Purley

I have been looking at reviews of cameras. The one thing I have noticed if you look at people's reviews of anything is that the first person will say it's the best whatever they have ever owned, and the next person will say it's the worst.

I can never understand that. Particularly with the same make and model of camera. I just don't see how people could have such differing views. Do you suppose that some buy a camera that is simply a lemon, and therefore they hate it?

For instance, on dp review I checked lots of reviews of the Olympus 8080C. My son told me that the manual focus doesn't work - or is so complicated he could never get it to work properly, and several people mentioned this.

Some said it was too small; some said it was too big! But I guess this all depend on the size of your hands.

Are reviews any use at all when they differ so much?

Steve_P

I usually take those kinds of comments with a grain of salt, they are personal comments and to me they just don't hold much weight unless I know the person who made them.

The reviews I normally take note of are the ones done in an as objective a manner as possible like the ones here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ or here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html By the way Steve is no relation.

Cheers
Steve

Purley

That's where I was looking at the review - on dpreview!

I am just going to try the camera out myself and see what I think. I'm also going to the Regina Photo Club meeting - see if I can get some tips there.

Steve_P

I understood that you were but as far as I'm concerned those are user reviews.

I was meaning the reviews done by Phil Askey the owner of the site.

Like this one for the Olympus C-8080 or this one for the new Rebel XTi much more in depth reviews than user comments.

Cheers
Steve

Atlantic Xpat

Apropos to nothing, apart from thoughts of digital cameras, my internet research is leading me towards the Canon A540 as the best balance of features/size/point and shoot/movie capability. I'm now ruminating on whether I buy in the US where it'll cost me about CA$250 by the time I get it here or pay an extra $50 to buy it here and now at Futureshop et al.

Biiiiink

My FIL just bought that model for his recent visit here. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but the LCD was fantastic. Pics he's sent me have been disappointing but that's probably him leaving it on "auto" rather than anything to do with the camera. He dropped it on concrete and has knackered the viewfinder but considering the drop and smash, he was lucky it was only that.

And it's fully iPhoto/Mac 10.4-compatible despite Canon's wishy-washy statement about it on their website

Happy snapping!

Steve_P

So it's all down to do you want to wait or do you want it now.

If you decide to get it out of the U.S. you should at least not have any warranty problems. As I understand it Canons warranty is a North America one not country specific. At least it was that way for my Canon DSLR. Nikon on the other hand will not warranty a camera in Canada if it was purchased in the U.S. so I've been told.

Something to keep in mind.

Purley

Thanks for the links Steve. I misunderstood you. I had only found the reviews by owners and I didn't even know those reviews were there. I am checking them out right now.

My son's new camera is a Nikon. I am not sure if it's a D80 but Phil Askey seems rather keen on it. I think the Olympus cost about $1,100 when his brother in law bought it. But I have seen some on eBay for $472 and my son says he would not charge me the same as if he was selling to a stranger! Nice of him eh??

By the way - I have this old Canon FX metal bodied camera in the closet. I have checked and there doesn't appear to be any market for an old camera like that. It has a 28mm 1:3.5 lens and a 50 mm 1:18 lens. Is there any use or market for these old lenses or shall I just chuck the lot?

Atlantic Xpat

Yes, Iaink had already pointed that out wrt the Canon warranty. A strong point in Canon's favour! Think I'll got to Futreshop to take a look at it and see what kind of deal I can negotiate!