3.3 mega pixel camera for £99

[geezersony]

Aldi (http://www.aldi-stores.co.uk/specials_01_11/offers_nav.htm)

[ormus]

yes just got my flyer through the door today. bet theres none left again!

[John]

druid brought it up in that other thread seems like a right belter dont it.

[Richy]

ohh btw that photo paper i bought is the dogs nuts. 50 sheets for about 11 quid. pretty decent results on a hp dj 840c which suprised me, still need a decent photo printer tho. skin tones and sky tones can be off.

http://www.choicestationery.com/acatalog/copy_of_copy_of_Hewlett_Packard.html

is the company. many thanks to nig:) got some awesome 8x10's. just want an a3 printer now. oh and satin gloss photo paper? anybody ever used it?

[John]

I have bought my paper (and ink) from choice for about 2 years and i am entirely happy with them :) i find if the tones are off it is due to me having a shite monitor :lol

[Richy]

lol, yeah i gave up on that being perfect, i have colour profiles for stuff, just a huge hassel. i got an ink pack from them but im going to send off for some bulk inks.

[Pink Panther]

Given the price of Ink Cartridges from Choice, bulk ink is not worth it unless you are desperate. It is a pretty messy operation. One kit I bought once came complete with cheap plastic gloves. The results of refilled cartridges were not impressive. Black was ok but did not last as long as purchased cartridges. Colour I more or less gave up on, almost impossible to get all the colurs firing nicely alway one slightly blocked.

Originally posted by Richy
lol, yeah i gave up on that being perfect, i have colour profiles for stuff, just a huge hassel. i got an ink pack from them but im going to send off for some bulk inks.

[Richy]

ive been refilling black ink carts for years, works out pretty cheap, hp carts are always expensive its less then half the price to refill them and i tend to print alot:)

[Yump]

I don't understand :confused:

Why is everyone suddenly raving about this cam from Aldi for £99.xx?

A few weeks ago, Lidl had a near identical one, 3Mpx with digital zoom and CF card, selling for £79.xx and everyone was very half-hearted about it.

Is there sumpthin' I've missed 'ere?

[Yump]

Right then, so I got one.
But didn't get the memory card Aldi are selling for £49.99 cos it seems 2 me 2 b a bit sssspensive.

I'm not into this transferrable memory stuff yet, but am I right in thinking that if I get one of these (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=40594) and one of these (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=48458) it will all work with the cam AND do a bunch of other shifting for me too? :)


Edit:

Or this? (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=43758)

[Jill]

They look like the right things to use with your new cam - the second card reader is USB2 and I guess the photos would transfer quicker if you use that one.

The biggest advantage of cameras that use memory cards is your pictures are still safe if the batteries go flat. I had a pencam that didn't have a memory card - every time it went flat (which it did several times) my pictures were lost. It was really annoying! I had to transfer them whilst there was still some battery power left or lose 'em.

You don't necessarily have to have a media card reader when you want to upload your pictures to your computer. Connecting the camera to the computer using the USB cable would do just as well. When connected, the camera should appear as a removeable hard drive. If you have a spare USB socket it's easy enough to leave the cable plugged in all the time and just dangle the lead somewhere accessible. :)

[Yump]

Thanks Jill
I realise that I can upload direct from cam. In fact, the permanent dangly cable bit you mentioned is how I have my existing camera set up - Aldi's little Medion one last year @ £49 (a bit limited with no flash, but at least it keeps the pics on board with no batteries in it)

But I thought that I could use a bit extra capacity with a bigger card and also conveniently use it for other chunks of data transfers too.

Wasn't too sure of the difference between USB 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 tho'.

Ahhh! a thought ???
Since you say the camera will appear as an extra hard drive, can I shift anything using it plugged in without a card reader?

No, I don't mean shift furniture and stuff, but things like data, music etc. It shouldn't be restricted to images if I understand correctly.

[Richy]

to answer your question if i read it right, yes i often transfer files on my cameras microdrive.

[Yump]

Thanks Richy

But, after all that, it does seem a bit silly when I could just get that card reader for a tenner and be done with it.

[Richy]

the card reader should show it as an extra hard drive, with win2k and xp anyways. not so sure on win 98se.

Ive never bothered with a card reader yet but i do see distinct advatages to having one. the main reason i dont is im wary of the microdrive leaving the camera and not being in its case.

[Yump]

Just a thought -
If you have to carry it around, and it has an accidental clunk, which is cheaper to replace, the camera or a £10 card reader?

[Pink Panther]

At £99 corners will be cut. It may not even be a true 3.3 Megapixcel but interpolated. The lens will probably be poor and will have a pretty slow fixed shutter speed and probably no manual control of features , possibly no zoom.

It cheap and will be just about adequate for a point and shoot camera but it will be pretty basic.

Originally posted by Yump
I don't understand :confused:

Why is everyone suddenly raving about this cam from Aldi for £99.xx?

A few weeks ago, Lidl had a near identical one, 3Mpx with digital zoom and CF card, selling for £79.xx and everyone was very half-hearted about it.

Is there sumpthin' I've missed 'ere?

[Richy]

lol the cameras pretty bulletproof and its insured :) what i meant was i prefer to stick the camera on my desk and keep the microdrive inside it, or when its not inside it i prefer to keep it in its casing, i dont like the idea of it not protected by casing or the camera. theyre not too cheap to replace and fairly suceptible to knocks etc. Prolly just me being daft tho. No reason for you not to get a reader as you have memory cards not microdrives.
ps scan.co.uk (bad as they are) had some good prices on 10x cf memory, about 35 quid for 256mb and 65 for 512. unless things have changed lots recently thats not a bad price even if it is slow.

[Jase Etheridge]

Hi Guys,

I went down to Aldi yesterday and got mine!

I can say it's a bargin, no corners cut at all, it's a really good bit of kit!

Taken loads of photos with it, all are really good quality, I would recomend this digi-cam to everyone!

Please for £99 you can't go wrong!

Jase.

[Furby]

>>>At £99 corners will be cut. It may not even be a true 3.3 Megapixcel but interpolated. The lens will probably be poor and will have a pretty slow fixed shutter speed and probably no manual control of features , possibly no zoom.<<<

No, I got the 4MP one @ £199 and it has full manual control - it is NOT interpolated and neither is the 3MP one from what I have seen.

The 4MP even has more control than some cameras costing twice as much. Lens is great, pictures are very very good (better than the fuji I used to have, and that was good) and it even has a nightlight feature.

No "poor" lens quality, no "hot pixels", and certainly no fixed shutter speed - I can fully control shutter speed and also over/under exposure settings - infact everything can be manually controlled - and I can up the ISO to 400.

Not sure about the 3 MP one, but from what I read, it had similar features to the 4MP one (just a few less, but there are good manual controls) but it doesn't have an optical zoom lens which is what I bought the 4MP one for.

With decent charger, high capacity rechargable nimh batteries, SD card, case and mains adapter along with the camera, you can't go wrong for £99 - this German made camera is as certainly as good as its similar counterparts - I would also recommend.

I can show you some pictures if you like :)

[Richy]

does it have full pasm control? im looking for one like that for a friend, basically so he can have program mode, manual control, shutter priority and apateur priority?
whats the make model :) thanks

[Furby]

The 4MP - PASM - program AE shutter control and apeture priority are as follows:

Shutter
mechanical and electronic (combination)

Shutter speeds
2 s to 1/1,000 s

Aperture
F2,9 (max. aperture at wide angle position)
F4,8 (max. aperture at tele position)

This is not a point and shoot camera, it needs setting for various locations, tones etc - so its no good for someone who wants to simply point and shoot.

I am unsure of the PAMS control on the 3MP

For full details of the 4MP one Richy click below - not sure you will be able to get one now though because I only found them available from Aldi - you may be able to get 3MP one:

http://www.digitalkamera.de/Kameras/Daten-en.asp?Cam=TravelerD1&CustID=3173

As you can see, no interpolation - 3MP has no interpolation either so I have been told :)

I had the Fuji 2.0 MP for two years, and now have this one. My next camera (in a couple of years) is the Sony DSC F717 - I had my eye on the Minolta dimage 7Hi but users of the Sony who have also used the Minolta say the the Sony is far better - and it is cheaper too. :)

EDIT: Forgot to add regarding card reader - I have 6 in 1 (which also reads IBM microdrive) and wouldn't be without it. IMHO a card reader saves installing unecessary camera drivers/files on the computer and saves on batteries on some cameras.

Transfer is also much quicker (alsmost instant) and portability is easier. I have plastic cases that I bought and a special wallet to store my cards in when not in the card-reader so they are protected all the time :)

[Richy]

excellent thanks furbs, thats pretty much what i was looking for for my friend. hes getting a printer scanner combo in the meantime but xmas isnt far off lol. thanks for that ill see about hunting one down.

[Richy]

bugger on second reading its not what i was looking for, only says it has auto exposure, not full pasm, e.g. you can make it shoot at whatever speed is required to expose correctly at the apateur you choose , or visa versa, or totally manual. i could be reading it wrong tho.

[Jase Etheridge]

Hi guys,

HELP!!!!!

I've been a total plonker and lost the USB cable for my digital cam.

Do any of you guys know if the digital cam's from Aldi use standard USB plug things?

EG, can I buy another from pc world or somewhere?

Thanks!
Sob sob sob!

[Richy]

most digital cameras use a mini connector, best bet is to get to jessops with the camera and see what they say, loads of cameras do use a standard mini plug, some dont. Jessops should be able to help you.

[ormus]

u can buy a standard 3m usb cable from me.
pm me if req.

[Richy]

you running a components business ormus? if so id be interested for future use. nice to deal with someone i trust rather then a company.

[ormus]

ive always got stuff here. just let me know your requirements. ie at the moment ive got a box of 10 usb cables.
sorry cannot promise the best prices, but the service is five star.