Digital-Camera Reviews

I like the images, both resolution and quality-wise. It's a little boxier than I'd like, but then the price makes it a closer performer to the $700 cameras. Something not mentioned anywhere I've seen is that the lens used happens to accept standard 37mm filters - Tiffen and Sunpak have a pretty good selection available. Very capable flash unit despite the size, probably due to the pretty sensitive CCD (took some pictures inside the house with all the lights turned off - came out like daylight). Nice bright LCD with fine resolution. A little slow on picture-to-picture transitions when in Slideshow mode (initially resolves a 50% pixelated version, then slowly draws in the refinement over about 15 secs. per picture). TV Out seemed to take as much battery life as running the LCD (you get about 15 mins continuous life max out of the supplied 1400ma Ni-MH AA's.)

HP 912 eats and drinks batteries.
It is very helpfull to have this battery, now i do not have to think before firing flash.
A great battery for a great camera.

Photography is a hobby of mine and my standard format for it is 35mm film. However, I have been wanting to try a digital camera for some time. Fortune smiled upon me last month, while at an awards dinner, I won this camera as a door prize.

On the way home, I was able to try out the camera. It was fairly easy to set up and put into use. The various shots I took came out fairly well and I expect to get better results as I get use to the it's capabilties. Unfortunately, the internal memory got used up pretty quickly. So if you intend to take alot of photos with it, be sure to bring at least one memory card with you. The camera comes with a USB cable and the software to download the photos into your computer.

I like this camera. It is definitely a good camera for someone wanting to try Digital Photography. It comes complete with everything you need to get started, USB cable, batteries and software. The instructions were easy to understand and follow. Just add a couple of memory cards and you're all set to take this baby on vacation. I know that is exactly what I'm going to do. Take this with me on my next vacation.

Although pricey, the accessory kit includes a valuable lithium ion battery which lasts about twice as long as high quality 1600 mAH NiMH rechargeables. Even with the LCD off, this translates to maybe 600 to 800 shots. The included battery charger adapter is also an AC adapter for the camera. Useful when uploading to your computer but even more so when shooting in the home. The included bag is adequate; sizeable enough for some extra batteries and memory card, but not if you need to carry filters, the battery charger, and AC adapter. Overall, it's a worthy addition to your HP 912.

This product is a reliable memory card. And it's cheap. Why pay more for the same basic product?

This camera is just what I wanted: a functional digital camera that was inexpensive and easy to use. It operates like a regular camera--there is no LCD to have a quick look at your shots. The flash is very bright. Downloading pictures to my iBook is quick (via the USB port and iClick-provided cord) and I can import them with the iPhoto program already on my Mac. I purchased a 128MB SD Sandisk memory card from a third party which works great.

The camera is very light--there's not much to it. All in all, it's what I wanted and expected for the money.

The Kodak DC120 produces very good images for a 1M pixel camera. Compressed image format (approx 300k/photo) does not seriously degrade the image and it speeds up downloading. Slow speed serial port is a bummer; use a card reader. CF media is very common and inexpensive. It eats battery fairly quickly, especially when stored. Be prepared to load fresh batteries every time you take it off the shelf. 3x optical zoom is great. 12 inch macro focus is adaquate, and it can take some add on lenses to get closer. It can also take adapters to convert it to a microscope digital camera c-mount. Physically large but easy to hold and use. Approx 2 sec shutter lag and 6 sec recycle time.

If you own a Kodak DC-series digital camera, this lens adapter (and Kodak's lens kit) are good buys to extend the usefulness of the camera. Since the DC-26x series cameras don't have a threaded lens, the adapter is the only way you can use add-on lenses with these cameras. The adapter attaches to the camera easily and offers a secure hold.

Opinion
Fredrik in Sweden.

I had a 3 Mpix Olympus D-550 (C-300) for 12 months and it has been very difficult to find a better camera when it broke.

I first bought a Casio QV 5700, a semi-big and very sophisticated camera. It had all the features I wished for, bright optics, manual settings etc. but the size and ancient slow action bothered me. I swiftly returned it.

I realized I wanted something pocketable with great performance. Since no reviews on the web met my demands I finally went for the G600, the heir of a test winner, unreviewed until now.

---

The G600 with a spare battery and 512 Mb is a good setup. After the first charge of 14 hours the battery was good for 250 images (no flash, always display and 3 unloads) The very first charge also charges the onboard memory battery so it will perform better after that. It also takes 10 cycles before the battery is ripe. I expect 300-350 images.

Charging takes 2 hours with the bundled charger, neat.

---

A normal image in fine mode takes up about 1500-2800 kb of space. => 240 images on my SD card.

---

The shutter lag is ok, but not as awesome as I got the impression of. (with focus lock it is pretty instant)

I flung a stick into the evening air and shot it while it fell and the result was really neat and sharp. (See sample)

Startup time is really quick.

---

The size is dreamy. You can hardly feel it is in your front pocket on a pair of tight jeans. The metal gives it a sturdy feel.

The blue LED's on the front are a nuissance. They provide extra light for focusing etc. I don't know when they are activated, or if I can turn it off.

---

I have some sample images for you here.
All handheld on a grey spring evening in Sweden.
http://www.microsaft.com/g600/ this page.

Problems
I dislike using flash, as a result indoor images turn up dark.
Some are VERY dark with the automatic setting in spite of normal illumination.
I somewhat enhanced this by increasing ISO to 200.

Still not as good as my Olympus D-550 (C-300) in low light. I feel it necessery to switch between ISO modes for indoor and outdoor shots. Requires clicking in the menu.

The G600 wants to use flash at all times indoors. Flash make the pictures flat and boring. I want to capture atmosphere, not cold hard vectors.

---

The Automatic "focus depth" was very tight.
If I focus on my face, the eyes look great but the nose gets blurry. (My nose isn't huge). I am not sure how to compensate for this. (still learning)
In macro mode this is apparent when shooting a fat larva where half the larva is out of focus. Unless you only photograph coins... this is a problem.

---

In the evening, the automatic light control make the images a tad less bright and less in contrast than real life. Increasing brightness and contrast +25 and +25 in Pshop helps evening pictures.

I suspect this can be adjusted in the white balance settings.

Much of this can be compensated for, with internal tweaking, once and for all. The colors overall are very natural and life like.

---

The multi spot autofocus tend to pick the items in the background and not the thing I want to shoot.
I saw no reason to use spot metering until I got the G600.

---

The amount of "flawed images" are less than with the Casio, and I think that when I get used to this one it will perform as well as the point and shoot Olympus. I am well on my way.
---

I would love it if it had a "speed dial" to chose
between different scene modes.

The sound and avi format works very well.
16 seconds amount only to 2800 kb.

---

I'd rather they had two compartments for batteries than two for memory cards. Running out of juice is a bummer when you are to shoot the sunset from the top of a hill.

---

Some would say that the zoom is too fast.
It is, like the Borg would say, ...efficient.

---

It could be easier to record sound and movies. The menu system requires clicking... clicking...

---

I need to test the lense and ccd more, with some colorful sunsets, but so far the quality is really nice. I can count individual strains of hair on my head on my images. I'll keep this one, because it is portable and creates great images under the right conditions and decent images under strain.
A third battery may be an investment.

Manual settings will work out some of my problems.

---

/Fredrik

My free for all, no copyright 1000+ image archive.
(Most shot with the Olympus, but that will change.) http://www.microsaft.com

Can you get more digital camera for $750? Absolutely. Much in the same way you can get more GB/$ from some MP3 players than you can from an iPod. But try to "outcool" it, and you'll fail. Same situation here.

This is the ultimate stylish pocket-size point-and-shoot camera. It's retro. It's timeless and it's a Leica. Cool factor aside, Lecia is second only to Hasselblad in reputation in the world of photography and it wouldn't let a dog out of its shop. The quality of the photos from this pocket rocket are tremendous.

Note that this camera is not purely Leica. It is the result of a collaboration with Panasonic which provides the electronics. But the lens, arguably the most important component, is a Leica. Panasonic makes essentially the same camera but in a cheap plastic at about half the price. That takes excellent shots as well.

At 3MP, it's starting to show its age from a technology standpoint, but this isn't the camera you'd use to shoot anything for printing larger than 8x10 anyway.