Digital-Camera Reviews

I just opened my TRV-460 and after charging the FM-30 battery that Sony sent along, I set the date and shot about 7 minutes of video and the battery died! The Sony Manual doesn't even recommend an FM-30; but they chose to send it along anyway. I replaced the battery with another FM-50 (Off-brand from nations largest store) and the camcorder powered up, gave a message that the battery was not a Sony and powered down. Appears you need to use a Sony battery only, as their is some new chip technology that won't let others copy their over-priced batteries anymore. The 3-Watt, LED light does nothing for the video. The video does look bettter than HI-8 when played back on a 32" TV. There is no media shipped with the unit. Be prepared to spend alot on batteries, memory stick and tapes.

First off, I can state without hesitation that while the name SONY typically equates with expensive, it always equals QUALITY. What's great about this camcorder is that you have the QUALITY without the expensive price tag. I paid $399 at Circuit City.

I almost bought a JVC MiniDV which was a few bucks cheaper, but since I have never had a problem with any SONY product I have ever owned (cd players, TV's, etc), I went with the Sony. Plus, I am by no means a video buff, so the reality is IF there truly is a difference between MiniDV and Digital 8 picture quality, I am sure I would not be able to notice. A plus for 8mm camcorder owners, you can use/view those tapes on this model!!

That being said, the beauty of the product is it's ease of use. My wife is completely confused by technical gadgets, and she was able to use the camcorder using the EasyCam setting out of the box. There are enough video tricks and editing features to satisfy the most creative amateur videographers.

Also, contrary to what other reviewers have stated here, the battery life of the InfoLithium battery has been pretty good for me. I get about 1hr on a full charge, though I have not filmed for 1 continuous hour, just a few minutes here and there.

So allow me to move on to my only CONS:
- SIZE - if this is an issue for you, go with MiniDV, however the smaller you go, the more hand shakiness becomes an issue, even with image stabilizing technology. The size of the TRV460 is a tad large for today's camcorder, but definitely not bulky or too heavy. Mainly due to tape size.

- MOTOR HUM - When recording or playback, there is a distinct hum that comes from the camcorder. I hadn't noticed in Circuit City, so I went back, checked a few other models and soon realized most camcorders make a slight hum when the tape is active. I learned to live with it as the "hum" sound does not get picked up by the microphone when recording.

Overall, I highly recommend this VERY affordable QUALITY Sony camcorder as it more than capabale of fulfilling any family's video needs. I am very happy with my purchase!

go to havingit.co.uk

there u can order a amlost free sony dcr-ip7bt 1300$ camcorder

it really works belive me...

at this site u can find the camcorder under cameras

so sign up.....

More so than any other aftermarket case, this one was clearly made to fit the s300/s330. No more looking for an APPROXIMATE fit; this one is exact. It is just large enough to allow easy insertion and removal of the camera and provide a relatively snug fit at the same time. There is an integrated zippered pouch in the front - ideal for a spare battery and a couple of CF cards. The soft navy colored material (suede?) is almost luxurious to the touch, yet leaves no doubts as to its durability. I expect this thing to last for a while. Last but not least, you'll look just as good holding this case as you will holding your s330. This thing has more than its share of elegant but discreet style.

This is a great fit for my S200 and I love that it's not the typical black leather/faux-leather camera case. Mine is not obviously purple but more of an indigo in color - a very dark blue with purple undertones. The front zippered compartment zips open top to bottom on the left side and swings completely open to the right, great accessibility! The two pockets are mesh and allow easy viewing of the contents. I'm loving this case and my Canon S200!!! Really! Oh, and as far as an inconvenience in threading the wrist strap through the top hole... I don't experience it. It takes about one second if you press the folded middle through the hole. I can see how it would take longer if you tried to poke the end of it through, a la threading a needle.

All around nice little case for Canon Digital Elph. Front pouch is just big enough for extra battery and CF card. Loop attaches it to your belt or keeps it from getting dinged in dingbat wife's purse.

We purchased this camcorder specifically because of its dual function as a camcorder and digital camera. I'm not really going to comment on the camcorder aspects because I agree with most of the other positive comments that people have made.

As for the digital stills, pictures taken outdoors look fine, but indoor pictures are VERY grainy and pixelated, even in a very bright room. In my opinion, the quality is just unacceptable. The Memory Stick with USB output is an incredible technology that makes downloading pictures to your computer so EASY, but this benefit can not make up for the bad pictures that it takes. (I did not try to capture stills from the tape because I do not have the ieee adaptor needed to do this, so I do not know if stills taken in this way may look better than those taken on the memory stick)

If you are just looking to take video, then this camcorder is probably fine, but I see no need to pay for the extra memory stick capabilities because they are not worth it.

My fiance and I just purchased this camera and boy was I impressed! This is our first camcorder but not the first one I have used. It's light weight make it easy to handle. And the steadyshot works quite well. My hands are quite shaky but you could never tell by watching something I taped! The picture quality is good, but I am only using the standard A/V cables. Once I get the S-video cables I should see a dramatic upgrade in picture quality. The battery it comes with isn't the best, only about 90 minutes fully charged. I particularly liked the nightshot feature. Although the images come out in a green tone the picture quality is outstanding. I was fooling around with it in a pitch black room and you could see everything clear as day(green of coarse). The LCD is exceptionally smaller than the 530 but it is still big enough to fit most people's needs. Of coarse if you want to save battery power just don't use the LCD. The only thing I can't comment about is the still picture option. I just spent a large sum of money on a straight up digital camera so I don't need to use that option. So I am sorry I can't help you out there! Overall the camera is excellent and I would suggest it to anybody looking for a new camcorder.

I've been looking around at prices and i'de say this is the best price I've found. I was checking out other cameras and found one for $500. It was not as good as this one and cost more. Its worth your cash and the specs are nice! Like the 25x optical zoom is crazy. The digital zoom doesn't really make a difference after u get over 200x zoom on that. So dont think that 700x zoom makes much of a difference. I'de say buy it asap.

Until this product, I was a huge promoter of HP printers, but the HP 1215 apparently was designed with little attention to Apple compatibility. Unpredictably it refused to print first in 0S9 and then in 0SX. I'm frankly sick of downloading and reloading new drivers only to find they don't work and/or freeze up my entire computer. Because of this printer I've cleaned off my entire hard drive, lost valuable files and programs, and still wound up with a non-functional machine. It's been in my closet for 6 months, and I'm considerably happier with a new bottom-of-the-line Canon printer.

I've had a HP842C for 3 years. On its last leg, I researched what printer (brands) to get, including all the HP's, and found the 1215 as the best buy. A friend told me the only thing good HP does is printers; don't know if that's true, but I am sold on their printers. I print mega digital photos, and the large ink cartridge is what sold me. I also publish a bi-monthly newsletter for my trade association, and my first copy from the 1215 was more than anticipated. I had forgotten what a good printer accomplished. The "normal" print selection produced text so crisp and clear; the color photos were superb. Print speed was quick - just watch out for the flying paper. The printer spits the paper out so quickly, some sheets landed on the floor. I've remedied that situation. Also had to buy a new 78 color, the print heads were dried up on the cartridge included in the box. Being an older model HP, I wasn't surprised nor angry. It's just one of those things. Overall, very satisfied. So much, I bought a second one!

I have numerous printers available in my office for different functions. My Photosmart 1215/1218 gets all the work. It's fast, reliable, great quality and we have not had 1 minute of down time. Also, I purchased the auto-duplex unit that enables the printer to print 2 sided documents. Super easy to use and still very fast! The printer can be tricky to install, however when I upgraded to Windows XP, XP easily set it up for me. If you don't have XP, be sure to follow directions carefully. I was so pleased with the printer; I bought a second for my son to take to college.

Had my Dimage 5 for about a year,and mostly was impressed.It took
good pictures in bright light,but was difficult to use in low light.Took it to Mexico on vacation and got caught in a rainstorm.The camera got wet,and stopped working.I assumed it would start again as soon as I got it dried out,but it did not.Sent it to Minolta for repair,and was told it was economically not repairable.Paid 600.00 for it,got it wet once,goodbye camera.Now its useless.Not even heavy enough for a boat anchor!If you have one,keep it dry!

I gave this camera 5-stars because of the photos it produces. The one down side is the way it drains batteries, but I carry 5 sets of re-charageable with me all the time. Four sets are rated at 1600 Mah and one set is rated at 1700 Mah. One of the best sets is Quest. I've gotten as many as 60-65 shots in the daytime. The bottom line is I made an investment in the camera and I'm not going to let the battery situation change my mind. I bought my first Minolta camera (the Autocord twin-lens reflex) in Japan in 1956. I have several other Minoltas and two Mamiya's, but this camera can compete with all of them. It's rather nice to sit at my computer and produce pictures that are as good as those I produce in the darkroom. I've won some National awards for my photography over the years and I have taken some in the past month that are as good as anything else I have shot. People that have seen my new work are amazed. It's actually the camera that deserves the lion's share of the credit. If you're serious about photography, then grab yourself some re-chargeable batteries along with this camera and enter a new world of excitement. If you're not serious go buy a disposable camera.

I have had this camera for about 2 months now and love every bit of it. It takes amazing photos, the optical zoom lens is spectacular and the camera has all the manual options so that I can have complet control of the photos. The manual settings are NOT on a menu driven system so it is quicker to make changes (and uses less batteries by not having the screen on all the time).

POWER SAVING TECHNIQUES:
I bought PowerEx Rechargables and I get about 600 pictures per set... More than enough... A couple tips for longer battery life. Do not use the Large screen unless completly nessesary. Use the EVF on auto on. The View finder will turn on when you place your eye up to it. Also, do not use the continues focus option... It will kill the batteries in no time.

The best camera I've ever owned... Long exposure night shots... simply amazing.

As a botanist/ecologist/photographer I do a great deal of plant photography. I have used Canon products for years and swear by them and rarely at them. The Pro1, though, leaves a lot to be desired for my purposes. The EOS 10D does far better even with lower resolution. The Pro1, for the purposes I need, is not very suitable. (See my review of the PowerShot S1 IS).
But as a photgrapher who has been published around the world, mostly medium and large format photographs, I think for most people the Pro1 would be a very good choice. It has excellent construction and the image quality is superb with very true color, much better than most. If you don't want to mess with RAW image processing, you can photograph using the Super high resolution Large (gives you a JPG image) and get excellent results that compare very favorably with RAW processing and none of the fiddling with RAW. The availability of a 28mm equivalent wide angle is also very nice and not all that common.
The sharpest aperature to use is f5.6 or f6.3. The images are just a hair softer at larger or smaller apertures. Even the digital zoom will produce a pretty decent image at 14x, but gets worse at maximum digital zoom. Usually digital zoom is pretty worthless, but when you start with 8 megapixels you can still end up with a suitable pixel count after all the digital footwork that goes on in the camera. But generally you are still further ahead shooting at maximum optical zoom (no digital) and cropping, if you don't mind some additional digital manipulation antics to improve things.
So, all in all, I highly recommend this camera to anyone who needs high resolution and compact size. It is a good buy. But for really good macro photography I recommend a digital SLR and a top notch macro lens. If you only do a little macro work and are not real fussy about having razor sharp images then this camera will do fine. Sometimes it would almost match the 10D, but not quite. For all other uses, the camera is great.

The Powershot Pro1 is the best all-around 8 megapixel digicam. It is compact (unlike the Olympus 8080, Sony F828, and Konica Minolta A2); has a fast 28-200 lens (Olympus only goes to 140mm equivalent, Nikon doesn't allow wide angle); and allows for fine adjustment of focal length (Olympus and Nikon use a crude zoom lever that makes it difficult to zoom exactly as you want to). An additional important point is that the Powershot can actually be used in RAW mode: the Olympus, Sony, and Nikon cameras lock-up for a while after taking a picture in RAW mode (this means the camera is not usable for up to 12 seconds after a RAW picture is taken).

Perhaps the closest competitor to the Powershot Pro1 is the Konica Minolta A2, but the A2 has an old lens design that lacks the resolution of the Powershot Pro1, and the A2 is much bigger, lacks the high resolution LCD screen on the Pro1, and has limited movement of its LCD screen. The A2 has a very high resolution viewfinder, but with a good LCD screen (like the Pro1), using a viewfinder is not preferable (for me at least). The A2 also has been noted in online reviews to have quality control problems.

Comparisons aside, some reviewers here have suggested that the Pro1 has "slow" autofocus and that the LCD screen freezes for a moment as the autofocus operates. The conclusion given is that the Pro1 is therefore difficult to use with moving subjects. The difficulty, however, is primarily with photographic technique rather than the camera's autofocus system. Because of the sensor size and lens design, the Pro1 has a large depth of field, meaning that subjects will appear in focus over a fairly large distance. Even at the telephoto end, the depth of field for a portrait (e.g. 100mm) at f/4.5 will be sufficient that you can pre-focus the lens and follow a moving subject easily. The shutter response is very very fast when the lens is already at its focus point. This is a standard technique often overlooked by people who never used a manual focus camera. And this technique is far better than relying on the autofocus system in any of the 8 megapixel cameras: none of them is faster than intelligent pre-focusing! The Pro1 makes this even easier by allowing the user to store a focus distance in the Custom1 and Custom2 settings.

This is a terrific camera. No camera is perfect, but the Pro1 makes the best compromises in its class.

And for those worried about image noise when looking at photos magnified on screen: this is eliminated from actual prints using any of several noise reduction software packages. Don't be afraid to use 400 speed on the Pro1, put the file through good noise reduction software, and print it. The result will still be very nice.

I looked at the Nikon 8700 and the Canon Pro 1. I had them both in hand, shot pictures, compared the EVF, comfort, weight and read all the reviews prior to see the actual cameras. After a long evaluation I decided on the Canon. It just had a better feel. The camera offers a lot of features. I wanted to get back into a camera that would do something other that point and shoot, which this does very well. I also wanted to be able to adjust the apature and film speed. Creative and fun things.
The first pictures I took were very impressive. Low light visibility is good. It has a SLR feel and sound to it. Color was beautiful and th 7X optical is just perfect to be hand held.
One important thing to consider is how the camera will operate in low light. It has an AF assist, which should be on all cameral or it will not be able to focus on a particular subject and the picture will be blurred. Without getting technical, this camera can be used by a novice or a professional. It's versality is unbelievable. Also, a very important feature of this camera is its battery. It has an extremely long life and its charger is small, easily carried in a case and charges to full charge in one hour.

This is a must have. This is included with the S10 or S20 when bought outside the US. If you buy the camera in the US, buy this immediately. As with most digital cameras, either Canon eats batteries rapidly.

Unit quickly recharges, typically less than 2 hours.

It's a bit expensive, but really necessary.

Has attachment to have camera directly plugged into wall so you can download pictures to your computer. This is absolutely necessary if you transfer via serial connection.

I almost gave this item a 5 Stars. If it was a little bit lower priced, it would be a 5 Star product. This kit comes with a rechargable battery and a DC power supply for the camera. Too bad you can't charge the battery and use the DC power supply at the same time.

The S20 was a great camera. now it's gone
I still have the accessories.

I bought this camera and I love it! It takes great pictures! Its perfect for any one who wants a good camera at a reasonable price. The only drawback is I have windows xp and no matter what I did could not get the camera to download to the pc direct even with the windows xp driver I downloaded, so ended up getting a card reader which is plug and play and easy to use.I highly recomend this camera. It does seem to use regular alkaline batteries fast but found that the energizer e2 titanium last a long time. so they are well worth the extra money.It takes just as good pictures as the cameras that cost twice the price. Also toshiba customer service are really good about trying to help you if you have problems, as i did with the drivers.great buy for the money!!!!

This easy to use camera takes wonderfully sharp photos, and pictures download easily through a USB connection. Software included is also excellent; many easy-to-use utilities. The screen saver of my digital photos is terrific!

I started to look for a digital camera for my kids for quite some time. I would like them to learn to compose by taking pictures without spending all the money on films. Toshiba PDR-M21 is a very reasonable beginner's camera. The picture (default: normal 1600x1200) give excellent graphics. At the time I bought this camera, it came with a bonus 32-MB memory card that further adds to its already great value.
As for the driver, I have no difficulty downloading the latest driver for WindowXP ... The graphic software is a piece of cake to operate.

I originally loved this camera.... small, light, good battery life, hi-res photos to work with. However, after using it for the last year, and taking over 2,100 photos with it (the camera keeps track) I have to say I'm extremely disappointed with it.

Unless you're outdoors in VERY bright sunlight, or using the flash, forget about taking decent photos. I've held the camera solidly against a wall to take indoor photos without flash and all you get is a streaky mess. You can't control the apeture setting, and hence EVERY photo comes out blurry unless you are in bright, direct light.

I spend a good 3-4 minutes with EVERY photo that DOES come out O.K. (not blurry) touching it up in photoshop. For whatever reason, the CCD is just not getting enough photons to take good, crisp, bright photos.

Too bad, too, because in most other ways its a great camera.

I was one of the first purchasers of this camera. I was excited by the small size and prospect of 4mp resolution. I also liked the slide=away lens cover which I felt would be highly protective and the metal body.

It is a lovely camera but has had one flaw that makes it less than ideal for me.

The problem is the focus, indoors in low light. It's fine for outdoor snaps but most of the pictures I take are indoors. Often the light is low because I am in a meeting room.

In this case, the camera cannot autofocus well and, as there is no manual focus to override it, the problem is impossible to fix.

I returned the camera for service, thinking perhaps it was a manufacturing defect but, sadly, it did not improve.

I am now looking for another camera to replace it.

It's a pity because it is a sweet, compact thing that's easy to carry. It would be a great choice for someone who is mostly interested in outdoor pictures.

this is the third Konica I bought, I had KD-200, KD-310Z and KD-400Z, and I am probably going to buy their KD-500 when it comes to a better price.

Apart from it's very light and easy to hold, the main feature I liked about this camera is you can have two cards in it, and literally have 256M of memory, it may not sound that important, but it definitely made a difference on a long trip.

The quality of the camera was very good, I took beautiful pictures of Bryce Canyon in snow,

The only drawback of it, and probably the drawback of many cameras, is the battery life, I highly recommend you buy another battery, if you are thinking of using it on some serious trips (where you may need to take photos for 6-8 hours between charges)

I have used this camera for about a week now. It is my first digital camera, and I am getting used to the whole idea of digital photography. So far I have taken about 100 pictures and printed about 30. Most of the prints looked very good especially on 4x6 and 5x7.

Since I only had it for a week, I haven't explored all the features yet, but the AutoFocus and 12 preset scenes work very well. I am looking forward to learn other advanced features.

One thing that really bothered me about the camera is the oversaturation of the red. If an image contains red objects, it really stands out when you view or print the image. I was able to modified the image on photoshop, but after a few of them, I got annoyed. I talked to Nikon tech support about it, and they told me that it's a firmware problem. They also told me that an update maybe available in the future. If I can resolve this problem, this Nikon Coolpix 885 will be the camera for me for a very long time.

I just purchase a Nikon 885 and I'm really happy with it, I bought it at Best buy for 599.00 and they give you 64meg card for free. You can get the camera cheaper online but I prefer to buy items like this site on seen. It's very easy to use the menus are user friendly and the pictures come out great. It's definately a lot smaller than it looks in the picture. I definately would recommend using rechargeable batteries and have a few set aside if you plan on taking a lot of picutures. The 16 meg card is pretty much useless so I would recommend at least 64 megs. I would definately recommend this camera to the person who want's to take quality pictures..........

This is my first Digital Camera and I am glad I got this after doing a lot of Digtial Camera Research. The clarity and color balance of the pictures are really good.
The only annoying fact was that I have to reset the date everytime I change the battery.