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What digital slr camera is best for amateur photographers?

admin — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:52:19 +0000

I really want a digital slr camera, but I don’t want to spend a fortune, I’ve been looking at used ones, and refurbished but they’re all so expensive! I’ve been manly looking at getting a canon EOS rebel xs. Is that a decent camera? I currently have a canon regular digital camera and I love it.

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Canon PowerShot SD890IS 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with Transcend 8GB SDHC Card and Bag

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:11:52 +0000

Canon PowerShot SD890IS 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with Transcend 8GB SDHC Card and Bag

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Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12 2 MP Digital SLR Camera Black with EF S 18 55mm f 3 5 5 6 IS Lens EF S 55 250mm f 4 0 5 6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens 430EX II Speedlite Flash and 2400 SLR Gadget Bag

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 05:50:31 +0000

Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12 2 MP Digital SLR Camera Black with EF S 18 55mm f 3 5 5 6 IS Lens EF S 55 250mm f 4 0 5 6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens 430EX II Speedlite Flash and 2400 SLR Gadget Bag

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Canon PowerShot SD890IS 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with Transcend 8GB SDHC Card and Bag

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 03:49:03 +0000

Canon PowerShot SD890IS 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with Transcend 8GB SDHC Card and Bag

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Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12 1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 5 inch LCD Deep Red

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:31:27 +0000

Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12 1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 5 inch LCD Deep Red

It may be Canon’s slimmest Digital ELPH, but it’s selection of photo-friendly options is undeniably wide. From full HD movie capture to peak performance in even the most unforgiving shooting conditions, this digital camera is on the cutting edge of point-and-shoot picture taking. One-year warranty. Model SD780IS.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Great camera, horrible company
This is a really great camera, but it is a really bad company. Canon is the worst company when it comes to getting anything repaired. When I got this camera, I noticed it had a dead pixel on the LCD. I sent it in to Canon, they sent it back not only with the dead pixel unrepaired, but they left dust between the protective screen film cover and the LCD. As a result I sent it to them a second time. When I got it back the second time, they did not fix either problem and they broke something inside the camera so a red spot kept appearing on the LCD when trying to take a picture or shoot video… I sent it in a third last week telling them to fix the problems they caused and to replace the LCD.

It returned today, they fixed the two problems they caused, but I still have the dead pixel.

The bottom line is Canon is a horrible company when it comes to repair service, if you get a defective LCD like I did, you are going to have to deal with it, because they will lie to you about trying to repair and do nothing.

Either Canon lacks integrity or their repair people are incompetent or both (probably both) and thus I have to poorly review their product, because if something else goes defective, I have no guaranteed they will be able to fix it.

5 Stars Canon Camera
This camera is an amazing value for the money. Takes great pictures, easy to use, long battery life and easy to charge. Only caution is that the camera does not come with a memory card.

5 Stars Great little camera
I had a 6 year old camera (also Canon) that I recently gave to my dad who seemed interested in taking digital pictures and I started looking for a new digital camera.

SD780IS was recommended highly and the selling point for me was the availability of a view finder as it is very hard to see what you are aiming at in bright daylight without a viewfinder.

I already have countless pictures in different environments from hot hazy days on the sea to some flowers I have that bloom only once a year (and only for a day) in all occasions the results turned out great. Clarity, picture quality it is all there.

The size of the camera is perfect, I have a red one I love its color and using it (charging the battery or downloading the pics) is so easy.

I must mention that for this price it is the best deal.

4 Stars Good pocket camera with viewfinder
I purchased this model because it was the only pocket camera I could find with an optical viewfinder. It has surpassed my expectations. See the two attached pictures. I wish the film strips could be generated in AVI files, but I can live with the MOV filetype.

5 Stars Best camera to date!
In September of 09 I purchased this camera for my son, from Amazon.com, for $225.20, with an extra battery, and free shipping & handling. I knew it was a good buy, so I ordered one for myself. I still use my older Canon cameras but this one has a sharper image and if you take snaps while driving…they couldn’t be any sharper. Note: the size is just a little slimmer than older models. My orders were for the Gold…what a buy. Thank you Amazon!

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Canon PowerShot SD1200IS 10 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 5 inch LCD Blue

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:38:56 +0000

Canon PowerShot SD1200IS 10 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 5 inch LCD Blue

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Fabulous camera for Senior Citizen
I have a couple of digital cameras but my 78 yr old husband needed a camera with a viewfinder that was easy to operate and would generate clear pictures despite his hands being unsteady most of the time. This camera does it all! This camera is almost perfect in every way ! The only feature that we both are a bit disappointed in is the on/off button is small and level with the camera body,so it a bit hard to use. We would have preferred if the button has been raised a bit or even had a left to right on/off instead of an up/down button.I realize the goal was to keep the camera’s body small so button size was compromised to have room for everything.

We have never been so impressed with a camera’s ease of operation while giving you so many shooting options. I printed the full manual from the Canon USA website (136 pages) and gave it to my husband to read and learn before his 60th high school reunion in late Aug. He pretty well has mastered the camera overnight. The pictures are so clear, the color balanced and we have absolutely nothing to complain about regarding picture quality.

Clearly we are not advance photographers so don’t expect an in depth technical review. This is just a great point and shoot camera and it’s no wonder it gets such high marks on all camera web sites. Everyone loves this camera because it’s so easy to operate and produces great pictures. We love it too !!

2 Stars Too bad… A great little camera that takes awful pictures.
How disappointing! I currently own a Canon Powershot sd800is and I love it. Perfect pics & videos, excellent battery life, durable, no issues whatsoever. When my daughter saved her money up for a digital camera I really didn’t look much farther than Canon because I wanted her to have a great camera. Since the sd800is is no longer available we picked the updated version, the sd1200is, which has more mega-pixels and zoom than my old one.

When it arrived, we charged the battery and began taking indoor pictures. They were very blurry and they had a yellowish-orange glow. (We even had one that showed a blue & green orb floating by my staircase. STRANGE!) I tried adjusting the settings to fix the issues, but nothing worked. I’m not a camera expert, but I understand what most of the features and menu itmes do. I have used them on my sd800is with much success. I had my husband and his brother (both are smart techy guys) work with the camera. Still, we could not get it to take clear pictures. When I tried to take pics outside they came out virtually white, completely overexposed. My daughter tried taking some pics and did have success, but only if she took them in pitch darkness with the flash on. They were clear and sharp with good color. They looked like they had been taken with my old camera. But, how practical is a camera that only works in the dark???

I called Canon support and they took me through the same steps I had already tried, finally suggesting that I ship it in for service. They were very friendly, helpful, and professional, but they couldn’t replace the product, only service mine and return it to me in about 3 weeks.

After considering my 30 day return window with Amazon, I decided by the time I would get it back from Canon, if I wasn’t satisfied, I wouldn’t be able to return it. So I declined the Canon service and simply returned it to Amazon, which was also a very simple and painless process.

We ended up spending less than half as much on a Polaroid t1031. It doesn’t have all the cool features the Canon has (no video either), but it does have image stabilization, a rechargeable battery, and the greatest part… it takes good pictures! And she has some money left in her pocket so that’s a good thing as well.

I won’t say, “Don’t buy a Canon” because I love my old one and the features and customer service are great. I will say, “Don’t be afraid to return it.” Most of the reviews are great, but sometimes you get a lemon like I did. I chose not to make lemonade, I sent it back and got some pretty delicious orange soda. YUM!!!

5 Stars Great: But early to tell
The camera arrived quickly but does not come with a memory card so we couldn’t us it until we figured out which memory card we needed…this was another $30. Camera seems to work fine although we haven’t used it enough to judge the battery life. Overall, quite happy with the camera and it came highly recommended from a friend so we expect to enjoy it as much as she has…

5 Stars Wonderful
I love this camera ,I’ve been looking for a small digetal with a view window for some time ,almost all of the newer cameras come with out and you can’t see on a sunny day what your taking. Easy to use . I had to download the instruction DVD booklet ,136 pages for all of it uses so i wish it had come with it in booklet form other than that it’s a great camera and a great price.

5 Stars A huge improvement
This Canon SD1200 was purchased as replacement for my old Olympus Styus 300. It has triple the megapixels, a much larger screen, and no longer has that long irritating delay between pushing the button and getting the shot. Also, it’s only about half as thick and fits a pocket even more easily. I got mine in the fun orange color.

I’m just an amateur, but the ease of use and picture quality are vastly improved. And now that the SD1300′s are out, perfectly good 1200′s can be found at bargain prices. I recommend it.

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Canon PowerShot SD1400IS 14 1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 7 Inch LCD Black

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:31:09 +0000

Canon PowerShot SD1400IS 14 1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 7 Inch LCD Black

Shy and modest is so yesterday. Get ready for brilliance that’s the center of attention once the PowerShot SD1400 IS Digital ELPH camera is in your hands. First glance says it all: nothing moves you like the impact of sleek sculpture, especially when it’s drenched in the purest, ripest colors. Inside, Canon engineers defy micro-space with big, brilliant innovation. How do they do it? Who cares!

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Canon
I read about this camera and ended up purchasing it. It takes great pictures! Have been using it for a month now and no problems. Really easy to use too. I have had numerous cameras but always go back to Canon… It is GREAT! I love this camera!

5 Stars Awesome!
This camera is everything it says and it’s smaller then I expected, which is even better. Canon has outdone themselves with this one.

5 Stars The Canon SD1400IS is Capable & Compact
In short, this is a great camera in a very small package that produces good results! I wanted a small portable camera with HD video capabilities that I could take with me when I did not want to lug around my DSLR (Canon 40D + lenses) and this little gem fits the bill perfectly.

This camera replaced a Canon PowerShot SD780IS (Black) that I returned due to constant audio noise (hum) while recording video. Rather than risk getting another defective SD780IS with the same issue (many seem to report hearing the noise/hum), I decided to upgrade to the latest Canon PowerShot SD1400IS (Black). I am happy to report that this camera has no such issue with audio when video is being recorded.

The picture quality of the SD780IS and SD1400IS is roughly the same and on par with what one should expect from such a small ultra-portable camera. Going from 12MP to 14MP is a wash as the sensor is the same size and results are very similar. I have posted several shots of flowers under the “customer images” section of the Canon PowerShot SD1400IS 14.1 MP (Black) and also uploaded several 100% crops of each image so pixel peepers can see the detail that this camera produces.

Let me be clear, anyone that thinks this camera is going to produce anything close to the quality of a DSLR is fooling himself or herself. There is no way that this small of a package (3.6 x 0.7 x 2.2 inches ; 4.6 ounces) can produce the same image quality as a DSLR. If image quality if paramount, one would be better off considering the Canon PowerShot S90 10MP Digital Camera, but you will lose the HD video capability, some portability and spend roughly another $125. When I want extreme quality, I simply take my Canon 40D + lenses with me and shoot in RAW.

The Auto mode is smart and I think there is more happening behind the scenes than one would expect. If one takes the same image (same ISO settings, lighting, shutter etc.) in Auto and then in Program mode, the results are similar, but I think the Auto mode wins nearly every time. I have no way to confirm this, but the Auto mode seems to have different compression algorithms depending on the subject and can produce a less noisy image at higher ISO than Program mode can. Inside shots are good but I wish I could set an ISO range to force the Auto mode not to exceed 400 ISO.

Tip: If you are getting blurry images, remember that the minimum focal length is much less 5cm when at 28mm and significantly more 50cm when zoomed in to 112mm. So, if you are trying to get the camera close to your subject, be sure to gauge your zoom/subject distances properly other wise your subject will be out of focus. Perhaps this would have helped the 1 star reviewer.

Final items of note:

1. There is no viewfinder and quite honestly, the small viewfinder on the SD780IS was useless so I do not miss having one. The LCD is bright and works great even on bright days.

2. There is no optical zoom while recording video, only digital zoom, so one has to decide on a zoom length before starting to record. This is a non-issue for me as many people overuse zoom and usually would have been better off just recording a static shot rather than making me dizzy with shaky-cam + zooming at the same time.

Bottom line: This is a fantastic pocket camera capable of decent images with HD video recording as a bonus. It is small enough that it will get taken everywhere enabling capturing of all those special moments. I would highly recommend it to anyone, so long as they realize the limitations inherent to ultra compact cameras. I hope this is review is helpful.

Update: I forgot to mention that one should be sure to get no less than a “Class 4″ SD card (Class 6 would be even better) to prevent any video recording issues (missed frames etc.)

4 Stars Made in China….?!!
I wonder anyone got this camera is made in china?

Its serial# 0420600XXXX

Btw, I felt it got cheap material with battery cover.

4 Stars Sleek and powerful, nice HD
For $250, I’m satisfied with the SD1400. It’s small and simple enough not to intimidate my wife which now means that Daddy can actually appear in a couple of family photos. The picture and video quality are excellent too. The only criticism that I have is that zoom is unavailable when shooting video and that the shutter is a bit slow to respond (as is the case with most of the cameras in this class irrespective of manufacturer).

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Canon PowerShot SX20IS 12 1MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 5 inch Articulating LCD

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 09:24:02 +0000

Canon PowerShot SX20IS 12 1MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 5 inch Articulating LCD

With a 20x wide-angle zoom, the 12.1-megapixel PowerShot SX20 IS offers intelligent, versatile shooting power. Switch to Smart Auto mode for effortlessly great results, or shoot stunning HD movies.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Awesome camera
I just got the SX20is and it functions very well, it’s easy to use and the picture quality is very good considering it’s a 12.1 MP, I highly recommend this camera to those who want to spend alot on an expensive camera, the price is just right for the SX20is.

Not to forget, the zoom is awesome as well.

5 Stars Great for those learning photography
This is a great beginners or intermediate camera, I love it! I’m by no means a photography expert, but wanted something more advanced and professional than what we had for taking pictures of our daughter – this camera is perfect. It’s fast, quiet, and easy to handle.

The Optical Image Stabilizer Technology is wonderful – many pictures that I would take of my daughter ‘on the go’ would often end up blurry or fuzzy and this feature greatly reduces or eliminates this problem.

I definitely like the Smart Auto feature, for somebody like me who isn’t much into the technical side of photography this feature is terrific – I don’t have to worry much about things like light, and shadow and settings, the camera analyzes everything for me and produces the best pictures automatically.

Another feature I really like is the ability to just hook the camera up to an HD-tv to view the pictures or video footage that is on the camera – instant viewing on the big screen, there’s nothing like it.

For the price and amount of features I’m very pleased with this camera.

5 Stars Beyond expectations
After reading several reviews, in different web sites, I decided to buy the SX20IS. However, the critics had lowered my expectations regarding the zoom range and high ISO usability. To my (good) surprise, I was able to get excellent pictures with both low light (which caused ISO to be set automatically to 400) and zoom in the range of 10 to 20 with no stable support, just holding the camera the best I could. My son, who has an SLR, was also amazed at the night photos. The combination of high ISO and Image Stabilization guaranteed reasonably sharp pictures in difficult comditions. Granularity is perceived only at ISO 800. This camera has extended the reach of photography, enabling the common user to take pictures they would never try.

5 Stars Canon Camera
I love, love, love this camera. I have only used it a few times, but it is awesome. I used the video once and if there is one drawback it is the quality of video playback on my computer. I haven’t had the chance bo get a connector cable for my HDTV yet, so can’t comment on that.

5 Stars Almost a DSLR
We are taking a trip to Alaska soon and wanted a camera with good telephoto capability. I really wavered bettween the Canon Rebel T2i with a good telephoto lens and the SX20.($349 vs. about $1200+) I decided on the SX20 becaused I didn’t want to lug around extra lenses, however I suppose someday I will have a DSLR.

Here are my pros and cons for the SX20

Pros

1. Seems well contructed. Not much plastic.

2. Good auto focus. I have not had the problems other have had with bad focusing.

3. Excellent HD video. In good light the video is great and you can zoom and auto focus which I don’t think you can do with a DSLR. Can be a bit grainy in low light, but acceptable.

4. Articulated LCD. I like being able to shoot from many different angles and flip inside to protect from scratches when not using.

5. Electronic viewfinder. This is great because you can see all of the same info that is shown on the LCD if there is too much light to see the LCD.

6. Zoom is terrific. I have even had okay pictures at 80x with a tripod. At 20x in good light pictures are almost always good. I have not seen any distortion. I took a picture of a quarter moon at 80x showing a good view of craters. My photo friends could not believe is was not through a telescope

7. Battery Life. Seems very good so far. I am guessing 300-400 still pix per battery set.

8. Lots of different scene and manual settings.

9. Flash seems pretty good. Red Eye reduction works well.

10.Bayonet threads on the lens allow for a 58mm filter adapter from a 3rd party. It does work well. Why didn’t Canon do this? I have polorizer on all the time.

Cons

1. A bit heavy and definitly not a pocket camera.

2. The Control Dial is really bad. You need a very light touch when turning the dial or you start messing around with other functions like Manual Focus and Self Timer functions.

3. Not sure about low light capability. I think this may be where a DSLR will do much better.

Overall I am pleased. I am anxious to try on Alaska trip.

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Nikon Coolpix S8000 14 2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Vibration Reduction VR Zoom and 3 0 Inch LCD Black

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:22:37 +0000

Nikon Coolpix S8000 14 2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Vibration Reduction VR Zoom and 3 0 Inch LCD Black

CAMERA, COOLPIX S800, BLACK,14.2 MP

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Amazing power in a compact camera!
Unbelievable camera!Shot HD video of my brother’ graduation and I was sitting across the arena! 10x optical zoom plus a 14.2 megapixel camera in a SLEEK design…

WOW!!

Buy it!

1 Star maybe i got a lemon
I am a pro photographer and I bought this as a present for my wife . I usually shoot with nikon dslr’s and the result is great. I bought this and returned it after 1 day. I don’t think that it’s a bad camera inherently. I can only assume that the one i got from amazon was refurbished or something because no matter what I did the picture just wasn’t clear and at 14 megapixels it should be great. I won’t buy cameras from amazon again. I even tested this camera in a few diff stores and the result seemed ok. that’s the problem with buying cameras online and not from a pro camera house. sorry amazon. not cool.

3 Stars Hard to hold
I just watched Nikon’s video on the S8000 and they show the model holding the camera with both index fingers on the top of the camera. Nice … but there is a pop-up flash on the left top, which would prevent this in any low light situation. It is not very user friendly … you have to stop and move your index finger and then pull the flash up manually after it hits your finger and fails to open fully. When your through shooting you have to manually close the flash.

There is no indicator to tell you how much charge is left in the battery.

The sound when watching videos on the camera is barely audible even with volume control attached to zoom. When you connect the camera to your computer the sound is normal … no problem.

The S8000 has a very fast start-up and the zoom is excellent. The colors are beautiful and accurate. Fast and accurate focusing means I get what I shoot but the flash pop-up can slow you down. I don’t think I can live with the flash pop-up. I don’t buy a new camera, that often.

2 Stars Terrible picture quality
I bought the Nikon S8000 thinking that Nikon always delivers good picture quality. I am an avid amateur photographer, and own several Nikon DSLRs which I think are outstanding. Unfortunately, with the S8000 my trust was misplaced. While the camera is sleek with excellent shooting performance, the quality of the images was simply terrible. Even in good outdoor lighting at ISO 100 there is smudging and loss of detail when zooming in to 100%. All the pictures look as if they’re slightly out of focus, and this did not change despite adjusting autofocus settings, anti-vibration settings ets. The quality of indoor shots was even worse. I used this camera for 2 months, and tried every possible setting to fix the image quality. Video quality is excellent, but there is a nagging high pitch sound in all of the footage. If you care about image quality do not buy this camera. I’m selling mine at a loss.

5 Stars Quality point-and-shoot camera
I purchased this camera just prior to a business/sightseeing trip, and am extremely pleased.

10x optical zoom on a camera in this price range is excellent, and the zoom performs quite well. The picture quality is very good on the highest-quality setting (14MP+, which Nikon denotes as “print quality”) – the images produced at this setting are around 6MB apiece.

The camera has a special flash mode for nighttime pictures and it does make a huge difference. Pictures taken at night or in a dark location using this mode are much less washed-out and grainy than I am used to. Also included are the fairly standard steadiness correction and red-eye reduction.

All in all I am impressed with the camera, especially given the price. It is fairly easy to learn to use, especially if you are like me and only want a point and shoot camera, but does have many options to tweak if you wish.

The only downside is that the buttons to switch between modes (picture, video, display) aren’t always immediately responsive, and since you enter and exit video mode with a button on the back of the camera the last second of video is shaky unless you have a very steady hand.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ35 12 1MP Digital Camera with 18x POWER Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 7 inch LCD

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 02:08:53 +0000

Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ35 12 1MP Digital Camera with 18x POWER Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2 7 inch LCD

The FZ35 records HD movies with 1280 x 720-pixel resolution. It uses the AVCHD Lite format to achieve higher image quality while storing less data than the conventional Motion JPEG. Plus, the FZ35 is equipped with an HDMI output terminal for direct transmission of digital image and sound signals.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Really nice camera, but movie editing needs improving
I have been taking pictures for about 45 or more years and this is my third digital camera, including my wife’s camera. Most of what I like to take is telephoto and macros and this camera is great at both. I have some pictures uploaded of some small white flowers on the back of my fence. They come out very clear. If the slight wind would cooperate, I could do better on some of the shots I took, but I tend to take a dozen to get one good shot anyway.

I can’t add too much more to what has already been said, so I will talk about the one point I think it could be improved. Editing movies. Although no digital camera can compare to a dedicated digital camcorder, they do come out rather well. What my complaint is about is the editing. There are two modes to shoot in. AVCHD Lite and MOTION JPEG. The AVCHD can be played on your big screen TV, although I cannot on mine, maybe not compatible with Samsung TV’s, I don’t know, but my bigger complaint is it cannot be edited on the camera, as my wife’s small Cannon camera can. It can be edited on the computer when uploaded, but then cannot be saved to your hard drive, but it can only be saved to a DVD disc. The JPEG version cannot be edited, but can be saved on to the computer, as easily as it does with my other small cameras. I don’t have any movie editing software on my PC except Windows Movie Maker, which does well for me if I upload movies from my wife’s Cannon, but not this camera, nor my other, the Nikon coolpix. If you shoot a movie in AVCHD mode, and edit it on your PC, you have to keep it on the camera memory chip and wait until you can upload it to a DVD disc. To me this is frustrating. So, depending on what you want to do with the movie you take, you need to be sure which mode you have it in before shooting.

5 Stars Fantastic still and HD camera with loads of manual settings to tweak!
This camera replaces my 5 year old kodak megazoom digital camera (great camera, but after breaking the lens while almost falling off a cliff in Kauai… it never worked the same). I’ve been borrowing my parent’s DSLR camera because the ability to set aperture, shutter speed, and focus (among other reasons), but I got tired of lugging around the large camera plus all the lenses needed to get great nature shots. I wanted something that was more portable but also offered good picture quality, zoom, manual focus, manual settings, and macro functions. I found it here with the FZ35. It’s a great camera that can take very high quality pictures- almost as good as my parents dslr (pentax k50?), but much more portable and less expensive. The other added bonus is the hd video function that you cannot do with most dslrs. Not only is the movie quality excellent, but you’re also able to zoom the complete optical range (18x), use manual settings, including aperture, shutter, and focus and you can even affix lens filters without needing adapters (46mm). I was in a toss up between the Canon and Panasonic- Panasonic won because it’s lighter, smaller, has a larger sensor, lens threading without needing an adapter, and about 100 bucks cheaper. I’m very happy with my purchase and it was worth the 3 week wait (backordered on amazon).

5 Stars A very good everyday shooter
I’ve only had this product a short time. But what I know is that with what time I’ve had with this camera, I have been very pleased with the picture quality. One thing I had do is set the camera to “P” mode as the Auto function is setting the ISO way too high. Having said that, however, the pictures that it produced with iA are still very acceptable, even at high ISO.

The camera and its multitude of functions are very easy to learn, if, and I say “If” you already have a lot of knowledge with photography. This kind of camera is overkill for my wife, who really is just a Point and Shoot type of person, but the camera is perfect for me. It’s also a tad small on my hand, the Canon SX20 IS is bigger and heavier, if you prefer that kind of feature of your camera.

Unlike many of the reviewers here, I am a Canon loyalist. However, when comparing this camera with the SX20, aside from the additional bells and whistles the Canon has, there is not much difference in picture quality. And even though I am a photography geek, I am not a pixel peeper, so what happens at 100% magnification when looking at the picture on your computer monitor, doesn’t matter much to me. If I can get a good 4×6 or 5×7 with this camera, I am happy. And this camera proved very capable of that. I will actually try printing a 13×19 and see what that would look like. So in this case, price really was the deciding factor in my decision to purchase this camera.

As an everyday type of camera, this is perfect. I can only comment on the pictures and ease of use at this time. I cannot say anything about the video as I have not had time to use it.

PS. The only reason I kept referring to the Canon SX20 IS is because that is the camera that is compared the most with the FZ35.

5 Stars Panasonic -Reviews.
Excellant quality – camera – Works well out of the Box – Kids look Great and playing soccer and Macro works well also, i got rid of the bulky cameras for one that has everything i am doing – macro, presets, Video – they sound great. – i was skepitical but the price was right and the camera works well – the kids like it to.

5 Stars What a camera
I am by no means a professional. I have a point and click 2.0 MP camera that is about 8 years old. Definitely time for an upgrade. I wanted a camera that takes great pictures with ease allowing me to focus on the actual picture. I also wanted a camera that I can grow with, tinker with and change settings. Well in this price range it was a toss up between this and the Canon, both great cameras from the reviews I read. Both cameras had their advantages and disadvantages, however for what I needed, the panasonic was the choice for me. This camera takes awesome pictures, it really excells at outdoor photography I am truly amazed at the clarity and vibrancy of colors. Indoors it does well too. I have not used the video function but I’m sure there will be no complaints there. The battery life is remarkably long considering the camera that im used to with 4 AA batteries. I prefer the battery pack over AA batteries. Charging takes about 1.5-2.0 hours not bad. This camera is fun and easy to use and I recommend it. You will want to get a camera bag to protect and carry the camera. Most of the bags out there are over priced, too big too small or lame. I came across m rock and the quality is supperb. The bag fits my camera and misc stuff perfectly it is stylish, versitle and the owner was very prompt with questions (we are talking within the day between 12/20-12/29) Definitely check out MRock camera bags.

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