Sony MVCCD350 CD Mavica 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

I bought the Sony Mavica MVC-350 camera to compliment my Nikon film cameras. I wanted a camera to build a website and to take photos of things that did not necessarily need to be printed out on photo paper. Most of the digital cameras I found were small and the controls tiny. Or they needed a memory stick with very limited photo storage space an then these memory sticks were expensive. Some cameras are so small you can barely hold them without fear of dropping them and this is not the case for the Sony. Also battery life was also a concern as my first digital camera ate AA batteries for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Floppy disks were ok, but again, photo capacity was not very large in the higher resolution modes. That's when I found the Sony MVC-CD350. It is a 3.2 megapixel camera with a 3x lens and built-in flash. It has a CD-R/RW drive in it for high capacity storage onto a 8 cm CD-R or 8 cm CD-RW disc. The MVC-CD350 uses a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery and it's life is about 130 minutes. It was exactly what I was looking for! The picture quality and the speed of the drive is very good.

After charging the battery (it comes with one and a charger) I dropped in a CD-RW and turned on the camera. No, I did not read the manual.... I was asked to initialize the CD-RW and after a few seconds I was snapping pictures. I also discovered, on my own and not by reading the manual, that it can take MPEG movies. I will never use this mode but I know it would be a handy feature for some folks.

After filling the disk with a few dozen pictures I finalized the disk (had to read the well laid out manual) and put then it into my computer. It was very simple. The MVC-CD350 also comes with a USB cable (version 2.0 compatible) and, after installing the software on my PC, I downloaded the pictures from the camera. There were about 50 MB (or so) of photos and the transfer process went rather quickly; I'll guess 3 minutes or less.

The controls for the camera are nice size, even for my fat fingers and the layout is fairly logical. The only thing I do not care for is the location of the power button. I think it's too close to the shutter release. A friend owns the same camera and she doesn't think it's a problem, so it has to be me.

The built-in flash does a pretty good job and it has the red-eye reduction mode. You can vary the light output from the flash to from "Low/Normal/High". I call it a "party flash." You can buy a better flash from Sony but, like any powerful flash, it's big. For a party or casual use, the built-in flash seems to work fine.

The display/viewfinder on the back is bright and quite large. It measures 2" wide and 1-1/2" high. The display is of high enough resolution so you can review all pictures you have taken.

Overall I like this camera. The CD drive and rechargeable battery are big selling factors for me. Also, since it is made by Sony I know parts and service are easy enough to find.

What would I improve? The lens. I wish you could change the lens out, like an SLR type camera. The lens is ok, but I would love it if Sony had a interchangeable lens system. Otherwise, no complaints from me!

I love this camera. I don't have to develop film anymore or find a computer to remove the pictures from my camera when I am on a trip. I just need to pop in a new cd and keep on snapping! This camera takes great pictures in all kinds of light--we have beautiful pictures of sunsets and the ocean on a bright sunny day and clear pictures of us around a campfire. I don't have the problem of waiting for the camera between pictures like I had with previous digital cameras. You can also film close to an hour of mpeg movies on one disc. The battery runs practically all day, too. The only drawback I found was it was a little heavy to lug around Disneyland all day. We solved this problem by rotating it among our family members, though (everyone got to take their own pictures then, too). If you are a novice at photography like I am, this camera is for you. It is easy to learn how to use features like the zoom and flash (even without the manual) and takes nearly foolproof pictures, although you still have to remember to keep your thumb out of the way! The cds are great for storage of pictures--no more boxes of pictures that can get ruined over time or big, bulky photo albums. To anyone considering this camera, I say throw away those old rolls of film and buy this camera!

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After a couple of years of using a Mavica 73 for web shots and a Canon 35mm for vacation photos (the serious stuff), I decided to upgrade digitally for a much higher resolution with the 350.

After taking some test shots, I realized I could trust this camera with the vacation and family photos that required superior reproduction for prints. The resolution is terrific! This is coming from someone who made money with theatrical, model, and advertising photograpy and even had a photo published in the World Book article on theater.

This is actually a computer that takes pictures and movies, and is easy to operate if you limit your technical requirements. There is very little intuitive about using the buttons & controls through series of menus, so I brought copies of the most important instruction book pages along on our cruise, and did refer to them two or three times.

Just like with the 73, the results appear much better on the LCD screen than on the monitor, so most shots needed photoshop enhancing to increase bot brightness and contrast. Of course, the corner drug store photo processors will also increase brightness, but they ordinarily do not touch contrast.

Also, several shots needed -cyan for better color balance -just like the early 73 Mavica.

Two of my Sony disks failed in the camera, and my friend, who bought a 350 because she like mine, also lost all her photos when her Sony disk failed in the camera. The Sony tech support guy said "It happens," and sent me a replacement for the first one. But after 30 days, no more replacements. I did buy three costly re-writeable disks at $6 each from Sony on line, one failed with only 12 photos taken, but it was too late to get a replacement from Sony. "Sorry."

Luckily, I came across some software that lets users miraculously recover otherwise "lost" files on CDs and DVDs, and I was able to save nearly all the shots from disks that, when examined with Windows Explorer, showed NO FILES! I recommend non-Sony disks that are five for six dollar at retail, and the first five that I used not only worked flawlessly, but held about 30 more photos than the Sony disks. It's because of the latent possibility of such devastating disk errors that I took one star off the rating.

Also, the file transfer software supplied with the camera does not display any text, so I have to rely on using a magnifying glass to read the tiny screen captures in the instruction manual.

Neither Sony nor the software publisher's tech support could help with this stupidity, and each referred me to the other.

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Everyone needs this camera because it's brilliant. My husband and I just bought it, and yes it's very costly on the front end, but we will never have to buy another roll of film, or waste money on processing. We can take tons of pictures now and not even have to think about printing them until we are much more fincially stable. Just last night we went to a Halloween party and took 132 pictures (I kid you not) and it didn't cost us anymore money than if we had taken 2, not so with regular film cameras. You do have to buy the pocket disks but they are dirt cheap, 10 for $6.00 or so and each disk will hold about 145 high quality picutres. I recommend the Memorex cool colors pocket CD-Rs because they are colorfull and therefore easy to keep track of. We haven't had any "technical difficulties" as far as the battery goes or the disks. If you are considering buying a camera you should definitley get this one, even if you have to do a payment plan of some sort. It will end up saving you money in the long run.

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I had no intention of getting this item since I already had a digital camera, but I was immediately drawn to buying one by the ability to use cheap CD-R and CD-RW media, and the unlimited movie mode (limited by media only). As of this writing, no other camera matches this series at the comparable price. Unless Sony releases a DVD-RW capable camera at similar cost, I expect that this camera will last me for some time!

Pros:

CHEAP media great for trips when you don't have a computer to offload pics, and you don't want to spend almost the price of your camera to get extra storage space. Since it's just normal CD's, you'll be able see the pics on pretty much any computer (make sure to do the "finalize" on the camera beforehand though).

Video mode get a cheap digital video device. It can store about 8 min per CD on high quality (640x460) mode and 1.5 hours on low-quality (160x160). (see related CON)

Picture quality blows my old Olympus digital camera away. Lots of options to configure and learn to make you feel like a wanna-be pro photographer.

Pretty good reaction time People worry about extra lag in burning each pic onto the CD, but I don't really notice it.

Consistent battery I had doubts about the proprietary battery, but it is BY FAR better than my old camera that used normal rechargeables. Each charge lasts about 2 hours and the indicator is pretty accurate down to the minute pretty much.

Cons:

Larger physical size This is probably THE biggest deterrent to getting this camera. You can't exactly keep it in your pocket to point and shoot at parties, or sneak shots without people noticing. So think about how you're going to use a digital camera, and if having a camera that fits in your palm is more important than the advantages of this camera, look elsewhere. To be fair, it's not that much bigger than my parent's non-digital camera.

Resolution 3.2 is not the highest resolution available at this price these days. however, it's DEFINITELY sufficient for my needs, and each pic takes up less storage space. heck, I'm not trying to print posters here!

Video mode Although it suffices to capture lots of things with accompanying sound, the camera has no lighting in video mode -making night-time movies not so great. The captured videos also seems to come out darker than other digital cameras without lighting, though that may be helped by some post-processing. This camera is also awkward for capturing lengthy events at high quality (changing discs every 8 min isn't exactly ideal). Again, think about what's important to you. At similar prices, devices that advertise themselves as multifunction video and photo probably take better video, but much worse photos.

Warnings:

I bought 200 mb discs for this camera ignoring warnings that 156 mb ones work best. Well, I found sometimes I did have some issues with reading completely-full discs in the computer, but just used the handy USB cord to transfer instead. Out of about 10-15 discs of pictures and videos I've taken, I also had one occasion where the disc got corrupted. However, that happened when I was at critically low battery trying to take video on an almost-completed 200 mb disc.

Bottom Line:

After I got this camera, I found that I didn't want to let go of my old (smaller) digital camera because I still liked the small size for some things. That's probably the only reason I wouldn't recommend this camera to anyone and everyone. It's funny to me that even with digital cameras, people still find themselves having to think about whether to take a picture or not since they don't have so much storage space, or haven't unloaded old pictures, or are not sure how much battery they have left. This camera solves these problems. I wouldn't want to go on a vacation with any other camera.

Canon EOS 6D Digital SLR Camera Body with EF 24-105mm L IS USM Lens with 64GB Card + 2 Batteries/Ch

I just received this lens and so far it lives up to my expectations. I bought this lens because it has the stabilizing function and since I have a slight tremor it really helps to deliver the clear, crisp shots. The camera is super. Just wish it had a slightly faster fps in continuous shooting.

Speco Technologies Weather-Proof Day/Night Color Bullet Camera with 48 IR LEDs

I have owned many IR Color Cameras over the last few years. I live in an area of some extreme weather conditions and most cameras have failed within a short persiod of time. When I pulled this camera from the box I knew it was different, it has a solid build and professional weatherproofing. The camera mount is also very heavy duty and easy to work with. The picture is outstanding both day and night. Now I only hope it will stand the test of time and elements. Stay tuned.

I purchased 4 of these cameras last fall from a seller here on Amazon. I installed them and already one has failed. I call Speco to get a return authorization for the 5 year warranty on the camera to find out that the person who I bought them from on Amazon is not an authorized seller of the product and my warranty is not valid. By buying their Product, you are not granted the warranty unless you buy it from an authorized Speco Dealer. No Warranty and a dead camera in under a year. I asked the Speco returns agent if they knew about this happening and he said yes it happens a lot. I said why don't they stop it and his response was this: "we want our cameras to sell and we are not concerned about who sells them..."

But they are very concerned when it comes to using the awesome 5 year warranty.

Lesson from this: Speco does not care about their product, only just selling. Buy another Product or call Speco Warranty Number 1-800-645-5516 and find out if the seller you are about to get a great deal with is an Authorized seller.

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Bell & Howell DNV16HDZ 1080p HD Video Camera Camcorder with Infrared Night Vision (Blue) with 1

To be honest I was very shaky buying this camcorder because I could not find much info and reviews on in and also because I haven't herd of this brand. At one point I even debated canceling my order to buy a more expensive Sony, but it had already shipped… So I decided to give it a shot. Glad I did because it turns out to be a great little camcorder. The IR light is not bright at all so I ended up making one of my own.. well actually 3 and this made the entire camera 100x better when investigating. I did notice it had trouble focusing at times and I would highly suggest not leaving it on a tripod on night mode for over an hour without checking on it because it can gradually loose focus. It is great to carry due to its size. To be honest I have had the best luck simply zooming all the way out and taking it off the auto focus while roaming around in the dark. Sound for the most part is great. I have noticed a second or two of light static but only noticed it twice. The bundle they sent for 259 was a great deal! I would give 5 stars if it didn't struggle with the focus. Hay Bell and Howell.. please package this item with a IR light. Id rather have that than one of the lenses. Also I am not too sure where to find Batteries… which last a little over 2 hours. Software they send only allows you to watch the Video and snap pics which I had to use other programs to edit my footage.

If you want to build an IR light like I did I found this awesome guy that gives you step by step directings @

Thanks and hope this helps, happy hunting

Matt Hastings

Claro Paranormal Research

Mini Wireless Color Camera with Microphone

I picked this unit after much research, for a home-made robot (class project). Here's the scoop:

For the price, it's fantastic!

Performance: Our best results, with a fresh battery, camera unit transmitted ~200' of open parking lot AND ~75' of industrial building w/ lots of flouro/wifi etc. with minimal interference. However, signal strength fell off with batt pwr. Unfortunately, we used a variety of 9Vs at various stages of use or I'd have a lifespan for you. Best guesstimate is minimum 30 minutes full strength from fresh batt.

We also played around with it indoors, with the AC adapters on both units.

Either way, you'll occasionally have to tweak the RX tuner for best reception if the camera is mobile, or the environment changes (body blocking the antenna of the Tx etc.) See that little knob by the Rx unit's antenna? That's the tuning knob.

How does it work?

Camera unit powered by AC adapter, or 9V battery (short life as expected) sends audio & video to receiver unit.

Receiver unit->RCA cables->TV/VCR/whatever (I used an old portable TV/VCR combo from a junk sale). No "Wifi" here.

If this thing had night-vision AND digital tuning it'd have 6 out of 5 stars. Speaking of IR, this camera will detect IR like most digi-cameras. The only test I managed to do before it's demise* was to point a TV remote at it in a sealed darkroom, and it did register the IR LED.

*The TX unit was smoke-checked by an idiot miswiring an improvised AC adapter after we lost the first one, but I'm definitely getting another.

I bought this setup for birding. Installation was a breeze. One bit of confusion was the manual which stated the power adapters for the camera and transmitter should not be interchanged and could damage the equipment if hooked up wrong; however, the adapters were identical. I installed everything and had it working in less than 10 minutes. There is some interference as others have pointed out, i.e., occasional lines and jitters, but all in all a very good color picture for the price. I do not see a problem with low light conditions I have a robin who built a nest under my deck, and was hoping to watch the babies hatch. Today they did within half an hour of my installation of the camera. The camera is tucked up underneath the joists and there is no direct sunlight, yet the picture is clear and bright. This may not hold true for dusk, but for use in normal daylight, I'd highly recommend this system if you're on a tight budget. I couldn't ask for more considering cost/performance ratio.

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This little camera works great for keeping an eye on things. A word of advice, be sure to set the channel on the camera so as to not interfere with any wifi network you are running. The switches are on the camera. two tiny white switches on the side of the camera, then adjust the reciever to that channel with the adjustment knob on the top. Once that was don, all of my wireless stuff was happy and working well.

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This is an overall great value once you understand a few things.

This device is susceptible to RF noise. Its either gonna work, or you have to much RF noise and it will not work.

The camera has a series 2 dip switches which give you which give you 4 frequency ranges to play with. The base has a tuning knob to fine tune each setting of the dip switch.

When you initially plug this thing in IT PROBALY WILL NOT WORK. Play with the dip switches on the back of the camera in all positions and fine tune on the receiver dip switch each position.

My intial setup all I did was plug and hope to play. It didnt work, and I felt like I belonged in the 1 star camp. I through it aside and said fegetaboutit...

Fast forward a few weeks later I dug it back out noticed the dip switches on the camera and adjusted them. Fine tuned on the receiver side for each position until I found the one that worked best. BAM, perfect picture! Added it to my Kguard DVR setup and set to record.

Then a week later bad horizontal lines rolling up and down while in live view. AARRGHH, whats going on? Then I tried to think what changed in the last week with my RF enviornment. I happened to add and XBOX 360 slim to my entertainment setup. So I went over to the XBOX, unplugged it and BAM, perfect picture again. Plugged it in , boom lines are back.

So be aware that once you dial it in and you still have scrolling lines, its probaly the RF noise in your home. Try unplugging items that generate RF noise one at a time (cordless phones, XBOX, wifi routers, microwaves while in use, etc.) to see whats killing your image, Its probaly not the camera. For me I live with the lines. They're not that bad. Plus I love the fact I can add a camera anywhere by simply plugging it in.

PS: The lens on the camera can be turned to focus.

Pros:

Cheap

Very small

Well built

Great resolution and color for price

Easy to hide

Audio

Easily added to a Cheap Chinese CCTV DVR for a low cost additional camera

Battery operated

Cons:

No IR lights

Very susceptible to RF noise in the 2.4GHZ range

XBOX 360 Slim interferes

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We got this rather than spend $140+ on a baby monitor for our child. We always swore we'd never get a video monitor as it seemed like an invasion of our child's privacy. However, she is now 2 years and 3 months and we are in the process of transitioning from a crib to a bed, and we have quickly learned that we need to see what she's doing during nap times. We thought we'd try this out. Granted, it only broadcasts to one TV, but we mostly sit downstairs and fold laundry while the kiddo sleeps, so we just set the TV up (Picture in Picture) in our living room.

Pros:

We were impressed with the small size of the camera.

Field of View For the most part, it captures most of our child's room. We have vaulted ceilings and placed the camera at the highest place (14 ft). From here, we can point it down and capture most of the room (room measures 16 X 14). If we had shorter ceilings, we probably wouldn't get a good areal shot.

It was easy to set up. We had to buy a RF modulator since our TV has already used up all of the RCA inputs in the back.

The picture is mostly clear as is the audio. There are a few interference issues (see the Cons section). Our daughter's room is upstairs and the TV we attached the receiver to is directly downstairs. In all, I'd say there's about 30 ft from transmitter to receiver. It seems to do ok transmitting through the floor/ceiling. I didn't test it to see how far I could go before the picture got bad.

Doesn't affect our home phone (5.4 GHz) nor our Wireless Internet (ATT Uverse whatever band they use). Cell phones didn't bother it either even in WiFi mode.

Cons:

This device does not like our microwave. I'm unsure if they are on the same circuit, but when the microwave runs we get lots of interference. This is a minor inconvenience though since we don't usually run the microwave for more than a few minutes. We could probably try an AC interference adapter, but we don't want to spend the money on something that isn't that big of a deal for us.

The camera only tilts up and down. The arm the camera sits on does allow you to twist the camera, but the picture twists with it. What this means is that you can easily tilt up and down, but you can't go left to right when you're trying to set it up. In order to get the camera to look slightly left, I had to twist the camera mount. This means our picture isn't exactly level, but again, it doesn't bother us too much.

Battery life is pitiful. I decided to try a 9 volt to see how long it would last. It was a matter of hours before our picture started degrading. Once I attached the AC adapter the fuzziness went away and the picture got much better. Don't get this for it's battery operation option; be prepared to always use the AD adapter.

In all, I'd recommend this. At least try it before you spend $140 on video baby monitors. Worst case scenario you return it and are out only the shipping.

JVC GR-DVM70U Digital Cybercam Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode

After the birth of my son, I wanted a camcorder to shoot video of him and family events.

I tried the Canon ZR, Canon Vistura, and JVC DVM-70 The main reason I liked the JVC DVM-70 is the small size and relative low cost.

This camcorder is so small it fits in a pants pocket or even a shirt pocket! Size is very important for me because of my experience with 35 millimeter cameras. I have 2 cameras: one full size Canon SRL camera that cost about $1000.00, and one small Yashika T4 Super pocket size camera that cost $150.00. Guess where most of my good family photos come from the $150.00 pocket size camera! That's because this is the camera I carry most of the time. I just don't like to be "Joe Photographer Guy" or "Joe Camcorder Guy" lugging around a big piece of equipment. I can carry the DVM-70 in my pocket and quickly pull it out and start shooting when something interesting happens just the way I use my Yashika T4.

The DVM-70 is also very quick and easy to use. Once you turn a switch to the "Camera" position, the camcorder automatically turns itself on and off when you open or close the LCD panel, or eye piece. This is important because often the action you want to record happens quickly; you'll miss shots if you have to fumble with controls.

One problem with this camera is that the microphone is on the top. It picks up some motor noise from the camera, and you have to be careful not to let it pick up the sound of your own breathing. However, this is a problem with most of these very small camcorders, and I don't find it to be too big of a problem. I have also had problems with lots of wind noise when shooting outside in the wind.

I've had the DVM-70 for about a year now and I still don't see another camcorder I'd rather have for recording family events.

Overall, I've been very happy with this cam, but only after having spent quite a bit of additional money to add features that negate its flaws. It's solid & small enough to fit in a back pocket, but also very comfortable to use. I get comments and the cam gets admiring glances wherever I go. My problems with it are few, but important if you don't know how to get around them. The features & praise you can read elsewhere, and I'd echo most of that praise. But here are the flaws:

-The included apparati for transferring data to your computer are slow (serial cables) & lame (software). For transferring & editing video, Pinnacle Studios' Studio DV and its included FireWire cable is a must buy (...). Also, if you're serious about editing video on your computer, make sure you've got a great machine (fast processor, beefy video card, huge & fast hard drive, lots of RAM). Likewise, the included still camera software is a waste of bytes. Transferring still shots is much easier with the MultiMedia Card Reader from Sandisk ... . Just plug in the card like a floppy and there are your JPGs. It wouldn't hurt to invest in a bigger (16MB ...) MultiMedia Card, while you're at it.

-The on-board software is buggy. I suppose I need to take my cam in for servicing to see if it can be fixed, but trying to use the slideshow feature for the stills turns my entire screen green & I have no choice but to power off. You might expect JVC to have updated BIOS downloads on their web site so you could update it yourself, but one look at the JVC homepage and your expectations will be lowered.

END

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I tried two units before giving up on the JVC. The video was OK (not great color) but the audio was fatally flawed. The camera itself generates a 'whine' which is then picked up by the microphone and recorded. Any quiet recordings, when played back, have this buzzing whining sound added; I found it completely unsatifactory. No provision for an external microphone (which would have been a satisfactory solution) is made! Were it not for this flaw I would have been happy with the camera.

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I got the JVC DVM-70 from a large dept store. If you are buying the camera for the small size, then this is the one you want. However, after owning for 1.5 years the camera has been in for service multiple times due to a problem of dropping audio & video. Luckily for me I purchased a 3 year warranty at Circuit City, and the camera will get replaced after the 3rd time in service for the same problem. My next camera model will probably be a Sony.

Some other drawbacks: -whine sound while recording from zoom motor (as mentioned above) -audio/video dropping problem -MultiMediaCard reading software that comes with the camera isn't very friendly. I recommend getting SanDisk's MultiMediaCard reader from Circuit City or other computer store -Might not work 100% perfect with IEEE 1394 Firewire capture software (such as Ulead/Adobe Premier) (I still have to experiment more with this). However, I have made a few computer videos with the camera while it wasn't in the service shop.

Hard to find underwater casings except for the bag from ewa-marine. Sony has much more support for underwater filming.

Like I said, this is the camera you want if the small size is important to you. It takes great pics both stills and video. But if you want a workhorse that is very versatile, then this model is not the one.

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Ok, probably like you I thought this was a very cool camcorder. It's a great design, small with lots of features. The problem is that it has one fatal flaw. The left and right mic are on top and pick-up a high pich whine of the camcorder motor when you are recording. I tried to get used to it but after a few days returned the product with much regret. As an Engineer I couldn't help but be amazed how could such a simple and fatal flaw could have made it to market on such a great product.

Monster High Speed SuperThin HDMI Cable (2 meters)

This review is based on a screwed up cable and non existent Tech Support which is replaced by a endless runarounds.

I purchased two cables One worked but the other cable's blue light blinked endlessly.

Called Monster Tech Support. One Hour wait followed by fake tech support who never heard of the super thin cables and again places you in endless hold for level two tech support. This means, in my opinion, level one really does not exist. They are just script readers.

Also tried the e mail Tech support. You only get a confirmation that they received e mail. They supply links for other things but do not supply answers

The hours are from 7AM to 445PM. I advise you to start early you many need the whole day or more. I spent a total of two hours on cues and then then they hung up while I was still waiting for level 2

For the prices Monster asks for cables you would think they would have real Tech Support not the runaround time wasting disrespect for people who purchase their product.

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Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)

I got the camers 3/15/13 and so far I am impressed. I am not a pro photographer but I do make software for a living. We make a product called iWatermark for Mac, Win, iPhone/iPad and Android so we quite a bit of experience with cameras. If you are interested our site is available with a search of Google (reviews don't allow links).

This is my initial review. To get it out of the way the highlights are 50x zoom, Raw as option, video up to 440 fps (at very small rez). I've tried them all. They work as advertised and they are awesome features for a camera this inexpensive.

Features

* 16 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor. Photos look great.

50x optical zoom lens (35mm equiv: 24-1200mm). Simply awesome.

Great Optical image stabilisation

3 inch 920k dot tilting LCD screen. Love the tilting LCD very handy when shooting over peoples heads. Also for shooting at kid or pet level.

Hotshoe

920k dot electronic viewfinder (EVF)

Full 1080p HD video recording with stereo sound and at 60 fps.

ISO 100-12800

1cm minimum focusing distance

HDR & panorama modes

Full manual controls and RAW shooting

10 fps continuous shooting full rez or down to 480fps (240 x 180 pixels) or 240fps (320 x 240 pixels) or 120fps (640 x 480 pixels).

Many special effects.

Switch on Time to Taking a Photo 2.55 secs

Shot to Shot without Flash 1.4 secs

Shot to Shot with Flash 2.8 secs

I am still experimenting with the huge number of features in hardware and software of the camera and will report back when I get some time.

It is the most powerful, versatile and inexpensive camera I've ever owned and I would recommend it highly. I have tried all the other super zoom cameras and this is the winner for me.

PS To solve the squabble by two other reviewers the manual zoom is in the usual place by the shutter button on the right top and on the left side middle of the lens. It works well and smoothly with a bit of noise.

Being skeptical about buying a DSLR (due to the cost mainly) I decided to try out this bridge camera, and I must confess I was more than impressed. The main feature of course is the unbelievable 50x zoom, which is totally stunning, and will help you take photos you could never have imagined. Photo quality is quite good, although noise does make its way into certain iso settings, but it's not that obvious and you can easily correct this by "playing" with the settings(or lighting, if possible) . The camera focuses really quickly, though in macro mode if the light is low it may have a bit of a difficulty focusing. You can set the shutter and the aperture, or just switch to auto and let the camera decide what's best for it's shot. Generally, the photos in auto mode are very good, unless you want to tweak the settings for a specific shooting. You also get many creative options, like the toy camera effect and the cross screen, among others, which can give nice creative photos without the need of additional editing. Video quality is simply amazing, and luckily the camera keeps its focus(unlike previous Fujifilm models). There is also the option of raw saving, if you have the need for it. The lcd screen is crystal clear and it can tilt so it makes taking low or high photos a piece of cake.

My only complaints:

-the proximity sensor on the eyepiece is a bit tricky because it can be triggered by your body or hand and the lcd switches off to the eyepiece, which is kind of annoying ( you can select for the lcd to be always on and render the sensor inactive, which is exactly what I did).

-the sound of focusing is apparent in videos ,like in previous Fujifilm's models.

-Battery drains quickly especially if using the zoom, so you better have a couple of extra batteries at hand.

For its features (especially the 50x zoom) and price, this is definitely a bargain. Due to the small amount of noise at certain iso settings I would give this camera 4 stars, but because of the price it is offered and the features it has, I chose to give it 5. Overall I'm very pleased with it and very happy that I bought it!

Buy Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black) Now

Very pleased with this camera. I would like to make it clear that I am not a pro in photography, so those who expect an expert review may skip reading mine. I bought before this one Nikon COOLPIX S9200 16 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 18x Zoom NIKKOR ED Glass Lens and Full HD 1080p Video (Black) and had to return it since it was making blurry pictures and could not lock focus, also: when zoom used , the focus was missing at all. This Fuji camera is big (but light) and not so easy to carry everywhere or put it in your purse, but it is definitely worth carrying it. The pictures are crystal clear even when you use just automatic settings, or at night time(night pictures are a big issue with almost all cameras, but not with this there are modes for beautiful night landscapes) . It is easy to lock a focus, also you don't need sturdy hand quite shatterproof.(Make sure to hold the zooming lens underneath for extra support check some youtube videos from fuji for instructions). The 50x zoom is amazing you can use it as a binoculars and see exotic bird in the sky :). The close up photos of a flower or leaf are so crystal and detailed beautiful. The 360 panoramic pictures also! The videos perfect.

CONS: Many people complain that the lens cap has to be removed manually for me this is a minor inconvenience (this is a huge lens and closing and opening automatically requests a lot of power).

Also: the battery doesn't last a long time, but it is not expensive, I would buy a spare one to carry in the camera bag.

I still have not tried all the modes and possibilities of this amazing camera. I have to say Well done, Fuji!!!

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The Fuji SL 1000 is a great all around camera. The construction and features are user friendly and the quality of the pictures for the money, are second to none. I also own a Nicon D 7000.

What I realy like about the Fuji is that is a lot lighter and with features that the camera offers makes it a great camera for travel.

If I realy want the best pictures quality wise then I use my Nikon, but like I said for travel and wildlife photografy I don't see any other camera comming even close to this one once again for the price. I paid a little over $ 300 in amazon. The other camera that I considered very carefuly was the Canon sx 50 but the price difference was sustancial and I went with the Fuji.Battery life is a little bit short but for a little over $ 20 you can get the Wasaby replacement batteries (2) of them plus an extra charger.

Once again I do not have any reservations recommending the Fuji SL 1000 as a secondary/Travel-wildlife camera

Want Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black) Discount?

The Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 is Fuji's mid-level super zoom bridge camera. The S series is a notch below Fuji's high-end HS series of bridge cameras. Although it lacks some of the settings and features of the HS series, the SL1000 does have some features that are impressive. The main feature is its massive 50X zoom lens. Before I go any further though, I must point out that although this camera looks a little like a DSLR, it is not. It is a bridge camera with the same tiny sensor as you average pocket point and shoot camera. It is just housed in a DSLR style body, with some extra features and a massive zoom lens. Now that we got that out of the way, on to my review. Unboxing the Fuji SL1000, I noticed that it weighs slightly less and is slightly smaller than the Fuji HS50EXR super zoom. It weighs much less than my DSLR. In the box are the usual assortment of accessories. I was disappointed that there is no lens hood. First charge of the battery took about 90 minutes. The proprietary battery is charged in a proprietary external charger. The camera itself has average build quality and is almost entirely plastic. I was disappointed that even the tripod mount is plastic. The camera's ergonomics are very good, and everything is well laid out. No SD card is included, so make sure you have one. A fast "Class 10" speed card is recommended. The SL1000 menu system is very simple and easy to figure out. The camera has a variety of shooting modes including full automatic and "manual". There are also some built in filter effects which are pretty neat. I was disappointed there were no settings to adjust the camera's Noise Reduction like there is on the HS Series. The SL1000 does have RAW Mode which is a very good thing.

I set out on a sunny day, and took over a hundred pictures under various conditions. I used several different modes and settings. I shot mostly in (P)Mode, and auto mode. I used Fine/JPEG Format, not RAW. Refresh time between shots was very fast. I noticed that when shooting in shady conditions, the camera would use an unnecessary high ISO. Sometimes 400 or higher. I turned off Auto-ISO and manually selected ISO 100 or 200 if needed. The 50X zoom lens performed well. It's incredible 24-1200mm range didn't disappoint. The 3" high resolution screen is very good. It's is clear and bright. It isn't an articulating screen though. It only slightly tilts, which I thought was kind of a weird design. While out, I also took several minutes of video to evaluate later. When I got home, I also shot a few dozen indoor pictures for testing purposes. I shot most of them in simple auto mode to see how the camera would handle low light without any help. After shooting 100+ pictures and several minutes of video, my battery still shows as full which tells me battery life is very good.

When I finished my testing, I hooked the camera up to my PC and HD Monitor using the included USB cable. Thankfully, the cable is standard and not proprietary. Once downloaded, my results generally very good. Almost all my outdoor pictures came out excellent no matter what mode I used. Details were great. Colors were accurate. I didn't notice any optical aberrations, etc. The Fuji's Image Stabilization generally did a great job, but a steady hand is needed at the high end of the zoom. The overall results were almost as good as my higher end HS50EXR, but not quite. I did notice a little image noise, especially when the camera went above 100 ISO. My indoor results were good too. Image noise wasn't bad up until ISO 400, and still acceptable at ISO 800. I have no doubt that with a little tweaking of the camera's settings, my results could be even better. My HD test video came out excellent too. It did not disappoint on my HD monitor.

The Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 is not a DSLR, and it isn't perfect. It is a very good point and shoot camera with an incredible lens though. With a little trial and error, it produces very good results outdoors, and good results indoors as long as you keep the ISO as low as possible. I recommend it.

Pros:

Incredible 50x Wide Angle Zoom Lens.

Electronic Viewfinder.

Hot shoe.

Good automatic modes.

Manual controls.

RAW Mode.

Generally very good image quality indoors and out.

Very good 1080i HD video quality.

Fast focusing and refresh time between shots.

Very good battery life.

Good value.

Cons:

Average build quailty.

Tiny 1/2.3-inch CMOS Image Sensor.

Image noise noticeable above ISO 100.

No noise reduction settings.

No lens hood and mediocre accessories.

Proprietary battery.

Canon Powershot S60 5MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom

The canon s60 feature & performance wise, falls somewhere between a point-and-shoot and a pro-sumer level 5MP digital camera. I had originally planned on getting a G5, but the G5's unwielding size and weight (although a great performer) made me consider the newly released s60. I was looking for a portable pro-sumer, 5MP digital camera, that was no bigger than our Canon SureShot 35mm film camera. The s60 (and the ultra compact s400) both have the same CCD imager as the G5, but I chose the s60's 28mm wide angle lens, extra feature set, and longer battery life over the p500's.

From my experience, taking pictures indoors with a flash seems to be the biggest hurdle for any digital camera to overcome, and the s60, while not perfect, is one of the best indoor cameras of its size I have tried. Indoors, in a moderately lit room, the s60 in AUTO mode takes true color, well exposed images within 10 feet of the subject(s). I have found that using "P" mode with the flash exposure compensation set up to + 1/3 or +2/3 works best if you are in a poorly lit room and you also wish to see the background.

While it is true that there is some barrel distortion at full wide 28mm mode, it is not enough of a problem detract from it's overall rating. All compact and ultra compact cameras I have tried have had some barrel distortion at wide field and chromatic aberation on bright objects. As far as one person's comment about the images being blurry because of inferior lens quality, I would have to disagree. The images I have taken are very smooth and have vibrant, true colors. The s60 does apply a sort or internal anti-aliasing to smooth out the images. Most of the professional portraiture cameras (like the Kodak pro cameras) do this either in software or by hardware, as most people do not wish to see every facial pore on their subject. You can chose to "sharpen" internally on the s60, or just use one pass of Sharpen in Photoshop to sharpen the images even more to suit your taste.

I also had the opportuntity to compare the G5 and s60 side-by-side, by taking photos of the same subjects both indoors and out. I could not see any noticeable difference between the two, image quality-wise. I have taken over 200 images within the last 5 days with my s60 and have been very pleased with both its image quality and ease of use.

What we have here is quite simply a compact G5. Forget the swivel LCD screen for me not at all useful, the only thing missing of any consequence from the G5 in my opinion is the flash shoe, otherwise you basically have a G5 in a much smaller more functional package.

The pictures are quite simply fantastic! Only minimal purple fringing and only noticeable to the most discerning (read nit-picking).

The camera still suffers from the digital point and shoot shutter lag which for the most part plagues all point and shoots. It is certainly no worse than the G5.

One clear advantage over the previous S50 is its smaller size. The camera still has the sliding lens cover which some object to but I find no problem whatsoever.

The only dilemma facing the prospective buyer is whether to purchase this camera or the significantly smaller S500. The S60 being a more capable complete camera than the S60. My advice: If this is your only digital camera, buy the S60. If you have a digital SLR then buy the S500 for true portability. The good news is that whatever decision you make you should be very pleased because both are great cameras.

If you haven't taken the digital plunge, then take it from one who resisted much too long. Go out and buy a digital camera TODAY!! It will reawaken you interest in photography. IMO, digital photography is the current killer app for PC's right behind the internet. Good luck.

Buy Canon Powershot S60 5MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom Now

I do not understand how anyone can criticize the quality of the photos from the Canon S60.

I just returned from Hawaii, where I shot over 250 photos, ranging from the beautiful scenery to the Hawaiian people to the hotels in which I was staying. Out of the over 250 shots I took, I may have blown 3 and those were my fault (mostly poor composition). Every shot was superbly sharp, perfectly exposed, even if flash was used, and perfectly in focus. The only criticism that I would make and that is the reason that I am considering a digital SLR, is that it is very difficult to frame each photo perfectly using the eye level viewfinder.

On the other hand, if I use the LCD, it is much more difficult to hold the camera steady, particularly in marginal light situations. Of course, this is not the fault of the specific camera, but occurs with all non SLR point and shoots. I have used

and owned many digitals and, in my opinion, the Canon S60 is the best!

Read Best Reviews of Canon Powershot S60 5MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom Here

I have had it for 6 months now. I bought it to replace my A70, which took a beating during my 3 months vacation.

Pro:

Wide angle rules. Fast startup and shut down. Good quality in/our-door. AF assist light helps during poor light condition. Good battery. Panoramic/photo stitching is cool. Good software bundle. Good quality and reliable (from my prior experience).

Con:

No image stablization. Which would be very helpful at night shoots w/o tripod, max zoom, or any other conditions. Can not force flash at the "AUTO" mode.

That's about it.

Want Canon Powershot S60 5MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom Discount?

I previously owned a Canon S-30, a 3-megapixel, which performed adequately for four years. Therefore, I was pretty much sold on the S-60 after reading Consumer's Reports and the ratings of this and other similar quality cameras on Amazon. After only a relatively short ownership period, I have found that the camera works as advertised. Some advantages over the previous design include the higher meapixel resolution, a larger LCD screen, greatly improved menu controls, and a noticeable speed difference as to when the camera is ready for the next shot.

Although I bought a 512 MB compact flash card with the camera, I was also able continue using a CF card from the old camera, its battery, and charger. A distinct advantage as these items run $30+/each.

One critical note, however, was that I was never able to connect the camera directly to my computer to download the images (A Dell Dimension 8250 running XP SP2). Each time I connected the USB wire, my computer would not recognize the "device." After several emails to the Canon support staff, we tried everything from re-installing the software supplied with the camera to using troubleshooting from "InstallShield." No success!

My solution to the problem, since I was determined to keep the camera, was to purchase a USB 2.0 Hi-speed Reader (SanDisk SDDR-88-A15 8-in-1 no longer available on Amazon). It installed without problem, and I am able to download images by removing the CF card from the camera. A minor inconvenience.

Toshiba Gigashot GSC-R30 30GB 2MP Hard Disc Drive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

Given that this is my first real camcorder, outside of the digital cameras I own that support 20 second video clips, I have little to compare it to. That being said, I've seen people with stacks of DV tape that they never convert to DVD, and consequently never view again. I received my Gigashot from Amazon yesterday and was for the most part very pleased. It took very little time to understand how to use, the functions and menu items were relatively self-explanatory. I'd give Toshiba an Afor the design and ease of use; within five minutes, I was able to shoot a few clips, view on the LCD screen, hook up to my TV and computer to play back videos.

I really enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to install additional software to download clips to my PC the USB cable, included, was inserted and drivers were automatically installed; the Gigashot then appeared as an external drive that I could drag and drop files to my desktop piece of cake. Although, there was software provided, it appeared as though they were only trial versions (leaving the only option to buy more software when the trial expired). Needless to say, I did not install either software bundle: ACDSee v7 (photo edit) or PowerProducer v3 (DVD editing and writing/authoring), but I'm sure this could be helpful for some who do not already own a DVD authoring program.

The only bad thing about this camcorder, in my opinion, was that it had a tendency during low-level sound (e.g., no one was speaking) to amplify the background noise. I didn't notice this very often, so probably nothing to worry about in fact, this may be normal for camcorders, but then again I don't have much experience. The problem with this, leads to what sounds like a few small rapid-fire clicks every so often (presumably as the Gigashot writes data to the hard-drive). It sounds just like a hard-drive, so may not even be noticeable to some, but it could be an annoyance for those who listen in great detail. I doubt this would be even audible at a party or event, but just thought others might like to know. Overall great product and I'm happy with my purchase (especially since it seems Amazon's price was the lowest at this time!)

I did lot of comparisons with similar PRICED camcorders sony/Canon ($500) and here are my finding

The factors need to be considered in any digital photo/video are

1. CCD size

2. MP

3. Filter Size Lense dia big means more light goes in to CCD

4. Lense Quality

I like this camcorder because

1. Price 375 for a 30 GIG HDD camcorder

2. CCD size 1/3.6 compared to sony/Canon which has 1/6

3. Filter size is 30.5 sony/Canon 30 or 27

4. 2 Megapixel sony/canon 0.7 MP

5. No need to carry any media

6. Free case

Cons:

Spare battery is expensive $80 at bhphotovideo

Buy Toshiba Gigashot GSC-R30 30GB 2MP Hard Disc Drive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Now

This is an amazing little camera. If you edit your movies on a computer you will LOVE this camera because it stores files on the built in hard disk drive instead of tapes. It can record for more than six (6) hours on the hard disk drive (at the HIGHEST quality setting). The videos are automatically saved as MPG2 files which are recognized by almost all video editing products inclding Adobe Premiere and Adobe Premiere Elements. MPG2 is also the current standard for DVD movies, so you can burn your movies onto a DVD. The audio and video quality is excellent.

The camera has a bright white, built-in LED light which allows the auto focus to work in dim light. It also has a built in flash for still pictures. The still pictures can be stored on the built-in hard disk drive, or optionally on a small memory card. The camera supports WIDE SCREEN videos as well as standard video formats.

Downloading the movie files to your computer is amazingly simple. Just connect the USB cable and the camera is recognized as an "external storage deveice" so you can simply drag and drop the files from the camera to the computer.

The automatic mode for most settings like FOCUS, WHITE BALANCE, SCENE SELECTION, etc. works fine. When taking stills the camera will beep twice to indicate a clear focus. When the camera is charging the battery LED shows amber and later green (when fully charged).

While the built-in condenser microphone with multiple settings offers excellent sound quality, a plug-in microphone jack would have been preferred.

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I bought this camera through Amazon and antonline. Its a really nice camera, but it is completely unable to function in any meaningful way through imovie and has no value if you own an Apple Computer. This is because the camera records in mpeg-2 and apparently is inherently non-editable. DO NOT BUY IT UNLESS YOU OWN A PC!!!

Want Toshiba Gigashot GSC-R30 30GB 2MP Hard Disc Drive Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Discount?

I just graduated from the 1min movies in my digital camera to this camera. I am impressed by the overall functionality of this camera.

Positives:

1) Easy to shoot both Movies and Pictures. We think still pictures have their own value. So, taking good pictures was important for us.

2) supports wide screen recording and has 2MB CCD

3) For a HDD camera, I was surprised at the almost non-existent HDD noise. (I did not get any noise disturbance during zooming as some reviewers had mentioned)

4) Easy (as the digital camera) and fast USB2 downloads

Negatives:

1) In low light situations, the camera searched for focus for a few seconds. (But I understand that most of the video cameras do that.) It is annoying.

2) The camera needs to be mounted on its rechargable stand where the USB connection to the laptop is setup. Not a big issue, but if travelling without the base, you cannot download movies.

Overall a very nice camera to have.