Trying to determine what are the best wide angel lens adapters on the market? For many of us, nothing is more frustrating than trying to find the right lenses for our cameras. With the cost of many wide angle lenses, it is very frustrating to try figuring out how to afford these lenses, especially if you are a freelance photographer on a budget.  Luckily, there is an answer to buying expensive wide angle lens for your digital camera – a wide angel lens adapter.  While there are thousands of places that claim to have the best lens adapters on the market, it is important that you are careful with what you purchase, as well as understand the drawbacks of using a wide angle lens for your digital camera.

Best Wide Angle Lens Adapters

When many people hear that they can use a wide angle lens adapters instead of having to purchase a wide angle lens, they are ecstatic.  They don’t have to pay the high cost of buying a wide angle lens, and they can take advantage of some of the features that are known to come with using a wide angle lens adapter.  One thing that has been considered so great about using an adapter is it gives you a bit more room for a picture.  People don’t have to get as close together and you can take a bit more picture, giving you a bit more playroom.  While this can be considered a great benefit, there are also some drawbacks.

Best Wide Angle Lens Adapters: Drawbacks

While using a wide angle lens adapter is cheaper, it can also drastically alter your pictures.  Pictures can seem a bit more distorted and you have less control over some of the area within the photo.  For many photographers, this distortion is something that can easily be fixed in Photoshop, but does require more work than is usually necessary if you use a wide angle lens.  If you are going to use an adapter, trying buying one that is meant for your camera, since many off brand wide angle lens adapters have been known to ruin cameras, something that is not the case with wide angle lenses for digital cameras.

Best Lens Adapters for Digital Cameras

If you think a wide angel lens adapter is right for you, there are some high quality adapters on the market. While they are a bit on the expensive side, they are worth the money.  We know quite a few photographers who use both, depending on the situation and shot.  Here are the best wide angel lens adapters for digital cameras and other cameras.

• Nikon WC-E63
• Sony VCL DH0758 0.7X
• Olympus WCON-08B .8X
• Minolta ACQ-100 .8X
• Nikon WC-E80

Trying to find the best panoramic cameras on the market?  With Christmas being just around the corner, many of us are trying to find high quality panoramic cameras for our loved ones or ourselves.  If you know that they enjoy taking panoramic pictures, this is a good time to introduce them to taking pictures with a digital camera.  The trick is finding cheap panoramic cameras that do a great job taking digital pictures and taking panoramic style pictures.

Review of the Best Panoramic Cameras

If you have taken panoramic pictures for years, you know that digital cameras didn’t used to be the best way to take panoramic pictures.  In the past, we would take an old fashion camera that had a special lens, or use a camera specially designed for taking panoramic pictures. While these cameras did a great job, they had a problem with leaving you unclear on how the pictures would look until you finished in the dark room.  Since digital cameras with a panoramic view used to have a bad reputation, most photographers today will still avoid them like the plague.  While they did deserve this reputation in the past, they have come a long way, being the preferred way of taking panoramic pictures.  Even better, some of the best cameras with a panoramic shot can do an even better job than a traditional camera.

Review of the Best Cheap Panoramic Cameras

Just like any type of camera, it is important that you know your budget before you go looking for a cheap panoramic camera with a panoramic shot feature.  Some of these cameras can easily cost you over a $1,000, something that we believe is a bit too expensive for taking panoramic pictures.  Over the years, quite a few cheap panoramic cameras have made their way on the market, allowing the majority of the population to be able to afford these cameras.  Some of our favorite digital cameras with a panoramic view include:

• Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX1
• Kodak Easyshare Z915
• Olympus MJU Tough 8000 Compact
• Olympus SP-800 UZ
• Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX1

Best Digital Panoramic Cameras:  Brand

When it comes to looking for the best digital cameras with a panoramic view, we highly recommend checking out Sony and Olympus cameras. Both of these brands have spent a great deal of time researching panoramic functions and finding what works the best with their cameras.  Along with their other features, you can get the best panoramic cameras that are great for just about any type of pictures. While they may be a bit more expensive than the competition, they are worth every penny when you see the high quality pictures you can take with these cameras!

What is quickly becoming one of the newest trends to hit gadgets of all types, the Sony Cybershot DSC-T300 features no hard button controls on the back of their camera. In their place is a larger, sleek touchscreen LCD that allows you to easily and swiftly perform all the functions that used to require hard buttons.

While some complain that they don’t like fingerprints on their screen, there is a very good upside to having no hard button controls – screen size. Because the entire back of the device is free for the screen, you can have twice the viewing real estate without having to increase the camera size.

If you’re looking into the new trend of touchscreens and think the Cybershot DSC-T300 might be the right camera for you, read on. Below is a review of the body, features, and image quality from the new Cybershot, as well as any issues and problems you should be aware of.

Body

Sony is trying hard to make their point and shoot Cybershots the latest in trendy cameras, and the T300 is no exception.

This camera is very thin, and can be slipped into any purchase, pocket, or backpack (though you may want to get a case for it). It weighs hardly anything at all, and features a sleek brushed metal case. The lens cover is mounted horizontally across the front of the camera, and slides up and down to turn the camera on and off. When the camera is off, the cover protects the lens from scratches and dust.

The entire back of the camera is covered with the LCD touchscreen, and it looks quite attractive.

Features

Obviously, the big feature here is the display. It measures in at a whopping 3.5″, and utilizes Sony’s Clear Photo LCD Plus. It is bright and clear and sharp, and will allow you to easily frame and analyze your shots. In addition, it makes utilizing the movie mode much easier.

The T300 is HDTV ready, so you can instantly enjoy your pictures and videos on a large, crisp screen. The camera comes with 15MB of internal memory, which will only be enough for a few pictures at the highest resolution (10-megapixels).

Like most Cybershots, the T300 has Face Detection technology, which means you never have to worry about your subjects face being blurry or the focus being elsewhere in the photo.

Other useful features include in-camera red eye reduction, in-camera retouching (you can add effects, crop, etc), ISO up to 3200, decorative in-camera ‘paint’, multi-resizing functions, Picture Motion Browser, and many, many more useful, fun features.

Image Quality

At 10 megapixels, you can get very nice prints up over 20″ in height. Because of the high resolution, smaller prints will look every sharp, crisp, and saturated, which means any noise present will also appear reduced – in effect, the photo quality will look higher because the detail is being squashed smaller.

With that said, all shots on this camera are very, very nice. It certainly isn’t a DSLR or prosumer, but it is not meant to be. Noise is low, saturation is accurate, and the shots are crisp. The anti-shake functions perfectly, and the in-camera re-touching will clean up any noise or blurs for you, and it does an excellent job.

Cons

The only cons are the learning curve that comes with a touchscreen. It can take a while to get used to flipping through menus and scrolling through photos using only your finger, and it can be a bit irritating at first. This, of course , isn’t Sony’s fault, but is instead the natural by-product of using an unfamiliar design.

Conclusion

This camera is very, very nice. The photos are excellent, the anti-shake will compesate for shaky hands, fast subjects can be photographed without fault, and the noise is very, very low.

Overall, if you’re looking for a small, thin, easy to use camera that does what you need it to when you need it to, you’ll likely be pleased with the Sony Cybershot DSC-T300.

By: Blair Mathis

The Sony Alpha DSLR A900 will be Sony’s first real high end model. At its launch the camera was being offered for about $3000, which is a steal when you take a look at what that includes.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of this camera is its astounding 24.6 MP 35mm format full-frame CMOS sensor, which is the highest in its class. The only other DSLR model to come close is Nikon’s DSLR D3x which costs quite a bit more. To address the issue of noise control, Sony has implemented a two stage noise reduction system. Even with this incredibly high pixel count, the A900 shoots at an impressive 5 frames per second.

Contrary to the belief that this was not possible, Sony has created a sensor-shift image stabilization system that is compatible with a full frame camera. Other manufacturers use image stabilization within the lens, but with Sony’s on camera stabilization system every lens the customer buys will be image stabilized. This means you won’t have to shell out extra cash for those image stabilized lenses.

Like most other high end cameras in this price range, the A900 is made out of a high quality aluminum chassis and magnesium body. All buttons and levers on the body are also sealed to help protect the camera against moisture and dust.

Although there are so many great things going for this camera, Sony has oddly left out a live view mode. Although I personally don’t like this view much and it doesn’t make a difference to me, it will to many other prospective buyers. Now buyers are faced with a difficult decision, will they choose the A900 for its high megapixel count or will they go with another camera that includes the increasingly popular live view mode.

For the money, the Sony Alpha DSLR A900 gives its buyers impressive specifications and performs well against its other rivals. But even with its impressive resolution and speed, it lacks the newest features that other cameras have, such as live view. Without the live view, it also misses out on the opportunity with a flip out LCD screen that appears on Sony’s entry level DSLR models. If these features had been implemented I think the camera would have really sets itself apart from other models, but without these features it relies mainly on its impressive megapixel count to convert buyers into sellers. I still highly recommend the camera to anyone in the market for a ‘cheap’ full frame DSLR.

After reading both positive as well as negative reviews on various sites, I decided to buy the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170 Digital Camera. I should say that this camera met all my expectations. This digital camera is pocket-sized, really compact, durable and gives me the best picture even under bad lighting conditions. The optical zoom feature which lets me zoom until 5X is like icing on the cake. The controls provided in the camera are very simple to use and even my 8 years old son was able to master them within several hours.

The camera has good battery life but I would personally recommend you to buy an extra battery for safety purpose while traveling as you might need to take more pictures. I am really happy that I made the right decision on purchasing this camera. The price is also reasonable.This is the fourth Sony product I have purchased so far. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170 Digital Camera is like a replacement of my old Sony DSC-T1 which I had for few years and it worked very well even though I have dropped it lot of times and when I left it in rain, the camera got spoiled and damaged totally. This camera is good for taking pictures at all lighting conditions, whether it is day or light.

The flash works pretty well and we can take pictures at night or low lighting conditions perfectly. The camera comes in different colors and I chose the red one because it is the favorite color of my wife. The camera comes with a tripod mount and has a powerful lens with auto focus and zooming options. The camera should be used like a professional photographer and should be handled with care. It should not be handled roughly as it can get damaged quickly. The camera has smaller lag times between each shot.

It is a small compact point and shoot camera. The face recognition feature works well and it captures smiles and portraits very well. The daylight pictures are not as colorful like the Canon 860Is which I owned several years back. When we take pictures with night time twilight mode, the sharpness of the pictures is very bad and that makes them unusable.

I prefer taking pictures mostly in automatic mode with this Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170 Digital Camera. The LCD screen is bright and the camera fits easily in my suit pockets. So, it makes it very easy for me to carry it anywhere because of its compact, small size. The switching between picture and review mode takes some time which is quite annoying. Overall the camera is neither too good nor too bad but it is a good option for people who know how to handle such cameras with care.

by Jenn Handon

Sony’s latest addition to their point and shoot Cybershot line is the DSC-W220. The truth is, not only does it look generic, but there’s nothing significantly different about it over the dozens of other cameras Sony has in this same Cybershot line. The updates are minor over earlier models, but good enough to warrant a few review.

Features

The biggest feature this camera offers is its new 12.1 megapixel sensor, which is large enough to create half-wall posters if you were so inclined. To be honest, you’ll never need these many megapixels unless you’re creating very high-quality art with a highly detailed level of processing. For the average person, these extra megapixels simply take up hard drive space.

Other features include: Carl Zeiss lens so common on Cybershots, 4x optical zoom, Smile Shutter/Face Detection technology, the BIONZ image processor, a 2.7″ LCD display, Double Anti-Blur, Optical Steady Shot, ISO upto 3200, widescreen HQ video recording, Dynamic Range Optimizer, Integrated Photo Resizer, and more.

The features are quite decent–such a high ISO is a nice option, and Sony has gone out of their way with the steady shot and anti-blur to make sure every shot comes out clear. Overall, the features are spot on (minus full HD video recording).

The package from Amazon (at the time of this article) came with a wrist strap, USB cord, battery and charger, audio/video cables. Unfortunately, no memory stick.

Image Quality

The first thing I noticed was that the shots are quite sharp, perhaps even a bit too sharp, though that is dependant on personal taste. The colors are quite saturated, the images are very sharp, and the noise is relatively low, though the massive resolution helps make it look ever lower. Minor barrel distortion when zoomed, hardly visible. Overall, I give the image quality two thumbs up.

Macro shots also came out very well.

Cons

Unfortunately, the W220 takes different cables then the W110 and other W models, which destroys any incentive in investing in the same camera line.

Conclusion

For the longest time I felt that point and shoot cameras were overpriced, and I still generally feel that way. The price of the camera (average $175) seems quite fair for the features assuming someone is going to use all those features. The Cybershot W220 is one of those cameras that a pro can use to a very full extent, and that will likely be 90% wasted by the average shooter.

Overall, excellent image quality and great features make this an excellent camera. The only downside is the lack of high definition video recording, which seems like a poor choice on Sony’s part given this cameras widescreen recording and LCD.

by Blair Mathis

Sony has always prided themselves with making beautiful, stylish cameras as well as being at the top of the photography game. It for that reason I was surprised when I first saw the Sony A850–it looks like plastic, the buttons and dials seem to be stuck to whatever surface Sony found for them, and overall, the design gets an F. Still, the features were spot on, and in the end, that’s all that really matters.

If you’re interested in purchasing this 24.6 megapixel behemoth, then read on to get the scoop on this little Sony beast’s features.

Features

To start, the A850 DSLR has a 3″ Xtra Fine LCD display, 921k colors, which is about the length of your index fingers, and quite large enough to see anything blurs, distortions, or color issues. In addition, there’s a 9-point auto-focus, 10 assist points, and SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization that Sony likes to boast about, all of which will help guarantee that all but the most chaotic of shots will come out quite sharp and clear.

The sensor in this camera is an Exmor CMOS, and the image processing is completed via two BIONZ processors, that allow max resolution continuous shooting at a rate of three-frames-per-second. Sony’s press release hints that the sensor is equal to 35mm film, but doesn’t explicitly say that it is. For those who like to shoot at high ISO, the Sony A850 comes with a noise-reduction algorithm to keep your pictures smooth and grain free.

The camera features DRO (dynamic range optimizer), and EV bracketing with +2EV, both nice features for those who like to make HDR images. There are slots for both Memory Stick Duo and CompactFlash.

Price

At approx. $2000USD retail, it’s not the most expensive DSLR in the high-megapixel range (the Sony 900 is $500 more expensive), but it most certainly isn’t cheap, and you’d really need a megapixel lust affair going on to find a use for 24+ megapixels.

Conclusion

This camera has promise and a few spot-on features, but with the ugly body and features that we’ve seen in similar cameras, the A850 just doesn’t inspire the joy that Sony was surely hoping for. When the first images are released, we’ll get a better idea of what this camera can do, but now the features aren’t so spectacular, while the price is.

The one shining light of this camera is the full-frame, which will undoubtedly be the reason many buy it, and the excellent image processing for fast speed is a nice addition. If you like having that number of megapixels under your belt, then this camera is one to keep an eye on.

by Blair Mathis