Panasonic PV-L750 VHS-C Camcorder

I just purchased the Panasonic PV-L750. This is the 2000 model VHS-C camcorder. It is 2nd from the top in Panasonic's camcorder line (first being the PV-L850). My last purchase was the PV-L758 (1998 model, which was recently rendered unusable after a rainstorm).

Overall picture quality is exceptionally good for VHS. I shoot with a digital video camera at work, and under the best conditions the PV-L750 looks comparable. As can be expected, when conditions are not perfect (available light, extreme backlight, strong colors, etc., the picture degrades significantly compared to digital). Ease of use is unparalleled. If you are not technical and just want to "point and shoot" this is the camera for you. Attach the battery and you will be shooting in seconds. Really! The manual is only needed for information about specific applications (like the still camera feature), and because it is VHS-C, you can be showing your first videotapes to your friends anytime, anywhere no need to hook up wires!

I purchased 750 without ever looking at one in real life. I assumed it was basically the same as my previous camera, but alas, there are differences. I really liked the 758 and on the 750 (and I assume the 759 the 1999 model) they have done what all good manufacturers do: traded the features I liked most on the 758 for features I will never use. First off, my 758 had a color EVF, the 759 and 750 have a B&W viewfinder. Granted, Panasonic adds a 4" color LCD panel (HUGE for camcorders), but I really like both, as I don't use the LCD as much as most folks. I guess my complaint here is somewhat unfounded, as a B&W viewfinder seems to be standard on all models with an LCD panel, but the feature was nice on the 758 (I guess I was spoiled).

Next, they have taken some of the features that were previously accessable by buttons on the outside of the camera and made them accessable only through on screen menus. Nice, but not as useful when shooting as pressing a button. These include the security feature, negative image, and the special effects fading. Panasonic also has deleted the "message" feature fine by me, as few people would ever use it anyway.

Well, to make up for all this, they have given the camcorder double duty as a digital still camera. This can be very useful for sending photos to relatives and friends over the net, but realize that the best resolution is 640x480 (if you don't know what that means the pictures will look fine to you). The photo software is very basic and hence easy to use, it offers a minimum ability to adjust the image (color, brightness etc.) and is quick and easy to set up. I e-mailed my first picture within five minutes of inserting the setup disk into the computer.

Also, the non digital zoom is impressive one of the best I've seen, but stay away from the 300x digital range. First you can't hold the camera steady and secondly, the picture is awful. I've found the digital zoom useful up to about 50x magnification before significant degradation occurs.

I hope all of this helps and wasn't too negative. I love Panasonic products and this one is one of the best, but I did want to let others know some of the things I saw as drawbacks. Feel free to respond if you like, I'd be interested to hear your views.

some features that i think should be included that's missing, and also some complaints: 1.) there was no numeric tape counter. yes, there's a bar counter, but don't you think a numeric counter is more accurate? so that one would know exactly how many minutes he has recorded or is left of the cassette. There was a numeric counter that pops out every 10 sec when recording. But its useless since it only shows the time when the record button was last pressed. 2.) there's no numeric counter at vcr mode neither. this would also be useful for scene searches. 3.) there was no lens cover. 4.) the titling feature doesn't support custom/manual input of titles, like names, places. 5.) the camera was not ergonomically designed. it was hard to use the zoom buttons and the record button with only one hand. 6.) if i plan to use the lcd monitor as my viewfinder, i would still turn the viewfinder to use the zoom buttons, which is quite annoying. 7.) the connectors (a/v out, phone, pc, etc.) don't come with a protective cover. 8.) when in vcr mode, it would take about 10 secs to play after rewinding. 9.) there was no end search feature like that of sony's. its very useful especially if i want to view the last scenes i recorded. i will only press end search after viewing to record again. 10.) the lcd screen already had a burned out pixel when i first used it. 11.) there was no available lithium battery, which is smaller and lighter, and last longer. 12.) the photoshot incorporated was great but the pictures, when transferred to a computer, had some color spots over them.

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This is the first camcorder that I have owned. I looked around for quite a while and decided on this because it could take still pictures also. Only thing is, the pictures do not come out that great especially if you want to print them out using your home printer. They are very grainy if taken in normal view. They are a little better if taken in Fine veiw but it wears out the battery faster. If sending a photo via e-mail it works out just great. I do not recommend printing out the pictures unless you are willing to put some time into editing them using Photoshop or some other program. There is a ton features on this camcorder, but it was really easy to use. Just pop in a tape and press the record button and you are on your way to lots of home movies. It would be advisable to invest in a few accessories such as a car charger or extra battery. The one battery does not last that long especially if you are always taping using the LCD Screen. Any extra features that you use will always wear the battery down quicker. As for the remote control that came with it, I really don't use it as much as I thought I would. But I am sure glad that it came with the VHS converter. One less thing for the new Camcorder user to not have to buy after spending so much already.

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This is the first VHS camera I have owned since my old shoulder mounted RCA. Having grown tired of looking like a TV news videographer, I jumped into this new and fortunately much smaller and lighter model.

The main thing that attracted me to this camera was the very forthright review by Michael Lynch. He is right on with his comments. I just wanted to add, via this forum, that although the thing can do about anything a sophisticated user might want, you can just put a tape in, turn it on, hit the record button and take some excellent videos. Also, I feel the 26x zoom is worth the extra cost over the 18x zoom of the Panasonic 650L.

Oh, and one more thing..andyboy@mozcom.com...if you hated the camera that much...why didn't you just return it?

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This camera has everything you ever wanted on for this price. Built in Digital still camera with 640 x 480 resolution, 300x digital and 36x zoom, lots of efects, very easy to use.

Every camera has ups an downs, the ups on the PVL-750 are: A lot of stuff in it, VHS-C format (you can view your recordings in your VCR)Digital still camera (not a lot of pixels, but it's ok for a first digital cam)Big LCD panel (4") The kit includes everything except the tripod, case and tape converter. The downs on the PVL-750: Everything you want that it dosen't has. My camera is 1 year old, and it's worknig great, i take it everywere (beach, picnic, race track, birthdays, Xmas, etc.) i have taken more than 500 pictures and have made 3 albums. The pictures don't look like a 28 or 35mm camera but with a editing program like corel or photoshop you can make them look ok. I bougth this camera because i wanted to make home movies, take pictures of my 6 month old daugther, i really didn't needed a sofisticated camera or a 8mm or hi8 format, i just wanted something to have fun, of course, i wanted also quality and low price. With this cam you can view your movies on your vhs (if you have the converter) and still be recording your camera at the same time, with 8mm or hi8 you can't do it (not with the proper equipment) with the PVL-750 all you need is and extra tape and the converter, and your on you way. Remenber if you want a camera with a lot in it, but want a affordable price this is the one. Take my word on it.

Check all the other cameras out there first, i know you'll be buying the PVL-750. Good luck and take care you all.

P.S. ANDYBOY, if your camera was defective why didn't you return it, and why you bougth it if you knew all the features in it.

Canon FS200 Flash Memory Camcorder w/41x Advanced Zoom (Sunrise Red) - 2009 MODEL

This review is for people who have common sense about this technology and have done even a TAD bit of research before buying. I have been in the video/film/animation industry for 15 years and have used tons of equipment for everything from multimillion dollar productions, to rogue gorilla documentaries. This camera is for people who want to flip open something small and compact, shoot some video for memories and thas that. Pretty much ALL camcorders under 800 dollars are going to shoot interlaced video, and this one does as well. it has complete manual overide for focus and exposure. I read a review where a lady was complaining about filming a recital and the camera was going in and out of focus. No problem, set it to manual and problem fixed. There is no more .MOD file problems.. all files are read as .mpeg files now (you can download the newest software from the website) **EDIT** its come to my attention that some people are still getting the .MOD files extension. I am running windows XP service pack 3 on a PC and the program it installed is pixela imagemixer 3 version 4 and it automatically shows up as .mpeg 4 files.. so i dont know whats up and why that works for me, as i did nothing special or extra for that to happen..

now onto quality.

It is acceptable. Low light gives you grainy pictures and some ghosting. You will get this on pretty much ALL camcorders in this class. do NOT expect that if you spend another 100 dollars you will get a difference. If you want to see a noticable difference you will need to step up to the 800-1200 dollar range. Im sorry but thats just the facts. Another thing to be on the lookout for is called a frame buffer. Which EVERY camcorder over 100 dollars Should have.. you know, that telltale sign in video where when the camera moves back and forth the picture starts "waving like a flag in the wind".. we're good with that. The zoom on this camera is CRAZY good.. in general, optical zoom is good, digital zoom is bad.. this cameras optical zoom rivals most everything out there.. things i dont like. When you play your recorded videos on the camcorder, it will just play the next file without stopping, in one long stream.. this is cool, but i dont like not having the option to view one at a time. you HAVE to plug it in to the wall power when you transfer files to the computer. i dont like the record button on the end of the barrel.. the way i ALWAYS end up holding this camera is like how you hold a glass of water if you were pouring it out.. with my thumb on the top of the barrell.. i NEVER hold it "properly" (like a glass of water that im drinking).. its so tiny that holding it like that is almost cumbersome and unecessary.. In short i LOVE this thing for the convenience.. on standby it will boot up in 2 seconds.. AWESOME.. no tape, the small size, good battery life, relatively big LCD screen,external mic input and headphone all good.. needing a plug for computer connection, bad low light performance, bad management of video playback not so good.. all in all i REALLY like it...

if you want the convenience of a TINY camcorder available at a moments notice, recording to a card instead of tape, a regular def video (most everything i shoot is for web or regular DVD which is regular def anyway) and a price thats not bad. this is for you

Now, if you want a video camera for capturing high def home videos for permanent memories to keep forever and possibly burn to blu-ray, seriously, buy a high def, 3ccd progressive scan camcorder. Expect to pay around 1000+ dollars, but thats what you get. i dont understand the complaints that this is whats expected from this camcorder. You cant drive a civic around complaining it cant go from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds..

I bought this camera a couple of weeks ago and it is small. Smaller than I expected, but that is not a bad thing, it is easy to carry around in a vest pocket or coat pocket. I didn't download or use any of the software provided with the camera, I have Sony Vegas on my computer. One thing that I do recommend is downloading the free SDCOPY software you can find on the net. Check the widescreen box and it will convert your .MOD files to mpg files lightning quick. Now you should be able to work with them in just about any editing software. Use a card reader for the SD card instead of connecting the camera to the computer, makes life easier. I use a cheap one that came with my SD cards.

Zoom is good, and a steady hand or tripod is highly recommended for longer shots. Quick to start up, the auto lens cover is great, battery life also great.

I really see no problems with this great little camera, other than low light filming could be better, but not many of these cameras are great in low light.

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I have several Canon digital cameras, so when I decided to purchase a camcorder I immediately went to Canon. I waited a month for this new version. I wanted a small camcorder--and this is definitely small.

I am a bit disappointed in the quality of the videos. For movies taken in full light I can hardly tell the difference between these movies and the ones I take with my Canon PowerShot A570 IS digital camera! Although, the sound is definitely better with the camcorder. For movies in dim light (I filmed my son's Jazz concert), there was a huge difference so I decided to keep the camera.

I would agree with the previous reviewer in that the control buttons on the LCD screen are practically useless in dark settings. I couldn't see them during the concert I filmed.

I also have a bit of trouble holding the camera because it is so small. I removed the "grip belt" strap it came with because I could not get it to fit securely and still allow me to adjust the buttons at the same time. It felt like the camera was going to slide off my hand. I now use the extra wrist strap that comes with the camera and while it doesn't look as "cool", I'm not worried about dropping the camera.

My biggest hassel has been that the camera saves the movie files as MOD files which are a pain to work with! They will not import into most video editing programs (including Adobe Premiere Elements!), and the widescreen videos will not play correctly in Windows Media Player unless you convert the file.

The camera comes with a software program to transfer, edit, and view the movies--but it is awkward to use and even with the conversion I still could not get the movies to import into Camtasia Studio 6, which is the program I use the most. So, after two days of internet searching this is what I found that works for me.

1. I use a card reader to transfer the movie files onto my computer. This is much easier for me than using the program that comes with the camera.

2. I downloaded a free copy of SDCopy, and I use it to convert the MOD files to mpeg files. If I check the "widescreen" box on the converting window the converted movies will play widescreen in Windows Media Player.

3. The converted movies will import into Adobe Premiere, but they will not import into Camtasia Studio 6 (which is my goal). I can use Adobe Premiere to convert the files to avi files, but the process takes too long for me so I found a better and easier way.

4. I purchased a MOD converter. The one I decided on was Daniusoft Mod Converter for $29. It works well. With a MOD converter, I can convert the MOD files to a bunch of other types that will import into other programs as well as play on other devices such as an ipod. I use it to convert the files I converted with SDCopy into .avi files that will import into Camtasia.

Bottom line: Do your research and decide if this is for you. The FS100 received so many good reviews that I can't help but wonder if the video quality of that camera is better than this one. Perhaps someone will post information that answers that question.

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I ordered this so I can record our vacation to the beach on my husband's leave from Iraq. I'm not terribly familiar with various camcorders but after much research I decided on the Canon FS200 and I'm quite pleased. I LOVE that it has flash memory as I can easily carry extra cards and swap them out as needed. It didn't take too long to charge and has a great battery life. The picture quality is great, mic picks up sounds well and the zoom is fantastic. I love how small and lightweight it is. The price is good too. I'm very happy with this camcorder.

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I bought this camcorder on May 15, 2009 to replace my Canon ZR200 camcorder that stopped playing tapes about 5 months ago. I loved my ZR200 and the plethora of tapes that I filmed using it. I still believe that tapes are the best form of archive known today!

This review will focus on the features outlined at the product's web-site. I congratulate Canon's marketing staff at providing this outline.

1. Ultra-Sleek, Compact and Lightweight Design

The product is very sleek, compact and lightweight! The UPS scale at my office weighed the camcorder, battery and SDHC card at a mere 9.8 oz.

I love the Red color and waited an extra month until this color was available. Due to it's light weight, I recommend that you always use this w/ a tripod or monopod to provide the best video quality.

2. Canon Exclusive: Genuine 41x Advanced Zoom

This zoom feature is only available in the wide screen mode. It provides a wide-screen effect, giving you an extra 20% viewing area w/out an additional lens. In std (4:3) mode, you the best optical setting is 37x, which is almost as good.

3. Canon Exclusive: DIGIC DV II Image Processor

This processor has been around for several years now and delivers a superb shot and video using the optical zoom settings. Using the digital (2000x) zoom settings it does not seem to help as much. However, I was able to capture some good video at approx. 500-1000x zoom using the digital setting. Thank you canon!

4. Superb Shooting Control Video Snapshot, Quick Start, Quick Charge, Dual Shot and More

The shooting control is superberb. However, you have to turn the dial to change between video and photo mode. I believe my last canon allowed simultaneous filming and picture taking.

5. Stunning Digital Photography

The photo's I took were as best as I could have hoped for at 1024x780 resolutions. As you would expect from Kodak, the colors were fabulous and the light recognition was very good. I still haven't figured out how to get the 5 pics / second (burst mode) working.

6. 2.7" Widescreen LCD

This helps a lot in video play back. I have 20/20 vision and can clearly see the clips I just took. I also LOVE the replay mode, which moves from clip to clip until you press the pause button or reach the end.

7. Pick the Color to Suit Your Style

Sunrise red is HOT. I'm glad I waited a few extra weeks for it.

8. Additional Features...

The lithium Iron battery lasts 3-5 hrs, depending on camera use. I still bought 2 extra batteries for $35 total and don't have any plans to start using them soon. 3-5 hours is amazing in comparison to the HD camcorders, which give you an hour of footage at best.

The USB high speed terminal is nice, but it took me a few hours to figure out that you need to put the camcorder in PC transfer mode. The default mode is DVD burner mode, which I find to be an oversight by the focus group. They should know that 90% of US customers want to import the clips into their PC, not Canon's DVD burner. This oversight dropped my review from a perfect 5 stars to 4 stars.

I discovered that the headphone terminal outputs a mono signal, causing the right earphone to emit an irritating buzzing sound. Thank goodness I was not wearing a head set.

I have not tested the audio input jack. However, I anticipate better results than their output jack.

I only tested the Pixel's software video capture feature, which failed to capture my wide screen video correctly. Thanks to the SDCopy shareware utility, I was able to capture my Wide Screen footage correctly. I hope they provide this feature in their sofware soon!

After doing some testing I discovered that you can film almost 5 hrs. in low quality (3 mps/sec) mode, lmost 3 hrs in st. quality (6 mps/sec), and approx 2 hrs. of footage at high qualify (9 mps/sec) at the setting on an 8GB SDHC card.

I did not purchase the extended warrantee because there aren't many moving parts.

I congratulate canon's product design staff for providing a product that I will enjoy using for years to come.

When you capture the video into your PC, you need to have it plugged into the power jack. Otherwise, it will not work. Hence, I suggest that you purchase a USB/HD Card reader with this device.

With the cost of a 16 GB class 6 SDHC card at $40, I don't know how canon expects to sell their FS22 (32 GB internal memory) or FS21 (16 GB intenal memory) at the price they are asking.

This is truly a fabulous product!

Intova Sport Pro Waterproof HD Sports Video Camera Camcorder with Helmet Mount + 16GB Card + Case +

My brother has the Go Pro Hero2 camera and I just bought this one so here's the differences:

PROS:

this camera is almost as small as the Hero2 but it has a built in screen which the Hero2 does not. So if you added the screen accessory to the Hero2, then this camera would be smaller.

the picture quality is great with less fisheye distortion than the Hero2 camera

this camera floats, unlike the Hero2, which is good if it falls off somehow

the headmount does have a quick release and the Hero2 does not

this camera costs hundreds less the the Hero2!

this camera has more buttons and is easier to navigate the menus than the Hero2

the owner's manual is on a mini CD and has about 15 pages and is easy to udnerstand

the case is made of high quality material which resists scratches (I know because I bumped it twice against rocks)

the lens does not fog up in cold spring water (72 degrees)

NEUTRAL:

this takes a micro SD card unlike the Hero2 which takes a regular SD card

CONS:

the back opens up to access the mini USB port and SD card, but you will need a butter knife to gently pry it open because a vacuum seal forms when closed

this camera does not have an audible beep when it starts or stops recording, unlike the Hero2

the head mount sticks out far from your head, which makes it easy to wobble; the Hero2 headmount is very compact and doesn't have this problem

the buttons are stiff and hard to press, after some time the buttons might even stick down

the audio has a high pitch tone or ringing sound in the background; it also doesn't pick up sound very good above water

I frequently had memory card errors when recording 1080p video; I bought a new memory card and still had the same problems. Basically, I had to erase all data on the card and record 1 long video, because I would get an error trying to record any more videos.

this camera slowly leaks water! I greased the O-ring but it still happened.

StarTech.com HDMMD6 6-Feet 90 Degree Down Angled High Speed HDMI Cable - HDMI - M/M

It works good but the reason I wanted the 90 degree head is because I wanted it in a tight location. If the heads of this were smaller it would be much better.

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JM Smart Viewer Professional 3.2-Inch Screen Loupe World's Smallest LCD Viewer Version(Collapsed on

this is an adequate alternative if you don't have $350 for a well made professional loup like the one from Zacuto.

I returned this product for a few reasons:

1. Although it fits the wider 3.2" screen it's magnification doesn't allow you to see all edges of the 5D Mark iii screen at the same time. When peering through the loup you have to pan your eye to see all corners which is less than ideal when your shooting.

2. It is made from thin, flimsy plastic; it's not sturdy and doesn't feel durable.

Some redeeming factors are:

It telescopes so it's compact and packs nicely

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Geovision GV-FE110 1.3M H.264 Fisheye IP Camera 84-FE110-100

Purchased this camera about 3 weeks ago and ended up installing in a door way in my house. With placing of the camera, I am able to actually monitor activity in 3 different rooms. More or less the entirety of the 2 rooms the camera is in between and then because of the picture quality I can easily see quite a bit in third room that is catercorner to the other room. It is doing the work of six different cameras easily.

I plan on purchasing a few more for few more rooms.

Unfortunately this camera is not well suited for low light capabilities. And being what it is I really don't see how they could make it so. When all the lights are turned out, You can see very little if anything. This alone unfortunately, to me make it unsuitable for any out door areas that don't have a descent light. Which is sad, Because 4 of these could literally cover just about every square inch of the outside of my house.

Also, I love the software, it has excellent capabilities, However the software that was included with my camera does not seem to support any non Geovision IP cameras.

Overall, Those are the only 2 issues, And if it weren't for the software lack of support for IP cameras that aren't Geovision I would give it 5 out of 5. However, I have to knock it down a star because of that lack of support.

In addition to a quality product offering, BV Security USA has impressed me with their prompt, direct and friendly customer service. We purchased three FE-110 hemispheric cameras for our retail location (in addition to an FE420 and two fixed lens IP cameras). The cameras are simple to network and produce quality images; with six cameras, we are able to do the work of 16 conventional 480 line fixed lens cameras.

One of the FE110s we received had a cloudy lens, and the North American customer service representative swiftly & politely resolved our issue by replacing the camera, shipping paid both ways. This is the kind of customer service you hope for but rarely expect in modern times.

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The installation is easy and the quality is superb! Excellent for small to mid size room. Quad view for independent view angle. Microphone quality is great, almost no lag thru internet remote access/streamming. Definitely recommend.

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No moving parts yet covers a near perfect 360 degree by 180 degree area. Has easy, one-click configuration for mounting on ceiling, wall or floor. Two-way audio is a great bonus. Installs incredibly easily.

Would be 5 stars if it included IR capabilities. The lens case has IR printed along the band but there are no IR emitters in this camera and my research indicates that the lens is not built to register IR of any frequency, so I assume the "IR" on the band is for something else.

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Panasonic HDC-HS9 AVCHD 3CCD 60GB Hard Drive High Definition Hybrid Camcorder with 10x Optical Imag

I write this review because I wish it had been written during the time I was purchasing my camcorder. I will summarize this review between the Sony HDR-SR11 vs. Panasonic HDC-HS9 as basically a toss up, but the little things of Sony leaned me to the SR11.

First, let me say that I really did not want to buy Sony HDR-SR11, granted a Bravia TV is my LCD of choice, but I cannot stand their proprietary memory. Since this camcorder was not purchased for photos this was not a big deal. Though I commend Panasonic for using SD that can be readily found. Sony is pricey (though some may say justifiably so because of the quality) but competition is good for the consumers as we benefit through new, quality, and innovative features.

A salesman from a particular store told me that Sony was good to get for camcorders, and I'd add Nikon or Canon are a way to go for digital cameras, anyway I digress.

Having to see it for myself, initially I purchased the Panasonic HDC-HS9 and after a tough decision I had to switch for the small things mainly from software which I'll get to later, but first let me give a side by side comparison between the two after testing out each product for a couple hours about the features that matter to me at least. I will refer to the products as HS9 and SR11 for the remainder of the review.

Appearance: I'd have to give it to the HS9 for being noticeably smaller. But the SR11 is not big (especially not 90's camcorder big), as I have a man sized hand, but the HS9 wins the compact comparison in this case. While we're on the physical appearance of it, I was disappointed in the HS9 placement of the external adapter. The battery must be physically removed every time you want to connect the adapter as the cable connector is behind the battery. Therefore you cannot charge the battery simply by pluging in the charging cable as you can on many products that you can usually do this and as you can for the SR11. And the HS9 forces you to use the external cable when transferring a video, even though this may make sense, but when you have a short clip and just took the battery off the charger, it's annoying to remove the battery and find the external adapter every time to do so. Bad placement of the external adapter on the HS9 unlike the nicely placed (as is with most camcorders, at least with a previous Canon ZR200 that I own) with the HS9. If size is an issue for you, the HS9 may be your choice.

Video Quality: My opinion of the quality between the HS9 and SR11 was comparable. Between the two it's a toss up during daylight conditions as both are excellent, and the SR11 is stunning as your eye sees it, it appears on the screen, very nice. The HS9 records in a 1080p vs. a 1080i format, that may give the albeit slight edge in terms of theoretically video quality to the HS9. Though the software provided with the HS9 to play back these high quality videos ruins the superb video recording. I hate to say my eye didn't notice the difference between 1080p and 1080i though my correction lens aren't the greatest, mileage of your eyes matter perhaps.

In low light conditions, the HS9 seems to record slightly brighter images which are decent, the SR11 are a bit darker, though look extremely realistic. A true toss up, and really based on personal preference and would have to say they're evenly matched for you to decide.

In extremely low light conditions I found the HS9 surprisingly grainy. It seems to brighten up a extremely dark image thus resulting in grain. I have not recorded the SR11 in low light conditions other than finding a youtube video of a low light condition video and it seemed to keep it's realistic tone but remained dark. The HS9 seems to be on the right track to attempt to brighten up things, as the SR11 does not, but at this point I would have to say the HS9 was unsatisfiability grainy.

Both were grainy in bedroom light condition when displaying directly from the camera to the TV (not recording, just displaying through the cables) though the SR11 might have had a slight lead when panning or moving the zoom in and out a bit more responsive, though hardly noticeable.

Formats: The HS9 takes the lead in this regard as it has a 24 cinema mode, that records frames at 24 frames like some movies. Otherwise the HS9 records in 60 frames per second. However, the Pinnacle trial version could not handle the 60 fps mode and only the 24 cinema mode (though it said it was 30 fps). Though the HS9 software could handle its own 60 fps video fine, more later on software. The SR11 records it's videos in 30 fps

Night vision between the two the HS9 uses a blue illumination for night vision and the SR11 uses the commonly known green illumination as often seen on TV. I like the green better, but the blue was a nice change and this did not affect my decision either way, though it was nice to have on both.

Transfer to PC: Both transfer to your computer via a USB extremely quickly and at seemingly equal times.

Sound: Both are 5.1, the sound is acceptable and nice on both camcorders, I would say that the wind cut function on the HS9 was nice to have and did seem to work, the SR11 does not have this feature, though I'd wish it did. I'd give a slight edge to the HS9 in this one, especially if you record in windy conditions often (soccer games perhaps), which I don't.

Optical Image Stabilization: Both claim image stabilization, the OSI on the HS9 seems to slightly work better, though not noticeably. I think both still need to work on this.

Face recognition: The SR11 impressed me with the facial recognition as it just works. Turn the camera on a person and a white box appears around a persons face and moves as the person does, always keeping focus on that persons face. The focus on the HS9 on faces seemed very good, though I couldn't figure out the white box feature, it might have had to been enabled through a button a readily accessible button at the very top, so not that bad, but the HS9 was automatic.

Cables: Both have an ample about of cables that allows you to connect your camera to the TV with both RGB and Yellow and white/red audio cables.

Remote: Both had remote controls, a definite plus.

Software: This is where I must reluctantly gives this definitely to the SR11 or Sony. First, very few software handle the AVCHD videos at this time, so both Panasonic and Sony include their own software to retrieve the videos from the camera. The Panasonic software is a bit clumsy when it asks which folder you want to save it in, it's a bit manual where the Sony software detects when the camera has been connected, and simply asks whether you want to import all your videos, one click and it does, in a folder already created with an independent name. The Panasonic software called HD Writer had some additional editing capabilities to slice, merge, and delete unnecessary scenes and save to dvd and mpeg2 whereas the Sony had no editing features.

Playback software: I really hope panasonic gets this point. Their playback software most likely did not use directx, where the Sony PMB or Picture Motion Brower does. What this does is use your video card when the HD videos are playing back video. At one point I thought there was something wrong with the camcorder because the playback would skip using the HS9 playback software, but after encoding it to another format, my native video player kicked in and played back smoothly. This really scared me thinking that there was something wrong with the HS9 when there was not, however my x2300 dual core processor was not able to handle the playback of the native HS9 videos alone. This is in contrast to Sony PMB software for playback that installed directx that utilized my video card so that playback of the native format of the camcorder was silky smooth. What's more the Picture Motion Brower is a nice video playback software that throws in additional calendar features of when a video was imported and such, a nicety that should be used with backing up as it's insanity to store large amounts of precious moments on a computer instead of constantly backup up these priceless moments on DVD's and such, those who have had hard drive failures know. Panasonic included a copy of Pinnacle trial version 11 for HD cameras, it could import the HD 60 fps videos, but did not encode them properly. The 24 cinema mode (or 30fps) videos has no problem in Pinnacle. The SR11 videos also were imported into Pinnacle with no problems. Once additional nicety of the Sony software is that you can make a still picture at any moment making a jpeg without importing it into an editing software. Though the HD Writer software has nice features to backup your videos, hard to use in other cases like loading the HD videos stored on your computer. Sony's Picture Motion Brower software is very good to view and backup, though a register folder option was awkward, why not just allow the ability to just drag in folders to register, always room for improvement I guess.

Viewfinders: Both viewfinder display a clear image, though the SR11 has a touchscreen where the HS9 does not, though understandable with the price difference. I was disappointed I could not navigate to playback a video on the SR11 without using the touchscreen since the screen would get a lot of fingerprints, though there are less buttons to complicate things because of the touchscreen. Both have easy buttons to begin recording.

The HS9 had a feature to offer advice how to record like turn on the low light feature (should have had a feature that this would turn on automatically) or you're panning to fast, this advice can be taken as good or bad.

Zoom: The HS9 had digital zoom, but it would not work in 24 cinema mode, go figure, and was adequate. The SR11 had no such zoom, but the normal zoom was satisfactory, though not as far as the HS9.

Conclusion: If you can tolerate the size of the SR11, and wind is not a major issue and are looking for a camcorder with excellent video in all light conditions, good sound, facial recognition, and easy and nice software then SR11 is a fine choice that I am happy with.

The HS9 is a nice choice when size is an issue and windy conditions to utilize the wind cut feature, beware of extremely low light conditions and be wary of the battery having to be removed each time for the external adapter and native format playback skipping (it's not the camcorder, you're computer is too slow, just encode it to another format), there is no touch screen and there is a mini joystick that can be cumbersome as when engaging night vision is easier on the SR11 as opposed to the HS9 as well as low light mode.(though there is a price difference to offset the differences).

I am enjoying the SR11 and things are drastically improved over the miniDV of yester-years. The only thing that I battle each day is why I didn't get the SR12.

The HS9 that I've just noticed has an added feature that you can put wide angle lenses on it nice.

As some of the earlier reviews have pointed out, this awesome little camera suffered from lack of support in Apple's editing applications like iMovie 08.

Well that's all in the past. With the release of OS 10.5.3 and QuickTime 7.5 a few days ago, the HDC-HS9 (and the non-hard drive HDC-SD9 as well) are now fully compatible. You can easily import and edit your HD movies in iMovie, in all the camera's formats.

I love this camera. My only complaint is that spare batteries are absurdly expensive. Other than that, it's fantastic.

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I've had this camcorder for almost a week, and like any new gadget, I've been using it quite a bit. Here are my thoughts.

It fits great in the hand and is easy to handle. It has a small size for a Hard Drive camcorder and easy to shoot and hold. Image stablization works well and the zoom is good.

BAD: I played the video on my plasma, and while the footage I shot outside was beautiful the clips shot inside were very soft and in some instances pixelated even with the interior lights all turned on for max lighting. The room I was shooting in has multiple windows and lots of natural light, so this should've not been an issue. These clips didn't live up to the moniker "High Def." From what I've learned from several blogs, this is something to expect to some extent from many consumer camcorders even HD versions. That would probably be tolerable, but what I didn't count on is that the footage shot with this camera crashes Final Cut Express 4 and iMovie. I'm no techie, but from what I've been told Panasonic does something a little extra to the AVCHD format that iMove and FCE can't abide. There are work arounds, but I'd rather just use a camera that doesn't require workarounds. This has been documented on multiple blogs, which I should've consulted before making the purchase....I have Macs at the house, and the included software doesn't work with Macs. SO I'm taking it back and will probably exchange for the Canon Vixia HF10 which I've read good things about. If you're not a Mac user and don't use iMovie or FCE for editing, this is a pretty nice option. Otherwise, get ready to learn workarounds or buy a non-Panny camcorder.

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I got this camcorder from Best Buy (sorry Amazon)... All I can say this camcorder works can be read perfectly from the Playstation 3. AVCHD type of camcorder for Panasonic was not getting enough support from NLE editing softwares like Vegas 8 Pro, PowerDirector 6, and etc. It works with latest version Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate but need too much computer power like Quad core processor, more RAMs for video editing. It comes with an software like HDWriter and it is easy to convert it to MPEG2 or AVC format for DVD/Blu-ray playback.

The Good thing about this camcorder it is stunning like High Definition of Blu-ray if record during the daylight but very grainy during lowlight shooting. You will need external LED light, but this cam doesn' t have hotshoe.

Audio is so-so, no input for external mic.

60GB HDD is plenty enough space but if you are shooting a film, you might need to backup the files and then format hdd.

PS3 can show 1080p24 just fine by using the USB input.

Updated (4/23/08): The Best program to used to get this cam work with your AVCHD videos... Use Nero 8 and look for Nero Vision and convert it to Nero Digital HDTV 1080p, video will play very smooth on PC and PS3.

Updated (3/12/12): It been 4 years! Alright, Let me recall it, I understood cameras better now. HS9 is a small sensor camcorder, it work best in 1080i but in 1080p it is very sloppy, so shutter speed must adjust correctly for 24p, otherwise it is not as smooth as Panasonic GH1, GH2, Canon EOS DLSR like 7D, 5D, T2i, T3i, etc.

Micro 4/3 even bigger sensor than HS9. If I were you, I would go for GH2, technology has gotten better with AVCHD. AVCHD is not as complicated like it used to be since more softwares been greatly supporting it for the past four years.

This camera doesnt offer enough manual control but I would say this camera is okay for family and fun filming but not for professional.

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This has one of the best picture qualities ever with the three CCD's on it. I love using it and have recorded numerous shots just with the one 60 Gig hard drive on it even though you can add a memory chip to it. The battery last a long time as well. I would have added a mic input to it though then it would have been perfect for the novice film maker. However, the sound quality of the camera is great. I would buy this product again. Also, they have great customer service.

Casio EX-Z550 14.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Zoom with CCD Shift Image Stabilization and

This camera was cheap and is handy and of light weight and I am happy to have it for my handbag without having to bother to scratch it or so.

If conditions are nice (blue sky, good light source) the pictures are pretty good but DONT EXPECT MORE. Especially in low light situations the pictures often blur or are just black or really dark.

Buy it as an extra camera, but have a better one for important situations.

This is a light weight camera with a nice zoom. It was inexpensive for a 14.1 MP. It takes great pictures and the "Image Stabilazation" really isnt just hype. I love it.

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This is a great camera. I have always used casio brands. This is not as slim as my other casio, but compared to a regular camera it is slimmer. This camera is easy to use. has great functions and options. Takes great photos. I would highly recommend this product to others..

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Love the ease of the menu of all Casio point and shoots, but picture quality is 'eh'..edges of pictures are blurry, photo quality is not clear, and HD video is not good....my 5mp Casio shoots better photo's. Save your money and upgrade to a better quality Casio or go to the Canon Elph series.

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Excellent, I am very happy with these purchases...! Thanks to all great service! continue so... isn't there any gift? XD

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Pentax Optio E90 10 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)

Positives:

Very well built and can handle heavy use. Controls are well placed and the LCD display of the options are logical and easy to follow. Battery life is good and since it uses AA batteries, you do not depend on proprietary battery. Takes good pictures and the color reproduction is very good. Bundled with the camera is Arcsoft Media Impression 2.0 which is very good value for the money. While it is not thin, it would fit into the shirt pocket and hence is ideal while traveling or hiking.

Negatives:

The pictures are not very sharp even with 10MP resolution, even though you can get good 8x11 enlargements. Pentax is known for its excellent lenses and I wish the lens is of better quality even if the cost is marginally higher. Whenever the camera is on, the lens is open. When you want to just review the pictures, I wish you had an option not to open the lens as it would protect lens. The main user manual is in the bundled CD. I wish it is available to download from Pentax website. Some kind of cover over the LCD display is desirable since it would protect the LCD. In a bright outdoor the LCD display is difficult to see. A shade or something like it would help. A direct viewfinder is missing. It would help to frame picture in bright lights and also keep the camera steady in picture taking. Manufacturers such as Canon provide viewfinder for this purpose.

Overall:

I would highly recommend as an entry level camera where excellent sharpness is not an issue as it is a very good value for the money.

I read that one really bad review for this camera and that review is false. This camera is easy to use and does nice photos. The video is poor though, the videos don't sync with the audio at all. I lost this camera (in a nylon case) and it was out in heavy rain for weeks, yet was just fine when I found it. Recently, it was dropped onto concrete and now it has no flash. Still, good camera for the price.

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for a cheap point and shoot, this camera works great. very easy to use for my wife, even my 9 year old can get great pictures. considering another to replace my old Olympus C3020.

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I received this camera as a Christmas gift from my Dad 2 years ago. At first I loved the camera. It had everything I wanted on it, including video capability. But last July I went to Rock Fest in Tama, IA to see Foghat and Bret Michaels. Foghat performed during the day and I was very far from the stage and the zoom quality was decent, but since they were moving some of it was very blurred. Lastly, the night mode. I used the night mode feature to take photos of one of my favorite artists, Bret Michaels. Those photos turned out like crap and even with the stage lights and my flash on it didn't really help.

Let's talk about the video mode was okay in daylight for me to shoot 2 videos of Foghat performing, great audio and video quality is good as long as you don't zoom in (because I did that for most of the first video and it was all pixelly). At night I shot videos of Bret peforming and shot 3 of them. The quality is horrible at night. All pixelly and barely able to see Bret himself. But again audio was great, not video.

I am seeing KISS in August and am NOT using this camera. I'll use my parent's Powershot instead.

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It's a good little camera for the price but with a little research and not being so anxious to replace a camera that died, I could have found a Pentax with video capability for the same price.

Geovision GV-FE420 4MP H.264 Fisheye Network Security IP Camera 1.27mm

When I decided to purchase this camera I didn't realize that Geovision didn't finished their job on it.

What I'm trying to say is that the camera has a lot of features but nothing appear to work as you expect from a Geovision product. I found a lot of problems when using the camera with image analysis specially speaking about object recognition. I'm frustrated with the result in this point but satisfied with the result on image quality.

Be aware that this camera doesn't work on GV-Eye for iPhone or iPad due the high resolution is greater than the software allows. Also the features built in are very poor like there is no object detection; if you use the motion detection you'll have a lot of works to find the object moving on a huge 4mp image.

Despite not made to work outdoor, I installed the camera on a Dome and it's working good there, either after some storms and sunny days.

Note that the camera came with the original Firmware and to upgrade you'll need to carefully read how to do it once there is an issue on upgrade to newest firmwares.

1. The ftpuser account to access recordings on the local microsd card has a password of 123456, NOT ftpuser as stated in the documentation for this camera (that was a fun hour wasted doing a hard reset and re-flashing after having mounted the camera).

2. This camera can't do more than one recording on the local storage, and it can't crop the recorded video (e.g. you can't do motion detection and time-lapse and full 15fps recording, or any of that multi-zone stuff they talk about without a dedicated high performance computer to do all the processing).

3. The image quality is fairly poor in low light, and 4MP is not as high res as you would think since a large portion of the frame is useless due to the extremely wide angle.

4. The stupid activex control is terrible and doesn't function well with IE 10 and keeps asking you to disable UAC on the entire system. I recommend not installing it, and just using quicktime and chrome... it pretty much works and you can change all the settings that matter. The camera records h264, there is no reason they couldn't have written the entire UI in a standards-based html UI that you could use with a real browser.

That said, I was able to get something almost working the way I wanted, so 3 stars it is.

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Nikon D5100 16.2 MP Digital SLR Camera Body with 18-200mm VRII Lens + 16GB Card + Backpack + Filter

I am very satisfied with the DSLR product Nikon D5100 with 18-200 VRII lens. Amazon provided me the exact deal i was looking for. I was interested in only one big lens instead of 2-3 separate lenses. The shipment was also very well packed and reached with in the time.

Nikon D5100 is an excellent camera, i just like the effects they provide. The camera is good in both day and night photography and also gives good result under low ISO ranges. The UV filter is an excellent add-on to get the real color of the object. Handling and feature selection is also easy.

I am kind of a new entry to the DSLR's, but have done reasonable research before buying this product. I am fully satisfied with the result. The package provided by Amazon is excellent with a sling bag, 16GB card, UV protection, sun hood, cleaner and so many!

One suggestion to the buyers Please go for 18-200 mm lens instead of two small lenses. It might be a little heavy for the starters but u will get used to it. You wont miss any shot and its very easy to handle. I never experienced zoom creep till now, hopefully it stays tight.

I hope my review helps No second thought...just go for it. Nikon D5100 + 18-200 mm VR II lens kit

The camera and lens are neat and top quality. The memory card, microfiber cloth and Ziko's sling backpack are good quality. The memory card wallet and Vivitar UV filter are so, so. The SD reader I received is different than the one in the photo and it only works sporadically and the cleaning kit quality is quite cheap. However the package as a whole is quite good.

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I love my camera. I also like the 18-200mm lens. It is very handy. all the extra in the kit is nice.

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The kit was well packed and ready to use the minute I got it.

I'm very happy with the camera and the lens. Feels good, works really well and I started getting some great clicks starting up. Even without any knowledge of photography, you can get some great pics just by using the presets on the camera. (but then, it is a good SLR). I'd done my research on this cam and it didn't disappoint.

I haven't tried videography in low light yet, but the pictures have so far been good.

I like the fact that the camera has multiple modes of data transfer. I misplaced the USB data card reader after a fun night, but could still transfer the pics using the cable.

The backpack is great to have, but I don't think its waterproof / resistant. It stores everything nicely, but I'll have to test if it can keep everything dry in light rain / snow situations.

Negatives:

The data card reader could have a better fitting cap on the data card end. It's liable to come off easily so you have to take care of it.

The UV filter isn't the best out there, naturally considering the price. It will add flare to some of your pictures, especially the low light ones. However, its great for protecting the lens, and that's how I use it. If I see a flare happening, I just remove the filter and take another pic.

My tip: Leave the cables, data readers etc at home and carry only the stuff you need to click a pic. That way I wouldn't have lost the data reader. (Some friends tried to stuff a pirate coconut into the bag, so I guess it ate the data reader).

I usually store the cam with the lens attached on the space available at the bottom because I'd want to take a quick shot. If you're not going to shoot, then its better to store the cam and lens separate for better protection.

I liked this product. Lets see what happens over time.

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Sony A77 24.3 MP Translucent Mirror Digital SLR With 16-50mm F2.8 lens

My rating reflects the camera as a whole. I bought it, use it and love it, but I'm going to take a different approach here and review one aspect of this camera: the viewfinder.

Most of the professional reviews I've found for the Sony a77 (dpreview, etc) are entirely missing the point. The electronic viewfinder alone is reason enough to consider this camera a step up from a traditional DSLR, even if the DSLR you were comparing an a77 with had identical specs. I'd say the a77's viewfinder is a pleasure to use (and it is), but even that is missing the point.

This viewfinder will change the way you use your camera. It'll change it for the better because it gives you greater control over the camera than you've ever had before.

Because the viewfinder is an OLED video screen in the eyepiece instead of being a typical piece of glass, you're seeing something entirely different. Something more useful.

An optical viewfinder shows you what the lens is seeing. An electronic viewfinder shows you what the sensor is doing. Think about that for a moment. Let's say you own a Nikon D7000 and you boost exposure compensation. Do you see any change in the viewfinder? Of course not. You'll see that change in the photo you take. That's how SLRs have always worked, even back in the days before digital. Ah, but with the electronic viewfinder in a Sony a77, when you boost exposure compensation, you'll see the image in the viewfinder become brighter, just as the shot you take will be brighter.

An even simpler example: Look through the viewfinder of a DSLR and choose an exposure point. Pick a dark spot. Nothing changes in your viewfinder, right? Pick a bright spot. Do you see any change in the viewfinder? Of course not. But, in the a77 viewfinder, you see the exposure change because the viewfinder is showing you what the camera is doing rather than only showing you what the lens is seeing.

Here's how most of us probably used our DSLRs: You pick the camera up to your eye. You look through the viewfinder to frame your shot, etc. You take the shot and then pull the camera away from your eye so you can review the shot you just took, using the LCD screen on the back of your camera "Ah, shoot. Blown highlights." You lower exposure compensation, put the camera viewfinder to your eye, frame up the shot again and take it again. Then check it again on the LCD screen on the back of the camera.

In other words, it's a game of switching from viewfinder to LCD, LCD to viewfinder, etc etc etc. Back and forth.

With the electronic viewfinder in the Sony a77, you don't have to do that anymore. You can literally see the changes you're making in the viewfinder. And, better still, you can set up your viewfinder to review the shot you just took for 2 seconds (or 5, though I find 2 to be enough). So, you take the shot and immediately see the shot you just took without moving the camera.

This electronic viewfinder is an absolute pleasure to view, and it can do some amazing things.

Want a level laid over the shot you're about to take? Put it in your viewfinder.

There's an excellent tele/crop feature in the a77 that drops the 24 megapixel sensor down to 12 and doubles the length of your lens' reach. Thus, a 50mm lens becomes a 100mm lens, and you're seeing this change perfectly in the electronic viewfinder.

There's also an option to check your focus. Click a button and the viewfinder will show you a super-zoomed in view so you can check the precision of your focus. There is absolutely no way this sort of thing can be done with an optical viewfinder.

I've seen so many reviews talking about the weaknesses of electronic viewfinders in comparison to optical viewfinders, but they fail to mention the weaknesses of optical viewfinders. Now that I've made the switch to an EVF, I'd really hate to have to switch back. After using the viewfinder in this Sony a77 for a day or two, you'll realize just how limiting an old fashioned optical viewfinder really is.

Specs only tell you what a camera is capable of, but as we all know, photography isn't about the camera. It's about the photographer and the photo taken. The viewfinder in this camera will give you, as a photographer, more control over your camera than you've ever known. The buttons and dials give you control over the camera, but the EVF literally puts you inside the camera. It's an awesome experience. I suspect that, ten years from now, most DSLRs will be this way too (they'll be SLTs instead of SLRs, in other words).

I've only owned my a77 for a week, but I love it. The first time I took it out shooting, I was nervous. $1400 is a heck of a lot of money for me, so I worried I might have made a huge mistake buying this thing... but as I used my new a77 that day, I just kept saying "Wow."

Obviously, this is a great camera, but the real story is the viewfinder. All I can say is wow. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to an optical viewfinder after using this thing. No way.

The Camera Fairy blessed my porch last Friday and handed me an Amazon box which upon opening, disgorged a familiar black and orange Alpha box with my A77 body inside, safely cushioned in bubble-wrap. In addition to the charger, manuals and ads, software CD, neck strap and USB cable, there was an empty space (sadly) for the kit lens. Since I already own a very nice Minolta 28-75 f/2.8 standard zoom, I passed on ordering the A77 with the new 16-50 f/2.8 SSM "kit" lens. I put quotes around "kit" because the new 16-50 is anything but a standard starter lens. It has a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, solid build and is weather-sealed to match the A77. Though not designated as a "G" or "CZ" lens, in tests it approaches the performance of Sony's excellent 24-70 f/2.8 Zeiss and is actually designed to fill the same effective focal length range on the APS-C cameras that the 24-70 does on full-frame. I planned on replacing my Minolta lens with the Zeiss next year but this new "kit" entry seems to be a serious alternative and since it is designed for the smaller APS-C sensor, manufacturing cost savings make it a heck of a bargain at half the price.

Look and Feel

If you have never handled a pro or semi-pro camera body, the tactile difference between a polycarbonate and magnesium alloy shell is immediately noticeable. Even though the body only weighs a little over 1½ lbs (without lens), it feels solid. It has a rubber grip that extends around the back on the right to cover the thumb rest area. The grip itself is deep and fits my medium-wide hands comfortably with a secure feel when holding it one-handed. The body is a little taller than the A700 but more rounded with a matte finish that gives it a no-nonsense appearance. I wouldn't base a camera purchase on how pretty it was, but I appreciate the look of a well-made tool whether it is a Kitchen-Ad mixer, a drill press or a tripod. The A77 is a well-made tool and that makes it pretty to me!

It's What's Outside That Counts

The control layout is a bit different than the A700 but the main controls are similar enough that I was comfortable with it after only a few minutes of fiddling with them. Sony's Quick-Navi menu system from the A700 is gone but the replacement is not a step backward. All of the main functions except stabilization on/off can be accessed either with a dedicated button or on the LCD with a press of the function button. the The stabilization on/off being relegated to the menu instead of having a dedicated button was surprising at first, but after thinking it over, I decided that I really never switched it off unless it was for one of the rare times I was using a tripod (or by accident) and all too often I forgot to turn It back on. Having it on by default and being able to set the menu to come on in the same position that you left it is a workable alternative to having a dedicated switch. One addition is the movie button. Yes, movie. The A77 is the first DSLR I've owned that can do movies and in addition to a full movie mode on the mode dial, there is a record-it-now movie button that lets you start a recording of that unexpected UFO encounter with your default settings at a moment's notice. Now I just have to remember that my DSLR takes movies!

The LCD screen is the same size as the one on the A700 and has the same extremely high resolution but with improved brightness and contrast making it easier to see in bright light. Unlike the A700 the A77's LCD is articulated. Very articulated! The mechanism is very sturdy and can be tilted or swiveled into almost any forward, rearward or sideward position. It even allows you to flip the screen inward in the collapsed position for protection.

The top of the body includes the aforementioned dedicated function buttons plus a monochrome LCD with it own dedicated backlight button that displays the basic camera settings at a glance. The selection on the mode dial is a little different from the ones on the A700. The multiple scene modes are replaced with a single scene mode position and the various modes are now chosen on the rear screen using the joystick control. The additional scene modes have been replaced with settings for Movie mode, 12 fps shooting mode, Sweep Panorama and 3D Sweep Panorama.

The pop-up flash has a new mechanism that slides the flash forward and up to reduce the chance of the lens/shade blocking it. There is also a button to pop the flash up rather than the manual flip-up on earlier 7-series models. On top of the flash is another new thing for me...there's a microphone on my camera! Maybe I'll have to try this movie thing after all. The autofocus mode switch near the lens hasn't changed but the depth-of-field preview can now be programmed to show either depth of field or a preview of scene settings.

Inside counts too

The first "inside" part that I checked out was the viewfinder. After reading all of the doomsaying from the fear, uncertainty and doubt threads on the forums followed by nearly unanimous praise from people who had actually used the camera, I had to see for myself. I have had cameras with EVFs that were considered good. My Minolta D7i was hopelessly outclassed by the full VGA EVF on my Minolta A2 (yes, full VGA on a digicam bridge camera back in 2004!) and I was impressed by the A55 that I tried at a local store. About the new OLED viewfinder on the A77, all I can say is....wow! I imagine if you had 20-10 vision and were college-trained to pick flyspecks out of ground pepper, you might be able to see pixels in the image. I certainly can't. It's like looking at a good 17" XVGA monitor from about 2'-3' away. The image is sharp and contrasty with nicely saturated color. The only clear reminder that it is an electronic image is in areas of very bright highlights or deep shadows where the dynamic range of the display cuts off before you eye would through an OVF. If you pan quickly, there is a faint fuzzing of vertical edges, but no serious degradation and no color tearing at all. Following a moving object is no more difficult than it was with my A700. As light gets lower the image grains up and gives you video noise sparkle which worsens as available light decreases. but still lets you see to compose down past where it would be practical or even possible with an OVF. Those are the basics. The initial plusses and minuses, so to speak. Now for the cool stuff! The list of add-ons in the menu includes options for showing all info (OCD mode), no info (just basic shooting info at the top and bottom), graphic mode (like the NEX LCD info display), Histogram overlay and electronic level. On top of any of these you can add a grid with a choice of a 4x6 square grid, rule of thirds or diagonal lines. The real value is something I missed when I went from my Minolta A2 to the 7D DSLR, namely that the viewfinder can be set to display exactly what the sensor is set to capture. This is really helpful when you are working in mixed light or mixed shade where auto white balance will often fail. Too blue? You see it. A little green from fluorescents? You see it. You can tweak settings until it is corrected and check the results in real-time. Another plus is that you can review the image for critical focus or exposure directly in the viewfinder in the brightest light and see it perfectly. Speaking of critical focus... Most of the better DSLRs can magnify the live-view image for critical focus, but in the field it is often difficult to see clearly. Being able to look through the viewfinder and see a magnified image centered on any point in the frame is a real winner. Another great tool is focus peaking. This is a tool used in videography to highlight the parts of the frame that have the highest contrast (sharpest focus) so the cameraman can quickly determine where the focal point is while filming. What it does is create a colored halo (choice of red, yellow or white) on the edges of objects in the in-focus area that is very easy to see even if you are looking at a washed out LCD with the camera at an angle that makes using the viewfinder difficult or impossible. My bottom line? The A77 EVF exceeded my expectations. It offers a razor-sharp image that displays a larger, brighter view than any APS-C camera (the A700 is one of the best) and nearly as good as the full frame cameras. It also has some technological tricks up its sleeve that are more than marketing gimmicks and offer real functional value.

Deeper Inside

Really deep inside is a somewhat controversial Exmor sensor. It is 24MP which is far and away the highest pixel count of any APS-C camera on the market today. Why controversial? If you have been following the build-up to the release of the A77 and the initial reviews, you have surely seen endless threads on whether Sony should have put so many pixels on an APS-C sensor or spent their efforts on making a lower pixel-count sensor with stellar high-ISO performance. There are also thousands of images with accompanying text declaring its image quality is anywhere from better than medium-format to worse than a cheap compact. In truth, it is neither. Rather it is an advancement in sensor technology that trades some high-ISO performance for some pretty remarkable low-ISO resolution. It also makes a couple of steps ahead in color accuracy and dynamic range.

I am not one to snap a photo and peer endlessly at each pixel blown up to 100% on my monitor, searching for something to b1tch about. I prefer to look at the images as I expect to display them and determine if they will look good. So far, the A77 looks good. Real good.

Tools to Get Those Images

In the past, having "special" modes on a DSLR other than P-A-S-M (Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual) was pooh-poohed as a sure indicator of an entry-level camera that catered to photographers without a clear understanding of basic settings. Though this sounds a little snotty, it was generally true with helper modes like "Sunsets", "Sports" and "Landscapes" to preset the beginner's camera for best-bet shutter and aperture combinations for those subjects. I always thought that some of the more advanced cameras might benefit from some presets that would quickly get you near the optimal settings or add functionality that would be hard to set up manually. As I mentioned earlier, the A700 had a selection "special" settings on the mode dial for just that purpose and after checking them out when I got it, I never actually used any of them. That may change with the A77. While diving into the scene mode menu on the A77, it earned guaranteed return visits when it revealed a hidden gem in the Hand-Held Twilight mode. This first appeared on the higher end Sony compacts and is quite a useful feature. It fires off a series of shots in rapid succession then matches and stacks them to reduce noise and enhance detail in low-light situations. Image stacking has been available in Photoshop and other dedicated programs for years, but having it done for you in-camera is pretty cool. Some of the other features that have migrated from the compacts to the NEX and now to the DSLRs are Auto HDR and Sweep Panorama. The Auto HDR is similar to the Auto Bracket feature found on many DSLRs to trigger a series of exposures with ascending values to be used to create an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. Auto HDR goes one step farther by actually combining and processing the images in the camera. Maybe not as "pro" as sitting in front of a computer and processing/tweaking the files in expensive software for an hour to get a natural-looking dynamic range enhancement, but Easy and Good trumps Hard and A Tiny Bit Better any day. If you want to do more than natural and create HDR art, the auto-bracketing covers up to a 6 EV span and there is always manual. The list goes on...

Shooting

Quite simply...I like it!

It is solid, well-balanced, easy to grip and has a control set that grows familiar very quickly. I originally chose the A700 for its control ergonomics and the A77 may end up being a bit better! There's the huge, bright viewfinder and an acrobatic LCD that makes low, high and odd angle shots easier than ever before.

The fastest autofocus I have ever had the pleasure to use and it is accurate too. If one of my lenses backor front-focuses, there is a menu to compensate with micro adjustments that registers and saves the adjustments for up to 30 lenses. Technological assist for critical manual focusing is very useful.

Fully metered, focus tracking continuous shooting at up to 8 fps is probably more than I will ever need and if it isn't, the more restricted 12 fps mode should cover it.

Image quality is pretty amazing. I haven't tried out the RAW files yet but the JPEGs are quite good. If they improve the JPEG engine with firmware like they did with the A700, I may never use RAW.

And then there is the movie mode...up to 28mbs 1080p60 recording with full-time autofocus or manual focus assisted with peaking...

The features and combination of features fills a 240 page manual and rather than plod through them here ad nauseum, I'm going to go enjoy the rush of photographic inspiration that always comes with a shiny new tool!

Down The Rabbit Hole...?

Is the SLT design with a high-quality electronic viewfinder the wave of the future? Maybe, maybe not. There is personal preference and user inertia involved as with any major change. Remember, it wasn't until digital capture surpassed the film in working quality the it was widely accepted by working photographers and it took years after that to pry film out of some of those cold, dead cameras. The usability of the A77 viewfinder certainly has captured my interest and the interest of a lot of people that would have (and did) scoff at the idea.

Is 24MP too much for APS-C? Some would say yes and I might have been one of them. Certainly the high-ISO performance would have been improved with fewer and larger pixels but for print sizes up to 12x18, the ISO 6400 images are pretty darn good and that places it at least two stops better than the A700 even with double the pixels. At ISO 100 to 400 in good light (which covers portraits and most landscapes) the level of detail is truly amazing and rivals the current crop of full-frame cameras. If you add the improved dynamic range and better color fidelity I might still say that 24MP is too much, but with a lot less conviction than before.

I hope this answered a few questions, I will add more images and perhaps some comments as I get more familiar with my new friend.

Happy shooting!

Buy Sony A77 24.3 MP Translucent Mirror Digital SLR With 16-50mm F2.8 lens Now

UPDATE 12-11-11

Last week we put our 2 SONY SLT-A77s through the ultimate test.

We were the official photographers on the Rock Legends Cruise and shot over 9,000 excellent photos over 3 days. I had to only reboot my A77 3 times but my wife did not have to reboot hers at all.

We shot about 65% of the concert photos with no flash in low natural stage light and got amazing results with very little ISO noise problems.

We also shot our 1st and 2nd rock videos with the A77 and were amazed at the results. I was set up about 15 feet from the main PA system right stack and the sound was not blown out even though I only used the on-board microphone. The stereo sound is crystal clear and other than some faint wind that was picked up the audio was perfect!

We've received hundreds of compliments on our concert photos and many are from Canon and Nikon users :D They have already been published on several online rock magazines and there are a lot more to come :D

ORIGINAL POST:

We were going to preorder one of these SONY A77s here on Amazon but my wife and I don't have enough patience ... plus we didn't want to risk the initial shipment from Sony being sold out before it arrives in the US... so we ordered 1 from a Hong Kong E seller Sunday night and received it this morning (Wednesday). (only $1329 delivered!)Wooohooo!

It's quite a bit bigger (than our A55s) but it's not too big for my wife's normal sized female hands. It's a lot heavier (than our A55s) but not too heavy for her to use(she's our top WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER). She's been shooting 5 straight hours with it now with 3 different lenses.

The new SONY A77 looks absolutely awesome! Sony has put all the buttons for everything nicely placed right on the body. There is very little need to go to the menu. The manual seems very comprehensive and since we already had 3 A55s it was very easy for us to breeze through and just highlight the new stuff.

As far as photo quality if you are upgrading from an A55 we didn't expect too much more than the size/definition you gain with a 50% increase in MPs. We were wrong, the photos are phenomenal! If you are upgrading from another camera brand you will be stunned! My recommendation to all you Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, and Fuji users... If you are thinking about upgrading your outfit, DO IT! Sell everything you have and grab one of these revolutionary new cameras and some legendary MINOLTA LENSES, or the SONY 16-50, "G" Lenses, or Carl Zeiss lenses. You will be opening up a whole new world of photography excellence!

The 1st 25 quick photos we shot with an APO Minny 100-300 look excellent on our 42" TV!

Update 10-14-11

We have now shot almost 5,000 great photos including 2 weddings. The 2nd wedding we shot was outdoors on a dreary, gray, rainy day and the photos came out fantastic. As a matter of fact they were so good that we sold our last 2 SONY A55s and ordered another SONY A77 with the 16-50 2.8 LENS which will arrive Wednesday-Thursday next week.

We shot the 1st 5,000 shots with version 1.02 and experienced none of the issues that others have seen. We updated to version 1.03 yesterday, but since we had no issues we really don't have a comparison.

Update 10-24-11

We now are the proud owners of 2 of these beauties plus the new SONY 16-50 2.8 lens. The camera and lens go together like peanut butter and jelly! They are so fast together that the finished photo has appeared on the screen before the subject has finished saying "cheese"!

We have shot our 3rd wedding, our 1st with good lighting. The photos that we took were nothing less than stunning. We are off today to shoot our 2nd engagement session and we are both like kids on Christmas Eve with every new opportunity to shoot. This camera grows on you every day and even though we have had the 1st one almost a month it is still exciting to use.

UPDATE 10-31-11

We have now taken over 6,000 excellent photos with our 2 SONY SLT-A77s. So far zero problems with either camera. We went out yesterday and shot with a handful of MINOLTA lenses and they all performed wonderfully on the A77s! We also now had the opportunity to shoot a few hundred shots with some of the new in-camera special effects. The color extraction is amazing, and you'll really like the pop and vivid as well!

If you google our company name you will find our site with hands on reviews and photo samples under the SONY|MINOLTA tab of both the camera and lens.

Read Best Reviews of Sony A77 24.3 MP Translucent Mirror Digital SLR With 16-50mm F2.8 lens Here

What a stunning camera this A77 is.

Forget the dated Canons and Nikons(good though many are); tomorrow is here right now! Of course, if you are already bogged down with another manufacturer's lenses and kit, you'll almost certainly disagree.......we understand and sympathise!

Let us look at a few facts and leave nefarious comment to the bitter and twisted.

1. This camera does not have a big flappy mirror assembly....thank you,God...even my digital Hasselblad cannot negate the appalling vibrations from its mirror (and there is actually a dedicated program in the software to delay shutter activation by 50, 100, 200 ms...or whatever to cover the failing up). Yuk.

2. The A77 does have a super electronic viewfinder that even when wearing complex prescription specs,copes superbly.And you actually see what you are taking ALL the time. I have been using this sort of viewfinder for over ten years and always have preferred it to my Hasselblad....and optical viewfinders don't come much better than Hasselblad's.

3.The frame rate at 12fps is magical.....no one else comes near.

4. The image stabilisation is in the body...thank you again God...so even the G lenses are good value. The standard range is almost cheap!

5. As STANDARD the camera does 12fps, sweep panorama, video, HD,and 3D and GPS. No fuss, it's all there.

6. The artificial horizon feature,,,,as well as yaw sensing...is absolutely great. Who needs spirit levels now?

7. There is a HUGE, yes HUGE, supply of Minolta lenses stacked up on eBay and elsewhere, that make experimenting with this camera a real joy.....instead of seeking a mortgage everytime you decide to try a new lens combination!

8. AND....AND, this thing has over 24 Mpixels of sheer resolution.....cropping has never been such fun!

9. The body is a metal casting and is sealed against a goodly level of water intrusion.....tough as old boots, if my 10 year old predecessor is anything to go by.

10. It costs far less then you might think too. Buy the body and try some of the 'giveaway' used lenses before you commit to your final choice.Do try the 18-250mm superzoom.

All in all, an exciting major step forward.

Go and enjoy it!

Want Sony A77 24.3 MP Translucent Mirror Digital SLR With 16-50mm F2.8 lens Discount?

All I can say is wow....

The resolution with the 16-50 f2.8 is outstanding. The EVF is a joy to use, the camera handles very well and is easy to use. I love the fact that what you see with the EVF is what you get on the photo.

So far, of the couple of thousand shots its performance is great... Love the focus peaking (shows you what is in focus with a hi-light color) its great for tweaking the focus.

I have not used the focus tracking for sports yet, but my tests (with a dog) show that it seems to work pretty well I will leave others better qualified to answer that usage.

Pros:

Resolution !!!

Nice interface (most of the options are really close to hand and because of the EVF you don't even have to take your eye away from the viewfinder.

That EVF !!

Focus peeking and zoom functions allow you to nail the focus.

Cons:

Its not quite as good at handling noise at very high ISO (aka VERY low light) as say the Nikon D7000.

The focus square confirmation can be a bit hard to see sometimes.. It really should be configurable.

All in all = I highly recommend this camera. This is coming from a canon SLR->DSLR user for 25 something years..

I will try to add a couple of images taken with this camera to the page.

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