Submitted by
Karl
a Intermediate
from Mt. Laurel, NJ, USA
Date Reviewed: January 15, 2001
Strengths: The size and ability of this camera is a huge reward for the seemingly high price. I picked this camera up off the net for $600, and that had an almost complete package. The movies are perfect for websites, and the resolution is unmatched at 7 megapixels. If you are a close-up fanatic this camera can get 1 cm away.
Weaknesses: Movie mode has no zoom and little value, out side the net, due to its poor resolution. Lens placed in prime location for touching, and no guard protects against that (not counting lens cap, but when shooting). USB connection not always reading camera. It can force me to restart my computer. No cards included with camera.
Bottom Line:
This camera, while it has a few weak points, the style, ability, and image quality make up for the small imperfections. All of the complaints that I have read or things I have noticed are a pleasure to deal with, in comparison with the problems of other digital cameras. Plus the full options that are avalible cause the sides of my mouth to curle to a smile. The body and 7 mp resolution will make all other photographers jealous.
Similar Products Used: Cool Pix 990, Kodak DC 120, Kodak 290, kodak 4800
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Nigel
a Expert
from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date Reviewed: January 5, 2001
Strengths: Excellent picture quality, compact size and the awesome set of features make this camera hard to pass.
The Lithium Ion battery is excellent, easily powerfull enough to fill 2 64mb cards.
Weaknesses: The actual driver software is not nearly as good as that of Canon or Sony although it does work ok, big improvements could be made.
8mb of onboard memory is not nearly enough.
As this is a quite expensive camera it should be sold with at least an AC adapter and minimum of 16mb memory card.
The square shaped lens does not accomodate filters or protective UV lens.
The shutter time lag is fairly long and taking action shots is hit and miss at best.
Bottom Line:
This is the 5th and best digital camera I've owned. The picture quality especially in pro mode is exceptional, easily the best of any digital camera I've seen. The movie mode, which at first I considered a gimic,is quite good and is often used, although the special AVI format does not play through windows media player and needs QT4.
This camera is not without its shortfalls such as shutter lag and fairly slow warm up time but these are minor issues and overall this is an excellent camera I can highly recommend.
Submitted by
Russell Williams
a Expert
from Torrance, CA , USA
Date Reviewed: October 6, 2000
Strengths: Easy to undertand controls and setup. Appealing options and beyond. Intuitive and straightforward. Lots of goodies included, and top of the line performance, with every option under the sun. Software package is over the top and more, lots of applications.
Weaknesses: Battery is short lived, but once I got the AC Adaptor, that helped. Uploading takes a lot of battery, so it helps to have it plugged in. Small viewfinder, and kind of annoying delay between shots, it's thinking I guess.
Bottom Line:
This camera is the bomb! All the bells and whistles, and more. Excellent imagery, and versatility, with intuitive easy to use integrated toggle command, everything at one spot and very easy to use. Can switch resolutions by one button, and all other controls as easy. Has a 360 degree panaroma setting, jpeg video w/voice, special effects, and lots of cords to use for every monitoring situation. From serial port, s-vhs, to usb. Very light piece of equipment wich is easy to maneuver. View port a little small to access in one try, but the really cool swivel 3" Color LCD is awesome, and makes up for that one shortcoming. Uploading software very easy to use, quick to upload pics and loaded right up on Win2K even! And a very large software package included, like 8 different programs, which all work excellent. Highly recommend this camera to beginner to novice. Recommend getting a second battery and ac adapter not included. And also available as an option is a groovy little remote to use when your peeping on someone, :}~
