Nikon D3100 Digital SLR Camera & 18-55mm VR + 55-300mm VR Lens + 32GB Card + Filters + Case + A

This is, in my opinion, the new best DSLR Camera ever... for beginners !

The kit is PERFECT and every accessory mentioned FIT in the bag !!

Easy to use, takes extremely sharp pictures... A MUST HAVE for any DSLR starter !

100ft Monitor or Projector VGA SVGA M/M cable - Premium GOLD Plated for VGA, SVGA, LCD Monitors, Pr

I was surprised at the price, but lo and behold, it was too good to be true...

Our organization is all about quality. Our video presentations must be top of the line, this product did not deliver.

But the main reason for this negative product review is to spare those looking for somrthin that will last. As we were wrapping up our equipment, the little plastic knobs that screw the vga cable to the projector fell apart. The plastic material is very cheap.

What a deal! We were going to purchase a 50' extension cable for our church projector but it cost about $150. I suggested we look on Amazon to see what they charged. At Amazon I got gold-plated 100' cable for a quarter of that price!!! What a deal! It's all installed and working great. I won't look elsewhere again. That was a great purchase!

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I used to buy these cables for a lot more money, but this one is just fine. It works great and i've saved some money. I'd definitely recommend it.

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Good product great price quick service cable performs as promised I will recommend this cable to any One that need a video extension

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Received it much sooner than i expected. surprised at quality and price compared to other similar places! I will look for for them again when shopping for electronics.

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Canon PowerShot A2600 IS 16.0 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 720p Full HD Video Recordi

I found the Canon Powershot A2600 so easy to use with on screen menu. I was able to use it right out of the box, then I just played with it for a little bit and I was able to figure it all out. So if your looking for a good camera that takes good pictures this is the one.

Oh and the battery life is great, the kids always view the pictures right off the camera and I know on my Olympus camera that would just drain the ife right out battery.

I loved the color of the camera and after looking at a few the price was a good thought so I figured lets do it... now after a week of having it I am running away... The first night I took a picture in door (well the first 30) all but 6 were blurry... which is a LARGE disappointment... I tried the different functions and still nothing amazing... then I worked for a few days and forgot about it, but when I was off again I tried again to see if it was just me being tired after a long work day... apparently no... everything does not look crisp and seems to be lacking, However, outside the pictures looked amazing... but since I normally take indoor pictures I need something better to fit my needs so of to look again...

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This camera seemed to fit my needs. On receiving the product, the first thing I saw was that no manual was provided. The setup sheet and the box both stated that I could download the manual. Not an issue, this is common practice. I went online and found that there is no manual. It was not a problem with finding it, I got to the correct webpage which told me specifically that there is no manual for this product. Support tells me that their is a help feature on the camera that will suffice, and no manual would be provided. That is untrue, the help feature on the camera is simplistic and does not explain features and their use. Not to be deterred, I went to Canons European site where I find a perfectly good manual. I downloaded it, and now have the information I need. The camera works as expected, the menus on the camera are not intuitive. I have many Canon cameras, so far I have been happy with service, but after the attitude of support this time, this will be my last. If there is no manual, they should say so on the package. The insult is providing manuals for customers outside the US and saying none will be provided.

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I bought this camera for my daughter. It's a very good camera but I have to give it only 4 stars, as it did not come with a memory card and could not be used until one was purchased. It also did not come with a cord to download pictures on the computer. This also had to be purchased. I think some kind of mention should have been made regarding the memory card in the product details. You know how items that need batteries will state "batteries not included"? Something like that to make the consumer aware would have been beneficial. Now that she has the accessories she needs, my daughter is loving this camera.

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Have had a Canon before. It broke and cost more to fix than this new one.

What can I say; my mind was made up.

Kodak DC280 2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom

I am a photographic and computer enthusiast and having these two elements come together is a delight for me. So, I have all the very expensive stuff, including KODAK's $20m commercial digital cameras. So, I know what quality is and how much it costs. Bottom-Line as starters, the DC280 makes great color shots with very suprising Hi-detail. The Advertisments say "good" for 8x10 photos, however, as a very picky guy, when you get past 5x7 print sizes, the pictures start to turn fuzzy. But the 5x7 prints are shockingly clear with brilliant colors. But, so what, how many prints does one make larger than 5x7 anyway. This camera is easy to use & small, and I carry it on vacation locations, when I don't want to carry my larger and heavier commercial camera. I was truly shocked at the excellent picture quality of the 280. ALSO, KODAK includes great software, so after a picture taking day/nite, one can easily connect to the yellow video plug on your TV (or Hotel TV) for a slide show of the days activities. I would recommend purchasing a 64MB memory card with the camera purchase, so you'll get plenty of picture opportunities (75+ shots) without having to worry about using up memory. In other words, since you can erase shots you don't like, take MANY, MANY shots and pick the best ones you like for printing or e-mailing. I bring my laptop with me on trips, so in the evening, I can copy the photo-files to the hard disk, and erase the camera memory card, in preparation for the next days photo activities. KODAK provides serial, USB cables, and software to accomplish this simply. Definitely do NOT buy a digital camera with less than 2,000,000 pixels. (The older models, presently having good sale prices, are technology of 2/3 years ago, and you'll wish you spent the extra money for this camera). Since KODAK has been the color business for 100 years, (well...50+years) its no surprise that they have created an electronic imager (the CCD Chip) with the BEST Color quality and detail. This is a must have, you'll not be dissappointed. If you have another few hundred dollars, check out the SONY or OLYMPUS dye-sublimation printers, which produce actual photo quality continuous tone prints up to 4x5 sizes; These printers are not dot-matrix's with all the little dots. The camera and the printer makes for a great combo family gift for under $2m, that anyone in the family can use without having to even turn on a computer, as the printer prints directly off the camera memory card. SO that you don't make yourself craze, and since its slightly different than a typical film point and shoot camera, be sure to read the instruciton booklet, before pushing all the buttons. The documentation KODAK gives you is very easy to understand, so take it slow when you open the Box for the first time. It's so intuitive to use, after the first 2 outings, you NOT need to keep going back to the booklets. JLW/991203.

For the money you just simply will not beat the performance of the Kodak DC280. I have had mine for a couple of months now, and it has literaly replaced my regular 35 mm camera. I love the convience of taking pictures then making any edits i need from my computer. The software is easy to install, and only has about a one hour learning curve to master. Very good and fast usb connection. With a fully charged set of NI-MH, AA batteries it gets fantastic long life. And the 2.0 Megapixel image is nothing less than photo film perfect, must be seen to belive. I also like the smart card memory media included, I have upgraded the 8 mb, to a 24 mb card, and on the 24 mb, I can snap over 100 photos in the best quality mode on the lower size setting, and 34 of the highest quality photos in the huge mega resolution setting. Another great feature is that this camera is very easy to use compared to the other brands I have tried. I did not even have to read the instructions, (though I would read them if I were a beginer). Try the Kodak DC280 out if your in the market for a fantastic digital camera!

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Although it sometimes feels like we're all still beta testing various digital imaging technologies, including digital cameras, products like the Kodak DC280 make me believe the "dark ages" might be coming to an end.

This is a good mid-range digital camera, perfect for those who want to capture images that will look very good on the Web. The biggest plus of the camera is image quality; this is the best camera in this price range that I tested, with two-megapixel resolution. Having quite a bit of hands-on experience with various Sony cameras, I and my partner were actually stunned by how clear the DC280's images were in a variety of lighting conditions.

There is very little to complain about in terms of interface and usability. I scanned the manual, and then just started using the DC280. The menu system and buttons are quite intuitive. One minor quibble is that one is pretty much forced to use the DC280's viewfinder left-eyed; otherwise the LCD screen smudge factor so common to digital camera will rear its ugly head. However, I use the LCD for the majority of my shooting, so this isn't a huge factor.

The DC280 uses a USB connection to transfer images to your computer. The camera mounts as if it were a hard drive, and one can preview large thumbnails of images before copying them over to your hard drive. While I was able to open the images directly into Photoshop, Fireworks couldn't get into the camera; this may have been a problem with how I have my file associations set up, however.

The camera comes with a number of features and extras. The bundled software, Adobe's PhotoDeluxe and Pagemill, are more than adequate for editing images and creating Web pages. Various simple visual effects and borders can be applied in-camera, and you can run a slide-show right out of the camera using the supplied video cable.

The DC280 includes four rechargeable AA batteries, a recharger, and four AA alkaline batteries. You can get started right out of the box. My camera sucked the alkalines dry after about 50 photos and a couple of downloads; I would suggest buying an extra set of rechargeables to carry around with you, and an AC adaptor.

This is not the perfect camera for all applications. For one thing, there are few manual controls on the camera for focus, aperture or shutter priority, and the optical zoom limited to 2X. This will mean that photo enthusiasts might want to look at something the next step up, such as the wacky-looking Nikon Coolpix 950. As others have reported, low-light shooting is not at the quality that one would hope for from a camera at this level.

All-in-all, the DC280 is an excellent camera for the price, perfect for Web photos.

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With this camera, you will get great colors on your screen. I tryed the same picture with the three different qualities and with all I got excellent pictures. It has all the basic features you might need in any camera. It has a good zoom, the 'physical zoom' is not that good, then I discovered the digital zoom which is great.

It consumes a lot of batteries, but you have more than enough with the rechargable batteries and of course, the battery charger included in the camera. I bought an additional charger because I never found that the camera came with its own, so don't buy another charger.

I'm more than satisfied with the 8MB flash card. It is true that you can only take 12 pictures with the highest resolution (1800x1600) and higest quality, but with standard resolution(800x600) and the medium quality you still have very good pictures and can get about 52 pictures, which is good for a weekend. If you have a long trip and don't have a pc to download the pictures, then you might consider another flash card.

BAD THINGS: It weights a little bit more than a traditional camera of the same size, but still, it's much better that other big cameras. It doesn't come with a camera bag. You have to buy it appart.

In summary, a great camera.

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I finally upgraded from my original 2 year old Digital Camera a Casio 5000SX that was great except for a poorly designed battery door. The Kodak DC280 Zoom is better in every category clarity, features, memory capability, analog zoom, except for one the delay in the time from pressing the shutter until it snaps the picture. Keep in mind, that the processing time is quite fast the Kodak is ready to take your next picture quite quickly, thanks to some in-memory processing, but the delay from when you click the button until the action is captured is quite lengthy. I find it nearly impossible to get good action shots with this camera. For example, I take quite a few pictures of sand volleyball on my weekends. Only the highest flyers the guys that can jump out of the sand and hang like Vince Carter were captured in the air, and only with me clicking the shutter button at least 2-3 seconds *before* they jumped. However, if you don't have to take a lot of action shots, well this this is an excellent camera for the money for both amateur and professional alike.

Epson PowerLite 83+ Business Projector (XGA Resolution 1024x768) (V11H303020)

I bought this to use in my classroom and think it is great! The sound is clear and as loud as I need for all of my students to hear content being viewed. The price was very reasonable and I have not had any issues with how the equipment works. It's a great addition to the classroom. The images are clear, the remote is a nice feature and it's quite easy to use.

Its a good gift, i bought one and i loved it 2 watch movies! just buy speakers and paint you room black and its the theathers room! yay

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I have been thrilled with the quality of the picture and the ease of use on this machine. I like that it has a built in speaker that really produces great sound. Very happy with my purchase.

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This projector is very good, the picture quality is amazing and I recommend can actually see the video to 80 inches

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Fujifilm FinePix XP20 Green 14 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD

You have to baby this thing if you want it to weather all. Dont change battery or sd card out on the beach or anywhere where particles can get in. make sure to keep the seals clean so clean after a day of rugged use. Make sure the flimsy door is clicked shut so it remains water proof. Do not use it in pounding surf. If you blow it clean after ever use and wipe it, this camera can last you a long time. It takes amazing photos and the telephoto makes for very interesting shots. If you want a rugged camera this could fit the bill... but you HAVE to be careful with it. And it really makes sense to do these things anyway. Even if you dont open the compartment on the beach small bits will get into chamber somehow so blow it clean with canned air. Green I think is best color. ( :

I got this camera because I usually abuse my other ones. At first I was afraid I had made a mistake because of the bad reviews, but the pictures came out fairly well and so did the video mode. I've got other point and shoot cameras such as the Canon SD750 and that is completely thrashed now since it's always in my pocket when I'm sober OR drunk. I've also got a Canon S95, which I was just too scared of getting messed up when I take out with me or go underwater, even with the expensive underwater case. The xp20 isn't the best when it comes to shooting indoors.. actually I don't like the quality at all when the room is a bit dark, but outside with natural lighting and under the water it will do the job. Just make sure the seals are all locked in place and I don't think it will be a problem. Other cameras that I have used usually require a big hunky underwater case which is actually a bit embarrassing to carry around, but that's another great thing about this camera.

In a dark room, this camera isn't so great. Outside in nature, this camera does it's job.

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The camera lasted 3.5 snorkeling trips then its waterproof function turned to a waterlogged function. I had read the reviews and brought an old camera as a backup on our trip to Cozumel. This camera may be great for motorcycle trips where it may get a little rain on it from time to time, but as for a underwater camera don't wast your time. It took okay pictures outside but inside like many reviews said the images are yellowed and washed out.

NOT ANY GOOD FOR SNORKELING IT WILL WATER-LOG AFTER A FEW TRIPS OUT.

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I have had this camera for two weeks. Before I bought it I read all of the other reviews. It seemed like the biggest complaint was water leaking into the camera. So I played with the battery compartment (where most people said it leaked) and I could create a condition where the case would appear to be locked but not completely. Bottom line I found was to push the cover closed hard, with two thumbs AND LISTEN FOR A LOUD CLICK! Make sure one of your thumbs is not on the release lever when closing the door. Experiment closing the door many times before taking it under water. I was even able to get a tiny click out of closing the battery door and it was not securely latched! Make sure you get a loud click. If you let anyone borrow this camera educate them on this feature. So far I have not had any troubles with this camera and I am enjoying it. Thank you all of the other reviewers that alerted me to the battery door closing issue.

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I love my new Fujifilm FinePix camera. I have owned several Olympus cameras both 35 mm and digital. I was looking for a new one that had certain features. As I searched for the latest Olypus models a list came up and the Fujifilm Finepix appeard on the list so I checked it out. I liked the features and decided to order the green one. I am very happy with the camera so far. I know there are lots of features I haven't tapped into yet but plan to do some more practice. I just returned from a vacation and used my camera on auto. I was extremely happy with the ease of use and the results of the pictures, especially the movie feature. The easy record button is much better than having to stop to change mode settings on my previous camera. I have not tried the water proof feature (under water) but was near a waterfall spray with no problems or worries of affecting my picture taking. So far so good. Nice size and easy to carry.

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Oregon Scientific ACTMini Action Video Camera (ATCMini-S)

I received mine as a gift. the mounting hardware was broke, the sound is off about 2 minutes and customer service is quick but SORRY they don't have any replacement parts and "IF I WANT TO PURCHASE ANOTHER they will be glad to let me. But the problem was not solved. The picture quality is fair grainy but fair,

As I mentioned before the sound is off anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes, and that makes it hard to know what is what.

overall service is extreamly poor so no matter what else I would not recoment anyone waste their money on this

My wife got me this for xmas. I mounted it on my bike helmet and raced it in a MTB XC race. It seems to segment the video into chunks instead of giving you one contiguous file. Indoor footage is grainy, but outside is OK (of course it's designed for outside use).

Helmet mount is really terrible and not easy to use. it took so long to mount it that I didn't want to take it off again and after I did, I didn't want to put it back on because I knew it would be a hassle.

Battery life is 1.5hrs or so not great.

It works and the audio is ok. It records in 720p so it's quality is good.

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I tried the ACTMini twice. The first one would not hold a charge and within a day would not turn back on. The picture Quality was fine. The second ACTMini that came as the replacement worked well held two hour charge, but the picture quality was not as clear as the first camera. I compared the footage and the street signs showed more fuzzy. Overall I was not happy with the picture quality and returned the second camera as well.

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Nikon COOLPIX S6300 16 MP Digital Camera with 10x Zoom NIKKOR Glass Lens and Full HD 1080p Video (B

I am and always have been skeptical of buying digital cameras. This is the cheapest entry and also one of the newest from Nikon that has a CMOS sensor rather than a CCD sensor. Let the argument go on who is better. When the lighting is sun light, the Nikon shines and creates wonderful photos. Low light, of course, is a typical offender of ruining a good picture. If the flash is used, most of the time it does a good job to make everything look natural and not "over-toned" in anyway or display odd contrast properties.

I think this is a great product and really sells itself when you view the information offered on Nikons web site.

5/14/2012 UPDATE : The flash stopped firing. I went through the reference manual and played out all scenarios in which the Flash should fire and it is not. The flash has been deemed defective my Nikon and I have been granted a return authorization. This is upsetting but I hope Nikon can give a quick turn around with my camera or just give me a new unit all together. I really do enjoy the camera when it works!

5/24/2012 6/12/2012 UPDATE : I finally got the camera back from Nikon, parts hold made it longer than normal. I was quoted in 7-10 business days I would have the camera back and that was not true. 13 business days and a whole lot of horrible communication. I would never buy a Nikon product after the customer "service" I received.

When my Canon scanner broke, without hesitation, they sent me a new scanner and said stick the old on in the new box and attach the pre-paid shipping label. Said it would take 5-7 days and it arrived in 2 days. Canon > Nikon in customer service department.

2/1/2013 UPDATE : Camera still works, takes great pictures, has great battery life. I cannot say a terrible thing about the camera when it works. Yes it was annoying after it broke shortly. Yes, Nikon was over the "scheduled" time period of replacement, but it works now and still takes great pictures. They made this one cheaper, recently, so it is even a better buy unless technology did a 180* in some other direction I am not aware of.

I bought this camera with great expectations on photo quality and image capture options. Here goes feedback

Pros :

1.Photo Quality : It is upto the mark. Great photos can be captured . Photos can be zoomed in and edited with great clarity.

2.Camera Menu Options: It provides wide range of image capture options with plenty of scene selector modes.

Cons :

1.Battery performance : It is disappointing to see that a fully charged battery can capture only 120 photos. I thought the performance will improve after first few days charging but later realized that it is not very great.

2.Cannot access camera when it is charging. It is very frustrating.

3. Most important one : My Camera is getting hanged every now and then , I need to remove the battery to make it work again. I am not sure is it a fault in my camera only or with all S6300 , need to contact with Nikon to check what is causing this problem.

Hope this will help to make better decision.

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The quality of the photos is amazing. The flash does a great job of taking quality images in low-light, so well that the image looks completely natural. The camera can take consecutive photos relatively quickly and the battery lasts for hundreds of photos.

The camera is a perfect size, is very portable, and takes amazing pictures (they also look very sharp when printed). The zoom is good and the image stabilization feature is excellent. Nikon truly makes great lenses and digital cameras, and you can't go wrong with the Coolpix S6300.

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This camera is wonderful. It is simple to use, takes great pictures and is very compact. The zoom lense is easy to use and close up pictures are very clear. When the pictures are printed they are sharp and crisp. I would buy this camera again!

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I bought this camera for my trip to the UK and let me just say it was a great choice. I've only purchased Sony cameras so I was hesitant to switch to another brand but I'm glad I did. The photos turned out wonderful, colors were vibrant and details were excellent. The zoom is great and pictures still turn out awesome even zoomed in all the way. The only issue I have with the camera is that it lags and takes few seconds to record the picture. Overall, I am happy that I decided to make the switch and I highly recommend this camera.

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LEICA CAMERA D-LUX 2 8 Megapixel Digital Camera

I currently use a Canon 20D, Canon 5D, and Canon Elan7ne with a variety of lenses. I wanted a very good small "point & shoot" digital camera and the Leica D-Lux 2 not only fit that need it exceeded all of my expectations.

I'll admit to having some reluctance in buying this camera after reading all the negative internet reviews on it before it even hit the market. I'm so glad I ignored the nay-sayers.

While the Leica has a number of pre-sets for automatic shooting that I'd imagine would keep the average user completely happy with the unique variety provided, I was more impressed with how easy it was to use this camera in priority or manual mode. With a minimal amount of practice I was able to quickly setup a shot with an extreme level of control; from setting ISO, white balance, color, etc to establishing the exact exposure I was looking for.

My only comparison of this camera would be to the SLR equipment I'm currently using so I can't honestly speak to the whether or not there are "point & shoot" cameras as good as this one. But, comparing this camera to my SLR equipment I can honestly say that I'd have no problem going "small and light" once in awhile and just using the Leica. The image quality is excellent with this camera.

Any complaints? Not really. I'm disappointed that it doesn't have a viewfinder but it's something I've adjusted to. Also, if you are shooting in RAW + Jpeg you'll need to carry a few gig of memory cards around with you.

I've had several digital cameras. However none have ever satisfied me. I use to be deep into photography preferring 2 ¼ format. Then, for ease of use and carry around I slowly moved to 35mm, trying to stick to Kodachrome 25, this gave good results. As I got into digital cameras I've had several. However none have ever satisfied me. I went to Sony Cyber-shot cameras, because of the good Carl Zeiss lens. This gave ok results, but it looked like I was using 400 speed film. I promised myself I would someday get a good quality Digital camera with manual shutter/aperture control.

The Leica D-Lux blew me away. The first shot I took was only a 2 mega pixel, but it looked better than any 4 or 5 mega pixel shot I had ever seen. The pictures look almost like film, very little pixel distortion. And the ability to set the ISO manually is a very nice feature. I am very happy. The only thing that is missing is a remote shutter cable for the long night time exposures, (they suggest using the self-timer to avoid shaking).

If you want a Very good Digital camera, with the control of an old mechanical 35 mm, with the bells and whistles of a digital camera, this is a good choice.

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I will be surprised if the Leica D-Lux 2 does not prove to be a successful product for both Leica, and the camera's manufacturer, Panasonic; this is without question the best compact digital camera to result from this successful partnership. I had the privilege of using one that was available for usage at the Leica display booth at the annual Photo Plus East trade show which was held here in New York City last month. The image quality is absolutely fantastic, but this is exactly what is to be expected from a DC Vario-Elmarit f 2.8-4.9/6.3-25.2 ASPH lens with a zoom range from 28mm to 112mm equivalent on a 35mm camera with a Optical Image Stabilizer. It comes equipped with a 64Mb SD Memory Card, but can also accept a Multimedia card. But, best of all, it weighs less than 8 ounces (220 grams) with battery, storage card and lens cap, and fits comfortably within the palm of your hand. Its most novel feature is the opportunity of photographing in 16:9 format (suitable for reproduction on HDTV), 3:2 Leica format, or 4:6 format as still pictures (RAW, TIFF, JPEG) or videos (QuickTime Motion JPEG). When I decide to think seriously of buying a compact digital still camera, then this new Leica digital most definitely will be number one on my list.

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The camera is a fine small camera but with two big problems. There is no view finder, a real problem if you want to take photos outside in sunlight. Second, the screen that you use to frame the picture becomes almost invisible in sunlight, impossible to see and frame the shot. The manufacturers have made an effort to correct this by including means to brighten the screen, but it is not enough. The quality of the shots is good, some noise with the 400 speed setting. The shutter lag is not a problem unless you are shooting several quick shots in a row. There may be a way to set the camera in burst mode, but I haven't tried that.

The size of the camera is great. It fits into a purse, is light enough that it is not a problem to carry. It has the advantage of having both a point and shoot automatic mode, and a manual mode so the photographer can fine tune the shots and enhance the exposure.

All in all, I'm happy with the product with the exception of the two problems mentioned above. Why the manufacturer eliminated the viewfinder is a mystery? What were they thinking?????

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Sanyo VPC-HD2000A Xacti 8MP High Definition 1080P (Black)

I received the unit and have been testing it out in various shooting settings and resolutions. Right away I really appreciated the .mp4 format of the recordings and the simplicity of working with the files (on a Mac w/iMovie9). Honestly, on a fast mac, working with any of the size/formats the camera records seems to be quick and easy.

I'm a little disappointed that the iFrame format doesn't turn out to be a big of a deal as I thought it would be. iFrame is a nice compromise between 720p and 480p with low file size and a wide screen format. Shooting 720p @ 30fps seems to work just as well, with Quicktime deftly handling bouncing the clips down to a variety of formats including ipod, appletv, 480p, 720p, etc.

There are two slow down modes, the slowest the files do not play natively on my mac.

The transfer speed seems a tad slow thru the USB connection to a known USB 2.0 connections. Remedied with the purchase of a third party card reader, which is also mush easier than using the base stand for transfers.

The unit lacks a usb or video connection on camera so you have to use the stand or a card reader for transfers.

On tripod this cam works well. Hand held noticed some camera shake issues that seem to be inherent with the xacti line as opposed to the Canons (based on reading other reviews). Turning the motion stabilization of or off didn't seem to make much of a difference in informal shooting sessions. iMove seems geared to take a very long time to analyze clips for shake. best to get a tripod or monopod for better shots.

The still image quality is just ok. The 8 megapixel claim falling far short as the camera bumps it down to 2 megapixel while shooting video. Even in photo shooting mode the images leave a bit to be desired. Adequate for trips and events, but not worthy of replacing a good point and shoot.

I noticed some bluish glowing spots in some videos early on. The lens is wide angle enough to have some reflection problems. Zooming in, just a little, get's rid of the glowing spots.

The various shooting modes worked fine for around the house and yard. The 1080p highest quality mode seems to be struggling to remain sharp, even in good light. For the price you almost can't compare this cam to those costing thousands more. Despite this subtle flaw the hat tips to the Xacti when taking into considering the time and HD space saved using the native .mp4 files, along with easy archivability, and native playback with no transcoding.

Under studio lighting it was easy enough to use the many menu controls to set the white point and exposure, as well as adjusting the settings. One trick I've found that can dramatically improve low budget set shots is to use the exposure and focus lock commands to keep the Cam from hunting or altering the exposure while shooting in a attempt to get the best shot. The little thing, means well but sometime you have to think for it.

Overall a nice and small, modern, consumer cam. With some tweaks high quality shots are possible. For mAc users the easy accessibility makes the Xacti a strong contender though the iFrame format, at least for now, may be more hype than feature. Last years model might do for those not willing to for out extra to early adopt.

Overall, I am very happy with this camera. If you own a Mac, this is the camera to get because of the iFrame option. All you have to do is import the video into iMovie or Final Cut, and start editing! No waiting for the video to be transcoded, because the camera shoots in the same video format that the programs use. Transcoding is the reason that most people, (including me), never get around to editing their video on computers. It used to take hours just to get the video off the camera into an editing program. Of course you don't have to use iFrame. It also records in 1080p, 1080i, 720p, and so on. You can even do slow motion video at 600fps and 240fps. (Not HD) The slow motion is a fun feature. 16x zoom is more than most HD camcorders. You can also take a 2MP photo at the same time you record video.

The camera has a cold shoe to mount a light or a microphone. It has a mic jack and an earphone jack. It comes with a dock and remote control that can be connected to your computer, external hard drive, or TV with HDMI, composite, component, and usb. All cables are included except for the HDMI. You can even plug the dock directly into an external hard drive and offload the video files onto it.

It does have image stabilization for both the camera, and the video. The camera takes pictures equivalent to a point and shoot, and has a pop up flash. (you have to manually turn it on not automatic) The video is equivalent to other HD cameras, and I am happy with the low light performance. There are many manual settings you can use to improve the low light quality. ISO settings to 3200, exposure compensation, white balance, and so on. You can make shortcuts to the settings using the toggle switch.

A few negatives:

The lens cap is too small and pops off. I solved this by buying a 40.5 UV lens filter to protect the lens, and the cap snaps firmly into the filter.

You cannot plug a USB cable directly into the camera. You have to use the dock. It would have been much more convenient if you could charge the camera with the USB. You can plug the power cable directly into the camera. That doesn't help if you don't have an outlet handy.

All the video cables are used on the dock only. This doesn't bother me too much. I just leave the dock near my TV. I don't plan on playing video from the camera anywhere else except for at home.

If you record constantly for about 20 minutes, (video file hits about 4GB size), it starts a new file, and there may be a gap of missing video. This is not because of the camera, it is a limitation of the SD card formatting, but other cameras deal with it much better. This doesn't bother me either, because these types of cameras are not meant to be used for constant use. Home videos don't need to be that long, and you shouldn't be boring your relatives to death like that.

The zoom is difficult to use for still photos if you have the video set to HD (16:9) and the photo set to 4:3. You can zoom in to the subject, but the subject you had framed correctly in 16:9, now appears further away in 4:3. Using the same aspect ration for both video and photo resolves this problem. There is a photo preview button.

I am very happy with this camera, and I will actually get to enjoy editing my home videos right away without waiting hours to transcode my videos before I can start. I'm sure there are other cameras that have better quality, (at a higher price), but what good is it if you just let the videos sit in a closet, on a tape or SD card, and never do anything with them?!

Buy Sanyo VPC-HD2000A Xacti 8MP High Definition 1080P (Black) Now

I'm not a video boffin, so don't really understand the techno stuff, but I really like my new video camera. It is easy to use, compact, and really quite an attractive piece of equipment. It also seems to have really great video quality, as long as you have a steady hand as I understand there is no image stabilisation wizardry. It also has a great battery life and stores a good amount of video or pictures on a 16GB card.

The only negatives I've found so far are that it doesn't have a brilliant still picture quality, it seems to be the equivalent of any point and shoot still camera, but then I think this is true of all dual cameras.

It is also much better in good light, but manages fairly well in artificial or moderate light.

So for those amateurs out there, I would reccommend this camera, but shop around as you can get them for as little as £350/$550 (new).

Hope this helps, I spent ages researching different cameras before buying this one, and I haven't yet regretted it.

Read Best Reviews of Sanyo VPC-HD2000A Xacti 8MP High Definition 1080P (Black) Here

I'll be honest, I started getting skeptical when I started seeing the reviews here. Lots of commentary about people not receiving proper tech support, horrible stabilization, and lack of gapless recording. These seem far from reasons to warrant a single star, but alas, I still took the plunge. I played around with the Canon HFS100 before settling with the sanyo due to the major savings for basically the same CMOS sensor and lens aperture. I use a Velbon 540 and stabilization is not an issue even when running. For anyone on the fence about this, really look at the stuff posted on vimeo using stabilizers and wide angle lenses. Now Like I said, this camera is for tinkerers, if you know what the roadblocks are and don't mind them, get ready to enjoy a truly amazing camera. Who is this not for? The average Joe and Jane recording Bobby's Piano recital will hate this thing, just like they would hate a DSLR.PRO's:

+Image quality and optics among the best for a consumer camera under $2000.

+External Mic input

+60FPS means semi-slowmo shots that turn out awesome.

+high speed recording neat even if it lacks quality.

+Lenses and filters available to shorten DOF and do wide angle or telephoto shots.

+H.264 is easy to work with, and lightning fast to transcode using nvidia's badaboom.

CON's:

-zero stabilization (fix: buy a Manfrotto 585 for $99)

-internal mic on back of LCD (odd, real odd)

-not for "My MOM"

-some of the interface is quirky.

-no electronic viewfinder.

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I love Xacti cameras. The gun form is easy to hold. The buttons aren't perfect but the camera is easy enough to point and shoot. Memory card video cameras (rather than tape, dvd or hard disk) are great. Top range Xacti cameras are pocketable and produce superb video quality. This one even produces reasonable quality stills. This and other top of the range Xacti's have an external mike input, sadly lacking in many competitors, and for me, for vlogging and documentary type stuff, *essential*.

But the trendy new compact H.264 video format and the sheer quality of the video is a problem. Unless you have a very powerful computer (mine a 3.5GHZ Dual Pentium with 2GB RAM, is insufficient) then the video files produced will not play back in with video/sound in sync using Windows Media player. I have heard that some people are getting okay playback using Quicktime but my Quicktime, the lastest at the time of writing (7.5), is jumpy and in slow motion by turns. I get best results with a free player called zplayer but the video is smooth and the audio is synched only when the display is the size of a large matchbox.

The preview in your editor will be very choppy too, and you will not be able to "scrub through" the video to find appropriate places to cut and splice etc.

Clever people here and on Vimeo are recommending that we transcode the H.264 files before editing or playback using appropriate software. But if you have to do that, then you are almost back in days of tape capture. The beauty of memory card video is that you can drag and drop video files to your editor time line, and use them on the fly without having to go through a capture/transcoding process. What a pain in the butt.

If you do not edit your video and upload files from the card to Youtube then fine. Youtube will do the work and the videos look great. But I want to edit, and therefore preview, my videos.

My old HD2 from about three years ago on the other hand has many drawbacks. It is not nearly so good in low light. The video definition is not half as good. It looks clunky and has no curves. And above all the frame rate is lower, low, so action shots and even panning often produce nasty jumps and zigzags. But since it uses old, standard Mpeg-4 video files, which play back and edit easily even on 1.x GHz computers, for YouTube vloggy, documentary stuff, faces talking, or children playing if seated, the quality of the HD2 is ample and the video format is easy to view and edit on any computer less than 10 years old (in my experience, though there are others that have problems). For non-arty, non-action, documentary-type Youtube vlogging, the old HD2 is difficult to beat. It is smaller too. See my youtube account, timtak1, for videos taken by both cameras.

The HD2000 has an acceptable battery life. You need to buy a couple of extra batteries with the HD2. But then I will be buying another battery or two for this camera

Finally about stabilisation...I think the people complaining about stabilisation are dreaming. Is there any video camera this small that is stabilised effectively? I doubt it. If a camera weighs only a few ounces then stabilisation is going to be a problem. A television cameraman told me that he doubted that pro TV cameras were ever going to get much lighter or less heavy than a human head because pro cameramen want the weight to produce stable shots. I use two hands, put my elbows into my body, or just take care, and get acceptable results. If you want more stability then add weight. Use a monopod (recommended) or a tripod. Or buy a bigger camera. This one fits in your pocket and can take video worthy of Hollywood at only $500. Maybe there are cameras this size with software stabilisation that really works, and perhaps a few years there will be many. But right now, I guess that those that are are complaining about stabilization are used to use much bigger heavier cameras and are overlooking the basic facts of physics: intertia or whatever. Perhaps Sanyo should sell a metal weight that can be attached to the tripod screw.

Panasonic Pro AG-DVC30 3-CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/16x Optical Zoom

This is a great camera for the wedding videographer or other serious amateur or semi-professional. It's well built, has great manual control, and takes super video including good low-light performance. You will probably want the external mic attachment, which lets you use professional microphones without additional adapters and signal processors. Now that the price is well below $2000, it's a great deal. One caveat: If you plan to shoot 16:9 format, this is not the best choice. The Panasonic GS400 handles that much better, and at a lower price. (But the GS400 doesn't have the low-light chops that the DVC-30 has so you have to set your priorities.)

Plusses:

* Very good low light capability

* Sturdy, metal body construction

* Will take professional external microphones (with optional attachment)

* Unbelievable B&W no-light capability with infrared (short range built into camera; medium range add-on IR light increases range to hundreds of feet.)

* Excellent manual control available via menu AND you can put your favorite four settings on programmable buttons on the camera body for extra convenience.

* Without attachments, the body with built-in mic is small and consumer-like (won't draw attention to itself), not to mention light-weight.

* Lovely video with three 1/4-inch CCD's.

Minuses:

* The Sony 2100 has even better low-light ability

* The 16:9 mode isn't as good as the PDX10 or GS400.

* The still picture capability is only adequate.

* The built-in mic is only average.

This is a superior camera for the money. Simple operation and well constructed. It has a "well built feel" to it and fits well in your hand. The detail of the image is awesome, better than I hoped for. I'm very impressed with the 16x zoom, very nice and clean image.

Don't be fooled by the size of this camera, the quality of the image is beautiful. A lot of camera in a little package. It has 4 built in shooting settings for different situations. It has a low level light option that does a decent job of capturing the scene after dark.

I gave it 4 stars because I didn't like the manual that it came with and the manual controlling for the iris and focus could have been made easier to access and use. The built in microphone does not really pick up the desired audio that well. I recommend picking up an external boom microphone or lapel mic system to supercede the built in mic depending on your application.

If you are in need of a firewire cable to download the video to your computer make sure you pick one of those up as well. The camera firewire port is a 4pin firewire connector.

Buy Panasonic Pro AG-DVC30 3-CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/16x Optical Zoom Now

While the Sony vx2100 does better in low light, this camera holds it's own very well. For the price, it's impossible to beat. Great picture quality, 3.5 inch LCD and solid build quality. Most cameras in this range still have the plastic body, but the magnesium alloy body on the AG-DVC30 is rugged and feels great. I've used it for regular family shooting and filming plays. So many choices on the manual settings. Can't say enough. Here's a great forum for it.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic Pro AG-DVC30 3-CCD MiniDV Camcorder w/16x Optical Zoom Here

Strengths: 1. Great price. 2. Very good picture quality. 3. Excellent low light capabilities. 4. Excellent auto-focus. 5. Excellent zoom range and control. 6. Small and light. 7. Small and compact.

Weaknesses: 1. Ok, internal mic. Low audio output. 2. No true 16x9 mode. 16x9 squeeze mode reduces quality.

Summary: I have used this camera on three shoots so far and it continues to surprise and impress me. For the money its an excellent deal. The image quality is comparable to its big brother the AG-DVX100. Didn't think the night modes would be usefull but they can be and can produce some very artistic shots in B&W.

My only disappointment is no true 16x9 mode. The 16x9 modes they have reduces image quality noticably.

I would definitely recommend an external mic. I use the Rode video mic...very sensitive but comparable to the more expensive shotguns. Also, a wide angle lens is a must. The Raynox HD-6600 is an excellent lens for the price and it produces a great soft focus effect at the long end of the zoom range. Also the Libec zoom controller works great on the camera and for creative shots check out the new Manfrotto Fig Rig.

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Titles says it all. For the money, the best camcorder hands down. After 2 weeks of intense research and a month of using this camcorder, no regrets.