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Olympus SZ30 16 MP Digital Camera, Wide-Angle 24x Optical Zoom with Multi-Recording...

Olympus SZ30 16 MP Digital Camera, Wide-Angle 24x Optical Zoom with Multi-Recording... by Olympus Click 'BUY IT NOW' to get price. At Amazon on 2-6-2012.

Tue Pic III 24X Zoom Wide Angle HD 1080P HD Movie and HDMI Controlq 16 Megapixel High Sensitivity CMOS sensor 7FPS High-Speed Continuous Shooting 16 MP Multi-Recording Function Enjoy superb image quality in an ultra-compact, lightweight body with amazing features like a 16MP CMOS sensor for high-quality images with less noise, 7fps High-Speed Continuous Shooting, and Hand-Held Starlight mode for high performance in low light. Plus, capture full 16MP resolution stills & 1080p HD movies simultaneously - you won't miss a single moment. This going to be a quick and dirty review. I got this camera just over a week ago to replace my Canon A720IS. My Canon is a great camera and gives great shots and is solid as a rock. All the paint is warn off all the edges from accompanying me on hunting, camping, traveling and daily use. But I had a family todo and wanted a long zoom and HD video. I spent a lot of time checking out cameras from Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, Canon and others and none had everything I wanted. Then at the last minute I found the SZ-30mr. It was so new I could not find any hands on reviews but it had everything I was looking for and took a leap of faith, bared my credit card and bought it. I was not disappointed. I was so busy before traveling for a wedding/reunion for which I bought this camera for, I did not get a chance to learn it. However, it was not that difficult. And I was able master it enough to get the job done. I bought a 16 gig SD card, a spare battery and external charger. I like the external charger since it does not take the camera out of action during charging. Plus the cable is propitiatory and makes it one more thing to carry and get lost and does not work with anything else. I spent a week traveling for a wedding/family reunion and took tons of pictures and videos. Every morning I would change the battery. I was able to video 90 percent of the time of a wedding ceremony at full 1080i and take full resolution 16 megapixel stills at the same time as well as taking many videos and stills at the reception before the battery gave out and of course like an idiot I left the spare battery in the charger! But by that that time toasts had been made, cakes were cut and dances were made and anything I did miss was not important. I'm a picture taking fool so for most anyone else I think battery life is fine. In just over a week of heavy use I took just over 5 GIG of video and images. I have not had time to analyze in any quantitative way to the quality of the images since I've been back BUT by just reviewing them on my net book on the road and on a 47" HD TV at the resort, using an external HDMI cable from the camera, the pictures look great and the HD videos are impressive. OH, Oh, the panorama mode is absolutely fantastic! Just sweep across the scene and your done. And panorama play back from the camera is great. Which brings up playback using the camera. By hooking up a "D" type HDMI cable ($29 from Radio Shack) you can play back pictures and videos to a HD TV. At home I discovered my Panasonic TV remote would control the playback, at the resort I could not get the remote to work so I had to use the camera controls manually but better than nothing and it was fun reviewing the event with the family while there. It was nice not to have to carry my big laptop and cables and setups to play back images. Another fun thing we did is we had the family movies from the 40s and 50s placed on DVD and while there at the reunion we watched it. While my older brother and sister narrated and made comments of where and who were in the silent movie I videoed the video and recorded their comments. I plan on taking the sound track from my video and add it to the silent movies on the DVD. This way I we can preserve so much that would have been lost. I would never have know that little old lady in the movie was my Great Great grand mother if my brother and sister had not pointed her out! I was able to record over an hour and fifteen minutes of continuous recording. It was at a lower resolution but all I waned was the audio and the some video to make sure I get it synced properly. The camera is pretty responsive. Some comment on the wait time between pictures but remember people, your dealing with 16 megapixels! You really need a class 10 SD card to speed up the storage time. Cut that back to 8MP and cycle time is much faster. The wide angle is perfect for the indoor group shots. Let's be frank, no one in their right mind has the right to take 600mm telephoto shots hand held. However on a sunny day with the ISO kicked up I was able to get some impressive results just seeing what I could do with it. I believe many people don't know how to take pictures and just mash down the button like a cheap Instamatic without pausing in the intermediate position long enough to allow the camera time to focus giving blurry images. If the exposure button is used properly this camera gives excellent results. The only beefs I have with this camera are minor. The biggest problem is the Mode dial moves too easily. Every time I pulled it out of my pocket I had to check the mode because it get changed so easily. It needs to be either harder to turn or have some kind of locking device. Also, the markings are hard to read if you are far sighted with out reading glasses. It would be nice to have it labled in multi colors so you don't have to put on your glasses to know where your at. Another comment is the bezel ring around the closed lens has a edge on it that is sharp and does not feel good and drags on the fabric of the pocket when pulling out. I may take some sandpaper and smooth that out. The last issue I have is the finish on the camera. I like to take candid pictures with out having people freezing up and not acting normal or those with camera phobia covering their faces or turning away when a camera is brought out. The finish on this camera is very shinny and chrome like. This thing sparkles and shines like a lit up disco ball in your hands! I was amazed how distracting it was for me when I was in front of it especially in sun light. I may do some buffing on it. In closing, I love this camera! Back To Top Olympus SZ30 16 MP Digital Camera, Wide-Angle 24x Optical Zoom with Multi-Recording... Available from Amazon Price: Click 'BUY IT NOW' to get price. Updated on 2-6-2012.

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