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Canon Digital Ixus 95 IS
by ceebee27
I chose this camera with the help of my Dad as I wanted something that was going to take good photos without me being a particularly good photographer. I wanted something that was simple to use and would hopefully prevent me from taking blurry photographs, which my old camera was particularly good at doing! Essentially I wanted something ... that took good photos with as little effort to me as possible.
And this camera really does do that. I've had a play with the various different modes and some of them really do help to make photos look better, although the camera does manage to take good photos without having to fiddle as well. The auto focus function has meant that blurry photos are now a thing of the past!
It's lightweight, compact and really comfy to hold making it great for carrying around when on holiday. The battery seems to last for days (depending on how many times you decide to look back through your photos!) which is a real bonus. The buttons on the back make it really user friendly and even someone with limited photography skills (me) was able to navigate around the menus of the camera easily.
There really aren't many downsides I've come across with this camera, but when you zoom in fully (using both the optical and digital zoom), the photos look pixelated so I never bother to use this. Another problem is that the screen can be quite hard to see in very bright sunlight and the viewfinder which can be used instead is quite small and cuts off the edges of the photo.
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Kodak Fun Saver
by Huomenna
I remember reading somewhere that Kodak designed some of the very first digital camera's, but were loathe to take on the technology as they worried it would have a large impact on the revenue they gained via the format of 35mm film. As such they were 'late to the game' in rolling out consumer cameras in a digital format and started ... dropping further down the scales in terms of market share. As it stands they have now decided that photography is no longer a profitable market for them and their business is having serious struggles. That said Kodak still has its followers and there are some digital cameras made by them on the market today.
What is it?
This camera is called the 'Kodak Fun Saver FD3' (no idea what the FD3 stands for, maybe someone else can enlighten me). It's a low end digital compact with a price that reflects.
Specification:
The specifications of this camera in brief are 12 megapixels, 2 AA batteries, SD card slot, standard definition video, 2.4" LCD screen
Appearance and ease of use:
Kodak have made a rather cheap looking camera here - it's very plasticy feeling and incredibly light weight, basically it doesn't feel like a quality product but more like a fake model for display purposes. The materials used also make it feel like due to it's flimsy nature it would probably be fairly easy to break.
On one side is a bulge that is there to accomodate the AA batteries, it also serves as a grip which, all credit to Kodak, does sit quite nicely in the hand. There's also a small area on the back which has been left empty of buttons to enable you to put your thumb somewhere without selecting any functions accidentally.
The 2.4" LCD screen is fairly small by modern standards and the resolution is low, however it's still fairly easy to see the subject matter you are photographing despite this. The buttons are well laid out on the back with their functions clearly denoted - hand in hand with this goes the on screen menu's which are also easy to navigate making this camera simple and easy to use.
The start up is quick, taking about 1 second to be functional and image deletion is done one at a time in playback mode (format is available via the menu).
One thing which should be considered, as it has become standard on many modern cameras, is that the automatic function is not intelligent, which is to say it does not scene detect.
Price:
Costing about £40 online for genuine UK stock, you can expect to pay up to about £60 on the highstreet including a card and case. As such there's no denying this is a bottom of the market digital compact.
Quality of results:
This is the most important part of any camera and however good the rest of a camera is - if the results don't match your requirements then you need to carry on looking as you'll never be happy.
Now we've already covered the fact that this is a cheap camera so the results aren't exactly going to blow anyone away - if the photos were that good then Kodak wouldn't be struggling and there would be no need for bigger, more expensive cameras on the market. This really is a case of you get what you pay for.
I found that the images are very soft (lack of edge definition and lots of grain/noise) which of course only gets worse if you crop in on an image, they also look a bit sickly. If you use the flash to try and reduce the grain levels it seems to give slightly underexposed results with a magenta tinge to them.
There is a panoramic mode, using a stitch overlay method - ideally you need to use a tripod to get the best out of this function, otherwise it's hard to get the horizons straight. That said 'll give credit where it's sue and the inbuilt software seems pretty good at lining the images up.
If you like macro in particular then this probably isn't the camera for you - compared to the large majority of compacts on the market, the minimum focus on this camera isn't brilliant. Personally I found I couldn't get much closer than 10cm and retain sharp focus on the subject.
In terms of the video functionality - this is only standard definition as opposed to HD. The camera allows you to zoom in and out while recording and when playing back you can't hear the sound from the lens motor which is a plus, as you can on many other cameras. On the downside the the quality is very poor as you zoom in (puts me in mind of a web camera), it looks alright though if you keep zoomed out.
Who would like this camera?
Where I work I frequently get requests for a 'simple' point and shoot digital camera, often for the older generation who are used to using focus free, zoom free, 35mm film cameras - this camera certainly has more functions and buttons than that, but is about as simple and easy to use as any digital camera you are likely to get. As such it could be a great first choice for someone who wants to move on to digital, but may struggle getting to grips with technology.
Another market that may like this camera is children - it's cheap so if they break it it's not the end of the world and once again it's easy to use, plus as kids aren't really concerned with quality of results, they'll quite happily snap away photos of anything and everything with this.
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Fujifilm Finepix AV250
by kayleighmcharris
There are numerous amounts of camera's in the house with myself being a photography enthusiast, I have a collection ranging from top of the range SLR to the most basic compact. This camera is one that is used by the whole family for day trips out when the bigger camera's aren't convenient to take. We purchased this camera fairly ... recently, in the past year or so as we thought our old basic point and shoot was a little dated and the image quality it was giving wasn't at it's best.
PRICE
This camera is around the £50-60 mark depending on where you make your purchase. Id say that this is an average price for a standard point and shoot and the fact that it's an affordable camera also reflects that there is no real wow or additional features.
DESIGN AND EASE OF USE
The camera is a very good compact size it'll fit comfortably between most people's top finger tips to the bottom of their palm, great for transporting the camera on low key trips. I have this model in silver as it was the only colour they had in stock at the time of my purchase, however I do think the black model looks more expensive and has a certain amount of sleekness to it.
There are minimal buttons on the designs and only the flash, lens and logo is present on the front of the camera, I think the minimalistic design of the camera makes it look very mature and is also very welcoming to anyone regardless of their experience with photography.
The few buttons that are on the camera are very reasonably sized and spaced out from one another, I think this is a great design concept as there are a few of my cameras that are so jam packed with small buttons you're constantly hitting the wrong ones, then by the time you get the camera ready the photo opportunity has gone! However, this camera is excellent for time efficiency and getting those quick snaps, quickly.
FEATURES
There are no snazzy features on this camera that you wouldn't already expect from a standard point and shoot camera, you have the ability to zoom, the choice of flash a built in self timer and a macro option, other than the ability to take the picture that's pretty much all the features you get with this camera. Being an enthusiast I see this camera as quite dull and boring and I tend to only use it when its absolutely necessary. On the other hand, my parents and siblings love this camera, as they have next to no knowledge of photography and it allows then to easily understand a few features and take great photos.
Zoom-
The camera has a 3x optical zoom, this doesn't offer a fantastic range but it can get you just a little bit closer to your desired subject without sticking the camera in their or it's face, and it also give you the opportunity to get a better frame on the picture by in affect cropping out unwanted background. Just don't expect anything amazing with the zoom, it's probably camera phone zoom range!
Flash-
You have a choice of turning the flash on and off, this is good for days at the zoo or in enclosed areas where flash is not allowed.
Macro-
This is for close up shots and allows you to capture (usually a small sized subject) in great detail and usually with vibrant and vivid colours. The macro on this camera works well but not great, you can see more detail in the images but not a great amount. I'd say this macro focuses more on depth of field (Focusing more on making the background blurry rather than bringing detail out).
Timer-
Great for group snaps, allows everyone to be in the photo providing you have a tripod of a surface to securely hold the camera. I've not really used this feature much on this camera as I think it's more hassle than it's worth, I'd rather ask a tourist or someone walking by to take a group picture for us.
The picture quality is good, there is minimal blur and the images tend to be sharp and clear. The camera has 16 megapixels which means its a very good size if you want to blow your images up to a reasonably larger size.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
This camera produces good pictures and has a good range of features providing you don't want anything great and you just expect the basics. I think £50 is a good price for this camera as it's durable and does what it says on the packet. This is a great camera for those starting out in photography (such as young children) or those who just need a basic camera that can take good quality pictures.
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