GE A730 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought the GE A730 because it has by far the best feature set of any camera in its class at an unbelievable price. It's pocket-sized, with image stabilization, manual controls, a useful 35-140mm lens (35mm equivalent), a one-thirds grid on the LCD to help with composition and keep horizons straight, and on and on. It also has the best user manual I've ever seen. When I got it home, however, I immediately discovered its Achilles heel. I could not use the LCD in full sunlight, even at its brightest setting, and the A730 does not have an optical viewfinder. Also, the LCD is so reflective that the reflection of your own image blurs the screen even further, even in less than full sunlight. Besides that, I found that the automatic focus tended to hunt in almost all lighting conditions--though, in fairness, that could be just a flaw in the particular camera I bought, or "pilot error" due to my lack of experience, and not a general flaw in all A730s. I returned the camera for a refund and called GE Customer Service. I had called them once before with questions about the camera and they were savvy, polite, patient, and eager to please. When I told the person who answered about the problems I had with the A730, I could hear him typing it into his computer. He thanked me, said GE's R&D department wanted as much feedback as possible, whether good or bad, and said he was forwarding my remarks to them "as we speak." Except for the LCD (and perhaps the hunting AF) the A730 is a landmark point-and-shoot with superb features, at an unbeatable price, supported by excellent customer service. Despite my disappointing experience, I'm not giving up on GE cameras. Almost all new products have "bugs" in them that have to be worked out. The company seems more than willing to correct flaws, and if it does, there won't be a camera in the A730's class that can touch it. I'll watch with great interest to see if GE follows through on the feedback, and am looking forward to the release of their E850, which has a 28-140mm equivalent lens, a bit more resolution and all the other fine features of the A730. I hope GE makes the necessary corrections. They are just "this close" to producing a camera, backed by a customer support system, that all others will be measured by.

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GE Digital Camera 7MP 3X Optical Zoom 2.5"LCD with advanced features like Face Tracking Image Stabilization Panorama Stitching and Red Eye Removal. Black

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GE X5 Power Pro Series 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 15X Optical Zoom Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me begin my saying that I have not purchased a new camera in six years, so I was waaaayyyy behind in technology (I had never purchased an SD card until now, etc.). I had read so much about the user manual to this camera being hard to read, the camera functions being hard to access and use, etc., but, I must say, I found this camera easy to use and the functions were well-explained and documented in the user manual (for Pete's sake, they show the pics and give step-by-step instructions in the manual :-)).
I ordered this camera from Amazon last Friday; it arrived today. We are using it to take on a cruise with us and I wanted something with a decent zoom to be able to take pictures at somewhat of a distance. I also needed to practice using it, so I took it out of the box right away. I looked at the user manual and went to work :-D. I also used the user manual on the enclosed CD. No problem!
Like another poster said, I, too, researched this camera a lot before buying it and I, too, found it comparable to a couple of the Fuji Finepix that I was looking at. I am in no way an expert on cameras (I don't know much about them at all), but, I did go try this one out at Sears prior to purchasing this one from Amazon (Amazon was cheaper). While there, I noticed that they also had the Fuji I was thinking about getting, too, and I tried it. I really do like the way the GE X5 feels in my hands better than the Fuji! And, with my not needing the camera for professional purposes, I just wanted to be able to take decent pics. And, the GE camera seems to be able to do that!
I am soooo excited about this camera. The pics are so clear and sharp! I am having to learn how to focus it, etc., but, so far I have gotten some good clear shots.
I wanted to address some common comments that I have seen about this camera, both on Amazon and other other sites that sell this camera:
1. Using Manual to Get Clearer Pics of People Up Close - Previous reviewers were saying that their pics of people up close were blurry. Other reviewers suggested to take the pics in Manual as opposed to Automatic. I don't necessarily agree with this. In fact, with my not knowing what I was doing :-), I took blurry pics in both Manual and Auto, but I took more blurry pics in Manual. What did, in fact, help me to not blur the pictures was to follow the instructions in clicking the button to take the pics. If you read the manual, it tells you to push the button half-way down to focus the pic. Once you do, you will hear a tone (unless you disable the sound feature, I guess). Once you hear the tone, press the button the rest of the way down until you hear a shutter click sound, which lets you know that the pic has been taken. Pressing it all the way down too soon caused my pics to be blurry.
2. Picture Quality is Poor - People have said that the pic quality is poor. I do not agree with that. But, what I did see (and, again, I have lived in the dark ages regarding technology for so long until it might be this way with many digital cameras that I don't know about), though, is that the pic as it appears on the LCD screen is VERY GRAINY. This is true when the pic is being taken. However, if you go back and review the pics, you will see that they are not grainy (if taken correctly).
3. This Camera is Not for Beginners/It is an Advanced Beginner Camera - As I stated earlier, I don't agree with that. Now, let me say that there are features that I do not know how to use on this camera and may never know how to use because I may never have a need to use them. But, you don't have to use the "advanced" features in order to be able to use this camera. I'm a living witness :-D.
I am glad that I purchased this camera on Amazon, even though it went up $10 in my cart on literally the day I had it in the basket :-). Overall (so far), I am quite pleased with this camera.
Oh, one more thing: At the time of my writing this, if you look at the What's in the Box? section, you will see that it lists 4 AA alkaline batteries are included with this camera. But, if you look at the Product Description portion, you will see that it lists 4 rechargeable AA batteries. I received the alkalines. The alkalines are doing well so far, but I will buy some rechargeables to take on the cruise with me. I have reported this discrepancy on the page to Amazon customer service and they may be fixing it soon.
UPDATE ON DECEMBER 17, 2010:I wrote a very positive review of this camera, but I am now seeing many negative reviews. When I bought my camera, it was sold and shipped directly from Amazon. Now I see that it is coming directly from Capital. I don't know if there would be a difference in the camera or not; shouldn't be. My camera did not ship from Capital and I have had no problems with it. I am adding this to my review because I don't want people to think that I am endorsing a camera that may not be of good quality.


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If you want it all, you want a power pro series camera from GE. The new X5 defines our Power Pro series with the latest in high-tech features all captured in a professional, easy to use design. The X5 has a spacious 2.7-inch high-resolution LCD screen with auto adjust brightness so you won't miss a thing. Featuring a generous 14.1-megapixel resolution, 15x optical zoom and 5.7x digital zoom. The X5 also provides panorama photo stitching allowing you to take 3 images and create a seamless panoramic picture, face detection, automatic face exposure, in-camera red-eye removal, optical image stabilization, blink detection, smile detection, and Quick Time Motion JPEG movie recording. Plus the impressive 18MB internal memory is expandable with an SD/SDHC card up to 16 GB. Additional specs include Focal length of 4.9mm (wide) to 73.5mm (Tele) which is the 35mm film equivalent of 27mm (wide) to 405mm (Tele), F number of F3.0 (Wide) to F5.2(Tele), Normal focusing range of 60 cm (Wide) to 200 cm (Tele), Macro of 5cm-200cm Wide and 200cm Tele. Shooting modes of Auto, Manual, ASCN, Image Stabilization, Movie, Scene (Sport, Children, Indoor, Leaf, Snow, Sunset, Fireworks, Glass, Museum, Landscape, Night Landscape, Night Portrait), Portrait, and Panorama, Auto ISO sensitivity of 3200. Pictbridge compatability,ExifPrint support, multi-language support, USB 2.0, and AV out (proprietary connector) jacks. This products ships with rechargeable 4 AA batteries, USB Cable, shoulder strap, CD-ROM, Manual, Quick Start Guide, Feature Guide, Warranty Card.

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