Canon PowerShot SD980IS 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Ultra Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

The SD980 camera is pretty small, and will fit in almost any pocket. Because it doesn't have any significant protrusions, it is easy to take it out of the pocket without accidentally pulling out other things as well. It feels good in the hand, and I personally don't have a problem with the lack of a hand grip or viewfinder. The body is almost all metal, and has a nice feel.

Without boring you any further, let's see the cons and pros of this camera:

The pros:

1. 24 mm wide angle. This is very impressive, and very few compact cameras have it. What 24mm means is that you can take pictures in tighter spaces, take pictures of large groups without moving back too much, and nice landscape shots.

2. The corner sharpness is great. Almost all of the other cameras that I viewed picture samples of have very soft corners at wide angles. Soft corners means that the details in the 4 corners of the picture are poor, and if you view the image at 100%, or if you need large prints, this will show.

3. At ISO 80, the picture is pretty clean. Now you have to understand that most if not all the cameras that use a 12MP 1/2.3" sensor use the same sensor, probably made by Sony. So everything else being equal, the noise is the same for all of them. What is different is how the camera tries to remove the noise (noise reduction). Even at the base ISO (80), there is some noise reduction, which gets rid of most of the noise, but with it some of the detail is lost as well. Canon generally does a pretty good job keeping most of the detail and remove most of the noise (again, at ISO 80). Each camera manufacturer does it differently, and I like the Canon way best. At higher ISOs, even at 200, the detail start disappearing, and more noise is visible. I would not use an ISO over 80, unless if I really, really have to. I'd rather have a low shutter speed and rely on the IS feature, which works pretty well, and take multiple shots hoping that at least one is good.

4. Even though there are no manual controls, you still have AE (auto exposure) and AF (auto focus) locks, both in the still picture and movie mode. You will need to read the manual for how to use them, they are hard to find. AE is enabled in a different way in the still and movie mode. So with AE lock you can sort of simulate a manual shutter speed, by pointing the camera to an area that fits your needs (such as the sky or ground) and engage the AE lock.

5. HD movie, which looks pretty good. It is not using MJPEG, which means that you can get a smaller file size, so more movie can be recorded on an SD card. However, the movie might not play on older (slower) computers. I didn't try to play it on a netbook, but I would not expect it to work well on netbooks.

The cons:

1. There is no hardcover manual. You can get it online, or from the CD that comes with the camera, but it is nice to be able to take a quick reference guide with you in the field, at least until you get used to the camera controls. They wasted a paper with stupid warnings about copyright violations and a useless "getting started" manual, but the hard to find things are in the PDF file. The really useful things, such as AE LOCK, AE Lock during the movie, and AF lock are very hard, if not impossible to find without the PDF file. First I thought those options are not even available in the movie mode, until I read the manual.

2. The macro mode is not very useful, because the minimum focus distance is 5 CM (2"), at 24mm. At such a wide angle, the captured area is pretty big, so you can't get very close.

3. No manual controls, no RAW support. Sure, most people don't need those features, but they don't cost anything, and Canon already has them, they just decided to leave them out. The maximum shutter speed is only 15 seconds, even though it could be as high as 30 minutes. Sure, the image would be noisy, and the amp-glow would get in the way, but why not let people make their own decision whether they accept those trade-offs or not?

4. You can't zoom in the movie mode. That's because the zoom motor is too loud, and it would get recorded in the movie. However, there are situations where you are not interested in the sound, so it would be nice for Canon to give more freedom to the customers.

Some other things to consider:

1. Even though many people think that a 5X zoom camera goes pretty far in magnifying distant objects, what the 5X means is the ration between the focal range in mm. In this case, it is 120mm/24mm. 120mm is a magnification level of just 2.4 times, compared to the human eye (which has a focal distance equivalent of ~50mm). This means that if you are interested in taking pictures of birds or wildlife, this camera might not be good for you.

2. As with any other 12MP camera on a 1/2.3" sensor, anything above the base ISO will be noisy. ISO 1600 is almost unusable, ISO 3200 is even more unusable and the image size is 1600x1200 pixels.

3. The lens is pretty slow at the tele end.

4. There is some low to moderate purple fringing, but better than some other cameras. I am pretty picky about purple fringing and I still like this camera.

To sum it up, this is a very good camera for almost everyone, unless if you need good macro, wildlife, or low light capabilities. I really wish Amazon allowed a 10 stars system, because this camera deserves 9 out of 10. However, I am going to give it 5 stars, partially because I think that despite some of it's flaws, it is a very good camera, and partially because some previous reviewers gave it unfair ratings.

[edited on October 11]

Now that I ported CHDK to some extent so that I can get RAW files, it seems that the camera does some cheating.

At the wide angle, the picture is cropped and some distortion correction is done, then the image is UPSAMPLED (interpolation) to 12MP. That's not very good. However, there is a good side to this, if you use the RAW image (which is pretty distorted, but can be fixed on the PC) then you get an even wider angle, about 22mm or so.

Ok so after reading so many negative reviews about this product, I decided to get my hand on one to find out. Lucky for me a close friend of mine bought it and I got a chance to run through it for a while. After playing with it for hours, I figured out that most of the negative reviews on this product are simply ridiculous and make no sense at all. So here is what I manage to work out with this spectacular camera.

Starting with the EXTERIOR:

The body of the SD980 is sleek, stylish, narrow and thin just like that of the SD960. It feels quite firm and durable for its size. Nothing less than SD800 or SD880 since some people mistaken this body as plastic but it is NOT plastic. The front cover and back is metallic and only the rims around camera has a rubbery feel to it. The buttons got cut short to only 2 buttons for playback and menu along with a dial like all recent SD series. So pretty much after a few minutes I got use to this camera like I was on any of the SD800 or SD880 and SD960. For those with larger hand, holding this camera with 1 hand is definitely will be somewhat of a challenge. There is a slight wavy grid near the playback button that suppose to serve as a grip but it only works for those with smaller hands. My hands are not too big or too small so I could actually use this camera with one hand without any problem.

The MENU & FEATURES:

Canon has replaced their menu with something new. Quite simple, pretty clear where everything suppose to be. All the shooting mode are together, ISO is easy set. Also has custom white balance nearby for those who know how to use it. Everything is push to the left side of the screen and all you have to do is scroll up and down and enter the sub menu to adjust the setting. I really like this layout since it somewhat give the camera a more stylish look on the menu instead of filling up your whole screen with menu and words. Also, Ive seen some of the previous reviews complaining about taking 2-4 steps to delete a picture. FOR GOODNESS SAKE PEOPLE READ THE ON SCREEN TIPS!!! It only take 1 easy step to delete the photo! On your playback screen, if you want to delete a photo all you have to do is press on the screen, drag your finger downward and to the left (backward L shape) and it will delete the image!!! Why would you go into the menu and go down to delete and then enter the sub-menu to delete? Ok so they DO have that option too but using the screen its not that hard! Canon made this camera so versatile that a monkey can work it. So you can scroll through the images in 3 different ways, how can ANYONE complain about that? In playback mode you can simply use the DIAL to press back and forth and navigate through the pictures the traditional way. Then you have the touch screen to slide the photo left right, tap to zoom in and double tap to zoom out. Also you got the motion sensing function, shake the camera up or down to change the image. 1 hand user can do this easily! Same for the Delete functions, there are 2 to 3 ways to can delete an image. So take your time and play with it a bit more to find out all of the functions.

The TOUCHSCREEN:

Canon decided to throw in a bonus touchscreen for this particular model and I must say its something new for the SD series. At first, you might have some awkward feeling since its not as sensitive as iPhone, however this is one of the more recent style of touchscreen where it require a bit more pressure so that you wont ACCIDENTALLY change any setting. Most of the phones now are this type of touchscreen not the iphone touchscreen. The recent Nokia N97 and other new phones like samsung touchscreen ones also used this kind of LCD that require a bit more pressure. After using it for a while I was already use to the touchscreen and flipping photos back and forth quite comfortably. The only problem Ive seen with the touch screen so far is the touch focus, sometime when your focus point is so small the camera dont know what you are trying to focus on but after 2 or 3 tries it does focus. Im getting the hang of it though. Again, as I was mentioning before, the touchscreen is a bonus to the dial pad, it allows you to do what a dial pad can also do but FASTER. So you can delete image, scroll through images, set flash, focus point, anything else with ease by using the touchscreen. I love this camera for this particular feature too.

IMAGE QUALITY:

The main portion of this review, image quality. So some of previous reviews mentioned about fuzzy photos. I dont know what you did wrong but I have my SD880, my sister's SD800 and this D980 side by side shooting the same thing. When I open them up the images is about the same!!! Sharpness is pretty much the same I would say in some cases the SD980 is sharper! and the color is more vibrant than the other 2. Noise isnt so bad at 400 as few has mentioned. You must understand this is a 12mp, so more flaws will be seen at larger size, but to downsize to the same resolution, the images from the SD980 is probably better than the SD800 at most of the time. I have some amazing shots came out during my test play with this thing. The only "Fuzziness" I can see is from the hand shake at slow shutter or no flash mode. But even then i rarely get those, I do have very steady hand from shooting DSLR so I can hand hold this camera at 1 sec. I just love how I can use touch focus on anything anytime and it works well for me. This thing has so much manual functions that Im starting to like it more than SD880 or SD800. So there were a few comments about not having MANUAL. So I checked the SD880 and SD800 manual functions, and this camera can do pretty much everything the same in P mode! It can set Flash, ISO, Long Shutter, EXP Compensation, Slow Sync, Shooting mode, metering, WB, Macro with touch focus is NICE, you can even set how long the long shutter can be, how many shots to take when its on timer mode! Try doing that with the SD800! With such flexible settings I can get some really good images from playing around with these features. If you've only shot AUTO and wrote a review on this camera, I think you should give the camera another look, seriously. The Video is out of the question, crisp and wicked nice! Someone said you cant zoom during video and you hear the motor of the zoom. That is WRONG! YOU CAN ZOOM, for 5x optical, you only hear the motor zooming when you kick in the Digital zoom! I always avoid digital zoom anyways. So The HD video is a plus on this thing. 24mm wide allow me to get some really nice shot, I love the wide angle shot and very useful for me in some cases. Playing with ISO 400-800 I noticed the SD800 and SD880 also have really bad noise as well. To be fair, I also tried resize all of them to the same size of 8mp and sd980 is showing some very impressing image quality at that size. They are point and shoot, obviously they aren't going to deliver amazing photos like 5DmarkII at 3200 ISO. So I think we should cut it some slack and move on with it. It's doing fine and I think this one deliver what canon promised.

FINAL THOUGHT:

So Ive only used this camera from my friend in approximately 2-3 hours and I manage to work out everything he was complaining about (multiple steps to delete, lack of manual, reviewing images, so forth..). Now that he learned more about his new camera he no longer complain about it. He started to use the touchscreen more often as well. I like it so much I just ordered one for myself prior to writing this review. I just think people need to give their gadgets a bit more time as they explore the thing. Just because its a point and shoot doesnt mean you can think you've figure it all out in that first 10 minutes of using it. This camera pack a lot of punch. A lot of features are there but Ive not mentioned them like how you can sort out images, favorite them, tag them, sort it out into categories and folders, and locking images so on. It's an amazing camera. As a person who shoot with a DSLR I must admit this thing is doing great. After I read so many negative reviews here I went on other professional photographers websites who own this particular camera to research more about it and there even was someone who said the image quality is so good he ignore everything else bad about the camera. So again, give it another look before you write the review. The camera was made so that you can have lots of options to work one function. I really dig the touchcreen + buttons combination, excellent thinking from Canon. Overall I give this camera a 5 because it's excellent in image quality and ease of use, battery life isnt too bad either. I also gave it a 5 since I think people who gave it a 1 is not being fair to the camera. This camera can easily take the top standing in its class.

Buy Canon PowerShot SD980IS 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Ultra Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Now

First of all let me just say that I really wanted to love this camera. The design looks great, it feels solid in your hands, the wide-screen touch screen is fun to use, and the ultra wide angle lens opens up tons of creative possibilities. Sadly I fell out of love very quickly after taking some test shots with this camera.

I compared my test shots to my previous pocket cam, a 6MP Casio which produces satisfactory photos in good light and poor photos in low light conditions.

I love the twilight photos I was able to take with this camera while walking around Union Square in San Francisco. The colors were great, photos had good detail, the street lights sparkled and most of the photos came out relatively sharp thanks to the stabilized lens. I was thrilled that the photos were much better than what I was able to produce with the Casio.

Indoors in the evening the camera work just as well for such a small camera, I took very few flash photos, but all the available light photos I took in a dimly lit living room turned out very well for such a small camera. Sure there was plenty of noise if you looked at the low light photos up close, but over all the immages were ery pleasing to the eye when viewed on a 1080P, 52" HDTV.

Then I took the camera outside on a sunny day. Colors were decent, but the photos were very soft as if the lens were dirty. This was especially noticeable when taking photos of trees, flowers, grass.... anything detailed looked blurred, buildings and people looked fine. Daytime photos also lacked contrast, giving them a very flat quality. I tired different settings, I activated the enhanced contrast setting, it helped a little. I activated the foliage setting and it improved the detail as well, but my old Casio still produced better photos in auto mode when compared side by side on my HDTV. I left the camera on auto ISO mode and most of the daytime photos were taken at 80 to 120 ISO.

Canon made a good camera when they designed the SD980, I just think they stuffed too many pixels into such a little camera and as a result the photos are very noisy, lack detail, and exhibit poor dynamic range.

Read Best Reviews of Canon PowerShot SD980IS 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Ultra Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Here

Do NOT make conclusions on this camera based on your first impressions! After initially using this camera, I prepared a review that was going to blast it into the ground, and I was ready to return it. I decided to hold off and play with it some more, and I'm glad I did.

Background:

I'm no avid photographer, nor am I a digital camera expert. I owned a Canon SD800 for a 2+ years and loved it. All of my friends have Canons and they were all impressive (SD550, SD790, SD1100, etc), but the SD800 was the perfect camera to me. Perfect size, weight, comfort, speed, functionality, and durability. It was extremely practical yet very efficient, all the while managing to look stylish and produce great results. I've come to expect these characteristics from all Canons, so I had pretty high expectations when I bought the latest and supposed-to-be greatest in the Elph series.

Picture quality: Out of the box, you might be disappointed. The Auto mode is underwhelming at best, and at worst, just bad in indoor/low light situations. You might as well not even use Auto mode. Thanks to some very helpful tips from another reviewer ("Radu Privantu"), with the right settings, this Digital Elph can take spectacular photos. Turn down the Sharpness and Contrast, and play around with the exposure. Also, like Radu P pointed out in his review, your best bet is to remain in the lower ISO settings (I have great results with ISO 80). These settings have consistently produced the best results.

Long Shutter mode makes shooting good low-light photos a reality, provided you have a steady hand and a steady subject.

Design: From most angles, this camera is as sleek and stylish as any other Canon. From the back, the overall design and specifically the button area looks very plain and almost toy-ish. It has a nice size and weight to it (though it is slightly longer and more narrow than other cameras). A few things though make me feel like I have to handle the camera with extreme caution. For one, there are no distinct grooves or anything to rest against your fingers. Also, the texture of the camera itself has very little friction or grip, so it feels like it can slip out of your hands. At least on the SD800 I could use the mode dial as a grip point for my right thumb, but this camera has no such luxury. There is the D-pad, but it'd be hard to use that as the grip point because I'd accidentally press a button. I don't see myself taking too many one-handed snapshots with this one because of this.

Menu system: They swapped their old tried and true menu system (cross-style, red and black) for something that is little more aesthetically pleasing but slightly less practical. Some things you're used to finding in one area will be found in another. Not a problem for the most part but it may require a few extra menu sequences. For instance, the delete function (using the D-Pad) requires a 4 button sequence (SET-->SET-->RIGHT-->SET) versus the previous 2 button sequence (DOWN-->SET, or was it DOWN-->RIGHT-->SET?). Not a huge deal, but after using Canons for so long it might be difficult to adjust.

Also worth noting, navigating through the menus or scrolling through photos is not as snappy as previous Elphs.

Touchscreen: I'm not crazy about touchscreen gadgets myself because of how impractical they are versus a set of keys or buttons. That said, I found it functional and efficient for the most part. I opted for the SD980 because it offered both the D-Pad and the touchscreen controls (kudos to Canon for that), but I do prefer using the D-Pad. I didn't have any problem bouncing back and forth between the two like some online reviews said they did.

I originally wanted to call the touchscreen what it is, a blatant gimmick... But it's much more than that. The touch focus feature is a godsend! Great for shots that you can't count on the autofocus to render. The touchscreen also allows for some on-the-fly adjustments, such as exposure, though I wish they would've utilized more of the screen real estate (along the black side bars) to add more on-the-fly adjustments. Would've liked more flexibility with the four Street Fighter-esque playback gestures. They're customizable, but they don't offer a large array of options you can set it to.

The LCD quality is average. At 3" you expect to be blown away with a bright, crisp picture, but output can be fuzzy. This is to be expected though, and it is how most touchscreen gadgets are.

The screen itself is a smudge magnet. And it doesn't sink in very far from the surface of the camera, leaving it more vulnerable to scratches. Not sure how scratch-resistant it is but I'm not going to use mine to test it ;). I bought a 3" screen protector but it ended up being way too small, so be wary of purchasing one.

There is also some light bleeding out of the edges of the screen. Not really noticeable unless the onscreen picture is dark.

Active Display: Useless piece of technology. I'd rather Canon not waste their time and effort to give us the ability to flick our camera around like a Wii remote just to scroll to the next image. It takes impractical to a whole new level. Yeah, it will ooh and ahh your friends, but I could never imagine using it when I just want to scroll through pictures. Especially taking into account that the camera has little grip (and it's not like you're always going to have the wriststrap on at all times). Someone just might end up tossing this thing into a wall. This feature doesn't directly take anything away from the product, and you can even turn it off, but I'd rather Canon put their efforts towards something a bit more useful.

Battery life: Decent, but haven't taken it through a real world test of all-day use. So far, I'd say it's what you'd expect in battery life when dealing with a large touchscreen and HD video. Something else to note is that the battery and in turn the camera get HOT. Not burning hot, but I don't remember older Canons getting this hot.

Video: Pretty HD. It does what it needs to do. Contrary to popular belief, (1) you CAN zoom, and (2) you can record longer than 10 minutes, depending on the size of your memory card of course. Also something to note, the sound that is recorded while operating the zoom dial isn't a dealbreaker, but know that it is there and it is noticeable.

Final thoughts:

The Canon SD980 does have some shortcomings, but it also does a ton of things right. Any product should perform at its best right out of the box, but don't let that take away too much from what this product's best could be with the right tweaks, because it stands up admirably against other upper tier point-n-shoots. The touchscreen turned out to be more than just a gimmick, with 'touch focus' being the best feature any of the Digital Elphs have to offer, IMO.

I recommend this camera to anyone WILLING to give it a chance and not write it off after the first 10 minutes of use. You won't regret it.

Other thoughts:

I think many of the bad reviews out there are a bit unfair. Does it really deserve 1 out of 5 stars just because it doesn't meet YOUR expectations? Only an off-brand Walmart-exclusive camera that takes no better pictures than my cell phone should warrant a 1 star rating. Taking into consideration what this camera offers compared to other PnS cameras with similar specs, no legitimate review should be under 3 stars. I know everyone has their own opinion, but look at it realistically. If you feel this camera deserves 1 star or even 2, what would you rate the aforementioned off-brand Walmart camera? Please use perspective when reviewing. I officially rate this camera a 4/5, but I'm going to give it a 5 to balance out the ridiculous 1-star ratings.

***EDIT 9/17/09 Uploaded some sample pictures to Amazon's gallery. I was just messing around with some of the different modes.

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I am a commercial photographer for 10+ years and I buy these pocket cameras because I want a camera with me at all times. They are Wonderful up until this one. I've had the 500, 600, 630, 800, 870 and now the 980. LOVE them ALL except the 980.

I bought this to replace my 870 which has been the best (IMHO) of the Canon line so far.

I liked the HD video idea, loved the wider lens however.... I got one and sent it back realizing the IS really doesn't work. the 870 was amazing hand held at 1". The 980 is not working, so I returned it Amazon's return is wonderful. The new one same thing, so it is either me or they are both broke or Canon went backwards on their Image Stabilization.

Picture quality I assumed would be better with the Digic 4 chip not near as vivid as the 870 chip. The images I find are "gray" in color not contrast.

Overall I can't wait for another Canon wide angle to come out so I can replace this. I would wait to buy or buy another model. The 980 is a disappointment and Canon should kill it and update it. My experience and 2 cents.

VicTsing Dock to HDMI AV Cable Adapter for iPhone 4 4S iPad 1 2 New iPad (1080P)

I bought this cable as part of my continuing quest to "cut the cord". I still have unlimited data on my iphone and I like to watch Netflix and Hulu when I am on the road. I paid $21.99 for this product on Dec 1; it arrived Dec 21. It says shipped from Hong Kong but the return address was GuangDong province. It works exactly as described. I chose this cable because I wanted 30 pin to HDMI and I did not want 30 pin to USB and have to buy a second cable/converter.

Another reason to buy this is even though we have AppleTV, every time Apple updates the system software, their planned obsolescence kicks in and the Airplay feature stops working until the apps developers scramble to make their apps compatible. (Since I ordered this cable, France24 has started working again on Airplay.) (Netflix has always been on AppleTV and Hulu has been for a few months now. No AmazonVideo nor Pandora, yet.)

I also ordered this cable because it was a lot cheaper than what Apple was offering for the same job. However, with the rise in price, that may no longer be so true.

The cable works as promised. It does NOT mirror the iphone or ipad screen. However, when playing Netflix, Hulu, France24, etc, the video comes through fine. My TV is 1080p and says that the video is playing at 720p. I think that is the app and Netflix, not the cable. I give this product a less than perfect rating because the 30 pin plug is too chunky to fit in my iphone's Otter box, so I have to remove the case.

This cable works just as intended. Some apps allow 1080p, others don't. Like say your videos and Netflix will play in full screen but most apps just mirror the Ipad aspect ratio. So I can't dis the cable when it's really apple that sucks.

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I had other cables before and they only play ceartain videos from my Iphone this cable plays pretty much anything that is display on my Iphone screen. which it is fantastic. It will not play those videos that you transfer to your Iphone using Itunes. Best when connected directly to your TV.

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Cable works as advertised. Cost was reasonable and shipped quickly. I'll do business with these guys again if they have something I need.

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Now I can watch movies on Netflix , videos on YouTube and listen to my music in my 60 inch HDTV ..and works with my iPhone4 too ...love it ..I definitely recommend it to anybody with the iPads and iphones.

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Toshiba Camileo H30 Full HD Camcorder - Silver/Black

Taken during a nice sunny day (but not the kind of harsh very bright sunlight) about 3 pm. As you can see, colors are on the high saturation side with decent dynamic range on contrast. This camera is okay for the price and IMO gives good value for entry level full HD camcorder. It can fit in your cargo pants pocket or hoodie pocket for convenience.

CONS: Before you buy this camera make sure your video editing program either works with or can concert 1080p in AVI format. I use Pinnacle Studio HD 14 and it works well with this camcorders files but only if I video in 720p. It can't work with the 1080p files and I have to use another programs to either render to 720p or convert to 1080p mp4.

Don't buy this if you plan to use the still photos. They are very average quality (if not below) and needs optimal lighting conditions for acceptable still photos. Compared to photos taken by this camcorder, I favor photos taken with my 10 year 1.2 megapixel Fuji than the photos this one takes. But hey it's an excellent value for a camcorder and it's just an average point and shoot if used as a camera. You'll get better photos by grabbing screen frames from the full HD.

To contribute to the the review stating the video looked horrible when hooked up to his HDTV, when hooked up to mine it looks great. No distortion or pixelation at all.

If your looking for a budget HD camcorder, this is a great buy with some great features at this price. The zoom is adequate but requires a very steady hand even with image stabilization on 720P mode. Red and blues look a little over saturated but not too bad. Stills look just as good as the video but also requires a steady hand.

I gave it 4 stars based on performance for the money. I'm very happy with my purchase and would recommend to anyone looking for a sub $300 HD camcorder.

Also, here is a good review as well.

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this is a full hd camcorder with a 5x optical zoom for $180 so be too critical on it would not be fair! it is better than the standard def jvc everio i just got rid of. it strong point that it take 10 megapixel still photos that look quite good, if you can hold the camera completely still! if not they get blurry quickly. and one thing i do not understand is that if i take hd video and put it on my computer it looks really good, but if i hook the camcorder to my 42" hdtv to veiw it looks really hideous i mean really grainy and pixelated for some reason? i have not tried to convert and burn on a dvd yet to see how they will look, but that will be my next project. the software that comes with it is ok at best! but hey it is free and is usable! so my verdict is! for youtubing this would be an excellent choice. for a videophile or someone who make their own blu ray disc's look else where because this camcorder will probably dissapoint you? and like i said the photo's and video's look really horrible on an hdtv through the hdmi port. :o)

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As soon as you take this camcorder out of the box, you are going to be scurrying around trying to find random things to film with it to test it out. When you consider this camera is quite a few years old and the incredible price for the feature it offers, surely the quality must be terrible. After taking the time walk around my house with it and test it on random things for the past few weeks I must say, I am really impressed. The camera is not going to shoot the same quality you would see in a professional movie which is to be expected. The image stabilization only works in the 720P mode and not the 1080P modes, however 720P looks just as good in almost all scenarios so this does not bother me very much. The fact that the camera comes with a mini hdmi to hdmi cable is pretty awesome. You could easily spend 20 bucks on one. I am using an 8GB sd card with the camera and it is working very well. The camera does struggle in dark lighting. It works in dark lighting but things like details on something that is painted black or brown are going to be lost. When using the camera in the middle of the day it really excells. The slow motion feature is pretty cool to play around with. If you have never owned a camcorder before and you are considering one, look no further.

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I bought this cam and I must say it is an excellent little cam the only thing I don't care for is the 5x zoom and yes it can take any kind of HD TV but some of older ones need an adapter.

Now what you may not know about this cam is it has the new Digital Video Format AVI, H.264 in it...

Now what I like is that the touch screen can also be used with the toggle switch as well so fingerprints don't cover the screen I like that also there is no battery sticking out the back I like that the best

Love the Macro mode motion detection mode for surveillance, slow motion, and time elapse all work well.

Epson PowerLite S1+ Multimedia LCD Video Projector

When searching for a projector I had the following criteria which the Epson S1+ met.

Low Cost Best price I found Amazon 749.00

Low Noise Epson S1+ is 33dB

Minimum 800x600 Resolution

Native 4:3 Aspect Ratio

High ANSI Lumens Epson S1+ is 1400

Decent Contrast Ratio Epson S1+ is 400:1

Low Cost Bulb replacement ($150-$200)

For the cost, there was no other projector on the market that could compete. I did not want the lower end DLP projectors, due to rainbow effects that can happen. I also wanted a projector that would be cost effective after the initial purchase. The S1+ bulbs can be found for $150.00 to $200.00, compared to $350-$400 for competitors. BTW: This unit will be used in a small church for Sunday services and cost was a big factor when investing and researching bulb replacement costs.

How does it work?

We get a great image for our church service with full house lights on, this projector is brilliant. Very, low noise. Most of the time it is used with PowerPoint presentations, but it also does a great job with DVD projection.

Image Size?

This unit projects a BIG image from a short distance, if you need a large picture, but do not have the space...this may be the projector for you.

Quality?

I am really impressed with the fit, finish and quality of the Epson projector and will be purchasing the Powerlite Home 10+ for my home theater.

How does it compare?

I have an Infocus X2 and and NEC VT470 projector and I would take the Epson S1+ over either one of these any day.

-Yes, since this is an LCD projector it has several limitations, including the screen door affect and is also has limited resolution at 800X600. Although many people kick up a fuss about both of these traits, neither really matters. If you sit close enough to see the screen door affect or the individual pixels for that matter, then you probably won't be able to see the whole screen because you are sitting less than one foot away from it.

I bought my S1+ about 2 months ago and use it everyday. It has taken a beating when I take it friend's houses, parties, ECT. But has shown no signs of the abuse. When it is set up anywhere from 30" to 60" it looks the same as plasma or a large projector, except it is better because it does not have the glare of a normal TV. Since it's purchase I have also set up a 14-foot screen made of poster board in my garage (it will project nicely almost anywhere on almost any surface), which looks awesome and beats almost any other theater that I've ever been in.

When I first started looking through projectors I wanted something that should accept any interface that I threw at it. When I came across the S1+ I was intimidated because I didn't know how well it would project video games such as Halo2 for XBOX. After it's purchase I was relieved to find that I could have my computer, XBOX and PS2 all hooked up to the projector at the same time and switch between them using the remote control that came with it. All of them are awesome, especially with surround sound and games like DOOM3. Even when split into 4 screens for Halo, it's still quality. Also this is a pretty bright projector, I can have my windows open with several lights on and still easily the screen as if it was a TV.

This costs less then a plasma or a projection TV and can be made much smaller or larger then either. When they say 30"-300" they mean it. It will consume any wall you put in front of it.

Last, it is the easiest thing to transport I have ever seen. For a LAN party I throw my projector, surround sound system and my XBOX into my backpack, jump on my motorcycle and am off in just a few minutes.

If you are new to projectors or are just looking for a large HD TV at a good price, then this is the one that I recommend.

I am not sure how long the bulb last (some people say they die quickly), mine is just passing 500 hours, but they only cost $175, which is significantly less then most other projectors (around $350).

Buy Epson PowerLite S1+ Multimedia LCD Video Projector Now

Before getting into how this projector works, I need to preface by saying that I am on my second projector and third bulb in 2.5 months. I teach school, and need the projector about 4 times/day at 15-20 minutes per use. Perhaps I should have considered a machine capable running consistently during a demanding duty cycle, but solid state electronics are usually not phased by this (and the bulbs, priced as they are, should not be either.)

When this projector works, it works well. It has a nice, bright image and good clarity/detail. It is quiet, runs cool, is light, and fairly portable. Compared to others on the market, the value per dollar is excellent. I seem to have had machines with teething problems though.

My first projector, purchased new mid-January of 2005, exhibited all the symptoms of a bad bulb within 2 weeks, and 20 hours on the clock. I called Epson tech. service, was walked through some diagnostics, and was told that a new projector would be out quickly. I received my "new" projector (actually a refurb. unit with more hours on the bulb than mine had) the next morning. Great turnaround, but to get a refurbished unit for my two-week new one, especially with the bulb hours as they were was no bargain. I called customer service to voice my opinion on this and they agreed that I was due compensation I was promised a new bulb but never received it. I am still fighting for one.

The second projector worked for another 2 weeks, then operation became intermittant for a few hours, then the unit stopped working completely.

After another over the phone diagnosis, the rep. told me the bulb was bad, but that bulbs were out of stock -same story I had received earlier. As of this writing, I am still waiting.

I don't know if this problem is endemic to this machine, but mine is certainly no gem. Maybe I need a heavy-duty model. I've always followed directions for cool down, haven't abused it, but continue to suffer the same problem on what is becoming a consistent basis. If I was rich, this wouldn't be problem, I'd just trade up. I give this machine a "C", and I give Epson's Customer Service Dept. a "C-". Next time, initial cost will not be such a huge issue in my purchase decision.

Read Best Reviews of Epson PowerLite S1+ Multimedia LCD Video Projector Here

Just purchased this (check online for rebates) for a budget home theater setup. We are using this projector on an 80" screen in a very dark basement. While you can certainly get better contrast and brightness from other projectors, I challenge anyone to find a better value for this price point. I was not really expecting much from the projector when we purchased it and thought that this may be a good device for the kids to watch movies / play games on. But are finding that we are watching many more movies on this great projector. Low upfront costs and low bulb replacement costs make this a good choice if you are just getting into a front projection system.

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I bought this little projector mostly to attend on-line classes with, and to have a way to play games when my brain was full (which is very often;)). I also wanted a way to watch TV without having a big & ugly TV in my home office. A projector seemed the best solution, so I gave it a go.

The Epson has generous connectivity options, which allowed me to hook it up to numerous video sources simultaneously, and then switch between them all (yeah!). I have it as S-Video from my cable system's DVD R/W recorder, computer / component video from my main computer, and the 3-RCA video/audio (composite) connectors from my x-box.

In fact, the Epson sits right on top of my x-box, making for a highly cool, highly compact gaming unit with awesome capability. It takes a few minutes to transition from gaming in a fishbowl to playing in a life-size environment & getting accustomed to so much motion. Screen is plenty bright, though some of the darker interior scenes from the likes of Halo-1 are best played with the lights down (my screen is about 6 X 8 feet, 1.83 X 2.44m).

The device has fittings for ceiling mounts, but I'm more inclined to the portability of the included carrying case, if anything.

Switching between the video channels is either by hand-held remote or via the little control panel situated on top of the Epson. There is a second remote that is for operating your computer's mouse for presentations, including page up/down & L/R clicking, and it works great on xp pro with the included IR (InfraRed) USB receiver. Sounds complicated but installation was all of plugging the little IR cable/module into a USB port & then playing with the neat-o mouse remote. This is great for remotely fast-forwarding through commercials when playing DVDs through a computer. The projector has IR receivers fore and aft, BTW.

The main remote controls the video input selection, speaker volume (including mute), on-screen menu (very easy to use, with lots of selections for picky people), freeze video, a handy one-button color mode (Theater, Presentation, etc), Aspect ratio (2 settings), and ZOOM.

Video quality largely depends on the type of video input you apply to the Epson, with composite at the low end, s-video in the middle, and computer / component as highest picture clarity. The differences between these input types are about an order of magnitude, everything else being equal. By all means opt for computer / component input! Its like night and day as far as video quality goes.

Presentation fonts come through crystal clear, as do digital images, and watching a cable program or DVD on the unit is great fun (especially through the computer / component video port, where the picture is crystal clear). Although not what you would build a breathtaking home theater system around the Epson is nevertheless a practical, fun, truly plug & play projector that will connect to just about anything and go.

5-stars, among the entry-level projectors.

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

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

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.

Read Best Reviews of JVC GR-DVM70U Digital Cybercam Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode Here

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.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX200V Digital Camera, Violet - Bundle - with 16GB microSDHC Memory Card, Camer

Discrete, practical, fast, here is a small jewell camera with some gadget appearances, which offers a quite good picture quality and an uncomplicated range of options.

Advantages:

uncluttered, classy, almost totally flat

very small, quite light

well-kept building

with its weatherproof enclosure (still closed), it's splash-proof, dust-tight, sandtight, and coldtight until 14°F (but avoid the dive, cause it remains fragile it's just a wise little adventurer)

large OLED screen, tactile, quite pleasant (with a ressemblance with a smart-phone, yet not equivalent to an iPod), true black, with a reliable rendering

still images absolutely correct, details are here, realistic outside colors

good X5 optical zoom

until 18 Mpx, the 10Mpx level being often sufficient

excellent reactivity after having switched on (1 second, and 1/2 maxi second for the focus with a quite good lighting)

optical stabilization and fast autofocus allow to avoid fuzzyness and to contain the noise (as in the auto-intelligent mode); these points can stand a certain value for money

nearly no distorsion at all

semi-manual mode (P) includes 8 options of white balance and a selection of ISO levels

manual exposure balance

varied scene options (for shooting) giving effective processings

under high luminosity (sunlight, daylight), the video rendering (in AVCHD, 1080p, with a high-speed mode, dedicated to post-editing only) is clean, smooth and nice, except when it moves too quickly (to avoid) or if it points at different distances too quickly (then it becomes out of focus). With a right level of artificial light, one can obtain a fair result.

microphones produce a well-marked sound; as for mecanism, it is practically totally silent while filming, even the noise of the zoom is not much perceptible

good macro (not ultra-close)

high sensibility in night-modes for still images (despite a fog of pixels)

simple and fast tactile system for displaying or deleting photos

a fuzzy mode on depth with options

a special effects mode offers a palette of 9 original depictions (among them black and white, but not the sepia effect), and a few more options with the creativity mode

the panoramic mode turns out to be effective (the under water maybe less)

diaporamas

GPS function

Inconveniences:

although weatherproof, it requires to be handled with care (the tactile screen must be desactivated if used under water)

the image depiction tends to decrease the intensity of the yellow and to stress the intensity of blues, brighter (what is corrigible with a software); yet the color drifting remains acceptable

good in low light, but displays some visible noise if one zoomes in too much; poor video rendering in low light, thus to avoid inside video shootings, except if luminosity is satisfactory

smoothing effect in the detail, in a watercolor way (with an important zoom), what limits the precision but remains useful for the small-format photos (not adapted to big enlargements)

the indication of the ISO level appears very quickly on the screen in the auto modes, then disappears, except in the P mode in which that is clearly notified

lack of adjustment functions, such as a real enhanced manual mode (no possibility for instance to select a maximum of ISO value in the P mode)

no possibility of photo editing (like cropping, adjusting the format, rectifying the orientation or diverse other corrections). On the other hand, it invites to direct one's attention to the shooting and to save time for later on a photo editing software.

the continuous shooting speed downgrades the quality of photos

no joystick; the familiarization with the touch-sensitive screen menu is not obvious, but a customization for each mode facilitates the access to the most useful functions or options.

effects of aesthetic renderings can be seen as toy applications (however some can be useful sometimes)

finger marks on the surface is to clean (a microfiber cloth is supplied)

require mini memory cards (microSD or microstick); a basic one is supplied

one battery of replacement can be useful: certain processings, as well as the use of video, flash, high display or GPS -desactivableare greedier. Though we can make at least up to 300 photos without flash.

USB cable, no included charger: a charger pluggable into the mains can turn out to be useful too.

Davis & Sanford Provista Heavy Duty Tripod with F12 Fluid Pan Head & Case

This tripod is likely the absolute most inexpensive tripod you can buy that is a real fluid head tripod. This is big, it's not light, it works well for video, it is well made. It has a quick disconnect plate.

You should buy a good tripod besides a good camera, and this one is great. It looks feels like a pro tripod, but is also not a $2000 one.

Heavy enough to make you comfortable your camera will be safe, but is also not extremely heavy so you can't carry it out.

It just need good manual adjustments to make it work right.

But you will see the huge difference between this tripod and those very cheap ones.

And the carrying case is great.

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Canon PowerShot G3 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

When shopping for digital cameras I looked at the Nikon CP5700, Olympus C5050, Nikon CP5000, and the Canon G3. Yes, all cameras except G3 were 5mp but I was looking for a lot more than just Megapixel power.

Not only was I was shopping for a camera that would suit MY casual and artistic photographic needs, I had to keep in mind that my fiance wanted to use this camera as well. Her main focus was having a camera that is easy to understand and use.

The Nikon's are great cameras. + They have great optics (CP5700 has great optical zoom)and features, not to mention take great pictures. The drawbacks were that they were not user friendly for the casual photographer, the LCD screen is a little too small, CP5000 does not take photos in RAW format.

Olympus C5050 is a very solid camera with a metal body. + Takes sharp 5mp photo's, has great features and relatively easy to use. I didn't care much for the tilting LCD screen, it seemed very limited and not very usefull. Photos had some artifacts and noise. My fiance just didn't like the way it felt in her hands.

We also looked at the Fuji FPs602. Nice Camera but doesn't take as sharp as pictures I thought they would, and again... fiance didn't like the feel.

The Canon G3... 4mp, 4X optical zoom, takes absolutely beautiful photos with detail that challenges all of the above 5mp cameras, easy to understand and use (has a great swivel LCD screen), a LOT of features and add-on options, comes with great software (not to be overlooked), and last but by far not least, received my fiance's stamp of approval (two thumbs up!)

A LOT of research went into digital camera's before I made this purchase, and hands down, the G3 had everything I needed plus more. The other cameras were great and I'm sure many people will beg to differ from my observations, but to each his/her own. I have no buyers remorse with this baby, and I never will.

Always remember, cameras don't take great pictures, people do!

The Canon G3 improves in almost all ways on the G1 and G2 before it, and in fact beats the Nikon Coolpix 5000 in performance (picture quality and battery life) -which is amazing because the 5000 is a 5 megapixel camera and the Canon is a 4 megapixel camera. Canon's optics are better and I believe their processing algorithms are also better. Simply, the Canon G3 is the best digital camera out there today at this price point.

The Canon allows you to change lenses, and it accepts the IBM Microdrive (Type II Compact Flash), so you can have up to 1 Gigabyte of storage. For me on the Fine resolution setting (not maximum but very close) this adds up to over 1000 images with the 1 Gig card. The battery life of this camera is twice that of the Nikon 5000 and is better than anything else I've seen.

The only minor nits I have with the camera are it is fairly boxy looking, it needs a wrist strap instead of a neck strap, and it is a bit slow between shots. Even with these shortcomings, I still think it is the best digital camera available under $1200.

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I am a long-time user of highly responsive film SLRs and professional quality external flash equipment, just so you know my bias. I have been watching the development of digicams for years, waiting to make my first move. What I really want is a $1,500 digital SLR with a full frame sensor that will take my Nikon lenses. I figure that is at least three years off, and I am getting impatient. Hence I decided to spring for a "point-and-shoot" digicam that that would have features that would let me get around their inherent limitations. I chose the G3 because of its reputation for very high quality, clean images.

The two limitations I knew I would have to deal with are the very long lag time before it focus-locks (even in bright light), and the unsatisfactory light quality of the built-in flash. As of this writing, technology has not solved the focus-lock lag time problem for point-and-shoot digicams and anyone who is satisfied with it simply has never used a modern film SLR. At least once you've got focus lock, the shutter release lag time for the G3 is about 1/10 of a second, which from what I've read, is better than just about anything else available. What makes the focus-lock lag time something I can live with is the extreme depth of field obtainable with these point and shoot digicams at f8. Once I get focus lock, I can then wait until my restless subject (a pet or a child) strikes an amusing pose and then fire the shutter with some reasonable probability of getting my subject still in focus.

Now what about the flash problem? Relative to what I can easily achieve with external flash on my Nikon SLR, the internal flash on the G3 produces harsh, flat images with ugly hot spots. Fortunately, the G3 has a hot shoe that can take an external flash, and fortunately for me, I already owned a one of the highest quality external flashes that money can buy: the Metz 60 CT-4. I can't use my Nikon external flash on a Canon camera, but I CAN use my Metz, with the proper Metz module and extension cord connected between the G3 and the 60 CT-4. For those who have this Metz flash (or the 45CL-3) and would like to get the absolute ultimate quality out of this G3, the Metz module you need is the SCA 3102 and the connector cord is the SCA 3000C.

In order for this to work, you have to set the camera to manual mode and set the shutter speed and f-stop yourself. Contrary to what I've read elsewhere, the G3 DOES sync at 1/250 of a second with third-party flashes, just as it does with the dedicated flashes from Canon. You also have to set the G3 to second shutter sync, which is what you'd want to do most of the time anyhow. Then just forget about all the controls you have on the Metz flash head itself and the SCA 3102 control panel, because they are all IGNORED. The G3 completely takes over controlling the duration of the Metz flash, and most of the time, the exposure is spot on and when it isn't, it's because you've exceeded the range of the Metz flash itself. This might happen if you get too close to the subject and you are not bounce-flashing, or if you ARE bounce flashing and the walls are simply too far away. Unfortunately, the neutral density filters for the Metz flash are no longer available, so the first problem can't easily be solved. The second problem is solved by more direct lighting from the Metz (with the attendant shadows unfortunately). But once you've got your exposure within an acceptable range, the G3 is shown to produce utterly stunning images that I can hardly get with my Nikon F100 film camera. The 60 CT-4 flash head can actually be reversed 180 degrees and then tilted, enabling you to bounce the flash off the walls behind you. The results are shadow-free images that look as if they've been exposed with the gentlest natural light you could imagine.

Now there is one more complaint I have about the G3 and that is the software that comes with it for processing raw images (I only shoot in raw image mode and the first thing I did was replace the 32 MByte CF with a 512 MByte CF, which gives me 130 raw images, as opposed to 7!). The Canon software for raw images does not present you with a raw image AT ALL, but the raw image after it has been processed by all the image-affecting settings in the camera. I believe this is enabled by a second file that comes out of the camera that stores all this information. Maybe if you delete those files before you looked at them with the software, you'd see the true, raw image that the camera actually produces. I didn't wait to experiment. Instead, I bought the Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in. What this plug-in reveals is the truly stunning quality of the raw G3 hardware. Without any tweaking at all, if the exposure is accurate, the colors are as realistic as I've ever seen produced by film, and this is a raw image! The Adobe Camera Raw plug-in shows once again that hardware is miles ahead of software. What the G3 raw image software gives you is a fantasy world designed to please the uncritical. What the Photoshop plug-in gives you is REALITY, and then if you want fantasy, you can use Photoshop to create it. But at least you're starting with the most photorealistic images I've ever seen from a camera. I am stunned and amazed at the quality of the raw images I am getting from this G3 (in conjunction with my professional flash system), and can easily put up with the camera's limitations, because I've never seen anything better within its resolution limits.

Read Best Reviews of Canon PowerShot G3 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom Here

I've been using a PowerShot S330 for nearly a year, and wanted to upgrade to a 4 or 5 megapixel camera with a longer zoom, more adjustability, a hot shoe for an external flash, and a remote control. I looked at both the Nikon Coolpix 5700 and the Canon G3, and decided on the G3 due both to ergonomics (much more comfortable to hold and use) and the price ...

I've had the camera for about two weeks and shot hundreds of pictures so far. And so far, I've been very pleased. There's a noticeable difference in the quality of a 4 megapixel image versus the 2 megapixels of the S330, especially if you want to crop and enlarge the pictures. The larger lens of the G3 gives better picture quality in low light, and the 4-times optical zooms gets you just that much closer.

The moveable LCD screen is great. You can take pictures with the camera held above your head, way down, or beside you with no problem, allowing you to position the camera for the best shot without contorting yourself. The tiny (postage-stamp sized) remote unit is wonderful: not only does it trigger the shutter, it can also be used to zoom and review pictures. I also purchased a good sturdy tripod: the combination of the new camera, tripod and remote control enabled me to take some remarkable indoor, natural-light portraits I never would have attempted before.

The hot shoe flash attachment allowed me to buy and use a sophisticated flash unit: I chose the Canon Speedlite 420. This has made the greatest difference in the quality of my photographs: the built-in flash on any of these cameras gives you flat photos, red-eye, and annoying shadows; a good add-on flash unit can be bounced off the ceiling or wall for pleasing, almost-natural lighting.

I needed three batteries to keep myself going with the S330, but the battery in the G3 is a real powerhouse: I shot over 300 photos at my goddaughter's birthday party without switching out to my backup battery. The G3 has a different type of battery charging system from the smaller Canon cameras: the battery needs to be charged while in the camera, but the charging system also enables you to use the camera while plugged in without running down the battery.

I have yet to try using all of the adjustment options: shutter priority, aperature priority, light metering adjustments, etc., but all controls are well thought out and and the manual is relatively clear. You can use this camera right out of the box on the automatic setting, or slowly get comfortable with the manual settings and what they can do.

Negatives? I've been bothered by blown-out highlights on the S330, and the G3 seems to do only slightly better. (I'm starting to think that this may just be one of the weaknesses of all digital photography at this level.) The on-off button feels somewhat flimsy, and has an awkward, tiny little lock-out button that needs to be depressed to turn on the camera. And the body/construction in general has quite a bit of plastic, a disappointment after the stainless steel heft of the S330.

I bought a 512 MB card, which seems to hold about 400 photos at the highest resolution. I was worried that 4 megapixel photos would download more slowly, but there's no difference in working with the files. I have a 120 GB remote drive I use to store my digital images: I can imagine that they'd fill up my iBook's internal memory pretty quickly.

At the same time I purchased this camera I also bought Adobe's Photoshop Elments 2.0 software, and can't praise it highly enough. If you're investing in a camera at this level, buy this software! And as I said in my review of the S330, all of these digital cameras are easier to use with Apple computers.

The bottom line: if you're serious about your digital photography, or been bitten with the bug after using a digital point-and-shoot, this may be just the camera for you. But make sure to buy a tripod and separate flash unit at the same time: you'll see the difference in your photos immediately.

Added 2-24. I've now had the camera for two months and I'm even more pleased with it. I wound up buying a gray card and use it all the time with the custom white-balance setting. It helps avoid the problem of a color cast on the pictures, especially in mixed-light settings. If you don't have a gray card, you can use a plain white piece of paper. I also discovered the exposure-bracket setting, which enables you to take three exposures with one press of the shutter: the first at the camera-determined exposure, then one lighter and one darker. Especially useful with portraits and difficult-to-meter situations. I did buy the telephoto lens (and the required extension). Very easy to use. I'll probably also get the wide-angle now, too. Very comfortable camera, easy to use, and the best digital photos you're going to get at this price.

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Being a great fan of the G2 I set out with G3 with a somewhat negative expectation, difficult as it is to improve drastically on something already as 'perfect' as the Powershot G2. But Canon never fails to amaze. Some of the great gains over G2 -

1. The ability to selectively switch to RAW format during record review gives you incredible more post-processing flexibility.

2. Battery life is over 4.5 hours, compared to about 2.5 hours for the G2 or the 2 hours for most Nikons.

3. The Remote Capture and FileViewer software bundled for photo capture is mind-blowing. Looks sort of like Picasa Software (google it if you dont know) in the interface and is as easy to install and operate as G2's, but more intuitive.

4. The shape of this device is a little squarer, without losing the weight which means better balance and less shaking while clicking. A big plus in my book.

5. The 1/200 sec, F5.6 + ND filter for highly exposed (or very brightly lit) environments. The light auto-correction is awesome. You could take a picture of a stone glinting in the sun and still avoid the shining glaze and get the contours right.

6. The G2's "Color Effect" exposure mode has now been removed, the replacement is a selectable "Effect FUNC" menu option available in all exposure modes. There are six default settings (Off, Vivid, Sepia, Neutral, Low Sharpening, B&W) as well as a 'Custom Effect' that allows you to control sharpening, contrast and saturation.

7. A new PhotoStich software for stiching your pics into a panoramic view. I can of course buy such a tool off the shelves separately but helps if it comes with my camera. (Looks quite neat too suggesting that Canon may have, er, Canonized it a bit).

8. Perhaps inspired by the Canon's factory white-correction settings (which were found lacking and had to be altered by a user before the white edges from buildings etc could be cleaned out), the G3 has much sharper white offsets. In English, this means that even straight out of the box, you'll be amazed at the pics you end up taking.

9. In dim lit environs the G2 could easily outperform any other camera, and thankfully G3 maintains this rep. Personally I believe it even outperforms the G2 in terms of less haze and astonishingly real colors.

Overall, the G3 delivers what must be considered the best image quality of any current >4 megapixel digicams, from a detail, tonal balance and color response point of view. There's really very little about G3 images to criticize. Short of the EOS range from Canon or the D100s from Nikon (both SLRs) this is quite simply the best you can ask for.