Quality Kit

Considering the price of this camera is so much less than some rivals with similar specs, I was very impressed with the picture quality and ease of use.

Starting off in full auto, the most remarkable feaure is the zoom lens, which seems to be able to pick out astonishing detail on subjects much further away than anticipated. The body design is easy to hold steady, so that even on maximum zoom you can usually get a sound shot without a tripod.

Downloading to your computer is a breeze, especially if you have XP. Probably the easiest way is the camera wizard option, it will automatically clear the camera's memory after downloading too if you want, so I usually just set it off while checking emails or something, go back in a couple of minutes and it's ready to unplug.

Then you can soon get to know the other presets such as landscape, portrait etc, but it's almost easier to use the manual options.

I felt that for landscapes the saturation was at times a little weak, mainly in lower light conditions - this can be increased manually however - but remember to set it back again when the sun's out!

This camera should come with a 32 or 64 mb card as standard.
Having said that, the 16mb it comes with still takes about 40 frames on the 2nd lowest setting, which I used while learning my way round it.

I since bought a 64mb card and can now put about 65 frames at the next to highest setting, which is about enough for me at present. A 256mb card might be a wise buy, but you can get by on 16 for a while, lookiing out for a bargain memory deal perhaps!