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Comments
-mike
If your main criteria are long telephoto length and price, then I think that model is hard to beat. From the specs, the zoom is 12x and it looks like the lens is pretty fast too (F2.8). That combined with image stabilization should give you what you need to do (presumably lots of action shots for the website).
Here's a link to help you look for other models based on features:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
Also, try searching eBay. I saw a new one with warranty going for $300 or so.
Ken
-mike
http://www.cameraworld.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDispl- ay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=- 13097252
YWRX
That camera seems to take AA batteries which would be my only concern, but it could be alleviated if you had several sets of good rechargeable AAs and a charger. Make sure the battery life is good -- there's nothing worse than a digicam that chews through batteries (and some really do).
Craig
These devices are quite inexpensive and you can find one that will support many if not all of the current digital camera memory types.
Check out eDealinfo dot com for some good electronics purchasing deals and info.
Alan
98 OBW Ltd
Benchmark tests have shown the Maha chargers and rechargeable batteries to be far and above the best. http://www.thomas-distributing.com/ has a good selection and decent pricing.
Personally, I shoot with a Minolta F100, which uses two AA rechargeables. I can capture about 150 high res shots (2272 x 1704) on a single set of 1700 mAh batteries. Maha now produces 2200 mAh AA rechargeables.
-Ty
2.2 Megapixels is OK for photos, mine look fine. Even 8"x10" you can't tell they're not 35mm.
You gotta get the right paper and ink, and a good printer. Paper is critical, though. I use glossy Epson paper with an HP Photo Printer. I'll show you some of the prints, try to pick out the 35mm print and you just can't.
Now, if you're gonna crop and enlarge, you may need 3 or more.
Bob does art work and that's different, he probably enlarges, crops, etc.
-juice
-mike
First there were 3-wheelers, but they were too prone to flipping and subsequent lawsuits. Then...
2
There were 4-wheelers. These beasties have taken over the ATV world. Now comes...
3
Side-by-sides. Yamaha is the latest to introduce one (see link). Kawasaki and John Deere make them too. Perhaps there are also others?
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products/unitinfo.asp?lid=12&lc=s- xs&cid=36&mid=318
Which leads to...
?
The next step is to make one street legal, I would assume? A street legal side-by-side would give the Jeep Wrangler a real run for its money, IMO. Who's going to be the first to do it?
Bob
I'm also in the market for a 10x zoom camera. I've had an Olympus C-700 2MP for two years, which has returned some good outdoor shots, but not so good indoor or at night. I wish that I had chosen the Olympus C-2100 instead... But it has been a solid camera. Currently looking at the new Kodak 6940 and the Nikon 5700, but not even close to a decision point yet.
Yes, 2MP are more than enough for most shots that will only seen on a monitor, or posted to the internet. But the additional resolution of a 4-5MP camera will enable you to crop and display a portion of the image at 100% which will appear larger to the eye when displayed or printed (the 4-5MP image will always be compressed to show the full image on monitor or printed matter).
Kens gave a link to www.dpreview.com, I go there often to read reviews and the user forums. I've found many references to dpreview elsewhere and come to trust their reviews. But there are no Panasonic cameras reviewed there! Curious.
So check out www.dcresource.com (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz1-review/index- .shtml). The link points to their review of the dmc_fz1.
Another reviewer is Steve's dig-cams (no, not me!) at http://www.steves-digicams.com. They also have a review of the Panasonic.
Good luck in your choice. Let us know how you make out.
Steve
-Brian
-Dan-
I also recommend the use of a USB reader/writer rather than connecting your camera directly. Too many horror stories our there of zapped cameras. If a big ESD event is going to occur, I would rather loose a card than risk my camera.
AA batteries are the least expensive and most reliable way to go. I recently upgraded from Panasonic's 1600ma to 1950ma (available at BJ's at 6 for $10), and I can get 200 or more shots from my Olympus 3040 with flash on all the time and LCD display about half time. Did so a few weeks ago at a wedding.
I just bought a new toy for our trip overseas. Rather than buy more flash cards or carry my laptop, I bought a Sima Image Bank ($99 at Tigerdirect.com). It is a tiny box with card reader slots and a built-in 10gig HDD. Carry the camera and a 128meg card, and download each night at the hotel!
Steve
Oct. sales will be up since I bought a WRX on 10/1.
TWRX
It felt much peppier than the last SUV I drove (Pilot EX) given that it had 20 fewer horsepower lugging about 800 fewer pounds. Surprisingly good acceleration, but very loud and not in a good way. It sounded more like grinding rocks with a mortar and pestle than an internal combustion engine. The HL felt incredibly nose-heavy, in some cases like the rear of the car including the wheels were being dragged along for the ride. I developed this mental picture of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon bulldog walking along on only its front legs while the rears spun in the air. I can't imagine a 4WD HL would reduce that feeling, and I know that the Pilot is heavily FWD biased (not to mention my AT Forester) but I didn't get that sensation in the Pilot and definitely don't get it in my Forester.
Brakes were adequate, not impressive. Body lean minimal in curves, better than Pilot and XC90 in that respect.
Visibility on a par with Pilot, better than XC90. Good good layout of controls and switchgear but less intuitive than Pilot. Seats very tight and narrow on my wide rear end, Pilot better and XC90 vastly so. Plood is very nasty and shiny. Test car had leather so I can't comment on fabric quality. Rear seats very roomy but flat and hard.
Less storage space between front seats except for a bizarre under-console pass-through. The rear cargo area layout is so similar to the Forester's (full-sized spare beneath load floor, other underfloor storage cubbies, hook to ceiling) that it felt like the same car, only marginally bigger. I especially got that feeling in the front seats; it doesn't feel very much bigger than the Forester fore-and-aft as well as side-to-side. In fact, in terms of size and shape the HL reminded me of a Forester fitted with a 2" lift kit and stretched behind the driver's seat - a Forester Vanden Plas, if you will. ;-)
Anyway, my wife will still have to drive it and she wants to wait for the '04s given their improvements.
Ed
Bob: $9 grand? 400 lbs payload? 660cc? C'mon, that's not enough capacity for my 4 year old. You could get a new Kia Rio for that money, a few other real cars too.
Plus, to make it street legal it would end up costing $11 grand or so, I bet. For a golf cart. ;-)
Whoa, Bruce, I had to read that twice. You did get the new Rex? Sweet. Give us the specs, bud, color, options, trans type, etc.
Forester Vanden Plas, ROTLMAO!
-juice
Do you honestly think someone looking at this would be crosshopping a car--any car?
There are people who would spend $20K on a motorcycle before spending the same on a car.
Bob
While that's an interesting thought, I see a finite amount of R&D funds, and I'd rather see them focus on the core business - AWD wagons.
Yamaha, Suzuki, and Honda makes similar products and that can share powertrains and maybe even platforms, Subaru would have to start from scratch. Spend 10 times as much to steal maybe 1/10th the market share of those established brands?
Put it this way, if you could choose 2 out of these 5 improvement to Subaru products, what would they be?
* start selling generators
* produce an ATV like the one above
* try compete with Boeing (threw that in for laughs)
* offer AVCS across the board
* offer VTD across the board
What would you pick?
Heck, the SVX' canopy means they have more experience producing air craft-like cockpits than they do with ATVs! LOL
R&D funds are finite, that's all. I'd add Direct Injection to the list of technology I'd rather see them concentrate on, before diversifying into unfamiliar niches.
-juice
I think a Honda ATV could evolve into a street-legal vehicle, to compete with the Wrangler. Even the other brands could do the same, but perhaps Honda is best suited to such a venture.
It just seems the each new generation of ATV becomes more Wrangler-like, so it seems to me it's just a matter of time before one of these ATVs becomes actually street-legal.
Bob
I did take a spin on a buddy's Honda ATV, it even had an automatic clutch, so you just shifted it on the fly.
Still, it seemed about 10 generations behind a Wrangler in refinment. Maybe that one in the link has cut the gap in half, but still...I dunno. It almost seems easier to toughen up an existing street-legal truck vs. making an ATV street legal.
I wonder, though, could a 4 wheeler get certified as a motorcycle? That would be a lot simpler. Then it would only need turn signals and such.
-juice
-mike
Bob
BTW, saw "Lost in Translation" yesterday, hoping to get a glimpse of Tokyo culture. Major disappointment. Bill Murray and his female counterpart are basically fish out of water, bored to death. Problem is, the movie comes off that way, boring that is. A few interesting moments, too far apart, too slow paced, not nearly enough dialogue.
And c'mon, you see the inside of a cab, that's about it. With all the interesting cars in Tokyo, I was hoping for a LOT more than that!
It's also dark, depressing a little. Maybe that's why I didn't like it. If you like artsy, off beat, slow paced movies, then maybe you and the wife would like it better, Ed.
Too bad they both die in the end. Oops. (kidding)
-juice
We saw trailers for Lost when we saw American Splendor and thought it looked interesting. The next movie I want to see is Radio since I'm familiar with the guy on whose life it's loosely based.
Ed
and
Matchstick Men
-mike
I'm re-reading "Return of the King" in anticipation of the third of the series. It's supposed to be pretty kewl -- the "Two Towers" DVD has some nice preview stuff about it. Hopefully, I'll be able to see that one on the big screen.
I really want to see "Lost in Translation". I read that it purposely didn't use subtitles so you could share Bill Murray's experience of being lost in Japan. Juice's review didn't sound too promising, though.
On a Japan note, "Last Samurai" looks hokey, but for some reason I want to see it despite it looking like an "American cowboy goes to foreign land and stirs things up" type of movie.
Ken
We said goodbye to another visitor yesterday (Naoko). Last year she took me around Osaka, now it was our turn to show her a little of NY.
Steve
-Colin
Ken's right, you do feel lost. But also BORED, Murray is bored as heck throughout the movie, you feel that too. It's just too slow paced.
So...Colin rates his movies by the company he keeps! LOL
-juice
Steve -- a Crew trip to Japan would have been too sweet. Imagine how much fun that would have been. I wonder if Patti could have worked in a factory tour in Gunma. Now THAT would have been interesting.
Ken
http://www.users.bigpond.com/subaxtreme/
This is an Oz-site, and they offer some pretty neat stuff.
Bob
-Dave
pretty funny. Can't believe they let the person start it up.
Just couldn't help being reminded of it every time the ad with this two guys howling in the cars at a showroom.
-Dave
<juice thinks aloud>
Hmm, nice rims, wonder what the offsets are...
LOL
-juice
juice -- you'd need a rear hatch that swings out to the curb for it to really be a CR-V!
Ken
Hondabro was hilarious, outdone only by the Hung & Tung Show on the Santa Fe boards.
-juice
-juice
I really wanna like it, but FIFTY FOUR GRAND?! 1000 lbs towing?
Makes my nose bleed. Who wants to bet how long before they offer $5000 cash back?
-juice
I hate how they build the rebates into the price, $54k is just silly ridiculous.
-juice
Actually Subaru get in the air more often than you would think. The boxer engine is a popular home built plane engine and I read somewhere recently that the prospect of using the H6 is mouth watering for those types. Not sure what mods they make to the basic engine
Cheers
Graham
Great link, Bob. It sounds like a mutually beneficial relationship. My head is spinning with thoughts of "friction stir welding in high-volume production of thin-gauge aluminum" and how this technology could trickle down to our Subies...
Interesting blurb there about how FHI's Aerospace Division has been closely affiliated with Boeing for quite awhile, they manufacture major components for the 777, and were also heavily involved in design. The article also mentions that FHI was awarded Supplier of the Year (2002) by Boeing, beating out over 11,000 other suppliers worldwide. Pretty cool.
Regards, Owen