Fuji Digital Camera Fail
We purchased a Fuji Digital Camera for our daughter for her 12th birthday. We bought it at Wal-Mart for a fantastic price in a bundled pack for $71.00 on clearance. It was purchased with money from the grandparents. She was so excited to receive it.
5 Ways to Extend the Life of Your Digital Camera Batteries
Depending on how often you use (or don’t use) your digital camera, you may find that it sucks the juice out of the batteries in it like a bunch of hungry teenagers when they see a feast of pizza and chips on a table.
I use a Canon PowerShot SD880 IS Digital Elph, which takes a Li-ion battery. We have both an actual Canon branded one and an off brand one to switch out with. The Canon one retains its power much longer than the off brand one. But still I was curious to see why, or if there was something I could do to extend the life of the batteries longer while they were in use. After some research, I came up with the following tips and information.
1. One of the most helpful things that many of us don’t think of….turn off the camera when not in use. You know at birthday parties or holiday gatherings we snap a couple of photos and then put the camera down in anticipation of another shot….but we don’t use it again. While the camera has been sitting idle, the camera has been draining the power out of the battery. If there is a feature on your camera to change the delay time to a quicker auto off if you don’t use it (mine shuts down after 1 minute), change it to the lowest possible setting.
2. If your camera takes more than one battery, don’t mix and match brands or expiration dates. Use batteries from the same package, and replace them all at the same time when needed.
3. While our camera doesn’t have a view finder, if yours does and you don’t use it for all your picture taking, turn your LCD screen off. That is one of the larger power consumption parts of a camera when it comes to batteries.
4. Don’t use the playback feature on your camera if you don’t need to. Again this is a huge power resource.
5. Make sure your batteries don’t come into contact with moisture or water, as this could cause corrosion. If you know you won’t be using your camera for a certain amount of time because you aren’t a big picture taker (holidays, vacations, family gatherings only, etc.) – then remove the batteries completely and just put them in the camera case.
If you’re looking to purchase a new camera and one of the things you’re looking at is battery life – Li-ion (lithium) batteries tend to last longer than AA. However if you are set on a camera that uses AA batteries,
NiMH and NiCAD rechargeable batteries should help you save money in the long run. And always remember even if the batteries you have in your camera are fully charged, to have a back-up set with you, because it’s Murphy’s Law that when you want to take a certain photo…your batteries will be dead!
Vivitar DVR 510N
Gift Guide Pick
With quite a few of these tiny recorders on the market there are a few things that makes the Vivtar DVR 510N stand out from the crowd. One of them is that it can capture images in the darkest of places with it’s Infrared Night Vision ability. This feature detects the light level automatically, so if you aren’t wanting a black & white video, make sure you have sufficient light where you’re
recording, as it will continue to shoot in that mode until you stop recording your segment.
We popped this video recorder into our tiny carry bags on a two-day girls only trip to the Mall of America, and it recorded the fun we had. It was great to have it with us, especially because we didn’t need a lot of room to tote it around. For the size and price* the quality of the picture is decent. Again, it’s the extras that are included that stand out.
In addition to the Infrared Night Vision, it also comes with a waterproof housing case that allows you to record underwater. The perfect companion to catch the lazy days at the beach, or those exquisite fish that you are snorkeling with, or the tumble down the ski hill into the mound of snow at the bottom!
It also has the ability to take digital still pictures, so you don’t need to have an extra camera along with you. The Vivitar DVR 510N does double duty.
If you need one more reason to consider this camera, it can also be plugged-in to function as a web-cam.
If the 2GB onboard storage isn’t enough for you, it also has an SD Card Reader slot, to expand so that you can take even more video or pictures. The 8x digital zoom and the 1.8” TFT preview screen, allow you to get shots as far away as 4 stories above you (yes, that’s what I used it for to capture my daughter climbing the Ghostly Gang Plank in the Nickelodeon Park in the MOA 4 stories up!).
Here you can see some of the zooming in I did – the shakiness is due to the fact that I was almost bent over to get it filmed – 4 stories up is pretty high, when you’re on the ground! Also I think it did a fairly good job picking up my voice considering all the noise that the Park was creating around us.
Keep in mind this is a camera to take with you to capture those moments when you wish you ‘had a camera with you’. You know to keep in your bag for those unexpected moments. When I used it, it was for short clips here and there, a few minutes each. If you use it for hours on end, you will find that you will have to replace the batteries often.
*The Vivitar 510N is available for purchase at Target for a retail price of $49.99.
XShot Camera Extender Giveaway
Gift Guide Pick
If you are the photographer, YOU ARE SELDOM IN THE PICTURE.
The XShot camera extender
extends over 3 feet, you can have up to 10 people in the picture! The XShot closes to 9 inches for easy transport. Durable metal and only weighs 5 ounces!
The XShot is also great for making films and video diaries. Since the camera is pointing at you, you are always in the frame. It’s like having your own personal camera man.
It’s great for travelers, families and anyone that loves to take pictures and not be left out of the pictures anymore. Extend, Aim, and Smile.
Such a simple and brilliant idea!
- You may not always want to trust a stranger with your brand new camera
- There isn’t anyone around to take a picture of you on top of the mountain…
- There is no time or space to set up a tripod
- You want to take easy pictures and videos on the go, to post on your blog or social network.
Why choose the XShot?
- The XShot is very high quality product with a unique durable metal shaft and high quality components including a very easy to use camera adapter.
- Aiming from 3 feet away is like having someone else take the picture and allows you to fit several people and a nice background.
- The camera extender with the best features: solid, extremely light, very compact when closed and telescopic up to 3 feet, with universal camera attachment and with a new support for heavier cameras and camcorders (maximum 570g).
- XShot allows you to reach high spots in crowds and concerts, take photos from fun angles and in places difficult to reach, and even make 3D videos…
- Makes it easy and fun to take pictures and videos for blogging and sharing on social networks
- So small it fits in any purse, bag, or back pocket.
- Lots of fun, very easy to use, no more close-up mug shots!
Now iPhone users can easily include themselves in their pictures and videos, using the XShot or any tripod with the new XShot iPhone case.
XShot will be releasing a case for the iPhone 4 in time for Christmas as well.
The XShot and XShot iPhone case are very affordable; they both sell for $29.95 and are available online at http://www.xshot.com/ for hassle free shopping.
I highly recommend this product, so that you can get group shots and be in them, at all your holiday gatherings!
XShot is giving one of my readers their own XShot to keep!
To enter the giveaway visit XShot’s Media Buzz page and let me know where they’ve been featured! You can enter daily
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About Me
We're a family passionate about entertainment and gadgets, and want to share our thoughts about what we watch and play with you!
