Nikon Coolpix S8100 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera

Nikon Coolpix S8100 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 10x Zoom-Nikkor ED Lens and 3.0-Inch LCD

* 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor for high-speed operation and low-light performance
* 10x wide-angle optical Zoom-Nikkor ED glass lens
* 3-inch Ultra-High Resolution (921,000-dot) Clear Color Display
* Full HD (1080p) Movie with Stereo and HDMI Output
* Capture images and video to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

Nikon Coolpix S8100 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera Review by Customer

Coolpix was my very first Digital Camera in the late 1990's. I've always believed that of the Japanese brands, which includes Canon, Fuji, and Panasonic, the Nikon automatic cameras had the best overall response to consumer needs. This is important for us old 35mm SLR users. When they took the manual ability out of our hands, we had to rely on "auto" technology. Unfortunately, most spontaneous shots are lost while the camera is trying to focus. Nikon has fixed that with this camera... sort of. You still have a very slight delay. However, the auto focus is the fastest I have ever seen in a camera of this type. I was able to catch every action shot of my son's friends as they used their skateboards. I only wish I had "slo-mo" video (are you listening Nikon?).

Color reproduction: On the whole, the colors are extremely accurate, unless you photograph something like a display (I took pictures of my hi-def television screen and most of the colors were on the cool side). Outside in daylight, I found the yellows spot on (which are usually the most difficult to reproduce). With the fall leaves, all of the colors came back very accurate and bright. Inside in normal light conditions, without the flash, I found the colors slightly warm. You can correct for most light situations with this camera. The night shooting surprised me the most. Nightscenes come alive with the night mode. It's fun to shoot someone and have the background turn out. It gives the shot a professional look. Overall, I found the colors far more accurate than my previous Canon or Panasonic reproduced.

Clarity: With 12 megapixels to play with, you can zoom to your hearts content. I found it easy to trim and crop with no loss... do I need to repeat that? NO LOSS in picture quality. Usually when you crop and extend the image, the grain comes out. Not with this camera (in most cases, depending how much you need to crop).

Ease of use: As with most cameras in this class, you can basically start shooting right out of the box with very little instruction. This camera is as easy to use as are most automatic cameras. With its complex lens system, this one has about 2-3 cms of width. My wife's camera is thinner, but she cannot compete with the 10x optical zoom of this camera's beautiful large lens.

Now for the really cool part...

Shooting in 1080p with such a small camera is an incredible experience, because, let's face it... this is nearly 35mm quality (and we're talking motion picture film). You can blow this puppy up and put it on the big screen and see a beautiful image. I had this camera in all kinds of places and making shots I never thought possible years ago when I attended film school. Zooming during a shot is important if you track and zoom at the same time. The auto focus feature also allows the cameraperson to move in on an object and stay in focus. With wide angle, I could walk and shoot and had hardly any "jerk" during playback. Oh, if I'd only had this in film school... WOW! When we played the image back on our 55 inch LED 240hz TV, the clear sharp colorful image just blew us away.

In conclusion, this is an all purpose and very versatile camera that will be perfect to preserve family memories, take along on vacation, or make professional style videos at far less cost. I can't say enough great things about this camera. Lastly, about the placement of the flash, the manual even suggests how to hold the camera. When you adjust your left hand, you'll find it easy to take flash pix without interference. Have fun.

Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera Review #1

I am new to the world of DSLRs having only occasionally used my roommates' D70 but mostly making do with a point and shoot. After a few months of reading up on various cameras and asking people for advice, I settled on the D3100 and it finally arrived last week, almost a month after ordering it. After using it over the last week, including an entire day of shooting, here are a few impressions of the camera (without delving into too much technical detail for which I refer readers to Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera

Benefit of Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera
* Good image quality - the 14.2 megapixels allow you to make large prints of shots without sacrificing quality
* Fantastic high ISO performance - even at ISO 3200 or Hi1 and Hi2, the camera performs well under low light without excessive noise or grain problems. (For example, this camera shoots better at ISO 1600 than a D70 does at the same ISO. Whereas the D3100's pictures had almost no noise, the D70's pictures were quite grainy).
* Light, small and very comfortable to shoot with - all my friends who have DSLRs that picked up this camera exclaimed "Wow this thing is SO ridiculously light"
* Buttons and menu layout is intuitive and allows for quick changes while shooting
* Guide mode - for those who want to try new things with various types of photography the camera has built in tutorials that help get a user started
* 1080p video - enough said!
* A variety of preset shooting modes for quick shots

Cons of Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera
* No bracketing - makes taking HDR shots a little more inconvenient but doing it manually is of course still possible (and relatively easy)
* Continuous autofocus during video is loud - an easy workaround is to focus manually
* No external mic input
* Cannot use a wireless remote

The 18-55mm VR lens that comes with the camera is a great all purpose lens to start photographing with and can take very good shots in a wide range of scenarios, performing decently well in low light scenarios too. Coupled with the camera, this camera is an ideal way to enter the world of DSLRs. For those who are relatively new, the preset modes and the Guide mode are useful in understanding the different settings used in night, landscape, portrait etc photography. However, it also caters to the more advanced user with the A, S, P and M modes that allow for finer control and even complete manual control. Consequently, this camera offers amazing value for money since as an entry-level DSLR it offers an amazing set of features (which are comparable to D5000 or even the new D7000) for a very competitive price. Thus, this is a great camera for people thinking of graduating from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR.

While the cons for this camera could be significant for certain people (i.e. if you are really into HDR photography or want to shoot a lot of videos with an external mic), they are generally ones that you can live with, maybe even not noticing it. Nonetheless, the Nikon D3100 is a fantastically versatile camera, especially for people new to the DSLR world, in a amazingly comfortable and light form factor.

Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera Review #2

I've always wanted SLR quality in a compact Digital Camera, and this baby comes very close. For daytime, good light photography, it's probably as good as many SLR's out there, and in low light, it's far and away better than any compact I've ever used. The range of manual controls is impressive, yet the camera remains relatively easy to learn. I especially like the programmable "S" button on the back, which can be programmed to 20 different functions. I personally keep mine on AE lock (exposure lock). With many other cameras, you have to move it around the scene until you find the right exposure, then half-press the shutter (which also locks focus), then recompose while keeping the button half-pressed, and shoot. Kind of a hassle, and of course the focus is locked on whatever you locked exposure on. With the Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera, I simply find the exposure level I want, then press the "S" button, which locks the exposure. Then I can freely move the camera and refocus on what I intend to photograph without having to hold down the shutter button, or lock in the focus. And there are many other uses for the "S" button if you choose! The front control ring is also programmable, being able to select from many options, including a custom option to create your own specific use. The camera is highly customizable, but without being overwhelming. It's fantastic!

As far as performance goes, I have never gotten such quality images before. The daytime photographs are incredibly clean and sharp, and the in-camera adjustments and IQ are great. The light metering is generally good, as is the white balance. And if you aren't satisfied with the white balance, there is a custom white balance mode, which renders indoor evening shots under lights perfectly, once the custom white balance is applied. Apertures run from a fast f2.0 to f8.0, which can be used creatively in creating decent DOF photographs. You aren't going to get SLR DOF performance with the Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera, but you can create very interesting images at f2.0. Shutter speed runs from 1/1600 to 15 seconds, perfect from getting fast action sports to perfect night time exposures. And speaking of night time exposures, this camera produces outstanding images in very low light. Using manual mode, you can create essentially grain-free long exposures, using a low ISO and slow shutter speed. I have NEVER seen such clean night images in any compact digital camera before (assuming you can find one with manual controls!). Even indoors, the camera produces very nice images, even with ISO's up to 1600. I've noticed graininess starting around ISO 400, but that's at 100% view and nitpicking the shot. Most family photos and indoor people shots are not highly scrutinized, so even ISO 800 and 1600 shots are usable. WAY better than any other small camera's ability indoors at night, that's for sure!

There is also a completely customizable mode, interestingly enough called "C". You can program this to be set up any way you like it...so if you do a lot of specific shooting (night time, indoor family photos, lets say), you could set it up to have the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc, the way you like it. That way, you don't have to enter manual mode or semi-manual and fiddle with the settings each time. You have one full-time dedicated mode for shooting the way you like!

And for those who just like to point and shoot, the auto mode is acceptable. I personally use "P" mode most of the time, which is pretty much auto, with some control over settings. But if you just want to turn on the camera and shoot, auto will still render high quality images, though sometimes I have noticed with auto mode the autofocus can give me trouble. Using P-mode will still make it easy, but with some more reliable focusing. Besides, hopefully you are buying this camera with SOME intention on learning how to manually create better shots...but again, even if you just want to use the auto mode, you will get photos much nicer than any other pocket camera, a reason to buy this in and of itself.

There are so many more outstanding features to list...I could go on forever. Autofocus tracking, 1.9 shot-per-second continuous mode (with AF servo!), low light mode (with ISO's up to 12,800(!!)), scene mode with countless scene choices (including HDR which does remarkably well), and of course HD video mode. Let me mention one thing about the HD video however. It's not that great, in my opinion. I also have the Canon SD940IS, and it takes beautiful HD video. This camera does not. There is a lot of "judder" when filming moving objects, or when panning the camera. It's not smooth at all when moving. The 940 is very smooth, even when walking and filming. The s95 struggles to maintain a clear video, unless filming stationary objects. Not good if you intend on making videos of your children running or playing! I think it has something to do with the type of sensors in each camera. I don't know anything about this technical stuff, but it appears this camera's sensor is more geared for still photographs and not HD video. However, there are two mics on the front of the camera, for STEREO sound!

If you are buying this solely for the HD video, you may want to look elsewhere (you can get HD video in products much cheaper than this now). Still, the video is probably passable to most, and should not be a hinderance from buying this great little package!

Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera Review #1

If you are looking for a pocket camera that images of relatively high quality, allowing you to control aperture, shutter speed and focus and shoot in RAW format, is it. I bought mine as an upgrade of the camera small but versatile last, a Canon Powershot S70.

Canon Powershot S95 Digital Camera was introduced in August 2010 as a small upgrade of the S90, which was widely praised for its image quality and a pleasant interface, but criticized for being difficult to hold (like a bar of soap in the shower) and a control dial is too easily. Canon Powershot S95 Digital Camera corrects two problems and adds several other features in the package that fits in the pocket of your jeans (unless they are super tight). The case is metal, and well there is no finger grips on the body, it is not slippery at all. It feels like it is covered with sandpaper super-thin (like 1000 or 1500 grit, those who know that feeling).

The second complaint because of the large-S-90 proposes that the function selector ring on the back too easily. The ring of S-95 small click when you move it, and it does not move unless you want to do.

Some other cameras of this type, including the Panasonic LX-3 and LX-5 TL500 and Samsung. They tell you all the control functions of the camera, and as the S95 sensor fusion of 10 are almost twice as large as a conventional pocket camera, so that the pixels on the sensor is more. A more efficient light allows them to collect, which reduces digital noise when shooting in low light. The image quality is much better picture of a typical mobile camera. You can make 8 x 10 or 11x14 could increase, but a DSLR will be much better for large prints. They must also f/2.0 lenses at their widest angle, while the opening is closed when you zoom

Canon has two advantages over the Panasonic LX-3 and LX-5. First, you can actually put it in your pocket or belt in no case more than one you use your mobile phone. Second, the interface is ideal for rethinking how should a tiny camera with a full set of work orders. There is great room for buttons on the surface a little, but you do not receive a multi-level menu on the LCD screen while changing settings fast and intuitive.

For example, the ring around the lens that you can easily seize control of zoom, or shutter, or aperture, ISO shift, manual focus. You choose what you want to do is push the button on top, and when you look at the LCD, you can see what your registration. There is a rear wheel selection for other functions, and when you move it seems, a series of clear choices on the screen. These options are tailored to the context, then they change depending on whether you set the camera on aperture control, "Balance" control, etc.

The Panasonics if the same sensor Canon equivalent, but they offer a slightly wider lens (24mm vs. 28 for the Canon Powershot S95 Digital Camera). The LX-3 is much shorter telephoto lens - only 60mm. The LX-5, introduced a few weeks before the S95, 90mm telephoto lens, and you can buy an add-on optical viewfinder. He also has a flash shoe on top of pop-up flash, although you can buy the flash plugin dedicated to the S-95 to complete a pop-up flash of the LX-5 is about 25% more expensive than Canon S95 (and 60% more with the optional viewfinder) and how it might fit in a coat pocket, you can not do things in a pants pocket.

If you want a truly pocket camera that gives you an image of good quality and full control over your images, the Canon Powershot S95 Digital Camera is an excellent choice.