theresaf1
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posted on December 28, 2001 09:56:56 AM new
I am thinking of buying a digital camera. I have seen in threads that this is the one everyone seems to like. If you have this camera, can you tell me what you like about it - options/features. Will I need to buy anything else to use with it - like software or accessories? Thanks!
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valo3456
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posted on December 28, 2001 10:48:47 AM new
If you check the last couple of months their are a lot of previous posts about "The Sony Mavica". I wrote in quite a while ago and got all types of positive responces about this camera.
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mrspock
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posted on December 28, 2001 11:39:14 AM new
I have a older fd 73 I LOVE IT
to me the fact that it works off a stanc=dard floopy is great no problem finding the mem stick ect
just plug the disc into the a drive and you are are ready to go
It takes great closeups I cna often see detail in the pictures that I have trouble seeing with the naked eye
As a camera for ebay pics its great
spock here......
Live long and Prosper
[
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computerboy
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posted on December 28, 2001 12:04:26 PM new
Buy the Sony Mavica because it's idiots proof and does a great job. Trust me, I know.
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beadkat
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posted on December 28, 2001 01:09:24 PM new
I recently bought a mavica75 and love it. The big mistake alot of sellers make is they don't edit their pictures after they take them. An editor works wonders to brighten dark pics and to resize. I downloaded Irvanview years ago and it works great!Some sellers have pics so dark you can hardly see what they are selling.This camera really is idiot proof and I should know! LOL
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vogeldanl
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posted on December 28, 2001 01:17:48 PM new
Great camera! Bought mine almost 2 years ago, have taken hundreds of photos, and have had absolutely no problems. Would not buy anything else.
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susanc
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posted on December 28, 2001 01:31:23 PM new
I have to say I love mine too, way easier to use with the floppy disc and no down time downloading!!
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Nanasturtles
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posted on December 28, 2001 01:32:20 PM new
I will second all the opinions you have gotten above......I have one I bought over 2 years ago and have not had a single problem with it....It's easy for me because I don't have to worry about hooking up any cables etc....just stick in your disk and start taking your pictures! Can't go wrong! I love mine and would buy another one in a minute!
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REAMOND
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posted on December 28, 2001 02:54:32 PM new
Great quality for the money. Using standard floppies for memory makes it heads above the rest for me.
If you go out to shoot pics, just carry 5 or 6 floppies and you have enough to take as many pictures as you'll ever need.
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REAMOND
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posted on December 28, 2001 02:58:12 PM new
For got to add- all you need is a good image application and you're in business; snap the pics, insert the floppy right into your floppy drive on your PC and open them up.
It also takes some remarkable pictures.
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eauctionmgnt
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posted on December 28, 2001 03:54:18 PM new
I know I'm gonna take a lot of flack on this one... but I REALLY don't understand why people love Sony Mavicas so much! I have been in the field of retail camera sales for over 15 years. The Sony Mavica is NOTHING compared to other models out there. It uses high compression on its pictures to allow the pictures to fit on a standard floppy disk. This type of camera is fine to use if you are using it for the web ONLY. However..., if you ever tried to print a 5x7 or larger print... you would notice drastic quality problems. If you have any interest in using your digital camera beyond hosting pictures on the web... you should strongly consider cameras such as Fuji that store their pictures on Smart Media.
Smart media cards are available from 4MB to 128MB sizes, allowing larger-sized (higher-quality) images to be stored on them. Some of these cameras come very close to reproducing the quality of film-cameras. You can easily print high-quality images on a decent printer with photo-quality paper. This is definately not the case with the Mavicas.
You can also get a USB card reader to attach to your computer. This gives you the exact same ease of transferring your images to your computer. The reader is cheap. (Lexmark sells one for less than $40.00) and Smart Media cameras are not that expensive either (you can get good ones starting around $200.00 or less).
Bottom line... look at what you want to use a digital camera for. If all you want is low-quality pictures with a quick easy disk to load into your camera... the Mavica may work well for you. However, if you want to expand beyond that... you should strongly consider the quality limitations that the Mavica cameras have. Another thing to consider is for all those Macintosh users out there... unless you have an OLD Mac... you won't be able to use the Mavica's floppy disk unless you attach an external USB floppy drive that will cost $60.00 or more. Anyhow... hope this helps all of you decide on your camera choices. Don't just follow the disilluisioned masses!
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toolhound
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posted on December 28, 2001 04:10:23 PM new
WOW eauctionmgnt you mean people use these cameras for photos that don't sell things on eBay!! What a waste of time... I only use my Sony Mavica FD-73 for eBay and it has taken photos for over 5,000 auctions with at least 3 photos in each with no problems.
Also I do not use any photo editor and people comment that my photos are great all the time.
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roadsmith
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posted on December 28, 2001 04:50:08 PM new
Ditto to what Toolhound has just written! I got my camera a year ago with fear and trembling--I am technologically challenged. I use it not only for ebay but for scenic pictures, people pictures, etc. I love it. It's very very easy to use and takes good clear pictures for me; the standard disk it uses is a plus; and. . . the fact that I don't have to stoop down or in any way finagle plugging something into my computer is an eNORmous plus. I have a Sony Mavica 73 and it's fine for all my needs. ~Adele
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goldpanner3
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posted on December 28, 2001 08:07:13 PM new
Mavica FD73....10X Optical Zoom, needed if you want quick and easy closeups. And love the floppy....fast on those days when you are doing picture after picture for hours.
Couldn't stand a Kodak I had, took too long to download pics, had wires all over to hook up, and very poor zoom. Gave that beast to my son and he has a couple others too, but usually prefers to borrow my Mavica.
***BUT***
eauctionmgnt is right about the low resolution of the Mavica, as much as I love this camera....there are definitly times when higher resolution would make a heck of a nicer picture. One thing I still can't master is closeups of unmounted gemstones. On ebay I've seen really high quality close-ups, but I can only get so-so quality on gemstones with my trusty, handy, but low-res Sony Mavica.
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REAMOND
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posted on December 29, 2001 09:38:40 AM new
My Mavica does have an uncompressed setting. You can set the camera to BMP, you get 1 picture per floppy.
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stopwhining
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posted on December 29, 2001 10:13:43 AM new
you can have a sony mavica with higher resolution and optical zoom features.
dealers who deal in jewelry have more powerful cameras and strong lighting to show off their gemstones,it will make a piece of dull stone like a million dollars.
i dont know if you can come close to what they show with a good digital ??
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sonsie
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posted on December 29, 2001 10:15:40 AM new
I recently bought my first digital camera, and had planned on purchasing a Mavica because of the great comments I had read here. I changed my mind, thouh, after reading the reviews on ZDNET, CNET, and elsewhere.
The Mavica may be fine for lo-res photos for auctions and such, and for some people the convenience of a floppy is a big plus. But I wanted something that took really good photos and that could be used as a general photography machine as well as for auctions. I went with the Canon Powershot A20, and I am delighted. I don't think it is much more expensive than the Mavica, and I got an extra memory card. Downloading photos to my computer takes seconds, not minutes, and involves hooking up a cable from the camera to the FRONT of my cpu and pressing a couple of keys.
The quality of my pictures thus far is amazing, and I've been able to take serious closeup shots with perfect exposure and detail (important if you are selling jewelry or similar items).
I can't attest to the reliability of the Canon, but ZDNET and the other review sites surely can. I'd strongly suggest that you read up on these before you make a final decision.
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ahc3
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posted on December 29, 2001 12:02:11 PM new
Almost 2 years now since I bought my Mavica, and can not believe I used a scanner to take pics. It really is an important part of doing ebay, and I can not imagine working without it at this point...
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radioguy4
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posted on December 29, 2001 01:27:33 PM new
I own a Mavica 83 and I love it. Had it for about two years. If I had to replace it, however, I think I would check out some of the other cameras.My suggestion to you would be to go to a REAL camera shop with knowledgeable staff, and compare. Take something,if you can ,that you wish to photograph. There has been much advancement in last few years, and I'm not sure Sony has keep up.
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mcjane
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posted on December 29, 2001 04:33:27 PM new
Sony Mavica FD73
With no photo editing. A great camera for eBay auctions & a good camera for everyday use.
[ edited by mcjane on Dec 29, 2001 04:35 PM ]
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REAMOND
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posted on December 29, 2001 04:57:41 PM new
Her's one of my Mavica pics. I just haven't seen any better quality in a digital camera. I know a guy that spent over $3000 for one, other than taking moving pictures, his pics are no better than mine.
edited to add- It was taken form 25 ft away through a glass window with high shutter speed.
<br />
 <br />
[ edited by REAMOND on Dec 29, 2001 04:59 PM ]
[ edited by REAMOND on Dec 29, 2001 05:00 PM ]
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jeffj318
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posted on December 29, 2001 07:53:59 PM new
Hi
I have the Mavica 73 and I love it.
I use it for Ebay auctions and for general shooting. I have printed out 4x6 photos and they look pretty good to me.
I agree ... if you want a pic that is larger you will need more pixels. I used to blow up pics to 8x10 but those days are over - who really cares anyway?
The Mavica is easy to use and the floppies are very handy. You can also make copies from your camera to give to friends.
Hope this helps.
JJ
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Libra63
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posted on December 29, 2001 08:00:18 PM new
McJane. Tell us some particulars about your picture. This looks just great. How far away from the object? Flash? Anything that might help. Thanks
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goldpanner3
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posted on December 29, 2001 08:11:06 PM new
REAMOND....Nice picture!
Which Mavica? If it's the FD73, which I have, by "high shutter speed" would that be the sports setting from the program button?
Or maybe you have a different model.
I forgot all about the uncompressed Bitmap setting, so I dug the book out and will try experimenting.
Thanks in advance,
Jon
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OK4LEATHER
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posted on December 29, 2001 08:30:42 PM new
Id say to "Really appreciate the Mavica" you have to own a lesser camera- I struggled with a "very nice Casio" for 3 years before I bought one- It was instant bliss - Easy to use nothing else to buy or learn or configure or fix - Point shoot and use your disk to upload. You do need to change file names if you take lots of pics.
Go buy one !
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twinsoft
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posted on December 29, 2001 08:32:39 PM new
I tried the Mavica a couple of years ago and took it back to the store. It couldn't capture large solid colors (like walls). They came out with artifacts, like green and purple splotches to represent a white wall. Very bad quality.
The floppy disk may have been a plus back when tiny, ultracompressed pictures were in vogue, but it is not any more. Take a vacation and you'll be lugging around 500 floppy disks in your suitcase to handle the 500 photos you plan to take. A single floppy disk is not enough to hold a high quality megapixel image.
I have also noticed that C|NET always criticizes this camera for the reason I stated above. I got a Kodak DC-210 Plus, very good color, finicky about lighting, but I would look around today because Kodak has "cheapened" their cameras, like taking out optical zoom in the cheapo models.
I would think that for $500 I could find a good general use camera, and not one that is only useful for eBay pics. The Mavica's big draw was the floppy disk, which has now become more of a liablity than an advantage.
Get a camera that takes quality pics, not one that is "idiotproof."
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Libra63
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posted on December 29, 2001 08:39:14 PM new
For someone that can't afford a $500+ for a digital my Mavica for $199 is just fine.
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twinsoft
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posted on December 29, 2001 09:35:00 PM new
I'm glad to hear the price has come down. When I bought my camera, $500 was the cheapest Mavica.
My suggestion. Go to www.computers.com and read C|NET's comparative reviews. If I were looking for a midrange camera, I might check out the HP PhotoSmart 315 for around $200. (There is also a 215 model for around $129.)
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mcjane
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posted on December 29, 2001 10:52:24 PM new
Libra No flash, & I was about 15" away & used the zoom, because it's easier not to get in the way of the light. The light is a 100 watt bulb over the dining room table, about 3 ft higher up. You can get very close if you want & get the same thing, just stay out of the light.
I bought about 30 different colors of precut felt squares 11" x 9" at Walmart, 19 cents each. They are great backgrounds to put small & medium size items on to photograph. There is a color choice for just about anything. I often take several pictures with different colors & then pick the best. You can find them in the fabric department.
REAMOND That is an amazing picture. I take lots of pictures at my bird feeder, but never tried to capture a bird in flight. Now I'm anxious to try it.
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mcjane
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posted on December 29, 2001 11:10:58 PM new
This was taken with a flash. Kitchen windowsill, with a piece of black felt for background.
I was 10 ft" away & used the zoom.
I love this camera, it takes great pictures & you don't have to be an expert, which I am not.
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