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| Date Reviewed: 09/10/2005 |
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Strengths: it`s sophisticated but easy to manage, great product.
Weaknesses: Flash pictures red eye
Summary: It performance amazed me pleasantly from it sophisticated but easy to manage features, a great camera. only weakness, it on its flash which pictures red eye even do it can be correct it on software.
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| Date Reviewed: 08/21/2004 |
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Strengths: Easy to use, multiple levels of manual control, multiple settings, quick shutter, quick save, flip out viewer
Weaknesses: Manual settings can take a long time to set. Heavy (4 AA batteries)
Summary: This is a great digital camera for people who want just a bit more than a point and shoot camera. It has different settings for different types of shots. Portrate, fast, motion blur, night, backlit, etc. It also has 2 settings that you can completely customize. It has 3 different drive speeds, single shot, short delay, and quick delay (really short). And can capture movies.
Batter life is good, especially if you get NiMH rechargable (as you should for any digital camera). Although it uses 4 AA batteries so it's quite heavy. That could be a strength, since it's a solid feeling camera.
The view screen can piviot and rotate so you can take self photos really easily, or just not use it at all.
You can also view the pictures w/out having the lense cover open, which is great for checking out photos w/out messing up your lense.
I highly recommend this camera to someone who just want's a point and shoot with rich features. But remember, it's no SLR so changing the manual settings can be tedious.
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| Date Reviewed: 08/08/2004 |
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Strengths: Manual settings for ISO, shutter speed, aperture, etc. Video. Sound. Easy to use interface. Lots of options
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: We bought this camera for our vacation through Italy. It performed like a superstar. First of all, out of two weeks of heavy use, we only swapped the batteries twice (so three sets -- the original batteries, and two replacement sets). That absolutely amazed me, as we were on a heavy activity tour, and were using it constantly -- everything from video, to sound, to low light photos with and without flash. I did make sure to turn it off a lot, but towards the end of the trip I was leaving it on with the display turned off, or closed. I think that that saved the batteries.
Second, a lot of people complained about the size of the LCD. Though I would love a huge LCD, the size was fine. You're able to zoom in on the picture in the lcd, which I did often -- I wanted to make sure specific things were in focus or well lit, and I was able to see them fine. I think that the size of the LCD saved the battery life a lot as well. Even in direct sun, i could cup the LCD and see it fine.
Third, the manual settings!!! We were in a lot of dark ancient romanesque churches with no flash allowed. I set the ISO to 400 in one of the manual settings and my photos are like daylight, no flash! I left the dark settings on one of the settings, so that anytime I needed it I could just switch over easily, without having to reset the current setting.
The interface was easy. I did carry the instruction manual with me (as I got it in the mail the day before the trip, so I had some reading to do on the airplane), but I rarely had to use it except to understand what ISO does, what Fstops are, etc.
Anyway, everyone was jealous of this camera. I love that it's fully compatible with the Macintosh. Definitely a great buy.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/08/2003 |
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Strengths: Solidly built, takes high quality pictures, fold out display is very convienient, basic features are easy to use for a beginner, lots of advanced features for a more sophisticated user.
Weaknesses: Soft focus seen in some modes (especially sepia), display seems rather small.
Summary: 2003-11-11 16:47:54 I purchased this camera as a gift for my wife, who has previously owned several "point and shoot" 35 mm film cameras. She wanted an easy to use digital camera which also had some advanced features (especially manual controls over exposure and focus) so she could experiment with photographic techniques without consuming a lot of film. I had considered the Canon A70 which is a similar camera, but the A80 seemed a better choice for my wife at 4 megapixels, with manual controls and features comparable to the Canon S50, and the fold out display which can also fold in to protect the LCD. She has been delighted with the camera and has already taken a lot of color and black and white pictures with it. In spite of other reviews I've seen, we have not had any issues with either the fragility of the compact flash door or the camera being particularly hard on AA batteries. However, you can also purchase a set of 4 NiMH batteries and charger for less that $10 in the electronics section of at least one major discount department store (seven letters, starts with a W, ... :-) if it's an issue. The shutter is much slower than a 35 mm camera, and that has taken a little time to adjust to, but this seems the case with most digital cameras I've seen. The 32M compact flash card included with the camera is a nice size to start with, but I will probably purchase a 256M card before our next vacation.
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| Date Reviewed: 07/31/2004 |
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Strengths: Easy to use for beginners yet offers features that would keep an intermediate/pro happy. Good Battery Life. Have had no problems with it yet. Produces Sharp pictures.
Weaknesses: Software isn't all that great and seems clumsy. The Size of the A80 is a little large compared to similar choices but is of a reasonable size. LCD is a little small
Summary: A great camera especially for it's price $250. It would've been nice for the LCD to be a little larger but the Swivel screen is a good protective feature for the LCD. I would definately recommend this product.
88% of People (49/56) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/18/2004 |
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Strengths: Ease of use is outstanding! Excellent battery life, solid sturdy feel.
Weaknesses: Focus in dim light sometimes difficult. LCD small but adequate.
Summary: I would recommend this camera to everyone. I like it so well that I bought another one for my son in college. No one will be disappointed with this product.
86% of People (91/106) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/09/2004 |
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Strengths: Easy of use; english notation for modes and functions; long battery life; small size; light weight; uses standard AA batteries
Weaknesses: Zoom is much too quick. Difficult to make fine adjustments.
Summary: I think the A80 is superior quality. I was able to take pictures immediately. Very easy on batteries. Functions/modes very easy to understand. Outstanding documentation. Amazing battery life. Zoom is too quick.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/15/2003 |
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Strengths: Swiveling LCD, 4Mpixels, intuitive menus and controls
Weaknesses: Highlights get overblown, some purple fringing, dead/stuk pixel
Summary: 2003-12-18 09:14:09 I too received the A80 with a stuck or dead pixel. It was located towards the lower left of captured images. It would just stay green no matter what. Had the choice to send it to Canon for repair or send back to the store for replacement. I opted for the latter. The second unit is dead-pixel free (so far).
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| Date Reviewed: 08/29/2004 |
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Strengths: Ease of use. Pictures look good. Download from camera to computer was quick. Manual easy to understand. Protected lens. LCD covered when not in use.
Weaknesses: none that I found in the short time I used the camera, however covered lens jammed and recording of pics was impossible.
Summary: This was my second digital camera. First one was a Sony Mavica which uses floppy disks. I still like the Sony for landscapes, however I could never take pics of people in close up mode that weren't blurred. The A80 was great for people pics - no blurred faces. Had used it quick shots of folks at a reunion and pics were great. I also used it for animal/bird pics. Problem was that I could not hold my hand still so shots were never clear. Tried with a tripod and things worked much better. AF allowed me to take pics when other camera owners could not. (had something to do with distance - close - I think). Was very satisfied with the camera. Had to return it to Canon because the camera would not "record" - lens would not extend and cover would not open. BUT - I am thinking of buying another one. The size of the camera was a little bulky, however it would fit in the purse I carry so that was a big plus. Having an LCD which can be used in more than one position a great benefit. The fact that it can be "closed" when not in use was a big plus - no scratched screens this way. There was no worry about lens caps coming off since this lens is covered when not in use.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/22/2003 |
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Strengths: Simple to use, simple to setup, very clear instructions
Easy to use software. Fairly tough construction (passed my fumble fingers on tile test :-)
Weaknesses: Will need to get rechargeable batteries.
Occasionally focusses on target other than intended in auto mode, but there is a way to override.
You're likely to want additional Flash Cards as 32Mb.
Summary: I would highly recommend this to anyone as an entry to mid-level digital camera. This picture quality if very good and it is simple to do the easy pictures. I even figured out how to stitch a panorama very easily.
Has a lot of features I wasn't expecting at this level of camera.
This should serve my basic home/vacation use for many years to come.
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| Date Reviewed: 07/04/2004 |
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Strengths: sturdy it was dropped once already on carpet & just fine! Can buy upgrade lens'. Many shoot'n modes and good clips w/sound
Weaknesses: slow shoot to shoot time. needs recharge batts. need better memory card. if you dont let camera focus on auto mode fully pics will blur
Summary: This was my first digital camera. I shopped for about three mos. I almost bought a sony but it was flimsy. I almost bought a nikon cool pix but no sound and needed a software upgrade via down load to fix problem. Settled on A-70 when A-80 Came out. My wife and I are both "height challenged" so rotating screen is huge to shoot over tall people. I dont know about the Japan vs. China mfr. but I love this thing. I got just 2 mos before my son was born and have taken all precious family moments since, prob at least 400+ and many movie clips which are unlimited as long as you have adequate battery and memory. Simple enough for my wife to take good pics but can also programme and upgrade lens'. Small enough to take everywhere & solidly built. I got 10/2003 for $299.99 but a value at more. Was so happy I bought a Canon i960 printer & love it too. :-]!!!!
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| Date Reviewed: 11/25/2003 |
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Strengths: easy to use good,picture quality. I like the manual function as a beginner. I think using AA battery is a good idea.
Weaknesses: a bit large and heavy for me. customer service is not good.
Summary: I have a "stuck pixel" with my camera,that's why I am not as enthusiastic about this camera as I would have been.The customer service is not professional. Just ask me to send back my camera, and write on a piece of paper what's going wrong with my camera. I don't want to risk sedning back my 400USD camera for this!
About the battery.I didn't believe that the NiMH battery can be so powerful before I bought a set of charger and batteries. It works out really nice. I bought MAHA 100 mins charger, b/c all the reviews available recommend it. (not many reviews about batteries, though) I am not sure other brand will work as crazy. The battery just doesn't die.
78% of People (35/45) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 10/15/2003 |
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Strengths: Small and compact. Great Pics... Easy to use/learn. Plenty of user settings/adjustments. Pop out swivel LCD BIG+++. Good control layout. Easy to grip. Uses regular AA batteries.
Weaknesses: CompactFlash cover a little awkward to open. A 64meg CF Card would have been nice instead of the 32 meg it comes with. Other than that, it's a Great camera.
Summary: A friend of mine has the A70 and I really liked it and was considering going with it, but I decided to wait for the A80 to be released. Glad I did, it was worth the wait. The added features make it a great "entry level" digital camera. (I have no idea why they call this an entry level.) I think the best changes they did were the pop out/swivel LCD, upping to 4 mega pixels, and the additional user settings. I don't think you would be disappointed buying this camera.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/09/2003 |
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Strengths: AA Batteries; CF memory card; AF-assist beam; Movable LCD screen; Metal body gives solid feel and zoom mechanism is quick and smooth; Easy menu system; 4 MP; compact
Weaknesses: LCD is 1.5 inches, which is small; Aperature at telephoto zoom is f4.9, which is rather small; no external flash provision
Summary: I'm planning to relplace my Olympus C-4000 for most applications. I will still use the C-4000 with my old Vivitar 283 when I need an external flash. It works good. The C-4000 would be a perfect low-cost camera if it had a focus-assist beam. But,I get a lot of out-of-focus shots of people in clubs or on the street at night.
I hope the A80 will be better because of the focus-assist beam, but I got some out-of-focus shots in a dark setting the first time I tried it. I've turned the 9-frame auto focus mode off in favor of a single, center frame because I think the 9-frame auto focus selected the wrong object to focus on. Limited testing seems to show that the single center focus frame works better in low-light portraits. Maybe I just need to give the focusing mechanism time to do its job. (There is a nice manual focus provision on the A80.)
Surprising how similar the cameras are in concept: lots of exposure control, white balance, AA batteries, and low cost. Differences: AF assist and audio and small, tilting LCD screen on the A80, external flash connection on the C-4000 and a nice big LCD.
I like the feel of the A80 better than the C-4000 owning to the use of a lot of metal in the A80 and a smoother, quicker zoom action. The A80 is about two-thirds the size of the C-4000. I haven't made any side-by-side comparisons of the image quality, but from what I've seen, there is little difference.
I think I am really going to like the A80 a lot. It looks and feels
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| Date Reviewed: 10/23/2003 |
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Strengths: Compact with excellent picture quality. Plenty of adjustments and manual controls for more flexibility. Several custom settings and paramenters.
Weaknesses: Compact flash card door seems like it could break very easily.
Summary: A simply delightful camera with 4mp that can be used on auto or full manual controls. I purchased this camera for my wife so she could join the digital revolution. My CP 5700 and 10D required too much of a learning curve for her. She was use to a point and shoot 35 mm Canon Sure Shot. The auto settings are perfect for her. She was able to pick up the camera and use it just like she did the Sure Shot.
Since I mainly use a DSLR now I was intrigued by some of the improvements over the A70 with the swivel LCD screen and the I love the AF assist beam for shots in the dark. That was one of the problems I had with my CP5700 trying to lock focus in low contrast situations. The A80 is a great little camera with many settings that more expensive cameras have. I printed up a 8x10 shot from the camera that was excellent quality. I couldn't tell any difference between the A80 and my 10D in a 4x6 print. I highly recommend this camera. Now if there is some way I can get my wife to let me use it more.
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