Nikon D60 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

I'm not a professional by any means. I merely needed a good step up from a compact point-and-shoot camera.

Every photographer has reached that ceiling of the p/s camera, and I wanted to be able to do more things and take better quality photos than I had been. I'm getting into wedding photography, and I needed something practical for that. A compact p/s camera just DOES NOT suffice.

I'm really excited about this camera. Its more camera than I ever thought I would own--I just got interested in photography about 2 years ago, when I bought a $45 digital Polaroid. The pictures that I have taken with it so far have been great. I purchased the Nikon 18-55mm lens at the same time, and now I have purchased the Sigma 70-300mm to 'complete' my outfit. I'm like a kid at Christmas time--I can't put it down!

Like I said, I'm no professional, I'm just an artist. I just enjoy exploring photography on my own and discovering things. Take it or leave it.

I bought this camera for my sister. She has taken amazing photos with a point and shoot and needed to step up to a DSLR. This was the cheapest nikon body on amazon at the time (refurbished from Cameta Camera). I currently shoot a D200 and the D60 doesn't have all the features I'm used to. However, it was everything I expected and takes beautiful photos. The lack of an auto focus motor does limit the camera, but the number of AF-S lenses available are continually growing.

The ability to have a 10megapixel sensor DSLR amazes me. You can make HUGE prints from this camera that are pro quality (but the camera itself won't give you the skills of a pro photographer). This body is tiny. Sitting next to a larger p&s its only slightly larger. Only having 3 AF points takes away some ease of use you get with the higher end bodies but they do focus sharp and fast.

My current favorite AF-S lenses for these non focus motor bodies would be #1 Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras. It gives the focal length of a 50mm on a film body. Perfect walk around lens and auto focus motor built in. This lens is awesome for portraits and still life.If you can only buy one lens right now, buy this one.

#2 Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR II Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DX-Format Digital SLR Cameras This lens goes from wide to telephoto. You can keep this lens on the camera all day for most people's needs. On the down side, it costs twice the street price of the camera. #3Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras. If you are buying a camera system to take pictures of your kids playing soccer, you need this lens. It is tack sharp for outdoor sports and gives you plenty of reach. Its also great for bird or other nature photography. Its a little heavy but much lighter, less bulky, and less costly than a 70-200 f/2.8.

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I purchased a refurbished unit for use during travel in the EU. The camera performed well returning good quality picutes [after fine tuning of default settings]. Light-weight, good contruction quality, long battery life. Low light image quality a bit grainy making low ISO settings mandatory.

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I bought mine last year, and it's a good starter DSLR especially if your transitioning from point and shoot to a DSLR. I got the D60 kit with the 18-55 VR Lens. Pair it up with the SB-600 speed flash and your good to go!. One thing about it (and I won't give one less star becuase of this) is I was hoping for the camera to have a built in motor because it was hard to find lenses that have a built in motor to focus, not like the D80.

But overall, AWESOME camera!

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We bought a refurbished D60 last summer (approximately a year ago), in a kit from Cameta. I bought a Nikon 18-105mm lens and a Nikon 70-300mm lens to go with it, instead of the typical kit lenses. I spent around $1100 for everything I got, which included an extra battery, 8GB memory card, and carrying case. I was moving from a 2.1MP Olympus C700UZ that was about 7 years old, and some friends with much more knowledge of photography than me talked me into the benefits of having a DSLR. I could not be happier with the purchase!! While learning about photography, I can still take great pictures with the automatic modes. I'm still not an expert photographer by any means, but I love the results that I've gotten with this camera!!

Canon ERC-E45M Medium EOS Rain Cover

I found this item quite expensive however, based on its quality i would say it is worth it, to protect my equipment from wet weather Canon does not have this item available in South East Asia which is surprising so with the added cost of freight it weighs in at a higher price yet.

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Pentax X70 12MP CCD Digital Camera with 24x Optical Triple Shake Reduction Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD

I had read about the X70 prior to the camera's introduction at the beginning of April, but details about the camera were sparse as they usually are when a new camera is about to be introduced, but from what I had seen up to that point, it was a camera I was definitely interested in. It was Pentax's first foray into the megazoom point and shoot field of compact cameras, so I had to find out what it was all about. I ordered it from Amazon on April 2nd, and by April 10, I had it in my hot little hands.

First impression: It was smaller than I expected and a heck of lot lighter compared to other large zoom cameras I've held. Pentax apparently decided to use a lightweight lithium-ion battery instead of AA batteries to cut down on the size and weight of the camera. This has its good and bad points. The lithium-ion battery that it comes with is IMHO underpowered (925mAH) and good for only about 150-175 shots before needing to be recharged, so carrying extra batteries is a must if you plan on doing a lot of shooting. AA batteries would have been more advantageous in this situation because of their availability and cost. Pentax charges $53 for a replacement battery which in my opinion is outrageous for what you get. Fortunately, generic replacement D-Li92 batteries are available from overseas manufacturers for about $7 which are just as good if not better than the OEM model. Pentax should have taken a similar approach to Kodak's Z980 with their vertical battery grip accessory to add more power for the camera.

Ok... enough with the battery soapbox... The features that the camera has are impressive. Pentax, for the first time, includes a dedicated autofocus assist lamp located just to the left of the camera grip and to the right of the lens. The lamp is very bright and can be useful in the dark 10-15 feet away, but can be accidentally blocked by your hand if not careful. The 24x zoom is HUGE in performance and the image stabilization goes a long way in capturing clear shots. It features the usual range of P/A/T/M controls as well a the Pentax green button mode which basically acts like a hyper program which sets your correct exposure and speed no matter what mode you are in, even manual mode. The scene modes are numerous and features such things as flower, portrait, half portrait, sunset, night, etc.... most of which are standard on many other cameras. This camera also features auto exposure bracketing with a range of -/+2EV which is now becoming the norm for the latest batch of new cameras. This will allow a good exposure range for taking HDR photos (3 shots taken at -2EV, 0, +2EV), and processed with an external HDR software processor such as Photomatix.

It also has burst mode shooting, but there are trade offs... You can shoot at 4fps, 6.3fps, and 11 fps. At 4fps, you can shoot up to 7 shots, but the recorded pixels is set at 5MP, and JPEG quality is at 3 stars. At 6.3fps, you can also shoot up to 7 shots, 5MP, but JPEG quality drops to 2 stars. At 11fps, you can shoot up to 21 shots, 5MP, at a quality of 1 star.

Movie mode leaves a little to be desired though. You can use the entire 24x zoom range, but not while you are recording. Only digital zoom is available during shooting, so if you zoom in while recording, you will lose clarity much like you see on those reality cop shows where you view the dash cam, and they zoom in to see detail but it is blocky. The camera features HD recording (720p), but is only at 15fps. At 480i, it's at 30fps. Most likely the reason for the lack of optical zoom while recording has got to be the motor noise that would be audible with the in-camera microphone.

Ok, let's talk about image quality.... in three words, it's damn good. You have 12MP and the lens produces some very good if not excellent shots. High ISO is decent and usable up to ISO 800. ISO 1600 is marginal as to be expected from the small sensor size. Surprisingly, ISO 3200 is better than ISO 1600 IMHO, and ISO 6400 is also available in a pinch. However, at ISO 3200-6400, your recorded pixel size is set at 5MP to improve dynamic range.

All in all, despite some concerns I have about the camera, it appears that it was an excellent choice and one that I will use on a continuing basis to supplement my Pentax DSLRs that I own. There are times where I don't wish to lug around a heavy camera and lens, so carrying a camera like the X70 can be advantageous and still get good quality photos.

I ordered this mostly for the zoom capabilities and am not disappointed! I can now zoom in on Parrots feeding in my back yard and have to be careful not to zoom in too close!

The colors are life-like and bright. This camera has so many neat features such as smile and face detect. I also took a couple of shots of our dog running (with camera hand-held) and they came out surprisingly well.

I took a few video clips with this on the highest quality setting and it looks decent but still not as good as a dedicated video camera (but getting closer!)

Pros

Superb zoom capability

Vivid life like colors

Decent video quality.

Camera is very light & lots of nice features to help novices like me take great photos!

Cons

The battery is tiny, supposedly it will hold charge for 170 photos (50 of those flash) or 70 minutes of video. (I 'll do an update on this.)

No raw image capability

No flash hot shoe (though the on-board flash is very good)

The best thing any camera can do is take great photos and this does that very well. It has plenty of nice features and looks well made.

Buy Pentax X70 12MP CCD Digital Camera with 24x Optical Triple Shake Reduction Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD Now

The pentax x70 is a good little camera, if you are a beginner or want a

camera that has a descent super zoom. The first thing I notice when I took it out of the box was, it is very light weight. The functions took some getting use too after a few days of shooting with it. Overall this camera perform quiet well for what I use it for, which is taking distant pictures of wildlife and taking using the macro mode, which I will give it 5 stars.

If you are using this camera for night shoots, the best setting is the manual mode. This camera works very well, even in digital zoom, one of the best if not the best for the 24x zoom. I tried the other brands at the local electronic store, and this one came out on top for the super zoom. The color is pretty much right on, very good color. I posted several pictures here on the Amazon web page to look at.

There are a few issues that I have with this camea. First the camera is a little pricy, but if you get the shot you want it doesn't matter. Another issue is a very small view finder, but I am glad the camera has one. The camera is not made for sports, in burst mode I could only get the first picture to come out clear. This is the shorttest battery life that came with a camera that I have used. You may get about 120 pictures if you are not using the flash and expensive, around $50 for the battery, if you can find one. Speaking of the flash it is one of the best for a point and shoot. The red eye elemination 5 stars. I have taken at least a 200 pictures with the flash and no red eye so far.

Conclusion: This is a good little camera, picture quality 4.5 stars, 4.0 stars ISO good up to 400 which is far better than the other ones in its class. 800 iso usable, don't use it any higher . If you are a DSLR user like I am, do not compare it to one because, this is a point and shoot camera in every since of the word. I would recommend this camera. Happy picture taking.

Read Best Reviews of Pentax X70 12MP CCD Digital Camera with 24x Optical Triple Shake Reduction Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD Here

I purchased this camera after reading reviews and looking at several other cameras. I have taken a little over 300 pictures along with a few minutes of video just to see what it would do in the video setting. You can't use the optical zoom while shooting video, but you can use the digital zoom. If you want a good video camera, then you should invest in one that is for that even though this one is pretty good as a backup.

I am very pleased with the camera so far. Very good color and most of the pictures are sharp, although I did have a few that were softer for some reason. I have made some adjustments to the camera since then, but have not taken any pictures since the adjustments. Lots of great features and of course the 24x zoom is one reason I bought it. I am just a hobbyist but have an Olympus C765 that took great pictures but had a shorter zoom and fewer megapixels.

I found the menu to be easy to use and the owner's manual is easy to understand. I have referred to it on several occasions due to the many features of the camera. I do highly recommend spare batteries since it goes through them pretty quickly. You have to take into consideration the large LCD screen, powerful zoom, flash, etc. that all eat up battery life. I also recommend a good LCD screen protector. I found a nice glass one for under $10 made for the Pentax screen. So, all in all, this camera has most everything I wanted in a digital camera without all those lenses to lug around. The video was pretty good for not being a regular video camera.

ProsGreat zoom, excellent color, good picture quality, lightweight and small size, good menu layout, good flash, focus assist light, loads of features.

ConsLow battery life, no lens thread for filters, touchy zoom lever.

Updated 2/5 2013-After having used this camera for quite sometime now, I can say with certainty it is one heck of a good camera! Takes great pictures and videos and also takes very good 3d pictures.I had stated earlier that you could not use the optical zoom while video taping, but I found out that is not the case. Optical zoom works just fine in video mode although you will hear some motor noise if the scene is very quiet. Another thing I like about the video mode is you can capture stills from your video. This comes in handy when the action is too fast to try to get a still shot in camera mode. I take a short video of the action and then save a still image as a jpg. I used this method when I was trying to get some shots of dolphins swimming alongside the boat. They would be under the water by the time I clicked my shutter, so I just took a short video and was able to get some shots of them that way.

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OK. First off I am far from a professional photographer. I have a Canon Digital Rebel and various other P&S cameras. This is my first Pentax.

My initial impression when I took it out of the box was how light weight it was. This is a good thing for me but I'm sure some people may think it is too flimsy.

The zoom is great like others suggest you must use a tripod if getting out to the maximum zoom range. The photos are at least as good as my Canon DSLR. I definitely see myself using this camera much more than the Canon due to the size and weight.

Overall I am happy with the purchase. I'll start playing with the video capture this weekend.

Update: OK, I've had some time to really play with this and I like it more as time goes by. The burst mode is great taking pictures of the kid's baseball games. They love being able to see their swing in incremental steps. I'm trying to get more creative with the manual settings and getting some fairly good results. I'd probably upgrade to 5 stars after using this for a while. I picked up a couple of spare generic batteries on Ebay for $10/each for backups.

Lorex LNE1001 Easy Connect Network IP Remote Surveillance Camera (White)

This was my first camera for home surveillance. This product is very east to setup. Viewing while connected to the local network provides fairly smooth motion and sound quality. The web based application for remote viewing is more jumpy but still serves the purpose.

I decided to try out the Lorex camera so that I could see how my kids are doing when I'm away from home. I work nights, so I miss out on a lot of their bedtime routines ... I like being able to peek in at them watching "Thomas the Train" in their jammies or just running around being silly while I'm at the office!

I did have a little trouble setting the camera up at first, and it was a little bit of a pain to connect it to the router, but luckily my husband is an IT guy, so he helped me take care of most of that. The remote viewing is a little jumpy, as another reviewer noted, and I always seemed to have issues viewing the footage on my iPhone. If you're just using this for fun, the Lorex LNE1001 is probably a fine choice; however, if you're looking for something with solid security features or the like, I'd probably choose something with a few more features.

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I consider myself to be relatively computer savvy which is to say that I can install software and hardware, as long as there are no complicated steps required. I must say, though that I had some trouble hooking this gadget up. A second problem is that it must be connected to my router with an Ethernet cable, which severely limited where I could place the camera, plus the cable running along my floor would probably alert an intruder that there is some device squirreled away somewhere that he might want to check out.

But, once the camera was hooked up, it worked pretty darn well. I used it recently while on vacation, and it worked just fine. It's definitely not the surveillance camera of my dreams, but it is good.

(Review of Lorex LNE1001 Easy Connect Network IP Remote Surveillance Camera)

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The Lorex LNE1001 is a terrific little camera that does exactly what the ads say it will. On a PC with Windows XP it was up and running in the short time required to install the software and plug in the USB port. Its easy to use, and the quality of the images is very good. As a home protection device, you can't ask for much more. Things were more problematic when using my Mac Mini though for one thing, the device supports viewing only for Mac, so you can't record your security footage. So its good for live monitoring, but not for evidentiary uses. Also, it was not easy to set up to use with a Mac. I followed the instructions on the indicated website, which entailed logging into my router and locating the IP address of the camera, but it took several times and a bit of guesswork to really get it operational. Although the camera's IP address turned up when I logged into the router, I had to improvise to get my computer to recognize it. Once I did however I was able to access the camera using my Safari browser and it worked quite well. Be prepared to run a very long ethernet cable if you intend to use the camera outside the immediate vicinity of your computer there are instructions on how to run the cable on the Lorex website, but you may want to get an electrician in if you've never done it yourself, or get a repeating router so that you can avoid the long cable run.

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Very difficult to set-up with Mac which is very frustrating because they say it's incredibly simple. Well...not so much. Will likely take back.

Petrol Deca Mini Hood for Camcorders with 3.5" LCD Monitor Screens, Rigid Panels

I'm using this Petrol Mini Hood Deca in a 3.5-AF100 panasonic camera LCD is perfect for the purpose, prevents annoying glare and reflections, the only thing is to use it with care not to force the screen even though it is very easy to install and remove, good materials and an additional piece to superimpose, I highly recommend,

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Canon PowerShot SD630 6MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

I have had tons of digital cameras before and I have always sold them on eBay to get rid of them. Canon is by far the best digital camera I have ever owned. I previously had an SD10 for the last 3 years and am still happy with it. 3 yrs is a long time for me considering I am a bit of a techie that likes to change all of my electronics whenever a new one comes out. So for me the SD630 is finally a well deserved upgrade...

LOVE IT. The LCD screen is amazing and there are tons of new features that I did not have on my SD10. Everything with this camera is terrific. The only thing and only thing I can say is that there is not a battery meter, the meter only shows up when it is already running out of battery. This was the same for the SD10 and it was quite annoying. Anyways, definately buy a backup battery just in case.

Other than that, you cannot go wrong with this camera...

I just received my Canon SD-630 in the mail today and can already say I am very happy with my purchase. I had been researching cameras the entire week, looking for the right one for my needs.

When I went to the store, Best Buy, I had written down a few camera model numbers that caught my eye. Over the next few days it was interesting to see how my perceptions of these cameras had changed. I had at first liked the 7.1 Megapixel Sony I had put at the top of my list at Best Buy. I based this on merely the camera having a high megapixel count and the looks of the outer casing. But after getting on Amazon and reading product descriptions, going over reviews, and looking at shots submitted by customers all of my original perceptions changed.

While the Sony may have looked good and had a higher megapixel count than my Canon, it was the features that attracted me to the SD-630. I liked that it had some interesting options to play around with besides just the usual camera settings like outdoor, indoor, etc... Besides the basics, the Canon has options like Color Accent and Color Swap. These features really let you produce some unique prints without having to do any post manipulation with programs such as Photoshop. I myself had done similar work with photos using Photoshop, to make certain objects color while the rest of the image remained black and white. But this takes time depending on the object and its nice to be able to achieve the same results without any work! Its also very easy to use and I took some great shots in no time.

Another camera I was interested in was the Kodak V570. After reading the feature list on this camera, such as the Panorama Stitch and Wide Angle Lens I thought it was perfect. Plus the pictures I viewed looked very cool when incorporating these modes. But some of the reviews on the camera turned me away somewhat. Such as having to use the supplied dock as well as Kodak software just to upload the images to my computer or charge the battery. I like the flexibility of the Canon, allowing you to transfer images via USB cable or memory card without having to use any other software. The battery charger is also very compact, no cords or large battery trays, just a simple charger that has a folding plug for easy transport (the charger is the size of a small cell phone probably smaller).

Yet I still liked the Panorama Stitch option that the Kodak offered and was really considering this camera as my final pick. So I decided to go back to the store and look at these cameras again now that I had done the research and knew what I was looking for. It was a whole different experience than my first visit to Best Buy. When I played with the Kodak it just didn't live up to what I had hoped for. I was put off by the button layout and the overall feel of the camera when compared to the Canon. After finally figuring out how to do the Panorama Stitch, while it was a cool little feature, it just wasn't all that great on the camera. The screen is small and when your grouping so many different images together, 3, its hard to really see what you are doing and to get a shot exactly as you want. I'm sure after some use I would get use to it, but to get the full effect you would have to upload the image to a computer and look at it from there to see if it came out the way you intended. The camera just seemed simple in terms of functionality.

The Canon, which I had tested out before this camera, was a whole different story. I really liked how everything was laid out and the big screen made looking at images so much easier. Thus when you used an option such as Color Accent, you could really get a sense of how the final product turned out and decide if you were happy with the shot (or needed to do a retake) without having to view the image on a computer. It has so many different options to play with that are very useful in the simplest terms; such as Vivid Colors. I took a few pictures of the same objects using this mode and some in just Auto. You can really see a nice subtle difference and in some cases the colors just pop when compared to normal. It is very nice to use and is a great compliment to the camera. Simple features such as this are excellent and let you take great pictures without having to adjust manual settings. But if you would like to tinker with manual options, the camera leaves plenty of room to do this as well (which was another feature I was looking for, as I wanted to get more involved with the camera over time).

The video on this camera is also excellent. I remember taking videos on older digital cameras I have used and they were pretty low quality. I do a lot of video editing and such, and found the video option on this camera to be very nice. It really lets you take some quality footage, that if you showed a clip to someone off of your computer they would think it was taken with a camcorder. Another nice thing about the video is that you can use Color Accent and Color Swap, which I did not know was possible until reading the manual. It makes your video much more interesting if used in the right way and adds a touch that would require high level video editing software (AVID, After Affects) to attain. This does it without any other work.

Overall I am very pleased with this camera and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is thinking of purchasing this model. Like I said, after reading reviews and customer feedback on Amazon as well as other sites that tested these cameras, I completely changed my initial impressions of what I thought I was looking for. If I were you I would make sure to go out and test out cameras you have in your Top 3 after reading all the great information found on this site. It really helps you make a confident decision in your purchase, such as the one I made. I had read before that Canon made excellent digital cameras, some of the best available, and can definitely back that up with my experience in just one day of use. I cant wait to use this camera more often and really get to know the many features it has to offer. I made sure to upload some pictures I just took today for others to see, hope this review has helped in some way.

The only things I would seek to improve on this camera would be the addition of a wide angle lens and better construction of the tiny little door that covers the USB connection and AV cable connetion. It seems a little brittle and I would be very careful when opening and shutting it. Im sure it will be fine with proper caution, but if you were to open it fast or tug on it hardly, it could possibly rip and detach. Only gripe I see to express, but nothing too major.

Buy Canon PowerShot SD630 6MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Now

This Canon SD630 camera replaced my "garbage" Sony that suddenly stopped working. I love this camera!

PROS:

1. HUGE 3" LCD screen (the main reason I bought this camera).

2. Excellent picture quality.

3. Tons of pre-set settings including "fireworks" (which takes perfect photo's of fireworks).

4. Lots of manual settings if you prefer, including high ISO, white balance, etc.

5. Takes top quality videos (at up to 30 frames/sec at 640X480 similar quality as that of full-featured video cameras).

6. You can upload any WAV and JPG files to personalize all the camera's settings (the sound and picture that shows when you turn on your camera, the sound the shutter makes, the sound of the buttons when navigating settings, etc.).

7. When reviewing your pictures, the built-in "gyro" will flip the orientation of your photo when you tilt the camera going from "portrait mode" to "landscape mode" and vice-versa.

8. The "colour swap" feature will have designers and decorators drooling. You take a picture of say, a house, then aim the pin-point in the middle of the LCD screen at a colour on the house that you want to change and press the shutter button, then aim the camera on the colour you want to change it to and press the shutter button, then voila!, the original picture of the house now appears with the new colour you had just personally selected!

9. It takes only about 15 minutes to fully charge the battery (NB-4L, Li-ion) in the included external battery charger.

10. The "auto create directory" feature is great. You can set the camera to create a new directory every day (or at a certain time) so when returning from your holiday, all your pictures are filed in folders according to the date you took them.

11. The "photo stitch" feature is awesome. Select this feature then snap a picture, rotate yourself a few degrees, take another picture, rotate, etc. The PC software will take all these shots and combine them into one panoramic picture.

CONS:

1. There isn't a visual battery-life meter; it only appears when the battery is almost dead, so it's hard to tell how much battery life you have left until it's too late. I bought a second battery that I carry with my camera just in case.

2. Flimsy cover on the USB and AV/OUT terminals.

3. When you connect the camera to your PC, the camera isn't recognized as a "removable device" (which is preferred with digital cameras), so you can't just copy pictures back and forth in Windows Explorer. The camera requires it's own software to download your pictures.

4. The built-in speaker is located on the top of the camera (it isn't facing you), so it's difficult to hear videos when you're playing them back on the LCD screen.

The "PROS" far outweigh the "CONS" with this camera. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Prepare to meet new people when you're out using this camera people are amazed at the size of the LCD screen.

Read Best Reviews of Canon PowerShot SD630 6MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Here

I purchased this camera as a replacement for my SD-400. I loved the SD-400 except that I broke the LCD twice. I was not about to replace the LCD for a second time so I went shopping for a new camera. I take over 1,000 photos a week on this camera as I use it as a primary tool in my job. They have added a rigid protection barrier for the LCD whih pretty much eliminates my only complaint with previous SD Models. Let me give you my quick Pro / Con List:

Pros:

-Size: It is the perfect size. I can't imagine working with a camera that is any smaller.

-Weight: It is light weight and easily fits in your pocket even after you put it in a hardshell case.

-Picture Quality: Far superior picture quality as compared to other 6 MegaPixel Cameras. This is of course due to the higher quality lenses and the precision auto focusing.

-Availability of backup batteries: Duracell makes an excellent battery for this camera. NB-4L It is fairly inexpensive as Lithium Ion batteries go and it is easy to find.

-SD Memory: It takes SD card memory which make life easier and less expensive.

-3" LCD. The LCD on this camera is very larger and it is beautiful. Feels like I am using my MiniDV Camera.

-Software Interface: This camera is very easy to use and the menus are intuitive and simple to navigate.

-LCD Protection: The LCD is behind a rigid clear protecting surface which seems to be fairly resistant to damage.

Cons:

-Battery Life. This camera does not use AA Batteries so if you have a 512MB card or larger, then you will probably have to charge the battery before you get through the entire card. The large LCD uses a bit more energy so this camera doesn't have as much battery life as its predecessor. The trade off is well worth it in my opinion. I recommend purchasing a backup battery (NB-4L) for those long sessions.

-No View Finder: There is no view finder, means in the really bright sun it is somewhat difficult to take pictures. Although it is not as others I have owned.

I recommend this camera to anyone who wants fantastic quality photos and an easy to use easy to carry camera.

Good Luck!

Want Canon PowerShot SD630 6MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Discount?

The Canon PowerShot SD630 is a small yet fierce compact point-and-shoot camera. This little 6-megapixel camera managed to bundle performance and snappy photos into a package you can easily carry in your shirt or pants pocket. I recently upgraded from the Canon SD450, and I am so glad that I got the SD630 (rather than the SD600). THE SD630 is almost identical to its little brother, the PowerShot SD600. The SD630 incorporates the same sensor, lens, and internal components. The only advantage over the less expensive SD600 is its 3-inch LCD screen, but had to lose the viewfinder in the process (which I never used anyway).

The first thing that jumped out and caught my attention is the (relatively) HUGE 3" LCD screen. It provides plenty of room to frame your shot but not so much room to operate the camera. Granted, the pixel count on this screen is the same as the 2.5" screen on the SD600, I still like the larger view. The buttons on the back include a standard four-way rocker control pad, menu, display, and a button for printing when the camera is hooked up to a PictBridge-compatible printer. If you have large hands, you'll probably find its control layout a little uncomfortable, and it doesn't have an optical viewfinder, but the SD630 is still a great compact camera. Once you get the hang of it, the pad allows "easy" navigation around the menu system, and you can directly set options such as the self-timer, continuous shooting, macro, flash, and ISO sensitivity. The top edge of the camera holds the shutter release, the zoom rocker, the power button, and a slider for switching between photo, movie, and playback modes. The zoom rocker is a tabbed ring around the shutter release similar to the SD600, facing the front edge of the camera. Some users have mentioned that it is uncomfortable for large fingers and extremely awkward to operate with one hand, especially when zooming out. I have large/x-large hands, and I find no problems using the controllers.

The Canon PowerShot SD630 has a decent amount of features that give its tiny form a nice amount of flexibility. Canon couples a 6-megapixel CCD with up to 3x optical zoom (35mm-to-105mm equivalent) lens. The lens has a pretty narrow maximum aperture of f/2.8 to f/4.9, with a shutter-speed range of 1/1,500 second to 15 seconds, average numbers for models in this space. The camera has automatic, program, and manual exposure modes with a range of plus or minus 2EV in 1/3EV steps, which is also on a par with the competition. Its sensitivity range goes as high as ISO 800; that's not quite as much as Fujifilm's and Sony's latest offerings, but it will still give you more low-light flexibility than most cameras of its size.

I won't go into the details of the measurements, but I have to mention that it is less than an inch thick with its lens tucked in (great to carry around). It is easier to carry around than the SD450, or my ancient S200 (yes, the CompactFlash version!). I liked that the right side of the body is somewhat shaped/curved, because it lets the user hold the camera comfortably in your right hand.

In addition to standard automatic and manual exposure modes, the SD630 offers a handful of scene modes. One will also find options for photographing beaches, plants, snowy days, and fireworks (not available on the SD450). It even has an underwater mode to use in conjunction with the optional underwater housing (for extra $$). Color Accent and Color Swap modes can filter and change colors in the camera, producing some neat artistic effects. And, the camera has an awesome 30fps VGA movie capture mode, which can be used in conjuction with the Color Accent modes and other features. I've shot a 45 minute movie of my 4-month old daughter (I have a 2Gb SD card) with no hiccups, and I think I could have gone longer.

The SD630 takes a little over a second from power-on to the first shot, and takes about 2 seconds between shots, which increases marginally with flash. I haven't tried the burst mode yet, but it is supposed to shoot at 2.1fps with no buffer constraint on the number of shots.

So far, the photos I have taken with the SD630 were quite pleasing, looked crisp and clear, and nice color reproduction (at least with my poor eyes) at the lower ISO range. However, images become noisy at ISO 400 and ISO 800 (as expected), but still usable. I will be doing a field test against my Digital SLR (Nikon D100), results pending. Also, I have not used the bundled software, which is supposed to be very good.

Conclusion:

I am happy with my purchase of the Canon PowerShot SD630. It is an extremely solid ultra compact, with performance and photo quality that more than make up for its very few design flaws. It's a surprisingly good shooter, and its feature set makes it quite flexible for a camera of its size. It is a more expensive version of the PowerShot SD600 ($50-100 more), with a larger screen and no optical viewfinder. Personally, I don't use the viewfinder, so I am willing to give it up for the larger LCD.