Wix, I forgot to tell you, the P71 uses Ni-MH batteries, not Lithion ones. This is great, as they’re a hell of a lot cheaper. As I’ve only had it a few days, I haven’t had anything printed yet. But from the reviews I read on CNet, they come out pretty sweet.
That was what was the problem with the P71 for me. Because it uses AA batteries it’s twice as big. the info-lithium battery used in the P2 and the P9 apparently is tiny.
Brian
Bri, I wouldn’t say that. The size difference is bugger all actually. But, it sounds like you want to use the MPEG function, so the P9 is probably best due to it having a microphone. My point is that if you already have a cam corder, then the MPEG function is not needed at all, so by buying the earlier model, you’ll save yourself 4 or 5 grand.
Here’s a helpful review from cnet
While the DSC-P9 may be feature-rich, it’s an easy-to-use point-and-shoot camera at heart.
The good: Ultracompact and stylish; easy to use; convenient e-mail features; good battery life.
The bad: Occasional image noise; average responsiveness.
By Theano Nikitas, October 15, 2002
Top dog among Sony’s ultracompact DSC P-series Cyber Shot trio, the DSC-P9 features a 3X optical zoom and 4-megapixel resolution. To sweeten the deal, this camera also offers uncommon features, such as an e-mail-optimized mode and an infrared illuminator for focusing in low light, which makes taking pics easier and more fun. Plus, the diminutive P9 delivers good picture quality, and it’s cute, to boot. But while it’s a good bet for shooters who want a fashionable and friendly camera, we think that its price tag is a little steep.
I got an Olympus E-20 about a month ago. All together with an auxiliary wide-angle lens, 256MB CF and battery pack it cost only 65,000NT. What’s great about it is that I can use all my 62mm filters (expensive) and it uses both CF and SM cards.
What does this mean?
is the difference in price about 5000Nt then?
Brian
The noise is from the movie capture function.
What does this mean?
[/quote]
I thought image noise is where the camera doesn’t capture some of the pixels correctly, resulting in “artifacts” (basically funny-looking pixels that don’t belong).
The responsiveness usually refers to how quickly the camera takes a picture after you press the button or how long it needs between shots.
Answerer is right. Image noise refers to a non unifirmed image. It decreases the visibility of low contrast objects. It’s caused by low exposure and high contrast.
For some user comments on the PC9, go here electronics.cnet.com/electronics … 18-9063090
I have the Olympus D550 zoom and it’s a great little camera. Sounds like any cameras in your range would have a video function, eliminating the need for a separate camera. I haven’t had to use tech support or anything (yet?) but assume it’s the same as with other companies.
Things to look for are:
functions (does it shoot night photos and if it has a video function, does it have sound?)
AA batteries are the best, as they are cheaply obtained and widely available, and you can get rechargeables
How many megapixels do you want? Most people don’t use more than 2 (million) but if you want to print photos larger than 5"x7", you’ll want between 2.5 and 5 (3 is usually good; it’s my max and I haven’t had to use it yet). Some people buy 2 and are disappointed when they can’t print 8x10s and others buy 5 and end up wasting their money since they’ll never print larger pictures.
do you need a port to hook it up to your computer and/or recharge it? If you don’t, consider going portless, especially if you don’t have a large workstation; it’s one less thing to worry about and most cameras include software and cords (USB) to attach the camera directly to your computer. I’m lucky; my computer has a Smartmedia drive!
Does it use a standard card size? What is the cost of a decent-sized (128MB+) card for the camera?
Good luck and let us know how you made out!
Though this topic is mainly about still digital cameras, the folks back home would like to see some movies of our baby.
The key factors are price, ruggedness (we don’t have a car yet and it should stand up to a motorcycle ride) and do reasonable stills (3x5).
But, its main purpose will be to take videos and create VCDs for the folks back home to view on their TV.
Thanks for your help
I was looking at a digimaster camera.
Mouse 210 model
any comments
Kenneth
Taiwan student, there’s plenty out there that can do that, but how much do you want to blow. I have a Sony DCR PC9, cost me $NT40,000 two chrismasses ago. For that price, you still get an excellent vid cam. Cheaper still, a mate just bought on of the lower end Sony’s for 28 in Taipei a couple of months ago, a bit bigger than my puppy, but can do everything you just asked for. Depends mate, how much $$$
Does anybody have experience with the Sony Cybershot DSC-V1?
I know one of the smaller cybershots, like the DSC-P10 would probably be better, but I really like the V1.
It goes for about NT$24 000 at most of the bigname places, like T-zone, Daichii, while the teeny one is only 17 000.
By the time I’m ready to buy it will probably be NT$1000!
Another issue: I went to the camera street near Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, and the guy kept giving me different prices for the cameras or memory sticks…lower price means it’s made in Taiwan or something like that. He would say Sony NT$2000, Taiwan NT$1500. What does that mean? I think my camera-related Mandarin skills need some tweaking.
The DSC-V1 has good reviews:
dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscv1/
dcresource.com/reviews/sony/ … ndex.shtml
steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/v1_pg5.html
imaging-resource.com/PRODS/V1/V1A.HTM
I’m leaning away from Sony because they use a proprietary memory stick. Apart from price, I’m pretty sure they don’t have 256 MB or 512 MB stick–they skip from 128 MB to 1 GB, the latter being quite pricey. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. Then again, the DSC-V1 seems cheaper than a couple if it’s main competitors, the Canon G5 and the Nikon 5400.
[quote=“jeff”]The DSC-V1 has good reviews:
dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscv1/
dcresource.com/reviews/sony/ … ndex.shtml
steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/v1_pg5.html
imaging-resource.com/PRODS/V1/V1A.HTM
I’m leaning away from Sony because they use a proprietary memory stick. Apart from price, I’m pretty sure they don’t have 256 MB or 512 MB stick–they skip from 128 MB to 1 GB, the latter being quite pricey. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. Then again, the DSC-V1 seems cheaper than a couple if it’s main competitors, the Canon G5 and the Nikon 5400.[/quote]
Sony’s SDMS memory sticks are available in 256K and 512K. The price for a 256K is about the same as CF, but rises rapidly after that – a 1GB SDMS is US$440 on PriceWatch, vs. US$189 for a 1GB CF card.
Then again, this is in the U.S. They might not market the intermediate-sized cards in Taiwan. And TW prices were higher than in the US for CF cards when I looked last year.
Still, you only need one 1GB memory stick. 44 minutes of video will fit on one of those, according to a review site you listed.
Man, I’m not going back to that camera store–they told me not 3 days ago that it jumped from 128 to 1 GB. Thanks for the information.
A little off topic but I read somewhere (maybe photographyreview.com or the like) where someone did a ‘comparison’ of digital V’s 35mm on a wide range of issues such as quality, print etc and the conclusions sobered me from going fully into digital (for now). Whilst I love the digital (we have the Nikon 4500 Coolpix) for e’ing stuff to friends and family, I am still far too traditional… just love film. Anyway beside the point…
The article I read (and I will try to find it) basically said if you want to print out dig pix then dig is still too much in its infancy…
- best dig camera have approx 11 megapixel (Canon?) and cost over US$5,000 (I think)
- standard 35mm is the ‘equivalent’ to 80 megapixel apparently
- standard consumer level colour printers just arent good enough to print out pix
- current dig pix paper fades badly over time
- cant blow up images to poster size (important for me)
etc, etc
As I said I will try and find the article… and I am not trying to start a shit fight, just thought the article interesting.
I bought a Sony DSC-P10 last week after I accidentally smashed my first Sony, a DSC-P1, in an unfortunate accident. Awesome little camera! Takes great movies, has 5 million pixel resolution, and is the smallest camera I have owned yet. Still fits nicely into my clumsy hands, though. Lots of great features, yet still pretty easy to use. Bought it at FNAC for 17k. Comes with a USB and a video cable, so I can plug it into any television or computer directly. I already have 3 memory sticks with a total capacity of about 200MBs.
And because I was so impressed with the marine pack for my Sony DSC-P1, I immediately bought the Marine Pack for my new Sony. Good for up to 40 metres underwater! (over 130 feet!):shock: 
Not cheap, though - 8k plus change.
I could have also bought the underwater video light for the camera that attaches directly to the marine pack (see below) for even better underwater shots, but my budget for toys has dried up completely. 
Happy with my Canon Powershot S45. Compared to whatever my friend had, the functions available on it are excellent. And it takes amazing shots. The colour and saturation on hers are substandard in comparison. I’ll ask what she had and let you know. I’ve just got used to using it in different modes after one month. Rechargeable batteries v v useful if you have power adaptor.
Like Jeremy recommended (ta Jeremy), best to have a spare battery or two that you can slot in because they don’t like to be used for lots of mini movies and shots all day.
Also recommend, if you go away for a month, that you have a lot of flash card space . I took two 128mb which wasn’t enough and bought another 256 and filled that up too. I have lots of little movies that i’m editing together and burning on disk with the pics.