Samsung Vega 140s 35mm P&S compact camera.

Advantages: Low price for high quality and capabilities.
Disadvantages: Too big for shirt pocket.

...I have built a small but representative collection of these P&S cameras because they can be had for peanuts these days. This little beauty has all the rest beat, and the others like Nikon, Pentax, Canon are good, but not as good as the Samsung. The Schneider lens needs no introduction, I have been using this glass in various cameras for the past half century, and it is IMHO at least the equal of other much more expensive lenses. This camera is just about perfect in every possible way, it powers up rapidly so you don't miss these elusive and rare opportunities to capture memorable images which will always be in focus and perfectly exposed. The design of the camera is also well thought out so it looks and feels good in the hand. If Samsung had been competing with the German cameras 50 years ago, the whole photographic market might have...

cameranut 13.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Samsung Vega 140 S Compact Camera

looking to buy a 35mm slr

Advantages: Cheaper than digital
Disadvantages: processing costs

...Now is an ideal time to purchase a 35mm SLR camera, there are several reasons for this. The first is many people are moving over to the digital format so they are selling off their old equipment. This means that it should be available more cheaply than it would have originaly sold at. Some shops are also selling off their old stock to make way for the digital stock. If you want to digitise your results you can still do so. This is done either by scanning the finished prints into the computer and saving it in a digital form or asking for the film to be developed and stored on a CD ROM or DVD. Also buying a 35mm means that you can perfect the art of photography by doing all the settings yourself and learning the true art of photography. When buying the camera you have choices to make such as do you want a manual or auto...

wildtinsey 23.07.2008 (24.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Tips on Choosing a Camera

35mm, APS or Digital

Advantages: Digital Encourages Creativity Through Risk Taking, after all, you can always erase it!
Disadvantages: Still got a way to go, before it sounds the death knell of celluloid

...the fact that the viewfinder is some distance above the lens, which causes close-ups to be framed slightly incorrectly. Then comes the SLR’s trump card - interchangeable lenses. Being able to unscrew, or more normally these days, twist off one lens and put on another is the forte of this camera type. This enables a whole range of additional lenses to be used from extreme wide-angle to extreme telephoto (telescopic), and not just made by the original manufacturer either. There are many other lens firms falling over themselves to supply lenses to fit your Canon, Nikon, Minolta or whatever. The other facility afforded you by this flexibility, is to own one set of lenses and more than one camera body, in my case, a Canon 35mm and a Canon APS version, all served by the same set of lenses. Canon even makes a Digital camera body for the same...

BNibbles 25.04.2001 (01.05.2001) · Read review
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Review of Comparison Of Film & Camera Types

A true replacement for professional 35mm cameras

Advantages: Full control over all aspects of photography, True SLR, interchangable lenses, metal body
Disadvantages: Expensive! This camera is for pro and semi-pro photographers, not the amateurs!

...! Physically, the camera has a nice balance, and is exactly the size and weight you'd expect of it 35mm forbears - but with the advantage of being able to take a great many shots with a reasonably-sized Compact Flash card - at full resolution and normal compression, you get around 300 images on a 512MB card. You do have the option of taking both uncompressed TIF images (~30 per 512MB), and even raw sensor data for importation into Photoshop allowing you even more control over the processing of the image. One thing that troubles many photographers about digital cameras is the battery life - fear not! The 1400mAh Lithium-Ion battery supplied with the D100 is perfectly capable of taking over 400 shots using the built-in flash (or Speedlight as Nikon call it), and well over a thousand if the flash is not used (using a CompactFlash card for storage...

tomo1k 04.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of Nikon D100

Big enough for me to get hold of

Advantages: Easy to use, easy to handle, excellent photographs
Disadvantages: None

...Having bought and tried the Fuji APS camera as described in my recent opinion, I have decided to go back to using my Minolta Vectis 30. This camera doesn’t have as many fancy features as the Fuji but that’s how I like it. It means that it is less complicated to use and I don’t have to mess about with it – I can just point and click! The camera itself isn’t that much bigger than the Fuji, but it feels better in my hands (ooer missus!) I find it easier to hold because of its more rounded shape and so I feel more comfortable when taking my photographs. To take a photograph I just have to slide the lens cover across, which switches on the camera, look through the viewfinder until I am happy with the shot and then press the shutter release button on the top. It is an APS camera, which means that it...

SusanLesley 25.10.2001 · Read review
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Review of Minolta Vectis 30 Compact Camera

Fantastic compact camera

Advantages: Small, lightweight and weatherproof
Disadvantages: Slighty unclear instructions

...the size of the photo to C (classic 6" by 4") H (7" by 5") and P (Panoramic 10" by 4"). The view finder actually changes with the picture size so you can see how the picture will look when it is taken. The picture quality is good, I have had two films through the camera so far without a single photo spoilt by the dreaded 'red eye'. Both daytime pictures and nighttime pictures come out well, without having to use the complicated flash features which the camera boasts. Making it an ideal camera for the novice photographer like myself. The all-glass zoom goes to 50mm stopping at 25mm to offer another picture option. The zoom is easily operated with it initally popping out when you lift the flap at the front. To alter the zoom you press the two buttons on the back of the camera, the left to put the zoom in (making the picture wider...

lauren321 26.08.2003 · Read review
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Review of Kodak Advantix T700 Compact Camera

Getting Your Kid Into Digital Cameras

Advantages: Features Like Any Regular Digital Camera
Disadvantages: 16 MB Internal Memory and No Zoom Capabilities

...No digital camera review on CIAO would be complete without a few entries about cameras designed for kids. After all, kids are almost universally enthusiastic about taking pictures. And parents with a love of photography often pass down their passion to their children. But digital cameras are not always kid-friendly, due to fragile construction, price, or complicated menus and buttons. The newest trend in children's electronics is a group of digital cameras made especially for small children. These cameras are easy to hold, come in bright colors that kids love, and have many of the same features as grown-up digital cameras. Kids love them. The VTech KidiZoom Digital Camera is one of the top digital cameras for kids. This camera was made with fun in mind. Kids like the KidiZoom's large LCD screen and the onboard photo editing options...

bennyong 21.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of VTech Kidizoom Camera Pink

The King of APS-Completely

Advantages: Compact,weaterproof body, full multimode operation, as easy or as difficult to use as you want,capable of superb results,pinnacle of APS technology
Disadvantages: Small range of lenses, plastic lens mount, its APS so has it's own quirks.

...I remember the Minolta Vectics S1 being launched back in about 1996-when APS was being hailed as the "replacement for 35mm". Total claptrap of course and I told the Fuji rep that to his face and almost ten years later I've been proved right... Anyway back to the camera. When new the Vectics S1 used to be on sale for £400 c/w 22-56 zoom lens, but I purchase mine c/w a 25-150mm zoom lens from Cash Converters (again!) for the grand total of £50-bargain again eh? The first thing I noticed is that the Vectics S1 is an extremely compact SLR camera which is down having a side mounted pentaprism-thats the device which allows you to see through the lens of the camera before taking the pic-hence the term SLR or Single Lens Reflex. However, despite being made almost entirly of plastic it does handle very well and inspires confidence...

peterkinxl5 10.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Minolta Vectis S1 Compact Camera

Minolta compact 2 super binoculars

Advantages: Lightweight, easy to use, fairly compact, eye cups alter for spectacle wearers.
Disadvantages: Plastic body not waterproof

...I wanted to replace my old binoculars which had got tatty and were not working properly, for some decent, but not too expensive ones. In other words the best I could afford. I took some advice from the sales guy, who seemed to know what he was talking about and settled on these Minoltas. I like the clarity, the accuracy of the colours and the brightness of the image. The eye-cups spring in and out which helps if you wear spectacles, and there is a lens cap. Also in the box, a fairly run-of-the mill case with belt loop and neckstrap. I was a little concerned that the body is plastic, rather than rubber coated, as I spend a fair amount of time outdoors, but they are so compact, they easily fit into a coat pocket anyway, even if you don't have the case to hand. All in all I am very pleased with these good quality "budget" (£60...

Rblock 03.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of Minolta Minolta Minolta Compact Super 10 X

Vectis 300

Advantages: Compact: excellent techno-jewellery!
Disadvantages: Too small for big hands; ultimate quality needs 35 mm

...Minolta Vectis 300 I took a couple of years before I dipped a toe in the APS water – I’ve been using 35 mm and rollfilm for thirty years, and have no particular interest in simpler and smaller cameras. Still, a “shop-soiled” example in Bell and Jones in West Bromwich (someone had tried to steal it, and had only managed to scratch it a bit) for £99 proved too much of a temptation, and I bought it. The first thing to say is that APS is no threat to 35 mm in the quality stakes. The film is too small, and the lenses are of relatively limited specification. And anyone using the long end of the zoom in dull weather needs to have either 400 ISO film, or a tripod (which rather defeats the object of the exercise, I reckon!) The aperture at the long end of the zoom is very small, and this leads to a slow shutter...

Dudler 14.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Minolta VECTIS 300 Compact Camera