S
Steve
Guest
I bought this camera for my kids; 5th and 7th grade. With a $50 rebate during the holidays it was $185 from Amazon. An amazing value at that price.
I have an OLY 2020Z and this camera shares NiMH batteries and Smartmedia cards. I use the same card reader, and don't use the software that came with it, nor the built-in USB. But for those without a card reader, the USB link is a great feature. Serial connections are so S-L-O-W!
The camera has a relatively slow lens, but the flash works well indoors. Using the red-eye reduction really drains the flash power for the shot, though. It works fine for close face shots, but remember to turn it off if shooting across the room. I was able to salvage red-eye low-flash shots in Photoshop by adjusting contrast and brightness up. I was surprised at how much detail was there, and how minimimal the low light artifacts were.
My kids have been using the camera on the max compression, 1280x960 mode. We are very happy with the image quality. This gives 50 shots on an 8mb card like the one included. And reviewing/deleting shots is easy, too. So in practice, you can end up with more good shots among that 50.
The LCD is bright and easy to use as a viewfinder. Maybe easier to see than the one on my OLY.
I bought a smal Tamrac case for the camera, and it has a small pouch in front. Great for an extra smartmedia card or batteries, though I have never had batteries run out.
I'm using 1550 mAH MAHA AAs, and the battery life is a non-issue. I've never even seen the low battery indicator. I simply recharge the batteries after the camera has been used... when it is convenient.
It is very simple to use. My kids learned the basics in an hour; turning it on, how to hold it, how to review and delets, how to download into the computer... My son took it to a hockey game that night.
I don't want to give the impression that this is only a kid's camera. This is a good 1.3 megapixel camera that is the equivalent of the best point and shoot film snapshot cameras. It is very light and compact; not Canon Elf small, but much smaller than my OLY. Yet it is easy to hold and use.
When top of the line cameras are going in the almost $1000 range, this is a wonderful value.
Problems:
If red-eye reduction is used, the remaining power of the flash is diminished considerably.
I have an OLY 2020Z and this camera shares NiMH batteries and Smartmedia cards. I use the same card reader, and don't use the software that came with it, nor the built-in USB. But for those without a card reader, the USB link is a great feature. Serial connections are so S-L-O-W!
The camera has a relatively slow lens, but the flash works well indoors. Using the red-eye reduction really drains the flash power for the shot, though. It works fine for close face shots, but remember to turn it off if shooting across the room. I was able to salvage red-eye low-flash shots in Photoshop by adjusting contrast and brightness up. I was surprised at how much detail was there, and how minimimal the low light artifacts were.
My kids have been using the camera on the max compression, 1280x960 mode. We are very happy with the image quality. This gives 50 shots on an 8mb card like the one included. And reviewing/deleting shots is easy, too. So in practice, you can end up with more good shots among that 50.
The LCD is bright and easy to use as a viewfinder. Maybe easier to see than the one on my OLY.
I bought a smal Tamrac case for the camera, and it has a small pouch in front. Great for an extra smartmedia card or batteries, though I have never had batteries run out.
I'm using 1550 mAH MAHA AAs, and the battery life is a non-issue. I've never even seen the low battery indicator. I simply recharge the batteries after the camera has been used... when it is convenient.
It is very simple to use. My kids learned the basics in an hour; turning it on, how to hold it, how to review and delets, how to download into the computer... My son took it to a hockey game that night.
I don't want to give the impression that this is only a kid's camera. This is a good 1.3 megapixel camera that is the equivalent of the best point and shoot film snapshot cameras. It is very light and compact; not Canon Elf small, but much smaller than my OLY. Yet it is easy to hold and use.
When top of the line cameras are going in the almost $1000 range, this is a wonderful value.
Problems:
If red-eye reduction is used, the remaining power of the flash is diminished considerably.
