A70 to A80?

My answer is: YES. The more megapixel and the new flip-out LCD worth that plus. Also, the construction adds more quality feel to it (there are more metal).

Shall I go for A80 if I have no digicam yet?

If you can afford, definitely. But consider that A60 and A70 are also excellent machines when you are on budget.

Shall I change to Canon from a different 3-4-5 megapixel compact digicam?

Definitely yes. May be some other cameras are better in some issues than Canon, but all in all Canon makes the best consumer cameras to date. Usability, image detail, low noise, faster than average performance are important things and A80 has it all at a very good price.

One very important thing: don't let you fooled by the sharp pictures of Minolta and Fuji. They have a very high noise that are annoying. I tried to remove the noise with some photo editing software, but the result was a washed picture in all cases. Some say that Canon has no sharp pictures. This is true, the competition may be sharper...BUT! you can always add some unsharp mask with the right software and make Canon images look excellent. Unfortunately, you cannot do the opposite with those "sharp but high noise" cameras. Keep these in mind always!

Another thing: chromatic abberration and blown highlights. Yes, it's there. Not always, but there. And it were there in my S400, S40, A40 and even my Minolta F200 images as well. It is there in almost every compact digital camera. This is NOT an issue, though some are complaining about it continiously. No camera is perfect and no will ever be.

Decision is yours. Take it in hand and you'll never want to give it away! :)

I did a lot of research prior to purchasing the Canon A80 digital camera. I read a lot of reviews, many right here at Amazon. I also looked into lens quality and the quality of electronics. I read consumer report's test results. The bottom line as with most things in life "you get what you pay for". You can find cameras with more than 4MPs, however, my research indicated that the picture quality may not be as good as Canon's 3MP A70. Digital picture quality is a mixed bag of tricks. MPs are one part of the "picture" when determining what quality a digital camera is going to deliver. I will give you my advice in each of four major purchasing catagories below.

Retailer: If you take nothing more from this review, please listen to what I have to say here. The cheapest price is not always the best deal!!!! In fact I would go so far as to say that the cheapest price may be the worst deal. While searching for the best price on an A80 I called four of the cheapest retailers listed at sites like Pricegrabber. EVERY store I called was either out of cameras (surprise, surprise) or the price quoted was only good if the camera was purchased in a overpriced package. The "cheap" store would then proceed to try and sell you what "they had" not what you wanted. After four attempts at the cheapest price, I went back to Amazon and found a price of $359.00. This price was $50.00 or more than the cheapest price, but they told me if the camera was in stock and gave me a delivery date. I actually purchased through an Amazon affiliate. I received the product on time and in good condition.

Camera brand: I touched on this above. Again, the cheapest product is not always the best buy. Don't be fooled into believing that MPs alone or a fancy zoom equate to good picture quality. If you don't plan on spending in the $300 dollar range, plan on mediocre results. Now...many people will argue that a $100 camera will deliver good results it depends on why you are buying digital. If you are buying digital to replace conventional cameras, why would you want anything but great quality. You cannot go back in time and take another picture of your child at age 2. I went digital to begin replacing my conventional cameras. Canon is not the only good brand, but it certainly rises to the top of the heap in the quality for dollars catagory. I would stick to companies that make photography their business Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta, ect.

Camera model: Do your research and have a clear picture in your mind of what you need a digital camera for. A digital camera is like a computer it's great when it works, but a nightmare when it doesn't. Again, don't always look to the selling price as the determining factor in selecting a model. If you stick with a major manufacturer you are less likely to get junk or poor service, regardless of the model you pick.

Many people stress out over the choice of an A70 or A80. I don't think you make a bad purchase with either product. I decided that, for an increase of $80, it was worth the upgrade to the A80. Your own budget may make this decision for you.

Price: I discussed this many times over. Don't let anyone convince you that a $100 dollar camera takes the same quality pictures as a $300 camera. Buy smart and buy for the long run. Buy quality and service. Do your research read Amazon reviews and search the web for independent reviews. Pick up a Consumer Reports magazine.

My opinion of the A80 Well...after about a week of playing with it and reading the manual(I'm not finished yet) I believe I purchased a quality product with features typically found on high-end cameras. A word of caution don't fool yourself into believing that you can move from "point-and-shoot" to this camera without first educating yourself. I think many people foolishly believe that perfect pictures can be taken by simply pushing a shutter release button not so in the real world. If you educate yourself about the functions of camera parts and read Canon's manual carefully, I believe you will find the A80 to be an excellent product.

I hope this helped.

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You just got to hand it to Canon to come up with the best package cameras in the market today. The A60, A70 and A80 provide huge feature sets at a very competetive price.

Regarding the camera, my A80 let me just say that it performs admirably.I was initially choosing between the A80 and also the excellent Canon S45, but decided on the A80 for the foll reasons:

1. Superior handling the A80 just FELT better to hold in my hand, due to its protuding grip, than the S45. However, i recommend you try both cameras out before you buy. You might prefer the S45 instead.

2. Flip-out-and-twist LCD The A80's real ace over the S45. Initially, i thought it to be a gimmick, but i found out that the LCD is really useful in everyday situations, e.g. taking photos of kids from a low level without breaking your back. BUT, the A80's LCD is also a bit dissapointing, as it has only a 1.5" size and 67k pixels, compared to the S45's 1.8" and 100k+ pixels. See for yourself, and decide if you are comfortable with the A80's LCD. I wear glasses, but have no problems with it.

So the choice is yours. Both cameras are priced about same right now, i think.

Back to the A80, here are its pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Good handling and feel, Sure , it may not be as small as a Pentax S4, but come on, the camera is more 'prosumerly' oriented. Is small size is what you look for, you'll HAVE to give up on many advanced manual controls.

2. Good quality images. People in forums have complained about purple fringing and excessive red-eye on the A80. I find a bit of fringing too but it is not that noticable. And redeye? I've seen none of it even with flash shots.

3. AA batteries seem to run on and on and on...... 2100 mAh cells lasted about a week with 30 or shots a day with LCD turned on.

4. NO E-18 errors which plagued the Canon A60 and A70!

5. Flip-out-and-twist LCD. Really useful.

Cons:

1. people say the the CF card door is flimsy, but in fact I find the Battery compartment door to be even more flimsy. I wonder when the springs will break off.

2. Shutter lag: This plagues almost all comsumer digicams. I've learnt how to handle it thought, by adjusting my timing, but it still annoys me.

3. A bit low quality LCD as i mentioned earlier. Some of you may find it to be a problem. It works fine with me.

So, all I can say is that the Canon A80 makes a very strong case for itseldf in the 4 megapixel comsumer camera market. However, if price is a hassle, you can also try out the 2MP A60 or 3MP A70, good performing cameras in their own right. In the 4Mp category, also be sure to check out the A80's competitors i have listed below:

1. Canon S45

2. Nikon 4300

3. Pentax S4

4. Kodak DX 6490

5. Canon S400

6. Sony P92 ( a 5MP model)

7. Canon S50 ( also 5MP)

For the Canon A80, i recommed the following accesories, which should be definitely bought:

1. 128 MB ( at least) Cf card. 256 MB is a good size.

2. 2 sets of rechargable Ni-Mh batteries, (each set having 4 batteries)of about 2000 mAh and a fast charger.

3. Camera pouch/bag. The Lowepro Z10 which i bought for the A80 provides a snug fit.

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i was initially set on buying the canon powershot A70, but that was until the A80 came out. upon seeing its vari-angle flip-out LCD plus 4.0 megapixels (compared to the A70's 3.2 MP), i was SOLD on the A80. i got the camera for christmas 2003 and i've been really satisfied with it. i love the flexibility the LCD gives you-i've been able to take great angled shots which i probably would have trouble doing on a camera without a flip-out LCD. the LCD may be a little small compared to other cameras but the display is very sharp and that makes up for its lack of size. the flip-out LCD feature is also very convenient as it protects the monitor from dust and scratches when it's not in use as you can fold the monitor against the camera body.

image quality is superior-one of the best i've seen for digital cameras in its class. the images are very clear and sharp. i use the camera for everything-the lowest resolution (640x480) for wacky, fun shots with my friends, and the highest res (2272x1704) for graphic design work (i'm a student graphic designer)-posters, magazines, layouts, webdesign.

the powershot A80 is a great deal too-rarely would you find so much powerful features for a camera in this price range. actually, when people see my camera, they assume it's really expensive but when i tell them how much i bought it for, they're really amazed. i guess they're not expecting a camera with superior features selling for much less than what they expected.

all in all, i'm very happy with the A80. the only negative thing about it that comes to mind is the lack of battery power indicator. i use rechargable NiMh batteries that last me a long time (i went on a whole-day shoot with the LCD turned and at the end of the day, the batteries were still going strong), but i don't really know when they're running low on power until a little blinking battery icon shows up on the LCD display-a minute or two before the camera dies on me. it would've been nice if canon put a battery life indicator so you aren't caught unaware.

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I knew nothing about digital cameras, but after researching and reading many reviews, I decided on this one. I was also considering a Nikon and the full Kodak package with the printer dock.

One clear standout feature is the LCD screen. I almost never even look through the viewfinder anymore. It allows you to take shots with much more ease and more quickly than you would with just a viewfinder.

Another thing that's good is that you can use the auto feature if you don't want to have to worry about any details, just want point and shoot, or you can switch to many other modes if you want more control over things, as you learn how to use the advanced features. Thus, no matter how skilled you are, you can have great pictures. I also like that there are all sorts of easy to use effects, like sepia and black and white, panoramic/stitch together. You can be pretty artistic right away. You can also take 3 min. movies with sound.

The software is easy to use. You just install it on the computer. The cables come for you to connect the camera to the a USB port, and when you do that and turn on the camera once the software is installed, it instantly recognizes the camera and asks if you're ready to download pictures. Once you do, they are saved to a folder and you can view them, manipulate and edit them, and even send them directly to an e-mail message. The program interacts directly with my MSN browser automatically. You can also create little booklets and albums and cards and things with the other software that comes with the camera. I can't wait to get a color printer cartridge and some photo paper to see how that works. You also get a cable to view your pictures on tv.

BTW, a friend of mine has the Kodak system and is generally happy with the camera and quality of pictures, but said that the software often messes up on their system.

I don't know if all software does this, but I like that you can take some pictures, download them, take some more pictures, and the software knows only to download the new ones even though the others are still on the card.

Picture quality is typically excellent. I took some very casual pictures of my son just fooling around the house, and I was amazed at the clarity and color that was captured. His skin looked beautiful, and his pink lips and each long eyelash were captured stunningly, making me wish he didn't have on a juice-stained shirt. He seemed to look better on the picture than I even noticed him looking in person. I am sure that soon the house will have professionally developed photos of him all around it that I've taken.

I'd highly recommend the camera to anyone who likes ease of picture taking and good results, plus the ability to grow as a photographer also. You will not be disappointed.

One thing that I was concerned about after reading reviews was that the battery compartment hatch might be fragile. It isn't, you just have to follow the arrows telling you how to open and close it, because you have to slide a lever over and THEN lift, and there's a little spring so that when you close it, you have to push and then slide back over. It is different than other compartments, but you have to follow the instructions, and it's not hard at all once you do it once. Don't let that scare you. It isn't flimsy at all, and it's not going to break easily. You just can't be ham-handed with it and forge ahead without noting what you need to do first.

I would buy the soft case for it, available for under 10 bucks I think on this site. I didn't go for the full kit because I found a fast charger that was cheaper, and NiMH batteries from anyplace will do. I have 8 NiMH batteries, and I keep one set charged and in the front pocket of the case and one set in the camera. These batteries last a good long time, but using the movie feature can eat through them more quickly.

I'm totally satisfied with this purchase.

(Promotion) HooToo® HT-IP212 Outdoor Wireless Network Surveillance IP Camera, M-JPEG Video Format,

The quality of the camera is great and it isn't too painful to setup. I have five Hoo-Too cameras around the house (inside and outside). I don't have Ethernet throughout the house, so the wi-fi is key.

Their customer service is awesome. I had one issue with a part and they handled it immediate and sent me a replacement without any hassle.

Consideration for Mac and iOS users: The software isn't very Mac or iOS friendly. The only browser that supports seeing all cameras at one time in a grid is IE (because it requires ActiveX...hence Windows only).

Wasn't expecting too much at this price point, but I was wrong. First off the casing is solid and looks well constructed, the software on the site and the instruction manual were in English and easy to follow. There are even video examples at the HooToo site. Only problem I had was that I needed to turn of Mac address filtering on my wireless router in order to get it to work wirelessly. If you have an iPhone be sure to get the app that goes with it so you can look at feeds from your phone. Email alerts are a nice feature-sending motion detection pictures that are better than expected.

Buy (Promotion) HooToo® HT-IP212 Outdoor Wireless Network Surveillance IP Camera, M-JPEG Video Format, Now

Shortly after delivery, this camera was up, installed, and fully operational in very little time.

Pros:

1. Camera does what it is advertised to do.

2. I'm able to access and configure it on my mac using the safari browser with no need for any additional software.

3. The camera's built in software can be set snap photos and email (or FTP) them upon a motion trigger.

Cons:

1. Mounting arm could be more sturdy, but it does get the job done.

2. Configuration software/menus used for camera settings are functional, but a bit arcane.

Other:

For those unfamiliar with CCTV camera lenses, the included 6mm is a bit more zoomed and narrower than other models with the wider 3.6mm lens like the HT-IP212F:

HooToo® HT-IP212F Outdoor Wired/Wireless Waterproof Network IP Camera, 1/4" CMOS Sensor, M-JPEG Video Format, Built-in 24-LED Illuminators (Night Vision Up To 20 Meters), Embedded IR Filter for Much Real Colors, FTP Image Upload, Motion Detection & Emai...

Get the one that best fits your needs. This camera (with the 6mm lens) is perfect for viewing an area from a distance or for viewing a limited area such as a doorway. It should be noted that after the cam was installed and operational, I had a quick email question for HooToo support, and they got back to me very quickly, during hours that I was not expecting a response (late night, weekend).

Read Best Reviews of (Promotion) HooToo® HT-IP212 Outdoor Wireless Network Surveillance IP Camera, M-JPEG Video Format, Here

I've been wanting an outdoor IP cam to watch birds. This camera fit right into our Apple Airport network it was easily set up using Safari. It can't accept passwords with anything other than numbers & letters in them when joining the wireless network. I use Evocam software to serve streams to the internet which was easy using the 'Foscam' preset. I really like this sturdy camera the day and night images are great!

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Do not buy if you intend to use it with a Mac. However, this is a fine item at an acceptable price for all you non-Macers and the company is cooperative and more.

Panasonic SDR-H80-S SD and HDD Camcorder (Silver)

I bought the Panasonic SDR-H80 digital video camera from Best Buy yesterday (May 23, 2009). It cost $399 + extra for a backup battery and a warranty.

The Good Stuff:

The optical image stabilization feature is quite adept at stabilizing a shaky image.

The 70x zoom is kinda cool, though you really need a tripod for anything over about 30x.

The camera looks attractive, is light weight, and has a relatively easy to use interface. The buttons are mostly positioned well, except the zoom lever, which I couldn't easily reach without jostling the camera.

The Bad Stuff:

The image quality of this camera is utter trash. Pure garbage. My picture phone literally takes better quality video at a higher resolution. I was absolutely stunned at how bad the image quality is. It looks like some kind of highly compressed late 90's webcam or something.

And it gets even worse in low light. And here, by "low light", I mean anything less than direct sunlight. My first attempts with this camera last night turned out so bad that I couldn't see anything.

I did have the camera set to the highest quality, and I followed the instructions for the different lighting types (fluorescent, mercury, etc) with no luck.

The camera claims to have an intelligent auto (iA) feature, but I didn't notice it doing much but fiddling with the white balance at odd intervals.

There is also a special low-light feature called "magic ..." something or other. I forget. But it reduced the frame rate to 1 or 2 fps, which makes it completely unacceptable as a video recording device.

I am surprised at how good the reviews are for this piece of equipment. Really, people, set your bar just a little bit higher.

I returned this product this morning to Best Buy. I brought my laptop, and while I was there, I tried out other cameras of this model to make sure that mine was not simply defective. They were all trash.

I ate the $60 Best Buy restocking fee, but that's okay because I'd rather be out $60 than $400 for a camera that won't do anything but sit in my closet.

Bought this a couple weeks ago as my old Sony MiniDV camera bit the dust.

So far so good excellent zoom, audio quality, nice to have so much recording time to the HDD.

Didn't notice till I got it that it does not have an eyepiece only the LCD screen other than that I couldn't be happier.

Note, I originally tried to save money by buying from one of those New York Electronics dealers guy tried to convince me it only came with a 30 minute battery and I needed to spend the extra $100 with him to upgrade. Looser -

It's good for at least a couple hours.

Buy Panasonic SDR-H80-S SD and HDD Camcorder (Silver) Now

After some research and because I own a Panasonic Camera. I decided to buy this camcorder. First impression it looks good (small and very light), the optical zoom 70X and 60GB hard drive make it very impressive.

The biggest downside to this camcorder is the video quality. I shot a couple of shots in the morning under daylight and the image quality was very good. However, with no sunshine the image quality is very shady and bad. Imagine even with a house that is brightly lit the image looked very grainy and not good quality. The backlit feature does not help either.

Am going to return this camcorder and would advice you to stay away.

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First off, I was looking for a replacement for my JVC mini-DV camcorder which I used extensively last year. It worked well until one day, it fell to the floor and since then, I would get errors while recording after 30 minutes of use. If I used a cleaning tape, I could get it to work somewhat. But, the biggest thing I disliked about it was that it would take 1 hour to transfer to my computer 1 hour worth of video using firewire.

So, I was looking for a good Standard Definition camcorder which would either use a hard-drive or flash memory card to transfer video to my computer for further editing and DVD authoring. And, this camcorder does that and very elegantly as well. I tried out some HD quality camcorders but to edit those would require a new PC, better software which doesn't seem to be available right now and more frustrations than I was looking for. I was looking for an easier way to do what worked.

I read where some do not like the quality ( primarily of photos ) which I'm not concerned with. The video quality to me is as good as my old JVC mini-DV. I have captured snapshots from the video taken on this camcorder and, considering all, they're not too bad but if I want a good photo, I'll use my digital camera. The software supplied with this Panasonic transfers the .mov files from the camcorder to the PC and renames them .mpg files. The files are identical so I'm assuming the camcorder records in mpeg format using a .mov file extension on the camcorder itself. I have thought I might just copy to my PC directly but the software is fairly straight forward enough, I use it. For editing video ( and photos ), I use my regular video/photo editing software once the files are on my PC. I used Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum for video and PSP X2 or Photoshop Elements for photos and they work well.

What I like most about the camcorder are:

1. the zoom -I recorded our son's football game and from across the field up in the video booth, I could zoom in on players and see their face quite easily zoomed in,

2. optical stabilization -at zoomed in level, the stabilization worked very well. I held the light camcorder in my left hand as steady as I could and used my right index finger to zoom and thumb to record/pause the video. This worked very well,

3. audio -I picked up audio from below, close up and far away while recording and was truly impressed with the resulting DVD I created from the captured video,

4. transfer to PC -instead of 1-to-1 time transfer with a mini-DV, I could send 15 minutes of video over to my PC in 2-3 minutes max time -and I didn't have to view/listen to the video being played while transferring.

What I like least about the camcorder are:

1. it is light -almost too light but I'll get used to that,

2. the battery only lasts about 2 hours before charging so I've bought a longer-lasting battery which should help there,

3. the AC adaptor plug and file-transfer USB cable plug in under the battery. Somewhat awkward yes, but to do file transfers properly, I should be using AC anyway so it's impossible to mess that up using a low battery and losing power in the middle of a file transfer,

4. there is another feature called aI which I haven't completely figured out yet but from what I can tell so far, it may be something I would add to what I like Most about the camcorder. If I find this is so, I may wish to update this review.

So, for my purposes, this is a great camcorder!

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I've read the other reviews and have to say, the one's that claim the image is bad quality or grainy need to go to school. Just read the manual and learn how to adjust the settings to the surroundings. It's a camera, not a box of ready to eat cereal..... it takes a bit of talent and practice to make a good video.

I also have a Laptop that's running 64 bit Vista and had no problem with the software, as well as on my 32 bit desktop with XP. I'm not sure what her problem was.

Take the bad revues with a grain of salt, these people probably can't tie their shoes right.

Samsung EC-SH100 Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 14 MP, 5x Optical Zoom and Touchscreen (Silver)

I just got this camera today it is easy to use and navagate. The touchscreen works well with fingers as wellas the included stylus (i put it on the hand strap for easy access) The stylus works good when logging into facebook, youtube, photobucket and the many other available places to share your photos. I uploaded a picture to facebook with relative ease.I liked the auto backup too, you can backup your pictures to a Pc without connecting the camera to the Pc (awesome!!)The picture quality is great too!The video mode supports HD 720p i havent tried it yet but its HD! I suggest this camera to anyone looking for an easy to use point and click camera with some kick ass extras like the ability to touch up / edit photos before u send them on their way to FB or wherever you send them!

I bought this camera and used it extensively on a two week trip to Europe. Overall I am happy with it, it took great pictures and was pretty easy to use.

I LOVE the fact that you can charge the battery without taking it out of the camera (Like the way you charge a cell phone). No need for a separate charger, so one less piece of gear to lug around. The benefit of this also means you can charge it on an as-needed basis (I charged it through the power outlet in the rental car I was driving). This was the key feature that drove my purchase decision, and its strange that it doesn't get mentioned much in the marketing literature since it's a major advantage over the competition.

The touch screen interface is a disappointment though. If you are used to a smart phone type touch screen then this screen will seem slow and clunky. It feels more like a PDA from 2004 than a smart phone from 2011. Also, putting all the controls on the touch screen makes for some usability issues. I would prefer to see physical buttons for commonly used operations like turning the flash on and off. A camera is a dedicated device so should be optimized for common photography use cases.

The wireless connectivity was pretty cool, but again suffered usability issues. Connecting to wireless networks was a pain with the clunky touch screen. This is a long way from an iPhone or Android OS. Also, there doesn't seem to be any control over the name of the album or the subject of the facebook post. The wireless connectivity is is a very cool idea, but it still has some way to go before being truly compelling.

At the end of the day I think my money was well spent. Samsung is on to a good thing and I hope they continue evolving this product line.

Buy Samsung EC-SH100 Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 14 MP, 5x Optical Zoom and Touchscreen (Silver) Now

I just received my SH100 today, so I won't try to do a full in-depth review. However, in the hours that I've played with it I can already tell that there are quite a few 'quirks' that seriously hinder an otherwise great camera.

First, the camera comes with a touchscreen interface for most of the functions. Sadly, it also comes with a stylus which, in my experience, isn't optional to use in many situations (such as typing) at least with my large fingers. Even worse there isn't a place to store the stylus within the camera itself. Instead, it clips and hangs awkwardly from the lanyard. While a generally small nuisance (and perhaps a non-issue for those with smaller fingers), it would have been much nicer if the screen was sensitive enough to work via touch or there were discreet navigation buttons.

The biggest issue for me, however, has to be the software running on the camera. The UI isn't very pretty and is awkwardly organized. It feels very hastily thrown together. Again, this is a minor disappointment, but something that should have been easy to fix. Unfortunately, that isn't all. The software is also quite buggy! I had found several issues within the first few minutes (where was the QC?!) which took hours to resolve. For one thing, logging in to Picasa was a real pain as there were issues with the software recognizing both my email address AND password. The login for Picasa should be the same as my Google login. However, my account is associated with several email addresses and only one of them was accepted for some reason (and it wasn't my normal gmail.com account, it was a tertiary address I rarely use). Even worse there's a serious bug in the password handling that prevents it from recognizing a password with any special characters! As best I can tell, only numbers and letters will work as they should. If you enter a password with a special character the password will not be accepted. This was a real problem for me as I did not want to change my password (I use many different Google services across many devices, and changing the login credentials on all of them would be a real headache!) Fortunately, I discovered an undocumented workaround/hack. If you change special characters to URL encoding (so pa$$word becomes pa%24%24word) it will work (even though it really shouldn't!) Unfortunately, this seems to prevent the password from being stored properly (only characters up to the first % are stored!). So far I have only tried logging in to the Picasa service, but I suspect these issues are present in all password fields and may well extend to user names, etc.

To be fair, the camera has some really great features and it takes very nice pictures for the price. In fact, it really could be an AMAZING camera if they ever get the software straightened out. Unfortunately, until new firmware is released, this camera has fallen fairly short of its potential.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung EC-SH100 Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 14 MP, 5x Optical Zoom and Touchscreen (Silver) Here

I bought this camera based on the Engadget recommendation, because the camera records video in H.264 instead of the horribly inefficient motion JPEG, and for the cool WiFi feature. When it arrived I was impressed at how small it is but the menu system seemed to crash a lot or become unresponsive.

It turns out this camera has a firmware update from July 29, 2011. I wasn't able to upgrade the firmware with the included (on the camera's internal storage) software; you should try to do it that way, but instead, I copied the contents of the firmware .zip to the root of the Micro SD card. After upgrading the firmware the camera's menu system is much more usable.

Pros: Compact size, H.264 movie mode, never have to plug it into the computer to get the photos off due to the WiFi, large, bright touchscreen

Cons: Flash takes 5-10 seconds to charge after taking a photo, works best in outdoor light, doesn't use a standard USB cable

Want Samsung EC-SH100 Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 14 MP, 5x Optical Zoom and Touchscreen (Silver) Discount?

My pretty daughter was looking for a little camera to take on her DC trip and obviously my big SLR was out of question. So we went to a store to do some shopping. I left her alone for a few mins and asked her to find something she likes. When I got back she said she chose this camera. Well, I told her she'd better check out Canons or Nikons because they are great cameras and who knows about Samsung. But I really got puzzled because I just couldn't convince her they are better. And after some thinking we ended up buying this Samsung camera.

This camera is really special for 2 reasons.

First is touchscreen. These days touch is the de-facto standard interface for mobile devices, so once you've tried a touchscreen camera it feels natural and going through menues with buttons really feels awkward. At one moment the Canon and Nikon menus became annoying. Yes, there is a stylus mostly for virtual keyboard but you can really get by with just fingers most of the times. So touchscreen does make big difference.

Second is connectivity. The camera comes with Wi-Fi and it has built-in software to post pictures on facebook and some other popular services. And you can upload pictures wirelessly to your computer. No cables. This is a big deal.

So is this camera a sure buy? Well, it's a bit more compicated. This camera is really trying to be a compromise between a "real" camera and a smart phone. In a "real" cameras land this camera is good but not the best. There are competitors out there with slightly better specs (like 1080HD instead of 720HD etc) but arguably you'll unlikely to notice a significant difference any "pro" camera needs at least a bigger lense and heavier weight to capture a better image to begin with.

Basically if you really like touchscreen and wireless you should seriously think if you'd rather buy a good smart phone. Yes, I can't think of any smartphone with 14MP, 5x Zoom, a 720p HD and a "real" flash, but does it justify carrying two devices? My daughter was saying that this is a big trip and she wants to capture the lifetime moments and she ended up with a smartphone and this camera (so hard to say no to an adorable daughter ...) but when we looked at the pictures she brought back, they are not really much different from her smartphone ones. So yes, with some skills you can do miracles with the camera but for most ordinary people and real life shots the results will be about the same. I mean you're unlikely to print a huge poster and a typical computer screen has

Aven 26700-300 ZipScope USB Digital Microscope with 2 Mega-Pixel 10x-50x Optical, 200x Digital Magn

• 2.0 megapixel digital tabletop microscope with 1/2" color complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor and USB 2.0 computer output to display images or video, commonly used for quality control (QC) inspection, medical and scientific research, geology, mineralogy, chemistry, and for printing and textile inspection.
• Optical magnification of 10X to 50X, and digital magnification of 200X
• 8 built-in, white LED lights with two-step intensity control for illumination, automatic white balance, and the ability to be turned on and off
• Included software produces images (JPEG or BMP formats) or video (AVI format)
• One year warranty

The video might be enough to convince you. But please read this extended review for all the details. Every one of the images in the video was captured with THIS microscope camera.

EDIT: Please see W. Nicholls review for more current information on software and a solution for the weak stand! We've both found that the stand is okay for very basic use, but leaves a lot to be desired. The software is the same way, but there are several excellent freeware alternatives available.

I am an IT professional for a major police department. I specialize in video enhancement and conversion. I ordered this for my Mom, who collects and sells antique buttons. Because of my Prime Membership, and because I would be the one installing this for my parents (naturally), I had it shipped to my place. When the package came in, I couldn't resist opening it and trying it out on my system. There are a few things that I didn't like, but more that I did like. First, the stand is stable enough, but not rock-solid steady like a tripod. Specifically, the stand itself appears to be very sturdy stainless steel, although the arms holding the camera are plastic. The software included (for my Win7x64 system) is actually a very basic Microsoft program, so don't expect a custom application. That's okay, though. It gets the job done, and I had no problems with program or driver installation. The magic is in the scope itself.

The grippy rubber surrounding the unit helps with positioning, especially when you are using it in a hand-held photo/video shoot. The focus ring might be a little tough at each of the extreme ends, but is otherwise very smooth and easy to adjust.

I was able to grab several very high quality images right off the bat. I used a twenty dollar bill as a test subject. I was able to zoom in so much that the ultra-tiny "USA 20" shadows under the right-side text were clearly visible, yet I was also able to zoom out enough to capture almost the entire bill. Going further, I captured an entire US Quarter at about a half-screen size, and was able to zoom in so close that I the screen was filled with only 3 grooves of the 119 grooves around the edge of the quarter. That's pretty impressive. In fact, that is a HUGE range of magnification. Ask your photographer friends. They will confirm this.

The software was a piece of cake to install (Win 7 x64), although I had to use my other computer to copy the mini-CD to a regular CD. My second computer has a tray-load CD drive, while the system I wanted to use it on has a "suck-load" (ie slot-load) CD drive. This program/driver package is NOT available on the manufacturer's website, and the mini-CD is not labeled, but it's really a minor problem. If you use any other webcam or video capture program, this camera will work with them as well. Also, any other webcams you have will work with this software for effortless still and video capture.

Overall, the stand is nice and stable, provided you really crank down the screw (which still allows for some forceful movement but still keeps the camera in place), but the arms that hold the camera are a little weak. This is a tiny weakness that can be easily overcome by adjusting from the bracket instead of grabbing the camera itself. If you won't be using the very wide range of zoom/focus levels, this will NOT be a problem for you. The best way to operate this camera is by moving the object instead of the camera. My mother just wants a little visual aid in identifying manufacturing marks on antique clothing buttons. For her, I set up the focus and camera angle, and she hasn't touched it in several weeks of examining antique buttons. She just moves the buttons around beneath the lens.

The LED lights are very good. Even with the rest of my household lights turned off, the built-in LEDs had enough power to provide plenty of bright light for proper exposure. At some zoom/focus levels, I even had to move the switch to the "half-led" position to prevent washout.

The zoom/focus range is incredible. To make it clear, please understand that "zooming" means moving the camera away from the object and adjusting the focus, but I was really impressed with the incredibly wide range of zoom/focus on this system. I got great pictures in the range from less than 1/10 of an inch all the way to 6 inches+ away from the subject. To give this some context, I should remind you that I got a picture of a US Quarter that took up 1/2 the frame, then "zoomed in" (aka moved closer and adjusted focus) so that I had a shot of only 3 of the 119 ridges on the edge of the coin. Both shots provided great detail, and the 2 MP resolution was a pleasant surprise. At 1280x1024, it isn't quite true HD, but provides a very good image.

Because the cradle that holds the camera is a little weak, you might need to push the "shutter" button a few times to get a clear shot, but this is a very minor inconvenience, and doesn't cause any software or storage problems, since you only save the image when you're happy with the result. A typical shot was just under 1 MB in size, and only took two to three attempts to get one without blur. That probably sounds terrible in a review, but I want to emphasize that it is really easy to get a nice clear shot. Just press the camera-mounted shutter button a couple of times until your image is nice and crisp. This works reliably even when holding the object and camera in each hand.

Overall, I can say this. I would love to have one of the four hundred dollar super precise professional forensics lab-type USB microscopes, but for anything less than a couple hundred bucks, this is the best of the bunch. I loved it so much that I ordered one for myself. I am not a professional, but I am a very good amateur. You can see some of my close-up my videos by looking for "SloMoHolic" on a very popular video sharing website that starts with "You" and ends with "Tube", taken with non-microscope professional equipment :-). Hopefully you will see actual ZipScope footage very soon!

Have fun and explore things you've never seen before. There are a lot of options out there, and I have researched them all (although I have not tried them all). This particular model seems to be the best option for anyone who is not in a forensics lab, that wants to have high-quality still and video imagery, with a very wide range of focus/zoom. I hope my review helps you make your decision.

Buy Aven 26700-300 ZipScope USB Digital Microscope with 2 Mega-Pixel 10x-50x Optical, 200x Digital Magn Now

Right off the top, the Amazon listing for the Aven 26700-300 claims 2MP resolution. I was only getting .3MP (640x480) via the primitive software pressing the shutter button. The instructions don't tell you how to get full resolution captures and I stumbled upon how it's done. Here's the arcane procedure:

Open the AMCAP application window so you can frame your image. This application only has controls for capturing video. If you press the shutter button you'll get a snapshot that pops up in a new window. However, this image will only be 640x480. To snapshot at higher resolution, you must use the tray application/control panel. This gives you access to Properties controls if you select the Properties Page, but that won't give you control over photo resolution. You must right-click or click and hold on the tray application, click on the snapshot menu item, then select a resolution from the fly out list. 1600x1200 is the sensor resolution if it's 2MP, but the Chinese manufacturer's specs (Oriental Inspiration, Ltd.) say 1280x1024 (1.3MP). When you pick the resolution, a snapshot is taken and it pops up in the snapshot viewer window. You'll only see a portion of the full res image since the viewer window can't be resized and there is no zoom. If you then press the shutter button on the microscope, new images will be captured at the resolution you set via the tray application. Be sure to save the image from the viewer window since the image will be lost if you don't. Beware -when you quit the software the snapshot resolution will set back to 640x480. There's no way to make the full resolution be the default. This software isn't just primitive, it's stone age.

I appreciate Blake Ormand's extensive review, and I don't have experience with other USB microscopes to compare, but I find the software and the stand to be significant limitations on an otherwise good device. Pushing the image capture button on the side of the microscope causes it to move and blur images that would be simple to get sharp with a software shutter control. There is the snapshot control I outlined above and I recommend you use that instead of the hardware button.

The live view via the software is a small, low resolution window. If you maximize the software window, it expands to fill the display and thus distorts the image (at least with most current display aspect ratios). You can resize the window, but this distorts the image since the view will fit any shape window you create. The digital zoom function isn't particularly useful. The image quality is low and you don't see any additional detail. Plan on a real zoom utility of 50x. And you'll only get 50x with the microscope as close to the subject as the clear front ring allows.

Also, there's no white balance control (there's a hue control in the generic control panel, but that's not a substitute). Under normal ambient light, the image has a pink cast. The color is reasonably neutral when the LEDs are turned on via the oval slide switch on the microscope. Actually, the unit is now showing pink even with the LEDs and I suspect a problem with an RGB channel.

The microscope has a poor orientation for right side up. If the shutter button was on top, you'd get a bit more stability pushing toward the base. You can rotate and mirror the image via the generic software and I haven't seen if that's a viable workaround so I can work the unit with the shutter button on top. The stand has a really weak and narrow clip that isn't in the least bit secure or stable. The base and articulating arm are nicely finished, but the clamp barely holds the microscope at all. Unfortunately, the only optional base available from Aven is designed for backlit slide use akin to conventional optical microscopes. I'd like to find a boom-type stand with a clamp that could securely hold the Aven ZipScope's body.

The Dino-Lite model I was considering before buying the Aven is over $400. There are more and better stand options for Dino-Lites, and the software appears to be better (the high end software provides measurement capability). I have no professional use for a USB microscope,so the Aven's pricepoint is more rational for me to play with. I do volunteer fossil preparation and I'd like to use the USB microscope for demonstration and documentation purposes. It would be cool if I could use the computer display to do fine detail work instead of looking through a conventional low power stereo microscope, but I'm not sure that I could set the USB microscope up without having too much parallax error to work with.

Update 01/19/2012: I've found better software that works with this microscope. I did a trial evaluation of NCH's Debut Video Capture Pro Software. You can capture from the microscope at full 1600x1200 resolution and there's a still capture button. The preview scales proportionally, and there's a control that lets you view at actual pixel resolution. There's a 14-day trial, but when the license price is $40. There are other webcam video capture utilities for Windows, Mac, and Linux that you could try. Look up AMCap at the alternativeto.net website.

I bumped up my rating to four stars because good free alternative software is available. Thanks again to Blake, for recommending ProScope HR software which is available free online for personal use. There are also Mac OS and Linux versions of this software. I've installed it but haven't tried the software yet, so I can't compare to the relatively expensive NCH utility.

I'm using a Manfrotto Nano Clamp to mount the microscope to various photographic supports like an articulating arm or flex arm and have uploaded a few to show this. The Nano Clamp does partially obscure the capture button, but using software to trigger captures is far better for vibration.

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AVEN zipScope with measurement software.

The microscope: It does exactly as advertised and with amazing clarity.

The stand: It is as valuable as a milk bucket under a bull. It will not support the microscope at a 90 degree angle which is necessary for accurate measurements and a lack of subject distortion.

The programming: ... Horrible! The written dropdown boxes that are critical for measurement and marking the pictures were in the programmer's font (little square boxes).

Product support: Great, the company responded to correct the problem after which the measurements work.

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Picture quality is great. We are using other software to view images from Windows and Linux laptops, never had to instal software that came with this. Feels solid, handles well, focuses well, built-in light at two settings is great too. Whether the magnification is good enough for you is for you to decide, but it is amazing for our kids and for me to see stuff up close, sharp, intense colors, on large screen. Resolution is 1600x1200, but then it does only 5fps or so, which makes it harder to work with if you move stuff a lot, so I'm actually running it at 800x600 where is does 20fps, and it could 30fps at something like 640x480, but I like an integer divisor and 20fps is OK to work with. I did take a couple pictures too at 1600x1200 after I focused at 800x600.

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I had ordered before a similar version, and ended up frustrating when realized that it had a fixed magnification. This one is much better. Small children have great fun.. In my case, putting the signal on the TV (using Wireless Display) made it even better. Tons of fun!

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Emphasis is on HIGH GLOSS, as in glows in the dark and can be used as a signal mirror.

Great fit, but shinny. If you are buying this for field use, don't.

Was super easy to put on...I have been pretty rough on it and it seems to be holding up well.

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Logitech Alert 700i Indoor Add-On HD-Quality Security Camera (961-000330)

I try to keep up writing reviews for products I buy, especially the items that I myself do a lot of research on, before buying. So I'll break this down as best I can. I live in a 2-story, 2800 square foot home. And for the longest time, I've wanted a surveillance system to make me feel safe both when I am at home and away. The Logitech camera system and software does it right, with only a few minor issues, and I stress minor.

I have an Apple router but run Windows 7 on my PC; I'm also using the free application on my iPhone. I had zero problems with the software install, even when it came to Window's firewall. I'm currently running 2 indoor cameras and 1 outdoor camera...but, I actually plan on using nothing but outdoor cameras for my entire system (to include for inside surveillance). And that's about the only real issue I have with the system. The indoor camera works awesome and does what it should. It delivers good quality color video and even over the iPhone application or over the web (from Logitech's website), all of my friends all have said, "Wow, that looks awesome!" BUT, and it's a big BUT, once the sun goes down, the indoor cameras are very limited. Shy of the bad guy turning on all of the lights in my house, then committing his crime, the indoor camera is of little use during nighttime hours. And at first, I was okay with that because I'm home at night and it's actually the daytime when nobody is home. But then I bought the outdoor Logitech camera and WOW, what a difference because it holds the very same quality as the indoor camera, but also does a phenomenal job at night. So with that, I'm going to return the indoor cameras and use the outdoor cameras for outside as well as inside. But I still want to give my review on the indoor camera as I've been using it for about a month now.

Pros:

Color Quality. Again, great color quality. Even using the digital zoom, I was impressed at how good it looks. My wife being the glass half empty type of person commented that you can't see the face of the person all that well. But my reply was but you can sure as heck see his race, clothing description, weight, height, hair color and most importantly you can see if he is or isn't wearing gloves...hence, you could see clearly where he may have left evidence (fingerprints, DNA, etc).

Included 2GB media card. This is a great feature!! This means that if bad guy breaks in and thinks he's outsmarting you by stealing your computer (with the footage of him), you can still revert back to the camera itself to retrieve the footage saved to the media card. Another great thing about the camera media card is that your home computer does not need to be always on to be recording. For example, my computer goes into sleep mode after about an hour of inactivity. So if my computer is in hibernate mode for a full day, the cameras are still recording footage and will sync to my computer when it awakes. For it to work seamless, I just leave the Logitech software running in the task bar (background).

Software. Logitech did it right with the software. It was a very easy install, features are clear and I love that you can customize each camera you have on your network. For example, out of the 3 cameras I have, I only want 1 of them to send off text message alerts. Again, it's nice that the alerts are not just a system feature, but rather an individual camera setting. You can also adjust the duration of alerts to save yourself from getting thousand texts. For me, a 5 minute window is perfect, just as long as I get the initial text, I wouldn't be concerned about getting 20 more in under a 5 minute or however long of a window you choose. I also like the way the software saves all of the recorded video. With 3 cameras going, I've been getting a lot of recorded footage. The software not only allows you to use choose a given date and time to research, but if you were to search out for that file in Windows explorer, the software does a great job by saving the footage under the name of camera (for example "Living Room"), then the month (10 for October), then the day within that month. Being a police officer, I really like that if I had to turn over crucial footage (if my home was burglarized, etc), all of the footage would have clear a folder structure and time stamp that would make sense to any other investigating officer.

Alerts. This feature sealed the deal for me buying this system to begin with. You select a zone in which if motion occurs, an alert will be sent. For example, although my camera has a pretty wide shot of my living room to include front door, my only concern is if movement is picked up at the front door. Once motion is detected, a text message is sent to my phone. The alert text message is awesome; it says what camera picked up what motion and at what date and time...simple and efficient. BUT, I will mention alerts in the Cons section, so please read on.

Camera size. Again, I have both the indoor and outside camera and was very impressed by how small they were. I also lucked out that I have power sources on top of my potter shelves, so I was able to plug in the cameras without any wires being run down walls, etc. And because the cameras are small, I've actually told friends that I have the cameras and it still took them a while to actually figure out where.

The "wow" factor. I'll admit it, I'm that guy who loves his tech toys, who loves showing off new technology and how I make it work for my family's safety. The first day when I showed all of my police friends the system, everyone was amazed. I should get a kick back from Logitech on all of the potential customers I made for them. Being able to open the iPhone app and show my friends that I have 24/7 surveillance of my home, felt very cool. The iPhone app also works very well over 3g cell service (not just wi-fi).

Cons:

Price. Well I mentioned the "wow" factor when I showed off the system to my friends. Well, I got the same expression when I told them how much. For me to get 6 cameras, all of them being the outdoor cameras, is a bit pricey. But, I will say that the software being free is nice. It's also nice to know that each camera comes with that 2GB media card (another plus that make the high costs seem understandable). And although I'm not that interested in audio, again, if you're going to pay the big bucks for a camera, at least it gives you color and audio as an option.

Night time quality. Again, if all you care about is crystal clear footage in the daytime, then the indoor camera is for you. But for me, I began to get frustrated that for so much money, I was only getting daytime footage. For a bit more money per camera, I feel that it was well worth it, to be able to see what's going on in my home 24/7.

Logitech server. This is a tough one to explain, but I'll do my best. When you install the cameras and software, the alert system is dependent on Logitech's servers / service. In the month that I've been using the camera, I only had 1 time that their servers went down. In that time, the cameras in my home were recording as they should BUT the alert notification system will not work if Logitech's service is down or disrupted. Although it was only down for a few hours, I was still very unpleased given the fact that the alert system is what it's all about. I don't want to come home to find my house has been burglarized and didn't get a text because the servers were down. Instead, I want to get a text message telling me someone is there, that way I can call the police and increase my chances of getting the suspect while he is still in the residence. The alert service has only been disrupted once, but makes me nervous for what's to come down the road as these cameras begin to sell.

Alerts. Again, read my Pros section about the alert function. Where I had a problem is how long it can take to get the alert text message. I've done some very extensive testing and it ranges between 40 seconds to 4 minutes from when my phone gets the alert text message. Now 4 minutes may not seem like a long time, but a skilled criminal can do A LOT in just a few minutes. I'm not too happy about the variations on alert times, especially since there appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why sometimes I get the notification in under a minute, but other times over 3 minutes. Clearly, it has to do with Logitech servers.

Plug outlet requirements. Although I get why you have to plug in your unit to the actual wall, it doesn't mean I have to like it. It's been a little bit of a challenge with some of my cameras to find a good discreet location coupled with having an available outlet there. I'm guessing that at some point, Logitech will begin selling overpriced extension cords or power bars that allow the cameras to work even without being directly plugged into the wall. I believe a read few reviews from people that have done this though; I would live to get their reply or feedback in this review thread.

Thanks for reading!

******Updated Review****** 12/19/11

So after more than a year of owning these surveillance cameras, I wanted to update my review.

Originally I purchased the indoor cameras, however, quickly realized that the outdoor cameras are your best bet even if the cameras are all for the inside of your home. I still strongly stand behind that assertion. After a year, I've upped my system to 4 outdoor cameras that are placed in and outside of my home.

I have to say that after a full year, I'm still very happy with the system and I use it every day. One aspect of the system that did get a welcomed update is the iPhone / iPad application. The best part of the updated app is the ability to see all of your cameras' viewpoint without having to selectively choose each camera. Although I would regularly use TeamViewer to remote into my home computer in order to toggle on / off the `Alert' settings, I ended up caving and buying the 80-buck a year subscription that allows the iPhone app to quickly turn the alerts on or off. What's nice about the alert system is that you can selectively leave an alert on per camera. For example, I leave my alert on for our garage camera 24/7, versus only turning the alerts on for the other inside cameras.

Although 80 bucks a year is a lot, I find it to be money well spent if not for the convenience alone of having the ability to playback footage from either a computer with Internet connection or my iDevice.

In the last year, I've recommended this system to ALL of my law enforcement friends and they too have been pleased with the product. Although I think some of them haven't found the software setup as easy as I did. So if you're reading this Logitech, feel free to throw a brotha a free camera, haha (just kidding well maybe not all the way kidding).

I recently wrote my review for 750e camera Logitech Alert 750e Outdoor Master Security System with Night Vision, which I also have. I highly recommend checking that one out to see my useful comments. I am writing this one merely as a way to give Logitech another 5-star review, which I thoroughly believe they and this product deserves. I also wanted very much to share my high-quality video of a theft in action. Although the perp was never caught, it's no fault of the video, and I think the world outside of Facebook should see how awesome this system is. I wish I was allowed to upload TWO videos, because then you could see this man walking away with my stuff. But this video is good. It shows him spotting the items in my door, checking out his surroundings to make sure no one is coming, and then brazenly opening the door and taking my wedding presents like they were his own.

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While the hardware upgrades appear to be fine, the software is a major step back. You can not schedule "on" times for the cameras like the previous version. In other words, the cameras are always on, always recording. This will generate hundreds of files in an active setting. We used the previous version for night time monitoring set to record 8pm to 6am, worked great. For whatever reason they have dropped this from the software. Product support suggested unplugging cameras during the day, seriously. I would avoid this product until that functionality is brought back.

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set-up was easy for one camera, added a second camera and the system worked for about 90 days. started having problems with outdoor camera and called customer service, they had me climbing up and resetting camera's three or four time over two weeks. camera was continously failing to record. they finally agreed to send me an advanced replacement and after waiting two weeks i called back and they said they never recieved my camera and that is why i never got the advanced replacement (not sure why they called it an advanced replacement). Sent camera and waited another two weeks for repalcement. installed new camera and followed set-up installation, now none of the camera work and are not detected by their system software.

I would recommend you checking out thier web site for the logitech commander alert support forum site and you will see why this is such a poor product. pages and pages of the same problem i am encountering, customers spending hours and hours trying to get this system to work.

I would look into a more reliable product than the logitech system. They say it does not need any wires but this is not true, you have to run the wire to a power outlet, plug another box into a power outlet and then connect that box to your router, the system uses your homes power outlets to send a signal thru the electrical wiring within your home. In the forums logitech admits this is not the most reliable method to use but good enough for consumers. How stupid is that, a security camera system that does not use a reliable method to transmitt signals.

bottom line, if you want a system that uses an unrelaible method to transmit signals to your pc, takes an enormous amount of your time trying to fix and you enjoy spending time on the phone with logitech customer support reps then this is the system for you!!!!!!

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INITIAL REVIEW: After doing a lot of research (so I thought), I purchased the outdoor system. Once I unpackaged it, I had it up and showing video images on my PC within 15 minutes, and had web and phone access (the free stuff) working in only 5 more minutes. Other than not being able to set time frames on the alarms, I love everything about this product! The initial system worked so well that I bought another outdoor camera and an indoor one. Adding them was another piece of cake. It may be a bit pricey, but the merchandise is high-quality. My whole experience with it has been positive.

UPDATE1: Six weeks later, the honeymoon is over. Unexpectedly, this camera and my outdoor camera started to not be available much on my Droid phone. Then they became never available. Then the Logitech Alert web viewer quit seeing my cameras. Resetting the camera gives me one more viewing, but then they are unavailable again the next time.

UPDATE2: Soon after I wrote UPDATE1, the response time and success rate of the internet and phone-viewing suddenly became dramatically improved... better than it had been when new! What explains this? Dunno -could be Logitech's server, my Verizon connection, flakey hardware? So I bumped the product rating up to 3 stars. They'll get 4 if this holds out for a few weeks. But right now, I get my live feed super quickly and consistently.

UPDATE3: The last month has been a good one: zero at-home failures (summer storm power outages and all), a near 100% success rate getting a live feed over the internet, and about 80% success with live phone-viewing. And when there is a remote-viewing connection problem, it is gone less than an hour later.

SUMMARY: Maybe Logitech wrung out some bugs or got more/better servers, or maybe Verizon, as my ISP, did something to improve things, but overall I'm happy with this system -unlike the way I was a month ago. If it didn't have that earlier weirdness, I'd give it 5 stars.

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