Don't Get Scammed By Online Camera Stores

We've posted about being scammed by online camera stores in the past but yesterday we received an e-mail from a visitor of our digital camera reviews warning us about an experience with one of the worst online camera "stores", bestpricecameras.com.

I just wanted to warn your readers of a "supplier" of digital cameras that I regard to to be highly suspect: bestpricecameras.com
I found that they had the best price advertised anywhere for a new Canon Rebel xti 400d and for the lens, a 17 to 40mm L. All for around $960+/-. Sounds too good to be true? That's because it is. Please post this on your website so that others do not suffer the strange tactics of this company. I cannot imagine what they hope to obtain from their methods.

I ordered the camera and lens (which I suspect will be of outstanding quality). After waiting a couple of weeks, I called them and they said it was on back order and that I should receive it within a week. After 2 more weeks, I called them again and got some surly jerk who mumbled something about "Chinese" or something and hung up on me. I called back and finally got a salesperson who was honest enough to tell me that they did not even have a distributor for the camera. Why were they selling something they could not even supply? Don't know.

Maybe they hoped people would just let their order ride and forget about it? I didn't. At least they had not run my card so I cancelled the order, bit the bullet and paid the extra 30% and ordered it through Amazon.com, and got it a week later. Forget thinking that high-class equipment will come to you for cheap prices; it ain't gonna happen, and something bad may result. Go with a responsible business that is known and trusted. For me, that's Amazon. Oh yeah, Bestpricecameras.com can kiss my grits.

Please, please, please keep in mind the old adage, "if it's looks too good to be true, it probably is". These scammers prey on people who really, really want the camera but don't want to pay the price. If everyone else is selling the camera at about the same price but you suddenly find it for $200 cheaper, don't let your desire for a good deal overcome your common sense. Some online store in Brooklyn will NOT have it $200 cheaper than Amazon.

At ProductCritic's main site, we are constantly looking at the individual ads being shown in our Google Ads box. We block out any ads from stores that have a history of scamming people so that they never show up on ProductCritic. If you run a site, you should do the same and do your part in helping to curb the scamming of innocent people, and more importantly, the visitors to your site.

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A History Of Cell Phones - In Pictures

MSN has a nice slideshow of 15 pictures showing a history of the cell phone from the initial Motorola's (still an amazing achievement) all the way to the soon-to-be released iPhone.

Makes me feel both a sense of nostalgia and awe at the amazing achievements of all the engineers that have created something many of us now just for granted and couldn't live without.

Learn To Use Scene Mode On Your Digital Camera

Most Point & Shoot cameras these days have a large number of "scene modes" that set up your camera automatically to take a variety of pictures in a variety of locations (e.g. "fireworks", "beach").

While you might use "landscape" or "portrait" or "night shot" once in awhile, it would be helpful to learn what the other modes do. TeachMeToShoot.com has a summary of some of the scene modes:

• Night Portrait/Night Landscape
• Sports Mode
• Sunrise/Sunset
• Copy Mode
• Beach/Snow
• Panorama
• Party/Indoors
• Backlight

I've seen some cameras with as much as 50 pre-programmed scene modes. My bet is that most users never use more than a handful.

What's Happening To The Popular Camera On Flickr?

Since one of our main focuses is Digital Camera Reviews, we regularly look at the popular cameras owned by users of Flickr and we've blogged about these popular cameras (and their ProductCritic Scores) in the past.

I was surprised when I recently looked at the charts on Flickr and noticed a distinct drop in the use of the most popular cameras. Is there a simple explanation for this? Are people just replacing their cameras with newer models and those models have not shown up on the popular charts yet? Are they switching to other brands that also don't have enough market share yet to show up on the top lists? This is happening for both DSLR's and point and shoots though.

Anyone think they have an explanation?

Armor For Your Camera. That's Hardcore.

For the photographers who either travel in war zones or are really worried about keeping their gear in pristine condition (so you can sell it when you upgrade to the next hot DSLR?), get this camera armor from cameraarmor.com.

I think this is so cool. The "body armor" is customized for a variety of cameras and includes a clear shield for the LCD and a hood that stretches over the lens for protection.

The following cameras are supported:

• Canon 30D
• Canon Rebel XTi/400D
• Canon 5D
• Nikon D70/D70S
• Nikon D80
• Nikon D200
• Nikon D40
• Sony Alpha A100

If you get one of these, send me a picture of how it looks being carried around and used.

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How Long Will Your Shutter Last?

I worry a lot more about dropping my camera (or losing it) before worrying that the shutter on my Canon 20D is going to malfunction and die on me.

Oleg Kikan has a cool user-contributed database of average shutter lifespans for tons of different cameras. Looks like my Canon 20D should average at least 45,000 shots before the shutter mechanism dies. If I make it that far, I'll probably be buying a new camera. Then again, with another kid coming, I just might hit that 45,000 mark sooner than expected.

Definitely take some time to go to Oleg's database and input how many shots you've taken on your camera so far.

Have You Lost Your Cell Phone In The Toilet?

I found a cell phone in the bathroom at a FAO Schwartz the other day so I looked up how many people have lost their phones in this way.

I'm not sure how much I believe this "research" done by SimplySwitch.com but the Telegraph in the UK reports that in the study, 885,000 people flush their cell phones down the toilet every year. Does that sound right to you? I find it hard to believe that nearly a million people don't notice their cell phone fell in the toilet before they flush it. Still, with the increasing use of automatic flushers when you stand up, maybe people just don't get a chance to realize that their phone fell before the flush happens.

In addition to the loss down the toilet, 810,00 lost their phone in a pub, 315,00 lost theirs in the back of a taxi, and 225,000 lost theirs on the bus.

Finally, 58,000 phones were chewed up by pets and 116,000 went through the laundry. I definitely can believe both of these numbers!

As phones get smaller and lighter, they become easier to lose. Have you lost yours at some point? Where do you think you lost it?