Vivitar 4 megapixel camera £19.99 in Superdrug

Minerva69

I got one of these last year and find it good except for the shutter speed, which is very slow. Try taking a photo of a toddler with one and they've moved by the time the photo is taken! Would be fine for taking photos of non-moving objects though as it produces very good quality photos.

ashy_mashy

h4x3r wrote:

i picked 1 up for £29.99 last year worst buy ever!

oh..I wish people would be more explanatory... some just like to say what they think with no reason... ah well

Flimber

Minerva69 wrote:

I got one of these last year and find it good except for the shutter speed, which is very slow. Try taking a photo of a toddler with one and they've moved by the time the photo is taken! Would be fine for taking photos of non-moving objects though as it produces very good quality photos.

One word: pre-focus.

italiastar

Flimber wrote:

One word: pre-focus.

Might be more useful to expand this for the non-tecchies out there.

Flimber

italiastar wrote:

Might be more useful to expand this for the non-tecchies out there.

A half-press on the shutter release focuses the lens on the subject. The trick is to keep your finger half-pressed on this button when the camera is focused where you want it to be and then only fully depress it when you want to take the snap.

With a moving subject, one would focus on something which was the same distance away as the subject is going to be (when it gets there !) and wait for it to arrive at the prefocused spot, if you see what I mean. Then, and only then, would one push the shutter button fully.

What all the above does is take the time the camera spends focusing out of the equation which equates to less "shutter lag" and less missed shots due to moving subjects being already out of the frame by the time the camera is ready to take a picture.

HTH,
Mike.

trukdiver

Minerva69 wrote:

I got one of these last year and find it good except for the shutter speed, which is very slow. Try taking a photo of a toddler with one and they've moved by the time the photo is taken! Would be fine for taking photos of non-moving objects though as it produces very good quality photos.

That's "shutter lag" All digital point and shoot cameras have it in varying degrees:

http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/shutter-lag-comparisons.cfm

Chococat_2

Thanks for the info. The Superdrug in Liverpool (the one by TK Maxx, not the one in Central Station) had loads of the 5 megapixel model. It's £24.99 and has 16MB internal memory. It comes with 3 AAA batteries, USB cable and a leather slip case. It's a nice size, around the size of a packet of cigarettes. It takes standard SD or MMC cards.

The 5 megapixel model doesn't have any optical zoom but it does have a digital zoom. I think it's 3 times but I've already given the camera to a friend as a present so I can't check to be certain.

They also had a £35 digital video camera. It was a more upright design but I wasn't particularly interested in that version so I don't have any details.

Still, very good price for a snap shot camera. Ideal for nights out as it has a flash and with the cheap price, it's not the end of the world if you lose it.

poppy_the_cat

THANKS OP managed to secure the last 2 from Chatham, Kent . I too will give one to my 4yr old as I am having twins and it will make him proud to think he can take pictures of them. plus i can have one in my nappy bag.:j

davidlomax

I absolutely hate this camera, give it to your kids and let them have fun by all means but dont think of using it yourself, it will drive you up the wall.

When the camera is turned on it takes 20 seconds before you can take a picture, when the button is pressed there is a 3 second lag before the picture is taken (no prefocus option as far as i can find), then you wait another 15 seconds before you can take another picture.

It makes you scream and I can guarentee no one is still smiling when the picture is finally taken.

Having had my rant I can say the picture quality is good and the price is MS great, just dont try to annoy your friends with it!

flang

davidlomax wrote:

I absolutely hate this camera, give it to your kids and let them have fun by all means but dont think of using it yourself, it will drive you up the wall.

When the camera is turned on it takes 20 seconds before you can take a picture, when the button is pressed there is a 3 second lag before the picture is taken (no prefocus option as far as i can find), then you wait another 15 seconds before you can take another picture.

It makes you scream and I can guarentee no one is still smiling when the picture is finally taken.

Having had my rant I can say the picture quality is good and the price is MS great, just dont try to annoy your friends with it!

Thats strange because mine only takes about 10 seconds when you turn it on and thats only if the memory card has lots of photos on it!.
it does take round 3 seconds to save the photo but i think thats reasonable and you do have the option to take continious shots.
For the price this camera is fantastic!