Samsung Digimax S630 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Advanced Shake Reduction Zoom (Black)

this should really be a 4 1/2, but it does not give that option, so I rounded up since I like almost everything about the camera, and it is great for what I bought it for. I bought this lightweight small camera to keep in my purse-for those unexpected shots you want to take. I have a Sony Cypershot with a 12X optical that I normally use. The Sony is great for action shots and taking marching band shots from the bleachers. This one, I'm not sure could do that. It has a 3x optical, which is fine for zooming in on a person across the room, but not as far as into the football field. The in-camera zoom is ok for trimming, but I noticed it does lose some of the clarity on the shot.

The one drawback to this camera is the lag time between shots. If you like capturing shot after shot quickly-avoid this camera. However, if you are someone who generally takes shots of people at birthday parties, or objects on your vacation, this might be a great camera for you. It is a decent camera for the price. For what I wanted it for, it is perfect.

Ok, to sum up:

PROS

Small, lightweight

Good picture quality

Can take an SD card up to 4GB (That's A LOT!)

Easy to use

Inexpensive-goes on sale sometimes for around $100

Can take rechargeable batteries (I recommend for ALL digital cameras)

Video capabilities

Software compatable with older Windows(in case you need that)

CONS

Lag time between shots

In Camera Zoom loses picture quality

As you can see, I like most of the features. If you are looking for a decent, inexpensive point and shot type camera, then this might be the one for you.

Most people don't know how to change the factory settings for better effect. I use this camera along with a much more expensive Canon camera I have and they are rougly equal. But these cheaper cameras have a longer lagtime.

Otherwise if anything the Samsung is better because it takes equally good pictures with excellent color accuracy inside and out, and needs less tweaking on auto.

Some reveiwers reveal their ignorance because they use alkaline batteries in the first place and yet complain of short battery life. Alkaline batteries last about a third as long as rechargeable Nimh ones, and the latter can be charged 500-1000 times. Alkaline batteries make no sense.

Moreover, there is a setting for Nimh batteries and Alkaline. If you use Nimh, youll get astonishly long battery life, but not if the factory setting of "alkaline" isn't changed.

I might also add that Nimh batteries can be normally in the 1800-2700 range, and the higher they are the longer the battery life.

I don't change the batteries on this camera very often at all, but I use some of the energy saver settings and 2700 NIMH batteries of the type that don't lose hardly any of their charge (sold cheaply on Amazon). Otherwise regular NIMH batteries lose 40% of their charge EVERY MONTH just sitting around.

I bought my battery charger including 4 2500 NIMH batteries for $13 from Amazon with no shipping charges or tax. Get the batteries that hardly lose their charge too.

There are many setting that extend the battery life as well, such as "lcd save", "normal" vs. "fine" and "ultra-fine", lcd "bright, normal and dark", and also how long you want the image to show after taking it (1-5 seconds), and how much time yould like to elapse before the camera shuts off (3-10 minutes).

All digital cameras have difficult menus and poor manuals, so it's no wonder users struggle often with the wrong settings. Some of the settings cannot be made on "Auto" and must be made on "P" (program).

Now the 7 and 8mp version are out and they are even cheaper. The settings and quality on the 7mp are the same; the settings on the 8mp

have been rearranged a bit, but it is smaller with the same size monitor.

So get either of those instead.

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I bought this for my mom for Mother's Day and I'm disappointed. The picture quality just isn't there, all the pictures feel a little flat. Not blurry, per se, just never crisp. That being the primary function of a camera, I can't get too up on this thing. I have a 5 year old Nikon Coolpix 2100 that I paid the same price for back then (87 bucks on sale) that takes better photos than this. Cheap optics on this camera, I suppose.

The battery life seems to be fairly limited as well and the response time seems a tad slow. If an inanimate object could have malaise, this camera would.

Everything works, and nothing's bad enough to make me feel ripped off, but by no means is this little thing impressive, certainly not as great as what some of the other reviewers have made it out to be. It is what it is, I suppose, but I'm still a little bummed.

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We bought our German exchange student a digital camera for Christmas. It was a different make, and it lasted all of four months before heading to the great recycling center in the sky. When I discovered the camera we had bought only had a 3 month warranty, I felt badly and decided to get her a replacement that might actually last for a decent period of time.

After researching various cameras, I discovered this particular camera. It was the right price, had similar features to the one we had previously given her and it had a 1 year warranty. Also, the warranty is good worldwide, allowing her to get warranty service in Germany if it becomes necessary. That is not a common feature in other makes.

After several weeks of use, she is thrilled with the way it works. It takes wonderful pictures for a point and shoot, and is constructed of far better materials than similar priced cameras. I will admit that it does take a little while to record a picture, and it does inhale batteries, but these are problems that we saw in her previous camera, and I think are a function of the price.

Overall, for the price and type of camera, we are extremely happy and would buy another Samsung camera in a flash. If you are looking for a sophisticated camera, look elsewhere, but if you want a quick point and shoot camera, this is an ideal choice.

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I take pictures of cars for car dealers for a living and this camera is just what we needed, something CHEAP that takes very good photos. The battery life, unlike some other statements, is great for me. I can go all day, usually around 600 shots and not have to swap out batteries. I use 2500mA batteries from Wal-Mart and have used the same set for two years now, every single day! I did manage to drop the camera pretty hard on a parking lot and the battery door flew open and batteries flew out across the lot, but when I put them back in, the camera worked fine and this was a month ago. It did damage the nice red finish, but that's not too important to me. The 2.5" LCD is a little hard to see in direct sunlight, but not nearly as bad as my old Canon Powershot camera. Indoor performance is not so great though, so if you're wanting something to do indoor portraits or lots of flash photography, you better not get this one.

StarTech.com HDACFM5IN 5 in High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet- HDMI to HDMI Mini- F/M

I needed a converter with a small bezel/grip around the male end, as the connector on my graphics card was in a narrow indentation in my case. This worked perfectly with the redmere hdmi cable I was using -I have a good signal and autodetection of the television works fine.

Nothing bad to say about it. I use it to connect my PC to an amp/receiver and since my gfx card only has mini hdmi I needed these to convert it. Works flawlessly.

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I purchased this to use with my AAXA P4-X projector. There were no issues with the cable, worked as expected.

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Does what it is supposed to do. When you only have a Mini HDMI output on your computer video card and need to connect it to your TV, this works great (along with a regular HDMI cable)

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Konica Minolta Dimage Z20 5MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Mega Zoom

I own this camera for three weeks now, and I'm very pleased with it. Bought it with a 512MB SD-card, which can handle about 250 pictures (highest quality). I never use the automatic setting, defining the shutter-speed and the diaphragm by yourself is much more fun. The possibilities with this camera are enormous. Great zoom range, also with the digital zoom disabled. The Macro-function is also a great feature. Considering the 5.0 MP, the 8x optical zoom and it's price (239 pounds), this is one of the best camera's in it's class!!

Love this camera. takes excellent pictures, great clarity. Easy to use, lots of options, nice size/shape, easy to handle. the only bad thing is that the lens cap is not attached, so you have to be careful you don't loose it!

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I liked everything about this camera... I have used Canon, Fujifilm before and this one is as good as other top brands.... Only one thing that I didn't like was the display screen...it's too small....

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I bought this refubished from a dealer here and I feel like I took advantage of Amazon. This is a great camera with amazing control and it is easy to use. I would not recommend it to a novice photographer but if you love to plow through menus to get the results you want this is the camera for you. It also starts up very quickly and sips battery power. I took at least 300-400 photos on my first set of batteries. Buy it and love it.

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We had the Dimage Z10 3MP and loved it. We were in Hawaii on the black sand beach where we dropped it and broke the battery lid latch. Otherwise we would still be using it. We liked it so much that we went out of our way to find this very hard to find Z20. Is it the best camera out there? No. There are better with more options. However, for simplicity and quality, with good features, this is the best for us. The other reason to buy this camera is the price. Under $200. Great buy!

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Olympus FE-3010 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 Inch LCD (Black)

This camera is a great value, with many shooting options and a compact size. I intend to use it for snapshots and I'm evaluating it as such.

The main reason I'm writing this review is to share some information about its video capabilities:

The camera can record audio but does not have a speaker, so in-camera playback will not have audio.

This camera does not include an XD memory card, and to store anything beyond the pathetic internal memory you will need to purchase one. XD cards can be type M, M+, or H. Type M has an access time too slow to let the highest-quality video write to the card, so you can only record 10 seconds of video in this case. I contacted Olympus and they confirmed that the M+ and H type cards circumvent this problem, allowing you to fill the entire XD card with movie data if you wish to.

This camera is a great buy! Everything you need comes in the package, except you'll have to buy an additional memory card (about $16 for 2GB). It works great and takes good pictures at night, in action, or for everyday use. It's small to fit in your pocket and has a new, sleek look. The settings are advanced and allow for every type of shooting. As a college student, this is a perfect camera. I have had no problems with it thus far.

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Good camera, very easy to use, very large screen. Only one flaw: the battery life is rather short and needs to be recharged quite often.

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I don't want to labor the points made by previous reviewers, but, the battery life is poor. The lack of sound on video is also an irritation. As someone else said, the picture quality isn't really that good; one shouldn't need to have the camera on the highest resolution possible to get just passable picture quality.

Positives: Lightweight; compact; more than reasonable software bundle and easy to use. Good zoom and image stabilization. Easy to navigate menu.

Negatives: Poor picture quality; non-standard memory card (have to mess with an adapter). Preferred shooting mode does not seem to save; every time you power on, you are back to the default. No sound on video. Poor battery life (it should not die from a full charge after shooting just 6 minutes of video).

I persevered with this camera for a couple of months. The bottom line for me was that the picture quality was much poorer than cameras very much older and far less expensive. This is probably the first and last Olympus camera that I will ever own.

I have since bought a Sony DSC-T90 and really, I could not be happier. I just wished that I hadn't wasted money on the Olympus FE-3010.

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Honestly my iPhone takes better pictures. I can't really recommend this to anyone, but it is pretty simple to use. I figured out every option in about 20 minutes, so it seems intuitive. However I would really get something else, I only have this because it was free.

Gold Plated 3.5 FT 1M Micro HDMI Type D High Speed Male Cable to HDMI Male Cable for HTC EVO 4G

Worked just fine with HTC Evo 4G. Hard to beat the price I made ($6)The EVO is the only thing that limits the use of this hdmi. Pretty much all you can do is view photos from gallery :(

I have the HTC evo, an I purchased the mini hdmi cable, an I'm only getting audio, no vid. When plugged in to hdmi tv

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Samsung HMX-W300 Shock & Waterproof Pocket HD Digital Video Camera Camcorder (Orange) with 16GB

We have used this for bike rides, swimming and even make your own pizza night. The tripod makes this camera easy to just record and do our thing. The cameras features are great and cohesive to finding what you need. Picture quality is perfect.

ViTiny UM02 Handheld USB Digital Microscope/Webcam (up to 320x on 22" Monitor) with measuremen

• Magnification: 1x to 80X, 320x on 22" monitor; Compatibility: Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000, Mac OS and Linux OS (with UVC driver installed)
• Lens & CMOS sensor: 2M pixels
• Still Image Resolution: 1600x1200 pixels (Formats: JPEG, BMP); Video Resolution: 1600x1200 pixels (Formats: AVI; Frame rate: 30FPS on 640x480 pixels); Web CAM Function
• Light Source: 4 White LED Lights; PC interface: USB 2.0
• Included Software with Powerful Measurement Function: length, angle, diameter and area etc.

I own over a hundred microscopes, including perhaps the best visible light microscope in the universe, the Keyence VHX-1000, which set me back $100K. For $90 this is a staggering microscope, and the most microscope for the money in any price range. First of all, in the VERY DIFFICULT 1x 5x magnification range (even Keyence has problems here) this microscope is simply amazing. They conquer this range with a very unusual optical strategy. Even though they advertise this microscope as 1X-320X, they don't accomplish this huge magnification range via any change in magnification! There is no "zoom!" INSTEAD. they have the most amazing focusing system. You get the blurry outline of the image you want on your screen, and then just FOCUS. The range of focus is beyond anything I have ever seen, and the result is you get this huge range of magnification SOLELY through the extended focus. Simply brilliant! You really CAN use it as a webcam! At 1200x1600 capture the details are sharp, and the depth of field excellent. As an accessory on your computer you will wonder how you ever got along without it. On top of everything else the software that comes with the microscope would normally cost as much as the microscope. It is amazingly powerful and versatile. This is simply a "must have" for any science student. Intel used to make the inexpensive QX-5 for students, the most microscope for the money until this came along. I personally dumped on Craig Barrett (when he was Intel's chairman) for discontinuing the QX-5. However, it can now rest in peace. The Viliny UM02 is simply better.

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Works ok for what I need but the measurement functions are not what I was expecting. It needs to be calibrated every use at the correct distance from the camera for the measurments to be accurate. The user interface could be better any zoom level other than "normal" (looks like about 640x480 entire window is 1/4 of my screen size) makes the image larger but makes the measurement icons disappear.

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This is a viable replacement for the Intel microscope of years ago. Easy to use, takes a bit to focus but field of view is reasonable.

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Simple to use if all you want to do is see an object up close and snap a picture.

Difficult to use if you want to use the included software for measuring and comparing images.

USB connection intermittently goes in and out. User manual clearly written by someone who did NOT

have a command of the English language. Broken English and often times instructions that don't

make sense. Achieving image stability is difficult. Light and focus tend to slightly wonder

on it's own. Probably has more to do with the cheap controls for these functions. I haven't

been able to figure out how to measure on a captured, stored image yet. Can only measure on

the live image. If the software worked better, then the value would be there for this product.

Without the software functioning as well as I expected it's overpriced.

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Ordered this web-cam on the recommendations of others here. Some observations:

1) The software that Oasis Scientific makes available on its web-site for this camera only allows taking pictures of up to 640x480 pixels. That's 0.3MP, not the advertised 2MP resolution. I tried the alternatives they linked to also (Yawcam, among others), similar resolutions ensued. For fun, I tried out Photobooth and the Mixscope on the Mac, same results as on Windows, i.e. no resolution higher than 640x480 was selectable in any of these programs.

Based on my earlier two-star review, I was contacted by Michael at Oasis Scientific (OS). He informed me that in order to get the full 2MP that one has to install the UM-CAM software off the enclosed mini-CD. Additionally, the UM-CAM software also enables other functionalities like distance measurement, etc. That's good to know but I wonder why the UM-CAM software (or at least the enabling 2MP drivers) is/are not available on the OS web site. Many laptop users have slot-loading CD drives that cannot use mini-CDs after all. For that matter, why does the web-cam install without the need for drivers if it needs a driver to achieve full functionality? One commenter found the vitiny software on the OEM web site, so I wonder why OS doesn't link to said software instead of alternatives that do not reach the 2MP advertised.

2) The stand is great for use as a web-cam: It's very pretty, made of clear polycarbonate, with solid, wide feet and a nice set of rubbery grippers to hold the camera securely. However, these pretty feet get in the way of taking close-ups with the microscope. While one can devise many ways to hold the vitiny with a standard microscope holder, the vitinys rectangular body is not as easy to mount as a more standard round microscope.

3) The LEDs add a lot glare because their light is not very diffuse and/or they are mounted too close to the lens. Thankfully, the LED brightness adjustment works great. Once one dials down the brightness of the LEDs a lot and adds a lot of ambient light, the pictures come out a lot clearer. Plus, given how blue the light of the LEDs is, ambient light adds more natural color to whatever is being photographed. For chip-identification photography, I found that illuminating the chip with an angled light-source from the side added sufficient contrast to highlight the chip markings.

I unfortunately had already requested an Amazon return by the time Michael contacted me regarding the requirement to use UM-CAM software. However, OS could do a better job of supporting their product. Ideally, they would post the latest version of the UM-CAM software on their web-site for download. They should also mention in their Amazon listing that the install software comes on a mini-CD and that the camera can only achieve its advertised specifications with the use of UM-CAM even if it behaves like a plug-and-play web-cam out of the box.

I finally settled on the Supereyes 500X 5MP USB Microscope and Stand. This camera is recognized by Windows automatically at its native resolution and can be accessed through windows explorer. The supereyes stand is a basic but usable microscope stand, allowing me to take pictures with a wide variety of magnifications. Additionally, the Supereyes LED array features at least one yellow LED to somewhat ameliorate the blue shift that the built-in LEDs build into each image. Like the ViTiny, one is best off creating great ambient light conditions rather than relying on the the built-in LED arrays.

As I see it, the vitiny 02 and its stand are meant for a different application, i.e. web-cam use with the occasional close-up (though a good one!). All that said, I thought it was great that Michael contacted me regarding my product issues. Accordingly, I have raised my review by one star to three stars.

Panasonic SVAV100 D-Snap MPEG4 Digital Video Recorder w/10x Optical Zoom

(...) I purchased my Panasonic SVAV100 D-Snap tapeless video recorder three days ago from a retail store within the first six hours (six hours in a car without Internet access) I was ready to return it. I could not get the MPEG2 video to play outside the camera. The supplied software, as it has been aptly described by others in the above reviews, is one of the worst applications I have seen in recent years as one reviewer put it "what were they thinking?" I was ready to return the camera really I was making plans to go back to the store then finally got to the Internet and I read the oh-so-simple comments on the this review board about renaming the .MOD to .MPG and I completely changed my mind about the camera the results are spectacular!

"What an engineering marvel" we all said upon seeing the results on the PC. With the camera producing native MPEG2 files it was doing what I expected it should do files that can be edited with any desktop video editor. I still can not believe the no other word for it `blunder' on the part of Panasonic's marketing and software groups. This is the only tapeless video recorder under $800 (I paid $600 with a mfg. rebate coupon) that produces native DVD quality MPEG2 files period. Why don't they just say that? Why don't they suggest renaming the .MOD to .MPG and call it a short cut for advanced users? It's just weird.... My impressions point-by-point:

First Light Setup 10/10 (out of the box and shooting video as fast as I could unwrap the plastic very easy PC software on the other hand ... read-on below...)

Ergonomics 9/10 (minor same points made by others no tripod screw, buttons though not needed for most functions while capturing images require a bit getting used to located under and behind the flip screen)

Camera menus usability 10/10 (what you need for each mode where you need it)

Convenience (read: size) 10/10 (you will always take it with you you will find yourself taking video and capturing moments like never before)

Image quality 9/10 (Carl Zeis was a genius no CZ lens here; white balance quite sensitive, but good though there is a manual mode and this videographer needs to master it for low light, contrast-y, indoor shooting)

Image stability 10/10 (as good as my image stabilized binoculars even with the optical zoom extended)

Accessories 9/10 (comes with all you'll need but why is the charging system brick and tray assembly larger than the camera itself? Charging batteries separately in a small form-factor unit is a must out-of-the-box, Panasonic requires batteries to be charged in the camera apparently there is a third-party external charger available separately. I'll be buying one soon!)

Recording Capacity 10/10 (this may surprise you I use the NORM MPEG2 that's 22 minutes good but not quite DVD quality on the supplied 512M chip and over 40 minutes on a 1G chip how much video do you need to shoot anyway? For family and activities I've not had a problem plus I can dump the chip to hard drive in a few minutes. At $60/Gig buy a couple chips. The 2G chips are soon to be sold and 4G chips are on their way that will be three hours of video on one chip!)

PC Software 0.0001/10 (total utter failure on Panasonic's part. Fortunately it is not required at all as I came to find out. Simply take the chip out, plug it into your SD chip reader desktop or laptop unit copy and rename the files there is even a freeware utility available on the Internet)

Did I mention convenience `-) 10/10 !

When I first looked into this product I was in a quandary I worried about cutting edge: "high wow factor low performance" "sounds too good to be true" I took a chance anyway I am happy I did. For more info excellent source: Do a Web search on "SVAV100" and "Jack Brown" you'll find an excellent "SVAV100 Forum" Panasonic should give this group part of their marketing budget they are far more competent.

This is a great little camcorder for having with you at all times to take short videos. You will have to download often to your computer since the SD card cannot hold much. These .MOD files for MPEG2 take up a lot of room. Most people don't like to watch long videos anyway. You will have this camcorder with you when the bigger one will be at home or in the car. The supplied software is not worth a dime. It cannot keep up with your files if you need to move them. Get Moonlight El-ecard MPEG2 Player software from the Internet. You can also transfer the videos to VHS, 8mm or DV tape. Actually, they look better doing this (then watching on your TV) than by viewing them on your computer.

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Even after reading about all the 'problems' with the SVAV100 I decided I still had to have one. I wanted a way to capture video of my daughter without looking like the proverbial "dorky-dad-with-a-video-camera." This camera lets me do that.

But, surprisingly, I've either not experienced these problems or found very simple workarounds for them. Here are some examples:

Software: there are numerous, high-quality editing programs that handle the task of editing MPEG2 video with aplomb. Most offer free demos so you can decide which works best for you at no cost.

.MOD file format: simply change the files extension to .MPG and nearly any video tool (Windows Media Player included) can read the MPEG2 files produced by the SVAV100

CODECS: I have WinXP running on a fairly new PC I didn't need to install anything to get up and running.

SD Card: the camera records 10 minutes of MPEG2-fine on the included 512M card (I get just over 20 minutes from a new 1G card). Between the two cards, 30 minutes of storage covers all the video situations I've encountered.

Battery-life: I have found replacement batteries for less than $15 each. I carry a couple of fully-charged backups which provide all the battery life I could possibly need (certainly more than enough juice to fill both SD cards, and then some).

Anyhow, this has been my experience to date; YMMV. Overall, I am very pleased with the quality of the camera and it's output.

Finally, I'd like to give kudos to Jack Brown for establishing an extremely useful SVAV100 users' forum (see URL in his review here). It contains a wealth of information and is definitely worth checking out.

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The advantage is that it is small and light, even smaller and

lighter than my cannon power shot camera. The biggst problem is

battery life, it claimed that it would be capable shoot about

60 minutes continuously, but in my experience, the battery is

gone before I finish all 20 minutes SD capacity (in Mpeg2 normal

mode).

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While the Pansonic D-SNAP has the potential for usable video quality, you need to realize that it is going to take atleast an additional $799 card to make it functional. To reach a useful quality, the D-SNAP uses a high speed Panasonic version of the SD card, which is now available as a special version 32x SD card by other sources. Today, people try to get the best price for a 30 60 minute DV tape at $5. With the D-SNAP, you'll be shopping for a $799 32x SD card, with 1 gig of storage, so you can move from 10 minutes of video to a whopping 20 minutes (which really is the bare minimum) at $799. Also, beware that the manual is clear that the high speed write times will wear down the card, and you need to run special procedures to help reduce the errors which will start occurring.

The goal with compact devices is to make recording on the road possible. So if you can avoid 2 devices, one for STILLS and one for videos, this goal is possible. However, while most cameras today consider anything less than 2 megapixels (2 million pixels) for STILLS bare minimum, the D-SNAP can only do .3 megapixel (330 thousand pixels). You can't even print a high quality wallet size.

The quality of the video is there with the D-SNAP. But the STILLs are completely unacceptable and you will be paying thousands of dollars to get 30 60 minutes of video.

The Sanyo Fisher is equally as compact, very solid construction, provides 3 megapixels for STILLS, and provides the resolution (30 frames per second) and size (640*480) required for TV. It also comes with a 512kb card, BUT it achieves 20 minutes of DVD-like quality or 45 minutes of VHS-like quality (which is very good), out of the box. It uses more recent compression technology to write at multi-mb speeds on a normal SD card. You even get 30 frames per second to meet your 360*240 PC requirements, which provides more than an hour of video. The interface is much better thought out on the Sanyo (everything is there at your finger tips, whereas the Pansonic makes you want to rip off the LCD at times because the controls are at the side). The focus is 6x zoom optical on the Sanyo, instead of 10x like the Panasonic, which is still excellent. And the ISO levels and features are exceptional. Bottom line, you can live with any downside of the SANYO. You can't live with the downsides of the Panasonic.

Talos MC102 Color Board Camera 420 Lines 3.7mm Pinhole Lens

This works well enough, but don't expect to see brilliant colors. The pinhole is small and does the job, but you'll get close to black and white most of the time with things close up getting color treatment. I'd buy again, but wish there was a bit more color.

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Pentax Optio WG-1 Rugged Waterproof Digital Camera

I bought this product for an upcoming trip to Hawaii and wanted a camera with underwater capability. I also bought the Panasonic Lumix TS3 to compare and ended up returning it. I am happy with my choice to keep the Pentax.

Here is what I liked:

The durability and the rugged feel of this camera right away impressed me. I felt like I was holding a camera that wouldn't break if I dropped it or tossed it into my purse. It was exactly what I needed for an outdoor/adventure trip. I was most excited to try out the Macro capabilities of this camera. They were among the first shots I took. All I can say is that they were amazing. Far and away, the quality was better than anything I have seen for a Point and Shoot camera. I could see individual bits of pollen when shooting a flower or individual pores on my finger. Even when I blew the images up and zoomed in, the clarity was amazing.

Once I got onto my trip, I used the camera underwater in various depths, from 3 feet of water to 250 (although I did not go down that far, this camera is only waterproof to 30 feet). The clarity of the images while zooming in in deep in water was great. I took a picture of a puffer fish that was close to 100 feet below me in 250 feet of water and the image turned out. I took pictures of sharks, dolphins, fish and coral. The pictures are clear and vibrant. The macro setting on some of the coral is to die for. I was so impressed with how these turned out. Had no problems with the camera being waterproof. After each underwater adventure (lasting from 20 minutes to two hours in the water, diving up to 20-25 feet deep for some pictures), I rinsed the camera with clean water and let it air dry before I opened any compartments. The color quality is spot on, no weird colors turning up. It is true to eye. The buttons are also easy to use and change to the best setting (outside, underwater, macro, auto, sport, etc). All of my pictures in daylight and soft light turned out great. The large screen on the back makes viewing pictures easy. The self-portrait assist was a cool idea and worked great.

Negatives:

The only thing that I was NOT impressed with on this camera was low light (nighttime, inside)/no light (nighttime, outside) conditions. Whenever it was dark out, the pictures often turned out blurry, even with the flash on. I may have had it on the wrong setting, because some of them turned out great, but others, not so great. Or it may have been user error (whenever I took the pictures, they generally turned out fine, the ones that are blurry tend to be when I asked random people to take a picture of me). I didn't play around with the settings at night too much mostly because I had a DSLR camera with me that I used in those conditions. I did take a lot of sunset pictures that turned out great on this camera. But once the sun was down....not so much. Also, I went for a night dive with this camera, the underwater camera is useless at night because the flash captures particles in the water and with no flash it's too blurry. However, the underwater video recorder worked great at night.

Overall, this is a great camera for it's price. The camera performs well under most conditions. I lugged it around on a dusty six mile hike, underwater, running, and everything else you can imagine. The camera is easy to wash off, waterproof and has a FANTASTIC macro ability that I have never seen on a point and shoot camera before. If you are expecting this to be a DSLR, remember that this is a POINT AND SHOOT camera. Even so, some of the pictures rivaled my DSLR camera. I highly recommend this camera.

Check out my updating youtube videos. I am user: "PentaxWG1" The good the bad the ugly. The over all feel of this camera is strong and gripable. I love having metal and rubber on my electronics. I have dropped this camera. It was on my lap in the jeep and there was a hornet. I jumped out and it threw to the ground. No problems. The removable circle around the lens (macro stand) has threads. They are 46mm and can screw on filters and caps. I got a cap, uv filter, polorized filter, and flourecent filter on e-bay for $6. So other than the sony TX10, this is the only camera that can protect the lens. Can't wait to buy a telescopic lens. My camera has been underwater about 15 ft. I've seen no problems with leaking. It has two openeings; one for battery and sd card, and one for hd/av hook-up. Both seem strong and sturdy to me. Battery cover does move ever so slightly but seems fine. Ok, thats the construction. As you have already heard, the macro/super macro is awesome. If you can get your specimen to sit still, you can get some pretty great material. The movie macro is even pretty cool, but you have to stay at a consistant focal length or it gets blury. I recorded a wolf spider in pitch black and the l.e.d. lights around the lens made it look like a monster movie! One bad thing about the macro is that when set straight down on the subject it will focus and take the picture on something as flat as a leaf or picture.... if it protrudes as much as a dime width or more it won't stay focused. But when I pulled back just a hair the dime did look awsome. N-E-Wayz, It seems the closer you are to the subject with this camera the better it looks. A closer shot of two people, shoulders and up, look really good. But further away not so much. pictures of groups of people (full body) or the shot of a pond or a... cow...I say the camera is about par. Not bad but not great. I have tried the cybershot TX10 and if you strictly want waterproof picture quality go that way or panasonic. TX10 was beautiful but not as fun. Back to the WG-1. With par pics I do feel the camera is more consistant than its predesessor w90. Better with stand, free hand not as good..but always the same. Never a crappy picture out of nowhere. I also feel it does much better in lower light than the w90. It gets noisey but I was getting decent lighted shots (no flash) in areas that where very dim to the naked eye. The l.e.d. lights are handy, too. Optical zoom works pretty well for pictures. You'll want a steady hand or stand if zoomed all the way in. Digital zoom sucks. The panorama is not sweep. You take 3 pics and line them up, then the camera stitches them. Not as convinient as the TX10 but it looks good and you can do tricks...As for underwater. Pictures and video where pretty darn good. Anti shake or wudever made it pretty smooth. With video underwater or above the zoom works but it doesn't refocus very well. But over all regular video was better than I expected. Once again when things are close it seems very virbrant. I got about a foot from a cow's face and the fur on his head got very HiDef-ish. Battery life....sucks, but I got and extra generic one when I ordered mine for 6 bucks. Over-all I really love this camera. I've been totally entertained for 2 days and havn't even gotten to time lapse phtography yet. Although I do think of the pic quality of the TX10 now and then. I would have been bored with that camera after one dip in the lake. I can get a 10 mp zoom camera for less than a hundred and fill in anywhere the wg-1 lack.

Buy Pentax Optio WG-1 Rugged Waterproof Digital Camera Now

We owned a Pentax's first waterproof camera (Optio W10) and loved it. So when it came time to upgrade we bought this one before our trip to Mexico. We choose this one because of its ergonomic design. We figured this would work wonders when splashing around underwater and be easy to hold onto. The ergonomic design is the only redeeming feature of this camera.

At first we were concerned about how loose the battery door was. The battery door stayed shut but it would slide partially open when closed and was very loose (not enough for water to actually get in but enough to make us concerned). Thinking it might just be the camera we picked up, we went back to the store where we bought it from. After looking at other ones it appears to be part of the design. This should have been our first clue that this is a horrible camera.

While on vacation in Mexico the camera froze several times requiring the battery to be removed to get it to unfreeze. Now this can be a true problem when you need to let the camera dry for about an hour before opening the battery door otherwise you risk exposing both the battery and memory card to water.

We also discovered small water spots on the inside of the display screen. Clearly it is not as waterproof as claimed. I am glad we were only using it while wading in the ocean and not actually snorkelling.

The battery life is extremely poor requiring charging every two days when the camera is moderately used.

We also found the image quality not that good. After returning from our vacation, we looked at old images from our previous camera (Optio W10) and they were much better even though it was only 6 megapixels. In fact the same picture taken with our iPhone 3Gs had a better image quality.

Pros

Great rugged looking design

Cons

Poor image quality

Freezes

Not completely waterproof

Poorly manufactured

Summary

Clearly Pentax designed a nice looking camera that gives the illusion of ruggedness; however, their production quality of this model is extremely poor. We've returned the camera and are looking for a different one (not from Pentax) to replace it with.

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I am currently deployed to Afghanistan and I am around some rough terrain all the time with different conditions. Hot, Dusty, Cold, Wet, Rocky and this camera hasnt stopped working yet. I have dropped it from about 8 feet high off of a vehicle and yeah it is scratched but still works perfect. I have had it get wet but havn't used it submerged in water for a period of time yet. But I will. So far everything is awesome. I especially like the Safety clip it comes with. I think that was a great idea but I would suggest possibly upgrading the clip if you are a big outdoorsmen. Other than all of that it is awesome and totally recommend it.

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The most fantasticly durrible camera I have ever seen. I have litterally tossed this thing around just for the fun of it, and it withstands anything.

Performs great underwater. A few bubbles come out of the power button which scared me at first, but it's normal.

The battery charges only through an external charger (so it can have less waterproof ports I suppose)

I am using a 16gb SD card which works great in it. Screen is comfortably large and bright.

Digital microscope blew my mind with the clarity and detail that can be achieved. Zoom is reasonable.

Pictures have a dramatic feel to them with great contrast.

Software is easy to use, and took me about an hour to know every feature. Great photo editing software is BUILT INTO THE CAMERA to do whatever effects you need done.

Self-portrait mode is a little bit flaky but very interesting none the less. Who uses facial recognition anyway, really? lol.

The feel of the camera is phenomenal. Rubber and very hard grippy plastic cover the whole camera, and gives a very rugged and tough feel, but it is such a tiny lightweight package.

Manual zoom, focus, aperture, and ISO come in very handy.

All in all a fantastic camera, worth every penny. :)

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HDMI Cable M-F Extension Gold Plated Connectors 3ft

I ordered this product to fill a gap between my tv and cable box, and after nearly a year the extension is still working. Good product if you need those extra few inches.

works well great price. Had need for it to hide in a wall from DVD to a TV. Worked well.

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This extension was GREAT! And price very well! I needed about a 6 inch extension to properly center out television. I not only couldn't find one at these specialty stores, but if I were to order one, it was be over $50! Went on Amazon and got one for less then $10, S&H included.

Great buy (and sorry for the late review).

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I bought a bigger TV and the HDMI cord was a bit short. Extension is just the right length so I didn't have to run a longer HDMI cord through the wall. Works great.

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Coolpix AW100 Waterproof Digital Camera (Orange)

So I got stationed in Kwajalein Atoll in the pacific with prime Scuba/Snorkling/sailing realestate. I at first bought a cheap-O 8MP and hated every minute of it. I fineley got recomended this camera form a friend. Fineley I broke down and decided that since I can't afford a $8000.00 Camera like some rich jerks lol:P Just kidding. I decided to go with this Nikon Coolpix. It is my first high priced digital camera. I have always used Film. This thing is great. I took many great pictures and have gotten them to look almost as good as all the people with the $8000.00 cameras.

Of course I say almost. Its compact size makes it extremely easy to carry and snorkle with. The big screen on back makes navigating the menu easy while under water. The quick selection buttons make swithing to Macro or Video underwater an easy task. I took it right out of the box, charged the battery for 30Min and was off snorkling and it lasted an hour and a half without dying on me.

I got some good macro shots of a clown fish and many other fishies. The menus are easy to go through. I didn't need the manual at all. For the price, portability and ability to set manual settings makes this totaly worth the investment. The built GPS and compas is good too. If my boat stahls or I get lost at see, I could even use the compas or GPS since it actually works, not that I would every actaully use it for that but hey, its nice to know you could.

So to conclude. Its great, easy to clean, operate and can be used in the water, out at night or durring the day. Unlike High end, $8000.00 camera set ups which are bulky and costly, this does everything. This combined with Lightroom and photoshop for editing, almost all of the pictures come out great.

Cheers.

These are very dependable cameras. We are part of a family that has a real passion for pictures, and of course that is still the best way to preserve those memories.I like the fact that you can leave out in the morning taking snap-shots and delete all your mistakes before you say your prayers.What a great camera for all those beach parties and mid-night swims.The price was such that I had to have two,because the only way for a photographer to get in the picture is to find another camera bug.

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This was purchased so that my wife would stop borrowing my camera and not returning it. She loves it and would give it 5 stars. I however was disappointed with color mode and some of the other modes like portrait. There other cameras that do a better job for this price that are not waterproof, so if you don't need the waterproof feature get something else.

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Canon VIXIA HFS10 HD Dual Flash Memory w/32GB Internal Memory & 10x Optical Zoom - 2009 MODEL

I have owned a small wedding videography company for 5 years and after using this camera for a week I am incredibly pleased with it. If you want the smallest camcorder you can get without sacrificing video quality in any way, than this is the camcorder for you. I am amazed at how small this thing is while still having a professional grade lens. This is the same Canon lens as on their GL2 which is probably the most popular entry level professional camcorder ever (which I have owned for a few years).

Pros:

1.) Professional camera lens with superb HD video quality (even in low light situations). I cannot express enough how amazing the pictures look.

2.) 32 GB of internal Flash memory (This is the only difference from the HFS100)

A.) Flash memory is instant. No waiting for tapes to wind or hard drives to spin.

B.) Flash memory helps keep the camera small.

C.) Flash memory protects data from being lost due to the camera being dropped or hit (a real problem with hard drive cameras).

3.) The still picture quality, even with the built in flash, is unbelievable for a camcorder. I feel like I am shooting with my Rebel XTi.

4.) I love the auto open and close lens cover. It only opens when you are actually shooting. If the camera is off or if you are reviewing it immediately closes.

5.) Menus are very easy to navigate.

Cons:

1.) Doesn't come with an HDMI cable. Since it doesn't take a normal sized HDMI cable I think there is no excuse for that.

2.) Doesn't come with a battery charger. You either have to spend $50 to get one or recharge batteries using the camcorder itself.

3.) $200 more than the HFS100 for only 32GB of internal storage is way too much. Should have only cost an extra $100. Unless you need to be able to record more than 2.5 hours of shooting without changing SDHC cards, then get the HFS100 because 32GB class 6 SDHC cards only cost $100.

4.) Only comes with the BP-809 battery which doesn't even last an hour. So you will need to buy the BP-827 which costs another $150. The BP-827 does stick out from the back just a slight bit, but not even an inch and is totally not noticeable nor does it add any real weight.

5.) 10X optical zoom is a little slim for my liking. I am used to 20X.

This camcorder is basically a professional lens barrel with an LCD on the side which gives you the best picture quality possible while keeping the size incredibly small. I cannot encourage you enough to get this camcorder though I would advise the HFS100 over this to save a little money. Remember, the HFS100 is the identical camcorder except it does not have internal memory.

Canon VIXIA HFS100 HD Flash Memory Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

The Vixia HFS10 is an upgrade for me, coming from the Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD 60 GB HDD Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom. I've been enjoying the HG20 for a few months now, so being able to dig in to the new features on a 2009 model camera has been a real treat.

Right off the bat, the video image quality on the HFS10 is incredible. Hands down, the best I have ever used. Facial recognition is blazing fast and accurate, even when people are moving reasonably fast. Recording in low light indoors produces bright and clear results. Recording in very bright light outdoors produces a razor-sharp picture with virtually no halo effects or bleeding. This is where Canon really shows off the new Digic 3 processor.

The 10X optical zoom is smooth, and doesn't lose focus easily when zooming in and out. However, at this price point, 10X is certainly on the lower end of the spectrum of what's available. While that's disappointing, the image stabilization definitely makes up for it. At full zoom, the image stabilization compensates for normal "jitters" exceedingly well.

On the still image side, the Digic 3 is able to bring some nice surprises, as well. The "real" pop-up flash works better than expected for indoor shots. For most point-and-shoot scenarios, the HFS10 will stomp all over Canon Elph cameras, and comes pretty close to what you'd expect from a PowerShot (albeit, at a different overall resolution).

Again, the image stabilization really shines with still pictures. But one thing I did notice, is that the HFS10 seems to do "strange things" with still images in low light. Things that should have halos (e.g. sunsets) don't, even with different CP and UV filters.

Speaking of filters, the HFS10 has a 58mm lens barrel. So, you have tons and tons of filter options at every imaginable price point. Out of habit, I threw on a SUNPAK CF-7034 UV Ultra-Violet Filter that I had lying around my SLR gear bag along with a spare cap. Though I'm not real big on Tiffen glass, I also tried out a Tiffen 58MM Circular Polarizer, which produced really interesting results with some nature videos.

Anyone who has used a previous generation Vixia or Canon still camera will feel right at home with the menu system. The layout is basically the same, and functions are right where you'd expect them to be. For those not familiar with Canon cameras, getting used to the menu system is very easy.

The only thing that really took some adjustment was using the "time machine" feature that lets you go back and record something that happened three seconds in the past. It works flawlessly, but adjusting to the delay in the viewfinder was really difficult for me to get used to.

Also new for this year: logical port placement, and decent quality port protectors! The HDMI, USB, and component connectors are on the right side of the camera and have a sturdy plastic door to protect them, instead of the flimsy rubberized plugs on last year's models (and they're no longer behind the LCD!). Strangely, Canon has chosen to move the battery release behind the LCD, making it a bit awkward to switch out batteries.

The included Canon BP-807/808 battery consistently gives about 90 minutes of continuous use. I was happy to see that last year's batteries are compatible, so I've been using a Canon BP-819, which gives just over 200 minutes. Although the BP-819 is a larger battery, it's almost flush with the back of the camera when installed.

Of course, the included software is trash. I installed it for the sake of reviewing it, but really, if you're looking to spend this kind of money on a camera, you owe it to yourself to spend another couple hundred on decent video editing software. As a Mac user, iMovie does a passable job, but takes forever to do its various conversions from AVCHD. I stepped up to Final Cut Express 4, which works perfectly with this camera. Of course, there are many options for Windows users as well.

The biggest shortcoming -and this is huge if you travel with a laptop -is that Canon still seems married to the idea that you can't export pictures or video from the internal memory without plugging in to AC power. I can't for the life of me figure out the logic behind this. If you have a fully charged BP-819 (or even an 807, for that matter!), that's not nearly enough power to copy over some still pictures, in Canon's estimation. Of course, you can save everything to SD and just pop the card out, or do camera-to-card-to-computer copies, but it's ridiculous that you can't import ANYTHING from the internal memory without being plugged in to a wall.

Were it not for that, I'd be comfortable overlooking the other minor imperfections and giving this a solid 5 stars. And, if you're not planning on doing more than recording and watching your videos when you're away from home, consider this a 5-star review. But if you're planning on uploading a few videos and / or pictures while you're on vacation (or something more professional, like mobile editing), don't plan on doing it without access to AC power.

All things considered, though, if I was looking for a camera in this price range, The Vixia HFS10 is the first and only camera that would be on my list.

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I exchanged a Sony HDR 500v for this camcorder after getting a loud hissing sound from the sony. That gave me a chance to actually play with the sony a little bit before returning it. In a few words if you are familiar with manual controls in photography, you'll love the Vixia (which is my case). If you need something simpler, point-and-shoot-kind-of devise, go with the sony. I'm a professional photographer who does video for fun and I absolutely like the amount of manual controls this camera offers. (The sony didn't even have a sound level meter that you could turn on! A must if you use a second mic.)

It also has this 'springy' on-screen-menu that allows you to change your recording settings in as little as two steps. Very very helpful, again for the person who likes manual controls.

Another feature which I really like is the fact that they placed the remote control sensor on the LCD viewer, which allows you to use the remote control to actually record from any position as long as you have a direct view of the LCD screen. The sony has the remote sensor in the front which forces you to be in front of the camera if you want to activate the recording (almost impossible when you are anywhere but in front of the camera). For example if you mount your camera on a monopod when you need to get a shot over a crowd of people, and your fingers cant reach the record button because it is too high, with the sony is impossible to use the remote to do this because the sensor is in front of the camera even if you have very long arms you still are going to have a hard time making it record. Both Canon and Sony removed the LANC input on these new cameras so there is no way to operate them remotely with wired LANC controls. So in the canon as long as you have the LCD facing you then you can use the remote control to start/stop recording.

And one more little thing which I think is great is the ability to turn the recording light off. (The red light you see in the front of cameras) This is great because some people get uncomfortable when they know they are being recorded. When they think the camera is off they act natural and thus you get better expressions in your video.

Read Best Reviews of Canon VIXIA HFS10 HD Dual Flash Memory w/32GB Internal Memory & 10x Optical Zoom - 2009 MODEL Here

Canon VIXIA HFS10 is currently the top-of-the-line Canon consumer camcorder. It takes very good quality full HD video (one of the best among consumer level camcorders). The optical image stabilization is very useful and face detection is accurate. Autofocus is very fast and the menu system is intuitive. Low light capability is decent (but improved a lot by using the video light for video recording or internal flash for taking photos). The pre-recording mode is very useful for shooting sport, action, fireworks, child and other scenarios where it is often hard to predict when those Kodak moments will exactly be until it has happened/passed. It also has filter thread so you can install lens filter to enhance the video/image and to protect the lens. The LCD is very sharp and clear from wide viewing angle. It has a dual shooting mode where video recording and photo taking can be done without switching settings.

Taking photos with Canon VIXIA HFS10 is also very good. Image quality is very sharp with 8.59-megapixel CMOS image sensor that is also found in Canon DSLR. Taking photos in continuous mode is also very good (about 4 frames per second, comparable to DSLR cameras), however, the shutter response is nowhere near the DSLR (it's slower than DSLR), and I'm used to the DSLR almost no-lag shutter response so I will continue to use my DSLR cameras most of the time. For point and shoot customers, they won't notice the shutter lag (as it is the same if not better than most point and shoot camera) and they will probably be able to replace their point and shoot camera with this camcorder as it produces image quality better and sharper than most point and shoot cameras.

Pros:

1. Video quality (1920 X 1080 Full HD) comparable with many professional camcorder and is one of the best quality for consumer level

2. Image quality for photos are sharp and vivid (8 megapixel).

3. Zoom Covers super wide angle to semi-zoom (6.4mm to 64mm) before the 1.7x magnification.

4. Built in 32GB built-in flash memory

5. Very effective optical image stabilization (a combination of optical and image sensor stabilization)

6. Lens filter thread (I installed 58mm UV/Haze filter to reduce UV and also help protect the front glass element)

7. Autofocus is very fast and includes a very accurate face detection to keep people's face in sharp focus

8. up to 24 hour recording in LP mode (with 64GB total memory, 32Gb built-in, and 32GB SD card)

9. Innovative Pre-record mode is available (and never miss critical shots anymore)

10. Video snapshot mode (shot short movie clips and blend with music tracks)

11. Almost instant on and record (stand-by to recording in less than 1 sec and from off in less than 2 sec)

12. Continuous mode for taking photos is very fast (though the shutter lag isn't nearly as good as SLR cameras)

13. Record HD videos and take 6MP photo to memory card simultaneously

14. Small but bright video light and photo flash.

15. Built-in automatic lens cover

16. Wireless remote control included

17. Bright and clear 2.7 inch lcd screan (and the image is sharp)

18. Very easy to navigate the menu (even though there are so many options and settings available)

19. 24p cinema mode and 30p progressive mode included

20. pre-programmed video and photo mode (sunset, night, beach, spotlight, fireworks, etc)

21. Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Program mode available (in addition to Auto setting)

22. Dual shot mode (capture video and photo without having to change setting)

Cons:

1. Only 10x optical zoom (not sure why Canon doesn't make this top-of-the-line camcorder 20x or 30x optical zoom)

2. No seamless recording transition from one memory to the other memory

3. Included batteries only last about 75-90 minutes of recording time

4. Shutter response still not as fast as DSLR

5. Low light performance is average (improved if using the video light or internal flash)

6. A bit bulky compare to many other flash memory camcorders

7. Not the lightest camcorder but still lighter than DSLR cameras

8. 24Mbps recording mode has many restriction (require fast speed flash memory, and not all DVD player can playback)

9. No touch screen LCD

10. Non-standard accessory shoe terminal (better than none though. can use VL-5 video light or DM-100 microphone)

11. Must plug in ac adapter to transfer internal memory data to computer

12. No optical viewfinder

13. HDMI cable not included

14. Doesn't come with external battery charger (use the camcorder to charge the battery instead)

15. Top-of-the-line price

In conclusion, Canon VIXIA HFS10 is targeted for those who are looking for a consumer camcorder with the best video quality with a lot of internal flash memory (32GB) that can also take photo with the best image quality and the largest megapixel to date for a canon camcorder (8MP). Basically, Canon Vixia HFS10 is currently the top-of-the-line Canon consumer level camcorder.

Also check out the following Canon camcorders that has comparable main feature (Full HD video and DIGIC DV III image processor) before deciding to buy Canon VIXIA HFS10 (and decide whether any of these camcorders will fit your needs therefore avoid paying the premium that Canon VIXIA HFS10 command):

Canon VIXIA HFS100 (no internal flash memory, 10x optical zoom, 8.59-megapixel CMOS image sensor)

Canon VIXIA HF20 (32GB internal flash memory, 15x optical zoom, only 3.89-megapixel CMOS image sensor)

Canon VIXIA HF200 (no internal flash memory, 15x optical zoom, only 3.89-megapixel CMOS image sensor)

Sidarta Tanu

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Since there have been so many long reviews posted already, I will try to keep mine short and sweet. I'll just highlight some of the things that stand out to me and make a few comments.

Verdict: If you can afford it, probably the best (certainly one of the best) consumer HD video cam on the market today.

Features:

Outstanding lens

8.59-megapixel CMOS image sensor!

Quality build

Excellent picture quality

Good auto-focus system is fast and accurate

Optical image stabilization

Reliability and easy transfer of flash based system.

Decent 32 GB of internal flash memory

Good menu system is easy to use and understand

Built-in mic port

Superb feature set lots of bells and whistles (serious amateuers rejoice!)

Near pro-level capabilities and lots of manual control

Good macro capabilities

Excellent remote control capabilities (can control from many angles)

Gripes:

No optical viewfinder (sadly, becoming the norm)

No separate battery charger included (but more the norm these days, alas)

No HDMI cable (ditto)

Expensive (but you get what you pay for)

Batteriesyou will need to carry several

Must be on A/C power to transfer (but can use SD card as alternative)

Overall, an outstanding camera that is fun to use and yields great results. The latest in a long line of outstanding consumer video cameras from Canon. If you are serious about video, this is your camera. I am giving it 5 stars because, even though it's not perfect, it's the best I've ever seen.

Serous videographers will love this camera. Five stars!

========================================================

P.S.

My two cents worth if you are an average joe looking to make family movies, you should still consider the standard def models. They have far more zoom range and are much easier to hand-hold and shoot. They produce great results, there's lots of low cost and good editing software, their resolution is great for DVD's, and the tapes are easy to use and store. You really need a tripod with HD cams, and editing is much harder and more difficult. The picture quality on the better std def cameras is excellent, not HD, but plenty good. And you can save a ton of money. I still use my std def cams for lots of family stuff.