The end of 2008 camera binge!
Well, for Christmas my best friend Amy got me a $75 gift card to RitzCamera! So the next day I decided it'd be a great time to purchase a new compact camera to update from my Sony CyberShot-P200 (7.2 megapixel, 3x optical zoom). The man at Ritz, who didn't really know what he was talking about suggested the LOW priced Samsung S860 (8.1 megapixel, 3x optical zoom).
Here's my uber quick review of the Samsung S860:
Pros:
Cons:
Image quality: **½/*****
Design (looks): ***/*****
Design (feel): **/*****
Value: ***/*****
Overall rating: **½/*****
Then, the very next day, extremely unhappy with my purchase from RitzCamera (still my favorite store though) I was at Best Buy in Taunton, MA and I was looking a for a camera to replace the Samsung. I was quite impressed by the Panasonic Lumix FS3. The FS3 was priced at $120 and features 8 megapixels and 3x optical zoom with a Leica lens. I was impressed by the Lumix line when I first recieved my very first digital camera in 2006, a Panasonic Lumix LZ3 (5 megapixel, 6x optical zoom). Even though the FS3 doesn't even come close to my old LZ3 in the optical zoom region, I was looking for an ultra compact camera, and the FS3 isn't quite ultra compact but it will do a lot better than the LZ3 or the CyberShot-P200. I haven't used the FS3 enough to right a review, but I shall soon enough.
Later that day, I realized I just made $320 by selling my Canon EOS-1N Professional 35mm SLR, so now I can afford an infrared converted camera to replace my elderly Sony CyberShot F717 (old enough to feature Sony's NightShot feature). I was going to buy the Sigma SD14 (4.6 megapixels, despite the 14 megapixels it's advertised as because of the Foveon X3 sensor) dSLR that can be used for infrared by removing the dust/IR blocker directly behind the lens, but the kit is about $700-1000+, and I really don't have that much. But I figured a converted point and shoot could be okay. So I purchased an infrared converted Canon PowerShot G5 (5 megapixel, 4x optical zoom). I am awaiting that in the mail!
So, three cameras purchased in 24 hours. I'm terrible.
Here's my uber quick review of the Samsung S860:
Pros:
- Quick start up
- Descent picture quality
- Descent color quality
- Low grain below ISO 200
- Easy to use design
- Extremely inexpensive ($84)
- Has a manual settings mode
Cons:
- Very poor AF and macro
- Back buttons may be hit with thumb, especially zoom
- Hard to produce portraits and face shots even with ''Face Detection''
- Images at ISO above 200 have very noticable grain
- Shutter won't stay open for more than 8 seconds on Manual setting
- Has an extremely cheap, almost toy like feeling
Image quality: **½/*****
Design (looks): ***/*****
Design (feel): **/*****
Value: ***/*****
Overall rating: **½/*****
Then, the very next day, extremely unhappy with my purchase from RitzCamera (still my favorite store though) I was at Best Buy in Taunton, MA and I was looking a for a camera to replace the Samsung. I was quite impressed by the Panasonic Lumix FS3. The FS3 was priced at $120 and features 8 megapixels and 3x optical zoom with a Leica lens. I was impressed by the Lumix line when I first recieved my very first digital camera in 2006, a Panasonic Lumix LZ3 (5 megapixel, 6x optical zoom). Even though the FS3 doesn't even come close to my old LZ3 in the optical zoom region, I was looking for an ultra compact camera, and the FS3 isn't quite ultra compact but it will do a lot better than the LZ3 or the CyberShot-P200. I haven't used the FS3 enough to right a review, but I shall soon enough.
Later that day, I realized I just made $320 by selling my Canon EOS-1N Professional 35mm SLR, so now I can afford an infrared converted camera to replace my elderly Sony CyberShot F717 (old enough to feature Sony's NightShot feature). I was going to buy the Sigma SD14 (4.6 megapixels, despite the 14 megapixels it's advertised as because of the Foveon X3 sensor) dSLR that can be used for infrared by removing the dust/IR blocker directly behind the lens, but the kit is about $700-1000+, and I really don't have that much. But I figured a converted point and shoot could be okay. So I purchased an infrared converted Canon PowerShot G5 (5 megapixel, 4x optical zoom). I am awaiting that in the mail!
So, three cameras purchased in 24 hours. I'm terrible.
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