The reviews were not great based on the Previous Woot

RZ18 Manual

I don't see anything in the specs about built-in GPS so how does the camera "log" where you are?....BS!

Here is a flickr search on images taken with this camera, pictures of this camera (along with videos about this camera)

Nice optical megazoom, pixel count and it has optical stabilization. The video capabilities aren't so hot though so I'll just discuss those. Many people claim that this is a point-and-shoot so I shouldn't focus so much on the video. I disagree since people are increasingly relying on convergent devices to integrate stills and videos so that they won;t have to carry multiple devices.

Here's why the video capabilities are pretty bad:

- Uses old Motion JPEG (MJPEG) compression rather than H.264. That means videos take up 4x as much room for the same length and quality.
- Resolution is only 720p, not 1080p (Full HD). I recently bought an Olympus SZ20 that has 1080p (not to mention 3D!) for only $89 after rebate.
- Cannot PAUSE during video. To be fair, only Samsungs can pause in this price range which is why I'm partial to them.
- Cannot use optical zoom during video, only digital zoom. That's pathetic. Some people claim that this prevents annoying motor noise from being recorded. Samsung has an option to turn off audio while zooming, and other cameras have filters to ignore the noise.
- Only has monaural recording, not stereo.

If video is important to you, spend about $10 more and go for a Samsung. Woot has them frequently.

sdc100 wrote:Nice optical megazoom, pixel count and it has optical stabilization. The video capabilities aren't so hot though so I'll just discuss those. Many people claim that this is a point-and-shoot so I shouldn't focus so much on the video. I disagree since people are increasingly relying on convergent devices to integrate stills and videos so that they won;t have to carry multiple devices.

Here's why the video capabilities are pretty bad:

- Uses old Motion JPEG (MJPEG) compression rather than H.264. That means videos take up 4x as much room for the same length and quality.
- Resolution is only 720p, not 1080p (Full HD). I recently bought an $89 Olympus that has 1080p (not to mention 3D!).
- Cannot PAUSE during video. To be fair, only Samsungs can pause in this price range which is why I'm partial to them.
- Cannot use optical zoom during video, only digital zoom. That's pathetic. Some people claim that this prevents annoying motor noise from being recorded. Samsung has an option to turn off audio while zooming, and other cameras have filters to ignore the noise.
- Only has monaural recording, not stereo.

If video is important to you, spend about $10 more and go for a Samsung. Woot has them frequently.

Big_Bdub wrote:I don't see anything in the specs about built-in GPS so how does the camera "log" where you are?....BS!

For those who don't know, Big_Bdub is referring to the last paragraph in the narrative, which I guess is not meant to be taken seriously. But his concern is justified because it does hint that location (GPS) info is embedded in the photos. For what it's worth, it's also wrong to suggest that most cameras have this capability because very few do, especially in this price range. And those that do have GPS will also have the option to turn the feature off. Furthermore, you can also manually strip out the info before posting your photos.

The Staff might want to add a disclaimer to the description stating that there is no GPS or location logging feature.

From the narrative:

But if you're going to insist on doing dumb stuff and documenting it to share online, you should know this: this camera, like pretty much all digital cameras, saves data in each photo that can be used to find out where you took it. So when you post that "hilarious" photo of you punching that koala in the zoo when no one was looking, just know that some particularly motivated Internet vigilantes (and there is no shortage of such types) feeling indignant at your display can quickly find out which zoo you were at, then deduce your address...

I bought one on the previous woot (same price, thank goodness!). It's a decent point and shoot camera and a step up from my previous one which was ~5 years old. It has some problems (sometimes it won't focus and you have to zoom back out) and the case feels flimsy, but it takes decent pictures and for $99, I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't survive my next trip overseas.

How did you get the Olympus rebate? Listed price is $129

sdc100 wrote:Nice optical megazoom, pixel count and it has optical stabilization. The video capabilities aren't so hot though so I'll just discuss those. Many people claim that this is a point-and-shoot so I shouldn't focus so much on the video. I disagree since people are increasingly relying on convergent devices to integrate stills and videos so that they won;t have to carry multiple devices.

Here's why the video capabilities are pretty bad:

- Uses old Motion JPEG (MJPEG) compression rather than H.264. That means videos take up 4x as much room for the same length and quality.
- Resolution is only 720p, not 1080p (Full HD). I recently bought an Olympus SZ20 that has 1080p (not to mention 3D!) for only $89 after rebate.
- Cannot PAUSE during video. To be fair, only Samsungs can pause in this price range which is why I'm partial to them.
- Cannot use optical zoom during video, only digital zoom. That's pathetic. Some people claim that this prevents annoying motor noise from being recorded. Samsung has an option to turn off audio while zooming, and other cameras have filters to ignore the noise.
- Only has monaural recording, not stereo.

If video is important to you, spend about $10 more and go for a Samsung. Woot has them frequently.

I've had one of these for a month or two, and I'll mention that GPS tagging is not important to me, and I can't remember whether I've even tried using the video mode. But as far as taking still pictures goes, this camera is utterly astounding. The only downside for me is that it's physically a little bigger than I was hoping, but if I'd read the specs, I would have known that. I've been taking fantastic pictures with this camera.

(Oh, and as far as I can tell, you have to take the battery out of the camera to charge it, which is annoying.)

greenleaf44 wrote:I bought one on the previous woot (same price, thank goodness!). It's a decent point and shoot camera and a step up from my previous one which was ~5 years old. It has some problems (sometimes it won't focus and you have to zoom back out) and the case feels flimsy, but it takes decent pictures and for $99, I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't survive my next trip overseas.

"(sometimes it won't focus and you have to zoom back out)"

This could be for two reasons: First, when zoomed out, you can't focus as close as you can at a wider setting and second, when zoomed, you lens opening is much smaller , as in less light coming in,, which may make it hard for the AF to function. My money is on the first reason.

Big_Bdub wrote:I don't see anything in the specs about built-in GPS so how does the camera "log" where you are?....BS!

I think they are saying that the location is embedded when you upload it, not the location where it was taken?

Attention "gym shooters:" No magic fairy dust here.

This camera is OK for outdoor shots, but NOT appropriate for fast indoor action shots and fast action response, fast bursts, fast AF or fast anything.

The aperture is not large enough for what you want to do. Spend a LOT, lot more money if you want sports magazine cover shots of your kid.

There ain't no free lunch (yet) when it comes to shooting in lower light with itty-bitty cheap cameras.

Trust me, I teach this stuff and wrote a book about it.

radi0j0hn wrote:Attention "gym shooters:" No magic fairy dust here.

This camera is OK for outdoor shots, but NOT appropriate for fast indoor action shots and fast action response, fast bursts, fast AF or fast anything.

The aperture is not large enough for what you want to do. Spend a LOT, lot more money if you want sports magazine cover shots of your kid.

There ain't no free lunch (yet) when it comes to shooting in lower light with itty-bitty cheap cameras.

Trust me, I teach this stuff and wrote a book about it.

I always enjoy your thoughts on cameras. Especially since they come from someone that sounds like they actually know cameras.

As a hobbying photographer (amongst many other hobbies) I just had to check this out and check the pictures in flickr, too! Zoomed out the pictures look GREAT but I'm not too impressed with the pictures once you view them closer to their actual pixel size. The pictures (once zoomed in) appear VERY soft (to me) and not crisp. I'll stick with my used Panasonic DMC-FZ28 with Leica lens! Newer isn't always better!

$99 isn't much but neither is this camera! It feels like a toy - plastic case, cartoonish mode choice screen and a zoom that doesn't feel like it will last long. Picture quality is fine, but we'll have to see how long the camera itself lasts. Make me an offer!

Got mine a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it. Well worth $100. It's nowhere near as good as a DSLR make no mistake, but you will rarely find the manual controls available in this camera in any other's in it's price-range. Manual focus and manual ISO? Not to mention sharpness controls which is fantastic. I don't know how many cameras I've used that over-sharpened images to compensate for their low quality lenses. The manual focus is beautiful and the ISO control allows you to guarantee that you're never using a longer exposure than necessary for your shots. You can also set the range for auto-ISO to different maximum ISO. The zoom on this is fantastic as well for such a small camera. A lot of people complained about the position of the flash but I think it's perfectly places; it avoids casting an annoying shadow against the extended lens as some cameras do. Also, there's been talk of their being "no dedicated video button" but there is a "green button", the function of which is clearly programmable in the settings menu and it can easily be made into your dedicated video mode but in a pinch. You can also chose which settings you want to be saved when the camera is shut off, so that settings remain as they were at wake-time or so that they all revert. Photos taken with SR on and off show a tremendous difference, though video recorded with SR is cropped slightly (I don't use it for video). Although all zoom and focus features are available in video mode as well, there is no zooming in or out once the video has started recording nor does the focus shift during recording (as far as I can tell), but this is common for digital cameras. I have not yet used it on a tripod and I know many have indicated the position of the tripod connector to be oddly placed. Last thing off the top of my head is that where most cameras would pixelate in cases of low-light areas, this camera has more of a spotty dotted kind of effect very close to what you'd see in an old fashioned SLR which is much preferred over pixely saturated color-noise. It does feel somewhat fragile and the lens-guard-retractable-thingy does open very easily when touched, so obviously this isn't a camera for careless and neglectful individuals. Still, I have yet to break it. I would suggest getting some manner of case for it. By the way, audio for the video recording is way more decent than that what I've experienced int he past with digital cameras, and the mic is actually positioned at the front rather than the top (it's visible in the photos just above and to the right of the lens).

cgbeale wrote:How did you get the Olympus rebate? Listed price is $129

Sorry for the delay. I've uploaded the $40 Rebate Form here. Must be postmarked by 9/7/12.