Cameras Reviews

My DSC-s600 is only one day old and had 15 pictures in it,that's the end of the story.Camera turned off automatically and the shutter remains open.It spoiled my vacation.I strongly recommend not to go for it.Technically it is very badly designed.

i purchased this two weeks ago and it is dead!! it is as other reviewers had, an 'access' error. i try to turn it on and it shuts off immediately. soooooooooooooooooooo pathetic, i highly warn anyone about even considering this camera! NONONONO!

I upgraded from a Sony DSC P52 to the DSC-S600 digital camera. The reason for my "upgrade" was that I dropped the camera in the mississippi while canoeing. The previous camera stopped working, so I bought this one, only to find out after a week when the camera dried out, that it was functioning as good as new! That re-enforced my decision of having bought a Sony product again!

The good points: Very easy to use, just aim and shoot on "auto". Those who are overwhelmed by technology and just want to get good pictures, well, you just need to put in the battery and then the camera asks you for the time (first time use) and you are ready to go without even adding any memory, thanks to the 32 MB built in memory.
The picture quality is really good. I did not find much difference in the 2MB and 6MB setting. The flash range is good and the screen size is good. Camera is nice to fit in a pant pocket, but not a shirt pocket. This uses 2 AA batteries and so not having a charged battery is not an issue.
Areas Sony Corporation could improve on:
1. Sony left out the date imprint option on this model. I hope in the shorterm, if they could let their included software do the job (the files saved shows the date of shot along with the fle information).
2. My previous model had the LCD screen offset from the outer surface. This one is almost flush and hence chance for scratches etc.
3. Sony removed the capabilty to connect the camera to the TV! Any way one could download to the laptop and then use a cable to see the pictures on the TV screen.
4. The thickness can be reduced further. The other dimensions are fine.

Just to balance, off, I am very happy with the camera and after reading the latest issue of the consumer reports magazine, I was happy to note that Sony had the lowest percentage of problems compared to any other camera including Canon. My experience with the previous camera has shown that the design is very robust and can take a lot of rough handling. I would not hesitate to buy another Sony again (albeit, I would wait a week if I did drop this in the water again!)

I purchased the s5200 to replace my aged s304. Its a better camera in every way, faster, more features, better zoom etc etc. It takes the same memory cards and batteries too so no extra expense there either and at $240 a bargain !. Hope it lasts half as long as my 304 did (which survived being dropped out the window of a train and falling down a staircase !).

I spent the weekend playing with my camera's features...doing my best to try them all..and taking over a hundred pictures in the process. Here are my results in no particular order:

SUMMARY: What a camera for the price!! At just over $200, it does more than I'll ever need it to. And it's half the price I paid for my 4M Olympus Camedia C4000Z 3 years ago. I'm still getting used to which functions are available with buttons and which are in the menu. GREAT CAMERA that does almost everything you can with an SLR (except change lenses, which is a hassle I'd rather avoid). HIGHLY RECCOMMEND

PROS:
1. BATTERY LIFE: good to average
2. FOCUS: Fast to focus, except at the outer edges of zoom in low light.
3. ULTIMATE CONTROL: You can have as little or as much control over the image captured as you want. I took one (very dark) night shot of wet leaves lit by my porch light with a 15 second shutter speed. Of course, you can also intentionally take out of focus shots.
4. HIGH ISO AVAILABLE: Good to have available when you need it. Took one night shot of the cityscape at ISO 800 and got a good 4" x 6".
5. CONTINUOUS MODE: Comes in 4 varieties to help you get the shot when your own timing isn't so good. First 3 shots, last 3 shots, one I can't remember, and Long-period (shoots up to 40 consecutive shots). Long-period would seem to be an easy way to build a panorama photo series.
6. RAW: Shoot in this format is good to have when you don't want pixels lost to compression. All editing must be done post-conversion. You can then edit the TIFF and re-save it either as a JPEG or TIFF.
7. MANUAL FOCUS: In Manual mode you can change anything. I even intentionally took a picture out of focus just to prove I could. Manual focus is, of course, rather slow (as expected), but is effective as long as the subject isn't mobile. Easier to use with LCD screen. Even when auto focus failed (!AF displays), I could manually bring the subject into focus).
8. WEIGHT: It is incredibly light, and seems lighter than my old Olympus Camedia 4000Z, even though its manual says it's heavier.
9. FEATURES: All the features I can conceive of using with several that I've played with but don't think I'll ever use.
10. ZOOM: Coming from 3x optical zoom to 10x...what can I say? WOW! Be cautious, however at the far end of that range in lower light. You'll need a steady hand, tripod or to switch to anti-shake mode.
11. 2 SEC TIMER: Love that for the tripod/night shot. No long waiting for the shot.
12. STARTUP TIME: Starts up almost instantly and is immediately ready to shoot.

CONS:
1. HIGH ISO: On full auto, camera will select above 400 ISO values. Above 400 pictures become more grainy and 4 x 6 is the largest higher quality print you can get. If you want a high quality night shot, you'll have to select ISO 400 or lower and set it on a tripod/shelf/whatever to get the shot.
2. RAW CONVERSION: The provided program only converts the RAW to a TIFF without editing. Would have been nice if I could have "edited" the RAW version and then saved to TIFF just once. Also would have been nice to be able to save to more than just TIFF.
3. SLOW MANUAL FOCUS: The pace at which manual focus changes is dreadfully slow. Don't even try using it on a moving target. Would be nice if it incremented faster when the button is held down for over a second and then you could slowly fine-tune the focus one button press at time. But not how they implemented it.
4. LIMITED SAVE QUALITY CHOICES: My Olympus let me save to TIFF and about 10 different JPEG quality settings, varying pixel density and compression settings. I used to use the highest quality only for portraits or shot I knew I was likely to enlarge. This camera only offers 5 still settings, only one of which is a 3:2 aspect ratio.

After enjoying my Olympus mju 400 for over 3 years, have decided to try out "prosumer" entry level units without breaking the bank. After reviewing the s5200 on amazon and realizing what a bargain the sale price was (definitely a lot cheaper than other brands with similar features here in Manila), i decided to try it out. I had the unit and a 1GB card shipped to my sister while she was on vacation in OH, and she was all raves about it:

- very powerful zoom
- light weight and very easy on the batteries
- great ergonomics
- amazing color and details even on close-ups and zooms
- and all for the price of a point and shoot

I recently got to try the unit firsthand and have taken very clear shots of buildings about 2kms away and no problems..amazing that 10x is just about the magnification of high end rifle scopes....also great autofocus on macro close-ups on stuff inside the house

Still have to start practicing on the manual settings, although functions are buried in the menus and the manual zoom was a bit hard pressing the W/T and +/- buttons simultaneously, but PC interface is a breeze. I hope to upload some pictures i've taken to the site for comparison.

All in all, i'm a happy camper so far! Highly recommended.

I've been using the Rebel XT for over 6 months, taken literally 1000's of pictures and it's been great. Loved my old manual 35mm Nikon SLR, have been using digital point-n-clicks but wanted the control of an SLR again--no major complaints with the Rebel XT. Overall: if you're shopping for a solid DSLR, I'd definitely recommend it.

Pros:
+ Fast. I had a miserable time capturing action with my Canon S50 (a digital point-n-click)--response time made for hit-or-miss photos. The XT takes something like 3+ shots/second, a feature I've been happily using for action sequences I could never pull off before.

+ Great depth of field. This was something I really missed from the old SLRs--you just don't get much depth with point-n-clicks even in those portait modes. The XT is great for isolating subjects in the shot.

+ Battery lasts far longer than any other digital cameras I've had (I suspect b/c it lacks the preview window). As a bonus, the XT uses the same form factor as my Canon S50 so I only need one charger when I travel.

+ Auto-focus is v. fast. I know I mentioned speed before but it's worth mentioning again. I hate waiting for other digital cameras to analyze a scene and take a shot--no delays with the XT.

+ Starts up instantly. I didn't think I'd care about this but it's been great--you see a shot, you flick it on and before you can even raise the camera to your eye, it's ready to fire away.

+ Software is better than I expected--it's actually usable as compared to some other software I've received with other cameras like Kodak.

Cons:
- The kit lens isn't terrible but isn't great. The manual focus ring is narrow and oddly positioned right at the tip of the lens; and you have to turn-off autofocus to use it (unlike most Canon lenses you can buy). It's also noisy. Aesthetics aside, the optics are ok and the range (from wide-angle to zoom) is hard to find in other Canon lenses (I've found that I've needed separate lenses to get the same wide-angle to zoom range).

- One thing I didn't fully realize when I purchased was the impact of the 1.6 cropping factor of the EF-S lens form factor. The XT can take both EF-S and EF lenses. If you throw on an EF lens (the majority of Canon EOS lenses and what I've purchased for my zoom and primes), the scene is magnified by 1.6 (or you could say the edges are cropped). As I understand it, it allows for a smaller camera. The problem is that you really can't use an EF wide-angle lens since it loses it's wide-angle--you'll need to buy an EF-S wide-angle lens and there aren't many choices (I have the 10mm-22m). My concern is that I'm not sure whether Canon will support the EF-S form factor long-term and I hate investing in lenses only to have them obsolete in a year. Will see what happens. Something to consider since you'll probably be purchasing lenses to go with this camera.

- Get ready to clean the camera more. I'm admittedly rough on my equipment (used the XT in the desert and the jungle). Problem is whereas point-n-clicks are sealed and the old 35mm SLRs would simply capture dust/dirt on single frame, getting a speck on the sensor on the XT (and probably most DSLRs) causes a blob on every shot you take until you notice it during reviews and clean it. I use a hand air pump--takes seconds but just be prepared.

- One final note: be wary of suntan lotion and other lotions when using Canon cameras--I've managed to rub off the decals from two camera bodies so far--the ink or whatever is used to print the icons simply disolves.

I consider these minor issues given the purpose of the camera is to help you take great shots and the Rebel XT definitely does this.

This is my first SLR (a digital one nonetheless) and it is spectacular. I rarely go anywhere without it. The packaged lense is superb, as are the resolution of my chrystal clear photographs and the user friendly controls. I am an avid backpacker and enjoy taking photographs of the scenery. The light weight of this camera is a must when ounces count, however, quality is in no way sacrificed for this featherlight DSLR.

My only gripe would be with the relatively small LCD screen size. To add balance to the world, you are able to zoom in a great deal to pick up those subtle little naunces that could turn your photo-fresco a photo-fiasco.

Overall, this is one DSLR that is a must have. Thanks Canon. :)

Having bought my camera through the superior service of Amazon.com and having a 28-300mm lens and 580ex flash the only real problem I am having is shooting at night. Not that the camera doesn't work but it is hard to see the buttons on the camera. I mean pushing the button too take a picture is easy, no doubt but as an example i was trying to take pictures on the 4th. of July at night of fire works at the Columbus, Indiana campus of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and I couldn't see the buttons on my camera to change my manual settings. The screen on the back of the camera was well illuminated but the support buttons were not visible at all. While fireworks were blazing i was trying "fumbling" to changer my shutter speed and ISO. What canon needs to do to improve this is illuminate all of the buttons on the rebel xt and all of it's cameras so all of the buttons can be seen at night. It would also be handy to have a on/off switch for these lights for battery conservation when they are not needed. but make the conservation of light button big and easy to use. aside from the night lighting it is an excellent camera and i would highly recommend it.

Okay, I admit that I'm a complete beginner when it comes to digital cameras, but this camera is really very easy to use, and the picture quality is very good. I received it for a birthday gift and couldn't be more pleased.

All I have to say is first this camera looked to be well, cheapish due to the size. After 3 minutes though it had me impressed! Takes the pictures quite readily, no waiting for it to stabalize for a minute, and you barely get any blurry pictures. I was actually given this camera after my cousin broke my other one, they felt so bad they gave me their canon, and now i'm kinda glad that happened!
For me personally the two biggest things I use this for are; taking pictures of lakes, trees, plants, etc. and taking pictures of fish and inverts. I'm a huge fish enthusiast and finding a camera that'll take good shots of fast moving fish through a glass box is hard. I was also limited with what I could photograph, as all subjects under three inches usually came out blurry, but heck, the macro mode solves all my problems on that one!
Bottom line, this little camera is the best i've come across! You know it's good when it has Canon in it's name!

The camera was well packaged and the delivery was prompt; exactly the day it was promised.

I have used Canon printers for years. I recommend them to people for their low per-page costs...

Those that use THIS cartridge though, are an exception. This cartridge has an in-cartridge ink counter that tells me I'm out of ink way before I actually do run out of ink. Additionally, the counter cannot be reset, so there is no refill market on these forcing you to buy retail.

A very good in supply is obtained at all times without leakage of ink or smudging of the paper or clogging of the printer. The reason it is not rated 5 stars is that the ink supply is utilized too rapidly and the expensive cartriges have to replaced too frequently.

Loved my Canon Powershot A10 -- an oldie but goodie. Still takes absolutely great photos even tho the hinge on the battery compartment is broken, and I'm using tape to hold it shut.

Bought the 520 with high expectations. What I got was disappointment.

1- I have thrown out many photos. Many blurry, even with flash, even with subjects sitting still.

2- Noisy chime when you turn on the power -- very disconcerting when in a quiet setting.

3- Long delay on flash shots -- subjects must remain still for several seconds before photo is actually taken.

4- Recycle time is excruciatingly long between flash shots.

Overall -- very very disappointed in this camera.

C.

We bought this because it was on sale with the purchase of a printer. I am amazed at the clear photos. Almost never come out fuzzy. Also the photos have very good coloring even in auto. Very good camera for taking landscapes picts. And uploading to the computer is a snap.
But not wonderful at taking close ups.
The worst flaw would have to be the pause you get when you take a picture. Even though its just a few seconds you may miss the target. But every thing else is great! I think its Good Buy

This is my first digital camera. I didn't know anything about digital cameras before this purchase but I am satisfied with my decision. I wanted something small and lightweight and easy to use to take on a family vacation with me. This camera worked out great.

I bought this memory card for my mother, and it has been a noticeable improvement for her over a lesser speed memory card. She gets the nature shots she wants.

I bought this product by recommendation of Panasonic and they were not wrong. I am using it in a digital camera and this product is excellent, it has a great perfomance for storing pictures and videos.

why does sony always go against the grain on every new format anybody remember the betamax bs

Great MC, reasonable price. Perfect for those who like playing games and watching a movie once in a while.

Does any one know if you can have 3 hours of converted of movies,100 pictures,and 10-20 song all together.or like just 3 hours of converted of movies at one time.thats all

As the earlier reviews mentioned it is easy to use and the documentation is only 2 pages. It works fine for media files but it isn't very good for backing up the OS or programs files. The software although easy to use is a bit sloppy. During a backup if it finds a file it doesn't like for one reason or another it kills the entire backup and you have to hunt down the "bad" file and fix or remove it. After 5 days of trying to get a 40GB backup I've had to resort to moving them folder by folder. It also will not work if you don't have XP service pack 1 installed. You may want to consider a spare HD, external case and a main stream backup software program.

WD's My Book was worth the purchase. Small, quiet and fast. It has two Firewire ports and one USB port and comes with one of each types of cable. I bought mine so I could back up all my important files from my Mac but I ended up using it to backup the entire contents of my hard drive using the enclosed backup software. The program was easy to understand and works great on OSX Tiger. I can't vouch for how it works on a PC, I try not to use them if I don't have to! The only thing I don't like about the drive is that it can get pretty warm, but that was after an hour or two of backing up my entire hard drive, so that is probably to be expected. I checked out a bunch of other external firewire drives on Amazon and Apple's websites before I decided on this one and I'm pretty happy with My Book.

I use this drive as a backup on my Mac. Periodically I take it out of the closet and attach it to my Mac through the Firewire port. I copy everything from my Mac hard drive to the WD 500, then I turn it off and put it away.

BTW, I reformatted it for the Macintosh to improve speed and reliability.

No Problems. No Muss. No Fuss. Works exactly as expected.

It's a nice and small USB drive that looks nice and gets the job done.

The only downside is the ease with which you can lose the top to one of the rubber sleeves. But these are hardly necessary in the first place, so this is a minor drawback. If the top to the rubber sleeve were somehow connected, I would have given it 5 stars.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocoststuff.biz/amazon

The Flash USB is the best...It also holds alot and it was a good deal...That USB cost more in the store...