With its well-sculpted, rubberised grip and another nicely contoured and rubberised area for your thumb, the S8000fd is more comfortable to hold than some megazooms.

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Where the DMC LZ7 is different from many digital cameras is that it offers the extra zoom power while remaining an easy to use, point and shoot digital camera.

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the LZ7 includes Intelligent Image Stabilization, a new feature that incorporates Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Intelligent ISO Control that adjusts ISO for subject movement in low light conditions.

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By J. F. Davis (Los Angeles)

I bought this camera because the specs listed @ 85% of what I want in an *instant* camera. I need to be able to whip it out and take pictures, and I’d like to be able to give it to my wife and just say “here”. For the price, the 7.1 megapixel rating is good, the zoom is good, and the availability of cards and batteries are excellent. BTW, my previous pocket sized “point and shoot” cameras have been a Nikon EM and a Zeiss Nettar; I needed something I could have “instant” pictures with.

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New models: Sony HDR-SR12 or Cannon HV30… which is best?—db

Sony and Cannon are coming out with new cameras this winter; which camera do you think would grab better stills from the video footage, the Sony HDR-SR12, or the Cannon HV30 based on their description ?

Sony HDR-SR12 – - “pull 2.1 Megapixel photos from video footage while in playback mode, and 3 Megapixel photos from footage using the bundled Picture Motion Browser software on a compatible PC.”

Cannon HV30 - 30P progressive frame shooting mode. “When shot at 30P progressive frames, you have the ability to frame-grab great photo stills right from their video.”

Well HD video is 1920×1080 (and actually HDV is only 1440×1080), so taking stills from video will be limited to 2MP (but really only about 1.5MP at best), from either camera.

As Canon says, if you shoot 30P then you won’t have to worry about interlacing, which helps with vertical detail. Based on the earlier Sonys I’m guessing the SR12 is 60i only, which means it has to deinterlace the video to store a still frame, and that means losing quality.

Otherwise, I think the two cameras will be quite similar in still pic capability, that is to say, equally bad (much worse than a $150 digital camera). In still frame mode they will both be ok, but due to the technical requirements of how video sensors are made, they will never approach the quality of a cheaper digicam.
—jettobla…

Any suggestions for what external mic I should buy for my Canon XL2?—Brian B

I have acquired a Canon XL2 camcorder for making short films and the like. I’d like to buy a good external mic for recording dialogue and so on, but can’t afford to spend more than about £250-£300 tops, including windshield, pole etc (although I’m happy to buy 2nd hand).

What would people suggest is the best all-round option open to me? Continue Reading »

Tele zoom or macro zoom?—32 characters!!

so i recently purchased a Canon Rebel XTi digital EOS camera with the 18-55 mm lens

i want to be able to take great clear photos from afar
what zoom lens should i look for? Continue Reading »

What’s the difference between a Canon Powershot and IXUS?—girl23

it’s really hard deciding which Canon camera to buy since i don’t know the difference Continue Reading »

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 or Canon Powershot S5IS?—AGK

Which is your pick? They have very similar specs but I must say I like the manual zoom wheel on the FZ30, it gives it an SLR feel and it’s very useful. Also the FZ30 can shoot in RAW (Not very important if you don’t do much post processing but still nice to have). Continue Reading »

Sony DSC-T70 Versus Sony DSC-T200?—steve b

Who owns one of these great cameras?

I purchased the Sony DSC-T70 yesterday and I’m really enjoying using it! There is noise in the LCD in low light pictures that turn out better after the shot has been taken.. MACRO is effing amazing!!

Is it worth the extra $140 to upgrade to the T200 so i could get the 3.5″ screen and 5x zoom and _______ ? What else is different? Should I go for the upgrade? ..Kinda want to Continue Reading »