Camera Tripod Reviews

Image taken on 2008-09-22 10:54:45 by Sebastian Bergmann.

Palm Sized Point and Shoot 5MP Digicam

Main functions: Digital Camera; still pictures and video Camera Color: Metallic Silver LCD screen: 2 Inch TFT Storage media: Internal: 32MB External: SD/MMC Card (2GB Max)

China Manufacturer Specifications

Main functions: Digital Camera; still pictures and video
Camera Color: Metallic Silver
LCD screen: 2 Inch TFT
Storage media:
Internal: 32MB
External: SD/MMC Card (2GB Max)
Formats:
Still Image: JPEG
Video: AVI
Shutter: 1/10 ~ 1/1000 sec
Imaging sensor: Auto
Aperture: F=3.0
Focus range:
- Normal: 1.2M to infinity
- Macro: 50cm to 1.2M
Imaging sensor: Auto
Power supply: x2 AAA batteries (not included)
PC interface: USB
Languages – English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (Simplified)
Auto OFF: YES – 1 minute, 3 minute, 5 minute, none
Banding: YES – 50Hz or 60HZ
USB Connection Options: PC Cam, Disk Drive, Printer
System: Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, NT, XP, Vista (32 bit version only)
Dimension: 88mm x 57mm x 23mm (W x H x D)
Manufacturer Ref.: RH995QMY93QR
Catalog Ref.: Digital Camera, Digicam, PC Web Camera, Pocket Digital Camera and Camcorder

Still Camera:
- Resolution: 12MP/8MP (Interpolation), 5MP (Native), 3MP, 2MP. 1.3MP, VGA (.3MP)
- Image Quality (compression): Fine, Standard, Economy
- Zoom: x4 Digital
- Self timer: YES – 10 seconds, 15 seconds, OFF
- Flash: Auto, Force, OFF
- Scene Modes: Portrait, Landscape, Night, Sport, Backlight, Auto
- EV: +2 to -2 (in 1/3 steps)
- White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent
- ISO: Auto, 100, 200
- Sharpness: Hard, Normal, Soft
- Time Stamp: YES – OFF or ON option
- Preview: YES – OFF or ON option
- Burst: YES – OFF or ON option
- Other Effects: Color, Saturation
Video Camera:
- Resolution: VGA – 640×480, QVGA – 320×240
- Zoom: x4 Digital
- EV: +2 to -2 (in 1/3 steps)
- White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent
Camera Control Buttons:
- ON/OFF button
- Shutter/OK button
- Zoom rocker
- Macro switch
- Navigation up/down/left/right
- Menu
- Flash
- Mini-USB Slot
- Tripod Stand Slot
- Strap Eyelit
Other Features:

PC camera mode – resolution can be either VGA (640×480) or QVGA (320×240)
Scene modes including portrait and landscape shots
Sequence Shot: 3 Shot Burst in 2 Seconds
PictBridge Compatible – print directly to your printer
We recommend the use of rechargeable AAA batteries
Package Contents:

Model CVSE-712-Silver Digital Camera
Mini-USB to USB cable
Wrist Strap
Camera Pouch
Software CD

wholesale Palm Sized Point and Shoot 5MP Digicam

from http://www.agoodic.com/viewproduct.asp?/Palm_Sized_Point_and_Shoot_5MP_Digicam.htm

A camera technician explains

This is not the usual camera test report, which ends up with a list of camera recommendations to buy. Rather, I would like to give you camera advice and the tools you need to choose your next digital camera today and in five years from now. Let’s face it, there are hundreds of different cameras to choose from and the manufacturers release new models every month. To make matters worse, most retailers stock different models, which makes price comparison almost impossible. 
When it comes to choosing a new digital camera, you want to have knowledge on this subject, which can be applied as a foundation, before you start choosing brands and models.

extendable lens                          shook and watter proof             inbuilt lens

Choose the type of camera first!
It happens all the time – I see it almost every day. People come and see me with faulty point and shoot digital cameras, which have self induced faults. The good news is, that most of these expensive problems could have been avoided, when you had chosen the right camera type, which fits your lifestyle, and had taken the right precautions of course. The bad news is, these faults are not covered under warranty and are often uneconomical to repair!

What is a self induced fault? Sand -, liquid- and shock damage

Sand damage can easily happen at the beach without realising it straight away. A couple of sand grains in the right spot can malfunction an extendable lens mechanism.
The most common liquid damaged cameras we have seen are affected by rainwater, beach and swimming pool and believe it or not, drink bottles stored in the camera bag.
Shock damage is a tricky subject, in particular when the camera is handled by multiple users.  Often it is not realised, as there are hardly any signs of damage on the outside housing of the camera, but the damage is done inside.

What is an uneconomical repair?
The most common symptoms, or let us say parts, which brake, are LCD displays and extendable lenses. LCD’s are made of glass and exposed often without any protection. Lenses are in most cases none serviceable items and need to be replaced as a whole unit, which is extremely expensive. Spare part prices can make up to 50% and more of the price you payed, when the camera was new! Given the price decline and the improved performance of new cameras, you can work out by yourself, were you want to spend your money.
What to look out for when choosing your new camera?
To get the most out of your investment, choose the type which suits your lifestyle best. Let’s put the earlier paragraph about self induced faults into consideration and assume we distinguish between 3 types of point and shoot cameras. Cameras with…

extendable lenses
inbuilt lenses
water and shockproof

If you have a personal preference for a camera with an extendable lens, you must take special care of it, to avoid any damage to the lens.
In case you have kids and multiple users, who might be a little rough with the handling of the camera, the best return on the investment is given with a water and shockproof camera. Personally I use a camera with an inbuilt lens, which hasn’t given me any problems whatsoever.
Accessories
Do you want to upgrade your camera with a newer model of the same brand and hoping to use your old accessories like battery or memory card? In most cases you can’t. Different physical shapes and electrical specifications make it impossible. 
Features
Now, we are talking purchase price. More megapixels and optical zoom is not all! Often specifications are pushed to the limit and performance is sacrificed. Let me explain: to take a good shot with a high megapixel and let’s say 10x optical zoom camera without tripod requires a lot computer power. Often it can take a few seconds of shutter lag and the results are still not satisfying. What I am saying is, to have a good performance/specification camera you have to pay the price and go for a semi-professional or DSLR camera. However, the most shots indoors are taken in wide-angle lens setting and outdoors you use the same, most cameras handle these shots without any issues.
The best insurance from disappointments is to test the camera by yourself under different light conditions and zoom settings.
Test reports
Make sure, the cameras tested are readily available and the test topics make sense and are relevant for you. See it as a guideline only.
What is a good brand?
This is hard to say from a repairer’s point of view, we only see the faulty ones. When looking underneath the brand badge and housing, it is almost impossible to see if a ‘brand name’ stands out with better workmanship. All  I can see is, that mechanical components seemed to be done more out of plastics and the way they have been put together looks and feels cheaper as it used to. All the improvements, which lead to better specifications, go into more powerful electronics and computer chips.  Therefore manufacturer costs can be reduced to a minimum. Today, it is not as expensive as it used to be to manufacture a relative good new camera or release new models, which explains the ever increasing flood of new cameras.
What the reliability of the different brands concerns, I couldn’t recommend one or the other, as long as you compare cameras in the same price bracket. A lot of spare parts have Chinese writing on the boxes, which makes me wonder, where there are coming from and where the cameras are manufactured.
Summary
Here you go – this is an opinion and camera advice from a repairer. I hope, it was helpful and has shed some light on this almost overwhelming task to purchase a new camera. There are certainly a few points above, which should be elaborated on. To get the full picture, visit me on my blog for a few more pieces of the puzzle.  At the end of the day you want to educate yourself to be able to apply more common sense to make better decisions.
It is not always the cheapest price what matters, you want to have the right type of camera and value for your money.

I’m going camping this summer and want to take pictures of the clear, milky way night sky. I know I need a tripod/stable, still base to take it. But do I need to get a DSLR camera, or can I settle for a point and shoot digital?

Also, do any point and shoots have a long exposure setting adjustor or at least a long exposure mode?

We need a camera that can do the following:
-Take night portraits and capture the background and the faces clearly .
-Night landscapes (both usually in city settings such as Rome, Paris, London, etc).
-Take fast pictures if possible. (If it could catch a running puppy in more detail than a blur that would be fantastic).
-Takes clear photos in macro setting, I photograph flowers and butterflies.
-Has a minimum 4x optical zoom. 5 would be better.
-Compact
-Image Stabilization if possible
-Fits a standard minitature camera tripod

We’re looking at the Fujifilm finepix F100fd. Is there any cameras that are competetive with this model? As long as it’s over 7 megapixels I don’t really care if the megapixels are competitive with this model.

Perfect for point and shoot, also pretty successful if one wants to go farther. Have used most of the settings for different types of pictures… trying to make a point and shoot work like a manual. Can use long shutter speed, and trick camera into quick shutter speed by using ISO3200 setting. Picture quality excellent for most lighting situations (obviously good at low light, only if using tripod or other stablizing mechanism.)

Only drawback seems to be that it does have a hard time balancing a bright sky with a dark foreground, however, focusing on something in the middle while continuing to hold button halfway, and then snapping picture helps to balance shot a little better. Would like more control over fast shutter speed (’kids and pets’ setting doesn’t seem to really work) however, for 2 bills, can’t complain at all! Great buy! Great battery life!

Canon SD1200IS – Very Happy With Purchase

We are very happy with this camera. It is very easy to use right out of the box. Most of the features can be figured out very quickly without using the booklet.

The pictures are great. The ‘green square’ focus feature is great. We like the feel. Be sure to get a camera case for it – the camera is almost too small.

Be careful though, the high res can easily make the pictures too big to upload or email.

Downside: The preview mode is hard to get switched out of the ‘picture-in-picture’ mode – we never could figure out why in the heck they put that totally useless “feature” in for. It can also be a little difficult to change the resolution – but you’ll eventually figure it out.

We compared this to a Nikon Coolpix that a friend had and we liked this one better.

Canon SD1200IS – Great Camera

I spent a week debating which camera to buy. Finally, I was torn between the Canon PowerShot A1100IS 12.1 MP and this camera, which has a smaller MP number and is more expensive. Logic would say to buy the one that is $129 with the higher MP. In the end I chose this one because its smaller and less-bulky. I tested both in-store and found this model to be more adequate to what I wanted. Basically, I wanted to take your everyday pictures but also needed a camera that can take good close-ups for selling some items on ebay and whatnot.

This camera does exactly that and a 10MP vs. a 12 MP is not that big a difference. This camera did exactly everything I wanted and exceeded my expectations. I’ve read some reviews on here where people complain about the noise it makes when focusing. I am not sure if these people have lives who would let such a minor thing deter them from buying a camera. It is louder than other cameras I’ve owned, but its not annoying by any means. In my mind this is a perfect camera. I am pleased and will probably have it for years unless the kids want to see how it looks in the toilet.

I am about to purchase the Panasonic Lumix Dmc-zs3 point & shoot digital camera on amazon, and I want to buy a tripod too. I want it to be inexpensive and can be different sizes but i want to make sure it won’t drop my camera or anything, will the mini flexible tripod work? I am just concerned that my camera won’t stay on it