The Little Book of Photography: For Digital and Film SLR Cameras
Customer Review: The best and most practical book on SLR cameras
Fits in my camera case, in the smallest pocket- no problem! Easy to read -the Mary Berry approach to SLR camers, straight to the point! It has all the information I couldn’t find on any of the more expensive books. An excellent, “how to”, “what does that do”, “what do I need to take better pictures” guide. Totally love it. It will be my constant companion wherever I go. Essential for SLRs digital or film.

Customer Review: Well worth the money
This book has been much more useful than some because of its conciseness and size. The photos are in black and white but this does not matter. The parts on portraits and landscapes are good. Well worth the money.

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Ex-Pro Battery charger - Ultra Pro Travel Charger - Simple design including In-Car Adatper, European and UK Plug. Charges in an average of 2 hours ! Automatic Cut-Off on completion of charge, Charge indication lights. Works on 110-240v, Travel anywhere and use with ease ! 1 Year Warranty.
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Born to Travel! Rugged and affordable, the Ex-Pro clam case offers the ultimate protection to your camera from bumps and scratches ! All camera cases come with a neck strap making it easier to carry around, the strap can also go around your shoulder making your camera more secure whilst out or use the belt clip carabina also included with your purchase. Colour of the product purchased is designated in the image and the title line. Wide range of other colours available.
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Nikon D60 (Focal Digital Camera Guides) (Focal Digital Camera Guides)

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Compact, feature rich camera with aluminium case in silver finish. 7.2 megapixels and 4x optical zoom lens. 2.5-inch screen, Face Detection, Smile Shutter and Super SteadyShot image stabilisation.Main Features:7.2 effective megapixels resolution for clear enlargements up to A3 size4x optical zoom Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lensSmile Shutter waits until the subject smiles before firing the shutter with adjustable smile threshold settingEnhanced Face Detection with high-speed subject tracking for clearer portrai…
Amazon Price: ?126.74
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• 8.0 Megapixel digital camera with 4x optical zoom, 2.5″ vari-angle LCD, DIGIC II and iSAPS, 9-point AiAF and FlexiZone AF/AE, 21 shooting modes and My Colors, High-speed ISO 800, 1cm Macro mode, safety zoom & digital tele-converter and 30fps VGA movies.
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Panasonic VDR-D310 DVD Camcorder (3CCD, 10 x optical,USB 2.0)
Customer Review: good quality video & stills
i purchased this camera for my daughter several weeks ago, having originally purchased a JVC GZ-MG175EK hard disk camera from comet at ?249, which was taken back as the video quality was very grainy with low resolution.I am quite impressed with this camera, as the quality of video footage is very good & stills seem comparable to a dedicated sony 2.3mp camera we own. The sound recording quality is also excellent. Given the asking price on amazon(includes free tripod & bag which are good quality) i would say this is a very good buy for those who want a quality camera at a budget price. this camera seems to retail at over ?400(argos ?439).

for more reviews i would look on amazon.com as this camera seems to have been in the US for a while. This is a dvd camera & you may have read about problems with transferring dvd files to pc for editing. This has been no problem for me with this camera. here’s how: all you do is plug the camera into your usb port.The camera now appears as a seperate drive. now just open the files within this drive till you see the vro file( this contains the mpeg2 movie).Now copy & paste the vro file to a folder of your choice on your pc. Next open windows media player & open the vro file. media player will state the file type is not recognised but select to play anyway. once the box is checked you will not be asked again.once the video plays, stop it & save the video with a name of your choice and the file ext name .mpeg. This can subsequently be recognized in most video editing software inc windows movie maker. as for down sides, the camera is a little heavier & more bulky than hard disc cams, but i find the weight better to keep the camera steady. there is no dedicated night vision facility but the camera video quality is good at even low light levels.

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Amazon Price: ?290.03
Customer Review: An Excellent, Competitively-Priced DigiCam
Having bought a Sony digital camera 2 years ago, and been very impressed with it, we were looking for a compact digital camcorder with a hard drive that would serve as a family machine, and also work in the classroom. This machine is proving to be an excellent buy for the following reasons: Amazon have it very competitively priced. At only 14oz (400grams approx) it is amazingly light and compact The 40 Gb Hard Drive allows over 20 hours of recording at standard quality (less at high quality). The battery gives you 2 hours of recording capability between charges. You do not have to mess around with DVDs in the camera - the hard drive is an ideal medium for recording, and it has Sony’s Pro mem stick capability which gives it great functionality with other Sony products and/or card readers in your PC. Full USB connectivity to your PC/Laptop - and SCART connectivity to the TV This 55 model is a better buy, and worth the few extra pounds, than the 35 for a number of reasons: 10Gb more hard drive space; a docking station which allows recharge, DVD burn, via USB to your PC, and quick link to your TV for viewing; and a remote control for the cam - excellent and useful accessories; and finally, 1 Megapixel compared with 0.8 Mp on the 35. The screen is clear, and the touch menu system is easy to use. It has a robust carrying strap, and just feels well-made - having said that a carry case is always a good investment for such a piece of kit! I am no technical expert, but this is a great-priced and intuitive digicam, with lots of great features. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: Disappointed
This is a great little (4-star) camera but for one thing — the quality of the mpeg-2 compressed video, hence the two stars. If you’re used to uncompressed video from the older generation of Sony mini-DV Handycams, which recorded to tape, you may find the image on SP (standard play setting) completely unacceptable. The best I can describe it is as a watercolour painting that’s had a wet sponge smeared over it. Those who are familiar with this kind of compression artefact will know what I mean. I guess it’s what one has to accept from the fact that 13 Gb of video — the size of an hour’s uncompressed mini-DV footage — is being squeezed down to about 2.7 Gb, which is how you get over 14 hours recording onto a 40 Gb hard disk. It’s a big hit, and I found it unacceptable. I mainly film nature subjects outdoors. If you’re filming buildings or indoor settings you may find the results more tolerable. My point of reference for this camera is an earlier one in the Handycam series — my trusty DCR-PC8 bought in 2003. This is a tape cassette machine that turns in beautiful video for the format with good colour and no compression artefacts. I couldn’t test the HQ (high-quality) setting on my Apple computer as Apple charge for the mpeg-2 codec you need to play movies from this camera, but I doubt HQ is very much better as 8 hours of video are still being squeezed down to about 5 Gb for a hour (from 13 Gb for an hour of uncompressed video). I looked at video made on the SP setting on a good-quality digital television — A/V connection is easy and you can view clips easily and quickly. The chapter format, whereby each clip appears as a picture icon, makes this delightfully simple. Just touch one and the clip plays. Another reason for not liking the output of this camera is the rather poor colour. Colours are not well saturated, i.e. they look faded compared to the scene you actually see with your eyes. The DCR-PC8 produces better colour. Apple Mac users can use this camera — make the USB connection and you see your (Quicktime) files by clicking on the hard disk icon that appears on the desktop. These can then be dragged to the computer’s hard disk. But you need the mpeg-2 codec and an up to date version of Quicktime to be able to play the movies. Plus points: the lens is amazing and at minimum zoom will focus from almost 0 mm to infinity. The zoom is 25x, and by adding the 2x digital zoom you get a fairly acceptable 50x zoom, which really pulls in faraway subjects. I was able to get a recognisable image of a Great Spotted Woodpecker at the top of a tree at least 80 yards away. A negative point is that fringing can be bad at high zooms. Also I noticed a pale “misty” band appearing in the lower quarter of the image at zoom settings over about 20x. I love the manual spot focus and metering: put the camera in manual mode, touch the part of the screen you want focused or metered and bingo. The only thing I wondered was whether — as you’d want — you can do the two things at the same time. It seems not — it’s either one or the other — so maybe Sony could implemement simultaneous spot focusing and metering on the next model. Silly not to have done it already. The zoom control is much better than on my old camcorder. No runaway zoom effects! Overall impression: Nice software on a beautifully engineered camcorder, as you’d expect from Sony. But for some this will be horribly ruined by the poor movie quality on the standard setting. I’d probably have kept mine if there’d been an uncompressed video setting, which would give 3 hours of recording on the 40 Gb hard disk. I guess my reservations about the SR55 apply to the range of SR hard-disk camcorders using mpeg-2 compression. So why such compromised quality? I guess this camcorder is aimed at people who want to take one on holiday without the hassle of tapes — it’d easily do up to two weeks worth before the hard disk was full. Or maybe just people who aren’t aware how much better quality you can get.
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The new SDR-S7 is a stylish model with an ultra-compact go-anywhere design. It offers a small size light weight and superb mobility made possible by SD/SDHC Memory Cards letting you shoot video with the same casual ease and carry-about convenience they enjoy with small digital still cameras. For occasions when in the past it may have seemed a bit awkward to pull out a camcorder such as on short outings or business trips the SDR-S7 is ideal..
Amazon Price: ?179.99
Used Price: ?161.67
Customer Review: Absolutely brilliant!
I bought a Canon camcorder only 6 months ago and never really got on with it as it was not really small enough to fit in a pocket and only recorded for 30 minutes onto mini dvds so I decided to get this tiny Panasonic and it is FANTASTIC! I took it to Sri Lanka on my holiday and with an 8gb SDHC memory stick I recorded for over 4 hours. It is so light and small that you can take it anywhere, it is up and running in seconds, and by the end of the holiday everyone in the group was taking the model number and wanting to get one too. It was smaller than most people’s digital still camera. The quality is great and with the digital zoom going up to 700x with a steady hand I could shoot fruit bats that the others could not even see at the top of a tree in the next field! You will definitely not regret buying one.
Customer Review: Great portable, compact camcorder
First camcorder that I’ve bought and it works great. Super compact size, very light and with an 8GB card you can get a couple of hours of storage. Unlike DV and tape camcorders, it is extremely simple to edit and merge clips on a PC or Mac. Most impressively it starts up in seconds and the sound is very good, even when zoomed in.
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Hitachi has revolutionised the world of digital camcorders with the DZ-BD7HE. This hybrid camcorder is equipped with a 30 GB hard drive and Blu-Ray burner for creating videos in Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels).The DZ-BD7HE has a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor, a multi-layer video lens and Full HD PICTURE MASTER image processing technology for capturing bright, colourful images that are full of detail.The DZ-BD7HE also has an HDMI connection and a USB 2.0 port for transferring footage to your computer or hooking it up to an HD TV. The DZ-BD7HE also has a direct saving and recording function for your convenience as you film. The DZ-BD7HE has many transition effects and different recording modes, so you can really give your creativity free rein.Ready to film in just 1 second, the DZ-BD7HE immortalises your best memories in high definition!
Amazon Price: ?797.34
Customer Review: blu ray camcorder
hi, i just bought the hitachi dzbd7he blu ray cam i cannot see how anyone can give this cam anything but 5 stars,ive tried every thing on it different light inside shops zoom burned to disc on cam and playback on tv is 1080p well pleased.i done what the other 2 done it is not the camcorders fault it is pixmania as they advertized wrong,the code was for hitachi 300 not the blu ray camcorder,as the 300 was ?245 the blu ray was ?835,it was a mix up on pixmania they was wrong.isent back 3 300 cams they would not send the blu ray i hope this clears up about the blu ray,again i am very pleased ps i dont work for hitachi thanks.
Customer Review: Amazing
I don’t see how anyone can give a bad rating because they had the wrong item delivered. What has that got to do with the camcorder? Anyway this is a great piece of kit, easy to use and takes good Blu Ray 1080 resolution. The menu is easy to navigate and instruction book easy to follow. Would thoroughly reccommend this item.
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Great design, feel and construction. Inner dimensions - 180mm x 140mm x 90mm.
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Canon MD101 Digital MiniDV Camcorder (35x Optical Zoom, 2.7″ Widescreen Colour LCD)
Widescreen-ready camcorder featuring: 30x optical zoom, easy shooting, intuitive navigation, true widescreen recording and 16:9 LCD and EVF, joystick controller, compact lightweight styling, microphone input and DIGIC DV.

Customer Review: a premiership camera for championship money
wasnt expecting too much for the price, just wanted something functional to take on my holiday. Got back, plugged into TV and was amazed at how crisp the footage is, both audio and video are v good quality. Also very robust in spite of the plasticy feel it got dropped a couple of times and also rained on.

Of course, camcorder connosseurs could probably pick holes in it but for Joe Bloggs like me was all I needed to record my holiday, no shaky images and battery life reasonable.

Customer Review: Very good camera
It does what it says, it’s easy to operate and you can connect an external microphone to it which you can’t do with 99% of cameras in the same price range.

Great value for money.

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Amazon Price: ?254.98
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Ex-Pro Battery charger - Ultra Pro Travel Charger - Simple design including In-Car Adatper, European and UK Plug. Charges in an average of 2 hours ! Automatic Cut-Off on completion of charge, Charge indication lights. Works on 110-240v, Travel anywhere and use with ease ! 1 Year Warranty.
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If you?re looking for a camcorder that makes taking and sharing your videos and pictures easy, then look no further than Sony?s DCR-DVD110! When you first start using the DCR-DVD110, you?ll see that filming directly onto DVD is a piece of cake, and you?ll be pleasantly surprised with results. Equipped with an 800,000-megapixel HAD CCD sensor and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, the DCR-DVD110 gives you everything you need to take realistic photos filled with colour. Its Super Steady Shot image stabiliser ensures your creations turn out perfectly each and every time because it compensates for camera shake, enabling you to concentrate on work in progress. When it comes to sound, the DCR-DVD110 has a microphone, which is great for Home Cinema systems, and a 40x optical zoom so you can capture sound more efficiently. It?s also as light as a feather and comfortable to handle and use, thanks to the handy features on the LCD touch screen. You can take perfect photos on the spur of the moment with this camcorder!
Amazon Price: ?178.05
Customer Review: Small & Perfectly Formed
Was looking for a relatively inexpensive and easy to use product for use on holiday etc. So plumped for the Sony Handycam. It does what is syas - extremely easy to use and pick up, first class recoding quality (although can be noisy - shot a small clip on a nice spring day in Inverness with a slight breeze and watching playback on TV it sounds like it was blowing a gale!!). My only criticism would be with the software supplied and instruction manual. I am not illiterate when it comes to computers but 3 months down the line, I still cannot get the Handycam to link to my pc and I have no idea how on earth one goes about editing footage with the software provided.
Customer Review: Sony Handicam DCR_DVD 110E
I cannot play back my movies on my Apple iMac, nor can I register the product. Sony confirm that the camera is not configured for Apple only Windows. I was not informed of this when I purchased the camera from Amazon just one month ago so I have a product I cannot use.
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Digital Camera Subscription Gift Pack ( 13 issues)

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You will receive one Power Rechargeable Battery. This Rechargeable Battery 100% fits and is properly matching !

Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery (originally packaged factory-new merchandise)

This high capacity rechargeable battery definitely disposes of more power than the original rechargeable battery included in delivery of the unit. This rechargeable battery can be used instead of the original rechargeable battery without any problems and can be recharged with the available standard power supply. The rechargeable battery is protected and secured against overcharge and short-circuits.

Features of this rechargeable battery:

• safety due to heat and overcharge protection
• real lithium-ion rechargeable battery, more power than the original rechargeable battery
• no memory effect ? recharge your battery whenever you like
• excellent fitting accuracy, certified quality merchandise, not an original accessory
• the standard battery charger can still be used

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Make your favorite memories with friends and family last forever with this adorable Disney Tinkerbell Pix Clicks Digital Camera! Store up to 24 pictures and choose which ones you want to keep. Then you can easily upload your photos into your computer for printing, CD storage and more! This fun camera includes Disney Pix photo editing software for a variety of options. Create awesome graphics to give your photos your own personal touch. You can even add Disney characters, stamps, frames and more!
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The Canon EOS 300D Digital Camera: All You Need to Know
Customer Review: Waste Of Money
I usually read reviews before purchasing. In this case I didn’t but wish I had. This is THE MOST pointless book I’ve ever bought. It should be aimed at children and called ‘My First Camera Book’. It only covers the blindingly obvious, stuff I’d sussed within an hour of first receiving my 300D. Avoid disappointment, this is CRAP.

Customer Review: a waste of paper
I agree 100% with the other two reviews - if only they were there before I wasted my money. It tells you vitually nothing that isn’t obvious just by looking at the camera let alone stuff that isn’t in the manual.

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Get wide angle shots in a compact camera with the Coolpix S600 from Nikon, thanks to its 4x Nikkor zoom with a 28 mm optical stabiliser lens! The camera also has an Expeed processor for high speed shots and a vibration reduction system to eliminate blur and compensate for camera shake. The 3-InCamera mode includes three technologies to guarantee sharp and bright pictures. The AF face priority and red-eye correction gives you beautiful portrait shots, while the D-Lighting function balances light in images to compensate for shadow. You can still take great shots even in low lighting conditions thanks to the camera’s high ISO of 3200. Whether you’re in the mountains, on the beach or in a darkened concert hall, the S600 can capture the scene and take the perfect shot in a matter of seconds.
Amazon Price: ?177.60
Customer Review: Nikon S600
I own a Nikon D70x and a D200 along with the usual collection of zoom, wide angle and macro lens. I needed something which would produce good quality images but that I could carry in my pocket. I bought the S600 on the day of it’s release and found it to be very good indeed. The lens is superb and once you find your way around the menus and use the correct set up the photos are very good. I am very pleased with the camera it does what it says on the packet.
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The AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens will complete your photographic equipment so you can take photos like a professional. This lens works with digital reflex cameras to capture pictures that are rich in colour and true to life. The AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens is an ED lens of 15 elements in 11 groups for precise close-ups and ultra-accurate focusing. Perfect for portrait photographers or for distant subjects, the AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens includes a VR function that allows for speeds that are 3 times slower than normal. This system works directly with the focus by diminishing vibrations and correcting the chromatic distortions that are caused by low light. Plus, the AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens benefits from an amazing focal range going from f/22-32 minimum to 2/4-5.6 maximum for optimum use. Including a ?Silent Wave Motor? for quick and quiet focusing, this lens can be used anywhere at any time, be it for weddings, holidays, or nature hikes. With the AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens, you?ll always bring back your favourite memories.
Amazon Price: ?142.32
Used Price: ?125.00
Customer Review: Superb Lens but beware incompetent carrier!
Lens is excellent - service provided by the seller Allcam first rate let down only by the staggering incompetence of the delivery courier Citylink who managed to attempt to deliver to the wrong address twice in succession. Now e-commerce is a fantastic retail development but it depends on the reliability of the carrier. This one, Citylink in Northern Ireland should be avoided at all costs - they are eyewateringly inept and their customer service is a disgrace. By all means buy online folks but avoid this courier service like the plague!
Customer Review: One long lens
I’ve come back to photography after twenty-five years away so I still think in 35mm terms. I have this lens on my D40 and was very surprised at its long range which will be quite enough for me to take cricket photos this summer. I have a bad tremor but seem to have no problem getting good results with this lens so the VR works. The autofocus is something else but manual focusing is easy enough. For the money I don’t think you could get any better but keep your 18-55mm to hand because I think you’ll need both.
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Ulead VideoStudio 10 (PC)
Customer Review: Very buggy
I purchased this and have tried it on 2 different PCs - it doesn’t work on either.

On an XP machine, I get an error message as soon as I start up my PC. I can then start up VS10, but it always crashes within 5 minutes.

On a Vista machine (only 2 months old, and not caused any other problems), all appears well. However, on closer inspection the volume doesn’t come through on any of my clips. Oh, and after about 10/15 minutes of use, the whole thing invariably crashes.

I would avoid this product. It’s a shame because from the brief glimpses I’ve had of it (before it crashes) it looks good. However, it’s too unstable to be usable.

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Sony DCR-HC27 Handycam Mini DV Camcorder
Add digital quality to all of your videos with the DCR-HC27, an easy-to-use and high-performance MiniDV camcorder! Ideal for your first camcorder or for family videos, the DCR-HC27 is equipped with a Carl Zeiss lens and an 800,000-pixel CCD sensor to capture all of those precious moments on video. It also comes with a 20x optical zoom, so you can film important events such as weddings or children?s shows, and has a 2.5? TFT touch screen, giving you complete control over your shot. Combining the advantages of spot focusing with a number of white balance modes, this camcorder adapts to any occasion. Simply select the automatic setting to get the best focus for your situation. The DCR-HC27 includes a NightShotPlus mode with a sensitivity of 0 lux, so you can film in the dark, and has a host of different AE programmes, 4 fade modes and special effects, so you can add a touch of style to your home videos. The DCR-HC27 also comes with a FireWire connection, allowing you to continue your digital video experience on your computer.
Used Price: ?200.00
Customer Review: Great Value For Money Easy To Use Camcorder
Very simple to use, does most things ‘out of the box’ with no need for much user input beyond switching it on, pointing & pressing the REC button (its in red for maximum ease of spotting!) There are the usual options to change things like effects for how pictures look etc but really this is for people who just want to video, with some simple menu options which are quick to learn. Its light, small & fits nicely into one hand. Its quite well made too. Couple of points to note: there is no editing software included (use Windows Media Centre or Photo Gallery) nor is there any cable to link your camcorder to your PC. Both these omissions are unusual & seem a bit cheap of SONY, for which I’ve deducted 1 star. You do get a short ‘how to shoot videos’ DVD which - once you ignore the childish & annoying cartoon ‘guide’ - is actually quite useful. (the lack of any bundled cassette is normal industry practise) Using a firewall cable I’ve found the video transfer to my PC (running Windows VISTA) painless & fairly quick. All in all a good buy which I purchased from Debenhams in Birmingham for just ?130 a couple of weeks ago.
Customer Review: fantastic
bought one of this,mostly because of it’s size and also the connectivity to the pc.arrived on time,very easy to operate.

The 2007-2012 Outlook for Digital Camcorders in Japan
Used Price: ?470.68

Flip F260W-UK Video Ultra Series Digital Camcorder - White (60 mins)
Fun for everyone. Simple fun video for everyone, the Flip Ultra lets you record video clips instantly at a moments notice. Ready to use out-of the-box, simply point and press record, its that easy. Everything Built In: Flip Ultra’s revolutionary software makes organising, editing and sharing video incredibly simple. Every Flip Ultra has all the software you need to edit and share your movies built directly in. Use the built in USB stick to transfer files to a PC easily, not need to carry separate cables. Share: Just plug in the USB arm on your Flip Ultra into a PC and email your videos to friends and family instantly - or publish them directly to YouTube, MySpace or your favourite sharing site. Included TV-Out lets you connect your Flip Ultra directly to the big screen to let you share your movies with those around you. Movie Mix: Making custom movies is easy with the Flip Ultra. Just pick a style, choose your favourite song and select the video clips your want to include. It Just Works: Simple and easy to use, no fussing around reading manuals or configuring settings, let the Flip Ultra manage everything for you. Superior low-light capability lets you take clips even in poor light conditions. Easy: Get started right away with the Flip Ultra. Simple one touch recording lets you start shooting video’s in an instant without a manual. Stylish robust design means you can take the Flip Ultra anywhere without worry. Package Contents - Flip Ultra Video Camera - 2 x AA Alkaline Batteries - Wrist Strap - Soft Case - TV-Out Cable - Quick Start Guide
List Price: ?99.99
Amazon Price: ?99.62
Customer Review: Great Pocket Video Camera
The Ultra Series Flip Video is perfect for recording up to one hour worth of video. It is perfect for families who want to share videos. I found that the sound quality is ok. The zoom is adequate but not great. And the picture quality is good for its price. The better the lighting you have, the better the quality of the video taken. It even looks good when watched on a TV screen. No sense lugging around a camcorder when you can carry this very light and small video camera that fits in your shirt pocket. Downloading the videos to a computer is simple and it keeps with some pre-loaded software, which makes it easy for you to edit, email, save, and make photos from the videos. The editing is very basic; it lets you trim some off the front and back of what you recorded. And it is set up to link right into You Tube. I was able to make a video just seconds after installing the batteries. The Ultra Series Flip Video has the ability to be mounted on a tripod as well as an action mount that can both be bought separately. But the 1-hour of video is all it can hold, which is more than enough for me. It does not have the ability to have the memory upgraded. Just to summarize this video camera is very light and easy to use. It is so easy to use that no instruction manual is necessary and I am not electronic savvy. It comes with all you need, including TV connector cable, carrying case, wrist strap and even the batteries. This is all you need to share video with your family at a low cost. (Amazon US US$100)
Customer Review: Okay - Not Quite as Trendy as it Seems
I do like this solid state camcorder but it’s neither exceptional value for money or versatile either. For kick off the quality of production is nothing exceltional, and by that I mean to compare with other similar priced products. To give some sort of idea what it is like, your mobile phone if it has the function for video would be similar if used on low res. That’s not to say it’s awful and clearly it’s designed as an easy cheap youtube device, just don’t expect too much. It’s also big. Given that it’s a solid state unit, it could be made a bit smaller, which would fit in with it’s go anywhere utility advertising. Having said that, a large part of this is down to using standard AA batteries which is convenient. They seem to last a good long time compared to other products like this. The zoom is digital which does limit quality. The recording angle is a wee bit narrow as well, so don’t expect any great indoor wide angle shots either. One thing that did bother me most of all is that there is no protective cover that closes over the clear plastic lens cover, meaning that any rough stuff, or grit in a pocket would cause a problem. There are many good points though. It’s well made, comes with it’s own flip out inbuilt USB A connection, so no extra wires, and I like the shape. Clean and simple. I guess in the end it would be exceptional value at 50 quid but at 100 it’s perhaps a bit steep.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8 (PC)
Customer Review: Worth persevering - unless you have a short fuse
Good stuff first:

The user interface is easy to pick up, and very intuitive. The range of tasks you can do is wide enough to satisfy most users, and the tutorials are clear without being over-burdened with detail.

Output quality is great.

Now the bad:

Unless you drive a graphics workstation, the lag on anything - and I mean even the slightest adjustment - will drive you crazy. I have 1Gb RAM, and 2GHz processor, and a 256Mb graphics card, and each time I move the cursor a few frames along the timeline the program stops to think for up to two minutes.

Next, the reason I bought a Sony product was to get around the stupid Sony format that the transferred files are in when you download them from the DV to the PC. You know, Video_TS etc.

This application doesn’t recognise these files!

So you still need to do that nonsense of saving the files without having finalised the disk, and them re-save them with a different file extension, ie save as .wma instead of .vob.

Why, you dumb-bells, did you not fix this, so I can use my SONY camcorder with the SONY software…

However, once I get over the angst of this latter issue, and once I get my new speed machine, this is the best sub-?50 editing suite, IMHO.

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Learn all about the world of digital home recording with the GR-D720E from JVC! This easy-to-use camcorder comes with a number of useful focusing modes and a wide range of programmes that will help you take your first steps as a bona fide film director! This family-friendly camcorder has an 800,000 pixel CCD sensor, so you can record whatever you like onto tape, and a powerful 28x optical zoom, allowing you to take close-ups as if you were in the front row of the theatre. You don’t have to miss a thing! Plus, the GR-D720E comes with a host of handy programmes, including automatically adjustable white balance and several special effects that will spice up your audiovisual creations! The GR-D720E also switches itself on automatically when you open its large 2.7″ 16:9 format screen. If you’re after a user-friendly camcorder that guarantees great results, then you don?t need to look any further! The GR-D720E has it all!
Used Price: ?100.99
Customer Review: Bad sound, you get what you pay for
The sound quality is really bad and you can’t connect an external microphone to it. Image quality not great either.
Customer Review: Good price for what you can do
I bought this camcorder while on holiday in Singapore, just for the 2007 Sepang Maylasian Grand Prix (Came home and two months later most camcorders were becoming cheaper, Amazon sell this cheaper than what I payed! DOH!) I have never owned a camcorder before but it has good quality and does the job. It does have a lot of camera shake but I’m working on this, sure there is a function somewhere. Works well with Windows movie maker so need to buy expensive software if already got it. It has good playback on the tv too but I felt that when downloaded on the computer the image was a bit naff but again I still need to play about with it. Good thing to have if you are starting to make movies. Good value, what else do you want?
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Ex-Pro Battery charger - Ultra Pro Travel Charger - Simple design including In-Car Adatper, European and UK Plug. Charges in an average of 2 hours ! Automatic Cut-Off on completion of charge, Charge indication lights. Works on 110-240v, Travel anywhere and use with ease ! 1 Year Warranty.
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Say goodbye to clutter with the DCR-SR32 from Sony! Equipped with a 30 GB hard drive, the DCR-SR32 lets you record over 20 hours of digital video in three different quality modes, while its 800,000-pixel CCD sensor, renowned Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens and 40x optical zoom make sure your recordings come out sharp and clear each and every time. The DCR-SR32 is really easy to use and has a 2.5? LCD screen, as well as 10 scene modes that adapt to any situation. You can even film in VGA resolution and save your creations directly to a Memory Stick Duo memory card, while its USB 2.0 connection transfers your films to your computer for easy editing. The high-performance and user-friendly DCR-SR32 lets you capture life?s best moments, without the clutter of tapes or DVDs!
Used Price: ?199.99
Customer Review: edit impossible
This camera seemed fine, pictures and film downloaded and viewed on my PC OK But I’ve tried three diferent video edit programs on 2 different PCs and all the programs have frozen after inserting a couple of clips from this camera. They don’t like it. Unfortunatley Sony Contact is down under high volume of communications at the moment, now I think about it they didn’t reply to a querry I made a year ago about something else. I’m not quite sure what to do about it.
Customer Review: MAC USER? AVOID! But great camera for PC users
I bought this camera a few days ago and I loved it. It’s size, it’s price, it’s features, it is a great entry level HDD camera. I was in love. I made some great videos on it. But then it came to getting the videos on to my Mac… I could move them over fine, but the mpeg2 format caused me problems. I paid for and downloaded the mpeg2 add on for quicktime and I could now view and edit the movies. But the quality is abysmal, the videos are horribly (re?)compressed and horizontal lines destroy every clip I ever made. Even when I burned a DVD containing the files, I found that it played back even worse and every fault, line, pixellation and frame issue seemed magnified. I tried a variety of solutions but nothing worked. Research has led to the same avenue every time. INCOMPATIBLE WITH MACS. I researched this before buying it but obviously not enough. I never imagined that I would have issues. I plugged the camera into my housemate’s PC and watched and edited the files and it all worked beautifully. The small print on the box says that the supplied software CD is windows only, but that didn’t bother me as I already had some nice video editing suites on my Macintosh and didn’t plan on using the supplied software. But what they failed to mention on the box is that the files are NOT MAC COMPATIBLE. A lovely camera with great features, I just wish I could use it. I would give this a 5 star rating if it wasn’t for the compatibility issues. It should be made clearer on the packaging.
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Ex-Pro Battery charger - Ultra Pro Travel Charger - Simple design including In-Car Adatper, European and UK Plug. Charges in an average of 2 hours ! Automatic Cut-Off on completion of charge, Charge indication lights. Works on 110-240v, Travel anywhere and use with ease ! 1 Year Warranty.
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50 Fast Digital Camera Techniques (50 Fast Techniques Series)
Customer Review: This is an excellent book!
This book by Gregory George is an excellent piece of writing!! It fully explained me everything about exposure,f-stop, shutter speed and lightning. I actually tried some of the techniques and my photos already are better and look professional. The author knows what he talks about. These techniques are simple but I would recommend you read first a general book on digital photography; “Complete Digital Photography” by Ben Long (ISBN 1584502312)is an excellent starter. I like the layout and the chapters are divided in a logical order. The things that I didn’t like: why are there only 4 pages of colourphotos in this book? Sometimes the author repeats himself. After some chapters, we know we have to check the histogram after taking a picture. We also know how great it is to take pics of children and bla, bla, bla. The opinion of the author on this is appreciated but not really necesary. Or maybe I’m just boring?! Anyway, buy this book and you will become a better photographer!

Customer Review: Digital photgraphy rather than digital processing
A lot of digital photography books that I’ve looked at tend to concentrate on post-editing rather than actual photographic techniques. All well & good but knowing how to take good pictures in the first place is a more common goal for most people rather than drastic post-editing using software like Photoshop. This book concentrates a lot more on the techniques of traditional photography but everything is of course geared towards the digital medium.

The first chapter encourages you to discover exactly what features your camera has & what it’s capable of. There’s even a specification form to fill in that will most likely have you digging out your camera’s manual & maybe even learning a few new things about your camera (As I did!).

The chapters include, Taking pictures, Using advanced features, Taking people pictures, “Scape” photography, Still life & art photography, Creative photography etc… The 50 techniques of the title are spread across these chapters & explain everything you could want to know about using your camera & taking pictures. The final chapter is entitled ‘moving up to digital SLR’. This demonstrates the benefits of moving up to a camera that has the option of additional lenses, Filters & other accessories.

The only down side to this book is that none of the pictures within it are in colour. Many of these images show pre & post edited versions but the lack of colour makes the changes less than obvious in most cases. Slightly disappointing however, All the pictures can be found on the CD that accompanies the book along with trial versions of some of the popular photo editing packages like Photoshop Elements.

Overall an excellent book that is a refreshing change to the usual digital photography books that tend to focus more on post-editing rather than photographic techniques.

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Compact, light and easy to use, the PowerShot A430 from Canon is the ideal camera for the whole family. With this superb compact, Canon has made digital photography available to everyone. Desinged to allow you to take magificent photos, the PowerShot A430 is equipped with a 4 million pixel sensor, allowing each shot taken to display a multitude of details, and adapted to large format photos. The 4x optical zoom effect will allow you to get closer to the action without compromising on quality! Also, its Ai-AF 9 point autofocus assures precision and speed, even on non-centered objects, always providing a clear image. The Super macro mode will allow you to photograph tiny objects in large format! The case for the A430 is compact, light and ergonomic, which makes it very comfortable to use. Its 1.8″ LCD screen (diagonal) will give you excellent visibility, and the night mode allows for better visibility in the evening. The 15 different modes will liberate you from any adjustment constraints, allow you to get excellent results regardless of the situation. The PowerShot A430 is the perfect way for anybody to get into digital photography.
Customer Review: Great camera especially for beginners
I bought this as a gift for my parents and they love it. I was looking for an entry level digital camera which is easier to operate not too many complex settings, etc etc and especially with a video output and all these with AA battery. Spot on. The quality is great as you would expect from Canon. It has nice little features like if you rotate the camera after taking a picture, the picture rotates on the screen! The only thing which I hate a bit is the time taken to save the picture on to the SD card. This may be due to the card I am using (which is a Sandisk 256MB). Other than that, it is a perfect camera with great features and neat looks. Go for it!
Customer Review: Fantastic camera
I was really really surprised by how good this camera is. I bought it as a replacemnt for the BENQ one I bought a few mths earlier which developed a fault. The pcitures are really good - had no blurry shots yet and the shutter delay is really short for a standard digital camera - about 1 second which is fine for taking photos of my fast moving toddler. The video clips you can record are as good as others I have tried and have different settings so you can take a large movie or a smaller one with better quality picture. There is sound playback on the camera as well as when you upload to pc. There are some great features such as portait mode, firework mode, night mode etc. and you can even take a picture keeping one chosen colour in or switch it for a different colour. The software supplied has some nice features - stitch assist helps you to take several pictures and blend them into one long panoramic picture. I am really pleased with this camera.
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Never miss a shot again! Fast, and built to last, SanDisk Standard CompactFlash Memory Cards will keep you clicking when the actions hot. Choose from 256MB, all the way up to a whopping 4GB of storage, and youll have plenty of room to store your world, safely and securely.
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