Vivitar ViviCam 7500i 7MP 3x Optical Zoom 3" LCD Digital Camera (Black)

I purchased this camera for my wife as a Christmas gift. I was looking for another Vivicam (Vivitar's Vivicam line is high-quality for the dollar and very durable) and while browsing online found the 7500i.

This camera does it all. Just look at its features:

1. 7 megapixel 3x optical; 5x digital zoom (Excellent picture quality... pictures taken at the highest resolution are extremely detailed. I zoomed in on my own face and could see every pore on my skin.

2. 3" LCD display... 3 inches! I have not found ANY other camera with a display as generous. It's really great to watch the videos you've recorded.

3. MPEG video recording -up to 720x480 at 30fps.... It's fluid recording at a resolution somewhat similar to what VHS offers. The microphone is OK; pretty much as good as you get with camera recorders.

4. MP3 player... You can store as many MP3s as you can fit on your SD-RAM chip. In my case, that's over 800 songs... it has a speaker built in, but offers a headphone receptacle so you can listen on your own headphones or auxiliary speaker system. It also allows you to browse any .avi, .mpg, .jpg, .bmp... most common file types.

5. Voice memos and voiceprints... You can annotate your photos with recorded sound. It's just nice to have that option. You can record aything with it.

6. Its size... Not even as deep as a deck of cards. This fully-featured camera is incredible compact. (Not fragile, though. No protruding telescoping lenses to collect dirt. All receptacles are intelligently designed and weatherproof with rubber guards.) It is 3.75" wide, 2.25" long, and .75" deep, as I'm measuring it right now in front of me.

Anyway, my wife loves it. When our friends' see it they are always fascinated by it, and it's just plain fun to use. The menu dialogue is perfectly designed, and I'm always finding new features. In fact, here's a list of customizable settings:

Mode settings, Quality (affects .jpg size), Voice Memo, Spot or Multi Metering, Single or Continuous Shooting, Adjustable sharpness, Effects (the usual, black and white, sepia, negative, etc), Frame (you can add a frame to your photos), OSD adjustments (grids, how much info you want on the screen, etc), Startup Images, Sounds it Makes...

I give it 5 stars for all the reasons above. Also, Amazon's price was FANTASTIC, over one hundred dollars less than the Sony equivalent of this camera, if you can call any other camera the 7500i's equivalent.

2011.11.06 EDIT: Four years later, and I still use this camera. I still think it's a good camera, and for its size, it's remarkable, but these days, you just have to get a camera with a high-definition video recording function.

2012.07.15 EDIT: And it's finally kicked the bucket. I went to turn it on and heard a loud pop. Something got fried. lol Oh well, it did me right, even after the battery door latch broke and the spring that kicks the memory card out fell out... I just purchased a Panasonic Lumix DHC-SZ1 to replace it.

Let me be the first to say that this picture on the web does nothing for this little black beauty! It's even more gorgeous in person, TRUST ME. I loveeeee mine. It has a great sleek slim look to it and it just feels like a million bucks in your hand! lol The pics are EXCELLENT, I have no complaints about that. With the flash feature on for low light pics and darker pics, they still come out FANTASTIC! Very very detailed pictures. It has a whole bunch of great features inside such as picture settings, picture frames, video, mp3 player. YES, you read right! Its an MP3 player! AND A GOOD ONE AT THAT. The video feature is great for a camera that size and it takes lengthy videos so thats a plus! You can snap a video or a pic while you're listening to music and if you're like me...it will work to your convenience! It has face detection.The menu is soooo easy to navigate through. You dont have to be technology savvy to figure it out, its really easy and straight to the point. It comes with really good software also. You can edit your video and cut the video from start to end, put text and narrate your videos! Really nice. POINT AND SHOOT. I love it! You'll love it too, go ahead it's worth the money.

The cons?

Hmm...well, this is really small actually, but something you might want to know. You have to charge the battery seperately. Meaning you have to take it out the camera, so you cant use it while it's charging. Battery life is good though overall. It's a lithium battery.

Buy Vivitar ViviCam 7500i 7MP 3x Optical Zoom 3" LCD Digital Camera (Black) Now

I had my Vivitar 7500i for two weeks now and have taken over 100+ photos & videos before I gave this review. As a semi-pro photographer, my main camera is a Canon dSLR. However, I need a P&S camera for times where carrying a large camera body is not appropriate or not allowed. I wanted a non-protruding lens and is capable of capturing decent video clips.

Other candidates that I considered were made by Fuji, Sony, and Samsung. However, I decided on the Vivitar 7500i due to its features and mainly the price. No other decent brand can compete with the selling price. Furthermore, Samsung is the only other one (that I'm aware of), which is also a mp3 player.

I personally found that anything above ISO 200 will get noisy, as expected from a P&S equipped with tiny sensors. The Auto White Balance, anti-shake, and face-recognition are not effective as I wished. On the other hand, the macro function works great.

The focus lock is reasonable for a P&S. It will hunt for an AF lock in low light situations. Be sure to repeat pressing the shutter button half-way until the indicator turned green, before pushing the button all the way to take the photo. Be sure to ask the subject to hold still and be patient with you.

The camera starts up quickly (due to non-protruding lens), and reasonable delay between shots (slight longer if the flash is being re-charged). The non-protruding lens does not snag to things accidentally. However, there is no protective lens cover so it's easy to get finger prints on it when using the 7500i as a mp3 player. I keep a micro-fiber clothe in the camera case and use it frequently.

The non-protruding lens does get a fair amount of glare. So the user has to be aware of any bright light from an angle. The lens appeared to be multi-coated.

The layout of the buttons is intuitive and easy to navigate. The 3x zoom limitation doesn't bother me since I use it to take mostly candid moments and very rarely use zoom. Personally, I preferred it to have a wider lens, say 28mm equivalent.

I have not tried to use any SD memory card larger than 1 GB. I believe another reviewer reported problem using a 2 GB card. It would be nice if the next version takes advantage of the SDHC. For now, I have no problem emptying the card regularly. Using 1 GB SD, the 7500i takes approximately 54 minutes worth of the video or 280+ high quality photos.

I do find that 70% of the photos were too saturated for my taste. After adjusting the RGB (especially the red channel) curve and post-sharpening, the resulting photos are as good as from my Canon dSLR. As for any pictures that I cannot salvage, I process these photos into very nice black & white photos. The resulting photos are nice and clear. I silenced others who think Vivitar is a toy camera, with my photos.

The battery needs removal for recharging. Since I might use it as a mp3 player, I decided to get more batteries. Although I had trouble ordering the batter from Vivitar's Customer Service, I compared the specs and realized that the battery is the same as Fuji NP-40 battery. That is great because I was able to get batteries from online at half-price.

The mp3 player produces clear sound. It is at a reasonable volume and the player is easy to navigate. I have no success converting video clips with the included software to play in the 7500i, so I gave up.

The Vivitar 7500i takes okay video, if there is ample light. However for indoor clips, the video is noisy and jerky. I am a little disappointed with the (DIVX?) compression engine. In comparison, my wife's Casio Exilim produces a smoother video in all environments. But again, the Exilim costs three times more than my Vivitar.

I carry my Vivitar 7500i on my hip at all times now and have used it daily. I've captured many great candid moments and happy memories. Overall, I would recommend this camera, if you know what to expect and willing to post-process the photos.

Read Best Reviews of Vivitar ViviCam 7500i 7MP 3x Optical Zoom 3" LCD Digital Camera (Black) Here

I recently purchased this camera and have been happy with the camera itself. But, the enclosed software does not seem to work under Vista. So I went to the Internet (rather than the enclosed CD) to get the most recent version of drivers and software. I was surprised to find no mention of this model at so I sent an e-mail. The response was from Sakar International, stating that Vivitar is now owned by Sakar, and that there is no current support for this phone on the Internet. Their e-mail claims that any issues will take longer to resolve.

It doesn't seem like a huge deal, as Vista itself should handle most of the functions of the included software. But, if the camera has problems, will Sakar be there for me? I guess I would not recommend this camera (or anything from Vivitar) until they figure out their support plan.

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Nikon D3200 Digital SLR Camera & 18-55mm G VR DX AF-S Zoom Lens (Red) with 16GB Card + Case + F

I received the package as expected with no missing items.

This camera is simply outstanding. I have used many DSLRs, but

the picture quality of this is far better or equivalent to other expensive

DSLRs. For beginners, once you get the hang of it, its very easy

use, both in AUTO and MANUAL modes. Anyone who is in the

market for DSLR camera, then this is the product I highly recommend.

Great Price, Great Quality. You cannot go wrong.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3K 16.05 MP Digital Single Lens Mirrorless Camera with 3-Inch OLED - Body Onl

Professional image quality testing has been done, and the verdict is in. This camera beats the Olympus OM-D EM-5... just barely. Image quality off both camera sensors is fantastic and nearly identical, but the GH3 edges out the EM-5 by just a little bit of dynamic range. The EM-5 is a little cheaper, though. Right now, the GH3 is fairly expensive, but what you pay for is the best camera in this format money can buy, and I'm not just talking about image quality.

Other reviews cover a lot of things about image quality and technical specifications, far more in depth than I'll go here. What I want to talk about is handling, video, and the general advantages of the Micro Four Thirds format.

Chances are, if you are considering the GH3 at all, you fall under one of three categories. You are either a serious enthusiast, a professional photographer, or you want to make movies. This is probably not going to be your very first system camera, and it's definitely not a point-and-shoot camera for amateurs. That's not to say the GH3 is overly complicated or unapproachable if you're new to photography, but I should think a cheaper camera would fit your needs fine.

The GH3 is a very special camera, with lots to love for those who love cameras. If you're a serious enthusiast, you should consider the EM-5 as well as the GH3. There are pros and cons for both cameras. I'll let you go read up on the EM-5 on your own, but for the GH3, it has a lot in its favor. Top of the list is handling. The GH3 is the largest camera in the format, this is true, but what you gain in bulk and weight, you also gain in ergonomics. There are lots and lots of physical buttons, five of them customizable, and nearly all of them usable one-handed without any awkwardness. The software is fantastic, too, giving you additional programable buttons on the touch screen, as well as Panasonic's fully configurable Quick Menu. There are tons and tons of options to set to get your camera working just the way you want it to. Everything is very well laid out and fairly intuitive. The dials and control wheels feel solid and work great. Even the largest of lenses balance very well on the GH3, thanks to its weight and best-in-format grip. Don't let its size fool you though, it's only a little heavier than the EM-5. Along with that size comes a very large battery. Technical specs I think are conservative on the lifespan of a charge, too. This is the best camera battery I've ever encountered, letting me shoot far longer than I am used to. All-in-all, the GH3 fits wonderfully in the hand, is very easy to shoot with, and gives you a huge amount of control. If you're an enthusiast photographer or serious prosumer, the GH3 will not disappoint. As an enthusiast, though, you've got plenty of options in the format and you should look carefully at many other models that may be cheaper but still quite satisfying.

If you are a professional, I think you'll appreciate much of the same things enthusiasts do, like what I mentioned above. But there's more in this camera that seems intended just for you. The Wi-Fi "Lumix Link" will let you upload images directly from the camera as you shoot, letting your customers see immediately what you're doing. You can also use it to trigger the shutter remotely or change settings. If wireless isn't your thing, there's an HDMI port and AV port. I have to believe the fully articulated touch screen will let you make difficult shots easy, such as doing macro on a product at a weird angle. The DSLR-type body will be very familiar to you, as well, though this is a mirrorless camera which means it's a much lighter camera than you're probably used to (more on this later). If you work with video at all for hybrid products, the live electronic viewfinder during movie recording will be a welcome change from optical viewfinders. As I mentioned before, the battery is quite large, but if you need more juice and don't want to switch batteries, there's a (sold-seperately) battery grip that will improve handling with portrait shots and give you even more endurance on a shoot. You will probably get some use out of the flash synchro socket and/or hot shoe. The buffer seems to be quite huge, and with a fast card shooting RAW in burst mode, it's very difficult to slow the camera down. There aren't more than a handful of weatherproof lenses for Micro Four Thirds so far, but if you have any the GH3 is weatherproof and will give you a seal to protect your system while you're shooting in wet environments. The camera is built with high quality, solid materials. All-in-all, the GH3 is perhaps the first Micro Four Thirds camera aimed squarely at the professional market, whether or not you've been tempted by the format before. It gives you enormous control, but gets out of your way when you're working. If you are a professional photographer, you are sure to appreciate the design considerations Panasonic made to make this a camera you can get serious work done with.

If you are a videographer, why are you even reading this review? There is simply no better camera for the movie-maker in this price range, and the video quality you'll get off of this camera will surpass hybrid or video-only cameras that cost considerably more. That said, video was one of my primary reasons for getting this camera, so I'll give you the most important details. Of all the codecs you're most likely to use, the six big ones are 1080p 24fps 50Mbps, 1080p 30fps 50Mbps, 1080p 60fps 50Mbps, 1080p 24fps 72Mbps (ALL-INTRA), 1080p 30fps 72Mbps (ALL-INTRA), or 720p 60fps 72Mbps (ALL-INTRA). You have a full-sized 3.5mm (1/8") microphone port, no need for an adapter like with the GH2, and a 3.5mm (1/8") headphone port for sound out while shooting. Of course, the GH3 has a stereo mic build-in. You can set mic levels right on the camera. There's all kinds of options for time code. As a videographer, you may still want to consider the GH2. Video quality is better on the GH3 in testing, even compared to the hacked GH2, but the GH2 is considerably cheaper and the difference in quality may not be enough. If you're a small budget indie filmmaker, choose carefully. All-in-all, if you can afford one, the GH3 out of the box is truly a fantastic video camera and competes at a much higher level for the price. It really puts other cameras to shame, even dedicated video cameras. If you are a videographer, or even a professional filmmaker, this camera has pretty much everything you want.

Which brings me to an important point. This is a hybrid camera, not merely an excellent still camera. For the price of one professional-quality camera, you're really getting two. If you happen to like taking still pictures AND video, the GH3 offers tremendous value. If you're creating hybrid products as a professional, there's really no other single camera that can do as well as this. If you're a hobbyist with interest in both pictures and video, this can save you a lot of money. The GH2 was good, this is better. Micro Four Thirds has finally arrived at the next level, not for stills-only, but for stills and video. If the EM-5 made Micro Four Thirds a serious format for still photography, the GH3 ups the ante and makes the format a viable platform for a whole new market.

Micro Four Thirds is the only truly mature mirrorless camera system. There are other mirrorless systems, to be sure, but Micro Four Thirds has a huge selection of first-party and third-party lenses, low end and high end, covering a huge range of focal lengths and apertures. The diversity of bodies from Panasonic and Olympus means there's probably a good camera for you no matter who you are. When you buy a system camera, it's reassuring to know that you're making a good investment. Micro Four Thirds is not going away any time soon. There's lots of great lenses available, and many more coming out. There's also adapters for many other lens formats, so there is almost limitless legacy glass available for any need, provided you don't mind manual focus. Mirrorless means thinner and lighter camera bodies, and Micro Four Thirds lenses need only half the focal length to achieve the same field of view as full frame cameras which means smaller and cheaper lenses for the same zoom factor. With two companies competing in the same format, there is a lot of innovation and a lot of options for users.

We'll see what happens over the next year from Panasonic and Olympus. New models are due out from both companies, as is the endless march of progress. For the time being, at least, the GH3 is a fantastic camera, and depending on your needs, it may be the best camera in this format for you until the GH4 comes out. Certainly for the moment, it has the best image quality available, and is a great camera to actually use. If you don't need the best that Micro Four Thirds has to offer, there are a lot of other great cameras to choose from in the format.

Happy shooting!

I have been waiting for this camera for about 4 years. In 2008 I was looking for the best camera that excelled in both stills and video. I settled for a JVC camcorder which recorded in SD and took 5mp stills. I moved to a Sony SR-11 for HD and interlaced 10mp stills. I was unsatisfied with the stills of the Sony so I bought an Oly E-420 touted as the smallest DSLR to accompany my camcorder. For over a year I dealt with the cumbersome set up of camcorder, DSLR body, 2 lenses and a tripod with mixed results to boot.

Enter the GH2 and 2 issues were somewhat solved at once. The 1st problem was bulk and the other being image quality. The stills of the GH2 was a major step up to my Oly E-620 and the video quality was also significantly upgraded as a result.

Now finally to the GH3 {while comparing to the GH2... I say that the GH2 feels and looks like a toy, yet is quite a serious tool under the hood so to speak. The advantage of looking like a toy was the incognito factor. In contrast, the GH3 has an excellent form, feel and look to it. It fits like a glove for me when operating. As a photographer our camera is like an appendage after all. The GH3 with a 12-35mm attached is light and remains relatively compact.

The location of levers and buttons are logically placed. I initially thought the lever to change from AF to MF was in a bad place and hard to turn. I was trying to make the adjustment with my forefinger (because I almost always have it mounted on a tripod) but it was clearly designed to be turned with the thumb which is stronger. I appreciate the ability to open the battery compartment and not have to remove my quick release tripod plate. I used to always accidently press the WB button of the GH2 and even change settings. The WB and ISO buttons are now on top. No more accidents.

Another major improvement is the speed. The burst shots are very responsive with no lag writing to the card until after 30 shots or so. I use a San Disk 95 mbs write speed which shines now. I was amazed of the processor speed of the GH3 when I would finish doing a burst of 5 shots or so (always RAW) and then press the video button and start recording right away. I have missed many key moments in video on the GH2 because I was waiting for it to finish writing to the memory card.It absolutely destroys the GH2 on this.

The electronic shutter is not virtually silent on a AF lens. You will hear the lens (not the body) make a small adjustment sound. This is still perfectly acceptable even in places demanding silence. One of the serious problems with Electronic Shutter is the bands / electronic stripes (like video of a CRT screen) that ruin images in certain artificial lighting.

As a so called hybrid shooter I welcome the advantages of the GH3 over the GH2 in speed and ease of transition between the mediums. The 1st thing I noticed was the manual Movie Mode which is not placed after all the C (Custom Settings) but right after M (Manual). I often shoot in A (Aperture) Mode and switch to manual Movie mode so I have 3 less turns to do now. The other thing is when recording video on PASM in the GH2 it would default to the lowest Bit Rate 17 mbps. Now it records in whatever mode you have set up like the MOV 1080 60p @ 50mbps without having to switch to manual.

I have a couple of gripes I am having a difficult time accepting though. The 1st is the EVF compared to the GH2. It now has a more "digitized" look to it. The noise (grain) is excessive in many cases. The EVF eye piece is much smaller also for some reason. A missing feature (that I miss anyways) is the "My Menu" found on the GH2 which lets you quickly access the last 5 menu features you used. I would use this to access things like formatting the memory card (instead of digging in the menu).

I just finished a weekend of shooting multiple events related to Art Basel Miami and I found myself thoroughly enjoying the shooting experience even though I just received the camera a day prior. The excellent Lumix 12-35mm has a lot to do with my positive experience. A fellow video shooter with a Canon 1D was impressed with the Continual AF speed and accuracy of the GH3 via the rear view monitor. I like the extras like Level Gauge, Intravalometer and WiFi to name a few useful features added to the GH3. The battery life is greatly improved too. I took 100's of stills and video clips the other night and it still showed 2 bars left. The GH2 has aweful banding on video especially with clear blue skies. I shot a beach scene w/ the GH3 (with bright blue skies) at 7mm on a Lumix 7-14mm and saw less banding. Many of the strong points of the GH2 made it to the GH3 like EX TELE Convert feature though it has it's quirks.

This hybrid is the best we have yet available, but it is not perfect. With present technology we could have had an even better solution by now IMO. Yet at $1300 I think this is a good value and worthy tool to produce excellent images. BTW we may have some significant updates via next firmware for the GH3 relatively soon.

Buy Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3K 16.05 MP Digital Single Lens Mirrorless Camera with 3-Inch OLED - Body Onl Now

Having now spent a few weeks with this camera I feel I can provide an honest review of the GH3 and how it compares to it's well-regarded predecessor, the GH2. What seems clear from the onset of testing is that Panasonic has listened to the feedback it sought from photographers and videographers alike prior to designing a GH2 replacement. The body is much more solid and refined in it's ergonomics and controls. This camera now feels as professional as it's larger/heavier full frame and APS-C competitors (especially with the battery grip), but retains a nimbleness those cameras will never be able to match. The user interface is much more straight forward now and no longer requires a decryptor ring in order to select video shooting modes. In fact each menu option that is highlighted can now describe in detail what it's purpose is before it is activated, deactivated or changed.

The new OLED screen is simply stunning and accurately displays color and exposure, even in bright outdoor shooting. I find myself leaving an external monitor at home for my outdoor shoots because it just adds weight to my kit without really improving functionality. The viewfinder is nice as well, but I've noticed it can suffer from some image smearing around the outer edges if your eye is not perfectly aligned to it's center. WiFi remote control works great on the Samsung Galaxy and Asus Transformer, but I have not yet tested it on iPads or iPhones. The 50mbps IPB codec is excellent and can be pushed further in grading and recovery than previous hacked GH2 codecs I've used. Dynamic range, noise/grain, low light performance and ISO color shift (no more green tinting at higher ISOs) all seem improved over the GH2.

Raw still images have much better highlight recovery now as well. Where the GH2 has maybe 1/2 a stop of highlight recovery, the GH3 seems more like 1 to 1.5 stops of recovery which makes exposing for shadows much easier and is great when working in timelapse. Speaking of timelapse, the new electronic shutter feature and built-in intervalometer are brilliant. With the battery grip added you can take literally thousands of pictures in electronic shutter mode without killing the batteries. The only downside is that exposures greater than 1 sec in this mode are not (yet) available, so you will need to change over to the mechanical shutter for longer exposures. The camera can also be set to go into sleep mode when timelapsing in long intervals, further saving it's already outstanding battery life. To date I have yet to run into any video moire problems, which appears to be a much more inflated issue online then is justified in the real world. My preferred video settings are Contrast -5, Sharpness 0, Saturation 0, NR -5.

In conclusion, this is the camera I have been waiting for as a professional videographer and photographer. It does everything I need it to do in a light weight kit and does it exceedingly well given it's price point.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3K 16.05 MP Digital Single Lens Mirrorless Camera with 3-Inch OLED - Body Onl Here

I have been an avid user of the GH series since the GH1. I use these cameras mostly for video, because I shoot Canon DSLRs for most of my stills. The GH series cameras are optimized for video and produce crisper video than the Canon DSLRs, whereas the Canon DSLRs have more dynamic range and color depth and less noise at all ISOs. I have been following the GH13 firmware patches by Russian hacker Vitaly on Personal View since the beginning and have applied the hacks to the GH1 and GH2 with mixed results.

The GH3 now has a more solid weatherproofed build and the buttons are laid out like a true DSLR. It's like the GH2 has grown up to compete head to head in the DSLR market. But can it really compete with the big boys? You can read about the improved build and other new features in many reviews, but I'm going to focus here mostly on image quality.

While the GH2 was an improvement over the GH1, the advertized gains in low light (noise) and dynamic range performance were a disappointment*. Still photography images were virtually the same, but the quality of motion video was improved considerably, particularly if the hack was applied.

My first test of the GH3 was taking still photographs in controlled studio lighting. First impression of the JPEGs out of the camera is very good. Although at low ISO the difference from the GH2 is hard to see at first, upon examination there is significantly more detail in the shadow areas, the reds are richer, and the overall tint is more accurate. The GH2 images appear to have a green cast by comparison.

Moving up into the higher ISOs, around ISO 3200 the differences are stark. Here the GH2 has blotchy noise, a muddy green cast in the shadows and the colors are muted. The GH3 retains finer grain all the way up to ISO 6400, the colors are bright and the images are actually usable. At 100% the GH3 has some mosquito JPEG artifacts evident as random pinpoints of noise vs. the GH2 which has dark blotches and smeared details.

After upgrading ACR to handle the new RAW files, I took another look at the same set of photos in RAW. The RAW files reveal the fact that the JPEG engine in the GH3 is doing a heavy amount of noise reduction. Even at the base ISO of 200, quite a bit of noise is present in the RAW images, more than I would like to see. With an aggressive amount of noise reduction applied, the RAW files can be made to look as good and then a bit better than the JPEGs out of the camera. But the conclusion is that the JPEG engine has already been optimized to make the images look as good as possible, and RAW processing is not gaining a whole lot, except for the ability to fine tune and fix any white balance errors.

The still photos are pretty significantly improved over the GH2, and those already heavily invested in Micro 4/3 lenses will be glad to know that the investment will be put to good use on this body. But what many are dying to know is how much improvement there is in the video. What videographers are looking for is more dynamic range and a reduction or elimination of macroblocking and pixelation in heavy motion scenes.

There is good news here too: The GH3 pulls moderately more detail out of the shadow areas than the GH2. It's subtle but it's there: there is a bit more detail and less pixelated busyness in the grain. Again at high ISOs the difference is more drastic. The new All-I MOV codec is much more solid and easier to grade and edit without the image falling apart, without resorting to hacking the firmware. The other significant change is that the new menu allows for setting sharpness, contrast, and noise reduction in five steps up or down rather than three. Even with the sharpness turned to -3 on the GH2, the video looked unnaturally sharp with halos and aliasing. Now, with the sharpness turned all the way down to -5, the video looks more natural and the halos and aliasing are gone. Sharpening can now be adjusted in post more tastefully. Unfortunately, Panasonic removed two of my favorite photo styles for shooting video: Smooth and Cinema. In fact, they renamed all of them except for Standard and now there are only five instead of seven. The new styles Natural and Portrait are good choices for video. There are also many scene and creative control styles that have major effects on the overall look.

I have one main issue with this camera and that is the fact that the base ISO is 200. I didn't like it when they changed the base ISO from 100 to 160 on the GH2, and a base ISO of 200 is even worse. A base ISO of 200 on a micro 4/3 camera has about the same signal to noise ratio as ISO 800 on a full-frame DSLR**. That is hardly a very clean ''best'' setting. Smaller sensor cameras should be allowing us to begin at a LOWER base ISO, not a higher one, in order to have the finest grain and least amount of noise possible. And especially for video you really need to be able to shoot at lower ISOs in bright light, otherwise you are forced to have to use neutral density filters. The camera has an extended ISO that allows you to shoot at 125, but in manual movie mode it forces you back to ISO 200. Ideally I would like to be able to shoot at ISO 50 but at least all other digital cameras allow you to shoot at ISO 100. This is very frustrating and I don't understand why Panasonic doesn't allow this.

My second problem with this camera is the cost. This Micro 4/3 camera now costs TWICE as much as a good consumer grade DSLR such as the Canon T41. Even after adding on a few standard lenses, the DSLR becomes a less expensive solution while producing superior still images.

The loss of the multi-format sensor is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the 3x2 and 16x9 photos have lower resolution, and for video all your lenses are going to be slightly cropped compared to the GH2. On the other hand, this could be a positive if you are using legacy lenses such as B4 mount 2/3" lenses which have soft corners; some of the offending corners are cropped off. In the end, the improved image quality of this sensor wins out over the loss of the multi-format oversized sensor.

The new WiFi feature is the most sophisticated of any camera. It allows you to remotely control the camera's functions from your smartphone, immediately play back pictures on your phone or TV, immediately send pictures to your PC as you take them, and send stored pictures to your smartphone/pc/cloud service/web service/printer. I have not yet tested the WiFi features.

Here are the pros and cons of the GH3:

Pros:

Excellent JPEG Engine

Increased dynamic range

Improved low light/high ISO performance

More accurate colors

Wider control over contrast, sharpness, saturation, & noise reduction

Video quality exceeds most DSLRs

Sturdy build

Better button layout

Better, larger LCD

Longer lasting battery

Robust video codec that does not require a hack for pro editing

Fast and very accurate auto-focus

In-camera HDR works well

Silent electronic shutter option

Sophisticated WiFi features

Cons:

Base ISO of 200 is restrictive & frustrating

RAW files reveal that true levels of noise are high even at base ISO

Very little gains to be had shooting in RAW

No Smooth or Cinema picture styles

Considerably more expensive than many DSLRs

Still photography still inferior to most DSLRs

Loss of multi-format sensor could be a complaint for some.

My overall impression of the camera is very good, and I will probably be getting rid of the GH2 and finally giving up on the frustrating exercise of trying to get the 'perfect' hack settings out of it. The GH3 doesn't need the hack, with the robust 72 mbps MOV codec it's reliable and ready out of the box for professional cinematographers and hobbyists. The only thing that bothers me about it is not being able to shoot below ISO 200 in manual movie mode, but I will have to learn to live with that. The cost remains a big issue; for the same amount you could buy two GH2s and have some money left over to put towards the 12-35mm f/2.8 lens. GH2 hackers who already like what they have will probably want to wait until the cost comes down, and most photographers who don't shoot video will get more quality for their dollars with a DSLR.

*DxOMark actually gave the GH2 sensor a lower rating than the GH1 in all three categories: Color Depth, Dynamic Range, and Low Light ISO.

**I compared the RAW files. At ISO 200, the grain or noise from the GH3 is actually slightly WORSE than the Canon 5D Mark III at ISO 800.

Want Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3K 16.05 MP Digital Single Lens Mirrorless Camera with 3-Inch OLED - Body Onl Discount?

THis is my 2nd GH3. The first one was defective. The leveler was off and 20% of the shots were out of focus. This one is perfect perfect perfect. I'll begin with the things I like about it 1) AWB is the closest AWB achieved. I have a Canon Mark III and Nikon D800. None come close to how accurate Panny's AWB works. 2) size and weight. Perfect for me since I do a lot of architectural shooting and going up and down stairs is much easier at 70 years old. 3) the swing out touch screen LCD!! Keeps me from having to stoop over for hours looking at the viewfinder. 4) Touch focus on the LCD!!! OMG!! Perfect! 5) Photo quality.....up to 800 ISO. After 800 I do notice some noise. 6) Customizable buttons!! A LOT!! 7) The feel in my hands. Perfect. Now what I don't like 1) I wish the timer would auto bracket the shots when set. The Nikon and Canon both do that. I had to buy at remote shutter release cable. An inconvenience to carrying around for those twilight shots. Finally what everyone else has said about the camera is true. After another motnh or so, I may end up selling my Nikon D800 and Canon Mark III. Oh I'm using the Panny with a Oly 9-18 lens. I tried the Panny 7-14 but horrible flare problems.

Update: After having the 2nd camera for less than a month I've discovered a few issues. I was using my Canon external flash and it worked fine for about a week then the hot shoe became slightly loose and the flash wouldn't fire. It worked perfectly on my Canon Mark III and still does. I tried another flash on the Panny and still no luck. Defective hot shoe. I had to return the 2nd GH3 but got another one....I liked it that much!! The new one seems to be working fine with the external flash. Another issue has been occasional out of focus shots. The camera would beep "in focus" but after downloading the photos, several were out of focus. I had this problem as well with the previous GH3. I was using single point focusing. Then I tried a different focus setting...pinpoint. It zooms in quickly and you can see whether or not it's truly in focus. Some registered "in focus" but weren't so I had to move the focus point to a good contrast area to achieve true focus. Ever since then, all my photos have been in focus. Every camera has it's quirks. Getting to know them is the key to getting good shots. One thing I'm concerned about is the longevity of the camera. I'm a working photographer and put about 8,000 to 10,000 shutter clicks on my cameras per month. I had a Nikon D700 for years and ran it up to 300,000 shutter clicks with no problems. I also had a Sony SLT A77 that started to fail after 8 months. It was in for service twice. I love the GH3. It's light and gives me results in the easiest way possible. I don't invest in cameras unless it makes my job easier. The GH3 feels solid for what it is but only time will tell.

Update: After 2 months, I found that this is the ONLY camera I have ever used that has a truly amazing AWB. It is very close to being perfect. If not, at least it makes it much easier to correct in PS or other photo programs. However, in difficult situations such as colored walls, etc... I still manual white balance and it brings it to almost 95% perfect.

Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR, 55-200mm VR DX Zoom Lenses and 3-Inch LCD Sc

For the cost of this camera, I don't think you can get anything better. The low light performance is off the charts. As a wedding photographer I regularly shoot with Nikon's high end professional equipment and I was amazed how close this camera is to a pro camera. Now let me get specific. In order to compare I took a look at 100% files out of each camera I own.

Which camera excels Nikon D3100($Cheap) VS. D300($1600) VS. D700 ($2,700):

* Lens = The D3100 is the only camera that comes with a lens at it's normal price

* ISO Performance = Tie between D3100 and D700! (It could be Nikon's new processing but the JPEG looks fantastic I was shooting D3100 on 6400iso with very little noise at all)

* Low Light Focusing = D700

* Focus Speed = D700

* External Buttons & Controls for Pros = D700

* Menu Navigation = D3100

* Ease of Use = D3100

* Megapixel = D3100 (14.2)

* Sensor size = D700 (Much more important than megapixels but I won't get into this)

* Can use older lenses with functionality = D700 & D300

* Video = D3100 of course! 1080P video looks amazing.

* Frame Rate = D300 at 6 photos a second

* Weight = D3100 (light as a feather)

* Ergonomics = D700 (big enough for all my finger)

Lens:

The lens is a kit lens, it will work outside but not so great in low light. The Vibration Reduction will help indoors but Vibration Reduction can't stop a child or pet in motion indoors. Consider buying a 35mm 1.8dx AFS for around $200 and you will be super happy with this camera.

Video:

I purchased the 3100 specifically to shoot video, so I put on Nikon's brand new 85mm 1.4g Nano lens and shot video with it. The lens costs more than double the camera but I wanted to see how the 1080P video looked. It has the look of a cinematic movie. After the 85mm, I put on Nikon's 50 1.2 manual focus lens and was able to take very cinematic video in manual mode. In order to make it brighter or darker you either need to use a really old lens like the 50mm 1.2 and hit the AE-L (auto exposure lock) and twist the aperture to change exposure. Or you can hit the AE-L button when you get the exposure you like. Its not a perfect system but it works well for me. Inside the menu options you can change the AE-L button to hold the setting until you reset which is helpful.

Jello Cam (What's not so great):

This camera still suffers from the "Jello Cam" look in video if it is not on a tripod and you are shaky. The video can look like jello if moved too quickly. Use a monopod or tripod when shooting to avoid this. I'm not sure if a faster video frame rate 60fps would help but at 24 and 30 it can suffer badly.

Conclusion:

This is an amazing deal! Unless you make most of your income from photography or have a stockpile of old lenses (this camera can only autofocus with AFS lenses) then this camera is the must have camera of the year. If you have good composition skills and an eye for light you can take photos worthy of a magazine with this. Seriously, you won't regret buying this camera. When you do, do yourself a favor and buy an additional Nikon AFS lens that has a maximum aperture of 2.8, 1.8 or 1.4. These lenses will take better portraits and deal better in low light than the kit lens.

I recently updated my DSLR collection to the Nikon D3100 from the Nikon D70. There are good reviews out there that you should check out. However, I would like to share some of my first impressions.

Pro:

-Better image quality and lower noise at high ISO with the D3100

-MUCH MUCH lighter, which will be nice when traveling

-Larger LCD screen

-11 focus points, including 3D focus which tracks the motion of the subject or camera.

-1080p Video

-14 megapixels

-2nd Generation DSLR

-Quiet, quiet, quiet

Cons:

-No bracketing option. Not a huge deal since I only bracket once a year

-Cannot use my old 50mm 1.8 lens. I knew this before purchasing the camera.

-As of 10/1/2010, Camera RAW for the D3100 is not supported in Photoshop or Lightroom. Need to shoot .jpg + RAW or use Nikon Capture NX2 for RAW files. That should be updated soon, so not a big deal.

-Can hear the lens focusing when recording video.

-No depth of field preview.

-Can't use wireless remote

I'm an amateur photographer and this camera meets my needs. I love the fact that it's small and light, with great quality images. If I were a serious photographer and had more money to spare, I would wait and check out the D7000, which appears to have phenomenal specs. I'm happy with my purchase and I highly recommend this camera.

Buy Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR, 55-200mm VR DX Zoom Lenses and 3-Inch LCD Sc Now

This Nikon D3100 is a phenomenal deal for non professionals, the rest of us people that want to take family and travel shots. I've owned DSLRs since 2004, starting with a Nikon D70 and then moving to D40, D200 and Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black) and Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only). Those are all excellent cameras, but this Nikon D3100 is better than all of those in one crucial area, the area that matters: it takes excellent pictures without having to fiddle with the settings between shots. Yes, the other cameras are better in other respects: They have more buttons to change settings without delving into menus, they are bigger (is that a plus?), heavier (another plus?), and have better specs (1/500 flash sync speed for D70 and D40), but in the end I would have to fiddle with the settings to get the best results: change the white balance, fiddle with the ISO (my Canons would default to ISO 400 for flash shots, why? Who knows. That meant disabling auto ISO and choosing ISO settings manually), the exposure (+0.7 indoor, 0 outdoor), and so on. D200 was noisy at higher ISO, D70's pictures tended to be cool (i.e. not warm), 40D had cool custom buttons (C1, C2, C3, very cool), but I found its ergonomics worse than XSi or any Nikon; why place the on/off switch at the bottom of the body? Who knows. Fortunately, new Canons have fixed this).

This D3100 also makes the D3000 and D5000 obsolete. The D3000 is slow and noisy at high ISO. The D5000 only shoots 720p (not 1080p), no autofocus in movie mode, less resolution. Old technology.

What sets the D3100 apart from all the other cameras above is this: set the camera in P (program) mode, auto white balance, -0.3 exposure compensation, slow flash sync mode (for people shots), auto distortion correction on (great!), auto chromatic aberrations correction on (great!), and you are set; now you can concentrate on the only aspect of photography that matters: composition, i.e. framing your shot in the best possible way. There must be a photography mantra that says, "thou shalt buy the D3100, and the D3100 will set you free." Now this is if you shot jpeg. If you shoot raw, you can then use a program like DXO, Aperture 3, or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 to further play with the pictures. My workflow with the XSi was to shoot raw, then use DXO to batch process all the pics according to two settings: people (low contrast, no saturation added) and landscape (contrast, saturation, etc.). DXO would then batch-remove lens distortion, chromatic aberrations, vignetting, apply custom curves, change white balance when necessary, and apply its (almost magical) auto lighting settings to make the shots pop. For now DXO does not have a custom module for the D3100 (still too new of a camera), so I'm shooting jpeg for now. Once DXO adds the module for the D3100, I'll takes shots in both raw and jpeg fine and compare the jpegs straight out of the camera with the raw images processed with DXO. I'm curious to see the comparison.

This is great, not only for you, but also for your non-photographer spouse; my XSi took phenomenal shots, but I had to know how to set it. Can you imagine me going to my non-photographer wife and say, "okay, when you take indoor shots of our kids, set the camera on A mode (Canons expose for ambient light in A mode and adjust flash for fill, that's great), +0.7 exposure compensation, ISO 400 or 800, white balance on cloudy, and shoot." My wife was lost at "okay." Sure the custom modes on the 40D would have helped, but the 40D is old technology; can it take 1080p video? I didn't think so. Plus, what lens are you going to use with the 40D? The 17-55 IS? Great lens, but who wants to spend $1,000 for a non-weather sealed 17-55 dust collector (google Canon 17-55 and dust)? Will 17-55 be enough for your telephoto shots? Your kids' baseball games? Didn't think so. What about the Canon 18-200? Sub-par quality, noisy, overpriced.

Back to the D3100. Auto white balance (the second most important thing after composition) works great, even indoor (no cloudy setting necessary), the only changes are extreme situations (outdoor shade, or indoor fluorescent or tungsten lights at night, but that is true with every camera. Why that is is beyond me; can't they make smarter cameras that account for these situations as well?); movie mode is excellent; yes, the mic is mono, but that's okay for family use (and that's why you buy this camera; if you are pro, you landed on the wrong page); if you really want to push it, you can use this camera for video, your iphone/ipod touch for audio with an app like FourTrack, and then sync video and audio in post with the excellent Singular Software Dual Eyes program. Your choice. Matter is: DSLR video can look awesome if used the right way, but keep in mind its limitations: jerky camera horizontal panning will give you the infamous jello effect (courtesy of the CMOS sensor), so pan slowly. You'll also have to play with autofocus vs manual focus settings sometimes; I've used the camera in autofocus; it has worked great so far.

What lens(es) should you use with the D3100. You should sell the (excellent) 18-55 that ships with the camera. Quality is good, but not enough reach. You can sell it for $140 or so. Take the money and use it toward a more useful lens. What lens? The target market for this camera is moms and dads that want to take shots of their kids; even advanced amateurs like me don't want to travel with a camera bag full of primes and heavy zoom lenses that you have to swap every 10 minutes; this is 2010 (almost 2011), for crying out loud; choose a single zoom and enjoy life and photography; I would use the excellent but underrated Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras, the excellent (but expensive) Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR Nikkor Wide-Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras, or my choice, the jack-of-all trades, the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR II Nikkor Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DX-Format Digital SLR Cameras. Yes, yes, if you check sites like Photozone, they will tell you that the optical quality of the 18-200 is not as good (or consistent) as the 18-105 or the 16-85, but it's good enough for moms and dads bitten by the photography bug. A great shot of your kid at 200mm is better than no shot with either of the other two lenses. The optical superiority of the 16-85 disappears at 135mm or 200mm, simply because it can't do it. The 16-85 and the 18-200 are about the same price. The 18-200 will set you free. It won't help you if your kids play baseball at night (too slow), but you'll have to live with it, unless you are willing to drop $2,000 on a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens For Nikon Digital SLR Cameras. Sure, we'd all like a 16-300 VR VIII lens with a 20-stop VR reduction, constant 1.4 aperture, with optical perfection, weighing only 500 gr. and below $1,000, but alas our engineers are not as good as the random mutation and natural selection that gave us our eyes ;-0

My settings:

Display mode: detailed photo info > check RGB histogram and data > Done (why? You want to check if you are clipping the red, green, or blue channels)

Transition effects: OFF

Set picture control: portrait (for people shots)

Landscape: for, well, landscape shots: increase sharpness to 4 (D3100 shots are unsharpened by default)

Image quality: raw + jpeg fine (or jpeg fine, if you don't want to mess with raw)

White balance: auto (I played with the settings to A1, A2, A3, but images were to yellowish for my taste, as if my kids had jaundice). Auto works fine

Auto ISO: on

Min shutter speed: 1/30 (1/15 if you have steady hands)

Max ISO: I set 800, you can push to 1600 or even 3200 (your choice)

Standard ISO: 100

Active D-Lighting: on (it works well)

Auto distortion control: on (Great)

Movie settings: 1080 24p. You can also do 720 at 30p for less jerky movements

Info display format: i prefer classic black (your choice)

Auto info display: off

Image comment: your choice. I have my name, copyright (haha), and phone number

Beep: off (please)

AEL-AFL button: I only lock exposure, not focus.

My accessories:

67-to-77 ring adapter (if you have the 18-105 lens)

72-to-77 ring adapter (if you have the 18-200 lens)

77mm haze filter. I use the best, The B+W 77mm UVA (Ultra Violet) Haze MRC Filter #010 one. You don't want to use a cheap fIlter on top of a $350 or $650 lens.

77mm circular polarizer fliter; again I use the best, the B + W 77mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer Coated Glass Filter. This filter is for your travel shots. It will make blue skies bluer and will remove reflections from that gorgeous Maui ocean. This is an expensive filter at $180 or so; you don't have to get it right away, unless you are going to Maui soon.

Why 77mm filters? Because you don't want to go nuts buying filters of different sizes for your lenses. If buy the 67mm filter for your 18-105 lens and later decide to upgrade your lens to the 72mm 18-200, you are screwed. It's cheaper to buy a $5 lens ring adapter to 77mm and use 77mm filters. It'll keep you sane too.

Remember why you purchase this camera: you want to enjoy photography; enjoy it then.

Read Best Reviews of Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR, 55-200mm VR DX Zoom Lenses and 3-Inch LCD Sc Here

Hurray! The long wait is over! Nikon had us wait for such a long time for its newer models (D3100 and D7000) and it was just when we started thinking if Nikon will ever have an answer, anytime soon, to Canon's T2i, 7D and 60D) they released these two wonderful cameras D3100 and D7000. Let's focus on D3100, shall we?

So I finally had a chance to get hold of this D-SLR at Best Buy today. I am not a pro by any means but I have used many different D-SLRs including Canon (40D, T2i, XSi) and Nikon (D90, D5000). When I picked-up the camera for the first time, my initial reaction was, "whoa this is so small and light weight"! It wasn't that I wasn't aware of the specs I knew them beforehand but I was still blown away by how small and light it felt when I held it in my hands. Then, I thought, the grip would not be very comfortable but I was wrong as holding and operating the camera is just fine thanks to Nikon's well-thought-out design and grip. For the size and feel, it's very similar to D3000 but has more goodies from the higher versions. So from an initial wow factor, I quickly moved on to focusing on features and capabilities.

I have just started using this camera so more update will follow but in the meantime my initial assessment of this camera is I am impressed! It is one heck of a camera which can certainly compete against the best in its class (Canon T1i, T2i, Nikon D5000). Check out detailed reviews at dpreview (.com) and cameralabs (.com) they should be added soon if not already there.

I love this camera because it:

+ has enough mega pixels for my needs (14.2).

+ captures crystal clear images (thanks to EXPEED2 processor & the CMOS sensor, the sensor is slightly smaller than the one used in D7000).

+ offers 1080p (HD) recording, AF subject tracking is awesome (10 min max is fine with me; it records outstanding videos even in low light and to me that's big).

+ offers ISO from 100-3200 (D90 starts at 200), it can go higher but I really don't think why I would need anything above that.

+ is small & light weight yet has good grip, easy to carry around in hands or neck.

+ supports SDXC cards on top of SD and SDHC now that's nice.

+ (25-Sep-2010): has buttons that are well organized especially the video recording mode with a lever so you cannot mistakenly activate recording. That video recording lever once unlocked, gets locked in 30 seconds if you do not record and the countdown begins as soon as you unlock the lever. Also you can record video while you're in any dial (imaging) mode (Auto, P, A, S, M, and so on) where as in Canon T2i, etc. you have to move the camera dial to movie mode. So this is a great convenience you can jump between taking pictures and recording videos with a simple unlocking of the lever. Additionally, you can be in a preferred dial (imaging) mode (Auto, P, A, S, M, and so on) and change the release mode to Single, Continuous, Self-timer or Quiet mode (this is located right underneath the main dial) another great convenient feature.

+ (04-Oct-2010): In-body photo and movie retouch menu. This is great as we don't need any special software to apply certain touches. I love it.

Could have been even better if:

it had the bracketing option (not too much to expect at this price point level but oh well I don't use that much but for some people this could be a big plus).

grid lines were available (I miss them in both in live view and in the view finder).

Active D Lighting was not limited to just ON or OFF (either you have it or not at all, instead of low, medium, high, etc.). Don't get me wrong the ON just worked fine (better than Canon T2i) but I can't compare with all other modes.

Recommendations (optional accessories):

* In my personal order of importance your preference may differ. *

1. Nikon UC-E4 USB Cable not included. (~$6)

2. UV filter a must for protecting your lens against accidental damage. (~10$)

3. Carrying case is a must to protect your investment. There are many cases to choose from and it's up to you to decide but I suggest getting something like Lowepro SlingShot 102 AW (all weather proof carrying case) so if it rains, you can pull out the weather guard and cover it up. ($90)

4. Additional rechargeable Lithium Ion EN-EL14 battery so you never run out the juice when you're traveling and do not want to miss capturing a moment for good. (~$35)

5. SB-600 Speedlight. Those who have used speed lights would know what difference it can make to an image with adjustments you can make to light for an image. (~$225)

6. 18-55 VR lens has its limitations so if you have extra $$$s, buy body only (if that even is an option) and get yourself a 18-105 VR lens. But at that point, you may want to consider D90 which still is a good camera and offers many more controls. (~$325 to $350)

Overall:

I give this camera 5 Stars because it takes excellent pictures in almost all conditions (bright or low-light) and that is exactly what I wanted this camera to do for me. Period.

I must commend Nikon for not getting into the mega pixel race (read marketing). They instead kept the photographer in mind and focused on delivering greater picture quality. Kudos to Nikon for having that courage.

Want Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR, 55-200mm VR DX Zoom Lenses and 3-Inch LCD Sc Discount?

I am a photography teacher in NYC and online. (See my Amazon profile for my website.) I teach beginner and intermediate photography students every week. I've also been a professional photographer for the last five years with images published in The New York Times, GQ, New York Magazine, Women's Wear Daily, The New York Observer, The Village Voice and Time Out New York.

(This review is for beginner photographers.)

If you're a beginner, you're most likely asking yourself: Nikon or Canon? Really, I feel confident in saying that you can't go wrong with either. I've used both brand's cameras extensively and find that they both offer amazing image quality with well-built, solid cameras that, if taken care of, will last decades. There are two differences between the cameras, though, that can be taken into consideration.

The user-interface: If cameras were computers, Nikons would be PCs and Canons would be MACs. PCs are built for people not afraid of technology whereas Macs are built for people who want things super-easy. Nikons excel at customization options which means you'll see so many more options with the Advanced features of a Nikon than you will with a Canon. Canons, on the other hand, excel at ease-of-use for beginners. Canons offer less advanced options and can be easier to learn on. This can be frustrating down the line, though, once you've learned a lot about photography. At that point you may want all of the options that Nikon offers and be frustrated with your Canon. If you're someone who really likes to delve deep into your hobbies or if you're intent on becoming a professional photographer, I'd say a Nikon would be your best bet. If you're someone who wants to learn the basics of photography and only imagine yourself being a hobbyist, Canon would be a better option for you.

Where Nikon excels: Flash photography. I often find myself in situations where I'm shooting event photography (weddings, movie premiers, benefits and galas) where I need to use a lot of flash. For this kind of photography, I'll always prefer to be shooting with a Nikon. Nikon's flash metering (how the camera magically decides how much light to fire out of the flash) is much more consistent than Canon's. You can take a Canon and shoot the same scene three times in a row with flash and all three images will be at different brightness levels. You can do the same thing with a Nikon and all three images will be wonderfully the same. If you're somebody who plans on shooting a lot with flash (indoor photography, event photography, etc.) you'll want to consider going with Nikon.

Where Canon excels: Richness of colors. I've been in numerous situations where I've been on the red carpet taking the exact same picture as the photographer next to me. I'll have a Canon and the person next to me will have a Nikon. This has provided quite a few opportunities to compare the images side-by-side. What I've found is that the colors on the Canon's images look richer and make the image pop more. If I'm doing fine art photography (anything I'd like to someday hang in a gallery), I'll always want to be shooting with a Canon for this reason.

If you're set on Nikon, there are three cameras you should be considering and it all comes down to what your budget is:

D7000 $1,400 without lens

D5100 $750 without lens

D3100 $600 only available with lens

(current prices as of 2/19/11)

Here's what you get for spending extra money (each camera compared to the one below it):

D3100 vs. D5100:

The D3100 is an EXCELLENT camera so if you only have $550 to spend total on camera and lens then go out and buy this camera. You won't regret it. If you're considering spending more money, here's what you'll get from the D5100 in comparison:

-Better performance in low light situations.

-A higher resolution screen on the back of the camera so you can see your images more clearly and make out if they actually turned out well.

-An external mic jack. (If you're planning on shooting video with an external mic, you'll want the D5100 over the D3100.)

-A flip out screen (handy if you want to put your camera anywhere but at your eye level and be able to see what your camera is about to capture before you shoot it)

-Faster continuous shooting. If you're often shooting sports or any fast moving subject, continuous shooting allows you to capture multiple images in a single second. The D3100 shoots at three frames per second whereas the D5100 shoots at four frames per second.

-Higher ISO options. The D5100 offers one more stop of ISO than the D3100 does. If you don't know what ISO means (or what a stop is) just know that this allows you to more easily shoot images in low-light situations.

-Longer battery life. The D5100's battery will last 20% longer than the D3100

The two advantages of the D3100 over the D5100 are: less expensive and less weight. Whenever a camera is less expensive, it means you'll have more in your budget for the lens. The D3100 weighs 10% lighter and is 10% smaller than the D5100.

D5100 vs. D7000:

The D5100 is Nikon's latest and greatest and is even newer than the D7000. Phenomenal camera! If you're stuck, though, between the D5100 and the D7000, here's what you'll get by spending more money on the D7000:

-More focus points. When using auto-focus, the D7000 will have an easier time focusing on what you want it to focus on.

-60% longer lasting batteries.

-Faster continuous shooting. If you're often shooting sports or any fast moving subject, continuous shooting allows you to capture multiple images in a single second. The D5100 shoots at four frames per second whereas the D7000 shoots at six frames per second.

-Weather sealed. This means you can shoot with the D7000 in the rain.

-Two memory card slots. This is really a cool feature. The D7000 has two memory card slots which means you'll be less likely to find yourself standing in front of a gorgeous scene with no more memory left.

-Faster shutter speed. The fastest shutter speed on the D5100 is 1/4000th of a second; on the D7000: 1/8000th of a second. To be honest, I can't think of any practical reason why this would benefit you unless you're planning on shooting some really bright scenes like directly into the sun.

Advantages of the D5100 over the D7000:

-A flip out screen (handy if you want to put your camera anywhere but at your eye level and be able to see what your camera is about to capture before you shoot it)

-Smaller and lighter: The D5100 is 10% smaller and 30% lighter than the D7000. This is something to consider if you plan on carrying your camera around with you a lot.

-Less expensive so you can spend more on your lens!

If I can clarify any of this, please email me!

-JP Pullos, photography teacher, NYC and online (see my Amazon profile for my website)

Nikon D5200 Digital SLR Camera & 18-55mm G VR DX AF-S Zoom Lens (Black) with 55-300mm VR Lens +

I've been pricing the Nikon D5200 for awhile now... we wanted a nice camera to take with us on our honeymoon to St. Lucia. I came across this bundle and couldn't pass up the deal. The camera itself takes AMAZING pictures. There's a lot to learn based on the size of the manual but without reading the details was still easy straight out of the box.

Along with all the additional "goodies" this package came withI think we're all set to take as many pictures as we can manage!

I am giving it 5 star rating for the amount of items that came along with this package is fair enough. I was looking for an upgrade to my current camera for the one I have is a fuji pocket camera which is ok but failed in so many good moments. The good things about this package are well the two Nikon lenses, Precision lenses that attach to your Nikon lenses gives you a wide view look and a fish eye view, extra battery, memory card and a tripod for your camera. I did not like the Nikon carrying case for its to big but it will carry everything that is included in this package but I just transfer the lenses and camera to a different smaller bag when I go out on a trip; also I recommend you buy a better screen protector for the one they supply you with is terrible to the touch and you have to cut it with scissors to fit your screen. The pictures I took with this camera are excellent crisp and clear and I have no regrets in spending what I did for this camera for it has a quality feel and look to it. I choose this model over the D3200 mainly for the pull out monitor feature which prove to be a wise choice for those tough angles when you have to get down close to the floor or if you choose to take picture of you with the family you can turn the display facing out were you can see yourself prior to clicking on the remote to take a picture. The remote is included but the wireless receiver is not I did select to buy this extra add on separately myself for you can use your smart phone as a controller/viewer just download the app for it or transfer your pictures via wireless.

Buy Nikon D5200 Digital SLR Camera & 18-55mm G VR DX AF-S Zoom Lens (Black) with 55-300mm VR Lens + Now

Esky C5900 White H.264 Wireless DDNS WiFI IR-cut IP Camera Pan/Tilt 2-ways Audio LED night vision C

I am a novice to security cameras but decided to give this a try because it had all the features I wanted. The directions for wired setup were good and the camera gives a very clear picture, decent audio and the panning/tilt works good. However, I need to be able to view this remotely and wirelessly. The ability is there,but it has taken me several tries to almost have it working. I have some networking experience but this is a little above me. The net book I wanted to receive the signal does not have a powerful enough adapter to pick up the signal from the router so I had to use a notebook I wasn't planning on tying up. Possibly my lask of experience is the problem, but I would recommend having someone set this up that knew what they were doing.

Update: as of 6/20 I still have not been able to remotely access this camera. It does take very nice snapshots of what you can see wired.

The Esky C5900 camera has a lot of potential.

Pro: You can remotely view the camera with your smart phone (I am using a Samsung Galaxy S2) and you can rotate the camera with your phone. It will also send you emails when motion is detected. I also put in t 32G sd card and that works well. I have set the camera up in different locations (using wifi) and it works.

Con: I emailed into Esky for assistance and have never received a reply. One big problem is about once a day the camera needs to be rebooted i.e. un-plugged and plugged back in, and you can not do this remotely.

Buy Esky C5900 White H.264 Wireless DDNS WiFI IR-cut IP Camera Pan/Tilt 2-ways Audio LED night vision C Now

Update: Well it looks like despite, my 5 star review, they didn't send out whichever free gift they were promising. So I won't be able to share what exactly they were bribing reviews with. Do yourself a favor and stay away from these H.264 pieces of junk. Your maximum character limit for a password on one of these devices is 7 characters. If you enter more than that, you'll have to reset your camera to be able to access it again.

>Warning, I'd really rate this cam a 2 star but read comments below to find out why I put 5 stars.

Let's see... I guess it depends on how you want to use this. It works fine in IE and with it's included software. If you intend to view this on an Android phone, think again. Ipcam viewer Lite/Pro can't use the send audio feature on this cam, and receiving audio is only in the Pro(paid) version. Worse, if your app can't use the rtsp stream (H.264) than you will be using the HTTP stream which seems to get less that 1/fps. Google it, many people are having this problem (it doesn't matter if it's connected wireless or wired, on the local lan or over the web). TinyCam Monitor Pro can't receive audio or send audio and you will have to find a camera profile that uses a similar HTTP feed. Again, you will get less than 1/fps since these programs cannot access the rtsp stream.

Esky does have an android app that is not on the market, you have to download it from their link. I haven't tried it because they force you to register for an account with them and I don't believe there app will work with my other 3 cameras (non-Esky) that I have in the house. I do not want to use 2 different apps on my phone to access all of my cameras.

Blue Iris can access the rtsp stream and gets up to 30fps. I was able to use the PTZ functionality of the cam but the commands seemed to lag. The audio functions would not work.

Now here is the best part. In my box, there was a card for a "rewards" program. If I put up a five star review on Amazon or Ebay, they will send me a free gift "I'm sure to like". Bribes? I googled and could not find out what the "reward" is.

Also, I have updated the firmware to the latest one available. The cam seems to reset itself alot and when I have it hooked up wirelessly, the framerates from the the other cams on my network (both wireless and wired) seem to drop very low whenever I access this cam's http stream. My network is a 1000mbps network with 1 router, 1 x 1 gigabit switch.

Bottom line, most apps are not compatible with the new H.264 cams. If you want to be a beta tester and wait for this functionality to be implemented in other applications then get this cam. If you only need one cam in your home and you don't mind using IE to access your cams features, this cam will work for your needs as well.

Read Best Reviews of Esky C5900 White H.264 Wireless DDNS WiFI IR-cut IP Camera Pan/Tilt 2-ways Audio LED night vision C Here

Panasonic HDC-Z10000 Twin-Lens 2D/3D Camcorder

I've been using the z10000 for about two weeks now. Since I'm the first reviewer of this camera I'm just going to lay out my thoughts about this camera without really polishing or organizing my review.

I was expecting professional level quality and features from this camera, and I feel that it comes up a bit short in both. I'm purposely being very critical of this camera because of the very high price tag. As the price of a device goes up so do my expectations and there are currently two other good 3d video cameras (JVC 3D Full HD Camera, Sony HDR-TD10 High Definition 3D Handycam Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Dark Gray)) that cost less than half as much as the Panasonic z10000. Overall I'd say it is hard to justify the high cost of this camera compared to the alternatives.

Why is 3d video so attractive to me in the first place? Years ago I remember many people seeing ultra high definition displays for the first time and remarking that it was "like looking through a window". The displays were very nice compared to standard televisions at the time, but I never felt that the view was as realistic as looking out of a window. Even with a large 1080p display its just a very clear moving picture. A few years ago I started to see 3d displays appear. Finally, it was like looking at a scene through a window. I have mixed feelings about watching a movie in 3d, but for home videos you can't beat the realism. It really is like looking through a window to the past.

I got into the 3d game a year ago with the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 Digital Camera with 3.5-Inch LCD. Its been a lot of fun to use, but let's be honest the quality of the still imaging is poor and the video is awful. This year I bought the JVC 3D Full HD Camera, but only held onto it for a few weeks before returning it since I had no easy way of playing back the high quality 3d video aside from using the camera.

One of the big pluses to the z10000 is that the video can be edited using Vegas 11, which I already owned. I have NOT tried the bundled software with the z10000, but I believe it will also allow you to burn Blu-Ray discs with your video.

The video quality is great with good lighting, but it struggles in low light conditions more than I believe a pro-level camera should. I did side by side recordings with my 6 year old Sony HDR-FX1 3-CCD HDV High Definition Camcorder w/12x Optical Zoom and the difference in quality is obvious.

I am impressed with the sound on this camera. It provides 5.1 recording, and I've tried it out in a variety of settings. It is very nice when I play back my video to hear voices coming from the appropriate locations. If I talk when holding the camera my voice will dominate all channels, but that was expected.

I am very impressed with the image stabilization this camera provides. When you move the camera around a scene there is the usual delay before it starts to sweep the scene, but I do not get any jerkiness or momentary blur as I have with other cameras.

The view screen does not flip out like on many pro cameras. This one actually pulls out of the camera and turns up. Forget about quick access to the camera you'll waste precious seconds popping out the view screen and turning it up each time you want to start filming.

Battery life is short. I have not run the camera until the battery dies, but the power indicator shows low after about 60 minutes of recording. The cost of additional batteries is very high, and the AC power port is located behind the battery. This is a very strange design choice as it means I have to pull out the battery any time I want to switch to external power. It also means I can't charge the battery when its in the camera. I'll have to carry the battery charger with me when I travel, and it does not utilize the same power cord that the camera does.

Out of all of the buttons available on the camera you would think one of the most important would be the one that allows you to switch between 2d and 3d recording. Oddly enough this button does not exist, and you cannot program it into any of the user defined buttons. To switch between 2d/3d you have to first hit the "menu" button on the side of the camera and then navigate through the touch screen. Very bad design decision.

The view screen is mediocre. Not as bad as the JVC TD1 which I thought was terrible, but not as good as the Fujifilm W3. It is a bit fuzzy in appearance, maybe because it is a touchscreen. I have a very hard time finding the sweet spot for viewing 3d. There is a "mix view" mode that essentially displays both video streams at the same time in 2d and I recommend using this instead of the 3d view. The mix view is actually an advantage that this camera provides because it allows you to see exactly where the convergence point is in your video. Wherever you don't see double imaging that is your convergence point and that is probably where you want the focus of your shooting to be.

There is a photo shoot button, but the location assumes you are holding the camera using the right side strap. If you are holding the camera from the top handle while recording, you cannot easily hit the photo button (unless you are left handed I suppose). This is not a big deal since I can make still images from the video easily enough, but it would have been convenient to have the shoot button available from the handle.

The lens cover is the removable type that snaps in /snaps out, not the type that is built in and flips open. Another poor design decision in my opinion, I do not like having a loose lens cover to carry around.

OVERALL I am enjoying my new toy and I love watching my home videos in 3d. It the next best thing to actually being there. The video quality is very good, though it does fall short of what I was expecting from a pro-level camera and I don't see a significant difference in video quality compared to the JVC TD1. Not enough to justify the cost difference in any case. The construction and layout of the camera could be much better, and features such as 2d/3d switching and gain adjustment are missing. Sound is impressive as is the image stabilization, and it is a comfortable camera to hold which I would not say for the Sony TD10 or the JVC TD1.

Greetings, my fellow 3D thrills seekers! I've had my Panasonic HDC-Z10000 camera for a year now, and used at a lot in various settings, so I've got some real experiences to share. First off, I must make a disclaimer: I like this camera; I think it is a useful tool in a video enthusiast's arsenal, and I am keeping mine for good. But it is not so rosy too: the camera has a lot of frustrating issues which are hard to oversee, even if you try hard. There are so many of those that I doubt any serious professional would ever make this camera his or her A-tool. That said I would not position Z10K as "professional", in spite of some existing pretense out there. Having XLR audio inputs with phantom power does not automatically qualify for professional camcorder. Let us start looking at this camcorder strengths and weaknesses now.

The camera has total of 6 CMOS sensors, or double 3MOS, which helps making beautiful bright and colorful pictures in adequate lighting conditions, but the grim truth is that those sensors are very small: 1/4.1 inch each. While this is not necessarily synonymous to poor quality, and my previous remark is my acknowledgement for this, but there are still some bad implications exist. I am not going to refer to any scientific analysis, you can do the research yourself, but in my own observation, such small size of the sensors contributes to quite poor low light performance. No matter how much you try tweaking color profiles, the picture comes out very noisy, beyond any acceptable level. Additionally, even with hefty 1.5 f-stop lens, such small sensors make hard getting ever-so-sought bokeh effect indeed. You may try hard, but it will elude you, be assured. Obviously, there is a flip side to the coin: your depth of focus gets wide, which in many cases is desired and helpful in some specific applications, but let's not forget that your creativity is still quite limited, when you need it.

White balance control cannot be any worse too. There is one push button which you use to change the mode as well as for assigning custom balance. Therefore, if you wish to go from only two of the existing temperature presets or from automatic to custom white balance setting, you have to keep pushing it to cycle through all of the existing options until you find one desired. This is very inconvenient while shooting indoors when color condition changes from take to take. Sure, you can use neutral gray reference card each time and keep your setting on custom all the time, but this is not that simplistic too. Due to small sensor size, the dynamic range is not very wide; therefore environment color and attached on-camera light color become significantly different. If you turn the light off and set custom white balance to match environment color, than turning on-camera light on would throw the color badly off balance and ruin the shot. If on the other hand, you use neutral gray card to adjust for on-camera light, than the environment color becomes significantly misbalanced. As a way of mitigating the problem, I found by trial and error that turning camera to auto balance for a few seconds, and then locking auto-tuned setting would do the trick acceptably. But since there is only one button for controlling every aspect of white balance, you have to keep cycling the options over and over again just to engage auto balance and then lock it. Very annoying and time consuming, which in many cases make you miss the shot too. I doubt one do-it-all button would be professional's choice. My other camera Canon XH-A1 for instance, has by far, far better white balance control with several dedicated hard buttons and a dial on camera body. This is where Panasonic should get their ideas if their own ones are missing. Not such professional level at all.

Next, the lens: yes, it is F1.5 which Panasonic is so proudly bragging about, but f1.5 on such small lens diameter is not a big deal really. Since the opening is so small, there is small amount of light which can get through. This, coupled with small sensor size, explains so poor low light handling. But things get even worse: since there are two of those sitting next to each other, Panasonic chose to cover them with oval shaped glass of who knows what quality, which is housed in oval hood. If you think this was a good idea, think again: there simply are no oval shaped lens filters in this universe. If there was no glass cover, and each lens had its own filter threads, you could at least buy two filters and put them on each lens individually; but no, this won't happen. This camera is completely filter-prohibitive. That is very bad because there are a lot of situations, when circular polarizer for instance, helps recovering otherwise ruined shot perspective by removing glare, water reflection, or unbalanced white sand or concrete shine, etc. With my mentioned Canon, none of this is an issue: I got a whole selection of B&W lens filters, one for each specific job. With Z10K you can forget about creativity: no filters. No, don't yell at me: I know you can have a custom hood attached, which would have built-in gelatin filter holder, or something similar, but it makes your setting immobile, heavy, bulky, and oh-so-expensive too. Try shooting dynamic scenes on a beach or run after wild animals in the forest with those things attached, and we will see who laughs last. Again, not that many professionals would approve such poor choice of design, the one which deprives them any level of light-modification creativity. And let's not forget that Panasonic Z10K does not have built-in ND filter too. That, combined with impossibility for on-lens filters, make you forget getting blurry water falls, moving objects, etc. No creativity allowed again. No professional level.

Next, recording codec and media. Z10K has many formats to choose from, this is clearly a strength that I highly appreciate. I use mostly 30p and 24p for most of my work, but having others helps too. There are two SD card slots for either duplication or swap recording, which is great on surface, but not so good in post-production. The reason is MVC codec, which Panasonic chose for this product. While their idea may have been plausible for making single file editing workflow possible, it is not so exciting in real life here on Earth, not today. It would have been by far better to record each stream separately on each card. There are so many more NLE which support L+R file workflow, than MVC. Yes I am aware of Sony Vegas, which is kind of funny: use competitor's tools to edit footage, shot by Panasonic! The software, shipped with Z10K camera, simply does not worth any consideration: it is not software; it is a gross misunderstanding, to say the least. Yes it does understand MVC in their own proprietary way, yes you can cut and glue fragments together, you can even attach background music in a very stupid single track uncontrolled way, but using it is an insult to a human intelligence. If you wish to get very annoyed and frustrated because this is something you like doing, than yes I would recommend using this so called software, but if you wish job done right, you better look elsewhere. I even went on trying using this hideous thing to edit my 3D video and burn a Blue-Ray, and it simply kept corrupting my best rated Panasonic blanks, shipped directly from Japan to my house. Several attempts after reading, double, and triple following the manual instructions were consistent as ocean tides: corrupted Blue Ray blanks. Ironic, isn't it: same brand which doesn't work with their own software! Not so professional level again.

The best option out there that I was able to find in my research was Avid Media Composer, but it does not understand MVC. You have to supply two separate files to Avid, which Panasonic HDC-Z10000 does not produce. This means you can either use some software to break MVC into two separate streams and then import (or AMA) to Avid, or you can use Sony Vegas for all editing needs. Vegas can edit MVC natively, it can even record edited material straight to Blue Ray, or create Blue Ray image without menus, but I just find Vegas to be grossly inferior to Avid in all aspects including editing workflow: matter of experience, objective and subjective preference and research. Either way, Vegas like Avid, can use two separate streams for 3D workflow, which means more tool choice for editing. And yet Panasonic elected to package their video in single MVC file, which has by far less support out there just yet. Instead, they make you use their troll-tool so called software. Not so professional level again.

Soft buttons on touch screen are nice: they are assignable from a list of available options. Unfortunately though, assigned buttons do not follow 2D vs. 3D context, which is very poor design. If you assign soft buttons to perform 3D-specific tasks, and then switch to shooting 2D, than most of those buttons would be inapplicable, and therefore show "Invalid" on LCD screen when pushed. Re-assigning them to other options, applicable to 2D, overrides previous settings, making them unusable when back in 3D mode again. A much better design would have been making assignable buttons, specific to each shooting mode: in 3D context, the buttons perform one set of options, in 2D the same buttons have their own meaning.

Parallax control dial is too small and inconvenient to rotate with one finger only, but after some practice I figured that you don't have to move it much if you adjust it once to the smallest value for the range. After such adjustment movements with the dial are tiny, which means it doesn't have to be big. Minor issue, but still worth mentioning.

Color profile function has only 6 memory settings. Compare that to XH-A1 which has 18 on built-in memory plus 18 more on SD card: total of 36.

But aside from all these mentioned issues, Z10K is still a nice tool, worth keeping. I hear someone say: "There is no such thing as perfect tool", which is true, but none argues Z10K should be one. It could have been much better tool though, if all of these problems were addressed.

If anyone interested, you can find my test footage from HDC-Z10000 in 24fps on vimeo: vimeo dot com forward slash 56306919

Buy Panasonic HDC-Z10000 Twin-Lens 2D/3D Camcorder Now

The Z10000 is a mixed bag that, for me, is an essential tool anyway. When I started down this 3D path two years ago, there were no integrated 3D cameras on the market. In May 2011, I bought Sony's HDR-TD10, a Handicam that had a single manual dial to control every manual function available (and there weren't that many shutter speed and framerate were fixed in 3D mode). Now there's a reasonably priced integrated 3D cameras with a host of manual controls and customizable features. And it takes excellent pictures in bright light. But low-light performance is poor and some of the most important features are frustratingly implemented. But while those would be nice enhancements, they are not essential. The primary selling point of this camera is the promise of a better affordable 3D camera, and it delivers. It is the best 3D camera you can buy for under $15,000. No competitors were announced at CES 2012, so it is the tool of choice for budding stererographers for the near future.

See my full review on the Just in Time Films website.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic HDC-Z10000 Twin-Lens 2D/3D Camcorder Here

The only missing in this excellent 3d camcorder is 3 CMOS per lens.

3d is very realist.

Professional controls.

In my opinion, the price is good for the quality

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Evertech Cctv Infrared Security Camera - 30 Ir Led(82ft Night Vision) Cctv Camera, 1/3 Inch Sony Su

3.6mm (slightly 'fisheye') lens an improvement in field of view over original 6mm. I would never buy 6mm lens (they come with orig. systems). Day and night vision a little better in clarity and color than original 400tvl cmos. IRs light up well at least 40 to 50 feet. 2x big as original 400tvl cmos with sturdier mount. If this is using Sony Super HAD chip it's not doing it near as well as full Sony, but then it was only $56. Good enough to keep until I get a full Sony and move this one to the back.

Was on time with UPS.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!!!

Getting a better camera(s) is useless if you cannot record at the 30 fps(images per second) AT THE FULL D1 SETTING on the DVR or NVR. 1 fps at D1 uses up a lot more than 1 fps C1 (HD1 is 'half D1' quality, it's not linear comparison). The image resolution is degraded at less than that, but it is crucial to good facial recognition. This is a big problem with most DVRs that have more than 4 cameras input (some will not do 30 fps D1 on all 4 even then !). If it claims at least 120 fps D1 total for a 4 channel DVR/NVR then you can be fairly sure it can allow up to 30 fps per camera D1.

Do the research on the DVR FIRST!!

Olympus SZ30 16 MP Digital Camera, Wide-Angle 24x Optical Zoom with Multi-Recording Capability and

Update 8-21-2011

I found the youtube feature on the video settings. It offers different video quality settings and some optimized ofr youtube. ALso, the burst feature is amazin, yesterday I tok a burst of 35 photos in the space of 5 seconds! Amazing.....

First off, I own several "digital" cameras and have also previously had a few long zoom cameras.I don't like "big" cameras because I don't like lugging them around. So when I have owned long zoom cameras in the past, though I have liked them, tended to not use them much because I didn't like carrying them around, thus always ended up selling them.

I have been keeping an eye out for a small point and shoot with a 20+ optical zoom and stumbled upon this one by chance on the Olympus web-site.

I was impressed by what I saw, read a few reviews and ordered it off amazon.com (of course!) and received it the very next day. Right out of the box, the quality of the build stood out, it was also well laid out and I was delighted to find the battery was almost fully charged.

I headed over to a nearby park and snapped off some photos and a few video clips.

The quality of the photos and video were excellent, I used some of the "magic" settings which are special effects, I usually dismiss these types of effects as gimmicks but found some of them to be impressive.

Pluses

The photos have really nice colors and look very life-like (which is what a camera should be capable of!)

The zoom is quiet and smooth

Zoom works with HD and sound (the SP800UZ did not and went straight back!)

You can take photos while shooting HD video (though not sure yet where it saves them)

It can shoot HD video and say, 480 x 640 video (great for youtube etc or emailing) at the same time which is very impressive.

Super Panoramic mode, best I have seen yet.

It has a lot of features, easy for beginners

Takes 3D photos (didn't realize it could until I got it...more icing on the cake lol

Minuses

No Printed manual,you really need one for this camera, even though it is easy for beginners, some features are pretty advanced.

All the promotional material keep saying YOUTUBE! yet so far I have not found any feature directly related to it (if you have please post a comment)

This is a very well built camera, meant to last with some features that are very advanced. If you are looking for a long zoom, with HD video capability and good quality prints, this is for you, the icing on the cake is all the other amazing features you get! I have taken a few pic's in 3D but have not done anything with them. I will do an update when I have used the camera a bit more. Oh and I love the gunmetal gray color!

For such a small camera, I am very impressed!

I have had this camera for about a week now and so far I am very satisfied. I got this camera because I don't like caring around my digital camera for photos and my HD Camcorder for video. While this is in no way a complete replacement for my Digital SLR and my HD Camcorder, it does the job well quite well and is well worth having an all in one in my pocket. I will still use my stand alone devices for those planned events when I want the very best. For general day to day shots of family and fun times it is perfect and at a fair price.

PROS:

You can operate the zoom while shooting video. Not all cameras do this.

You can take full res snap shots while recording video. Again, the Multi-Recording is why I bought this.

You can shoot multi sized photos or videos simultaneously. This is great for a having a lower res copy ready for upload instantly.

The zoom is 24x optical and it fits in my pocket. The speed of the glass is very good considering the focal range of this unit.

You can capture about 29 minutes continuos video at full 1080 (4GB limit on file size for SD cards)

I was concerned about not having a view finder, but so far I can see the display well enough in daylight.

CONS

The noise of the zoom and auto-focus motor is picked up when recording video, not very noticeable when there are other sounds being recorded, but very noticeable when there's relative silence.(my old canon camera produced a constant high pitch whine throughout all videos. This is only when zooming and focus and less noticable.(Again, this is not a true replcement for a dedicated camcorder.)

There seems to be a 2 snapshot limit of still pics while recording video. I'm not certain if that is a setting I can change or what the deal is. Even if it is just 2, that's workable for me. I would typically be taking stills and then decide to have video as well, which this camera makes effortless to do. There's a dedicated record button and off you go.

Some pics will have "soft" details when viewed close up at full res. This is fairly common though on most point and shoots. (Again, not a true replacement of high DSLR) However, most shots can have nice sharp detail when you take some time to properly compose the shot.

Maybe this is just me, but I always think that if something feels heavy it's built better. This feels too light in that regard, but like I said, maybe that's just me. :)

I highly reccomend this for the reasons and purpose that I have stated using it for. All cameras have some drawbacks, but none of those I listed prohibit me from reccomending it. They are relatively minor considering.

Buy Olympus SZ30 16 MP Digital Camera, Wide-Angle 24x Optical Zoom with Multi-Recording Capability and Now

This going to be a quick and dirty review. I got this camera just over a week ago to replace my Canon A720IS. My Canon is a great camera and gives great shots and is solid as a rock. All the paint is warn off all the edges from accompanying me on hunting, camping, traveling and daily use. But I had a family todo and wanted a long zoom and HD video. I spent a lot of time checking out cameras from Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, Canon and others and none had everything I wanted. Then at the last minute I found the SZ-30mr. It was so new I could not find any hands on reviews but it had everything I was looking for and took a leap of faith, bared my credit card and bought it. I was not disappointed. I was so busy before traveling for a wedding/reunion for which I bought this camera for, I did not get a chance to learn it. However, it was not that difficult. And I was able master it enough to get the job done. I bought a 16 gig SD card, a spare battery and external charger. I like the external charger since it does not take the camera out of action during charging. Plus the cable is propitiatory and makes it one more thing to carry and get lost and does not work with anything else. I spent a week traveling for a wedding/family reunion and took tons of pictures and videos. Every morning I would change the battery. I was able to video 90 percent of the time of a wedding ceremony at full 1080i and take full resolution 16 megapixel stills at the same time as well as taking many videos and stills at the reception before the battery gave out and of course like an idiot I left the spare battery in the charger! But by that that time toasts had been made, cakes were cut and dances were made and anything I did miss was not important. I'm a picture taking fool so for most anyone else I think battery life is fine. In just over a week of heavy use I took just over 5 GIG of video and images.

I have not had time to analyze in any quantitative way to the quality of the images since I've been back BUT by just reviewing them on my net book on the road and on a 47" HD TV at the resort, using an external HDMI cable from the camera, the pictures look great and the HD videos are impressive. OH, Oh, the panorama mode is absolutely fantastic! Just sweep across the scene and your done. And panorama play back from the camera is great. Which brings up playback using the camera. By hooking up a "D" type HDMI cable ($29 from Radio Shack) you can play back pictures and videos to a HD TV. At home I discovered my Panasonic TV remote would control the playback, at the resort I could not get the remote to work so I had to use the camera controls manually but better than nothing and it was fun reviewing the event with the family while there. It was nice not to have to carry my big laptop and cables and setups to play back images.

Another fun thing we did is we had the family movies from the 40s and 50s placed on DVD and while there at the reunion we watched it. While my older brother and sister narrated and made comments of where and who were in the silent movie I videoed the video and recorded their comments. I plan on taking the sound track from my video and add it to the silent movies on the DVD. This way I we can preserve so much that would have been lost. I would never have know that little old lady in the movie was my Great Great grand mother if my brother and sister had not pointed her out! I was able to record over an hour and fifteen minutes of continuous recording. It was at a lower resolution but all I waned was the audio and the some video to make sure I get it synced properly.

The camera is pretty responsive. Some comment on the wait time between pictures but remember people, your dealing with 16 megapixels! You really need a class 10 SD card to speed up the storage time. Cut that back to 8MP and cycle time is much faster. The wide angle is perfect for the indoor group shots. Let's be frank, no one in their right mind has the right to take 600mm telephoto shots hand held. However on a sunny day with the ISO kicked up I was able to get some impressive results just seeing what I could do with it. I believe many people don't know how to take pictures and just mash down the button like a cheap Instamatic without pausing in the intermediate position long enough to allow the camera time to focus giving blurry images. If the exposure button is used properly this camera gives excellent results.

The only beefs I have with this camera are minor. The biggest problem is the Mode dial moves too easily. Every time I pulled it out of my pocket I had to check the mode because it get changed so easily. It needs to be either harder to turn or have some kind of locking device. Also, the markings are hard to read if you are far sighted with out reading glasses. It would be nice to have it labled in multi colors so you don't have to put on your glasses to know where your at. Another comment is the bezel ring around the closed lens has a edge on it that is sharp and does not feel good and drags on the fabric of the pocket when pulling out. I may take some sandpaper and smooth that out. The last issue I have is the finish on the camera. I like to take candid pictures with out having people freezing up and not acting normal or those with camera phobia covering their faces or turning away when a camera is brought out. The finish on this camera is very shinny and chrome like. This thing sparkles and shines like a lit up disco ball in your hands! I was amazed how distracting it was for me when I was in front of it especially in sun light. I may do some buffing on it.

In closing, I love this camera!

Read Best Reviews of Olympus SZ30 16 MP Digital Camera, Wide-Angle 24x Optical Zoom with Multi-Recording Capability and Here

This camera has a lot of great features and some of the pictures I've taken are really good. I think the challenge with this kind of camera is learning which shooting mode works best to get the best picture in a certain situation. Some reviewers complained for example that it is slow -but in action mode, the response is practically instant. Some reviewers complained that the pictures aren't sharp -but I find it takes very sharp pictures if the focus is good. It's easy to be out of focus or blurry with a megazoom like this -but isn't that true of any zoom at 24X?

So far my thoughts on each feature are:

1. picture quality -great

2. wide-angle -great

3. Zoom -great

4. LCD screen -great

6. speed -great (in action mode, or burst mode)

7. button layout -good

8. video -haven't tried yet -but its 1080 HD so ...

9. panorama -good

10. flash -great

11. MR mode -why?

12. 3D mode -really need that?

13. Magic mode -why?

14. Battery life -great.

15. Super-macro mode -great.

16. In low light -good

17. Ease of use -great for simple pictures, for anything challenging, its okay with manual

18. Size and Weight -great

19. Menus -okay

19. Software -poor -I probably won't use that.

Negatives ...

1. Non-standard USB cable connector.

2. Can't shoot and charge at the same time.

Want Olympus SZ30 16 MP Digital Camera, Wide-Angle 24x Optical Zoom with Multi-Recording Capability and Discount?

This camera is EXACTLY what we were looking for! The zoom is awesome all options are very easy to use. The video comes out great & having the hand grip makes it feel very secure, but can still fit in your pocket. No complaints thus far -HOWEVER when ordering remember to order a memory card! NOWHERE on the Amazon site does it tell you what is included with the camera & an Amazon customer service rep could not tell us either! But we are completely satisfied with this product. Great for ameteurs on the go!