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I tried over and over to convince myself that this camera will get better as time goes by, and I am done trying. The picture quality is absolutely horrible and really frustrating when you want to take a picture in a place with not-so-bright lighting. Even with a flash, the pictures still come out really dark...please spend your money on another camera.....
I had had this camera for 3 months now and I can't tell you had much I love it. It has many more fetures than I would ever use but there are some drawbacks to this item. First, in low light conditions you must hold this camera steady after pushing the button or your pics come out blurred. Other than that it is a well made product.
I got this camera from another site thinking it was a wonderful price for a 5.1 MP camera and a flip screen. The light sensor seems to be out of whack. Every picture I take inside without the flash ends up having a red hue (no matter what I change the setting to) and when I do use the flash many times the person is whited out. Even my old HP 3.1 MP takes better pictures, and I was buying another camera to replace it. It also can't take vertical pictures, as in when I turn the camera, the viewfinder shows it as sideways or upside down, which I found weird because I've never known a camera to do that. And when I did take a vertical picture, there was no rotate feature to be found on the camera. It also makes this annoying 'beep' when I take a picture. I'm the type of person who likes to take pictures without another person noticing and the beep is neither inconspicuous or desirable.
Other than that I really have no problem with it. It lets me change what size I want the pictures to be, which is good, I guess, even though I'll just resize them on my computer; it comes with a nice carrying case, it's a good size, and again--I love that the viewfinder flips out and that the view can be flipped as well. Had I had known everything about it before I spent my savings on it, I wouldn't have wasted my money or my time, but I suppose I can live with it now that I have it.
I thought with this being a 5mp camera it would have great resolution....not true I have found. My pictures come out fuzzy, the coloring looks weird no matter what setting I have it on and I can't take pictures close up without catching a lot of glare. Also I can't take pictures in any kind of low lighted place. I think I actually got better pictures with my Kodak 2.1 MP camera.
I just got this camera today from walgreens, after changing the frequency to 60HZ instead of 50HZ all my photo's come in clear and unblurry. It comes aready at 50HZ so if your having problems with it beeping and flashing and the picture still not right that is it. It is slow to relize your pushing buttons but it does respond. In the container I got the cord(usb), bag, batteries, and carry string. I love it.
This camera has a lot of good features, but consistently underexposes in indoor photography. Indoor photos with the built in flash are also very poor.
The exposure problem renders the auto modes. In the total manual mode also if you set the right speed and aperture then light meter shows that it is over exposing. Probably the problem is the light metering issue in the camera. The indoor photos are incredibly dark and underexposed.
I also saw many people gave this complain, I hope this is not the problem of the camera model but couple of cameras which are having this issue.
When you buy this camera, please check whether the camera is working properly in Auto mode in low light conditions. I had to return my camera due to this underexposure problem .
I've been using this camera for the past year and it is simply the best SLR out there in the market. The interface and controls are very intuitive and this is where it edges out the Nikon. Canon also has a great range of lenses and accessories to back this camera. Great SLR camera. Go for it!
I have been a Canon Rebel fan since the first 6.1MP body first came out. I have always loved that camera.
I upgraded to the XTi body a little over a year ago and am very pleased with it. It takes a great picture (if slightly grainy at high ISOs).
The controls are intuitive and well placed. Some of the more obscure ones took me a few minutes to find in the menu, but they're there. As a landscape photographer, I particulary like the mirror lockup feature. I missed that in the earlier Rebel body. (It was actually in the programming but disabled and there were some hacks available on the net to unlock it, but I was reluctant to void the warranty).
Unlike the earlier Rebel body, the XTi is small. Uncomfortably small. To fix this, I bought the battery grip, which not only solves this problem, but also doubles the battery life, as well as adding another shutter release so that you can hold the camera "normally" when shooting vertical. I highly recommend getting the battery grip. (The battery grip does not report the battery strength correctly though, but you can shoot for a very long time before the battery meter drops suddenly from 100% to 0%. But that's not really an issue since the grip comes with an additional battery "sled" which takes AA batteries. So that is an additional nice backup battery feature).
The EF-S 18-55mm lens that comes in the kit is a great starter lens. The focusing motor is nearly silent and the zoom range is ok.
When purchasing additional lenses for this, I highly recommend getting the Image Stabilization (IS) lenses. A bit more expensive, but you'll never regret spending the extra $.
In all, an excellent camera, and now that the price has dropped, it's a screaming deal.
I have been using Canon's point-and-shoot for numerous of years now. I thought about purchasing S3 or S5 for a while due to the integrated IS. However, after much research, and consideration, I decided to purchase the Rebel XTi. S3, S5 are great cameras but if I wanted to go beyond point-and-shoot in the future, I would have to purchase another camera. It just made sense, economically to buy XTi right now.
I have had this camera for a little less than a month now, and I am VERY happy with the purchase!
For a SLR, Rebel XTi is much smaller, easier for me to handle since I'm a fairly petite person with smaller hands. I don't know much about photography for now (am still learning) but the manual included in the system explains enough where I can play around and get a feeling for it.
I have taken this camera to the school yard to take pictures of my students and the results are way better than my point-and-shoot. I can take pictures in the moment with my students instead of the-moment-after. The other thing is I can take the pictures in RAW form and use Photoshop to manipulate without worrying the original picture has lost its information.
The only gripe I have is why not build IS with the camera instead of the lens? Again, perhaps because I am an amateur, haven't learned that much about photography yet and thus don't know the reason behind it. But, this means I can't wait to get lenses with IS.
Overall, I am happy with this camera and am looking forward to learning more about photography.
This camera is exactly what i could want. Perfect for a college student. like myself, who does freelance photography and perfectly able to use for normal photographic moments. My only negative comment is that i should have purchased an 'IS lens' separate, rather than the body/package deal. The lens that comes standard in this package is not practical for low-lighting shots.
I've owned two of these cameras in two years. They take great pictures. There is however, a Serious Problem with Dust getting inside the Camera. This dust causes severe spots on the Images. The Only Recourse is to send to Sony for cleaning which can can cost about $150 or more. I'm now in the market for yet another camera; the Spots are really getting bad now. Even though I love the pictures on my Cybershot, I will choose a different camera. I've been burned twice.
Ok so i've had this CAmera for more than a year now and it has suited me well. I have a 512mb SD which you never have to worry about running out of picture space unless it's filled with video which by the way can fit 1.5 hrs. I've used this camera's features limitlessly and enjoyed them throughout the way. THe pictures come out amazing outside you just need to learn how to keep a steady hand and the rest comes naturaly. THe only issue is taking night stills but with the flash it's not really a problem. The Video feature in this mini camcorder blows my mind. I've taken many videos of me and my family and friends and the quality is smooth and clear on my 17in. monitor. no huge square pixels. THe sound is a little downer but it's managable. THe Mp3 feature from this camera is something to love. just pop in a few songs on the card and your ready to listen. The battery life, as many people say is short, but i have 4aaa rechargable Rayovak batteries in and they last me about a week of taking pictures. This camera is rather amazing and i recommend it to kids and adults alike.
Flick the switch, count 1 - 2, and press the record button. That's all that's needed to begin capturing memories. This is the video equivalent of a point and shoot camera. After 8 months I've accumulated a nice archive of video moments that would have been lost forever was it not for the quick readiness of this mini cam.
>>The most unexpected treat is this - The 20 frames per second, color saturation and fantasy-like highlights that occur in bright light situations create very unique videos. The videos have a nostalgic quality that is really reminiscent of 8mm film that has been colorized and run through some nice filters.
>>Take some time to get to know the camera. It has several filters (including sepia) and functions that add value to the camera. >>Regardless of claims to the contrary, a one gig memory card works and holds about 1.5 hours of video. AMAZING.
>>It's only meant for well lighted situations. >>Buy rechargeable batteries. >>This camera is great but expect videos that are clear but not close to the quality of those filmed with a MiniDV camera. Remember, this DXG is not out to replace your MiniDV camcorder but to capture the fleeting moments of life that a MiniDV cannot.
I recieved this camera as a gift, when I opened it I was so excited because it looks like an expensive piece of equipment at first glance. Once I picked it up I saw that it was very light and flimsy. It uses AAA batteries which concerns me on
whether or not it will be powerful enough or have good battery life at all. It WILL NOT take pictures in an area where the light is dim! Outside it will allow for ok video but to zoom in or out is useless, this camera does not have good focus from any more that 3 feet away. If you intend to use this camera for actual picture taking or video that is not 3 feet close and outside, dont waist your money!
This device isnt spetacular, but it is all around pleasing. Its crap for low light video, but the flash makes up for its camera features in poor light, and what dufass settles for crap rechargeble batteries when Lithuims are the only choice for Digital products. I also dont know to many cameras that acts as a storage device and Mp3 player. That gives it my pleased rating, but it is far from a 5 star spetacular. Besides, now I leave my overpriced Nano home to enjoy music on what I manly use as just a camera.
I was searching online, and found the online manual for this camera and they has the statistics for a 1gb card. It must accept a 1gb sandisk card if they have the stats for it.
We had the same complaints as cited previously. The start button was always erratic, which was very frustrating. It used up AA batteries very quickly. Eventually I dropped it and the latch over the batteries broke so it wouldn't work. Unlike some, I thought the pictures were okay and the camera's appearance was okay. I would not recommend this camera; it is just frustrating
I purchased this camera the day after Thanksgiving last year and now the Lens will not re-tract or extend. I contacted polaroid and they will not repair the camers (even at a charge). I contacted a polaroid authorized dealer and they cannot reair the camera either because polaroid will not sell them parts. DO NOT PUCHASE DIGITAL POLARID CAMEERAS unless you want to throw away money.
I bought this camera and with it being 4mp I thought this would be a good starter camera. When I opened the box I could not believe the poor quality of this camera, it looked like a cheap plastic childs camera that is worth about $10. The flash worked only when it wanted too and the buttons would stick. It also paused for about 4 sec. between pictures. The pictures were blurry so needless to say I sent it back. Please stay away from this camera. Very poor camera.
I had the same problem. The Camera never worked for me. It always did what I didn't want it to do, and it was horrendous on batteries. It gives Polaroid a bad name, and I am not happy I was misled by the stores.
I've had this camera for a few months. And it's terrible. The buttons frequently do not work, the shutter often gets "stuck" outside of the camera, and the battery latch keeps falling off. Will never buy from Polaroid again.
This camera has a lot of good features, but consistently underexposes in indoor photography. Indoor photos with the built in flash are also very poor.
The exposure problem renders the auto modes. In the total manual mode also if you set the right speed and aperture then light meter shows that it is over exposing. Probably the problem is the light metering issue in the camera. The indoor photos are incredibly dark and underexposed.
I also saw many people gave this complain, I hope this is not the problem of the camera model but couple of cameras which are having this issue.
When you buy this camera, please check whether the camera is working properly in Auto mode in low light conditions. I had to return my camera due to this underexposure problem .
I've been using this camera for the past year and it is simply the best SLR out there in the market. The interface and controls are very intuitive and this is where it edges out the Nikon. Canon also has a great range of lenses and accessories to back this camera. Great SLR camera. Go for it!
I have been a Canon Rebel fan since the first 6.1MP body first came out. I have always loved that camera.
I upgraded to the XTi body a little over a year ago and am very pleased with it. It takes a great picture (if slightly grainy at high ISOs).
The controls are intuitive and well placed. Some of the more obscure ones took me a few minutes to find in the menu, but they're there. As a landscape photographer, I particulary like the mirror lockup feature. I missed that in the earlier Rebel body. (It was actually in the programming but disabled and there were some hacks available on the net to unlock it, but I was reluctant to void the warranty).
Unlike the earlier Rebel body, the XTi is small. Uncomfortably small. To fix this, I bought the battery grip, which not only solves this problem, but also doubles the battery life, as well as adding another shutter release so that you can hold the camera "normally" when shooting vertical. I highly recommend getting the battery grip. (The battery grip does not report the battery strength correctly though, but you can shoot for a very long time before the battery meter drops suddenly from 100% to 0%. But that's not really an issue since the grip comes with an additional battery "sled" which takes AA batteries. So that is an additional nice backup battery feature).
The EF-S 18-55mm lens that comes in the kit is a great starter lens. The focusing motor is nearly silent and the zoom range is ok.
When purchasing additional lenses for this, I highly recommend getting the Image Stabilization (IS) lenses. A bit more expensive, but you'll never regret spending the extra $.
In all, an excellent camera, and now that the price has dropped, it's a screaming deal.
I have been using Canon's point-and-shoot for numerous of years now. I thought about purchasing S3 or S5 for a while due to the integrated IS. However, after much research, and consideration, I decided to purchase the Rebel XTi. S3, S5 are great cameras but if I wanted to go beyond point-and-shoot in the future, I would have to purchase another camera. It just made sense, economically to buy XTi right now.
I have had this camera for a little less than a month now, and I am VERY happy with the purchase!
For a SLR, Rebel XTi is much smaller, easier for me to handle since I'm a fairly petite person with smaller hands. I don't know much about photography for now (am still learning) but the manual included in the system explains enough where I can play around and get a feeling for it.
I have taken this camera to the school yard to take pictures of my students and the results are way better than my point-and-shoot. I can take pictures in the moment with my students instead of the-moment-after. The other thing is I can take the pictures in RAW form and use Photoshop to manipulate without worrying the original picture has lost its information.
The only gripe I have is why not build IS with the camera instead of the lens? Again, perhaps because I am an amateur, haven't learned that much about photography yet and thus don't know the reason behind it. But, this means I can't wait to get lenses with IS.
Overall, I am happy with this camera and am looking forward to learning more about photography.
This camera is exactly what i could want. Perfect for a college student. like myself, who does freelance photography and perfectly able to use for normal photographic moments. My only negative comment is that i should have purchased an 'IS lens' separate, rather than the body/package deal. The lens that comes standard in this package is not practical for low-lighting shots.
To counter some of the items in C.P. Dillon Jr's review in particular; I am not sure if the review was of the actual model listed here.
I also posted this as a comment on one of that review:
Is this review for the camera pictured? I have the camera pictured, and (first issue) it DOES save immediately in JPEG-compression not RAW. I am just concerned that you are giving someone a bad impression of the wrong camera. This is a "toss in the purse" for me; my "normal" camera is a high-end Olympus camera (just before moving into their professional line).
I can't really say much about battery life (issue two) because there are so many factors that go into how fast you drain the battery such constantly zooming in & out, how much you "play" with things, etc. Although I wouldn't say it's a long battery life, I haven't run into issues.
Shakiness is an issue with any camera; it has little to do with the camera and more to do with the operator; another reason I always recommend using the viewfinder and not the screen. Using the viewfinder is a more stable approach. If your camera does not have a viewfinder, it is NOT the one listed here.
(third negative listed) Also, there are many chargers available that will fit this camera's charging slot as many other portable devices (such as cell phones) use the same size slot. I use my motorola phone charger on this camera without issue; I also use my car charger on the camera when I am on the road.
I can't comment on the IMac or older PC issue because I have neither.
**Another indication to me that this is NOT a review for the camera listed here: the zoom on the camera listed here is an up arrow and down arrow to the right of the LCD screen that does NOT require you to go into a menu.
There is another review here that mentions going into a menu for the zoom so I have to think that both this review and that one reference a different model and potential buyers should keep that in mind.
We found this camera when looking to get something small and inexpensive for my little girl for Christmas. What sold us on this camera was that it was very tiny, looked like a "real" camera compared to the Fisher Price one being sold for her age, and finally, the price-- $50 at Wal-Mart. The only good thing I can say about this camera is that it is truly easy to use. My daughter can look through the display on the back and point and shoot a picture of any object she wants with ease. But that's the ONLY good thing I have to say about this camera.
Now for the long list of negatives. First, the camera shoots photos in RAW photo format, which then requires use of conversion software that's PRE-INSTALLED ON and RAN FROM THE CAMERA to convert them over to JPEG files in order for the computer to display them. This was an idiotic scheme from the start as JPEG is the universal format. Second, the battery life is non-existent. I'd say after 15 to 20 pictures, the camera needs to be charged again, which brings me to my third complaint. There is no power adapter to charge the camera's battery, so you MUST CONNECT THE CAMERA to a computer to charge it. Taking this camera away from the house and attempting to use it for any length of time is impossible. Fourth, we have an old PC but primarily use our iMac-- especially for storing our pictures due to the fantastic iPhoto software. This camera will connect and show up as a storage device on the Mac, but it doesn't connect and work with iPhoto (unless you've already converted the photos to JPEG by first connecting it to a PC and using the conversion software), nor does the conversion application on the camera work with the Mac platform. I can copy the RAW files from the camera to the computer via drag-n-drop; however, I haven't figured out a simple way of transfering the photos to jpeg format. Fifth, the digital zoom is impossible to use, especially for my daughter, unless you've prepared to use the zoom several minutes in advance of the shot since it must be accessed through the camera's clumsy menu-- my sixth comlaint! Seventh, if you shake the camera, even just a tiny bit, you will ruin the shot. Eighth, the tiny but powerful flash will white-blast the subject in your photo if you aren't the perfect distance away; or it won't even cast a shadow on the subject if you're too far away. I'd say use this primarily for outdoor photos, but remember you can't be away from a USB hook-up for too long or the thing dies.
Why couldn't Philips have just created a product that works. Most of my gripes would be non-existent if not for the damn RAW photo format. When I bought this camera, I had no delusions of my little girl taking award-winning photos with the thing, but she could have learned to take some decent shots if she were able to easily connect and transfer her photos to the computer we use for reviewing pictures. As it stands, she can take photos for as long as the battery will hold, then she must get me to transfer and spend time messing with the photos so that she can see how well she's done. She's happier using my cameraphone for taking pictures, which is what made me consider buying this camera in the first place. Philips-- this camera is way too inconvenient and not a good buy, even at $50.
Be advised that, assuming I was shipped the right camera, the picture on this page is slightly wrong. My camera doesn't have a manual viewfinder or lights along the top. Moving on, this camera is perfect for stashing in a purse in case something memorable comes along. It's smaller than a pack of cards, rechargeable, has all the basics (flash, zoom) and, to my delight, has a feature that prevents taking pictures of my pocket. Sure, there isn't a flash button, but switching takes literally 4 seconds and then you can choose auto flash. I took off one star simply because it only charges through a USB port, which can be a problem when travelling. I definitely recommend this camera to someone who wants a reliable camera but admits they're not a photographer.
The zoom feature on it sucks, but it still takes great pictures and it was 50 bucks. CA-CHING!!! YEAH!!
i just noticed the price drop to $80!
This camera is absolutely amazing, i would pay $120 for it again ANYTIME!
Awesome picture quality, much better than other 3MP cameras!
The worst camera ever... the battery will be over just for 10 shots...
Even the price is very low, dont be tempted by looking at 10 MP and price.
I LOVE THIS CAMERA! I bought this as my sanity keeper for my family trip to Hawaii... (I'm hyper and always need something to do..) In 10 days, I took over 1500 pix. and was able to do so unobtrusively--as the camera is VERY small and very powerful! I shot inside, outside, people, landscapes, flower closeups, historical locales, flashless photography in museums and at historical demonstrations... shots inside a battleship. The video functions far surpass my low expectations... (including a surprisingly good audio microphone!)(I used it upon my return to record my friend's graduation with her PhD) I was sitting in west nose bleed and with a small small micro tripod was able to make shots look as though I was much closer.)
This camera was amazing--for a camera which I paid $99 at walmart dot com. (Not available in stores.) I cannot stress enough how important it is to READ and UNDERSTAND the manual. Many of the problems discussed in other reviews can be ameliorated by 1. a knowledge of videography/photography principles which can be learned free on line. and 2. BY READING THE MANUAL!!!!!!! the 8 hour flight to Hawaii gave me plenty of time to do that!
Basically this little fella was attached to my wrist by its strap unless I was swimming, showering, or sleeping... for 14 days and no one believed how many shots I had because I was able to do everything relatively quietly and without creating major drama regarding flash or lighting. (But this is because I've taken a couple classes in photography and videography and understood how to change the aperature and shutter speeds to get the results I wanted! (and frankly the adjustments allowed my fidgety fingers to have something to do!)
I recommend some following "must haves" to answer some of the (true) short-comings my fellow reviewers have sited (correctly!)
1.) You must by an LCD shield for the screen if you want to have any hope of seeing anything on the LCD in moderate to bright sunlight. You will then need to use this as a Viewfinder and hold it close to your eye to see anything under these conditions. (Cost= $20ish)
2.)I bought the energizer 15 minute battery charger and 8 rechargeable "AA" batteries for this thing. These are a MUST--the reviews are correct this thing eats batteries and I too have gone through a typical battery set in 15 mins. of fairly constant shooting. If you can get the one with the free car adapter for the charger all the better :) (Cost: $25-30ish)
3.) MANDATORY-At least (2) 2 gigabyte SD cards or larger especially if you're planning to use the 10 megapixel mode (as I did!) or if you are planning to use it for video. I recommend two because if you go crazy like I did on the photos you CAN fill up one of the 2 gigabyte cards in a day (although I had 500 pics). (LOOK FOR SALES $20-30 each)
4.) Tripods a regular size one... AND a micro one... :) This allows you to take close ups... and video...and indoor shots with much better clarity. (under $10 for the micro and under $30 for a normal height tripod)
5.) Optional--I got a small, but well organized camera bag for this little guy... it was swimming in the bag for my old camera--with the little bag with room for batteries and memory card. I downloaded nightly to my laptop... and my 250gb portable hard drive... :) (I paid $3.00 for mine but discount shopping is rampant here in Northeast Ohio)
6. (Also optional) If your laptop does not come with a digital media slot where you can stick the sd card right into the machine directly, you will want to purchase a media card reader for hooking into your computer. (this will save batteries and increase download/import speed. (available for under $20) If you get this camera for the same $99.00 that I did, you can trick this out for under a total of $250.00! (Let's just say the guy at Ritz Camera was shocked and awed at the power of my toy-looking and feeling camera (the proof was in the shots!)
One thing my colleagues didn't mention is that the digital zoom is kinda fuzzy-though the micro tripod was very helpful with this problem... but the optical is clear as a bell... It also comes with a fun cable that lets you connect the camera to the TV and show all your photos. What's great about this is that you can tell quickly if you've got a great shot, an ok shot or something that screams for deletion. (Also a great way to show your day's take to your loving, patient spouse...)
I also managed to take pictures of realtives' vintage photos that they didn't want to lend for scanning--the micro tripod and manual controls were a godsend... and I've digitized some very important family memories.
Sorry this review is so long, but this camera has really allowed me to greatly enjoy my once in a lifetime trip, and take studio quality pictures of my best friend at her doctoral graduation... all for under $250! :) I couldn't be happier!
I love this camera. It is my second digital camera. My first was a kodak easy share and I liked that camera but the flash went out only after a couple years. It was going to cost almost as much as I paid for this one to get it fixed. This camera take very good pix! It has alot of settings which I love- Ex. beach & snow, Sunset, kids.
We purchased this camera for a recent trip to Italy, and I wasn't too impressed with the feel of the camera when it first arrived - specifically the function buttons on the back, as they had an inexpensive "feel" to them. I was also concerned about several reviews regarding short battery life.
But those negative impressions didn't remain for long. I purchased six rechargable AA batteries, but the battery life was never a real issue - especially if you activate the camera's power save mode.
The pictures had incredible clarity, and the close-up feature allowed me to take about twenty pictures, of pictures, from a relative's photo album. The quality of those pictures are remarkable!
The LCD screen is large, you can zoom in for a picture, capture it, and zoom in more when cropping, and the function buttons are rather intuitive once you learn them (including a high-quality video function).
I purchased, and recommend you get, a 2 gig SD memory card. I took over 500 pictures at 8 megapixel resolution & 3 long video segments and still have over half the memory left.
The only, and I do mean only, drawback on the camera is the time-delay from the pushing of the button to the taking the picture. It isn't immediate, and the 1 second delay can create an issue if you, or your subject, is moving.
But I highly recommend this camera. We spent a nice chunk of change taking 2 adults and 3 kids to Italy, and this camera was in a state of almost constant use while providing consistently positive results.
With a few rechargable batteries and a 2 gig SD card, you should easily be as impressed as I was. This camera delivers far more than you would expect, especially considering the modest price.
Don't be fooled by it's entry-level price. If you are looking for advanced easy-to-use and on-the-fly photography features, it's a fine camera. However, the poor auto-focus and short battery life present some major problems sometimes.
Pros:
(1) Great photography features -- You can quickly adjust white balance, ISO, and exposure on the fly and see the image live while you adjust it for nicely exposed photos every time.
(2) You can record video and/or voice memos with your images.
(3) The camera's Macro mode will focus from less than 2 inches!!
(4) After an image has been exposed, you can crop it, save the file size down and make adjustments to it.
(5) Large, glare and scratch-resistant screen.
(6) All-in-all it's very feature rich and has advanced adjustments and options to do just about anything you would need to do with a non-professional level camera.
Cons:
(1) Automatic focus is very poor. It will only focus correctly in high contrast or sunlight situations. Majority of indoor photos are not in sharp focus... which defeats the purpose of having the 10 MP capability.
(2) No manual view finder - so when camera is in use LCD is always using battery power.
(3) Lastly, the final major downside is that due to it's over all power consumption, the batteries have a very short life span. I've used them up in less than 30 minutes before.
The camera is fine as long as nothing goes wrong. Fuji has the worst customer service I have ever delt with. They pass you from one person to another and do everything they can not to help you. Be prepared to deal with the worst customer service in the business. I really hope this helps you.
I owned this camera for a bout 8 months and took very good pictures. Than out of the blue I got a focusing error and the lens would not detract. The product is out of warranty and would cost too much to repair. I will never buy this product again.
First of all, I got this camera in Best Buy for about $100 quite a while ago. It's a nice camera, don't get me wrong - but only taking pictures outside when it's very bright. I took this camera to a concert, hoping it would suffice - but the batteries ran out nearly 5 minutes in, and the few pictures I was lucky enough to take, had immense amounts of noise and were very grainy overall.
The concert was low-light, yes, the the stage had a decent amount of lighting where I figured it wouldn't really matter if I used flash or not. However, I used flash on a few pics, and didn't use it on some others - but overall the results were the same. I even toyed with the different modes, hoping I'd get a decent picture. Nope. As soon as I got home and transfered them to the computer, they all looked like crap - not blurry, just very noisy, and the colors seemed a bit... off.
Aside from that, the outdoor pictures I took were rather nice. So if you really have no use for good low-light photographs, and nothing-special-but-decent outdoor photographs, this camera would be right for you. Just make sure you buy it really cheap, and don't make the same mistake I did.
My first digital camera, and so far I'm havin lots of fun with it! I still haven't used all it's many features as yet, but I would recommend this camera to anyone! I was surprised to find out that my sister, who is a professional photographer, has this exact camera for her personal use. She also loves it!
Great camera for the price... pictures are sharp and clear and it is easy to use!
I received this as a gift in Dec 2007. The camera itself is nice enough, but my issue was with the battery. After about 25 pictures it needed to be fully recharged. I ended up buying a disposable camera from Wal-Mart while on vacation. I seldom use the camera because of this, but just took it back out over Thanksgiving to take holiday pics. NOW the stinkin' battery won't even hold a charge! The first time I thought I did something wrong and didn't have it plugged in correctly. But then I got tickets to the Lighting of the National Christmas Tree and made sure it was properly plugged in the night before *and* showed a full charge that morning. I tried to take one picture of the President on stage and the camera died due to "low battery". There went a special moment with me and my kids, undocumented. Christmas is now coming up and I came online to see about getting a new battery, only to find that the battery is proprietary and unavailable. Again, nice camera but worthless in the *short* run. The bargain you cannot use is not a bargain.
This is the worst camera I have ever owned. We have 2 small kids and you can never take a spontaneous picture with this camera. Very slow. And the LCD screen freezes for no reason. Extremely disappointed. Missed out on what would have been many good pictures of the children. Looking to buy a new camera after trying to cope with this lousy thing for the past year.
This camera works well under almost all conditions and is well worth the price for that; having said that, one can only hope that one never needs a new battery or tech support from Vivitar. As far as I can tell, neither exists. The battery stopped taking a full charge after about 6 months of normal use, it's not available at the Vivitar website or through any OEM battery suppliers and numerous queries to the supposed Tech Support area of Vivitar have elicited no response. I would recommend you look elsewhere for a digital camera.
This camera looks amazing... the many megapixels for the price, the rechargable battery, but the truth is that this camera is slow. There is no such thing as spontaneous portraits with this. It is "ask subject to pose" with this one. A pre-flash sometimes ruins a shot by tricking subjects into thinking the shot has already been taken.
Also, the large LCD monitor uses a lot of battery power. Unfortunately, I had to decide when to take photos instead of being free to leave my camera on during an event.
The camera is heavier than I'd expected which is a bit of a nuisance. The first time I was able to upload the pictures without a problem but the second time I got errors and they were all erased from my memory card. (Uploading has been fine since then but I don't feel like this camera is reliable anymore.) I also had the LCD screen freeze on me a few times. Considering that I've only had the camera for a few weeks, this is very disappointing. The pictures tend to come out blurry unless I hold the camera very still. I know the shutter speed is adjustable but I can't seem to find a setting where it takes a quick picture and comes out clear and even the quicker shutter speeds seem too slow. All in all, I'm not too happy with it.
We had a Kodak EasyShare before we bought this one, and the zoom/lens stopped sliding out, which made the camera no longer work. We had it for about 13 months, and so it was not under warranty, and it would have cost more to fix it than it was worth, so we just tossed it.
We went ahead and bought another one though, because it had great features for the $$ I think it's good quality and it's easy to use. I like the menu and the ease of use, and the picture quality is good. I looked at a lot of other cameras in the same price range, and this one seemed to offer more and have a better zoom. We've had it for several months, and So far so good, no lens problems. If the same thing fails on this one, then I doubt I buy it again.., but since my kids dropped the last one a few times I didn't think it was fair to blame Kodak.
From my reasearch, as well as some of the cameras that my friends/family own..,
I think when compared to other cameras in the same price range, this one is superior in quality of photos, features, zoom, and ease of use. If your willing to go up a little in price, check the Minolta. Overall I've been happy with this camera.., it's done all we need it to.
I purchased this camera in January 2007 for a trip to Australia. This is the first digital camera I've owned, and I wanted something very easy to use. It worked perfectly, took great pictures in all situations; groups, portraits, night shots, landscapes, indoor or outdoor. I don't take a lot of photos, but wanted good pictures of my vacation, and this camera performed well, was incredibly easy to use. I purchased rechargeable batteries and they lasted very well. I loved this camera up until a week ago when I pulled it out to take some family photos, and the LCD was a black blank. Everything else worked, menu, flash, photo review, lens, etc, but no image on screen, and no image if photo was taken. Contacted Kodak and since I can not find my receipt it will cost approximately $80 to repair. I have since heard this is a relatively common problem with these cameras as they approach one year-when they go out of warranty. I'm buying a different brand as a replacement
Only I miss on this camera is the image stabilization, the rest, I can do everything with this camera, of course, with the basic functionality, but still everything
I bought this camera for an industrial setting. We use it everyday for indoor conditions. It takes very poor pics under florescent lighting. If you go to ISO 400 it helps but still not great. The worst thing about it is the software. It's clumsy and un-intuitive. Worse yet, is if you don't want to use they're stupid software you're outa luck as it doesn't show as a drive that you can access. All and all go for a Canon (like I have at home). The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because it hasn't broken.
I've had this camera for almost a year now and it has been a pretty sweet little camera. It's easy to use with simple selection controls. It takes nice detailed pictures in just about any situation with just using the auto setting.
The main thing that I don't like about it is the lack of image stabilization. It takes a very steady hand to get good clear pictures without any blurring. Especially when using the optical zoom. I found the best way to consistently get nice clear pictures is to use the 2 second delay and mount the camera on a mini tripod to use as a handle to hold the camera with. The draw back with this is that you have to remember to set the delay before each shot and it only works well for still shots. It doesn't do well for action shots. It has a time lag so when things are moving, from the time you press the button till it takes the picture what you wanted the picture of has moved out of the shot. I found that I have to use "Kentucky Windage" and lead the subject (like hunting with a shotgun) to get the picture I want. And the little view finder on mine is way off from what the lens is. So I have to use the screen to line up my picture.
For taking just about any kind of pictures with it I always mount it on my mini tripod first. I'm a big man, 6'4" and 215 pounds, so I have some BIG hands. This camera is a little small for me to handle and keep my big fingers out of the way so the little tripod works great for me to hold it with.
Another drawback on this camera is the delicate door or cover that you have to open to access the memory card and to plug the patch cord into it. I don't have a lot of money and the camera dock seemed an unneeded expense just to load the pictures into my computer. So I'm always extra careful with my big fingers when I'm trying to open or close the little door/cover on the side of the camera. The access cover for the batteries isn't much better. I just know one of these days I'm going to brake one or the other.
For taking close-ups of things I'm amazed at the details that it will get. I've had a lot of fun taking extreme closeups of different things with it. Some I have used as backgrounds when working with my pictures on my computer. The details and colors that it gets when taking close ups of flowers is fantastic.
I have always liked taking pictures but the high cost of film and developing was more than I could pay. I love the idea of taking all the pictures I want without any extra expense. I have over 3500 pictures from this little camera stored on my computer now. And making my own prints with my computer/printer is way better too.
The Kodak picture software that came with the camera is OK, but it's pretty limited with what it will let you do with your pictures. I'm still looking for the program that does everything I want it to do. So far the Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10 is the one that I use the most.
So as a starter camera to try getting into digital photography I don't think you could do much better than this one. It has it's drawbacks but for the price and for what it can do it has been a sweet little camera.
Within a week of receiving the camera I had trouble getting the thing to turn on and would have to mess with the batteries every time I wanted to take pictures. There is virtually no user's manual. It's easy to use, but a manual would be nice to learn about all the different set up options. Also, the several second delay between pics gets annoying. There are probably better cameras out there for the money you'd spend on this one.
This is the worst camera i've ever seen for many reasons:
1. This camera only works outdoors or in a cmpletely iluminated room.
2. The flash is very useless at night.
3. It consumes batterries extrmely fast (it uses AAA)
4. The still pictures quality is very bad.
5. The videos have awful sound and a extremely poor quality. They appear with those big pixel squares.
I don't recommend this camera for anyone. Not eve a 5 years-old kid will enjoy it.
I bought this camera for my son because I thought it had everything a child would want and I was right. My son spents tons of time with his little camera, I enjoy this camera too when I get bored I get my son's camera and listen to the music on the mp3. This camera is very nice and it is really cheap. the only bad thing is that it does not has a rechargable batterie on it but that does not matter if you buy some AAA rechargable batteries and a charger. I totally recomend this item to everyone who is interested on it.
My son loves the camera, the only thing I didn't realize that it takes AAA batteries. I know that there are some cameras similar to my sons that take AA. Other than that were good. Thank you.
This camera/Mp3/camcorder/webcam/voice recorder is way to good to be true! I brought one because it was cute and looked perfect for mini movies. But I was sadly mistaken... This camera just takes cheap pictures and videos. The only thing that actully worked properly was the voice recorder that I had no need for. After about 3 days of trying to make it work a little better I gave up and sold it on eBay for the same price as I brought it for. It's a great idea... but it just isn't a good camera but if you want a voice recorder this is pretty nice. The Mp3 player isn't all that wonderful either. It doesn't work with iTunes. Or easy work with Windows. Hope this helps... I wish I would have read this before I brought this camera.
I no longer own my previous and much finer camcorder, so I finally found myself in the market for purchasing some kind of camcorder until I could get back on my feet to get another good one. I thought this one may do, good price, looks sharp, purchased on impulse . . .big NO-NO.
I will say the camera takes decent pictures (as the previous reviews state, almost exclusively outside in broad daylight or indoors with
very good lighting). Other than that, don't bother. The MP3 is a cute
function (and quite possibly the most practical). The video, UHH, let's
not even go there. The voice recorder, also not bad - records in WAV format and can be transferred to PC.
Jack of all trades, master of none . . .I guess that would be the best
way to finally describe this item. I will say that I'll be saving up now
for much better camcorder and no more "I just gotta have this right now"
Save your $, find a quality product - even if you have to pay a little more for it. Trust me, it will be overall better in the long run . . .
This is the worst camera i've ever seen for many reasons:
1. This camera only works outdoors or in a cmpletely iluminated room.
2. The flash is very useless at night.
3. It consumes batterries extrmely fast (it uses AAA)
4. The still pictures quality is very bad.
5. The videos have awful sound and a extremely poor quality. They appear with those big pixel squares.
I don't recommend this camera for anyone. Not eve a 5 years-old kid will enjoy it.
I bought this camera for my son because I thought it had everything a child would want and I was right. My son spents tons of time with his little camera, I enjoy this camera too when I get bored I get my son's camera and listen to the music on the mp3. This camera is very nice and it is really cheap. the only bad thing is that it does not has a rechargable batterie on it but that does not matter if you buy some AAA rechargable batteries and a charger. I totally recomend this item to everyone who is interested on it.
My son loves the camera, the only thing I didn't realize that it takes AAA batteries. I know that there are some cameras similar to my sons that take AA. Other than that were good. Thank you.
This camera/Mp3/camcorder/webcam/voice recorder is way to good to be true! I brought one because it was cute and looked perfect for mini movies. But I was sadly mistaken... This camera just takes cheap pictures and videos. The only thing that actully worked properly was the voice recorder that I had no need for. After about 3 days of trying to make it work a little better I gave up and sold it on eBay for the same price as I brought it for. It's a great idea... but it just isn't a good camera but if you want a voice recorder this is pretty nice. The Mp3 player isn't all that wonderful either. It doesn't work with iTunes. Or easy work with Windows. Hope this helps... I wish I would have read this before I brought this camera.
I no longer own my previous and much finer camcorder, so I finally found myself in the market for purchasing some kind of camcorder until I could get back on my feet to get another good one. I thought this one may do, good price, looks sharp, purchased on impulse . . .big NO-NO.
I will say the camera takes decent pictures (as the previous reviews state, almost exclusively outside in broad daylight or indoors with
very good lighting). Other than that, don't bother. The MP3 is a cute
function (and quite possibly the most practical). The video, UHH, let's
not even go there. The voice recorder, also not bad - records in WAV format and can be transferred to PC.
Jack of all trades, master of none . . .I guess that would be the best
way to finally describe this item. I will say that I'll be saving up now
for much better camcorder and no more "I just gotta have this right now"
Save your $, find a quality product - even if you have to pay a little more for it. Trust me, it will be overall better in the long run . . .
The camera is fine as long as nothing goes wrong. Fuji has the worst customer service I have ever delt with. They pass you from one person to another and do everything they can not to help you. Be prepared to deal with the worst customer service in the business. I really hope this helps you.
I've had several digital cameras in the last 10 years and this is my favorite by far. Very very easy to use, great small size and takes excellent pictures. I lost this one and decided to replace it with the exact same camera!
I would classify myself as a good critic of digital cameras. I've had this camera for over 2 years and i love it. It takes good quality pictures. There are some downsides to it though. It doesn't take quality pictures at night if your a certain distance away and sometimes it takes blurry pictures in darker places as well. The sound doesn't work on my camera but its probably becuase I have dropped it a couple times and thats never good for any camera. The battery life is okay but my friends have other cameras and their batteries usually last twice as long as mine does. I recommend getting a back up.
Here's the Good News:
I have had many cameras in my life, digital and film , and I have found the Z1 to be my favorite. The camera is very user friendly and the pictures are sharp with great color. My previous camera was a Minolta Dimage 7($800) and I found that this camera's photo quality was just as good. The best feature of the camera is the fact that it is sturdy and compact enough to carry with you daily. Owning this camera made taking pictures a daily part of my life.
Here's the Bad News:
Recently my camera broke and when I tried to contact Fuji to get a replacement or a repair, the service was terrible. Their website is very difficult to navigate and offers very little support.
Summary:
Great camera as long as it doesn't break. It's easier to pay someone to fix it than actually get Fuji to repair it.
This camera is exactly what it's suppose to be: convenient, reliable, compact, user friendly and above all else, it takes good pictures. If you want a camera that takes great pictures, you'll need to buy something a little more expensive, and quite a bit larger. I bought and returned several cameras in this class before realizing that no camera this size, and in the sub $200 price range will perform the way my SLR does. That said, if you don't mind playing with the Exposure compensation and ISO settings, you can take some pretty great pictures even in low light.
I learned a long time ago that the worst camera is the one you don't have with you when a great shot presents itself. With the Z1 you'll never have that excuse. Even in a case it fits nicely in my front pocket without protruding too noticably.
The only issues I have are that it doesn't have a continuous shutter mode, and the dock is required for charging and downloading images. That said, I'm still giving it 5 stars because as I said, it's exactly what it's suppose to be.
very good but rechargabale battery dosnt last long .second drawback is you that picture cannot be enlarged very much. i wish it had a camera cover.
I've had this camera for almost 2 years now. All of a sudden it has the black screen LCD and is useless. It's not on the recall list like many other Cybershots for this problem. Sony will fix it for 181.00 plus. Not worth it. This will be my very last Sony camera.
I bought this camera when it first came out in 2004. It was one of the first 5.1mega pixel models.
I have taken easily 100,000 pictures with it.
Now, I won't report on what the camera does, as it does everything wonderful, but I can give you a review of how it will fair with a lot of use:
1. The batteries need some changing after the one year mark, if you don't, the charge won't hold very long. This is common with all rechargeables. However, I still use my originals.
2. Whether it's been dropped one too many times, or in the sand too much, I'm not sure, but I do now have the problem of the camera's shutter not opening automatically when the lens extends. This problem is infrequent.
3. As stated in other review, if you don't have enough battery power, the camera will confusingly close the lens and shutter and then immediately extend the lens and open the shutter and turn off in this open mode. The only way around it is to remove the dying batteries when the camera lens first retracts.
Okay, the only problems I really have with the camera:
1: The 32mb included Sony MemoryStick is way too small. Also, this proprietary format is very expensive compared to other forms of flash storage. Just doesn't cut it in 2006, folks.
2: After two years of use, or maybe it's earlier, you MUST reset the camera. If you don't you'll definitely see performance lag. Not a big problem at all.
3: It would be nice if you could somehow record those amazing 640x480 resolution MPEGs directly to your computer through the USB cable.
4: Finally, it's now 2006. Most cameras come with image stabilization gizmos.
If it's 2004, buy the camera. I bought it for $300 even back then. If the price isn't down at least 33% now in 2006, leave it alone. There are much better cameras with better features quality nowadays. Simply put.
The DSCP93 was ahead of it's time in 2004. Great features, unheard of resolution, rugged. It didn't immediately become outdated like most products. I will continue to use this amazing camera!
- Michael
I won this camera at a workshop I went to. At first, I was in love with it. The size is perfect - it fits into my purse or pocket. It has 5.1 megapixels - which will print beautiful 8x10 pictures. I use this camera to take short videos, and they upload onto the computer and can be sent out in email.
Lately, after having the camera for over a year, I've noticed the quality of the pictures going down. I no longer use this camera indoors - I find that it doesn't pick up the light, and leaves the picture with almost a grayish tone to it. I also have a Fuji FinePix camera, and I recently took the same shot with both cameras and I can really see the difference.
All in all, this camera does good outdoor pictures, but I am glad I did not buy it because the indoor quality of the pictures is poor. I would look elsewhere for a camera if you are into photography and want the best quality picture.
First, I would like to say that this is a good bargain, and you will most likely get tons of use out of this camera. The picture quality is very good, the battery life impressed me, and there are a lot of features that will allow you to take the very best pictures in all lighting conditions. The LCD screen is large enough to see your pictures on, and is accurate in showing the quality of your pictures.
The only thing I don't like about this camera is the size/weight. It is a little heavy, and can be bulky if you need to carry it around for a while. But if you want a small camera, be willing to pay more, or you're probably going to lose out on some of the features (and quality) included here.
This camera is a very good deal, and would be an excellent choice whether you are buying your first digital camera, or replacing an older one.
So far I am impressed with this little camera. For the cost it has many features and seems well made. Small and easy to use.
I do not agree with the negative comments regarding picture quality on the DSC-V1 as posted by other reviewers. I do agree, however, with the comments about the flash recharge time and how lousy that performance is. I got past that by purchasing an external flash and attaching it to the hot shoe on top of the camera (How many other digital cameras in the point and shoot class have a hot shoe????? Huge Plus for the DSC-V1 there).
Now, this camera was affected by the CCD issue that affected many camera families (not just Sony) over that last few years. Sony offered a free replacement of the CCD and I took advantage of it. I knew I was going to be without the camera for a few weeks, while the repair and shipping took place. But I had a vacation trip planned during that time, and I needed a camera.
So I went out and bought a Sony DSC-T30 7.2 megapixel camera to use for the trip. It seemed like a great camera, and it's actually pretty capable. But the DSC-V1 just crushes it in photo quality. The color shading on the V1, and the depth of field are so much better -- and that surprised me based on the 5 megapixel vs. 7.2 megapixel specs. My wife still likes the T30 for the size, as it's case fits in her pocketbook nicely. But I use the DSC-V1 almost exclusively. The external flash took care of the ONLY negative I could come up with. I feel I hit a home run with that purchase.
So many little annoying things about this camera! Everytime anyone else takes a picture, I have to tell them not to put their finger on the flash which is placed in the worst place possible. Takes really bad indoor pictures. If the object (say kids)is even slightly moving the picture is soooooo blury! The flash takes so much time to recharge the by the time you want to take another picture the moments has come and gone! Thank goodness for photoshop because I am constantly ajusting the color quality, and red eye. It is so bulky compared to most cameras! The battery doesnt last more than 30 minutes. I would give this camera no stars but it wasn't an option! Don't waste your money. Buy a cannon!
I own this camera for 3 years now and I found that this camera has some real cool features. Photos are really good. The only problem with the camera is flash. If you ask somebody to take the photos, you have to particularly tell them not to put their fingure on the flash. Orelse, flash does not popup. Also, you cannot take pictures continously on flash because it takes some time for recharge. This is annoying me allot and I'm thinking of buying a Nikon camera because of this damn flash thing.
I have owned Sony DSC-V1 for 3 years, and have overall been quite satisfied. You just need to be aware of the limitations of this camera and try not to push it beyond of what it was designed to do. Hey, it is a point and shooter, not an SLR. Outside, in good lighting, DSC-V1 knows few rivals. The pictures uniformly come out sharp and clean, with realistic colors. F2.8 stop should theoretically blur some of the background, but I have never been able to achieve this effect. Inside photography with DSC-V1 is possible provided:
1) you do not come too close to the subject (the flash is somewhat overpowered) and
2) you know how to utilize manual controls to your advantage.
The quality of manufacturing is impeccable, as could be expected from Sony with a Zeiss lens.
In 2006, there are better options on the market, but this one remains a solid choice, if you get a bargain price.
German optics has standard of quality and Sony (Carl Zeiss optics) & Panasonic (Leica optics) has brought in that as a niche that amplifies the quality. I am sure that in the 'point-N-shoot' cameras, it really matters very little; unless like me, I like that 'step above' and am willing to pay for it.
If you read the digital camera magazines or web sites, the test results will show you the quality difference.
I made the mistake of buying two of these. One for my wife and one for my son at the same time. Sure, they are cheap, but they should at least work like a camera. They take double A batteries. You are literally lucky to get 10 pictures out of a set of new batteries. Sometimes you get 3 or 4. You literally have to carry a pocketful of batteries to use this camera. Sure, the pictures are great, you just can't take any. There is nothing more frustrating. I have an old Cannon Elph that will take literally hundreds of pictures on one charge. These guys are begging for a class action lawsuit.
I bought one of these for my son (black model)last Christmas. He LOVES it. Takes short video and nice pictures. Then my mother in law was taking about getting a digital camera. We suprised her by getting one (silver model) She just came back from a trip around the USA and she LOVES it! It is easy to use and takes very nice pictures. We also got her a 512mb memory card, large enough to store hundreds of pictures.
We paid about $100 them, you can find cheap shipping on some if you look around.
This is a great little point-and-shoot camera and video camera with sound!, but for the same price I could get the 630 at wal-mart, so I sold it for $100 and went and got the 630. The 630 is exactly the same size and usability but it's 6 megapixel and supports 4GB SD card so you can record lots of movies without having to exchange the card. A 256 MB SD card will hold a 3.5 minute video, so if you do the math..potentially you can take almost an hour long video at 30fps, 640X480! That's awesome and NO TAPES..you got to love that! On auto mode, it takes great pictures! Also, if you get 2700 NimH rechargeable batteries, the battery life will last for an hour long video recording as well. This camera is so small I can stick it in my front pants pocket and I've got a great still shot and movie camera wherever I go! No more lugging around a camcorder with the case and everything...very convenient!
[...].
I bought this camera for my 9yr old son because of the price (less than $100)and it turned out to be better than any of the canon digitals I have owned. I learned log ago to use rechargeable batteries, so I wouldn't let any posts regarding battery drain sway you from a purchase. My son has autism and gives this camera a workout. It's taken plenty of abuse and up to 500 pictures per week for the past six months. The video and lighting modes are incredible too, I get a lot more "keepers" out of this inexpensive camera than any I digital I have owned to date.
I'm not 13 I'm 15 but I do not have an account to comment.
I bought this camera through amazon for my Graduation present. I have it for already a few months and its a good camera. Its easy to use, lots of different settings, a large nice screen, even makes long movies.
Its not as small as the other more expensive cameras, but its not huge and bulky. There is a few negetive things to it:
It uses batteries, and charging it mean you have to buy new ones. I solved this problem by buying rechargeble batteries, they last longer and you can reuse them. The battery life on this camera is not that great too. Well that might be the fault of my duracel batteries. If this camera would have better battery life then it would be five stars.
Overall this is a great camera, with a great price. Good for teens and beginners to cameras plus is budget friendly. I got it under $120!
I purchased this camera a year ago. I love the fact that a lot of the settings can be changed without going into the menu. The anti-shake feature is very helpful as I am a senior citizen with severe arthritis of the shoulders. Holding a camera steady is a challenge at times. This was the main selling point for me.
I have used the camera for scenic shots, portraits, weddings and flowers with insects. The pictures are fantastic.
Highly recommend.
This camera is my favorite. The pictures have outstanding clarity, and the camera is easy to operate. It can practically take pictures on its own!! I use it alot for puppy pics, and I can't tell you how easily I can capture the pups in motion...there's not the normal lag time of a typical digital, so I can capture the moment as it really happened instead of the formerly seen blank view...or the view of a puppy's tail!! It's a Minolta...of course!!
I was looking for another digital camera to supplement my pocket digital (Optio 330rs). The Optio has served me well and will always take with me because of its portability. I wanted a camera with more functionality and overall quality and was willing to sacrifice some portability.
I've narrowed down my choices to these: Nikon 5700, Panasonic Z10 and Minolta A1. After much research and going to retailers to "test drive" the cameras, I finally settled on the Minolta. Actually, I did purchase the Nikon first but returned it to Amazon un-opened because of my concern with it's slow autofocus and low light performance. The Z10 was a strong contender, it has a great lens plus optical stabilization but it was too bulky and had a smaller sensor. Big camera, big lens with a tiny sensor hmmm, somehow I did not feel comfortable with this combination.
The Minolta A1 has a decent lens, good size stabilized sensor. It didn't have the long range zoom of the Panasonic but instead it had a wider angle which I find much more useful.
What I like most about this camera is it's image stabilizing feature which was just a afterthought when I bought it. It soon proved to be invaluable. For example, on a trip to Lake George NY I was photographing a canon(not the camera) firing demonstration, the bang was so loud that I jumped and triggered the shutter involuntarily. Yet the end result was a sharp photo at peak action See http://www.pbase.com/image/31903396 ,notice the ear protection worn by the soldier.
Another shot that was helped by the image stabilizer was a portrait taken at a museum, indoor, no flash and very tight, almost macro. Amazingly even the brushstrokes appeared sharp on the photo. I think the shutterspeed went down to 1/20th.
Having this camera is like carrying around an electronic tripod! I've taken hand held shots of fireworks, street lights, buildings at dusk and full zooms in low lighting.
As far as the megapixel count, 5MP is plenty. Although the 8mp Minolta A2 is out, it's almost $1,000. The A1 is a real bargain at around $550, It is basically the same camera as the A2 except for the MP count. Besides who needs 8MP unless you crop heavily or print posters. I even turn it down to 3MP sometimes to fit more shots and a quicker shot to shot performance, still 3MP is big enough to print 8x10's.
A few minor issues:
One thing the camera can improve on is it's dimensions, I would like it to be a little bit smaller, maybe like the Nikon 5700, and the proportions are a little awkward, it's almost as wide as it is deep and tall. Somehow this makes it a little tedious to carry around, I've permanently removed the lens hood to make it easier to carry (But the camera won't look as Cool!). So this not a carry everywhere camera, but it complement nicely with my pocket camera.
Another issue I have with this camera is that the viewfinder is electronic, basically it's a tiny second LCD that replaces the traditional glass viewfinder. Using electronic viewfinder is not very satisfying, you get a pixelated image with awful colors and when panning it feels like the LCD can't catch up to what your eyes are trying to follow.
Lastly, many people may find it dissappointing when they first see the photos right off the camera. The default settings for this camera is very neutral, therefore the images may look very flat. This is because as a high-end camera, minolta wanted to leave room for post-processing for advanced users. For photographers who do not want to do any post-processing the camera must be set at a higher contrast, saturation and sharpening.
Pros:
Larger sensor than similar cameras
Great lens
Wideangle zoom
Image stabilizer
Fast autofocus
cons:
Slightly too big to carry anywhere, anytime.
Flimsy CF door
Electronic view finder hard to get used to.
Got this camera a month ago. Beats my friend's two-year-old Nikon 5700. Most impressive is the manual control. Very easy to use despite the number of knobs. I was able to get 80% of the functions without reading the manual (no experience with Minolta digicams before). Satisfied with the quality though people have been complaining about the noise in Minolta cams for a long time. Would definitely recommend to anybody who wants a decent camera but doesn't want to spend big $ on a DSLR.
I bought this camera and read the manual and loved all the feathers It was awesome.I spent two days going over the book and taking shots and I remember when it first came on a warning came on and after that I would take pictures of the DVD player Two Towers movie and they were awesome and all the pictures I took were awesome but then it started rolling when I pointed it at my tv screen and the LED got bright and dim and for no reason and there was nothing about this in troubleshooting in the users manual and then the battery went dead and so I recharged it and went to bed and in the morning after only a few pictures taken the battery went very low again and only after 4 or 5 pictures and I was so sad because I am not a pro by any means but I own a 3.2 nikon and it did not do any weird stuff and I have had it for almost 2 years and I loved that camera upgrade and I could have bought the nikonD100 or the top of the line cannon SLR and have all the lenses it would ever need/flashes too. But I loved this camera and all the features making it my perfect upgrade.
I am not a pro by no means but I felt it must be defective when I charged it and went to bed and got up and took some more yet,only 4 or 5 and the battery was shot again????!! I would buy that camera again because I loved it so much and I never owned a minolta but I loved everything about it . I took pictures only inside and at night and in the day and they were fantastic. But the rolling on the tv shots and the light and dimming on the LCD and then last but not least a battery going dead after charging it only after 4 or5 shots made me conclude it was defective. This was also in auto mode and I checked my other digital nikon and it did not do any of these things and as sad as I was to return it,There was no answers in the manual for these problems. If anyone reads this and has some kind of answer please speak out to me because I loved that camera and have missed it ever since the return also I if it was defective and does not eat batteries I would most definatly purchase it again. I do not no the difference between camera shake and built in stabilation but I would take the chance on re-ordering that camera again Since the problems I listed were nowhere in the manual whih I spent two full days on what else could I do but I still love it and would love to have one without the problems I have stated above. Lastly, Does this camera eat battery power that fast?? I love that camera and I have read them all so please let me know if that is a real problem. AS for the rolling pictures of the Two TOwers DVD it only happened on the minolta and my nikon was fine. If there is any help out there I want to buy this one again. GREAT CAMERA. Last what are the silver metal things on the front side of this camera for> I forgot I hope some one reads tis because I am with the possitive reviews I think this camera and all features ROCK! I loved it and I as I said looked at all the camera's on site and this is the one. JosieRyder@aol.com
I purchased this camera for my grandson for a Christmas gift. After asking him how he liked it, he stated that the image on the camera is very dark and difficult to see. I am going to send it back and try to get him another camera of better quality
I am quite pleased with this camera. I am currently serving in Baghdad and this is the 3rd camera I've had since I've been here (desert/war conditions are not conducive to tech products). My other 2 (a HP and a Nikon) were both pretty pricey and I wasn't ready to shell out another $250 for a camera that only needed to last me the last month and a half of my deployment.
This camera has a chargable battery which is awesome!! Batteries are expensive and hard to come by sometimes over here. Also, the battery lasts a pretty long time. It did die on me once, and naturally at an inconvenient time (is there any other time batteries die??) but it's because I was filming video and in between filimg, I just left it on (probably close to an hour) and it died out (this was after many photos being taken as well).
The shots come out clear and the display window is really big. The camera is a little sensitive to movement. I have gotten a *couple* of blurry photos, but it is because I am used to being able to move and shoot with my other camera; as long as you are standing still when you take the photo you should be fine.
My only complaint is that there is no zoom (or if there is, I haven't figured it out, I hate reading manuals haha). Other than that, great camera for the money!
I purchased this camera just because I wanted to be able to upload my pictures to the computer. I still have not figured out everything, but what I have done so far is spectacular. This camera is perfect for anyone who does not know everything about a digital camera, but enough to get them by. It is also compact and can fit almost anywhere. The quality of the picture is perfect. Definitely a must have for a beginner.
I bought this camera as an amateur photographer thinking that to get started I could get a cheaper camera than the usual on the market and still have at least somewhat high quality results.
I must say it was nothing like I expected. The screen on the camera is very slow and lags very often, options set permanently and if you forget what you have done you must reset all options (there are quite a few), the color photos were slightly grainy and had odd lighting, the only perk was that the black and whites had automatic contrast. Not only was it completely different than I had wanted but the camera I was sold was also defective, after only a day of owning it I plugged it in to the wall to charge the battery (which wasn't even fully dead) and in the morning when I went to turn it on because it said it was done charging the camera, I slid open the front and the screen did not turn on, no lights went on, and the camera continued to just plain not respond.
I looked at my warranty and if I had bought it straight from the company I would've been charged for shipping it back AND charged for the repair.
Luckily amazon was there and didn't charge me anything and gave me a full refund.
I highly recommend that you go just fifty dollars higher for a better market, these cameras were built to 'flood the market' and it's very obvious.
We bought an inexpensive camera for our daughter for Christmas but it was such poor quality, really bad, that we took it back. After searching high and low, we saw this one which had all the features still at a good price.
We LOVE it! Well, my daughter loves it but so do I. It doesn't use disposable batteries and it has all the main features she will need. It's small and looks pretty durable in design and comes with software. It's easy to use and the pictures look GREAT.
Very pleased!
I wanted to buy a digital camera that was easy to use and make nice pictures as wel as inside and outside. I can say that this camera did it all. It is so easy to use, pictures are very good. I had only wish the lcd screen was a little bigger. Other than that, it is a great camera for beginners.
I made the mistake of buying two of these. One for my wife and one for my son at the same time. Sure, they are cheap, but they should at least work like a camera. They take double A batteries. You are literally lucky to get 10 pictures out of a set of new batteries. Sometimes you get 3 or 4. You literally have to carry a pocketful of batteries to use this camera. Sure, the pictures are great, you just can't take any. There is nothing more frustrating. I have an old Cannon Elph that will take literally hundreds of pictures on one charge. These guys are begging for a class action lawsuit.
I bought one of these for my son (black model)last Christmas. He LOVES it. Takes short video and nice pictures. Then my mother in law was taking about getting a digital camera. We suprised her by getting one (silver model) She just came back from a trip around the USA and she LOVES it! It is easy to use and takes very nice pictures. We also got her a 512mb memory card, large enough to store hundreds of pictures.
We paid about $100 them, you can find cheap shipping on some if you look around.
This is a great little point-and-shoot camera and video camera with sound!, but for the same price I could get the 630 at wal-mart, so I sold it for $100 and went and got the 630. The 630 is exactly the same size and usability but it's 6 megapixel and supports 4GB SD card so you can record lots of movies without having to exchange the card. A 256 MB SD card will hold a 3.5 minute video, so if you do the math..potentially you can take almost an hour long video at 30fps, 640X480! That's awesome and NO TAPES..you got to love that! On auto mode, it takes great pictures! Also, if you get 2700 NimH rechargeable batteries, the battery life will last for an hour long video recording as well. This camera is so small I can stick it in my front pants pocket and I've got a great still shot and movie camera wherever I go! No more lugging around a camcorder with the case and everything...very convenient!
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I bought this camera for my 9yr old son because of the price (less than $100)and it turned out to be better than any of the canon digitals I have owned. I learned log ago to use rechargeable batteries, so I wouldn't let any posts regarding battery drain sway you from a purchase. My son has autism and gives this camera a workout. It's taken plenty of abuse and up to 500 pictures per week for the past six months. The video and lighting modes are incredible too, I get a lot more "keepers" out of this inexpensive camera than any I digital I have owned to date.
I'm not 13 I'm 15 but I do not have an account to comment.
I bought this camera through amazon for my Graduation present. I have it for already a few months and its a good camera. Its easy to use, lots of different settings, a large nice screen, even makes long movies.
Its not as small as the other more expensive cameras, but its not huge and bulky. There is a few negetive things to it:
It uses batteries, and charging it mean you have to buy new ones. I solved this problem by buying rechargeble batteries, they last longer and you can reuse them. The battery life on this camera is not that great too. Well that might be the fault of my duracel batteries. If this camera would have better battery life then it would be five stars.
Overall this is a great camera, with a great price. Good for teens and beginners to cameras plus is budget friendly. I got it under $120!
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