Digital-Camera Reviews

Compact, flexible, easy to use and dependable, this is an unbeatable camera for the price. Image quality is very good, especially if you use the included software to enhance it. Comes with a bunch of cables, including one that lets it output to a TV, and best of all, a floppy adapter. This device (which normally sells for around $) lets a standard floppy drive read the camera's SmartMedia card, and is by far the most convenient way to upload images to your PC.

I purchased this camera being I'm going to be a new grand-father this year and figured what a great advantage it would be to view my pictures on a TV right after taking them. One cable from the camera to the TV and your viewing your photo's on the big screen. This camera was easy to learn to use. The pictures are of professional quality. To pull up your pictures on your PC could not be easier. Just put the film or smart card as it is called into the floppy disc adapter which comes with this model and your ready to go. The soft wear that comes with the camera is also easy to use. For a printer I use a HP 2000C. With this camera and the printer I am able to produce photo quality pictures. I would strongly recommend the D-400 Zoom to any one who is in the market for a digital camera.

The Olympus D-400 is an excellent Digi-cam for the money. But beware of the Bloodhound Virus which came with the included FlashPath Floppy Adapter. Luckily, Norton's Anti-Virus took care of it. All in all, the package is a good deal,but just run a scan on the FlashPath before you load anything with it.

A couple of years ago, when I purchased my first digital camera, I was a bit disappointed with the Casio I purchased in terms of picture quality for the dollars spent, and particularly the skin tones of the pictures it produced. When I went looking for my next digital a couple of months ago, the Olympus 2020 caught my eye because the professional reviews I saw lauded the camera as having great skin tones.. not pale and clammy, like my previous camera. Well they were right, this is an exceptional camera! The skin tones are warm and realistic, even under flourescent lighting, and a variety of settings make this camera almost as versatile as a nice 35mm film camera. The auto settings are very good, and for the scenarios that the auto settings don't work well for, the camera allows manual focus, manual white balance, shutter speed, aperture, ISO settings from 100 - 400. It has a variety of flash settings including a slow mode which will fire in either the first or latter half of a slow shutter, takes panoramic pictures (in multiple pictures.. there's software to stitch the frames together) and I've gotten good results at night after working with the settings a bit. The batteries supplied with the camera seem to last nearly a week with intermittent use (and using a flashpath adapter to upload the pictures instead of conencting to the camera directly), though I suspect using the extremely powerful flash a lot probably reduces that. The menuing system is intuitive and easy to navigate in most cases, and though the plethora of options the camera has gives the camera a decent learning curve for the novice, the user's manual that comes with the camera is pretty good. When I originally started looking at this camera it was in the $800-900 dollar range, but the release of Olympus's 3030 model drove the price down to about $550 most places. This camera is well worth the original price, and I don't think you'll find a nicer digital camera out there for the current lower price!

I've now had the Olympus C2020 for three weeks, and I having a ball with it. The color is great, and the resolution is outstanding. I just added a SanDisk Imagemate, USB Version to manage the images from the camera. It's a nice addition. Just remove the SmartMedia card, insert into Imagemate, open and the images are there. Don't need to use the serial cable, or waste battery time. Didn't get the AC adapter, and I don't feel I need it. I would also recommend an additional 16MB or 32MB card for the camera. The 8MB that comes with the camera is too small for most of my needs. Battery life has been reasonable, but it does requires that I not use the LCD screen all the time. I just turn it on when needed, or to review my images. Love the quality of the images. I'd recommend it to anyone.

This was my first digital camera, not long after release, but after much research. It has been EXTREMELY reliable under adverse conditions of hiking and high altitude as well as desert photography (there's dust when you don't know it)and European travel. (Customs agents are cruel to cameras in the UK.) It's far more logical to use than the 2 Olympus digitals that I've bought since and than my "N" brand digital SLR. THIS CAMERA IS A KEEPER!!

The Canon Powershot S10 is my first digital camera. I think it is great fun and really easy to use. After about ten minutes I was taking pictures and editing them on the computer. Although it is easy to use and takes high quality pictures, it sucks the battery dry in about an hour or so of use. So I would recommend buying the power supply kit and at least one extra rechargeable battery so the [disposable] batteries don't suck a hole in your budget.

First, a disclaimer: I've only been using the Canon S10 for about 10 hours after receiving the "value package". So, this review is based on first impressions, and not heavy usage.

That being said, I have to commend Amazon.com yet again for an extraordinarily quick delivery, and I appreciated the "digital camera phone help" line, since I used it, and enjoyed the conversation. I highly recommend the phone line if you're shopping for a digital camera, since the Amazon.com online resources are fairly thin.

The S10 value pack seems to be a great buy, in that the camera resolution, ease of use, quality of images, and peripherals are all very good to excellent. First of all, the extra 32Mb flashcard is de rigueur, since the capacity of the included 8Mb with the stand-alone camera has only enough onboard storage for a small roll of film. Second, the extra battery pack is welcome, since the battery life for this camera is quite short if you use the LCD display constantly. Third, the extra memory and battery pretty much make up the "value pack", since the carrying case is a nice but quite cheaply made nylon sheath that isn't large enough for the manual and camera together.

That being said, image resolution is excellent, both on the viewfinder screen AND in the finished product. Just for the hell of it, out of the box, I took a few shots using the AUTO setting, in the dark, with low incandescent lighting, and expected to see nothing. The shots were vibrant, bright, and quite clear, much more so than my eyes. After that joyride, I've been snapping various things between the hours of 8:00 PM and 1:00 AM, and the results are fun--the damned camera gets a good picture even when it shouldn't, and I'm left with having to decide how to deal with the downloaded picture.

Canon did a nice job with peripherals and software. Cables for USB connection, video connection, and serial connection are included in the box. The software includes Canon's own photo download and treatment software, as well as a version of Adobe PhotoWorks Home, which can be used together or separately for image storage, treatment, modification, or whatnot. Further, the Canon "Camera User Guide" and "Digital Software Starter Guide" (i.e. the manuals included with the camera) are concise, informative, and easy to read--quite unlike many electronic toy manuals which seem to have been translated by aliens.

Incidentally, I've only read the above manuals after setting up (in about 3 minutes) and using the camera for about 3 hours. If you have half a brain, you can set up the camera and get impressive shots in about 5 minutes after tearing off the Amazon.com tape from the outer box--that's what I did.

PROS: Easy to use, excellent quality shots at any resolution, onboard splicing features (for panoramas and conjugated shots including several combined photos), extremely clear viewfinder screen, understandable controls and input/output links. Camera can be set for different lighting and "image" situations, most of which are right on the mark. Images can be viewed and photographed in black and white. 2.1 megapixels provides photo results that are very good at 8x10 on a 19" monitor.

CONS: Battery hog--I just ordered the battery charger/AC unit, since the battery I installed 8 hours ago is quite low after only 50 shots. Then again, I've kept the viewfinder on for some time, so my stupidity might not reflect yours. The other con: though the camera body is for the most part metal, the cover for "digital" communication (i.e. USB or serial port) is a flimsy piece of rubber, and I'm sure it's going to drop off after a few uses.

The Cannon S10 was the first digital camera I have ever owned, having bought it close to two years ago. I decided to up-grade to a higher megapixal camera so a few days ago I bought the Minolta 404. I wanted a camera that I could add audio to the pics so I would know when I downloaded the pictures what pictures they were. Seen one mountain, seen them all but which is which? I figured the added audio would solve that problem. Second, I wanted a camera that was small enough to carry on my belt but able to shoot short movies, like when you see wildlife walking. So I spent big bucks, bought the Minolta 404 took some pictures with it at the settings I have my Cannon set to and was very disappointed in the quality of the pictures. I just arrived home after returning the Minolta 404.
I may not be able to add audio to my pictures with the Cannon S10 but one thing for sure, it shoots far superior, cleaner and clearer pictures then the Minolta. Lets face it, audio would be nice but quality pictures is what I really want and the S10 Cannon is the best so far. By the way, the Minolta had 4 megapixals and the Cannon has only 2.1 but the pictures of the Cannon are a lot better. I have several photos blown up to 8 X 10 and they are great. Don't buy [an expensive ]camera and print on a [cheap] printer,,,you will be disappointed. With a good camera and a good printer you can't go wrong. I use a HP Photosmart 1218 printer. Nice thing is I can take the media card and use it directly in the printer and download my pictures that way without using up batter power. On batteries, I use a battery charger and always keep an extra batter on hand and never have I had any problems running out of power. I also don't use the LCD screen, just the view finder.

First, I'd like to say that I've owned about 7 different digital cameras, and this has got to be my favorite out of the bunch. I travel a lot, so I enjoy taking a lot of photos, and this camera has just made picture taking fun again! Its controls are easy to use, making it a great point-and-shoot camera for someone who's new to digital photography. The 12x optical zoom using a Leica lens is the BIGGEST optical lens on a digital camera, and the image stabilization help to make this huge zoom usable without a tripod. Thanks to the Leica lens, colors are vivid, and the photos come out crisp.

I only have two complaints about the camera, but only one is important: it's a 2 MP camera. With a lens like this, Panasonic should've made it at least a 3. That's the only reason I didn't give it a 5 star rating...but I was still tempted to. I like to make 4x6 pics, but 2 MP doesn't make for nice 4x6's. The other complaint is that many controls and settings are preset, so serious photographers won't like it (but serious shooters would avoid it anyway, because it's a 2 MP).

All that said, at this price, you won't find a better point-and-shoot camera with a big zoom lens. The camera is compact (it still fits in the palm of my hand), has a fast start up time (considering the lens) and a fast shot-to-shot time. The controls and settings are easy to understand for beginners and did I mention the 12x zoom? It's a great camera for fun photography. If you don't make too many 4x6 prints, this camera is incredible--buy it!

I researched digital cameras for two months before deciding on this one. Even though this was my first digital camera, right out-of-the-box I was able to take great pictures. Now that I've had it a month, and am more familiar with the features of the various modes, I'm taking even better pics. Here's the most important tips I found:

1. Megapixels are important for enlargements. But don't let the 2mp turn you off. If you're not going to enlarge your pics bigger than 8x10, YOU DON'T NEED ANY MORE! Don't make the mistake of paying for more megapixels than you will use.

2. The lens quality is just as important as the mp, more than in my opinion, and it's often overlooked. The Leica lens in this camera is awesome! Great quality optics.

3. Optical Zoom, (not digital zoom), is important. This camera has remarkable zoom. You may want to get a tripod if you're using the full zoom on a regular basis, although this camera has a good stabilizer. As with any camera with such a long zoom, there may still be some evidence of shaking if you extend the zoom fully and do not use a tripod.

As with almost any digital camera out there, the memory card included is practically worthless. I recommend one with 125mb or more. Other than this, the camera is near perfect.

Dumbfounded by the deluge of digicams? Spending more time obsessing on which digicam to buy, more than you did buying your house? Like the fact the users seem to fall in love with this little wonder but are put off by the fact it's only a 2 megapixel camera? Don't worry about the megapixels. The Lumix FZ1/FZ2 is rightfully developing quite a cult following with consumers, photography enthusiasts, and even professional photographers (read "FZ-1: A Pro-Level Digital Point & Shoot" by Frank Van Ripper from the Washington Post available on-line at CameraWorks.com) If you can live without more megapixels, this compact camera has so much to offer. 2MP is more than you need for PC viewing, e-mail, and the web. It can and does provide sufficient resolution to make excellent photo-quality prints up to 5X7, and supposedly makes nice enlargements up to 8X10.

This is a compact, responsive, point and shoot camera with a robust feature set - including a capable burst mode (great for sports action shots and not found on cameras in this class), and true TTL framing via an EVF. There's enough to this camera to satiate the enthusiast - night portrait, portrait, panning, "normal" mode etc., and also has a fully automated mode if you want to let the camera do all the work, and just "focus" (pardon the pun) on composition. But what sets this digicam apart is the big zoom fixed Leica lens. It really is a word-class piece of glass with remarkable specs, especially considering its size. Combine this remarkable lens with an effective image stabilization system, and you have a "different animal" all together. This is a unique versitile and fun digicam that has so much more than others in its price range. Its limitations (weak pop-up flash, EVF cuts out in low light, noise above ISO 200, etc) are really more attributable to its class ($300 point and shoot) than the camera. However, it is capable of producing remarkable images, and once you start shooting with its high quality lens with an IS system, you'll never want a camera doesn't have them. Plus, it is an excellent value. If you don't do a lot of enlargements or cropping in a photo editor, I would recommend the FZ1 in a heartbeat over any other camera, regardless of the number of megapixels, in its price range, and most cameras that cost two or three times as much.

Now a word about megapixels. A megapixel is 1 million pixels (they're the little squares that make up the image...). So, this camera produces images that are 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high. 1600X1200 = approx 2 million, hence 2 megapixels. Since going digital, I find that I view 90%-95% on my PC/laptop monitor. It's convenient, and priting them all would cost a small fortune, since now that I can snap away with wreckless abandon since film (for me) is a thing of the past. (I still use a lab to print. I would rather "borrow" the lab's $200,000 printer than own a $300 dollar consumer photo printer, plus it costs much less per print when you factor in the cost of the printer ink...) Okay, so my laptop's highest 32 bit resolution setting is 1024X768, the resolution of the FZ1 (1600X1200) exceeds that. Point is that since I view most of my pictures on a PC now, I gain NOTHING from a higher resolution camera with more megapixels in most circumstances. The 5% to 10% of pictures I print, I usually print at standard 6X4. Anything over 200 pixels per inch (ppi) is considered "photo quality" for printing, 150 ppi is considered "acceptable". As you get beyond 250 ppi on a print, the differences in resolution from a normal viewing distance are virtually invisible to the naked eye. IMO, I would fail a blind test, probably, if asked to guess the resolution of a picture between the 200 and 250 ppi range. 1600 (pixels)/6(inches) = 267 ppi, exceeding 250 ppi in length on a 6X4 (Note: technically, this formula isn't entirely accurate but is close enough for government work, and serves better as a quick illustration...). A 5X7 is 228 ppi, and an 8X10 is 160 ppi. Hence, this camera produces "photo-quality" images up to 5X7 and "acceptable" resolution up to 8X10. Most photo editors worth their disk space, like Photoshop, can resample images using bicubic interpolation to add pixels and boost resolution for the (very) occasional larger print. A very good product for this is Qimage, a free trial is available, and it's quite inexpensive to purchase. A hot shoe would have been nice but my understanding is that a "digital slave flash", which are quite reasonably priced, like the Vivitar AF200, work very well when you need a big flash.

Now consider, not a "scientific survey" but 3 or 4 folks I know own 3 to 5 megapixel cameras. (The 5 megapixel guy has a 10X optical zoom camera, made by one of the usual suspects, that cost 2X as much as the FZ1, but he doesn't even attempt zooming out beyond 5X without blurring the image, since his camera doesn't have IS). None of them kept their cameras on the highest setting thereby "using" all the megapixels. Why? Because the larger image files cut the amount of pictures they can store on their flash cards in half, their camera annoyingly "locks up" for a couple seconds while it writes a larger image file (often very frustrating), and they really can't notice a difference in quality on their prints, and they view most of their pictures on their PC. Let's say you have a 6 megapixel camera that had a cheap lens that introduced all sorts of distortion and a processing engine that rendered inaccurate colors. What would you get? A crappy picture with distortion and inaccurate colors rendered in all their ugly glory in high resolution. The FZ1 has the "best" lens on the market, and an excellent, innovative processing engine that provides "enough" but not "extraneous" megapixels to provide photoquality resolution for 99% of "real world" viewing formats. I believe that camera companies are exploiting the conspicuous consumption factor of camera consumers who wear their camera around their neck like jewelery. (The "name" + many megapixels = "the guy" equivalent of a pearl necklace to wear on a night out). It is therefore a great way for the camera co's to (finally) introduce planned obsolence into their offerings, dispensing with the days when folks held on to their cameras for decades until they finally died. I'm glad at least one manufacturer withdrew from the "great megapixel wars" and offered an excellent product based around real user needs and the true advantages of the full range of available technology - like IS and its processing engine, and did so at a very reasonable cost, instead of being just another combatant exploiting one aspect - "the megapixel", and the conspicuous consumption factor.

Get the picture?

First, I'd like to say that I've owned about 7 different digital cameras, and this has got to be my favorite out of the bunch. I travel a lot, so I enjoy taking a lot of photos, and this camera has just made picture taking fun again! Its controls are easy to use, making it a great point-and-shoot camera for someone who's new to digital photography. The 12x optical zoom using a Leica lens is the BIGGEST optical lens on a digital camera, and the image stabilization help to make this huge zoom usable without a tripod. Thanks to the Leica lens, colors are vivid, and the photos come out crisp.

I only have two complaints about the camera, but only one is important: it's a 2 MP camera. With a lens like this, Panasonic should've made it at least a 3. That's the only reason I didn't give it a 5 star rating...but I was still tempted to. I like to make 4x6 pics, but 2 MP doesn't make for nice 4x6's. The other complaint is that many controls and settings are preset, so serious photographers won't like it (but serious shooters would avoid it anyway, because it's a 2 MP).

All that said, at this price, you won't find a better point-and-shoot camera with a big zoom lens. The camera is compact (it still fits in the palm of my hand), has a fast start up time (considering the lens) and a fast shot-to-shot time. The controls and settings are easy to understand for beginners and did I mention the 12x zoom? It's a great camera for fun photography. If you don't make too many 4x6 prints, this camera is incredible--buy it!

I researched digital cameras for two months before deciding on this one. Even though this was my first digital camera, right out-of-the-box I was able to take great pictures. Now that I've had it a month, and am more familiar with the features of the various modes, I'm taking even better pics. Here's the most important tips I found:

1. Megapixels are important for enlargements. But don't let the 2mp turn you off. If you're not going to enlarge your pics bigger than 8x10, YOU DON'T NEED ANY MORE! Don't make the mistake of paying for more megapixels than you will use.

2. The lens quality is just as important as the mp, more than in my opinion, and it's often overlooked. The Leica lens in this camera is awesome! Great quality optics.

3. Optical Zoom, (not digital zoom), is important. This camera has remarkable zoom. You may want to get a tripod if you're using the full zoom on a regular basis, although this camera has a good stabilizer. As with any camera with such a long zoom, there may still be some evidence of shaking if you extend the zoom fully and do not use a tripod.

As with almost any digital camera out there, the memory card included is practically worthless. I recommend one with 125mb or more. Other than this, the camera is near perfect.

Dumbfounded by the deluge of digicams? Spending more time obsessing on which digicam to buy, more than you did buying your house? Like the fact the users seem to fall in love with this little wonder but are put off by the fact it's only a 2 megapixel camera? Don't worry about the megapixels. The Lumix FZ1/FZ2 is rightfully developing quite a cult following with consumers, photography enthusiasts, and even professional photographers (read "FZ-1: A Pro-Level Digital Point & Shoot" by Frank Van Ripper from the Washington Post available on-line at CameraWorks.com) If you can live without more megapixels, this compact camera has so much to offer. 2MP is more than you need for PC viewing, e-mail, and the web. It can and does provide sufficient resolution to make excellent photo-quality prints up to 5X7, and supposedly makes nice enlargements up to 8X10.

This is a compact, responsive, point and shoot camera with a robust feature set - including a capable burst mode (great for sports action shots and not found on cameras in this class), and true TTL framing via an EVF. There's enough to this camera to satiate the enthusiast - night portrait, portrait, panning, "normal" mode etc., and also has a fully automated mode if you want to let the camera do all the work, and just "focus" (pardon the pun) on composition. But what sets this digicam apart is the big zoom fixed Leica lens. It really is a word-class piece of glass with remarkable specs, especially considering its size. Combine this remarkable lens with an effective image stabilization system, and you have a "different animal" all together. This is a unique versitile and fun digicam that has so much more than others in its price range. Its limitations (weak pop-up flash, EVF cuts out in low light, noise above ISO 200, etc) are really more attributable to its class ($300 point and shoot) than the camera. However, it is capable of producing remarkable images, and once you start shooting with its high quality lens with an IS system, you'll never want a camera doesn't have them. Plus, it is an excellent value. If you don't do a lot of enlargements or cropping in a photo editor, I would recommend the FZ1 in a heartbeat over any other camera, regardless of the number of megapixels, in its price range, and most cameras that cost two or three times as much.

Now a word about megapixels. A megapixel is 1 million pixels (they're the little squares that make up the image...). So, this camera produces images that are 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high. 1600X1200 = approx 2 million, hence 2 megapixels. Since going digital, I find that I view 90%-95% on my PC/laptop monitor. It's convenient, and priting them all would cost a small fortune, since now that I can snap away with wreckless abandon since film (for me) is a thing of the past. (I still use a lab to print. I would rather "borrow" the lab's $200,000 printer than own a $300 dollar consumer photo printer, plus it costs much less per print when you factor in the cost of the printer ink...) Okay, so my laptop's highest 32 bit resolution setting is 1024X768, the resolution of the FZ1 (1600X1200) exceeds that. Point is that since I view most of my pictures on a PC now, I gain NOTHING from a higher resolution camera with more megapixels in most circumstances. The 5% to 10% of pictures I print, I usually print at standard 6X4. Anything over 200 pixels per inch (ppi) is considered "photo quality" for printing, 150 ppi is considered "acceptable". As you get beyond 250 ppi on a print, the differences in resolution from a normal viewing distance are virtually invisible to the naked eye. IMO, I would fail a blind test, probably, if asked to guess the resolution of a picture between the 200 and 250 ppi range. 1600 (pixels)/6(inches) = 267 ppi, exceeding 250 ppi in length on a 6X4 (Note: technically, this formula isn't entirely accurate but is close enough for government work, and serves better as a quick illustration...). A 5X7 is 228 ppi, and an 8X10 is 160 ppi. Hence, this camera produces "photo-quality" images up to 5X7 and "acceptable" resolution up to 8X10. Most photo editors worth their disk space, like Photoshop, can resample images using bicubic interpolation to add pixels and boost resolution for the (very) occasional larger print. A very good product for this is Qimage, a free trial is available, and it's quite inexpensive to purchase. A hot shoe would have been nice but my understanding is that a "digital slave flash", which are quite reasonably priced, like the Vivitar AF200, work very well when you need a big flash.

Now consider, not a "scientific survey" but 3 or 4 folks I know own 3 to 5 megapixel cameras. (The 5 megapixel guy has a 10X optical zoom camera, made by one of the usual suspects, that cost 2X as much as the FZ1, but he doesn't even attempt zooming out beyond 5X without blurring the image, since his camera doesn't have IS). None of them kept their cameras on the highest setting thereby "using" all the megapixels. Why? Because the larger image files cut the amount of pictures they can store on their flash cards in half, their camera annoyingly "locks up" for a couple seconds while it writes a larger image file (often very frustrating), and they really can't notice a difference in quality on their prints, and they view most of their pictures on their PC. Let's say you have a 6 megapixel camera that had a cheap lens that introduced all sorts of distortion and a processing engine that rendered inaccurate colors. What would you get? A crappy picture with distortion and inaccurate colors rendered in all their ugly glory in high resolution. The FZ1 has the "best" lens on the market, and an excellent, innovative processing engine that provides "enough" but not "extraneous" megapixels to provide photoquality resolution for 99% of "real world" viewing formats. I believe that camera companies are exploiting the conspicuous consumption factor of camera consumers who wear their camera around their neck like jewelery. (The "name" + many megapixels = "the guy" equivalent of a pearl necklace to wear on a night out). It is therefore a great way for the camera co's to (finally) introduce planned obsolence into their offerings, dispensing with the days when folks held on to their cameras for decades until they finally died. I'm glad at least one manufacturer withdrew from the "great megapixel wars" and offered an excellent product based around real user needs and the true advantages of the full range of available technology - like IS and its processing engine, and did so at a very reasonable cost, instead of being just another combatant exploiting one aspect - "the megapixel", and the conspicuous consumption factor.

Get the picture?

Ordered on Sunday - Recieved on Thursday afternoon - Taking pictures and had them on my computer that same day. Easy to use. Great camera for someone who is a novice photographer. I upgraded from a HP C30 and found the C618 to be leap years ahead of it. I felt there should have been a printed Instruction book sent with the C618 camera. The software package was more than I needed. However, the Photosmart SW requires many more steps than the previous SW that came with the C30. Recommend you consider purchasing rechargeable batteries.

I had been thinking about a digital for quite awhile. The family has always used auto-focus 35 mm cameras for the convenience and easy results. We are not photo experts. We were looking for something with enough resolution to print up to 8 x 10 pictures, yet be a fully automatic camera with easy "point and shot" abilities. But at the same time we were looking for all the "extra" features if we wanted to experiment a bit. I did my research both on the internet and in the stores and finally decided on the HP 618xi. I have not been disappointed. I was taking digital pictures and downloading them to the computer within minutes (as well as printing). The camera has a solid feel and after a brief review of the fast start manual, easy to use. Be sure to purchase at least 2 sets of Ni-MH baterries with a charger to keep you going non-stop, and to read the Amazon editorials on purchasing a digital camera to see what features you really want. Be sure to get a camera with an optical zoom (as opposed to digital).

This past summer I studied in Cuba for a month. Of course this is once in a lifetime opportunity, so I had to get a camera and it HAD to be digital. I've never owned my own camera before and already too many moments in my lifetime have gone by without ever being recorded. I also have a problem with getting myself to the store and going through the tedious and costly process of developing film.
So I went ahead and purchased the HP C615 model and it was probably one of the best purchases I ever made. I also purchased the 96 MB memory card which holds up to 360 photos at the lowest quality (which is better than some film cameras). It was well worth it. All of the other American students whom I met in Cuba, were envious of the fact that I could selectively view and delete my pictures through the camera. In comparing film pictures with mine of the exact same images the HP 615 won out every single time. So that's not a bad large investment compared to buying film, lugging it around and then waiting for it to be developed. Now all I carry is the camera and an extra set of batteries.
Of course this review wouldn't be objective if I didn't put one complaint in. My only complaint is that the viewfinder is not very well lit. It's actually pretty dull compared to some other cameras that I've taken pictures with. It also does not provide a very accurate width of the actual photo that gets processed. But since I realize the fault of the camera, I know its OK to cut off people's arms straggling on the edges of the viewfinder because the photo comes out perfectly trimmed. This does cause a problem for those one or two occasions when you have to rely on a waiter or passerby to take your own photo. They usually include too much of the surrounding area. But I found a way to get around that too; now I set the zoom and area for the innocent bystander.
The pictures I take are breathtaking!! The colors are scintillating, and the lucid ambiance palpable. If you're just starting out this is a great choice. People who now view my photos assume that I have some kind of talent or training, but I am honest and admit to them that it's really the camera.

My wife purchased a Sony camcorder model DCR-TRV-103 in the summer of 2000 and gave it to me as a gift for to take on our 25 day tour of Europe in September ,2000. After familiarizing myself it I never had a reason to use it until on our trip. About half way into the trip the unit failed in Rome , Italy with about two weeks left on our tour. After returning home I sent it to a Sony Service Center near St. Louis and received it back about a month later. I did not use it again until the following August for about 15 min. to record a Christening at our church and it Worked o.k. I didn't use it again until Christmas day to record our last holiday in our present home .All our family was present. After nearly an hour I checked to see if the cassette had finished and I was shocked to see it had failed with the same exact failure as the first .I believe it should have held up longer than two hours of recording time since the repair but not so. Now Sony refuses to make the repair good ...

I have had this camera for about 3 months, and I am very satisfied with the quality of the camera itself (not surprising from Sony), and the quality of the results. Considering the resolution (500 lines, compared to 240~260 for VHS & 400 for S-VHS, both of which are analog), I don't really see any great advantage to going with DV technology, except that a full digital camera is a bit lighter and the fact that you can record up to 2 hours on a DV tape, compared to 1 hour on either 8mm or Hi8 tape. I use both tapes, by the way, and there is no readily noticeable difference in quality. As far as the weight, since I do a lot of handheld recording, I find that I like this one better because a lighter camera is more difficult to keep steady. The recording sound quality is very good also, as well as being able to record in darkness! The ONLY, and I mean ONLY thing about this camera that bothers me is the fact that more of the on-camera controls are not duplicated on the remote control, such as fades, backlight, etc. I do a lot of active videography, and even though I have a very steady hand, it's very hard not to jiggle the camera when trying to turn on a fade or the backlight or one of the picture processing modes. Other than that, I would highly recommend this camera to anyone.

We purchased this camcorder after doing research for severalweeks. We bought it with scuba diving in mind as eventually we willbuy the expensive underwater housing.

I can only say that I have been extremely happy with my purchase. One of the first events I captured was my girlfriends little sisters HS graduation. The picture quality and sound play back especially during music performances was great.

We did but a 8 hour battery which added a little weight but runs for seems like forever. We also bought the telephoto lens for those really far away shots.

I normally turn off the digital zoom unless I have an extremely steady hand or have it on a tripod. As you get into the higher zooms if the camera is shaking the pictures gets unusable. Put it on a tripod and at full digital zoom it almost looks as good as optical zoom.

I've used it to capture pictures and then pass this to my computer and have been very happy with the special effects as well.

Robert

Pros: Very compact for its specs; comprehensive feature set; high-quality images; long battery life.

Cons: Autofocus speed average at best; continuous-shooting mode only 1fps; no slow-sync flash setting; no RAW mode.

I recently brought the Pentax Optio 550 and this camera has a wide range of possibilities. THe colors are vibrant, the 5x optical is awesome, the 5.03 mexapixels are nice, and the wide range of options is awesome. The microphone records at 64 kpbs and can record somewhat decent clips. I have only taken 100 or so pictures, but most of them have turned out very nice. Only two possible down sides, though they are easily compensated for. First of all the noise levels at 400, and even 200 can be hideous. Just go to user mode and set the ISO to 64 or 100. Then set the Exposure Compensation to +1 or +1.3. Secondly, the movie mode is not of high quality, as it only records 320 * 240, however, given that this is a digital Camera, and not a video camera that is acceptable I have two 256 MB lexar card and those are definitely useful.

I purchased the Optio 550 to replace my original Kodak DC215. I was looking for a camera with decent Optical zoom, good photo resolution, and not something so big I would dread carrying it around.

So far I have been VERY pleased with this camera. It weighs significantly less than the Kodak, and is a good deal smaller too. It's a little big to put in your pocket, but I was able to get a reasonably small camera case which will work very well.

The pictures I have taken so far have all been very good quality, and you can't beat the 5MP resolution :) Connecting it to my computer was a snap, and the menus and options while a little bit criptic, provide easy access to lots of features.

I only have 2 complaints with this camera. 1) You will DEFINITELY need a larger memory card. The bundled 16MB card will only hold 4 pictures at the highest quality setting (below TIFF). However, this is true with every single digital camera I was looking at so I can't hold it against Pentax. 2) The movie mode does not support Optical zoom, only digital zoom. I have no idea why they did this, but for some reason you cannot use the optical zoom while shooting movies. Granted, this is a still picture camera, and I will probably seldom use the video mode, but it seems to be a very strange oversight.

I would DEFINITELY recommend this camera to anyone who wants a relatively easy to use camera, that takes very good pictures.

I love the Optio 550. It takes great pictures, with lots of options for the more technical person. I haven't figured out how to use the 3D function yet (but I'm not sure I ever would) and the flap to the PC/AV card is a little flimsy (but it hasn't broken yet). The zoom is awesome. I love to be able to blow up a picture and have it maintain its resolution. The pictures are clear. I am still trying it out, but so far it works great.

I do like this bag. It's small, light, and sturdy. It has a small front pouch for CF cards and spare batteries or battery pack. You can attach it to your belt or use the adjustable shoulder strap. Very versatile. It would have easily gotten 5 stars if it had just a little more room. I have a Canon Powershot G2 and the fit is snug, which is what I wanted. However, there's no room for any cords (and barely room for the neck strap on my camera). The Digital 4 bag could have used one thin, long pouch on the side for extra little camera accessories.

If you don't have a camera larger than the Canon G2 (and most are not larger) and you want a bag that's compact and well built but only has enough room for the bare necessities instead of a lot of pouches and pockets for extra items, then this bag should suit you very nicely. It's perfect if you want a camera bag that is small and unobstrusive but have no desire to carry any extras while you're on the go.

This is a nice bag with well-designed compartments and versatile carrying options that will securely hold your camera. However, I found it to be too large for the Canon PowerShot A40 (4.3 x 2.8 x 1.5 in). The Tamrac Digital 2 fits the A40 perfectly and seems much smaller on your belt or over your shoulder.

The Tamrac is great for digital cameras. I have a Canon S50 in it and have room for an extra battery, extra CF cards and an a/v cable.
It has a zippered pouch on the outside, two zippered small compartments inside and outside and it can all fit on your belt.But it is the 5696 series,sorry.