Olympus PEN E-P1 12.3 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 3-inch LCD and

This past holiday week-end I made the decision not to take my Nikon DSLR with me on a 3 day road trip to Minneapolis. The majority of my time was spent wandering the Mall of America, and the E-P1 was an absolute delight the entire time.

This little camera makes me smile each time I use it!

If you don't care to word a long, winding review let me summarize it. The E-P1 doesn't have to make any apologies for being petite, its a full fledged camera on its own merit.

Positives

* Great photo quality!

* Built in image stabilization (works pretty well too)

* Customizable and responsive interface/buttons

* HD movie mode with autofocus

* Low profile, doesn't get you noticed

* Quiet. I'd say quieter than my old rangefinders and way more quiet than my DSLR's

Could be better

* Battery life

* Perhaps almost too customizable (pretty good learning curve). Keep the manual handy!

I'm not a people shooter and certainly not a "street" shooter but my week-end was spent at the Mall of America, which is enormous but all in doors. It was an interesting challenge. I found that although I fumbled with the interface and settings a bit, it became very engrossing and almost mesmerizing to shoot publicly with the E-P1. It never drew attention, not once, where as I saw people clearing out from the obvious DSLR guys like fish around a barracuda in the reef.

Lens: My only lens is the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6, which doesn't sound too exciting. However in practice it has been a great general utility lens that has rendered quite nicely, showing nice resolution and sharpness. I can only anticipate what the E-P1 will do with a quality, wide aperture prime. I'm up in the air about my next move, but the 50mm f/2 sure looks tempting. But then again it would be great to try OM mount too! Arg....

Auto-Focus: I've read some questions about the auto-focus performance of this camera, but in normal operation haven't see an issue yet. Granted I haven't tried to shoot a basketball game or dance recital yet so take this with a grain of salt. For my people shooting in the mall the AF performance has been wonderful and spot on. When I've gone to outdoor settings or even just trying to snap something quick from my car, I've found that the autofocus is quite a ways behind my D90. I think it is real world quick, but it is probably a step slower to focus than any DSLR on the market. Not saying that's a bad thing, some worth knowing.

Sensor: The sharpness I see from this camera is well beyond what I expected, so there may be something to the talk that Olympus removed the strong anti-alias filtering most DSLR's are plagued with. The jpg results thus far haven't required any post process sharpening and the Olympus color engine is a breath of fresh air in my opinion.

Handling: Coming form a DSLR will make you take a little time to get used to the difference. Getting used to shooting with a LiveView display will also take some getting used to. There isn't a front/rear two wheel control system as I'm used to with the D90, but there are two primary controls for manual shooting and they can both be worked while shooting one handed. Very nice design! The buttons and functions are all fully customizable but expect to be nestled up with the manual a wee bit to do it. All in all composing from the LiveView LCD became very natural and fluid after a day. High marks to Olympus in designing such a usable system. The only thing I still have to figure out is a button to disable auto-focus so I can go fully manual.

Results: The bottom line to any camera is what it can produce. The E-P1 is not a D700, A900 or 5DII. Those are different kinds of cameras that excel at higher ISO and extreme resolutions. What the E-P1 is to me is a system capable of going toe-to-toe with any DX sensor system on the market in terms of deliverable results. No it doesn't shoot 8 frames per second. Again not that kind of camera.

This is a practical camera whose size and form factor make it usable in places that larger cameras wouldn't work as well or possibly not at all. I'm seeing very detailed and sharp results up to ISO 1,250. After years of shooting 35mm, DSLR and even large format I'd have to say this is the most fun I've had with any camera I've owned. Its a camera guy's camera that the beginner can use as well.

First a little background. I have a couple of other SLRs and was mainly looking for something to give me close to SLR quality files but in a considerably smaller physical package. A couple of downsides you should already be aware of from the product description.:

1. There is no pop-up flash. Not a problem for me, I don't ever use them anyway (your mileage may vary).

2. There is no viewfinder. Again not a problem for me, got used to that very quickly.

Now some observations from having used the camera:

The sensor image quality is excellent. Dynamic range is at SLR quality. Noise levels up to and including ISO 800 is very clean. ISO 1600 has a bit more noise than the Rebel XSI (also 12mp)with the noise increasing relative to competitors from there.

The user interface is intuitive. I used mostly Aperture Priority and Manual and found it easy to use. Stuff in the menus were also easily found. Changing the settings were at times challenging (like ISO) because of the smaller buttons, but given the camera's small size its something I could forgive

Its heavy, almost as heavy as a basic, entry level DSLR. Now the lens is light as a feather, however I feel a lot of heaviness comes because of the build quality of the camera, which is superb

The RAW processing software that comes with the camera is useless. The interface is horrible and the stability even worse. Wait for your favorite RAW processing software to add support and use that.

The deal breakers:

The kit lens is slow. Really slow. So slow in fact that I found the system to not be very useful when the light levels got low or you were indoors. Now this could easily be fixed by having a series of fast pancake lenses, which I believe are coming, but sadly they aren't here yet.

The auto focus is slow and unreliable, especially indoors. I found the AF to be very slow and borderline frustrating. Again, this was mostly indoors and in low light levels, so a faster lens may alleviate the issue.

Overall, this is a fantastic start for Olympus and once the system is fleshed out a bit more (with lots of those fast pancake primes at various focal lengths) I may consider it again. However with the limited lens selection available today, its not for me. You need to figure out if you can live with the kit lens (or the 17mm f/2.8 prime) while waiting for more lenses to come out for yourself.

Buy Olympus PEN E-P1 12.3 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 3-inch LCD and Now

I had been considering replacing my Leica d-lux 3 with the d-lux 4 when the EP-1 news came out. I immediately sold the d-lux 3 and ordered my EP-1. It is a little larger than I was hoping, but out of the box, the first results were incredible, RAW format on a par with my nikon d-90 RAW, requiring very little post-production. Feels good in the hand, responsive and fast auto-focus and much more satisfying to use than the leica which I loved. Initial results in RAW much better than the leica, which was always just a little noisy.

This is a top notch camera, that I hope will continue to deliver results. The only current drawback for me is that photoshop CS4 doesn't recognizethe Olympus Raw Format (ORF). I have to go through Olympus software to convert, which severely disrupts my work flow, and the software is slow and clunky. Shooting JPGs alongside Raw in case I need the results faster.

If they get the plugin updated soon, I'll be over the moon.

Very happy with this purchase.

Read Best Reviews of Olympus PEN E-P1 12.3 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 3-inch LCD and Here

I needed something decent to have in my laptop bag when i wasn't lugging around all my SLRs and Lenses. This camera seems to be the perfect blend SLR and Point and shoot. The f/2.8 lens allow me to take great, non-flash photos in low-light situations without an obscene amount of noise. It has a great, solid build and with a decent amount of weight, it doesn't feel like it will fall apart at any minute like your point-and-shoot. I would say if you are in the market for something more advanced than a point and shoot, but nice and small, pick it up.

Also, I believe this is the smallest device to be able to take 720p video at f/2.8 (m4/3) with stereo audio. Great video device if you ask me.

Want Olympus PEN E-P1 12.3 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 3-inch LCD and Discount?

This camera has been a very pleasant surprise for me. The low light capability is extraordinary and as for framing pictures in bright sunlight I am very glad I got the optional optical viewfinder that fits in the hotshoe. But the picture sharpness and color quality are breathtaking. There is a learning curve on the menus but once you get used to it there are many in-camera scene types to fool with, such as old-fashioned grainy black and white. Most importantly, it is ultra-portable and unobtrusive in a good-looking way. I am thrilled with it!

Esky C5900 H.264 Wireless DDNS WiFI IR-cut IP Camera Monitor Pan/Tilt PTZ 2-ways Audio LED night vi

I bought this cam thinking it looked enough like an FI8918w. It works fine through IE ActiveX, but doesn't stream audio to iOS/Android, making it useless as a baby monitor. This wasn't worth the headache, and I'm an IT pro.

Update: after weeks of trying to work this thing and contacting support only to be ignored, I've concluded that this product has no way to stream audio to iOS or Android. No one but other disgruntled users has answered any of my forum postings either. I purchased an actual Foscam camera and it's made all the difference in the world. the FI8910w I purchased as a replacement streams audio and video to my portable devices without a hitch to every device I've set it up on. Esky is a big no-no.

I looked all over for a good camera that would give me good quality video at a good price. The Esky c5900 meets all my needs. It is very simple to set up. The instructions are very clear. I am going to buy 4 more of these as soon as i am done with this review. Thank you Amazon and Esky

Buy Esky C5900 H.264 Wireless DDNS WiFI IR-cut IP Camera Monitor Pan/Tilt PTZ 2-ways Audio LED night vi Now

I choose this cam because of dvr built in, I like the easy way to configure wireless connection. I spent to much time because of my pc but at the ends camera worked perfectly.

It would be great if this system had zoom function but because of the price I know this is impossible he he.

I recommend this product to people who needs to take care about home or office, and wants to access from everywhere.

Read Best Reviews of Esky C5900 H.264 Wireless DDNS WiFI IR-cut IP Camera Monitor Pan/Tilt PTZ 2-ways Audio LED night vi Here

Nikon Coolpix S9500 Wi-Fi GPS Digital Camera (Red) with 32GB Card + Battery & Charger + Case +

I love the camera, however, the flash pops up on the left side and people are constantly holding the camera with their finger on the flash, so it won't pop up. BAD design. Otherwise, I really like the camera zoom is amazing....just that one huge problem with the design that wasn't indicated before I purchased it.

Optoma ML500, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, Mobile Projector

I ordered this product on the day of release (not from Amazon, wasn't released yet). I am seriously impressed by it and will post a video after I clean up my place. It will also be with a cell phone camera so if it's not good enough I won't bother to upload it.

Fan & Brightness

Ok first, right out the box it is very bright and vivid. The colors really pop and are saturated, but in a good way. 500 lumens doesn't seem like a lot compared to bulb projectors but this holds its own. I have about a 90" screen right now with my light on and even on Eco mode (lower in brightness to save power everything is easily viewable. I don't even use regular mode as it makes the fan louder. The fan is not that loud but can easily be heard if the room is perfectly quiet. It sounds like a desktop computer with no dedicated graphics card. On Eco mode you can barely hear it. On regular, it's audible but nothing that would bother you. I sleep right next to it and it doesn't bother me one bit if I fall asleep watching a movie. In other words, don't worry about it. Some projectors have a problem with warming up and causing the picture to become out of focus but I leave this on all day and never have to focus it.

A recommendation, tape a piece of cardboard (or something that doesn't look as cheap) to the ceiling in front of the light that shines on the wall you are pointing your projector at. It will make a huge difference in brightness and won't affect the lightning in your room one bit. You will be able to watch TV with the lights on while only the wall with the picture on it will be dimmer. It works great and I don't even notice light is being blocked.

Keystone Correction

This projector has auto keystone correction as many projectors do these days although no one who uses projectors would recommend taking advantage of it. It distorts the picture because it needs to display a lower resolution to make up for the angle the projector is at Again, this is with all projectors. For a 90" screen my projector is about 4 feet off the ground and I use manual keystone correction set to 0. The image looks absolutely fantastic and I suggest you use manual and find where you can put the projector where you can set it at 0 in the menu. You will notice the top of the screen's image quality become dramtically better

Settings

Although I use eco mode all the time there is no quick setting on the remote for it. You have to go into the menus to turn it on and off. Play around with the color settings on the remote but you will find PC and Cinema look by far the best. Leave it on the best setting you find because it doesn't matter if you are watching TV or using your computer, those two will always be the best. Turn off auto source! It's super, super annoying. The second your computer or set top box does something and loses the connection for 1 second it will start cycling through trying to find a connection. I don't see anyone using anything but HDMI. Even if you did use another source just use the remote to change it. Trust me, its' really annoying. Now that I have it set on HDMI all the time I never have to change it.

Remote

The remote is very simple and I didn't expect much from it. I suggest you just get a learning remote and program the codes into that. It's too small and you will easily lose it. I just programmed a learning remote and kept the real one in a safe drawer.

Picture Clarity

Honestly, I hyped this projector up a lot and have been waiting for an LED projector with an acceptable amount of brightness. It definitely lives up to it. I can't wait to get home from work and play video games on it (which look incredible). I didn't play around with any color settings except the pre-chosen ones which I set on PC and left it (I feel it looks the best). Football looks amazing and walking into my roommates room who has a 37" LCD made me feel like I was watching it on a cell phone. This will ruin other screen sizes for you. I used to have a 50" plasma before I got this which was more expensive and I'm much happier with this. Sometimes when I use it I feel like I'm in the future (not kidding). The contrast ratio is a little low when the lights are on but don't let it discourage you, believe me, it's no plasma but it will not at all take away from the size and color of the image. Besides, anything that you want higher contrast ratio with you will turn the lights off anyway (even if you were watching on a TV) so that's not something to worry about.

Overall, I would give this 6/5 stars. I absolutely love it. If they come out with a 1080p version next year I'm getting it the day it's released. I seriously doubt I will ever buy another TV again. Feel free to post questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them. Hopefully I can get a hold of a real camera to do a video review because I'm not sure how well a cell phone will work.

Edit: Ok time for an update. I've had the projector for about 3 months now. I still love it and still won't buy another TV again. Here are things I came across over this period of time. These will be negatives that came up over time because I still stand by my original positive review so take that into account when reading this.

There isn't a way to split the audio at the projector. A commentor asked what to do when he wants to play something from flash. You would have to use the speaker in this case. I use my computer and a Ceton InfiniTV4 so it's like an all in one system (I never have to change the audio source so I never came across this). While I think playing from flash is worthless if you have a phone, laptop, or computer to hook up to this I guess it's a down fall for someone who does want to only play from the source

The projector, probably once every two weeks will turn itself off if I leave it on for a very long time (I'm not sure if it overheats or capacitors are overloading). YOu have to unplug the projector for a few seconds and turn it back on. I googled this and it happens with other projectors as well so I'm guessing it's a heat issue. It happens so rarely that I wouldn't worry about it. It's just something I wanted to include in the review. The projector can stay on for easily 12 hours, or even more. On the weekends I leave it on pretty much all day and night so I'm not entirely sure what is causing this.

Here is a funny problem that isn't an issue with the projector. It's actually impressive but it's sort of a downside due to the controller. There is an option on the remote that shows a bright lightbulb and a duller one. You would assume this is switching to eco mode to full brightness mode but all it does is change the color settings. I find it strange that someone would want to change the color settings MORE often than changing from eco mode to full brightness. At night when I'm going to bed, sometimes the projector is so bright it's like the light in my room is on. This is NOT a downside to the projector at all. It's just what happens when you have an 80" screen on your wall. You have to use the remote to go into the menu, go to LED mode, and change to eco mode (which is much more tolerable at night). I honestly leave it on eco mode most of the time and forget since it looks good enough most of the time anyway. It's just something I found weird that there isn't a quick switch on the remote.

Since the projection is 80" you can easily read text but it may be a little choppy. This isn't the projector's problem either. It's just the nature of stretching an image to 80". It's basically not as clear as a monitor (you wouldn't expect it to be). When you move the projector closer to the wall it looks VERY clear so I assume when a 1080p version comes out I'll be selling this and buying that.

So those are my negatives which really shouldn't deter you from getting one at all. I just wanted my final thoughts on it on here. Every single day I look up at my giant screen coming from this tiny box and laugh a little. It's seriously impressive. LED projectors are very young and I didn't expect such new technology to impress me so much. I can't wait to see the next 1080p version because I'll be getting it.

--Start of update on 1/22/2013

For the past few months, i have noticed that the video randomly goes blank, it displays "searching..." and the video comes back again. At first i thought it was not the projector. Later, i contacted customer rep and they said it's a HDMI bug (i should use shorter cables). But, i see the problem continues with all types of HDMI and VGA cables with different sources (laptop & cable box).

I am waiting for customer service to respond.

--End of update on 1/22/2013

This projector is worth buying. I am difficult at liking anything but this is a good projector.

+ Fan noise does make noise. It is not much and you don't hear anything when playing a video.

+ Video clarity is good. I don't see distortion or fuzzy pixels at all.

BIG issue : Using SD/USB disk option is good as no wires, but no audio outpput makes this meaningless (inbuilt speakers are meek)

When watching cable, if channel's resolution has changed then it tries to re-detect. Sometimes, it never finds, screen remains blank.

solution is hit HDMI again on the remote.

There needs to be an option to buy warranty to protect this investment

My Laptop --> USB --> Projector option to display laptop video didn't work. Customer Service is not able to solve this problem.

Note: Attached youtube video is a bit misleading. Projected video does not have any fuzzy pixels.

It is damn clear picture. I think the low lighting makes my Sony camera to creates a bit of fuzziness.

Note: Light coming from the projector illuminates the entire room

Note: Best results are when room is dark. Video is watchable is semi-dark / afternoons with blinds closed too.

Buy Optoma ML500, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, Mobile Projector Now

::::.. I've been waiting for a decent led powered portable projector for a long long time. In the past the specs and performance of a led powered projectors were downright toyish. 30 50 lumens were way too dim, resolution was a new low, and the best connection you got was so 80's s-video. In the age of 1080p, over few thousand lumens, hdmi, HDTV, up conversion, and every other bragging gimmick the past "pico" led powered projectors ended up in gizmo crazys trophy stash, quickly forgotten, and I could see why...

::::.. Well this projector will change all that... There are other led powered projectors out there, some cost over $8000 that are focused on home theater, and there are comparable portable projectors like the LG HX350T (Only 300 lumen 1024 x 768 not even a true 720p), The NEC NP-L50W which has the same specs as the Optima, but costs over $750 and gets complaints on focusing issues, there is the ViewSonic PLED-W200 which is only 200 lumens,. The only one comparable to this projector is the ViewSonic PLED-W500 which is little more expensive. There are handful of others that won't get your attention as the ones that I've mentioned.

Most of them have some onboard memory for storing images, music, office files, and videos, and some have usb connection. I won't get into that because these are just added bonuses in which there was a small budget in developing, so the performance is very low at best (even dedicated media players have playback issues). Same goes for internal speaker which is ridiculously low and cheap!

::::.. Let's talk about this projector. This unit comes with all the connecting cables, but not the HDMI cable. HDMI connection is full sized, so you don't need a adapter. There is a VGA connection, S-video, full sized HDMI, mini USB, full size USB, full size SD, standard rca video and AV-in (3.5mm headphone type which feeds standard RCA video and analog audio). The unit comes is a really nice carrying bag, with front and internal pockets for all cables. The unit lacks lens cap which is odd knowing that it will be handled quite often. Built quality is really solid, all buttons are placed around some black brushed aluminum top, and have a good click feel.

There are tri rubber feet, front one can be raised, others are stationary. Focus ring is a little stiff causing you to play around little more..

::::.. Video, reason you buy a projector is for viewing things, not audio, or file storage, and you know better that for presentations you use a tablet or a laptop. Video on this thing is amazing! 500 lumens may seem tiny compared to a 2000 lumen projector, but this is a led light source. Colors are more vibrant, white is more white, and dlp helps to keep pixels unnoticeable, and blacks black. With any projector if you introduce some ambient light into the viewing room you end up with diluted image; black become grays, and dynamics go down significantly. Believe-you-me this projector copes very well with some intruded light. If you keep the image around 100" or lower the image is just right, it is sharp, saturated, good contrast ratio, and bright. Anything over that size will diminish sharpness , and black become gray. It will blow away LCD tvs, and plasmas due to the size of the image, yet keeping things crisp, and vibrant, of course in a well controlled lighting environment . I wish this unit had better blacks, but with tweaking its pretty decent... There are few image presets like PC, theater, user, vibrant. Pretty good starter presets, but NEVER assume they are the best presets! There are so many variables, image can always be improved, in my case a huge deal! Settings are limited, contrast, brightness, hue, sharpness and wall type. Wall type are presets made for different surfaces you can project your image on, It is really handy !

::::.. Unit comes with a small remote that has all functions. Had no issues beaming the remote signal to the unit from both the front and the back.

::::.. This unit runs very cool, fan noise is not that noticeable, very impressive. It amazes me that this little guy produces such gigantic bright image. I think that alone is stunning!

Startup and shutdown is quick. On my tests startup took 6 seconds, shutdown around 11 seconds.

::::.. This unit has a 60hz processing, and any other 90% of all the LCD, dlp, led, plasma tvs on the market. Yes newest models have 120, 240hz processing, but no one is amazed by them!

::::.. Led projector is Eco friendly in many ways! It consumes less power then conventional light source ( this unit consumes less power then a typical 40" LCD tv, yet produces over 100" image!), and the materials that are being used to make led is less abrasive on the enviroment using less energy to produce them, and less chemicals. It also outlasts typical projector light bulb by thousands of times! Typical projectors bulb lasts 2000hrs that declines in performance, led bulb 20,000hrs! It is THE main reason why the industry is switching to this technology.

So what and where can you use this unit for? Great for presentations, enough brightness for lit rooms, easy to read text, portable and light.

::::.. But this unit shines in home theater settings! 780p is stunning in a dark room with good projector screen with a good grain ratio. More importantly it can be used as your main tv for everyday, not worrying about bulb life or daytime situation.. Its fast enough for gaming, you will never look back again playing your favorite game on a 100" screen, it is amazing!!!!!!! No doubt this unit is a game changer, a new benchmark on portable led based projectors. It can only get better from here..........

Pros/Cons

::::..PROS

+ Brightness (500 lumens)

+ Led bulb/life (20,000 hours)

+ True 720p (1280x800)

+ Built quality, solid feel (hard plastic, some brushed aluminum)

+ Image quality ( solid vibrant colors, sharp, good blacks, good video response)

+ Portable (comes with great carrying bag with pockets for all cables)

+ Handels intrusive light very well (can be used for main tv with daytime light)

+ Cool operation, low fan noise

+ Variarity of connections (full HDMI, VGA, S-video, RCA video, AV 3.5mm video audio, mini USB, full USB, full SD)

::::.. CONS

No lens cap

Focus ring tight feel

Room for improvement of black level

Room for improvement of video processing (60hz)

Limited video controls (brightness, contrast, focus, sharpness..)

Limited media playback

Speaker is a joke....

Read Best Reviews of Optoma ML500, WXGA, 500 LED Lumens, Mobile Projector Here

UPDATE: January 29, 2012; I have posted a youtube video showing the focus at startup. As you'll see, it isn't that bad. It is slightly fuzzy but still readable and the videos don't seem to be affected (although I'm sure they are, if you look hard enough). With the price of this projector, the longevity of the lamp, and the quality of the picture, a 10 minute period at the start shouldn't be a huge problem for anyone. But to each his own. I still stand by my five star rating. I will update again if I come across something else. Good Luck!!!!

UPDATE: March 26, 2012; I continue to add videos to youtube. (optoma ml500 user review) I am 100% sure the focus at startup is because of the room temperature. Now that I am in warmer weather, the focus is clearing up in about 2 minutes. Once in the winter, I had the wood stove pretty hot, which made the livingroom warmer than normal and the projector started up completely in focus. So once spring and summer temps are up, there won't be a focusing period. One other small issue I have noticed is that the projector seems to need a system reset every 120 hours or so. I have over 800 hours now and it still works and looks great. However, every 120 hours or so it will shut down. I have to unplug it for about a minute. Then I plug it back in and it goes back to normal. Everything is still great quality. For picture quality and performance I still stand behind my 5 star rating. But because of needing a type of reset I would bring it down to 4 1/2 stars. This could just be my projector. I will update again. If you have questions, be sure to ask. It is amazing as I am writing this review on my 100" screen, sitting comfortably on my couch. :)

Update: May 6, 2012 Everything is still great. I have over 1200 hours now. Still shuts off every 120 hours (approximate). Quality is still great. Crisp picture from corner to corner. I have noticed that with Blu-ray the image is the best this projector will put out. So, if you have a Blu-ray setup, your movie nights will be outstanding with this projector. HDMI is the best input to use, VGA is very good as well. You will notice with the RCA video cable that the image looks very much like standard definition (which it is). But it still looks great. Let me know if you have questions or would like to see a certain video.

Update: November 17, 2012 I am at around 3000 hours now. I am still very happy with this projector. I can confirm, without a doubt, that the focus issue is related to the environmental temperature. Now that its winter again, if I don't keep the room temp up, there is a warm up, focusing period. The projector still requires a restart about every 120 hours. Very odd, but it works. Playing Black Ops is just amazing, movies are crazy good, and regular tv viewing is extremely inviting. I have had a couple of my family and friends buy a similar setup to mine cuz they are as impressedd as I am. It is very cheap when you compare to other projectors with the same specs. I now have about 9 videos on YouTube in response to requests. So, if you have a question or something you want to see, just let me know.

--------------------------------------------------

I can't say enough about this projector. The picture quality is awesome! The colors are outstanding, the clarity is stunning and it is very bright. Whoever is saying it isn't bright enough during the day is either watching it outside in direct sunlight, or with no roof on their house. I keep mine on eco mode because this projector is bright enough to do it. We watch at all hours of the day, keep our two windows open AND have lights on and can still see the picture very clearly. One downfall of having more light in the room is the black levels are sacrificed. If you can't watch a tv with bad black levels during lighted conditions then this should only be for your theater room. But this is more than adequate at allowing you to watch tv in the daytime. You'll be able to read everything on the screen and see all the detail.

I've seen some complaints about fan noise, and this is NOT a problem. Who watches tv with the volume all the way down anyway. Even with the projector volume on low I can't tell its running.

I spent way too many hours researching this. But I am not one to waste my money so I wanted to make sure I would be pleased. And I couldn't be happier. If you are close to deciding on this, just do it. You will be impressed. The speaker does a good job, the fan noise is not an issue, the picture quality is amazing, it is very portable (although i'll probably leave mine mounted), and the rated hours of the led's are impressive.

For the money, this is the best projector you will buy. I am coming from a 57" sony HD tv and I won't ever get another tv after this purchase. I will however buy a 1080p LED projector when it gets into my price range.

Let me sum it up for you; PS3 games are out of this world, movies are like being at a theater, surfing the internet is crazy awesome on a 100" screen.

Pros:

-picture quality

-good speaker

-very nice at 100"

-very bright

-awesome colors

-fan noise is not an issue

-way too many positives to mention

Cons:

-there is an initial focusing period of about 5 to 10 minutes, not so bad you can't watch tv. Not bad at all. But if you want to surf the net, you'll want to wait for it to completely focus first. This isn't an issue for me because I have mine on most of the time. Who flips the tv on 30 seconds before they want to watch the most important thing they will ever see? AND you'll still be able to see it AND read it.

I have posted four youtube videos and will post more if you have a question or want to see something. Just ask!

You won't be disappointed!

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If you are considering this project, first thing to do is to ignore the 5 star reviews. I enjoy my ML500, but it's has too many issues to be a 5 star product.

If you decide to go with the ML500, the first thing you want to do after you unbox it is to throw the remote control that it comes with in the trash. Get yourself a logitech controller. The include remote is terrible. The second thing you want to do after you set it up is to find one of your THX certified DVDs and run the THX optimizer that is on the disk. This will help you get the best picture from you ML500. Don't worry about ordering the THX optimizer glasses, you don't need them. Also run the optimizer a time when the light level in the room is at the level you will normally use the projector.

My ML500 is ceiling mounted projecting a 132 inches on a smoothed and white painted wall. I use it for blu ray movies and games on the PS3. With this configuration, the room must be totally 100% dark to enjoy the picture. Any light from light fixtures or windows completely washes out the picture and makes it unwatchable. Maybe if I project a smaller image or used a $200 a gallon screen paint it might be watchable with some light present, but I doubt it. This isn't a huge issue for me as I usually watch movies at night, but I would like to play a PS3 game during the day sometime.. I mainly game on the XBOX which is on a LCD TV, so not a big issue for me. Lumens gets ***

One thing the ML500 has no problems with is colors. Colors are bright and very pretty, even at 132 inches. Colors get *****

Next lets talk about focus. It's true that the focus ring is tight so it's tough to get it exactly where you want it. You might read in other reviews that the image on the ML500 is "soft". I can confirm that this is true. Adjusting the focus and contrast with the THX optimizer will help though. I would say that it's good enough for movie and games, but forget it for anything text heavy and don't even try web surfing. The text will give you a headache. Now here is something I can't explain.... my project and screen doesn't move, it stays in the same place. However, I find myself adjusting the focus every time I use the projector. Doesn't matter if I let it warm up for 10 minutes or not. focus gets ***

Fan noise, forget it, it's terrible. Even being mounted 6 feet over my head it's loud and distracting. noise *

Sound forget it, you'll need to use a receiver if you want good sound. sound *

Movies and games do look great, but the one thing that hurts them is the ML500s refresh rate. When the camera in a game or movie is moving forward or flying, it looks amazing. But, when the camera moves from left to right or right to left is when the 60hz refresh rate becomes apparent. It's not smooth. If they came out with a new model that the only different was a higher refresh rate, I would buy it. refresh rate gets *

Even though the contrast ratio on paper looks bad, on my white screen in total darkness, it looks good. The blacks are black and the whites are bright. With any light it is terrible though. Contrast ratio ***

I'll update this review later, but even though I have pointed a lot of negatives about the ML500, you have to consider the price and $ saving not having to replace bulbs. Not to mention it is fun watching a movie on a 11ft screen.

I hope the next model has a slight sharper image, 120hz refresh, and make it compatible with the optoma 3dxl.

Sony PMW-EX1 Professional Camcorder + Accessories

This is not a technical review! I'm a screenwriter and film director and formerly exclusively worked on 35mm and 16mm. I bought the PMW-EX1 in January 2008, shortly after its release and have just shot an arthouse feature film on it. This is undoubtedly the best thing since Super 16mm for filmmaking. In fact I prefer it to 35mm: if you set your scene up smartly, you need almost no lighting. It is light and manageable, so you do not need a huge camera crew. We shot 'documentary style' and our crew consisted of myself, as director, a cameraman, a sound recordist, a continuity/logger, a production manager, and two general assistants. It was a pleasure filming and it was only possible to make a professional film this way because of the EX1. The images are crystal clear, the latitude is amazing. We tried to make flat, dreary images for the story it's hard to make ugly pictures with this camera :-). The SxS workflow is really easy and fast you just need a fair amount of disk space. But not nearly as much as I was expecting. I am editing the whole picture on one of my 750 GB disks in Final Cut Studio 2 on my quad Mac. It's a great camera and it will truly revolutionize low-budget arthouse filmmaking. And no more sleepless nights about negative scratches and hairs in the gate!!!

This camera is an absolute winner for Sony! Incredible full-blown 1080p HD. This is the Panasonic HVX-200 killer. But then, it surpasses the HVX in almost every catagory...from chip size, pixel size & number, Fujinon lens, to the much better SxS Flash Express recording medium. Oh, and did I mention the fantastic, in-camera, slow motion (and fast motion) which is silky smooth. What's not to love?

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The EX1 model is Sony's first XDCAM model specifically targeted at the higher end of the prosumer segment. It offers the best image quality in its class, bar none.... if the operator is aware of the CMOS vs. CCD sensor differences. The most important item, if one has only shot CCD cameras, is to be aware of the rolling shutter situation on CMOS cameras. This is not a problem by any means, just someting that one needs to compensate for when planning the shot. Frame rate and shutter angle are ever so important when determining panning speed or tracking a moving subject, and when shooting any scene containing strobes (such as live shows, emergency vehicles, etc). This is not an issue specific to this camera, but rather to any camera employing CMOS sensors.

Focus is dead-on accurate, image quality is superb, battery life on the standard battery could be better, and plan for plenty of storage for offloading recorded media.

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This camera seems to split the forums. It's a camera that will not work in tourist auto mode, it would be a waste of money to do so.

Having tested the cam now 2 month, it will be the main cam for my movie short. The image is brilliant, the options are great to improve the needed quality. The hot discussed rolling shutter, is nearly not visible when the shutter is set to a longer duration. Which supports the mostly wanted CINEMA look, and so no problem for me.

Workflow and integration is perfect with Final Cut Pro.

The Lens is a surprise in that price-range and shows the typical breathing, which lenses have, again: in that price range, no critic on that, but just to mention it.

After several cams with menu operation, I love to have buttons and a adjustments that I can touch and move, and the menu is well organized for the 'stuff' you don't need so often.

My only concern is the Microphone so close to the Lens, as it gives no real space to use any Standard Matte box. (Why the Focus-wheel has no cogwheel and the two other (focal length/aperture) have one, I have no idea, but that is an easy fix.

Th EX1 has real pixels and nothing interpolated or shifted, just true information, which makes the camera outstanding in that price-range. With a Black Magic Extreme card you get 10bit HD SDi 4:2:2.

The only thing that can bother with that camera really, if you are not certain if you would like to have a EX3 ;*)

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Cool Lux MD3000 Light and Sound Bracket - Cool Lux 943813

This compares the Cool-Lux video bracket with the Sima SLB-M Video Bracket. I like this one better for my larger camera that already has a shoe on it, and I'll show you why!

Allows you to turn one shoe into two cold shoes. Very convenient when doing video using a wireless lav mic (presenter) and a shotgun mic (audience) at the same time.

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If you've ever tried mounting any devices to a DSLR or video camera's hot shoe you know how frustrating it can be to be limited as most devices only have one available shoe. This bracket aims to solve that by providing you two cold shoe's for the price of one. I say for the price of one because it mounts in the camera's hot shoe, thereby adding one additional slot overall.

It's a simple and straightforward device that gets the job done. The two shoes are both cold (meaning they can't be used to power any devices) but most of these types of brackets are the same. This comes in very handy in particular for people that shoot a lot of video on their DSLR and need to mount an external microphone or any lights. I used this on both a Canon t2i and Panasonic GH1 and in both cases mounted a Rode NTG-2 mic in one slot and a wireless mic receiver in the other. Both devices fit very well and were firmly attached. The two shoes are at different heights from each other so you can mount oddly or oversized devices with less fear of them obstructing each other. The device seems to be machined out of a single piece of fairly thick aluminum so there was absolutely no noticeable bend or flex when in use.

The only addition I would have liked to have seen would be some sort of user adjustability in the height or angle of the arms, but that's a pretty small concern. For the price, this is pretty much a "must have" for anyone wanting to shoot video and needs their accessories mounted securely.

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First, it was a lot smaller than I had imagined, and there are no "stops" to keep your equipment from sliding off if you don't have it screwed on tightly enough.

Well, those "faults" are actually great features. It easily slides into a side pocket of my camera case(s), and the tall and short brackets are ideal if you need to change up lights/microphone from time to time. It is sturdy, you will not lose the screw it is on to stay.

Just make sure your equipment is properly secured. I don't use any of the other brackets I purchased. This is my go-to on nearly every occasion. So I'm giving it a reluctant but well-earned five stars.

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I got this for my camcorder and I love it. I actually glued a third bracket on the side of it. one for my LED light, one for my shotgun mike . and one for my wireless receiver. I wish it came with a third bracket holder.

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Hitachi CP-X505 XGA 3500 Lumens1000:1 Contrast Ratio 15.6Lbs Networkable 16-Watts of Audio 3LCD Pro

Great product. The 15 watt speakers are sufficient for everyone to hear in the sanctuary in our church! The colors are good with many options and settings. The picture is good even during morning service in full daylight. Easy setup. Easy operation.

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Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 I

Buy this camera has been my best investment, it comes with everything that has, by the way .... I have taken the photos are beautiful, amazing, just .... I love amazon

That was exactly what I expected, the set is quite satisfying, probably the bag could be better. I might need additional lens though

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I am very, very pleased with all of the items that came in this package so far. The only glitch was that Hurricane Sandy caused UPS to be backed up and it took 12 days for me to receive my order. This is a great deal and I am so glad I bought it!

Read Best Reviews of Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 I Here

The product came as described. The shipment was quick. Received in 2 days (regular shipping). It was a nice deal when I bought (though the price fell by $50 later on). Except for the bag (looks like a picnic lunch bag) all ites were great.

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I like simple. Sure, I could talk about the bright pictures of the grandkids.

I could talk about the utility of x10 focus when copying artwork.

But I'd rather talk about what wasn't.

No pressure upsell. I can't add to the New York/New Jersey horror stories.

No calls about missing items. All items arrived as advertised.

No call to FedEx/UPS. Big Value shipped promptly.

No buyers remorse about paying too much. Competitive pricing.

All-in-all, it's a nice camera, not too complicated. Simple.

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Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Inclu

This is a great video camera, it feels light, compact, neatly put together, and there should be no doubt about it, its a Sony product they are all like this! However, I couldn't tell why this camera was better than DCR-SR40, or DCR-SR42 which are at most $200 cheaper. So I had to call Sony Sales to have them explain to me that this camera DCR-SR62 has a VIDEO resolution which is 3 times better than DCR-SR42. If you go to the Sony website you find that DCR-SR62 offers 670K Pixels, while DCR-SR42 offers only 260K Pixels. This pixel increase made the decision clear for me since I didnt care about the decreased Zoom for DCR-SR62 (25X and not 40X as DCR-SR42).

A few other things to consider:

This camera is so easy to use it doesnt need the EASY Button feature that it offers (except for the fact that the Easy Button is the only way that I was able to get the Image Stabilization Feature).

The camera doesn't bring its own case, or light you would need to buy those, and cost around $40 for each.

Finally, there probably is another camera (JVC, Panasonic)out there that offers the same basic features as this camera, 30gb, stabilization, battery time etc. Since you are buying the camera on Amazon and don't get to try the camera features, you should make your decision upon the video resolution they offer. Look for Actual Video resolution information in the company's websites or call the company's sales department. The range of resolution for this price should be somewhere between 300-700K, 700 being the best resolution.

The first Sony product I remember was a reel-to-reel tape recorder my mother purchased nearly 50 years ago. It may be biasing my review, but I've always trusted Sony products since then. So when I was looking for a start up camcorder, I naturally started my search with...JVC??? Yeah, I saw the entry level JVC hard drive camcorder at Best Buy. I liked the way it felt in my hand, and the price was about $100 less than the comparible Sony. (Thoughts started percolating in my mind that Sony must be better to be able to charge more for roughly the same camera.) So for the next couple of weeks I was doing my homework. Checking out online reviews (nearly useless), comparing specs and prices. First off, online reviews by people that have bought the product (like me?) are biased by the fact they bought it. I don't want to admit I spent $600 for a piece of junk (I didn't). So reviews like the one you are reading right now, need to be taken with a "grain of salt." So what can I add to the conversation that hasn't already been said?

First, Macintosh users CAN download and manipulate clips from this camera, despite what others have said. Get MPEG Streamclip, a free download from the Apple website, and QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback ($20 from the Apple Store online). When you attach the camera to your Mac, the camera appears as a hard drive. Click and drag the clips from the camera to your computer. Open Streamclip and convert the clips to DV (under the File menu). You can then use iMovie to put the clips together with typical Mac ease-of-use and a few special effects, transition effects and even import music from iTunes. If you want to get a little more advanced, buy Quicktime Pro ($40 from the Apple store).

Second, the Sony SR-62 is point-and-shoot. My wife has a high-end Canon 35mm digital SLR and is spending money, hand over fist, for accessories. I have a Kodak Easy Share I picked up at a big box retailer. I want to record what is happening to me right now. Last year on a road trip to Alaska, a grizzly bear ran across the road ahead of our vehicle. I was the only one to get a picture of it. So when I was looking for a camcorder, I wanted a model that would catch the action. Maybe someday, down the line, I'll turn into a video geek and need a better camera. But this summer I'm riding my Goldwing through the Rockies to Canada and back. I want to capture the depleted glaciers at Glacier National Park, the wildlife in the Colorado mountains, and the interesting people I always meet on my motorcycle tours.

Third, the camcorder will record 30GB on the harddrive. You can drag along your laptop (ugh) to download the clips. OR, I found this handy little device called the Hitch. It's a USB transfer device that acts like a little computer and will transfer files from one USB device to another. I plug the camcorder into the left (input) side, and a DOS formated harddrive into the output (right) side. It only works with DOS (FAT-32) formated memory. I have a Maxtor 60GB One-Touch. Despite that fact it is formated for a Wintel machine, Macintosh computers can read and write to that format. (It isn't that Mac's aren't compatible with Wintel, it's just the oppposite.) So now I have 21 hours of high quality digital video (according to Sony) that I can record while on vacation. If that doesn't prove to be adequate, I can stop by a Staples, Best Buy, Office Depot, etc., and pick up another Maxtor One-Touch.

Fourth, it is a Sony, and that goes back to my childhood memories of a product that was reliable until it was lost in a house fire. You can't take this part of the review any more seriously than the rivalry between Ford and Chevy types. But I like it. It feels good in my hand. The screen has many of the controls for the camera on it, so I can make adjustments while still keeping my eye on the scene. Some people have criticized this feature because you get finger smudges on the screen. But I've found that using the tip of my fingernail is more accurate and doesn't leave a smudge.

So, is this the perfect camcorder. No, it doesn't exist. But it works well for me. I'm having fun making videos of my wife, my students, my life.

Buy Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Inclu Now

First of all I really need to say that this is a really nice camcorder depending on what you like.

Pros: This is highly portable. You cannot beat the size, it is like carrying a picture camera. If you buy one of the larger batteries you can record non stop for about 12hrs in low def. mode. You can actually store about 20hrs of video. The larger battery charges in about 1hr and it is ready to go again. The video quality is not the best, but it is not bad either. Once you have the software set up in your computer, the upload to the computer takes about a couple of minutes depending on how much video you have. It is a lot faster than the capturing of Hi-8 and DVD camcorders. The software is really easy to use and to the point. The nightshot plus function is awesome in low light situations. This little camera is one of the best in low light settings for a hardrive camera. The only way that you can get a better video quality in low light setups in a harddrive camcorder is to buy the high definition camcorder that cost over a thousand dollars. For the price it is really nice. Also, you will never need to buy extra media for your camcorder, you don't have to worry if you are going to be able to find the media on vacation.Even when other media will go out of stile, such as HI-8 and eventually DVD, your memories are in digital format. In the future you will have no trouble tranferring all of your videos from digital format in your computer to blu-ray or HP's high definition disks. If you plan to be gone on vacation for a several weeks you could easily fit 20 hrs of video into your camcorder, forget about taking 5-10 extra accessories. Did I mention that it is next to weightless?

Cons: The video quality is lower than even Hi-8 digital camcorders. The cheapest, best picture comes from camcorder that record to DVD. I will use this camcorder for small outings, camping and where I'm not too interested in incredibly sharp images. Like I mentioned above, the video quality is good, just not as good as other currently available camcorders. I plan to keep using my Hi-8 camcorder every time I'm interested in higher video quality. Another bad thing is that the battery included with the camcorder only gives you about 1 hr. 40 min. of recording time and then you have to recharge it. (I highly recomend the purchase of the bigger battery). Here is another thing that is a little bit annoying: every time that you pause recording, the camcorder "chops" the video. Let me explain what I mean, when using a HI-8 or a DVD camcorder and you pause, then the media pauses and it does not "chop" the image. Those will only "chop" the image when you shut down the camcorder (instead of pausing) and then begin recording again later. This will be significant when you tranfer your video to DVD from your computer. When you transfer all you capture videos to DVD, every time you paused recording you will have a pause in the DVD. This is not so on HI-8 or DVD, where the video usually flows flawlessly unless you have shut down recording and started new. Here is another thing that I believe Sony could have done better, the video quality is not as good as others, but certain video editing software can increment the video quality, at least as the DVD burning goes (such as NERO 2007), sadly the Sony software does not. In other words the Sony software will give you a nice video burning, but NERO 2007 will give you a better one. (Here I again bring back the comment that the video quality is not as good as HI-8 and DVD camcorders).

I give the camcorder a 3 stars out of 5 because I really like it, but it was well below my expectations. I decided to keep it since I don't have to buy any more media for it. The video quality is good enough for my every day use, special occassions I will use my HI-8. If you don't mind having a little bit lower video quality, this is the one for you.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Inclu Here

I am disappointed. And I thought that I read all the reviews here and made an intelligent choice. Hah! Shame on me. First off, the video quality rates a B-minus; I have 2 other Sony camcorders, a Digital-8 (bought late '99 or early 2000, can't remember exactly) and an even older mini DVD. However, both have video quality far superior to this one.

I am about to leave for Europe and don't have time left to return this and buy/try) another one. Also, it was a chore to get this unit to sit snugly on the supplied power station.

Granted, I just began working with it this morning, and I am rather insecure when it comes to electronics.

One good point: the DCR-SR62 is charmingly light!

However, I am sorry I did not pay attention to what another reviewer here pointed out: the LCD screen is almost useless in bright daylight, and of course there is no viewfinder to overcome the glare. I bought it knowing there is no viewfinder, and had to actually shoot with it to realize how necessary it is.

I've tried its Super NightShot feature, and it's nothing to write home about. By the way, it does take photos on the hard drive, so you don't really need to buy the MemoryStick Pro right away, just switch the capture mode from video to photo; but bear in mind that the resolution is low. I had hoped that with this one camcorder I'd have a video and photo combo, therefore less gadgets to schlepp around. Especially air travel being as cumbersome as it is these days. Well, yes, you have a movie camera and a photo camera all in one, just not very good quality. If good digital photos is what you want, you will need a good digital camera.

If high quality DVD movies is what you want to record, prepare to spend a few hundred dollars more and get something worthwhile. I am sorry I did not.

Follow up on September 15: Returned it to amazon yesterday. Don't know how long it will take for the refund to be processed, so am left without a camera for now. But it just didn't cut it for me. I dusted off my old cameras, checked again the video quality, and could not justify the cost of keeping this one. Mind you, if you're in the market for your first camera, you might want to buy it anyway, for I see amazon com has just lowered the price from what I had paid. Video quality is poor only because I am comparing it to a Digital-8, and a very old (DCRPC1)mini-DVD camcorder. So, perhaps I am spoiled. At this point I want to save up and up the ante, so to speak.

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I spent several weeks reviewing camcorders and trying to decide which brand/model as well as which format. For ease of use (no media to carry/swap out), speed of start-up and capacity I decided on a HDD model (and now, after having taken quite a few videos, some of which didn't come out that great as I was playing around and experimenting, I'm even happier I chose this format). I've been happy with many other Sony products I've owned, and at the lower price range of HDD cameras the features/abilities/drawbacks are about the same accross brands so I went with Sony again.

My budget was limited considering I was shopping for HDD camcorders, but the DCR-SR62 is a step up from the base model and provides better resolution. Ultimately, the biggest drawback is still the video quality (hence 4 stars; even though this is at the lower end of HDD cameras it isn't cheap and could have a bigger sensor)...but I knew going in this wasn't a three sensor or HD model; I wanted a memory maker with small size, ease of use (my wife and I both find it a snap to use) and decent picture quality, and this camcorder delivers on these points. The picture quality on a computer screen is good...playing back on a normal size TV is where I can tell it's a smallish sensor, but even then it's acceptable. Plus, I haven't tried burning to a DVD or playing too much with manual settings, so there may be ways to improve the picture even more.

The rest of the camera is great; I like the design, for it's size it feels solid, the optical zoom is plenty for me (I don't bother with digital zoom), the screen is a nice size and the menu's are easy to use and well laid out. The image stabilization seems to work, but so far I've found I don't need it so I keep it off (I read it has an affect on image quality when turned on, but I don't know for sure that's true). I've also tried the nightshot feature, but haven't recorded with it yet...it seems to do okay in low light on it's own, plus low light ability wasn't a big concern for me; with the active shoe I can add a video light if I decide I need one.

So overall, I'm satisfied, my wife is satisfied, I didn't break the bank to get it, and we can carry it anywhere (I have a very small bag that holds the DCR-SR62, it's cords and accessories as well as a compact digital camera) and capture memories of our newborn daughter, which is all I was looking for out of a camcorder in this class. So if your needs are the same as mine, I think you'll be very pleased with the DCR-SR62; if you absolutely need top-end video quality look elsewhere and be prepared to pay top-end prices...but for the price this model is great.

Olympus Evolt E330 7.5MP Digital SLR Camera with 14-45mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens

I have had the E330 for about 1 month now and couldn't be happier. I looked very closely at the Canon 30D, the Nikon D50 and the Olympus E500. I am really happy I went with the E330. While there is no such thing as a perfect camera, I have found that this one in particular fits my needs and caters to my more creative side with the live view articulated view finder. The Live A and B modes really open a lot of doors that other cameras in its class do not allow. Although it does't look as traditional as the others, the style had grown on me. I opted to get the body only so that I could upgrade the lens to a 14-54mm Zukio which is a wonderful all around lens. I find that the camera feels very good in my hands, although the D50 also had a great feel to it. It is very responsive and handles most situations well. I like to do street photography and the live view articulating lens allows for the taking of pictures without being too obvious. The low light performance is pretty good compared to the other olympus digital SLR with its new sensor, but is still not as good as either the 30D or the D50. This may change however when Lecia releases its 4/3rds mount image stabilized lens which is supposed to be compatible with the Olympus lineup. While I am new to digital SLRs, I consider myself to be a photography enthusiast. I started out with a Sony S85 which was a wonderful camera in many ways, but I have to say I am having a wonderful time learning about a whole new realm of photography with the E330. I highly recommend a good look at this camera if you are looking to get into digital SLRs as it serves not only as a nice crossover camera, but as a midline intermediate SLR that will keep you wanting to get even more creative with your photographic hobby.

With about 30 years of picture taking experience and many pro shoots behind me I went shopping for a new DSLR. I wanted one to serve as an all-around pal and be loaded with pro features that I am accustomed to using. When this camera hit the market I knew I had to try one on for size...especially since no other DSLR has live LCD compositing of frames.

All I can say is this camera has put all of my other 6 cameras in the closet (three of them were film.) Sharp images, easy composition in a giant, bright 2 1/2 LCD screen and ease of use won me over. If you want a simple interface with outstanding pictures you can have it here. If you want the touch of manual adjustment and light handling, ditto.

It is the best camera, all around, that I have ever used or owned. And now the prices are coming down! So what's stopping you?

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This is my first digital reflex. I had also looked at the canon 350xt, nikon d50/70, sony R1, but made the choice based on the unique Live View feature and image quality. No other dslr lets you frame using the lcd screen, which I find really useful in lots of shooting situations. The image quality is superb, easily outresolving my previous sony 828, with much faster autofocus and low noise. The colors just pop out of the screen. I can send my pics directly to print without doing any post processing.

I had almost decided on the Sony R1, but it wasn?t as flexible (lacked an optical viewfinder and ability to change lenses)To me is the best of both worlds, digicams (rotating lcd, live framing) and dsrls (optical viewfinder, AF speed, low noise, lenses)

Highly recommended!

Read Best Reviews of Olympus Evolt E330 7.5MP Digital SLR Camera with 14-45mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens Here

This is my first Digital camera and I am really crazy about it's LIVE view feature plus the ability to use it also as a DSLR. I like the way it looks with it's flat top design. It feels solid in my hands and does not have that plastic feel to it at all. A steel body covered in a high-impact polycarbonate plastic. A really good looking camera that handles like a dream. With it's articulating LCD screen combined with Live View street photography is easy since you can use the screen as a waist level finder or at 45 degrees or at straight on viewing. It also takes interchangeable lenses . I bought the camera with the two lens kit comprised of the 14-45 and the 40-150 olympus lenses.So far, I love the 40-150 lens for its excellent sharpness and contrast at the apertures of f11,f16 and f22 when using a tripod with self timer and am still testing the 14-45 lens to find its optimum sharpness at a particular f stop. The self timer is easy to set.As a matter of fact all controls are within easy reach and not that difficult to understand with constant practice on how to move the items within the menu up and down and side to side with an o.k. button to lock in and set what function you want. Sharpness and Contrast levels can be set by the camera but for now I have'nt tried those settings yet. The camera can also be set for Vivid,Sepia, Black and white with different Black and White filter simulations. For now I am delighted with the performance of this camera system and the 40-150. Right now I'm still testing the camera, and the sharpness of it's lenses without filters but it looks like the 40-150 definitely is the real beauty of the two. I want to try it with a Polarizer and also try it out with an enhancing filter. So far I Love what it can do.But then again I've only made 6.5 x 9.5 prints and rarely make them above that size and am more than pleased with the performance of the 40-150 so far. Will update this review as I get to know the camera and the other 14-45 lens better. The camera is a real joy to use. Highly recommended and the more I use it, the more I realize I made the right choice.Just tested the 14-45 kit lens and found out it performs beautifully at f14 and f16. Did some Landscape photography with it using a tripod and using the self timer and am very pleased with its sharpness at the f14 and f16 apertures.I recently photographed Atlantic City Boardwalk scenes with the 14-45 lens and came home with some wonderful pictures shooting at f9 and f10 with my ISO set to 200 and a Polorizing filter. The camera just handles so beautifully. The controls are just where they belong and feels so very solid and comfortable in my hands. On numerous occasions I photographed using the Live View feature at the waist level position. The 7x9.5 inch prints I made were stunning without any sharpening at all.And I just used JPEG.

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I am extremely pleased with this camera. It is my third Olympus camera and I have not been dissapotnted yet. I carried a Nikon for years. The live dispyay is outstanting with its flip out screen to allow for belt level candid shooting or holding the camera above heads in crowds. The 4/3s intigrated system (lens, camera and an external dedicated flash) makes beautiful photographs easy. I also purchased a Zuiko 14-54 mm zoom for this camera in order to have a sharper and faster lens when needed, but I find myself more often than not, mounting the 18-180 super zoom. It produces a beautiful picture and I am spoiled by its versitile range.

I would certainly reccomend this camera to anyone who is serious about beautiful photographs. Olympus has been ahead of the pack in affordable digital cameras and the E-330 is no exception.