5 comments about Olympus SP-510 Ultra Zoom 7.1MP Digital Camera with Digital Image Stabilized 10x Optical Zoom.

1. Item was birthday pesent. Was delivered promptly and recipient told us he was satisfied with product.



2. I have two other digital cameras, small Pentax Optio S and Panasonic DMC-LZ5.
   
   This Olympus was big disappointment to me. Namely it's auto mode. I shoot almost
   exclusively in Auto mode. That's not because I did not read the manual or
   don't know what various parameters of the shot do. I do. But I auto-shoot because I shoot in haste and do not have time to play with manual parameters and take 20 shots
   to select one. I am not photography professional and I am not going to be one.
   And this is not professional camera anyway.
   
   So quality of Auto mode picture is very impotant for me.
   This camera has very poor decisions embedded in Auto mode automatics.
   First, it decides sometimes to raise the ISO to 800 in the daylight conditions.
   This results in bad grain and noise, not justified by the daylight conditions.
   
   Another problem with Auto mode is very bad rendition of trees and green.
   Rarely, trees and gree are rendered well, but this is rare exception.
   Most times, trees and green is rendered dull, dark even in good
   sunlight, unattractive. When I compare these colors to the vivid
   and bright green trees taken by Panasonic in the same conditions, I
   am very disappointed.
   
   Another dissatisfaction is not enough of attributed/tags that
   the camera embeds into the JPEG files. It does not report which
   white balance mode was chosen.
   
   Next problem is limited sharpness of images. The image as I see it
   on the 1280x1024 computer screen is actuall what I'd from a 2MP camera.
   When I increase the image x4 time, I almost always se fuzzyness. There is
   always lack of details that makes me feel that even though there are 7 milllion
   pixels in the sensors, either optics or some other element is limiting
   actually shrapness of the image to actuall 2MP of detail.
   
   Another discomfort is that in Auto mode, there is no possibility to
   define any parameters like White Balance pr ISO. You cannot change them.
   Very strange and uncomfortable decision.
   
   Bottom line: I am never buying another Olympus camera again.



3. I have had the Olympus SP-510 UZ for about a year and I totally hate the camera. This is my third Olympus digital camera. My previous camera was a C-5050 which I loved, but it got a scratch on the lens so I got the SP-510.
   
   With the SP-510 you have to avoid any of the auto or program settings, because the camera has a tendency to use the higher ASA ratings to solve low light problems. When it uses ASA ratings over 100 the images look totally crappy with so much jpg noise that you will just end up deleting all of them. So you have to use aperture/shutter or manual to have a chance at a decent picture, unless you are shooting in full sunlight.
   
   The exposure is very often off, so be sure to check the images right away and bracket or reshoot the bad ones.
   
   The white balance seems unreliable, so I end up shooting RAW most of the time so I can more easily correct when the color is totally off.
   
   In short you have to be diligent to get decent pictures. If you are the least bit lazy, the camera will punish you with bad pictures.
   
   There are still two things I like about the camera. One is the supermacro setting that lets you shoot very close bug and flower pictures. Second, the camera is powered by AA batteries, so you never are without power out in the boonies.



4. Love this camera...easy to use but enough options for the more advanced users as wel...



5. We were never able to take a decent picture, the light was deemed on all the pictures. We called support several times and they could not help us to resolve the issue. Olympus support staff were rude and did not help us. We returned the camera. We have bought two Canon cameras. One works beautiful, the other one is brand new and will see. We will not try Olympus again.

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5 comments about Konica Minolta Dimage A200 8MP Digital Camera with Anti-Shake 7x Optical Zoom.

1. Pros
   Wide Angle Lens is best in class. Natural colors. Manual zoom. Threaded lens barrel.
   
   Cons
   A bit slow, but do often you need fast shot to shot speeds?
   
   The Bottom Line
   Consider this trade off for a wider than usual wide angle, but less than usual zoom. You'll get more use out the wide end of the lens.
   
   Full Review
   KonicaMinolta was bought by Sony, who discontinued making Minoltas, but says they will honor the warranties. This means this camera is falling quickly in price. You can get it for almost half its original price.
   
   It has been knocked by reviewers for two reasons...poor autofocus and noise problems. The noise doesn't seem to be an issue, unless you need ISO 400 . Unless its almost dark, or the subject is moving quickly in low light, the anti-shake system means you can take almost any shot with ISO200 or even lower. You do get some noise with ISO400, but its still good for 4x6 prints. ISO800 is really noisy, but lets you photograph in near darkness without a flash, and the pictures look brightly lit. In short, I don't find the noise to be any more of problem than other digicams, and if you compare professional reviews, neither do most reviewers.
   
   As for the focus issue, the camera's default mode is the wide area focus. For some reason, the camera will often focus on the closest object in the scene, which may not be what you want. This is especially common indoors. I don't know what the advantage of this wide area focus is, but it certainly causes problems with low light focusing. You need to get into the camera's menu and change it to Spot Auto Focus mode. This mode will let you select one of eleven spots for it to focus on. Select the spot in the middle. The camera will now behave like any other autofocus camera, and will not have any focus problems.
   
   Once the focus problem is solved, there is plenty to make this camera my favorite. The best feature is the 28mm equivalent wide end of the 7x zoom. Most digicams have a 35mm wide end. The difference is noticable in landscape shots, and in indoor shots. You will really appreciate this wide lens. Sure, other zoom cameras have 10x/12x zooms, but much of your photography will be done with the wide end of the zoom. My old camera had a 10x zoom, and I found I hardly ever used the high end, but often wished for a wider wide angle. With 8 MPs, you can zoom and crop on the PC if you need better telephoto.
   
   The anti-shake feature really works. This camera replaced an Olympus C2100UZ with image stablization, which for its time was top of the line in big zoom digicams. I can say I'll never buy a camera without an image stablizer/anti-shake feature. It lets you take handheld pics in low light with low ISO. It also lets you take pics from a moving platform, like a car or boat. Its not perfect, but it works most of the time.
   
   The custom white balance works just a bit better than the camera's auto white balance does, and you can save two custom settings and easily switch between them. This is good if you are moving around between different types of lighting. Speaking of saving settings, you can save all your resolution/white balance/exposure/color settings into one of 5 memory spaces. This lets you set the camera up for five different situations, which are quickly accessed. This is much easier than changing many settings settings as you move indoors/outdoors and through different lighting situations.
   
   The controls are arranged nicely, and there's even a nice rubber thumb pad that helps you grip the camera. The manual zoom ring works better than an electric zoom lever found on most cameras. The manual focus ring is useless, because the monitors are not high enough resolution to judge focus. Luckily, if you make the above change in the autofucus, you won't need the manual focus, except in extremely low light. The manual focus can then be used to set the focus for the approximate distant to the subject.
   
   The A200 has a threaded lens barrel, which lets you leave a UV or polarized filter on it, without the cumbersome adapter tubes that most cameras use. The lens cap is high quality, and won't fall off, unlike many cameras. It also has a flash hot shoe.
   
   The picture quality is very good, especially after you learn to use the menu settings for exposure and white balance. Color is natural, instead of overblown. Canon is the biggest offender at overblown colors. Notice how much red is in a Canon photo. The A200 pictures will have accurate color, especially if you use the right white balance setting. Of course, if you like the overblown color look, there's a menu setting to turn it on. The camera's auto white balance is ok in a pinch, but if you have time, the colors look a little better with the custom white balance. If you like to play with Photoshop, the A200 can shoot in Raw, which lets you adjust white balance and other settings on your PC.
   
   There simply isn't a better combination of resolution, lens, automatic settings and manual controls out there, unless you go to a digital SLR. An SLR with enough lens to duplicate the A200's would cost much more than the A200. For most folks, the A200 will be more than enough camera, yet it's still simple enough for a novice to use. A novice could start taking pics right away with this thing, and then develop his craft by experimentation with all the manual settings available.



2. To start I with I have to say that I couldn't agree more with the Jan 3rd 2007 review. I purchased this camera a year ago now (Wow, has the price dropped!).I had thought about a DSLR at the time. However, I still do mostly shoot film, especially black & white prints and color slides. I decided that a DSLR was going to be way more money then I wanted to spend on a camera that I wasn't going to use constantly. I did some research and came upon the A200. Now bearing in mind that the A200 is my first digital camera, I do have to say that I was, and still am very happy with it. The auto focus is dreadfully slow on the default setting in low light situations. However, I took the advice of the Jan 3rd 2007 review, and have eliminated that problem. The pics are noisy ISO 400, however I think I've used that setting 2 times in the year that I've owned it, not a problem for me. One more pro and one more con. First, this camera has a EVF or electrical view finder. This is opposed to a optical view finder that DSLRS have, or better yet, like all of the film cameras have / had. This can make composing pictures with movement a bit difficult. You're not viewing the scene in real time, so there is a bit of a lag in time between any movement in the scene and what you see through the view finder. Not anyhting that would make me not use the camera, just a little tricky in certain situations. Another pro about this camera is the fact that is has a ISO setting of 50. Most camers do not include a ISO this "slow," the slowest end ISO's on most cameras range somewhere bewtween ISO 100 and ISO 150. This isn't a feature I use constantly, however I do use it, and I like knowing that the option is there when I do want to use it. I have taken some really nice pics with this camera, now, they don't (and digital pics never will) compare to a beautiful color slide or contrasty B&W print. Still, this camera delivers,I have had some excellent prints result from using it. You really just have to read the owner manual and learn how to fine tune it. To this day (like the auto focus fix as an example) I am still learning how to improve on using it. It might not techinically be considered a "Professional camera," but you can definitely get "Professional" quality results from it.



3. This is a great camera for the money.. a well designed camera with a superior owners manual.



4. An excellent replacement for an ex-advanced amateur who wanted to depart from add-on lenses and still retain some of the attachable features.



5. I had one of these cameras (3 years old) and dropped it on vacation this spring and destroyed it. After reviewing the other available cameras decided to just get the same one again. I would have had to more than double my cost plus get a different memory card to have a better piece of equipment.
   
   Thanks

2 comments about Iconcepts Digital Camera with Photo & Video Editing Software.

1. I lost the driver CD for this camera. I cannot find the drivers anywhere on internet. Contacting Amazon / iconcepts did not solve the purpose.



2. This does not take a picture worth viewing to the most inexperienced eye. I'd say it would be good for my 2 year old grandson but I think he'd like the play one that makes noise in the dollar store better. Do not waste your money. Too difficult to use for a child and the pictures are all trash anyway.

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5 comments about Olympus E-10 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom.

1. I've been a serious hobbyist photographer for more than 25 years and this is my sixth digital camera. After looking for more than a few months I settled on the Olympus E-10 for its high quality photographs. There are other cameras with more mega-pixels and more powerful zoom lens but few if any of those will come close to the quality that this camera produces.

   There are manual controls for everything and that big lens just sucks in the light for great low light pictures. The beam splitter view finder is sweet and the manual zoom allows for working the 4x zoom quickly. I bought the matching F-40 flash unit which integrates with the camera to expose flash pictures very well. The flash also follows the zoom lens shifting from wide-angle to telephoto as the lens is worked.

   This is a big solid camera that is not for causal snap shots - though when set to the "program" mode it can do that. Where this camera will excel is in the hands of someone who can put that big piece of glass, well matched sensor, and manual abilities to work.




2. The camera has many nice points. These have been covered in other people's reviews. I will mention the few items that I think are less good:
   - It is not very good at focusing, especially in less light environment. I had the Olumpus people look at it but they said there was nothing wrong with it.
   - It is terribly heavy.
   - It is slow to start up.
   Dispite the recomendations from Olympus to not use the Microdrive, I have found a somewhat safe way to copy the pictures from the Smartmedia card to the Microdive. In this way, I can take several hundreds of pictures without needing to upload to a computer.
   My next camera will be a Minolta - also with a Microdrive function.



3. this is the only slr DIGITAL camera, I've had a slr film camera for a few years and could never go back to a point and click camera ever, and i bought a few digital camera before this one but they weren's slr style and the pictures never impressed me at all, basically i dont have much to compare this camera to digital slr wise, but i am VERY happy with the image quality and everything else about the camera



4. I bought my refurbished E-10 online from Olympus. It has functioned perfectly. The cost was 1/3 of the price they charged when the E-10 was first introduced. Since then, the price has continued to decrease as the competition has added megapixels and professionals have moved to DSLR bodies. This makes the E-10 a bargin for the weekend photographer. The camera is built like a brick - but a wonderfully ergonomic brick! The optics are fast and sharp and Olympus are famous for their image quality - even if it is "only" 4 MP. The camera is supported by a full range of accessories readily available on Amazon (or eBay) including wide angle and telephoto supplementary lens, cable release, flash, etc. A total system will cost less than the body of a new DSLR. More important, this is (well was) a professional camera, built for professionals with an imposing presence and total control over the image. If you think you need those extra pixels ask how many 8 x 10 enlargements you made last year. If the answer is less than 10 then this could be the perfect digital camera for you - and at a realistic price.



5. I have used the Olympus E-10 continually since 2001. I had owned three previous digital cameras by Olympus but the E-10 was the first model that completely satisfied me. I take photographs for business (technical publishing) and pleasure and mostly use my images in digital form, although I have made satisfying prints up to 16 x 20 inches. I find this camera easy and enjoyable to use and the image quality exceptional. Although newer Olympus high end models have more megapixels and interchangeable lenses, I have not envied them enough to upgrade.
   
   Like all high end digital cameras, the E-10 has a host of features that can be a little intimidating to learn. I felt the E-10 was worthy of the effort and I was inspired to design a publication to help other amateurs master the use of this camera. My E-10s are a continual source of enjoyment and I hope others will make the effort to master its use.

5 comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX10P 6.0MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Pink).

1. I bought this camera for my wife because she wanted something small and simple as an alternative to my camera. It is definitely small easily fitting in a purse or shirt pocket. The quality feels good and the option for a pink color was a nice touch. The necessary functions of the camera are easy to find and use. I know that, because if they weren't my wife would be more frustrated and lets me know when she can't figure something out. It takes decent snapshots. Not being one to work with lots of features, she manages just fine.
   
   This is the third digital camera I bought, all Panasonic. I have done detailed pre-purchase comparisons I find that Panasonic has high quality and features for a better price than the more well-known brands such as Canon or Sony. I do select for media type and rule out anything that doesn't use SD cards because I have lots of them from several devices. It doesn't have a viewfinder, but the LCD screen is big and bright covering most of the back of the camera. Image stabilization is a good feature for someone who takes snapshots without thinking about the camera settings.
   
   I haven't evaluated the fine points of picture quality... that's not what I bought the camera for. Her first use was to take new-born pictures of our grandson. We were all satisfied with the results.



2. Perfect size. Great stabilizer, great photos. It takes the picture very fast and not having to wait to take the next photo. It's just great, I love it!



3. i have an fz50 and a leica d-lux 2 made along with panasonic. my wife wanted a pocket replacement for her ancient casio with a postage stamp size screen. she picked this one in spite of a lack of viewfinder. it is truly pocket size and quick reacting. beautiful results. don't expect miracles shooting in low light without a flash. turn the flash on and live with it, or practioce alot with the flash off. panasonic makes solid electronics, and leica lenses are the best.



4. I ordered this product in early October and received a notice about ten days later that it was delayed but have heard nothing since and it is now late November.



5. This camera was so awesome, it was stolen from me. I'm not rich, so I'll wait to write another review until I know more, but for the week or so we were together, it took perfect pictures, had some cool settings, took a decent video(even in the dark ;)

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