Take Better Flash Photos

Cheapshooter provides three easy (and cheap!) methods to modify the built-in flash on your DSLR so that the flash photos you take don't look so...flash photo-ish.

I like their first method of using a white film canister to put over the flash and diffuse the light. Looks like I'll have to go hunting for a film canister though...I haven't had a camera that uses actual film in years.

This Camera Was Really Dirty

A friend of mine sent me this picture (not of him) of someone cleaning their dirty camera. Looks like I've been using the wrong method to clean my camera.



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Super Cool Do-It-Yourself Tripod That's Better Than Mine

I have one of those cheap bendable tripods that you can get for your point-and-shoot camera. I've seen the Gorillapod which looks to be a pretty good improvement on my cheaper version.

I saw this video on creating a cool do-it-yourself tripod though that doesn't look as pretty but would do a much better job than my cheap tripod and would also work for my camcorder. Even better than that is that it costs about $1 in materials and about 10 minutes of your time to make (if you're not very handy with tools).

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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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.

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.

Don't Get Scammed From Online Camera Stores

The Wise Bread blog has a post entry titled "DO NOT buy a digital camera online until you read this". The post is a detailed account of exactly what happened when he tried to purchase a digital camera from one of the most notorious online camera stores, Bestpricecameras.com.

The usual way these Brooklyn-based online camera stores scam you is the simple Bait-and-Switch tactic. They lure you to make a purchase by showing cameras that are well below the prices you see elsewhere (as much as half as much). That's the bait. Then, once you place an order, you'll get a call or an e-mail saying that your order is backordered or you find out it's for the camera body only (no battery, manual, box, or anything else) and you'll get pressured to purchase a bunch of different stuff (or a different model of camera).

In a previous post, I talk about how I look for these scam stores advertising on ProductCritic via Google Adwords. The only way to ensure that the visitors on your site don't go to one of these scam stores is to block those ads from your site.

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Amazon Purchases DPREVIEW.COM!

On Monday, one of the largest and most-trusted camera review sites, dpreview.com, announced that they had been purchased by Amazon.

Almost immediately, some in the community were skeptical that dpreview.com could maintain its objective reviews as poor reviews would mean less people would want to purchase that particular product from Amazon. Also, would Amazon ruin the site by putting Amazon links all over the place?

ZDNet has a good article about the questions involved in the dpreview purchase.

On ProductCritic's digital camera reviews, we weight the reviews from dpreview very high as they are among the most comprehensive and objective of all the reviews on the Internet. I hope it stays that way because they are a fantastic resource for consumers and the community in their forums are composed of very knowledgable, helpful people.

Top 10 Digital Camera Mistakes

The Photo Mentor has a post describing the Top 10 Digital Camera Mistakes. I'm summarizing below:

1. More Pixels Doesn't Mean Better Pictures
2. Don't Use Digital Zoom
3. Take The Highest Resolution Pics You Can
4. Have An Extra Battery
5. Optical Viewfinder Isn't What The Camera Sees
6. Be A Tripod
7. The LCD Is Misleading
8. More Pixels Are Better At High ISO
9. You Can't Always Fix In Photoshop
10. Printing At Home Doesn't Save Money

Most of these mistakes are geared towards people who have just bought their first digital camera (how many of you are there?) but I think everyone should pay attention to mistake #10 as it's easy to think that you should print out all your pics just because today's printer, ink, and paper produce such great results.

Vote For The Best Camera Of 2006

Go to Engadget to vote for the Digital Camera of the Year in the 2006 Engadget Awards.

The choices are:
1) Canon 400D/Rebel XTi (ProductCritic Score=85)
2) Canon SD800 (ProductCritic Score=81)
3) Nikon D80 (ProductCritic Score=91)
4) Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 (ProductCritic Score=79)
5) Sony Alpha 100 (ProductCritic Score=83)
6) Sony HDR-SR1 (ProductCritic Score=88)

So far, the results look like the Rebel XTi has a very slight edge over the Nikon D80 (even though the reviews show that the D80 is a better camera).

You have until midnight, Monday, April 16 to cast your vote so head on over and do that.

Beginner's Guide To Buying A Digital Camera

We've previously talked about what to look for when buying a Digital SLR camera but what if you've just started looking for a regular digital camera? (Although, with over 30 million digital cameras sold in 2006, there's less and less people who are just jumping into the digital camera market for the first time).

If you need a beginner's primer on buying a digital camera, Tech2.com has a pretty simple beginner's guide.

I've bought a few digital cameras and the best advice I can give is to go to the store and try it out (even if you're going to buy it online). You want to see how it feels in your hand and you want to try the basic functions (startup, viewing pictures, movies, deleting, menu options). The way the buttons are placed on the camera may just not work with your hands and fingers.

Finally, look on ProductCritic to see what the professional reviewers say about image quality and how the cameras you're interested in stack up to each other.

Canon Elph - Which One To Buy?

Even if you're a Canon fan, buying one of their ultracompact cameras in the Digital Elph line can be confusing and frustrating. There are so many of these models to choose from, each with their own set of features.

CNET has recently posted an article about making a choice amongst the Canon Digital Elph cameras. They also have a side-by-side comparison of five of the models. I've listed them below with their CNET rating along with their ProductCritic Scores:

• Canon PowerShot SD1000 (CNET=7.8)
• Canon PowerShot SD900 (CNET=7.6 ProductCritic Score=82)
• Canon PowerShot SD800 IS (CNET=7.8 ProductCritic Score=81)
• Canon PowerShot SD750 (CNET=7.8 ProductCritic Score=80)
• Canon PowerShot SD600 (CNET=7.8 ProductCritic Score=83)

CNET's conclusion is that if money is no object, buy the SD800 IS but if cost matters, get the SD600.

All the reviews for the cameras are so close that you'll probably be happy purchasing any of them. I also have a Digital Elph (the PowerShot SD500 - ProductCritic Score=85) and I'm fairly happy with it. It takes pretty good pictures, has great video and is certainly small enough for me to carry around wherever I go without noticing it too much.

Looks like we'll have to aggregate the reviews for the SD1000 on ProductCritic soon. If you're looking to purchase it quickly, leave a comment and we'll get it up on the site the same day.

The BEST And ONLY Digital SLR Buyer's Guide You Will Need

Running a site like ProductCritic, I read a lot about digital cameras. It's hard not to get almost bored (or at least unaffected) with some of the articles out there and it becomes a rare occurance when I sit up and really take notice.

Here's one of those times. I'm nearly speechless by how good this article is by Gear Digest (the same network of sites that is part of Tom's Hardware Guide) providing a Buyer's Guide to Digital SLR's which includes details and comparisons on 26 DSLR cameras. The article is so good because it gives you a really detailed explanation of many aspects of DSLRs like sensor types, lenses supported, and shutter speeds and how each aspect will apply to your final purchase decision.

Finally, the article ends with a comprehensive features chart comparing all 26 DSLRs against each of the aspects that the article described previously. Great work!

So, if you're in the market for a new DSLR or are a beginner looking to move up to your first Digital SLR, then do yourself a favor and read the Buyer's Guide. Barry Gerber, the author deserves acknowledgement of a great, well written, article.

Now Is A Great Time To Buy A Digital SLR Camera

I've owned a DSLR camera (a Canon 20D) for a couple years now. I bought it to go on a trip to India and don't regret the price or the cost of the extra lenses one bit. The pictures I'm able to take with the camera make me look like a better photographer without actually being a better photographer!

The camera has been invaluable in capturing pictures of my first kid and again, some of the pictures turn out so fantastic, I'd be happy if a professional captured ones like them. Then again, that's what happens when you take hundreds of pictures in a session...you're bound to get at least one "show quality" photo! That's my strategy, shoot enough quantity so that you get lucky and get some quality.

If you've been contemplating upgrading to a digital SLR, there is no better time than now! There are plenty of good options out right now at very reasonable prices.

In addition to reviewing hardware and software, Macworld, for some reason, also reviews digital cameras (the only "consumer electronics" they review). Normally, the reviews aren't of incredibly high quality (like ones you find at DPReview) and I'm not usually to impressed by them. Regardless, Macworld has posted a great six-page article entitled "How to buy: DSLR cameras" written by Ben Long, author of "Complete Digital Photography" that gives a fantastic overview on what to look for and how to buy a digital SLR. It's kind of like a very short "Buying a DSLR Camera for Dummies".

In addition to providing easy to understand definitions for a variety of terms (ISO, Autobracketing, Histogram display), the article provides great advice for people who may be intimidated buy purchasing a DSLR. Here's a couple of the best pieces of advice:

• "You shouldn't buy a DSLR without handling it first" - all cameras feel different, you need to find one that fits your hand and strength and just feels right in terms of button placement, weight, and balance.
• "Don't sell your point-and-shoot...keep it" - you don't want to carry the DSLR with you in every situation. That's where the compactness of a good point and shoot come in. Very useful...especially with kids. I have the Canon SD500.

Finally, the article lists 5 recommended DSLR cameras that you should look at. I've listed them below along with their ProductCritic scores:

1. Canon Digital Rebel XTi (ProductCritic Score = 85)
2. Nikon D40 (ProductCritic Score = 83)
3. Nikon D80 (ProductCritic Score = 91)
4. Pentax K10D (ProductCritic Score = 90)
5. Sony Alpha A100 (ProductCritic Score = 83)

Although I am a Canon fan, the Nikon D80 and the Pentax K10D are getting overwhelmingly glowing reviews from the professionals and are in the Top 5 rated cameras on ProductCritic.

If you've been waiting to buy a DSLR, why wait any longer? Read the "How To" and go get one! You won't regret it.

CNET Editor's Top 7-Megapixel Cameras

The latest batch of pocket point-and-shoot cameras boast 7-Megapixels of goodness. Of course, lots of megapixels really doesn't mean better pictures but CNET has listed their top 7-Megapixel cameras.

I've listed them below along with each cameras ProductCritic Score (as long as they are listed in ProductCritic).

1. Canon PowerShot SD800 IS (81)
2. Sony CyberShot DSC-T10 (77)
3. Sony CyberShot DSC-T50 (79)
4. Canon PowerShot A710 IS (83)
5. Sony CyberShot DSC-T30
6. Canon PowerShot A550
7. Nikon Coolpix S7c
8. Kodak EasyShare V705 (75)
9. Sony CyberShot DSC-H5 (78)
10. Canon Powershot SD550 (85)

It's always interesting to me how CNET rates their products compared to the summary score that we calculate from all the professional reviews on the Internt. Note that the 10th spot on CNET's list is the best rated of them all according to the ProductCritic Score. I think the SD550 is a great camera so I'm not surprised it's actually got the best reviews from experts. I'm also not surprised that Kodak has the lowest score of the ten.

Finally, this list points to me three cameras that are missing from ProductCritic! That's embarassing. In our effort to be as complete as possible, we'll be adding the review summaries for these missing cameras within a day or two.

Remember that ProductCritic doesn't just use an automated spider to get all the reviews. Our experience is that the results of automated spiders do not produce the results we want (missing reviews, duplicate reviews, reviews without scores, etc). We want to set ProductCritic apart by making the results as meaningful as possible. After all, how are you supposed to make the right shopping decision if you can't trust the completeness of the reviews?

By the way, if you've had a chance to visit ProductCritic, let us know what you think? Has it helped you? What's good about it? What would you like to change? Are we missing a product you're interested in?

The Worst Digital Cameras Ever

I just stumbled across an article by Digital Camera HQ talking about the worst cameras ever. Although written in October 2006, some of the cameras are still on the market so watch out! In no particular order, the writer calls out these cameras:

• Canon Powershot A70
• Sea Life DC500
• Kodak Easyshare One
• Polaroid PDC-5080
• Pentax Optio E10

While I was surprised by the Canon A70 (as I've always been happy with my Canon's), further details revealed a major glitch in the camera and Canon had to offer free repairs for it. It's the one camera that has driven many people away from Canon's ever since.

I'm certainly not surprised by the inclusion of the Pentax Optio E10 though. Of all the cameras on ProductCritic, it has the lowest ProductCritic Score of 63. Not surprisingly, the second lowest score on the whole site goes to its cousin, the Pentax Optio A10 which received a 69. That definitely tells me that Pentax doesn't know how to make a good point & shoot...although I believe that their dSLR's fare a lot better given that the Pentax K10D has a ProductCritic Score of 90 and is in the Top 5 cameras on the whole site.

Not Sure What Type Of Camera To Buy?

I read a lot of forum posts on Yahoo and CNET and a lot of the questions are very general in nature and are usually of the type "What is the best camera?" or "What camera should I buy?"

This is a very difficult question to answer because, like cars, the type of camera you buy depends highly on what you will use it for, how much you want to spend, etc.

About.com has a very simple Digital Camera Selector Quiz that may help you by at least pointing you in the right direction about which cameras you should do some research on (of course, you should then do that research on ProductCritic). I tried the quiz acting as different types of buyers and I think it retured fairly decent advice...although it said I should get an advanced camera instead of the dSLR that I thought it would recommend given my answers to the quiz.

If you are looking to buy your first digital camera and are a little intimidated by all the choices, do yourself a favor and take the short quiz.

The Easiest Way To Understand All Those Camera Functions

Although many of us have digital cameras, how many of us really know what all those camera terms like f-stop, aperture, and ISO mean? I own a Digital SLR (Canon 20D) that has almost every imaginable setting but even on my pocket camera (a Canon SD500), I can adjust some of these settings.

It's taken me awhile to understand what all these terms are and how they affect the picture I'm taking (I still don't have a full grasp of it all) but that took a lot of time as I learned through lots of trial and error. Each of these settings affect the other settings and all these combinations can definitely be overwhelming to learn.

Photonhead.com has a load of fantastic tutorials on how to use a digital camera:

• Beginner's Guide to Photography
• Digital Camera Buying Guide
• Photography Tips
• Photo Editing

But, the very best thing on Photonhead is SimCam which is an online Film and Digital Camera Simulator. It gives you the ability to play around with things like f-stops and apertures, take a "virtual picture" and see what the results would be. I think you would find it very useful in learning how all the various settings interact with one another.

In the end, Photonhead has a great tip to learn to take better pictures...take more pictures! I couldn't agree more.

Kodak Is Struggling...Is It Really Surprising?

The BBC website has a short article with the headline "Kodak to cut an extra 3,000 jobs". The article notes, "Struggling US camera company Eastman Kodak is to cut at least 3,000 extra jobs this year as it continues efforts to fully adapt to the digital age."

Since they made all their profits on film, Kodak was slow to warm up to the digital camera age. Instead of jumping ahead of the pack, they spent more resources on advancing the quality of film (and, in my opinion, proceeded to stick their head in the sand).

Still, once a giant like Kodak decided to get into the digital camera business, you'd expect that their brand alone would sell cameras...and it does (although not as well as Canon or Nikon).

Given the quality of Kodak cameras, is it really surprising to anyone that Kodak has the lowest workforce they've had since the 1930's? I've listed a couple Kodak cameras that we've aggregated reviews for on ProductCritic:

• Kodak EasyShare C743 - ProductCritic Score = 63
• Kodak EasyShare Z650 - ProductCritic Score = 73

These two cameras currently hold the distinction of being the worst and third worst rated products on ProductCritic.

While Kodak has targeted 2008 to be the year that they are back in the game, although they've recently had their first quarterly profit in two years, my take is that the lead that the other companies have in the digital camera market may be too much to overcome.

The Secret Behind "More Megapixels"

When I bought my first digital camera, I didn't know much about how many megapixels the camera should have. I went for the most megapixels I could get within my budget.

Now that I've bought a few more cameras, I've learned that how many megapixels a camera has plays a very, very tiny part in the final quality of the pictures. I currently have a Canon SD500 (7.1 megapixel) and a Canon EOS 20D (8 megapixel) but when I look back at the pictures I took with my Canon G1 (3 megapixel), it's interesting to note that the pictures are every bit as good as my current cameras (I've included one with this post...the elephant scared the crap out of me). I took my Canon G1 to Africa in 2002 and of course I would have rather have had something like my Canon EOS 20D but I'm not disappointed in the resulting pictures that I have from that trip.

The NY Times has a good article debunking the megapixel myth. As they state:

But one myth is so deeply ingrained, millions of people waste money on it
every year. I’m referring, of course, to the Megapixel Myth.
It goes like this: “The more megapixels a camera has, the better the pictures.”
It’s a big fat lie. The camera companies and camera stores all know it, but they continue to exploit our misunderstanding. Advertisements declare a camera’s megapixel rating as though it’s a letter grade, implying that a 7-megapixel model is necessarily better than a 5-megapixel model.

Read the full article to understand what I've learned through trial and error.

CNET's Top 7 Megapixel Cameras - January 2007

CNET's Editors' Top 7 Megapixel cameras are listed below along with their ProductCritic scores:

1. Canon Powershot SD800 IS (ProductCritic Score = 81)
2. Sony Cybershot DSC-T10
3. Sony Cybershot DSC-T50 (ProductCritic Score = 79)
4. Canon Powershot A710 IS (ProductCritic Score = 83)
5. Sony Cybershot DSC-T30
6. Nikon Coolpix S7c
7. Kodak EasyShare V705
8. Sony Cybershot DSC-H5 (ProductCritic Score = 78)
9. Canon Powershot SD550 (ProductCritic Score = 85)

Unfortunately for us at ProductCritic, this list highlights all the work we still have to do as four of the nine cameras on this list do not yet have their reviews aggregated on ProductCritic. We'll be working to get these onto the site as soon as possible.

Follow up to Memory Cards for Digital Cameras

As a quick followup to our previous post on Fast Memory Cards and Digital Cameras, I wanted to call attention to an article by The Photography Bay that provides all the details that you should need about which memory cards to purchase to get the most out of your digital camera.

It's a very well written post that's clear and concise. Whether you're a beginner or a "prosumer", I think you'll get something out of it.

Now I Remember Why I Chose Canon Over Nikon

I have a Canon 20D, a DSLR, and a Canon SD500, my pocket camera that I can carry around with me everywhere. I've always been partial to Canon digital cameras ever since my first one, the Canon G1 (of the G-series, I still like the G6 better than the G7).

While working on ProductCritic, I've read almost all the reviews for the latest Nikon cameras and, given their fantastic reviews, I had started getting a little nervous that maybe I should be switching brands. On ProductCritic, Nikon has currently captured 3 of the top 5 ratings spots:

1. Nikon D200 (ProductCritic Score = 92)
2. Canon EOS 20D (ProductCritic Score = 91)
3. Nikon D80 (ProductCritic Score = 91)
4. Nikon D70/D70S (ProductCritic Score = 89)
5. Canon Digital Rebel XT (ProductCritic Score = 88)

A post on Engadget entitled "Nikon fesses up to new CCD malfunction problems" shook out the remaining doubt in my mind. It details the latest CCD failures with some Nikon models. Granted that in 2005, CDD problems hit almost all major brands (including Canon and Nikon) but for now I'm sticking with Canon as I've been extremely happy so far with their cameras.

Get The Most Out Of Your Digital Camera...Take This Free Course

The original motive for starting ProductCritic was because we were tired of the hassle of keeping track of all our research before we bought a product. In fact, the current three categories of consumer electronics that we provide review aggregation for on ProductCritic were chosen because we had recently bought a camera, camcorder, and cell phone.

So, part of this blog is also about the products that we cover. I definitely consider myself a very amateur photographer who really enjoys the creative outlet that photography brings. Although I'm not sure that my own photography skills have improved a lot, my pictures have turned out better just because of my current camera, the Canon 20D.

In order to actually improve my skills (and not just my tools), I've recently started going through one of the best free online photography courses I've found. From instructor, Jodie Coston, it's very well written and gives good background information behind the instructions.

The 10 lessons are broken down into:

1. Composition and Impact
2. Aperture and Shutter Speed
3. The Lens
4. ISO, Grain, & Transparency
5. Fun Effects
6. Landscape, Nature, & Travel Photography
7. Portraits and Studio Lighting
8. Studio Lighting
9. Tying It All Together
10. Special Requests

If you want to be happier with the pictures you're taking from that fancy new digital camera you bought, I suggest reading through the course. Also, be sure to check out the best DSLR Tutorial that I wrote about in a previous post.

Does A Fast Memory Card Matter For Your Digital Camera?

When you buy a new digital camera, they usually include a tiny memory card (e.g. Compact Flash or SD Card) that is big enough for you to immediately try out the camera and fill it with....5 pictures. For most cameras on the market, you will want to purchase a much larger memory card. These days, depending on the megapixel capabilities of your camera, I would suggest a minimum of 512MB or a 1GB card. On my 8 megapixel Canon 20D, my 1 GB card allows me to take about 230 pictures (in jpeg format) before I have to empty the card. Unless I'm specifically taking a day for improving my photography skills, that makes it very convenient to take the camera out for the day and usually not have to worry about running out of room on my card.

Memory cards (of which there are many different types) come in a variety of prices as well. Should you be spending the extra money for these "ultra fast" cards?

Here is a good article from BobAtkins.com that gives you a lot of information about memory cards for your digital camera including which cards to buy and which ones to avoid. Do you need a super fast (60x speeds and greater) card though? His tests show that for some cameras, it makes a huge difference but for others, the camera has a limit on its write speed that even slower cards (12x speeds) can may reacn. The article shows tests from four Canon cameras (the first number is the transfer speed of fast cards and the second is the transfer speed of slow cards):

• Canon Digital Rebel: Fast=1.4 MB/s Slow=1 MB/s


• Canon EOS 10D: Fast=1.4 MB/s Slow=1 MB/s


• Canon EOS 20D: Fast = 5 MB/s Slow=1 MB/s\


• Canon EOS 1Ds mark II = 7 MB/s Slow=1 MB/s

As you can see, if you have a Canon 10D, it might not be worth it to pay the extra money for a super fast card but for a 20D, it would be worth it. Check the specs on your camera to see if it makes sense for you. Of course, you may also decide to spend the extra money just to get a more reliable card. I use Sandisk Ultra II's and have been very happy with both their speed and reliability.

10 Megapixel DSLR Comparison

The Comparison Shopper has created a detailed summary table of specs for 10 megapixel DSLR's. This is a helpful summary for people contemplating their first DSLR and want the best consumer level that they can purchase.

Below, I've listed the 5 cameras and their corresponding ProductCritic Scores:

• Canon Rebel XTi/400D (85)
• Nikon D80 (91)
• Pentax K10D (88)
• Sony A100 (83)
• Olympus E-400 (82)

The Nikon D80 definitely leads the pack (tied for all-time highest ProductCritic Score with the Canon 20D). The Sony puts in a respectable showing for the first version of their consumer DSLR. I'm surprised by the high score for the Pentax though. Looks like one to check out. Finally, the Olympus is included on Comparison Shopper's list but note that it is not available for purchase in North America.

Sneaky Camera Marketing Tactics

Digital Photography Review (www.dpreview.com) is one of the most trusted camera information and review sites on the Internet (to me, they share the top spots with Steve's Digicams and Digital Camera Resource Page). They have a short post up titled "Stop misleading 'Image Stabilization' labels".

The post describes the tactics some companies take in labeling their cameras as having a "Image Stabilization" or "Anti-shake" feature when in fact, there is no actual physical anti-shake mechanism. Instead, these cameras perform their "image stabilization" by turning up the ISO for some shots. This allows you to take pictures in low-light and therefore, reduce the blurriness but the quality of the image goes way down.

I always wondered about this. I have a Canon 20D with an actual Image Stabilization lens and there are still many instances where it's hard to take a non-flash picture without the blur. The dpreview.com post backs up my suspicions when I see commercials where people are bouncing around the place taking razor-sharp pictures in a nightclub with a point & shoot camera.

Don't believe the hype.

The Best Canon Digital SLR Tutorial Ever!

Like I've mentioned before, although I take much better pictures than I ever did with my Canon 20D (much thanks to the camera and the lens), I could still use a lot of help with composition and the camera settings. I find that I never have the time to take a whole weekend and just take photos and learn from my mistakes.

PhotoshopSupport.com has the best tutorial I've ever read on using a Digital SLR and it's even better that it's focused on Canon cameras. Given that I'm on the computer all the time, maybe I'll be able to pick up a few tips.

Flickr's Most Popular Cameras And Their ProductCritic Scores

Flickr has posted a Camera Finder page that charts the most popular cameras used by people to take photos that are posted to their site.

The graphs are quite interesting and shows the Canon Digital Rebel XT to be way ahead of the other Digital SLR cameras. Also, quite amazing is that all of the Top 5 Point & Shoot cameras being used are all of the Canon brand. They are obviously doing a great job on the marketing side and delivering on the product quality side.

As for me, I have a Canon 20D and I love it! For the level of my photography skills, the camera and lens make all the difference in my photos. I don't think I'm much better as a photographer but the camera sure makes up for my shortcomings. For my Point & Shoot camera for keeping with me in my pocket, I have a Canon SD500.

I've provided Flickr's list below along with the scores for the cameras that have ProductCritic scores. Some of the cameras are no longer sold by the manufacturers so there may not be review summaries for all of these cameras on ProductCritic.

Most Popular Cameras in the Flickr Community:

1. Canon Digital Rebel XT (ProductCritic Score = 88)
   
2. Nikon D50 (ProductCritic Score = 86)
   
3. Canon 20D (ProductCritic Score = 91)
   
4. Nikon D70 (ProductCritic Score = 89)
   
5. Canon Digital Rebel

Most Popular Point & Shoot Cameras:

1. Canon Powershot SD400
   
2. Canon Powershot SD450 (ProductCritic Score = 82)
3. Canon Powershot S2 IS (ProductCritic Score = 77)
4. Canon Powershot A520 (ProductCritic Score = 80)
5. Canon Powershot SD300

Most Popular Cameraphones:

1. Sony Ericsson K750i
2. Nokia N73 (ProductCritic Score = 78)
3. Nokia N70
4. Sony Ericsson K800i (ProductCritic Score = 87)
5. Sony Ericsson W810i (ProductCritic Score = 87)

Help! I Bought A Camcorder And Suck At Shooting Movies!

I must admit that my camcorder skills are kindergarten poor. My still shots with my dSLR camera are quite a bit better than they used to be after I learned some key tips such as The Rule of Thirds but I haven't learned the same level of tips for camcorders.

PC World has put up a short list of 5 tips in an article entitled "Making Movies: Tips for New Camcorder Owners". Even though I've owned a camcorder for a couple years, following some of these tips would have certainly helped me.

If you received a new camcorder for Christmas, I'd suggest investing one day going online and learning some key tips. It'll pay off hugely in the quality and watchability of your home movies.

ProductCritic Comparisons With PC World's Top 10 Cameras

In a previous post, I pointed out PC World's 2006 list of Top 10 Point & Shoot Cameras. ProductCritic has been updated to include all these cameras so I thought it would be appropriate to provide a comparison of the PC World ratings with the ProductCritic scores for those same cameras to demonstrate the difference that aggregate ratings can provide.

PC World's Top 10 List

1. HP Photosmart R727 - 82 (ProductCritic Score = 73)
2. Canon Powershot A540 - 81 (ProductCritic Score = 79)
3. Casio Exilim EX-Z600 - 80 (ProductCritic Score = 80)
4. Fujifilm Finepix F30 - 79 (ProductCritic Score = 85)
5. Canon Powershot SD630 - 79 (ProductCritic Score = 79)
6. Fujifilm Finepix E900 - 78 (ProductCritic Score = 84)
7. HP Photosmart R927 - 78 (ProductCritic Score = 72)
8. Nikon Coolpix S6 - 77 (ProductCritic Score = 75)
9. Kodak EasyShare C743 - 77 (ProductCritic Score = 63)
10. HP Photosmart R967 - 76 (ProductCritic Score = 79)

So, with the same cameras, ranked according to ProductCritic Score gives this list (along with their ProductCritic Scores):

1. Fujifilm Finepix F30 - 85
2. Fujifilm Finepix E900 - 84
3. Casio Exilim EX-Z600 - 80
4. Canon Powershot A540 - 79
5. Canon Powershot SD630 - 79
6. HP Photosmart R967 - 79
7. Nikon Coolpix S6 - 75
8. HP Photosmart R727 - 73
9. HP Photosmart R927 - 72
10. Kodak EasyShare C743 - 63

I'm not surprised that the lists are so different. I am surprised that PC World's list would include cameras that most other reviewers have completely panned. For example, the Kodak and two HP cameras are not just at the bottom of the list above, they are at the bottom of all cameras that are currently included in ProductCritic!

Also surprising to me was the high ratings for the Fujifilm cameras. I need to have a closer hands on look at these cameras as it hits my confidence level in recommending Canon point & shoot cameras to my friends.

Uh Oh! Canon Issues Safety Notice for Powershot A530/A540's

Canon USA has issued a safety notice about Powershot A530 and A540's overheating. Here is a portion of the notice:

"We have discovered that, in a very small number of Powershot A530 and Powershot A540 digital cameras, the area around the battery cover on the bottom of the camera may become hot. We would like to convey the details of this phenomenon and our service policy."

Please read the full Canon Safety Notice for more information.

I really like the Canon digital cameras and routinely recommend them (especially the A540) to friends. I hope this is a small issue and doesn't affect any future recommendations. I wonder if anybody has actually been burnt by the overheating area.

PC World's 2006 Top 10 Point & Shoot Cameras

PC World has created their Top 10 Point & Shoot Cameras for 2006. The number of HP cameras on the list is a surprise to me as we haven't aggregated the reviews for any HP cameras yet on ProductCritic. I also don't know anyone who actually owns a HP digital camera so we've had no experience at all with them. My personal philosophy is that I'd rather get a camera from a camera company vs. a computer technology company.

Their second spot camera, the Canon Powershot A540 is actually in the middle of the pack on ProductCritic which goes to show the value of summarizing the scores from multiple reviewers.

We'll be aggregating the reviews for all the cameras on the PC World Top 10 list today on ProductCritic.