Aldi Digital camera ?

[iadom]

Just spotted this in our local ALDI. Any views..pro's/con's

It is supplied with an SD.128MB card, will this camera take Compact Flash as well ?

[paulyoung666]

any idea what make it is ???????? , maybe we could find out some reviews for it

[Chris W]

personally i would always go for something like a digital camera with a reliable brand name, eg sony, fujitsu, etc. this way if things go wrong you know that you will actually be able to get hold of the manufacturer and any guarantee you get will be worth the paper it is written on.

It does look cheap for the money, which because of my cynical nature, makes me wonder what is wrong with it!

oh and btw... what is ALDI?? is it just a regonal department store or something??

[trebor]

try this
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/forum/2221

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

personally i would always go for something like a digital camera with a reliable brand name, eg sony, fujitsu, etc. this way if things go wrong you know that you will actually be able to get hold of the manufacturer and any guarantee you get will be worth the paper it is written on.

It does look cheap for the money, which because of my cynical nature, makes me wonder what is wrong with it!

oh and btw... what is ALDI?? is it just a regonal department store or something??

In principle, I agree, however, as you say, feature wise this is a very cheap camera and it may be worth a look.

Aldi are a German based 'no frills' supermarket chain, like Lidl or Netto. They run a weekly 'special offer' promo for all kinds of stuff, bikes, tools, tv's, computers - and obviously cameras.

The computer stuff is usually badged Tevion or Medion & also represents good value for money.

The only problem is they will not take credit cards - only Switch or Delta - or cash

[Bifta]

I personally wouldn't purchase a 5+ megapixel camera for that price, I wouldn't expect the lens or CCD to be of decent quality.

[Tezcatlipoca]

I got my PC from Aldi. Very well-built Medion PC, packed with features. Read several good reviews of it before I bought it.

But, unless I knew the make of this digital camera, & had read stuff about it, I would be very wary of buying it. As MB & Bifta said, it seems almost too cheap for its apparent features, & may not be particularly good quality.

I'd recommend Canon for digital cameras. Their Powershot range is very good. You can get a 4MP Powershot A80 for under £250. The 3MP A70 is even cheaper.


EDIT:

Originally Posted by iadom

It is supplied with an SD.128MB card, will this camera take Compact Flash as well ?

Where does it say its specifically SD?

The Aldi site just says its a "128MB memory card"

Originally Posted by trebor

try this
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/forum/2221

Good find

I saw some posts there saying they think it is good, but others saying they are having various problems with it.

Would be worth reading through the whole thread there I think.

I just d'loaded the manual from

http://www.traveler-service.de/english/download.htm

- says it is SD memory.

- the lithium ion power pack may be proprietry to the camera, worth checking, as they can be expensive to replace.

[iadom]

Thanks for all the replies folks.

I have had my trusty Pentax ME110 35mm SLR for over 20 years and the pictures are still brilliant, I have not yet ventured into digital because of this, but think it is about time I did for the convience if nothing else.
It states that the memory card is 128 MB SD, on the handout from Aldi, does that mean it would not take Compact Flash as well.

I am tempted to go down the Canon route but this did seem good value, bearing in mind the favourable comments a few weeks ago with regard to the PC's from ALDI.

Gaz, the handout from Aldi shows a picture of the power packs and it does say "traveler" on the back of them.

Originally Posted by iadom

Thanks for all the replies folks.

I have had my trusty Pentax ME110 35mm SLR for over 20 years and the pictures are still brilliant, I have not yet ventured into digital because of this, but think it is about time I did for the convience if nothing else.
It states that the memory card is 128 MB SD, on the handout from Aldi, does that mean it would not take Compact Flash as well.

I am tempted to go down the Canon route but this did seem good value, bearing in mind the favourable comments a few weeks ago with regard to the PC's from ALDI.

Gaz, the handout from Aldi shows a picture of the power packs and it does say "traveler" on the back of them.

Hi Jim

The trouble with these kind of things is not knowing whether the unit supplied, although 'badged', is just a generic one that can be replaced 'off the shelf', or a true proprietry one that can only be replaced by the manufacturer. Thing is, until you can get your hands on one, it's not easy to tell. Anyway this link gives some idea of the life you can expect

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

- and afaik, you can't interchange compact flash & SD memory cards

[iadom]

Just ploughing through the forum link that Trebor posted, Thanks for that BTW Trebor . It seems this camera is sold under several different names, Vivitar 3900, and by Jessops as a Centon DC5 to name but 2 of at least 6 . Other makes of batteries are available however I may still plump for a more upmarket Canon or Pentax, having said that £179.99 is not bad for the spec, just wish I could find out who made the lenses.

Edit, just done a quick Google and Jessops are selling the Centon DC5 for £199
http://www.jessops.com/search/viewpr...9-dea4cc2ca37f

[Tezcatlipoca]

Just looked for it at the Vivitar site: I think this is it - http://www.vivitar.com/Products/DigC...dsc.html#V3930



If you do plump for a Canon etc instead.....

Canon Powershot A80 (4MP digicam): £225.99 at Amazon.co.uk

Canon Powershot S50 (5MP, plus more featured than the "A" range): £259.99 at Amazon.co.uk

The high-end (& higher priced) G5 is also v good.

Canon also do some great digital SLRs, although they are a lot more money obviously.

Canon digicams use Compact Flash, too, rather than SD or one of the other lesser formats.

Originally Posted by iadom

Just ploughing through the forum link that Trebor posted, Thanks for that BTW Trebor . It seems this camera is sold under several different names, Vivitar 3900, and by Jessops as a Centon DC5 to name but 2 of at least 6 . Other makes of batteries are available however I may still plump for a more upmarket Canon or Pentax, having said that £179.99 is not bad for the spec, just wish I could find out who made the lenses.

Edit, just done a quick Google and Jessops are selling the Centon DC5 for £199
http://www.jessops.com/search/viewpr...9-dea4cc2ca37f

I looked at that Jessops link and it confirmed that the Aldi deal is very competive, especially as the Jessops one only included a 32MB memory card & quoted £39.99 for a 128MB one.

Battery wasn't as bad as I thought, but £23.99 is bad enough.

I think, on balance, especially as you are used to a decent SLR, I would say the Aldi camera is great for a first digital camera, but if lens & CCD quality is important, then go for a Canon etc. You'll also have more options for memory cards & batteries, then - standalone NiMH & Compact Flash, for example, rather than a battery 'pack' & SD memory.

So far the only advantage I can see with SD memory is the write protect feature.

however it's worth mentioning that the multicard reader for £9.99 in the same Aldi promo would solve those problems - good price for usb, let alone usb2.

http://www.aldi-stores.co.uk/specials_01_11/2.html



<edit> to again look up and see someone, Tez this time , beat me to it

/Must type faster

[iadom]

Thanks for all the imput guys, guess the japanese will be getting my money again.

[Bifta]

If you can avoid it, shop somewhere other than Jessops, don't get me wrong, I always get my camera's from them and they've been great, but as they have to fund their premises etc their prices are generally a fair whack higher than most places online. Amazon are normally a lot cheaper (for example)