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Item didn’t work when arrived, seller took care of the issue, Highly recommended
Reviews (6)
18 June 2006
A great camera but ask questions.
279 of 287 found this helpful These are fantastic cameras... easy to use and they deliver incredible results... but first, understand this is a manual focus FILM camera... not a digital camera. There is no auto-focus... you have to focus. And you can not hook this camera up to your computer and download pictures. It uses film which must be developed. If you are still interested in this type of camera... keep reading for some helpful advise.
1: SEALS: The light seals keep light from sneaking into the film chamber. Even if a camera has never been used, these seals deteriorate over time and need to be replaced. Always ask the condition of the light seals. If they are worn out they will be sticky to the touch and leave residue on the film chamber door.
2: BATTERY DOOR: These cameras have a little door that covers the battery compartment. Because people rarely use the hot-shoe cover to open the battery door properly, they often break the door. Be sure to ask about the condition of the battery door.
3: SQUEAK: Watch out for the Squeak! When the internals begin the dry out and gears begin to show signs of wear the Canon A series has a tendency to make a squeak sound when firing the shutter. It sometimes sounds as if the camera is coughing. This is a sign the camera needs service. Without service the internals will wear even more and will soon fail.
4: VIEW FINDER:
Ask if the viewfinder is clear and free of scratches. While this would not affect picture quality it is kind of annoying to see specs of dust and scratches while trying to compose your shot.
A good seller should provide photos and descriptions to answer these questions, but some people do not have the time or expertise so often times you need to ask. Their answers will tell you a lot about not only the camera… but also the seller.
20 August 2006
Nice... but is it what you really want?
20 of 27 found this helpful The OTA stands for Optical Tube Assembly... meaning you just get the telescope (tube)... no base... no gimbals and no way to really set it up and point it to the stars unless you already have all that stuff. And if you already have all that stuff... you don't need to be reading this review.
If what you are looking for is a quality telescope that you can point to... say Saturn... and it automatically points to Saturn and you can then see Saturn's rings... you will probably want the ETX-125 AT (astro telescope) with comes with a mount and motor controller. You can also purchase Auto-Star which lets you scroll through a list of planets, deep space items, stars and simply hit enter and "go-to" and the telescope will point right at it. But note... an accurate set-up is required... you have to put the scope in it's home position... point it north and level then do a short alignment procedure which includes telling the AutoStar Controller the date and time. So it's important you get instructions with your ETX-125. But if you can get a good deal (say on eBay) on one with no instructions don't worry... you can download them online from the Meade Website.
The focal length of the 125 is 1900mm. The formula for figuring out the power of your scope is to divide the eyepiece (26mm for example) into the focal length... 1900mm and you get 73x... meaning this telescope along with a 26mm eyepiece will give you a power of 73X (roughly 73 x bigger than with the naked eye) Also... note... the ETX-125 is the bigger of several modes... there's also the ETX-60, ETX-70, ETX-90 and ETX-105 for example... these are all smaller... and cheaper... Google these to read more about each model.
COATINGS
One other item to consider is coatings. UHTC or ultra high transmission coating lets more light through the optics... about 15% according to Meade... the more light the better... Standard coatings are okay... but if you get the chance to get UHTC its worth an extra $75 or $100 dollars.
For more on Meade Telescopes... just Google "Meade ETX".
20 August 2006
Minolta's top of the line 35mm Film Camera
139 of 149 found this helpful The Minolta X-700 is a great film camera with many features used by professional photographers yet easy to use for the beginner or student. It features three modes of picture taking:
PROGRAM - YOU JUST FOCUS AND SHOOT, THE X-700 SETS THE APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED FOR YOU.
APERTURE PRIORITY - YOU SET THE APERTURE, THE X-700 AUTOMATICALLY SETS THE SHUTTER SPEED.
MANUAL EXPOSURE - YOU SET BOTH APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED TO GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT.
Before you read more... understand... this is not one of the new, fancy digital cameras with auto-focus that so many people are using today. It is a manual focus camera (meaning YOU focus) which uses film that has to be developed. Many professional photographers still prefer film over digital. But understand you can not hook this camera up to your computer and download photos. The film has to be purchased, installed and after picture-taking removed and taken to a developer. Places like CVS, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid all have developing services. And most places that develop this film will also be able to put your pictures on a CD which makes it easy to email them or publish them on a Website. I routinely get my film photos developed on CD only (no prints) for $1.99.
Okay... enough about film... now more on the camera... there are several items you should be aware of before buying one of these cameras on eBay.
1: SEALS: The light seals keep light from sneaking into the film chamber. Even if a camera has never been used, these seals deteriorate over time and need to be replaced. So always ask the seller about the condition of the light seals. If they are worn out they will be sticky to the touch and leave residue on the film chamber door. Ask your seller about the condition of the light seals.
2: CAPACITOR: These cameras are known for capacitors that wear/dry out and fail. When this happens the camera does not work. The symptom is... no shutter release... no film advance. There's nothing wrong with the film advance. It's just that it won't advance until you release the shutter and the shutter won't release because the capacitors have failed. You can usually have this problem fixed for around $75 to $100 dollars but beware of this problem. If a seller says the shutter won't fire, it could be something as easy as changing the batteries, or it could be the camera needs new capacitors. Here's an easy way to tell the difference. If the LEDs light up in the view finder, that means the batteries are good and the camera is getting power so if the shutter won't fire, the problem is more likely than not, bad capacitors. If the LEDs don't light up and the shutter won't fire, there's a good chance the camera just need new batteries... (A76 1.5V) which can be purchased on eBay for very reasonable rates.
3: VIEW FINDER:
Ask sellers if the viewfinder is clear and free of scratches. While this would not affect picture quality it is kind of annoying to see specs of dust and scratches while trying to compose your shot.
A good seller should provide photos and descriptions to answer these questions, but some people do not have the time or expertise so often times you need to ask. Their answers will tell you a lot about not only the camera… but also the seller.
NOTE: Have a look at some of the other X-700 reviews... notice one of them looks extremely similar to mine? Hmmmm. I wonder why people do that? Can't they write their own review?