Great Camera but think before you buy

I'm fairly new to Photography but have recently upgraded from a Canon S3 IS to the Nikon D80 and am I glad I did so? You bet. The D80 can produce very high quality images, it's sturdy and well built and the controls are very sensibly placed. The rear LCD is of very good quality and a good size and the menu system is easy to use and offers a huge number of options to enable you to set the camera up just how you like it. So if you are an enthusiast then this camera should be on you short list but if you just want to take good pictures without becoming too serious then look at the D40 or D40+.

Hindsight is a great thing and there are a couple of points that I would have taken into account had I known better.

My limited experience of Canon cameras indicates that their images are generally sharper straight out of a camera than that of the D80. Also the saturation of colours straight out of a Canon is more intense than out of the D80. So if in general you want to lessen the editing burden so that you can bang out some great snaps then a Canon may make more sense.

One of the D80s advantages is its low noise levels at high sensitivities so if you are going to take a lot of photos in low light conditions or use the lower price and hence slow telephoto lenses than it may have the edge over competitors.

Any vibration reduction resides within the Nikon lenses and not within the D80 body, whereas for Canon cameras it sits within the camera body. This means that if you intend to buy third party lenses (I have a Sigma 50 -500) then you may get some vibration reduction for free from a Canon but not from a Nikon but please check this before you buy. This smacks of Nikon locking people into buying their lenses.

I am becoming aware that post processing is a great leveller when it comes to quality of images, especially if you shoot in RAW format. Therefore I would now tend to concentrate more on purchase cost, usability, reliability and cost of accessories than 'out of the camera' image quality as I don't think there is much in it. So before you buy the camera body look at the price of the accessories and lenses that you will buy with it, and in the future. Also try to handle the cameras on your short list to see which"feels" right for you.

Finally if you are still unsure if a full Digital SLR is for you then in my opinion my Canon S3 IS digital camera takes as good, if not better Jpeg images straight from the camera (even after playing with the D80's jpeg image quality) and its a third of the price of a standard D80 set up!. Therefore if you're not going to devote a lot of time to editing your images it may be worth considering a super zoom or digital prosumer model. And don't forget you can spend the money you have saved to purchase lens converters to give you more telephoto, macro and wide angle capabilities and all for less than the price of a basic D80 lens and camera bundle.

So in conclusion the D80 is a great camera, however if you require a range of lenses such as wide angle, macro and especially telephoto and you haven't robbed a bank recently then you will probably be looking at third party lenses and it may be that a Canon camera makes more sense. If you already have Nikon lenses then stick with a D80. Otherwise if you think that you may upgrade from the D80 level to a semi pro camera then it is likely that you may want to have the flexibility to choose from a range of manufacturers lenses and hence it could mean again that a Canon with its on board vibration reduction makes sense.

Whatever choice you make if you end up with the D80 you won't be disappointed.

One last piece of advice, some of the online companies are importing kit that does not have a manufacturer's warranty so make sure that if this is the case that you get a warranty from the supplier. Happy snapping.

Great Wide-Angled Compact Camera

My mother recently decided to dabble in the digital camera field, and after a bit of deliberation vs the Canon A720IS, she decided to go for this Nikon P50.

I use a Nikon D40 for anything serious and I find in general, the menu system and layout of their cameras is unbeatable. My sister uses a Canon EOS400D and begs to differ. It seems Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus etc. take just as good pictures at the same price-bracket; the digital camera market has reached a point where even the cheaper brand name cameras can still capture some great shots for the average eye. As such, when I recommended the Nikon P50/P60, my sister recommended the Canon A720IS.

For my mother's purposes all she required was an easy-to use point-and-shoot, preferably with a viewfinder.

The main appeal of this over the Canon she found was the wide-angle lens and the superior build quality (the Canon having a 'cheap' plastic feel) and the vibration reduction feature. On this model the VR is software-based (as opposed to built into the lens/sensor), but it works surprisingly well; low light shots from a moving car came out surprisingly crisp.

She is very happy with her purchase. Personally I'm waiting to get my hands on the new Nikon P60 for use as a portable compact, or even the P5100. The similarities in specifications between the P60 and the Canon A720IS are almost too close to call; ultimately make your choice on what feels right, both to handle and use and you can't go too far wrong in today's market.

Great camera for the money.

I bought this camera for my wife to replace the Olympus digital camera that our 4-year old daughter dropped.

I won't give any sort of detailed review about the camera as I haven't really used it myself but the photographs that my wife has taken are really very good with great colours and detail. Close-up photos are particularly impressive with excellent detail and no blurring. In fact the photographs produced by this camera are more-or-less as good in terms of detail, focus and colour as those from my Canon Ixus 860 IS which cost nearly 3 times as much.

Nuff said really.

Excellent.

My parents bought me this camera for Christmas - for a bargain price of £45 from ASDA, I might add - along with a 2GB memory card, and I am so pleased with it. It goes everywhere with me - it's very light and handy for travel, fitting easily into my handbag and slightly less easily into my pockets. It comes with a strap, which is excellent if, like me, things are prone to leaping unexpectedly from your hands, and is really easy to use on the Auto setting to take quick snaps of your daily adventures, and it's also very simple to change flash settings, with a nice setting for preventing red-eye - handy for those blue-eyed people you know. :)

For those more camera-savvy who are interested in more high-tech photography, the scene settings are quite varied, with settings for snow scenes, action shots, self portraits and many more. It also has a good macro setting for taking close-up photographs, as well as a very capbable auto-focus with center-focus and multi-focus settings which I've found help to take clear, sharp pictures whatever the subject.

It also features a fairly decent capability for taking videos - although a high-capacity memory card is recommended for those who do want to make a lot of use out of the video function, as they take up a lot of space. Videos have to be uploaded to a computer in order to play sound and I haven't yet previewed any videos on my computer, but the image playback on the camera screen is of quite a good quality and it's extremely simple to take a video with the camera; simply switch the setting to 'video' and then press the shutter button to record.

The camera also features the ability to crop photos and 'One Touch technology', which is a really simple photo-editor built into the camera. It's not quite Photoshop, and it doesn't work very well on all pictures, but some pictures can be made to look much brighter and clearer with just a few button presses.

It's also really easy to review the pictures you have taken (simple press the 'review' button!), and the camera displays both how many picutres you have taken (via a photo number in the top corner of each photograph) and how many you have left to fit onto your memory card, so you'll never run out of space without warning. With the Easychare software for your computer you can easily arrange your photos into albums both on your computer and on your camera.

Another extremely helpful feature is the Help/Information button - for every option on all of the camera's different menus, you simply have to press this button and it tells you exactly what each option does. It's just like having a manual built into your camera, and far easier than having to check the index of a paper manual whenever you get a bit lost while you're learning how your camera works.

I've noticed that some people find the camera's lack of an integral battery and chrager to be a slight drawback, but I disagree. Instead of your camera having to be out of action while it charges, you simply have to put new batteries in. However, with regular AA batteries you might find this to be a very expensive venture - I recommend instead buying two Kodak Ni-MH AA rechargable battery packs and a charger for them. I've found that these batteries have a comparatively long life (around 4-7 days, depending on on frequency of use) for each charge, and while one set is recharging you can use the other set.

All in all, so far I have found it to be an excellent camera choice, whether for a beginner or an experienced photographer. It's by far worth more than the bargain sale price that my parents purchased it for, and is even worth paying more for it than it's priced here on Amazon. I have no doubt that there are better cameras out there, but if you're not willing or able to spend hundreds of pounds then I truly recommend this camera - you'll be hard-pressed to find another camera of its calibre for less than £100.

Awesome!

Very nice camera indeed.

Problem that other reviewer had is not on mine at all, the only possible thing is in bright light conditions, when you auto focus there is a bright line across the LCD but it does not affect shooting whatsoever. Been able to capture some stunning sunsets with this beast as well as using it's very nice macro function. Shots are clear and great quality, the new dial system on here makes life so much easier than having to have a sperate dial to choose which shoot mode you want, its all in one place! If you're looking for a camera with looks, quality of image, and is easy to use, this is the one you want.

More pricey than some point and shoots but it's worth every penny!

I Love my Lumix!

This is a great little camera...i've had my FX35 for a few weeks now and have thoroughly enjoyed taking photo's with it! The 25mm wide angle lens is brilliant...when im out with a bunch of my girls and we want a group photo its so easy to fit us all in and no-one gets chopped off the sides! The IA mode makes taking great quality photo's really easy...and its nice and compact which means it fits it my handbag perfectly!!
Highly recommended!!

Disappointing

I purchased this camera to replace my Canon PowerShot A40 (only 2 megapixels). Its a good job I held on to my Canon until I'd tested the Vivitar because to put it plainly, its awful. I used both cameras to take photos of the same things like, a bowl of fruit, the garden, my baby daughter. The Vivitar was a distant second on all counts. With the bowl of fruit it took 8 presses of the autofocus before it was vaguely accurate and I had placed the fruit bowl in good light. The LCD monitor is poor quality and flickers between rich and faded colouring. This camera is on offer for a reason, don't waste your money.

Good pocket digital camera

No problems with delivery or instructions as another reviewer had. Great little camera. Not 5 stars though because (i) I miss an eye viewer, and (2) it needs its own USB lead (supplied) as the fitting to camera is not standard- MORE LEADS TO KEEP SAFE!
Hey Fuji - why not go standard? The phone industry is attempting to standardise chargers. We have standard USB cable fittings. Why be different and awkward?

BRILLIANT BUT FLAWED!

I own several different cameras and went for the IXUS 960 IS mainly because of excellent reviews ( I ACTUALLY PRODUCED VERY CLEAR DETAILED IMAGES ON 36" X 36" PRINTS FROM THE 960-THAT SOME SLR'S ONLY ASPIRE TO) and its obvious qualification for streetwise/ spontaneous use. However, had I tried 'hands on' before purchase I might have decided differently Why?....

For a camera of this quality, a simple design flaw such as the battery/memory chip cover coming open every time I gasp that end of the camera and slide it from my pocket, is not good enough. It's not broken, simply there is no lock on the slider...think again canon. The Simple fix I use... put small piece of 'Blutack' or similar on the interior of the battery cover slider where the a/c port accessory hole is found.
MINUS ONE STAR

Another negative is the Titanium body. It is very slippy and exceptionally difficult to hold, especially in cold weather with dry hands. This is all compounded by the swept/fluted wedge shape of the body, opposite the controls - it's the camera equivalent of a bar of soap. The camera strap is a necessity, not an option, if you want to keep this otherwise excellent camera away from the ground. My fix is to stick a rubber grip tape on the front of the camera body.
MINUS ANOTHER STAR

Buy a second battery and the largest memory chip you can afford. Canon's supplied 32mb (YES THAT'S MB NOT GB)is an insult to any photographers intelligence.

In a nutshell...

Fast street-wise high definition sharpshooter you really have to get to grips with.

Great rugged camera

Bought the camera a couple of weeks ago as a replacement for a previous rugged olympus camera that was stolen from my wife during a trip to London. Very impressed with the upgrade. All seems good so far, although I haven't tested it in the water yet. Higher resolution, bigger screen, better controls than the one I had and now with the ability to use micro SD cards. I bought a 6GB san disk card for less than the XD and it allows me to standardise on the SD standard for all my cameras, which is great. Thing I love most about the camera is the fact that (other than diving) you just can take it anywhere without worrying about rain or a few knocks. The previous one I used whilst kayaking all the time and it used to just sit in the front of my bouyancy aid taking the knocks and the swims. The only negative thing I would have to say is the annoying fact that olympus insists on disabiling some of the camera function (panorama only I think) unless you use the official olympus XD card as a way of making a few more quid out of people, but you can take the photos on the camera and stitch them on they computer instead so no big loss. Overall a great camera that you don't have to think twice about taking with you.

Fantastic camera, slow SDHC card with this bundle

For a pocket camera, the features and results of this camera are astonishing. And for a camera that doesn't actually have a manual mode, it sure has a surprising number of options that give you extensive control over exposure and behaviour.
My gripe is not with the camera, but with this particular bundle. Specifically, the Inov8 4-Gbyte Class 6 SDHC card supplied with this bundle is too slow for the camera. When recording video in wide-screen HD mode (one of the main reasons for buying a TZ5 over a TZ4), you've got between 5 and 50 seconds until recording stops because the card can't keep up. Very disappointing. The card can keep up with 848x480 video recording, but not 1280x720 (HD).
As there's no telling what kind of crappy SDHC card you'll get in a bundle, if you want a TZ5 then I suggest you buy the camera alone and then find the fastest SDHC card you can as a separate purchase. You'll have to do that anyway to get the most out of the camera.

Well... i liked it

Yes. This thing eats batteries like a b*tch, but that really didnt bother me, because this little thing comes with a viewing window, so you dont need to use the screen, which is what drain all the power.

Make sure you only use 2700 MAH batteries, or brand new 2500's with it otherwise, even with the screen off you'll have 60 second flash charge times!!!

Once i got the right batteries for it, and PLENTY of them, you really cant not help but love this camera. It comes with shutter speed, and aperture controlls, which is very good for the sort of photo you want to get absolutely perfect.

I wouldnt recomend this camera for"spur of the moment" shots though, just becasue of its legnthy flash charge times, but thius camera ticks allot of my boxes.

Viewing window
apature and shutter speed controll
8 megapixel
3X zoom
Cheap!

A great camera for the money

I am so impressed, great quality pictures, easy to use, and lots of fetures if you want to use something other than auto mode"

If you are unsure of what to go for, you will not go wrong with one of these.

I love this camera!

I really do! My sister gave me her old Fujifilm camera when she got this one (in a different colour) and it was like a brick- so naturally I wanted one like hers, and I'm so glad I bought it. Best £100 I've spent in ages.

The camera takes a fantastic picture, and uses software that locates faces and modifies the light around them to improve picture quality and remove red eye. The finish is great- it's polished and feels smooth in your hands. The camera turns on by sliding open the lens and the whole thing is as easy to use as that.

Other than the colour and the metallic finish, what I really like is the battery. No more hunting around for triple AAA's, this camera includes a battery more like you would have in your mobile phone, which you remove to charge separately.

The camera comes with everything you need- the right leads and cables, a wrist tag to hold it with- except a case. You'll want one to stop it getting scratched up. The only other thing you might need is a memory card, but it does already have internal memory, so it really depends on how much space you need.

All in all a great looking camera, easy to use, fantastic picture, and a price you can't argue with! Five stars.