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Articles: Holiday Gift Guide 2005
With
the Thanksgiving holiday a few days away and only a few weeks
until Christmas, it's time to start thinking about what you
are going to buy the photographer in your life, even if that's
you! I've looked back over all the products that I have reviewed
during 2005 and picked my favourites, from digital cameras
to printers and stocking fillers. I've also suggested some
similar products that may be worth looking at which I haven't
reviewed, and there are handy links to the latest and most
competitive prices from online retailers. So, somewhat in
advance, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
Digital Compact Cameras
Under £200
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Fujifilm
Finepix E550
If you are interested in action photography or simply
want a more responsive camera, then the Fujifilm Finepix
E550 is the entry-level model for you. It offers a 6
megapixel sensor (with 12 megapixel available through
interpolation) and a usable ISO 800 mode which is great
for really low-light photography.
Read
my Review |
Latest Prices |
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Konica
Minolta DiMAGE Z20
The Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z20 is a very good entry level
camera that will allow your photography skills to flourish
as you gain more experience, whilst not being too intimidating
for complete beginners. If you are just getting seriously
interested in photography and want the immediate feedback
of a digital camera without spending too much, the DiMAGE
Z20 is a wise investment.
Read
my Review | Latest
Prices |
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| Also worth considering: Canon
Powershot A520, Nikon
Coolpix 5600, Sony
Cybershot S90 |
£200 to £400
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Sony
Cyber-shot DSC-P200
The 7 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 has been around
for a while now and is something of a bestseller. It's
easy to see why - the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 is compact,
stylish, well-built and takes good photographs that
produce great A4 prints.
Read
my Review |
Latest
Prices |
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Nikon
Coolpix 7900
The Nikon Coolpix 7900 is a compact, stylish and easy
to use digital camera that produces great image quality.
The 7 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 7900 is one of the most
responsive digital cameras that I have reviewed, and is
well-suited to capturing both static subjects and more
fast-moving subjects such as your children or sports photography.
Read
my Review |
Latest
Prices |
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Canon
Digital IXUS 750
The Canon Digital IXUS 750 has an undeniable sense of
quality. No other digital camera that I've
reviewed has the same level of sheer luxury as this
one, in terms of design, finish, ease-of-use and images.
It will impress your friends with its looks and take
any hard-knocks that you subject it to, and it's very
intuitive to use and delivers fantastic image quality.
Read my
Review |
Latest
Prices |
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Sony
Cyber-shot DSC-H1
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 is Sony's first attempt at
an ultra-zoom digital camera, and on the whole it is
a very successful one. It's easy to see why - the Sony
Cyber-shot DSC-H1 is stylish, well-built and takes good
5 megapixel photographs that produce great A4 prints.
Read
my Review |
Latest
Prices |
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| Also worth considering: Fujifilm
Finepix F10, Casio
Exilim EX-Z750, Panasonic
Lumix DMC-FX9 |
£400 Upwards
Budget Digital SLRs
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Konica
Minolta Dynax 5D
You should seriously consider this digital
SLR camera if you don't already have a vested interest
in the likes of Canon or Nikon. Priced as an entry-level
camera, the Konica Minolta Dynax 5D offers much more
than an entry-level specification. It only has a few
missing features when compared to its bigger brother,
the Konica Minolta Dynax 7D, relying on cheaper build
materials rather than removing features to bring the
price down.
Read
my Review | Latest
Prices |
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Nikon
D50
The Nikon D50 is an entry-level digital SLR
camera with a professional-level feature set. If you
want a D70s but can't quite afford one, buy the D50
instead - it delivers 90% of the performance at a lower
cost. Ultimately the Nikon D50 provides almost everything
that most photographers need in a camera (digital or
otherwise), whilst delivering great ease of use and
very impressive image quality.
Read
my Review | Latest
Prices |
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| Also worth considering: Olympus
E-300, Pentax
*ist DS, Canon
EOS 350D |
Pro Digital SLRs
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Canon
EOS 5D
The Canon 5D is a 12.8 megapixel full-frame
digital SLR camera which uses the Digic II processor
and features a 2.5 inch LCD screen. Weighing just 810
grams, it features a second generation 35.8 x 23.9mm
CMOS sensor, 3 frame per second, 60 Large JPEG frame
burst and 0.2 second start up time operation.
Latest
Prices |
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Nikon
D200
The Nikon D200 is a 10.2 megapixel DSLR with
a 2.5 inch LCD screen and 11-area auto-focus system.
Other highlights of the D200 include a magnesium alloy
body, 5 frames per second continuous mode and 3D Color
Matrix Metering II.
Latest
Prices |
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| Also worth considering: Canon
EOS 20D, Nikon
D2X, Konica
Minolta Dynax 7D |
Accessories
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Epson
P-2000 Multimedia Storage Viewer
The Epson P-2000 Multimedia Storage Viewer has done
what few products that I have reviewed here on PhotographyBLOG
have ever done - made their way into my camera bag!
The Epson P-2000 represents the best compromise between
having a laptop computer or one of the other portable
storage devices on the market.
Read
my Review | Latest
Prices |
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HP
Photosmart 8750
The HP Photosmart 8750 is an easy to use and very well-built
9-colour inkjet printer that delivers great image quality,
producing fantastic colour and black and white prints
straight out of the box on matt, satin and glossy papers.
With the HP Photosmart 8750 you can get truly neutral
black and white prints straight out of the box.
Read
my Review | Latest
Prices |
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Spyder2PRO
Studio
The Spyder2Pro Studio is a lot more accurate in terms
of its output than the consumer level ColorPlus. Stepping
up from ColorPlus to Spyder2Pro Studio for calibration
was almost as effective as going from an uncalibrated
monitor to one calibrated using ColorPlus. ColorVision's
claims of a 5 times increase in accuracy with its new
colorimeter really do seem to be true.
Read
my Review |
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Wacom
Intuos3 A4 Pen Tablet
Wacom are the industry leaders in the pen tablet field
and with good reason - their products are well designed,
well made and customisable in virtually every way imaginable,
and the Wacom Intuos3 is no exception to that rule.
Neat touches like the tablet keys and touch strip ensure
that the Intuos3 a joy to use, making tasks that are
frustrating to do with a conventional keyboard and mouse
much more intuitive.
Read
my Review |
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Stocking Fillers
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"Color
Confidence" by Tim Grey
Color Confidence is a book that every serious digital
photographer should have in their library. If you are
all interested in producing prints that accurately represent
what you saw when you originally took the picture, then
this book is for you. Grey addresses the entire color
workflow in an easy-to-understand way that ultimately
produces results, saving you time and money. Read
my Review |
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Designer
Print
Designer Print is a UK-based photofinishing service that
allows you to turn your favourite images into a work of
art by having them printed onto canvas, block mounted,
or made into a poster print. Using the latest digital
printing technology Designer Print offers a large format
printing service, creating canvas prints that will look
stunning in your home or office. Read
my Review |
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Intemos
ICloth
Perhaps not the most exciting present in the world, but
this is the best lens cloth that I have ever used. The
ICloth is a generous 12 x 14 inches in size making it
easier to handle when cleaning both small and large glass
areas. ICloth is suitable not only for lenses but also
scanners and other optics as well. More
Details |
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SanDisk ImageMate
If you’re looking for a reliable and inexpensive memory
card reader / writer which supports most of the different
memory card formats, then look no further than the Sandisk
ImageMate. Read
my Review |
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