Panasonic PalmCam PV-SD4090

I have been pleased with the image quality. The unit is very bulky, because of the built in disk drive. Disk drive was very unreliable.

High capacity storage means that you never have to change the disk! Fairly extensive "manual mode" means that you can override the auto settings as needed. I often turned off the overpowering flash. Burst mode is terriffic. 15 consecitive shots. Movie mode is fun; 10 seconds is just a teaser, though.

SuperDisk storage is a great concept, however implementation is poor. I had to send my cam back twice for disk drive replacement. First was a warrantee repair which cost me $100 for labor and the second time was estimated to cost $400 (out of warrantee). It sits on my desk as a paperweight, now. I bought an extra battery and a small handfull of those $5 disks that have no use now, also. The "recovery time" between shoots is long because the mechanical drive must write to the disk.

Sony Mavica @ VGA resolution

Poor from the service center in Elgin, IL; didn''t always answer the phone.

This camera has a lot going for it, none the least the ability to basically store an infinite number of pictures on the road on media that was one of the best ideas ever, the Superdisk (why it didn't work, I'll never know -- much better than parallel based Zip Disks, as far as I'm concerned, but that would be another review, right?). If all you want this for is to take pictures of documents or take pictures for online auctions or for emails -- pictures where quality is not critical -- then this is a fine camera. But, if you want images that you might print out, or that will capture the coloring of the scene with the slightest bit of accuracy, this may not be the best choice. I ended up taking this camera back after a month of use, but it was not an easy decision; I know I've listed quite a few weaknesses below, but this is a well built, well conceived product and I have to admit that I miss it. It's unique.

-- Storage capactity on inexpensive LS20 superdisks. -- Camera becomes a USB LS20 drive for your computer; great portable media device even without using its camera function. -- Incredibly well built; plastic body, but has heft and a solid feel (although it is way too big for any practical purposes). -- Nice, simple interface; big LCD display. -- Example of a thoughtful design; the camera has little rubber feet on the bottom of it for when you set it on your desk-top and use it as a drive; I like that. -- Comes with a camcorder like rechargeable battery and charger. Nice touch. -- Very good documentation. -- The Panasonic software works well, and I love the fact that the camera becomes a drive recognized by your computer.

-- Poor image quality, in my opinion; colors are not rendered correctly. It is possible to get good color rendition fro 1.3 megapixels. In short, image clarity and sharpness is not predictable / sometimes it's good, often times it's not. -- LS20 disks are getting harder to find? LS20 floppy drives hard to find, too. What happens if the camera's internal drive goes bad? A lot more mechanical stuff going on than with a smart media or compact flash card. -- SLOW period between pictures as camera writes to disk. -- Way too big. Need to be because of the drive, I know, but it's like carying a medium format SLR. -- Flash way too strong. Luckily, it can be turned off, and lens does extremely well under low light conditions. -- Would be nice if you could review images without having to switch from record to play mode. -- Only real control over image is a pretty non-specific apperature selection in manual mode.

Olympus D-460 Zoom Olympus C-3000

Never had to use it

Bought just prior to last Christmas. Unbelievable storage capacity. Very please with battery life, particularly when using outside without flash. Received $100 rebate making the price I paid come to a total of $349 (from E-tronics). Also received my free Super Disk drive. However, with the software provided, it's just as easy to download straight from the camera as it's seen as another floppy drive. Only complaint is that I have to tweak the pics for better saturation. Otherwise, purples are too blue, etc.

Memory/storage Solidly built Accessories included

Color trueness depending on light.

Kodak Nikon

Not needed yet

I have been very impressed with the overall quality and the performance of this camera. I have used it for every thing from macro shots of flowers and insects to panoramic shots and the only problems I have had with it is estimating the camera position because of the inabilaty of using the LCD display in low light enviroments.

Hi quality and versatility in many diverant environments.

The lack of a view finder for low light shoots.

none

unknown because I have not had any need at this time.

Wanted a digital camera for X-mas but got on-line with reviews as this and found the one that was for us. Already had Superdisk on my computer and we travel a lot so the cost of the film and carrying it around during our trip was a hastle. The Adobe program with it is easy to use and gives excellent quality when printing to glossy and matt paper.

Easy to use and directions are simple to follow. Got a rebate on it and the camera bag and a new Superdisk drive should something happen to old one !

A little big and heavy

none-this is the first digital camera I've had and reviewed several brands before deciding on this one

Haven't had to use.