Digital-Camera Reviews

I've been very happy with this purchase. The 2.5 Mega pixels are just fine for printing 5x7 prints, and 8x10's if you set the picture up well. The features of the camera are many, the automatic ones work great and there are overrides on almost all of the auto ones. I take up close "macro" pictures a lot and was thinking about getting a ring flash, but so far I've been pretty happy with the built in flash lighting up my subject... This feature and two others are why I would recommend this. You can set the ASA from 25 up to 400 (a lot of other cameras have one setting 100). The other feature is the compact flash memory, they work well and I feel they're very reliable.

I spent some time looking around before buying. This camera gives me the level of control/options/manual override that I am used to in 35mm cameras. My 35mm camera is a Pentax, so the controls and functions are familiar. I also like the SLR operation and the size/weight/feel of the camera.

A couple of worthwhile plus points:

1. The battery is a rechargeable video camera battery and has very good life - you can take a couple of hundred pictures including a good number with flash without it needing to be recharged. Much better performance than my friends have been able to get from their cameras.

2. The direct, onboard, USB connenction makes downloading images to my PC very simple and quick. The CompactFlash card format is maturing - large capacity cards are readily available and not too expensive.

Just two small quibbles:

1. The camera has a hot-shoe flash attachment but only works in manual (not automatic TTL) mode. This means my Pentax flash unit fits but doesn't work in with the metering system.

2. The 'continuous' mode takes a picture every few seconds. You'd be hoping for perhaps 2 per second. This feature isn't actually useful at that speed.

Those two small things aside I've been very happy with the camera and the results I've been able to get with it.

Michael

I was not dissapointed by this camera. It works like a manual 35mm camera for focussing on the subject, has a great zoom, great optics, and all of those digital camera features we've come to expect. One absolutely key feature is the remote control which works like a wireless cable release, this is excellent for those long exposures where the camera needs to be motionless.
The only drawback is the one so many digital cameras have, power.
It eats batteries like salted peanuts. I regret not having ordered the AC adapter and rechargeable batteries from the start.

I paid an exorbitant amount of money, i recieved an Epson Photo PC 3000Z. this camera had a very cool appearance. as i read the manual, I felt I bought a very good camera with a lot of special options. like a catalog, where there are thumbnails of your images. But, the images were not very clear. kind of fuzzy and dark. the quality was very poor. Although this camera was decent, it is not worth this high price. if the price went down it would be 4star. if the controls were easier to use and the pictures clearer, it would be 5star.

What a great camera! Printing 5x7s and 8X10s on an Epson stylus has been awesome! The biggest challenge here has been finding the right photo paper. The 10 second sound bytes make for a fun slide show with either live or dubbed in sound. The auto settings take excellent photos with a steady hand (like with most cameras). The flash even takes excellent photos at night, as long as the subject is close enough. Its easy to hold and focus's nice with a slight depression followed by the snap shot. I use the sports mode a lot. The indoor sports shots always turn out great, but would recommend the 2X telephoto lense for awesome shots. I store my photos on a disc and print out maybe 10 out of 36 for display or photo albums. the USB port for iMac with the Image expert program is easy to use with the 3000Z. Winter photos seem to get more red eye, which can always be dealt with.

I have about a years worth of use out of my PC 3000Z. No problems and the pictures are fantastic! This camera will do much more than the mortal photo shooter. I print a lot of 8x10 pictures and you would NOT know the differance from mine and the local photo lab.

Ever tried using an Olympus digital camera and wished it were a little easier to navigate the menu's? Fuji digital cameras are the answer!

I've tried Olympus' digital cameras before and must say the people who designed the menus and buttons were not thinking of the average camera user when designing it.

This little A310 camera is nice. It has an automatic sliding cover that covers the lens when the camera is turned off.

The pictures it takes are great, as long as you are in Fine (3MP) mode. 1 and 2 MP modes are good too, but noticeably less than the 3MP. Macro mode works excellent. Colors are good.

To compare it to an older Fuji Finepix 2400 camera- the 2400 would show mysterious white circles in the photos when taking pictures under low-battery conditions. With the A310, I can take pictures until the batteries are on their last legs.

The only real beef I have with this camera is that its movie mode does not allow sound via any type of built-in microphone. You're stuck with silent movies. This isn't a big deal me however, since I'm not into videotaping..

Pictures are worth a 1000 words. Please see the pictures in my photo gallery (www.people.umass.edu/nishanth/ ) which I took with FinePix A310 at 1MP setting.

+ Points:
It doesn't drain the batteries quickly as others.
Crystal clear pictures.
Extreme close-up and long range shots with equal ease.
Light, compact and elegant.
High quality 6 MP prints.
Equipped with almost all functions which you can ever need.
Easy picture management software.

The only defect I can find is the lack of an UV filter.
I strongly recommend its purchase.

I own an awesome Canon Rebel S2 camera (35mm) and needed a fit-me-in-a-pocket sleek digital camera with decent megapixels. I saw this camera and bought - LOVE IT! It shoots in 6 MEGAPIXELS! What Fuji did was they found a way to "overlap" the 3.1 megapixels onto eachother to creat 6 megapxls.
I OWN IT FOR OVER 2 WEEKS NOW AND TESTED THE PHOTO QUALITY:
Let me tell you the COLOR is 100% ACCURATE - TRUE TO LIFE COLOR which was my number 1 quality I was looking for (next to megapxl and clarity).

I blew up one of the photos to 13" x 18" and THE PICTURE IS CRYSTAL CLEAR, the picture was of me and my dog and you can see the finest hairs on my dog. NO PIXELATION WHATSOEVER!!!! People were very impressed!!!!

It's very compact. The next best one is Canon S400. See the complete reviews with test images at www.imaging-resource.com . For the money you can't beat it!
Wait a year or two and then upgrade to a fancy 5 megapixel or by then 8 megapixel
(which just came out for $1000). Technology rapidly advances- in the meantime stick with this camera- you'll love it!!!

Krissy

I wanted an inexpensive way to take and send pictures of my newborn over the internet. This camera works great. The software loaded easy and I was snapping pictures in no time. There are less expensive alternatives, but the ability to shoot 1.3 Megapixel resolution, have a flash, and smartmedia expandability makes this well worth the money. I was able to take 20 pictures at the highest resolution - Intel said to expect 14. It's nice to have a product over perform! Can't wait to try the video options.

A friend of mine from Minnesota bought it for me at a local shop and I got it here in Romania in mid December. I think the new Intel Pocket Digital PC Camera launched November 2001 at $... on Intel Direct Shopping site is a real wonder in its category. 16 Mb internal memory, plus expansion slot for Smart Media cards up to 128 Mb, buit-in flash and microphone (and speaker to hear click sounds during operation), two aperture lens (f2.8/f8.0), automatic or manual white balance control, USB connection to PC, fantastic software. The camera comes with a stand to fit on the computer, strap and traveling case. While connected to PC via USB to download pictures or be used as webcam it does not need battery power. Four AAA normal or alkaline batteries are required only when camera is used away from your PC as a digital still camera. Since there is no LCD screen on the back of the camera (in my view an extravagance anyway) to focus or preview shots, the battery life is amazing. I just replaced the original 4 (regular) batteries after emptying twice the 16Mb memory full of snapshots, most of them with flash! Nifty resolution and storage capabilities for a camera in this category: 256 pics at 640x480, or 96 pics at 1024x768, or 14 pics at 1280x960 (or combinations thereof). It can also accomodate 1 minute stored video with audio or 1 hour voice recording! Excellent webcam too. Vivid colors and working great with Yahoo Messenger, Camarades.com (have not yet tried the supplied software for Inetcam.com services). The included Intel Create and Share software is very imaginative and entertaining. The image editor program is called MGI PhotoSuite 4 Special Edition, but have had no patience to learn how to use it. I'm being faithful to my Corel Photo-Paint 10 that does the job just fine :). Although the camera appears to be in stock at major US online shops (....), it's a pitty the info provided on those sites is incomplete or incorrect and there's not even a product picture shown. Also, not selling in Europe yet, so I'm probably the first lucky European owning this pocket-sized rarity :). All in all a great buy, wholeheartedly recommended.

This camera for the monies spent is 10 times what I had anticipated but should have known better. Seeing what Intel has done with the Pentium Four, I would have expected none the less. I only wish that Intel gets back into manufacturing cameras again. It is a fantastic Web Camera with sound, it is a great recorder of sound and WOW to the concept of digital video making. It's the best investment I have made next to purchasing my home and my automobile.

I needed a camera with higher resolution that wasn't too expensive. I searched a lot. Chose this because it was the best price for the resolution. I certainly wasn't disappointed. True, the zoom is only 2x. However everything else was great. Took some nice wedding pics. The short..if your pocket is deep, get something with more zoom and better resolution. If not, then this is a good buy for the price and features.

Quite small in size but easy to handle. Fits into shirt pocket. Well placed dials and switches. Easy to use after reading the instructional manual. Gives you enough options in many regards. Has zone focusing system, not a continuos one -- not really made clear in the sales information. The macro, portrait, and normal distance settings work very well, IF you carefully follow the distance specifications for these settings, otherwise you end up with blurry pictures. In general, the photo images are very good to excellent. The battery drain seems to be fairly heavy, but at least it uses the popular AA size. An AC adaptor from the Samsung company has proved to be very useful. The built in memory is fairly small, but can be augmented by adding cards. The USB connection to your PC works like a charm automatically, and the editing software is very good. The case is well made. It is a great value for the money. I would highly recommend it, depending upon your needs, especially for the average photographer, like me. It is an excellent little camera.

I got this camera after I graduated middle school. [For the price] I was expecting it to take pretty low-quality pictures. Fortunatly it takes excellent, very sharp pictures. It's easy to learn how to operate it, especially if you have experience with electronics. It does tend to eat up batteries, although I believe it shuts itself down if you leave it on without doing anything with it. The size is also pretty remarkable. It's small and compact and easy to take anywhere. My only complaint is it automatically puts the date (in big yellow print) on the pictures you take. This can easily be fixed, however, by changing your settings.

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

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

We bought this camera in Mid-January. And Both my husband and I love it. This camera has EVERYTHING we could want. And is SO much better than my cheap Kodak DC3200. We are expecting our 4th and final baby in June. And this is another reason why we purchased it. Although we didn't pay 399. for it. We paid 379.00. The clarity of these pictures are just AWESOME! We have even printed them out and they are SO clear! I would purchase this camera again in a heartbeat!

I've owned and used all sorts of digital cameras. My three last digital cameras were Sony and they all had some things in common: 1)the picture quality was not up to par, 2)the MemoryStick(tm) has very slow write/read speeds. When I decided to browse for a new camera, the usual brands came to mind...Olympus, Minolta, Kodak. However, the product offerings were not tantalizing to me. I then looked-up for Nikon and to my surprise they had the product I was looking for at a price I could afford.

Let me tell you, the camera is very small and light. The picture quality is DEFINITELY superior to that of Sony's and Kodak's I've used. The full-quality, full-TV-screen video option is very good and comparable to full-fledged DV cameras. The options are vast. The user interface is very intuitive and easy to get around of. The versatility of using SecureDigital media is definitely a plus, since it can be used in PDAs, cell phones, et cetera. The voice-recording option can be very handy. The flash recharge time is minimal (it used to take my Sony good 10 seconds to do the same). The auto-shutter is pretty good. And the Auto-Focus is very precise. It's worth its price and then some. I highly recommend this device. A must for digital photography enthusiasts.

***Ok, I wrote this review before trying night-time shots. To my dismay, in low-lights the camera it's incredibly useless. It won't let you shoot w/o flash-- period. I'm incredibly frustrated. It does not let you choose manually the shutter spped and the pre-set scene options are ludicrous. It's a shame, because it took such a good pictures with good light...but tonight was nothing short of catastrophic.

Pros:
-compact size, stylish
-metal body, nice build quality
-selectable AF sensor and metering in M-record mode, each AF bracket acts as spot meter, useful for tricky lighting
-framing guides on LCD
-generally competent metering, Auto white balance, focusing. again, for difficult lighting, the AF sensor acts as spot meter in M-record mode
-straightforward transfer with Nikon View, although a separate card reader is recommended instead of connecting camera directly to computer, this is to save those USB contacts in the camera from wearing out prematurely.

Cons:
-movie mode exhibits that notorious audio-sync problem
-hot or dead pixels on my unit, resulting to those annoying white spots on the image when viewed at full size
-Scene Modes disable features here and there, and that set up may not be what you really want
-no option to set ISO, camera adjusts ISO on its own, which may result in noisy images
-more on noise, you really need lots of illumination, either daylight or flash, to keep the camera from bumping the ISO up, and with it, the noise
-still having difficulty dealing with the green cast of fluorescent lighting (as do most cameras)
-button operated zooming, with those tiny Wide-Tele buttons, especially when in Macro mode, is not the easiest thing to do

Overall, a decent picture taker that requires well-lit scenes to perform well. That means it is a "flashy" camera. For someone used to the Olympus Stylus, this is not an issue, however, this camera is not for those who prefer shooting without flash, especially indoors. There's the auto-ISO issue mentioned above, which leads to noise, also, the lightweight and small size of the camera, not to mention all those buttons which get in the way of the left hand, prevents any decent steady handhold. This maybe the reason for those soft lens comments from other reviewers, among other variables (e.g. how is the Sharpness set?).

Many of the cons are limitations imposed by the small size of the camera. Regardless of make, for compact cameras, these limitations are something one must live by. If you want more control (to prevent the ISO from bumping up by itself), and you want to stay Nikon, the larger Coolpixes (4500, 5xxx) maybe the better choices. The Canon A70/75/80 also offer greater controls, but at the expense of compactness. However, I cannot believe that Nikon or any other manufacturer for that matter, cannot make a compact that allows manual ISO setting.

The decent build and finish of this camera are regrettably offset by noise issues, and in my sample, dead pixels, which prevents me from giving this camera a higher rating.

I purchased the Nikon CoolPix 3700 after much research and chose it over the Canon S400. I've been extremely satisfied with the quality of the pictures and videos. This camera was rated #1 Best Buy by PC World and for good reason.

Pros:
-rediculously light and very sturdy
-has a long, narrow shape that is more natural in your hand and your pocket as compared with the more square Canon S400 and other Nikon Coolpix cameras
-almost NO SHUTTER LAG, a big plus when photographing people who don't like to hold still for too long.
-EXCELLENT PICTURE QUALITY, 3MP is PLENTY for most uses.
-takes such great videos (with sound) that it might just replace your video camera.
-easy to set up and fairly straightforward menus
-uses SD memory which is generally better than CF.
-pretty good battery life, recharges fast, most users probably won't need an extra battery.
-if you need it, Nikon's tech support line is very helpful (toll-free and 24/7!)

Cons:
-Performance in low-light isn't great, but that is the case with most other cameras of this type.
-No case included and only comes with 16MB SD card. A leather case and 256MB SD card will set you back about a hundred bucks. (256MB is the ideal size, I recommend Panasonic SD cards because they record at 10MB/s)
-on/off switch and zoom buttons are awkwardly placed/shaped, should be switched, takes some getting used to.
-included USB cord is a bit fragile, I had to get a replacement from tech support
-3x optical zoom isn't much. If you want a lot of zoom go 10x.

Overall a great camera with the best performance in this price range. Highly recommended, it's really a hidden gem. Perfect as a first digicam or for someone who wants to upgrade.

GREAT CAMERA. SIMPLE TO USE AND VERSATLE. USED IT ON A YACHT CLUB CRUISE TOOK OVER 100 PICTURES AND MADE A GREAT SLIDE SHOW! ALSO TOOK OVER 100 PICTURES ON A TRIP TO NOVA SCOTIA. YOU DOO NEED TO UPGRADE THE MEMORY TO 128. I'M DISAPPOINTED THAT THE NEW MODEL IS AVAILABLE FOR ONLY $ 30.00 MORE THAN I PAID FOR THIS!!
DAN SHINKWIN

This is the greatest digital camera I have ever used! It took trying six other cameras to finally choose this gem. I am very picky about my photographs. I want perfection, anything else is a waste of my time. This camera is ergonomically very comfortable to hold and use. Once it is in your hand, it feels like it is there to stay. It's a little heavier than other digital cameras I've used. It feels more like a film camera.The HP Photosmart 715 is very sturdy. It is very easy on the eyes as well, it is sophisticated, yet simple, bearing a close resemblance to it's 35 mm cousin. The camera is point and shoot, it automatically adjusts for every lighting situation perfectly. The photo quality is absolutely breath taking! You do not miss a single detail with this camera. The results are better than anything I've ever accomplished with film. With a 3X optical zoom, there is no way you can go wrong on this one. There is not a single thing I do not like about this camera. It is PERFECT!

I bought my HP 715 about two years ago and I have never been sorry.Although it has been discontinued at this writing it is still available on line and elsewhere. It is by far the greatest camera I have ever owned. You don't need a degree to operate it and it always comes thru. It has a big camera feel and I love that. Whatever the occasion I feel at home using this camera on landscapes and portraits. I use a 256 MB Compact flash card so I can shoot all pix on the fine setting. But the default setting is equally as good. The program that goes into the computor is by far the best money can buy. The pix are downloaded and organized into a real neat format and easy to retrieve for email or print. Today you are fortunate since you an purchae it much cheaper than I did at Staples. ... I am still in awe of it. The controls are on top and rapid changes can be made without guessing. If you are new or pro to digital cameras, get this one and don't worry about it being discontined.It is still the state of the art. It also defies the adage about digitals eating up batteries. It's power consumption is very frugal. Try it and you will love it. Thanks HP.

I am absolutely delighted with the Kodak CX7430 and wholeheartedly recommend it. Kodak has cornered the market in offering tremendous features for extremely reasonable prices. I upgraded to the CX7430 from the CX7000 because I was so happy with the Kodak line. The CX7430 offers great features, such as both optical and digital zoom, and video capacity with sound, along with an outstanding 4 MPs. The operating system is the simplest and easiest to learn and use of any brand of digital camera. The entire Kodak Easy Share system makes downloading, editing, printing, and e-mailing pictures a breeze. This is THE 4 MP camera to buy!

We just got this camera. It is a very practical and easy to use camera. It is not bulky and is very light. And the best thing is the software that comes with it is easy to use too. Overall a great deal for the price. If you are looking for quality, ease, and don't want to pay a lot this is definitly your best bet.

I love this camera. <br /> It has all the bells and whistles I was looking for, it is so very easy to use, and was very reasonably priced.

I had recieved a kodak camera for christmas from my father! It takes wonderful pictures! around feburary it started acting funny! after a while all the pictures would turn black. i called kodak and they told me to send it to a camera repair place in illanois! well they had told me i would have it fixed for free so I figured go a head and send it in. 2 weeks later I recieved a bill for 200.00 MORE THAN THE CAMERA COST! worse yet if i didnt want it fixed there was a 30.00 inspection fee plus 15.00 to ship it back. Well mym father called kodak and they got it figred out. 2 weeks later no camera. I call the repair shop adn they said they would look in to it and then call me within an hour! they didnt I called the next day to find out what the heck was going on with my camera and it was shipped the previous day! well today i recieved all the other stuff I sent in, but no camera! there was a note saying they were going to replace the camera. I was on hold for an HOUR!! then all they told me to do was call the repair shop! I should be reciving my camera soon and i asked why it took so long to send me a different camera, "they had to back order it, they didn't have the parts". What I learned. I will never but from kodak again!

This is a great little camera for people who are just wanting to mess around with digital photography, but don't want to do anything serious. It's ideal for quick snapshots on a family vacation or the kids in the backyard. It's also a perfect gift to give a kid who really wants a digital camera, but you don't want to spend $300.

Other positives: It's lightweight, doesn't require a lot of thought, and the small screen really guides you through what all the buttons are for. Everything is well labeled, and sharing photos is simple. Other people have said that they didn't like the software, but I didn't have a problem with it.

Because it's designed to be simple, it has some flaws when it comes to more complicated operations. It takes really crummy night shots. Don't even bother trying to use the nightime setting unless you have a tripod. Also, the screen on the back is deceptive, especially when it comes to nightshots. You think you have a good picture until you load it onto your computer and you realize it's totally blurry.

But, for a 2 megapixel camera, it's great. It's a good gift for kids and a good starter camera for just about anyone.

My first digital was a 1.0 Olympus for $399.00 The LCD quit working after 2 years, and it was going to cost $100.00 to repair. I thought naught! A new eMac running Panther with a new Epson printer prodded me to purchase a new camera. Amazon had it for $129.00 with a "free" 32 MB Viking memory card. I upgraded to a 128 MB card for lots of pictures. I needed to upgrade the camera software from the Kodak website, but it works flawlessly with panther! This camera is great! It is very intuitive, and I didn't even look at the book for the first few pictures; it was point and shoot. Downloading the pictures via the USB port was a snap (also very quick!) On the eMac, the pictures are automatically downloaded into a picture folder which works with iphoto. The picture quality color is excellent when printed out. I find this a great camera for the novice or intermediate picture taker. It is definitely a digital for dummies!