Nikon D7000 has entered the market as a huge competition for the Olympus E5, Canon EOS 60D and 7D and Pentax K-7. The camera has a rigid shape and is packed with 16.2 mega pixels digital leviathan. The digital SLR has extended its mid-range appeal through its magnesium alloy body, which is dust sealed and moisture resistant. The camera features twin media card slots; hence there would be lesser chances of ‘weekend warriors’ for those who get caught due to shortage of storage.

Nikon D7000 is available for less than £1,000 (without any lenses) and is the only option for Canon. However, remember that it isn’t an impulse purchase and will be viewed enviously by those who are outgrowing from their beginner’s dSLR and want to trade upwards. Also, if you have a limited budget and planning to buy Nikon D7000, then we would suggest spending £250 extra and purchasing a kit that includes an 18mm to 105mm zoom that is equipped with Vibration Reduction (VR).

Nikon D7000 boosts a 16.2 million pixels effective resolution, which is derived from a Nikon DX format CMOS sensor. The photo quality of this dSLR is first rate, and in spite of the increase in resolution it stands up proudly against most of its competitors. You can clean up the JPEG photos of the dSLR through only ISO 800, while they remain good via ISO 1,600. If you use ISO 3,200, the shadow details in the photograph get pretty noisy.

Nikon D7000 provides solid and consistent exposure and metering. The dSLR reproduces proper colors and pushes saturation in its default Standard Picture Control; however it doesn’t show the wholesale color shifts that are seen in lower-end models. On the other hand, the Neutral setting drives the contrast to such a point that the shadow detail is lost.

Nikon D7000 is an excellent performance in its segment. It is provided with a great viewfinder. It can control locations and operations that are streamlined over its predecessors. It is shipped with double SDXC compatible card slots. The latest Nikon D7000 doesn’t have a 1080/30p video record option. Nikon D7000 is an excellent dSLR especially for Nikon professionals and experienced shooters who are looking for comparatively cheap options. The camera delivers on most of the counts, which includes best shooting design by the company.

The Exilim EX-TR100 measures 15 mm wide and boasts a 3 in touch-sensitive display screen. The camera only has two physical buttons in the form of shutter and power buttons.

The body of the camera sits with the metal external surface of the camera which can easily be flipped externally and can also be rotated in a complete circle. This doesn’t only mean that you will be able to use the camera in almost uncountable positioned, but at the same time it means that the metal frame of the camera will be used as a grip for reducing the blurring in the shots when shooting form hand. The metal frame of the camera was also pretty effective in achieving shake-free video clips. The Exilim EX-TR100 has capacity to record HD video at 1080 p resolution, in addition to the 12-MP still shots.

There also is an alternative of shooting at a lot low resolution, but with a significantly increased frame rate of around 240-fps (frames per second). When you replay that at normal speeds you will get a slow motion effect, and hence it’s pretty decent for action shooting.

Unluckily, you will not be able to go too close to the action, considering the fact that design has its own problems. The Exilim EX-TR100 doesn’t have any optical zoom, and only has a digital zoom which demeans the quality of the picture, and hence the lens of the camera is fixed at the corresponding of a 21 mm wide-angle in previous 35 mm film terms. Now that is pretty handy for landscapes but at the same time lends closer portraits a slightly distorted ‘fish-eye’ consequence. The chances of you covering the lens with your finger are also pretty great during moving the screen of the camera.

The Exilim EX-TR100 comes with a camcorder-style LED spotlight rather than a flash, which needs to be activated manual with the help of the touchscreen menu. One problem here is that once you turn it on, it remains on, and that drains the battery faster than normal. The camera only delivered 200 shots from a complete charge, which according to us is a tad disappointing. But the good thing here is that the bright lens here means that there’s no need for flash in the darker conditions because the lens automatically allows a lot more light than the lens on the other camera.

Finally we’d say that the picture quality from the Casio Exilim EX-TR100 wasn’t significantly better than the picture quality that we found on the other cameras or for that matter even wasn’t comparable with a respectable smartphone, with purple fringing pretty apparent. In simple terms the Casio Exilim EX-TR100 is a style-over-substance camera.

Well, it seems as if Panasonic heard all those peevishness as well or may be this was always their primary plan. Whatever would have been the case, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 Micro 4 Thirds-based camera is the heir to GF1, which technically GF2 should be. Also it brings back the improved design for the camera with enhanced shooting design; most importantly it brings back the physical mode dial, which was omitted with the Panasonic GF2. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 in fact is a tad bigger than the current model, and is deeper and longer, but its depth could be attributed to the comparatively bigger grip. In addition to all that the Lumix DMC-GX1 sees significant enhancement in photo quality and performance as oppose to its precursor.

Design and Controls:

We actually liked the overall design of Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1, but we still have our own set of issues with it. The Lumix DMC-GX1 is a tad bigger than all the other cameras of its league, but then none of its rivals actually are adequately small with a lens attached for considering it smaller than others. The camera clearly has a respectably-sized thumb rest and grip, which makes holding the camera comfortable and also allows single-handed shooting and at the same time feels well built.

The Lumix DMC-GX1 has a flash pretty much like what we saw in GF3, and you could even hold that tilted slightly back for allowing the light to bounce, it’s a nice move. In addition to this the hot shoe of the camera also functions as a position for an elective electronic viewfinder. Apart from this the rest of the control layout for the camera is pretty normal. The mode dial for the camera comprises the normal set of PASM modes, and in addition there also are 2 slots for 4 custom setting groups, sight modes, and rather uninspiring Creative Control individual-effects modes of Panasonic. The Lumix DMC-GX1 also boasts an iA intelligent automatic override switch for rapidly entering and exiting the automatic mode, a Panasonic-explicit execution we like, and a video record switch.

Specifications:

• Price (MSRP): $949.99
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 4.6 inches x 2.7 inches x 1.6 inches
• Weight (with media and battery): 9.6 ounces
• Megapixel: 16 megapixel
• Storage media: SDHC Memory Card , SDXC Memory Card , SD Memory Card , SDHC UHS-I Memory Card and SDXC UHS-I Memory Card
• White balance: Automatic, Custom and Presets
• Exposure Modes: Program , Shutter-priority , Bulb , Manual and Aperture-priority
• Shooting Programs: Sports mode, Sunset, Flower, Night portrait, Architecture, Party/indoor, Illumination snap, baby1, baby2, Soft skin, Night scene, Food, Peripheral defocus, Pet, Scenery and Portrait mode

• Special Effects: Miniature, High Dynamic, Expressive, Low Key, High Key, Sepia, Toy camera and Retro
• Image Stabilizer: Optical (POWER O.I.S.
• Flash Modes: Fill-in mode, Rear curtain sync, Auto mode, Slow synchro, Red-eye reduction and Flash OFF mode
• Additional Features: Display brightness control, Digital image revolution, Scene Detection Technology, 1080i Total HD movie recording, Audio recording, In-camera red-eye remotion, Intelligent Resolution Technology, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Resizing a picture, AF/AE tracking, Subject Detection technology, Cropping an image, Intelligent D-range Control, Face Recognition, Exif Print back up, Date/time stamp, Regular Live View, Intelligent Auto Plus (iA+), Face detection, DPOF support, Inbuilt speaker, RGB primary color filter, Multi-picture bust, Motion Detection Technology, Digital noise reduction, Digital level meter, Touch screen control, Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording, Histogram display, Shade adjustment, Intelligent Scene Selector, Automatic display brightness alteration, Camera orientation finding, Highlight point display, PictBridge support, In-camera movie editing, USB 2.0 compatibility, Takes photos while movie recording, Touch AF, Light Speed AF and Direct print
• Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows ME, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP, Apple Mac OS X 9.0 or later or Microsoft Windows 7
• Peripheral Devices: USB port and CD-ROM drive
• Included Accessories: Lens cap, Dust cap, Shoulder strap and Body cap
• Supported Battery: 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery – 1010 mAh

Performance:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 certainly delivers the best photo quality from Panasonic till date, but still the JPEG processing for the images remains to be seen, and even the noise profile of the images could match the NEX-5N. The JPEG images can be shot up to ISO 400 in decent lightening conditions without any significant degradation in details. That said, even the images shot at ISO 200 have some extent of softness, and even at their lowest sensitivity of about ISO 160, you still could see a bit of noise in darker regions. But the raw mode appears pretty decent even at ISO 800.

The video shot from the DMC-GX1 also came pretty clear, and the 1080/30p MP4 option for the camera we think is pretty ice option to interlaced AVCHD (though we were shocked for not including the AVCHD 2.0. The videos were pleasingly sharp and nicely saturated.

Verdict:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 is a nicely designed camera with a user interface, which we think will excite the innovative photographers.

Unlike the normal offering of TV and Smartphone, the latest offering from Samsung is a 12.1 MP camera sensor module. The recently unveiled 12.1-megapixel sensor from Sharp is expected to be used in company’s impending handsets. According to Sharp the new module is slimmest in the business, measuring 5.47 mm high and around lesser than one inch deeper.

The all new RJ63YC100 camera sensor from Sharp will also be capable of shooting complete-HD (1080 pixel) video and will also support technology of lens-shift for the stabilization of image.

The new 12.1 megapixel sensors are supposed to sell for around 12,000 yen which comes to about $ 154. We haven’t heard anything on whether Sharp has got a buyer for the lens or not, but it’s pretty sure that we will be seeing these sensors in near future.

Almost every major camera manufacturer has one tough camera in their lineup and Fujifilm has two. The Fujifilm FinePix XP20 that we are reviewing today is one of them, with the Fujifilm FinePix XP30 being the other. These rugged cameras not only are waterproof, but also are dustproof, shockproof, freezeproof and up to some extent they even are crushproof. The only major difference between the XP20 and XP30 is the GPS receiver, which is present in XP30, and absent in XP20. But apart from that both the cameras have been tested to withstand depth of 16 feet underwater for around 2 hrs; temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit and drop from 4.9 ft.

The best thing about these rugged cameras is that all that protection for your camera comes pretty cheap, while in general you don’t get rugged cameras inexpensively. Though, the low price here has called some trade-offs and here it comes in the form of drop in shooting performance and photo quality. So, if you only have Fujifilm FinePix XP20, then you better keep looking for a better camera. But the low price of the camera could be acceptable for some, depending upon the requirement.

Design and Controls:

There’s no denying the fact that one of the reasons why anyone would consider the Fujifilm FinePix XP20, it’s the tough build quality of the camera. But the good thing here is that despite all the heavy protection that the camera brings, it is nice, small and good-looking. The controls on the FinePix XP20 are also a tad simpler with shutter release, power and zoom toggle positioned on the top; a directional navigation pad having an OK/menu button, playback, and movie record and display buttons placed on the rear end of the camera. All the setting changes and shooting mode changes are being done using the menu button and this makes them simpler to find and simple to operate.

The camera is being designed to withstand some abuse, just like any other rugged camera, however, there are certain things that you need to keep in mind, to make the camera operational and running. That said we were impressed with the small latch which protects the SD card slot, Micro-USB port and battery. The door is small and tough to figure out whether it’s properly locked or not and hence check it twice before using the camera.

Specifications:

• Price (MSRP): $179.95
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 3.9 inches x 2.7 inches x 0.9 inches
• Weight (with media and battery): 5.7 ounces
• Megapixel: 14 megapixel
• Storage media: SD/SDXC/SDHC
• White balance: Fine, Auto, Fluorescent (Daylight), Shade, Fluorescent (Cool White), Fluorescent (Warm White) and Incandescent
• LCD size: 2.7 -inch LCD, 230K dots/None
• Lens (zoom, focal length, aperture): 5x, 28-140mm (35mm equivalent), f3.9-4.9
• File format (video/still): Motion JPEG (.AVI)/JPEG
• Focus modes: Center AF and Tracking AF
• Image stabilization type: digital and Mechanical
• Battery type: Li ion rechargeable, 200 shots
• Battery charged in camera: No; wall charger supplied
• Bundled software: FinePix Viewer (Windows, Mac)
• Recording modes: Program, Auto, Natural Light having Flash, SR Auto, Portrait, Natural Light, Sport, Landscape, Night (Tripod), Night, Snow, Sunset, Under water, Beach, Under water (Macro), Under water (Wide), Flower, Party, Portrait enhancer, Text and Motion panorama
• Color effects: Standard, Black & White, Chrome (vivid) and Sepia

Performance:

The photo quality from Fujifilm FinePix XP20 was simply okay, but that’s what’s we were expecting form the camera considering its tough construction and rocky construction. The photos are decent when you use the camera outside or in decent lighting. The photos from FinePix XP20 are sufficient for 4 x 6-in or smaller prints and Web use. The main problem with the photos here is noise. The noise isn’t all that apparent at and under ISO 200, but it becomes clear once you look the images in full size. But go above that sensitivity and you’ll be having apparent colour shifting, noise and smeary and soft details. This means that using the camera in dim light or indoors will not get you all that great photos.

As far as video quality is concerned, it was on par with entry level HD pocket video camcorder; which is sufficient enough for web usage. There will be juddering in the video is you pan the camera, but that’s the case with most of the compact cameras. So even the videos shot from the XP20 can be used under very basic conditions, and can not be used anywhere except for web usage and similar basic usages.

Verdict:

Finally we’d say that the Fujifilm FinePix XP20 is a respectable point-and-shoot camera, but if you are interested in serious photography then we won’t be recommending it to you. The shooting performance and photo quality from the camera aren’t sufficient. Though, in case you need a secondary camera when you are on rough outdoors and needs a camera that could withstand some water, cold and dust or even some shock then the Fujifilm FinePix XP20 is decent choice.

The Canon PowerShot Elph 510 HS is an update to Canon’s SD4500 IS, and boosts the resolution for the rear-end illuminated CMOS sensor to 12 MP; brings 3.2 in high-resolution LCD touchscreen instead of the previous 3 in LCD; gets a 28 mm wide-angle lens having 12x zoom instead of a 10x zoom; and also brings plethora of other shooting lineaments. But the best thing here is that all this comes in a body which is less than an inch thick.

The PowerShot Elph 510 HS brings everything that your smartphone camera doesn’t and the best thing is that all that comes in a very small body. So, we’d say that the PowerShot Elph 510 HS is a splendid little camera.

Design and Controls:

The overall build of the Canon PowerShot Elph 510 HS is pretty decent enclosing a huge and broad lens in a small body. We liked the overall appearance of the camera, but at the same time we’d like to tell that the frontage of the camera doesn’t offer any grip and at the same time collects a lot of fingerprints. The rear end of the camera houses a high-resolution bright 3.2-in touchscreen LCD display screen, and hence there only are a small number of bodily controls available on the phone including the likes of: play, power and shutter release; there also is a zoom ring surrounding the shutter release switch; and one button for shooting mode selection. Everything else has been handheld with a small interface.

The display screen here is rather responsive and could easily be calibrated according to your finger, but the user interface on its own could be tad annoying at times for navigating. Canon doesn’t include the alternative for customizing and rearranging the outline of the primary shooting screen and hence if you want quick access to white balance or ISO, you will have to put these icons on the home screen of the camera. One of the finest uses for a touchscreen is to focus on particular subjects only by tapping them, which you get in this Canon. You could also tap for shoot and focus.

The touchscreen for the camera can be used for flicking through or moving between images, to select photos for marking as favorites or deleting, enlarging a segment of a photo only by tapping on the portion that you want to watch more nearly and starting a slideshow.

If you want to link your camera to a HDTV, computer or any other monitor there are Mini-HDMI and Mini-USB ports given on the right side of the body. The memory card and battery compartments have been given on the base of the device under a non-locking sliding door. The battery can not be charged in camera and because of the touchscreen the battery doesn’t last all that long and hence you’ll find yourself accessing the battery compartment quite often.

Specifications:

• Price (MSRP): $349.99
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 3.9 inches x 2.3 inches x 0.9 inches
• Weight (with media and battery): 7.3 ounces
• Megapixel: 12 megapixel
• Storage media: SDHC/SD/SDXC; Eye-Fi wireless SD card support
• White balance: Daylight, Auto, Tungsten, Cloudy, Fluorescent H, Fluorescent and Custom
• Image sensor size and type: 1/2.3-in backside-illuminated CMOS
• LCD size: 3.2-inch touch-screen LCD
• Resolution/viewfinder: 460K dots/None
• Lens (zoom, focal length, aperture): 12x, 28-336mm (35mm equivalent) and f3.4-5.9
• File format (video/still): H.264 AAC (.MP4)/JPEG
• Focus modes: Center AF, Face Detection AF, Touch AF and Tracking AF
• Image stabilization type: Digital and Optical
• Battery type: Li ion rechargeable
• Battery charged in camera: No; wall charger supplied
• Bundled software: ImageBrowser 6.8/PhotoStitch 3.2 (Mac); ZoomBrowser EX 6.8/PhotoStitch 3.1 (Windows)
• Color effects: Sepia, Vivid, Neutral, Positive Film, Black & White, Darker Skin, Lighter Skin, Vivid Green, Vivid Blue, Custom Color (adjustment of sharpness, contrast, red, saturation, blue, green and skin tone are available) and Vivid Red

Performance:

The overall photo quality of Canon PowerShot Elph 510 HS is incredible for its class. The images does become a tad noisy and soft above ISO 200, but that’s the case for almost every point-and-shoot camera, but the good thing here is that even the ISO 400 and ISO 800 are pretty usable. Just as all the other “HS” we’ve tested this year, the noise and noise reduction is rather balanced and you’ll still get plenty of nice colour and details up to ISO 800. The Colours from the camera impregnates at ISO 1600 and ISO 3200, and the subject starts looking soft and diminished. Although, the pictures taken here aren’t ideal for using full sizes or doing a lot of cropping and editing, but the good thing here is that they are sufficient for Web and printing at small sizes. So the still picture performance of the camera is pretty good.

The video quality for the camera was also pretty good for a HD pocket video camera: sufficient enough for web usage and non-discriminating TV viewing. The complete HD video records at 24 frames-per-second and although panning the camera creates shudder, there still is noticeable trailing on stirring subjects, the video shot from the camera is decent enough to watch.

Verdict:

Finally we’d say that the Canon PowerShot Elph 510 HS is a perfect balance between features, photo quality, design and video quality, but when it comes to shooting performance the camera goes a bit off target.

The Compact System Camera or the “CSC” market is the latest and the fastest booming market in the digital camera world and almost every manufacturer has made their presence felt with their camera. The latest and probably the latest entrant in that market is Nikon. But before we move any further it’s important to let you now what exactly a CSC camera is. Basically CSC camera is no exceptional camera; it’s just a regular compact camera with the lens swapping ability like digital SLR cameras. We’ve already seen such cameras from Panasonic, Olympus, Samsung, Pentax and Sony and now we have the Nikon V1.

The recently launched Nikon V1 that we’re reviewing here basically is company’s flagship model in the new CSC market, this is the reason why Nikon has christened ‘1’, this also includes Nikons recently launched budget J1 model. While the J1 is aimed primarily at the budget consumers, the expensive V1 targets the photo fanatics with its almost utilitarian looks. The V1 could be had in lusterless black or immensely shiny white body colors.

The closest rivals for the Nikon V1 is the Sony’s new-fangled NEX-7, which just as the V1 is the only compact system camera having an en suite EVF (electronic viewfinder) on top of the standard backplate LCD. According to Nikon, the V1 at present is the smallest interchangeable lens camera of the world to have an EVF that offers incredibly high 1440 k-dot resolution here.

But the small size of the camera has its own restrictions and the biggest here being the smallish image sensor. Let’s have a closer look of the camera and find out what the Nikon V1 has in store for us.

Design and Controls:

To everyone’s surprise, the Nikon V1 felt rather strong in hand, courtesy of its magnesium alloy rear and front paneling, which is the same material that is being used for manufacturing semi pro dSLRs. So as far as the build quality is concerned the V1 is the closes rival of Olympus E-P3 Pen, which also had a rugged build and felt pretty much like a ‘toughened’ model.

Having said that, the lustrous white finish of our review unit, increases the public visibility of the camera and at the same time made it rather slippery and tough to use with ease. There is a very small and thin bump on the frontage of the camera to put your fingers, while for the thumb there is a rubberized pad on the rear end of the camera.

The Nikon V1 boasts multi accessory port like Panasonic and Olympus CSC models, and here it is positioned on the left side of the EVF, when you are viewing the camera from rear side, and allows you to expand the set up of the camera. You could easily accommodate GPS unit and external microphone. It should be noted that unlike the Nikon J1 the Nikon V1 doesn’t slot in a flash also, which means this easily will be your first extra purchase.

In addition to this, the rest of the operational controls for the camera are rather simple and straightforward: the most important of the top plate controls is the shutter release, sandwiched between video record and separate off/on buttons. Positioned at the rear end is the shooting mode dial which only has 4 settings: still image, movie, Motion Snapshot and Smart Photo Selector.

Some other controls at the rear end of the camera are the pretty conventional set of buttons including the likes of display, playback, delete and menu buttons, having scroll wheel and a multi-directional command pad to change and select options.

Screen:

The Nikon V1 boasts a rather standard 3-in display screen having aspect ratio of 4:3, but the good thing here is that with its pretty pragmatic resolution of 920 k pixels  the screen here matches the competitors; in fact that actually is twice most of the rivals have. The display here is LCD as oppose to the convincing, OLED high contrast screens that we saw in Samsung NX200 and Olympus E-P3, but the good thing here is that the screen is apparently clear and there isn’t any impression of the screen being second best humanly.

The menu layout here appears surprisingly basic in terms of design for a dedicated model, but still we didn’t found ourselves hunting for the options that we want to use. As a matter of fact the options here kept on increasing or decreasing according the shooting mode that we selected. Though, a Quick Menu one-touch option, that we’ve seen in Panasonic Lumix opponents, whereby the significant settings like the ISO light sensitivity and picture quality are being coupled together in a toolbar to view at a glance.

Performance:

As far as performance is concerned, we’d say that the Nikon V1 was pretty much a point and shoot camera with not 1 but 2 focus systems and having intrinsic capability to cut ‘n’ vary among a 73-point phase finding AF system in case of an moving object or glossy surfaced, or a contrast detect 135-point AF system in case of poor lightening conditions or when the object isn’t moving. Obviously, with most of the consumer dSLR cameras offering “average” 9-point AF systems, the Nikon was successful in attaining the most number of AF points with their Nikon V1.

The overall performance of the Nikon V1 was pretty satisfactory, be it video or still photography.

Battery:

The Nikon V1 is powered by a thick EN-EL15 7.0v battery, which has been fitted into the base of the camera alongside the slot for optional SDHC, SDXC or SD card, depending on the capacity that you are aiming at. According to Nikon the V1 has battery life of decent 400 shots at max or 2 hrs of constant HD recording; so even the battery life here is pretty impressive.

Verdict:

With its rugged build quality, incorporation of some high end features, impressive performance and decent battery life, we think that the Nikon V1 is a decent CSC from Nikon and will fulfill the expectations of the photography fanatics.

We always wanted a camera that will turn heads and will make your hear run faster. The all new Fujifilm X10 from Fujifilm is a brand new compact customer oriented 12 MP cameras, and it is the successor of Fuji’s nicely-accepted Fujifilm X100, which was affordable, but not attractively designed variant of the Leica X1. Now, the X10 might be less priced that its precursor, but the good thing here is that there hasn’t been any compromised done here. The X10 gives a rock-solid feel in hand and the retro styling of the camera, which makes it look like a classic 35 millimeter film camera is an utter old flame. So, in simple terms you can call the Fujifilm X10, the X100 Jr.

While, the size of the X10 is pretty much like the compact cameras on which you can easily change the lens, the brilliant f/2.0 utmost aperture lens of the X10 cannot be changed. As an alternative of the set focal length of the Fujifilm X100, though, the company here is broadening the forward with a still diffident 4 x optical zoom, corresponding to 28 -112mm that we saw on a 35 millimeter film camera, so broader tan the accurate 35 mm equivalent lens of the X100. The lens here has been stabilized for lessening the blurring and counterbalancing the hand shake.

But the Fujifilm X10 is not at all about the size of zoom, and neither is it about the size of the sensor. A better sensor equalizes improved light gathering, equalizes enhanced images.

The sensor of X10 @ 2/3-in is almost double the size of the chip that we saw in the heart of its first-rate compacts, for example the F600 EXR, though lesser than the X100’s DSLR-sized sensor. So all in all, we have a camera in our hand that has incredible potential than the average compact camera.

Design:

As far as the design and control layout is concerned, we’d say that the Fujifilm X10’s controls are pretty much the same, but offers a bit different proportions. Once again the inspiration has been taken from the photo junkie’s favorite make Leica have a rangefinder-like collection of peak plate dials. The X10 doesn’t have a committed dial for adjusting the shutter speed for the camera, but the good thing here is that there is different 5 cent sized dial for shooting mode, which has been fitted with 11 options which will be a lot more familiar to snapshot users.

The shooting mode ranges from shutter priority, program, and manual and aperture priority to EXR picture mode of Fujifilm. The EXR mode is a feature from the compact cameras like the F600 and exclusively lets the sensor to be employed in 3 different ways, with a wide assortment of High Dynamic Range, High Resolution or high sensitivity and low noise settings. On the other hand, there also is a default automatic EXR setting in case you can’t decide which of three modes are ideal suited for the condition.

Screen:

The display screen of the Fujifilm X10 is one of the biggest highlights for the camera and will surely please the fanatics. The optical viewfinder of the camera is also pretty impressive with its bright and pleasing display, and it won’t let you totally depend on the LCD screen. The 2.8 inch display of Fujifilm X10 boasts a 460k dot resolution.

Now, considering the fact that there is an alternative viewer, Fuji had the opportunity to load the rear screen with the type of information related to shooting, which the dSLR cameras use to give before the arrival of Live View, for example here a 49 zona measure matrix. Or you can even use the LCD for relaying the subject before the lens like any other compact will offer.

Performance:

It should be noted that the Fujifilm X10 might be a bit more approachable than the X100, but it also is a bit chunky and hence won’t easily get into your pocket, and is not even easy to grip. One strange thing here is that there isn’t any dedicated on and off switch.

In the absence of the on/off switch, the camera is being turned on by twisting the lens to the left. The lens has focal lens setting from 28 millimeter to 112 millimeter marked on its surround. The X10 certainly is a slow camera, when it comes to capturing subsequent shots, but the good thing here is that the camera got started in one second and was ready to shoot.

The images captured from the camera were decent in decent lightening conditions. So make sure that you don’t use the camera in places where the lightening is not proper. The X10 comes with the capability of capturing 10 frames per second for action figures and if you are using a Large File Size, then it could come down to 7s.

Battery:

The Fujifilm X10 is powered by a lithium ion NP-50 battery, which fits into the handgrip of the camera and has a pretty flattened profile. The battery of the camera is capable of capturing 150 mins for complete charging though the added mains adapter and supplied plug attachment. The battery here is capable of capturing around 270 shots before running out completely.

Verdict:

The Fujifilm X10 is the latest offering from Fuji and certainly its tough to understand why the company hasn’t gone for the full length and allowed permitted the lens swapping on this one as well, especially considering the fact and the build quality and feature set of the camera are pretty similar in the market. But we’ve heard the Fuji will be launching one such camera at the CES next year in January. Meanwhile, people who wanted the X100 but couldn’t get it because of its lofty price of £999, the Fujifilm X10 certainly is the way to go, and almost at a reasonable cost of £529. The camera might be a tad idiosyncratic and a tad picky for general market uptake, but we are pleased to see that Fuji is aiming high.

At first glance, the Canon Ixus 230 looks like any other high-class point and shoot compact digital camera from Canon. But with the wide-ranging manual features of the Ixus brand and the super-slick incredible results from photography very soon impressed us, and in no time we were a fan of this incredible offering from Canon.

Design and Controls:

The Canon Ixus 230 is a compact pocket-friendly  camera, and considering its size the the Ixus 230 brings in plethora of manual features, be it the on-trend lomo effectuates like Fish Eye and Toy Camera or be it the incredibly handy modes to capture dim-light scenes, every feature in the camera worked incredibly. The camera also has a firework mode, which also is pretty handy during night photography. But the inclusion of so many features in such a compact body has result in confusing navigation array to this extensive range of features.

If you want to adjust the setting properly you’ll have to go deep into the menus using the standard compact camera wheel of 5 buttons. There certainly are shortcuts fro some thinks that you will be using a lot on the camera, such as flash. The wheel control for 8x zoom positioned on the top floor of the camera is incredibly impressive and even the Auto mode perfectly picks the most suitable settings for you.

Screen:

The Canon Ixus 230 has a 3-in display screen, which is rather crisp and bright. All the useful icons appear neatly on the screen during shooting and hence you could easily check your settings and once you are done with the shutter, the face detection feature of the camera does an incredible job. Holding down the shutter will bring the face detection and hence will result in incredible job of picture framing.

Speed:

The Canon Ixus 230 is one of the fastest cameras in the market, and there’s no delay between the time you switch on the camera and shooting. The automatic focus of the camera will automatically stabilize your images.

Battery:

The Canon Ixus 230 is powered by a Lithium-Ion Battery, with rated battery life of around 210 shots. The Ixus 230 easily can last for a complete day and night before running out of juice.

Verdict:

Priced over £200, the Canon Ixus 230 enters the high-end segment of modern compact camera markets and for its price; the camera actually offers a wide range of features to let you experiment with your shots. The camera clearly is a lot more than the normal handbag camera or for that matter even a point and shoot cam.

The camera on its own doesn’t look like any medium set-up digital cameras in the market. The newly launched C300 has been designed around a completely fresh fully-frame CMOS sensor, which is capable of catching 4K footage at enormously extravagantly bit rate. Canon actually is advertising the low-light potentialities of the camera, which we don’t think is anything special, considering their low-light enhancements that are seen in the newly fangled 1D X professional DSLR of the company.

Along with the new inclusion to the body, the camera also has a set of new-fangled lenses to accompany it: The CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L S, CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L S, CN-E85mm T1.3 L F, CN-E24mm T1.5 L F and CN-E50mm T1.3 L F. They’re extremely quick and are expected to be awfully expensive, just as any other cinema-specific lens.

Canon has also made an announcement that they are working on a lot more conventional dSLR as a carry out to the 5D Mark II, which will be having the potential to record 4K video also.

In general we don’t try our hands on movie cameras, but we certainly will love getting our hands around this thing. If not more, at least we’ll love to give the lens a spin because it functions nicely on the present EOS substance. The Canon C300 will start entering the market in the month of January in year 2012 and is expected to be priced at $20,000, which clearly is a lot of money.

We haven’t got any information on the amount for which the sale has been made, but Kodak did confirm that they have closed the deal. Kodak also assured that they are only selling the assets that won’t be affecting their potential to come up as a sustainable and profitable digital company. Kodak despite the sale will be having the right to use to the image sensor technology, which was also sold during the deal.

The image sensor technology that we are talking about here is used for manufacturing a wide range of high performing strong image sensor applications and devices, counting digital radiography, precision manufacturing inspection, traffic monitoring, earth imaging satellites, studio photography and DNA sequencing.

Kodak is targeting to generate around $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion cash by the end of the year.

The main issue the Lumix DMC-FZ100 was that the JPEG processing of Panasonic for the photos captured above ISO 200, which delivered soft smeary niceties and yellow mottle generated by noise. Now, it’s never nice to see that in a camera, but when a camera priced at $500 does that it becomes even worst. The brand new Lumix DMC-FZ150 comes with a new 12 MP MOS sensor (cut down from 14 MP), which according to Panasonic enhances the signal-to-noise ratio for the camera, and at the same time the all new noise reduction which more evenly suppressing the noise in light and dark regions of photos also. Finally we hope that it should be delivering better photos at better ISOs, and with very less noise. And, it’s nice to see that the Lumix DMC-FZ150 actually delivers pretty nice low-lights pictures.

Design and Build:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 is a nicely built camera with adequate hand grip that makes it easy to handle and use this 1.2-lbs camera. The hand grip of the camera houses a huge rechargeable battery with CIPA-rating of 410 shots and a memory card. The top floor of the camera houses the shutter zoom/release lever, along with Mode dial and power switch, there also is a record button, which here is one-touch and one button for rapidly setting a burst mode.

The rear end of the Lumix DMC-FZ150 hosts the comparatively smaller, but serviceable EVF (electronic viewfinder), which here is a flip-out, revolving 3-in LCD. Positioned on the left of the LCD screen are the major controls for the shooting and menu navigation. All these controls here are nicely placed and are rather comfortable in pressing, and at the same time there also is a job dial, which allows you to change details such as shutter speed, exposure compensation and aperture. Though, as the camera has boat load of features, there are chances of getting lost while finding a setting in the menu system of Panasonic. Nevertheless, the camera has been given a button that provides straight access to ISO and a programmable function button.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 offers a lot, and while the revolving the LCD screen is nice, there also is the hot shoe positioned on the top to add diverse flash units. Filters and conversions lenses for this are also available for it, and the remote/mic socket positioned on the left side of the camera lets you add all those accessories also. Panasonic even gives you a lens hood.

Specifications:

• Price (MSRP): $499.95
• Weight (with media and battery): 1.2 lbs
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 4.9 inches x 3.2 inches x 3.7 inches
• Megapixel: 12 megapixel
• Image sensor size and type: 1/2.3-inch MOS
• LCD size: 3-inch
• LCD resolution/viewfinder: 460K dots/electronic
• File format (still/video): JPEG, raw (.RW2)/ H.264 AAC (.MP4), AVCHD (.MTS)
• Image stabilization type: Digital and Optical
• Battery type: Li-ion rechargeable
• Battery Life: 410 shots
• Battery charged inside camera: No; wall adapter supplied
• Storage media: SD/SDXC/SDHC
• Bundled software: Silkypix Developer Studio 3.1 SE (Windows and Mac) and PhotofunStudio 6.5 BD Edition (Windows)
• Recording modes: Program, Intelligent Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Creative Video, Manual, Portrait, Creative Control, Sports, Scenery, Close-up, Night Portrait, Custom and Scene
• Color Effects: Expressive, Retro, High Key, Sepia, Monochrome, High Dynamic, Pin Hole, Film Grain, Custom
• White balance: Daylight, Auto, Shade, Cloudy, Color Temperature, Halogen, White Balance Adjustment and Custom (2)

Performance:

The performance for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 was the biggest disappointment for us and while there was some improvement in the low light performance of the camera, but there hasn’t been any significant change in the performance. Even the color performance for the images wasn’t all that great and the images did appear oversaturated.

Conclusion:

Finally, after evaluating each and every aspect of the camera we found that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 is one of the finest bridge cameras that you could get. While the photo quality here is better than its precursor, we found that there still is ample room for improvement and that’s what stops us from calling it an incredible camera. But the good thing here is that the camera comes with incredible feature set, delivers quick shooting performance and has plethora of features for improving its results, we’d positively recommend it.

Now, although we haven’t got any confirmation on it, but we did have spotted some leaked snaps displaying what seems to be the Panasonic GX1 Micro Four Thirds SLR camera. It’s worth mentioning that it will be entering the market above the GF2 as far as the pricing and performance of the camera is concerned.

The Panasonic Lumix GF2 already was an incredibly impressive handset, and took everyone by shocker with its MFT, when it displayed that stunning image quality and catchy looks can be blended flawlessly, and that too for a price way less than a professional SLR. Certainly though, the Panasonic Lumix GX1 still is a premium device, but the good think here is that it never felt overpriced, and that could be attributed to the Micro Four Thirds lens range of Panasonic, which was offered for it.

The Panasonic Lumix GX1 appeared rather well-matched not only with these lenses, but at the same time with the most advanced premium X-Series, which offered almost the same zoom potential, but for around half its size. All of this comes together for creating a neat and tidy package certainly.

We haven’t got any word on the specifications, as for now, but the word in the air has it that the camera will boast a touchscreen on its rear end. If that word is to be believed, the camera certainly will be having a lot easy and smooth navigation. The best thing above all is that, you don’t have to wait for the camera for a long time, as the camera is making its debut on 8th of November, 2011.

In the mean time do tell us what you think of the Panasonic Lumix GX1 Micro Four Thirds and whether you see it as the future or will rather favor good old SLR’s? Do tell us your thoughts on the camera in the comment box below.

Also, the Sony Alpha NEX-5N made the subjects look pretty clean even when I went as high as ISO 1600 but there were artifacts seen on peripheral areas. I am interested to see who the raw version looks when the codec is out. The noise profile of the camera and the pictures are quite similar to the C3 but the choices in program exposure mode are 1/3 darker. But the dynamic range was sufficient for recovering detail on the flash photos which were horribly blown out when I tested with the optional flash which was bundled in. Colors look good; they are accurate and aren’t over saturated. The details don’t look blown on the reds that are saturated.

I am hesitating to say that the photo quality is excellent because the sharpness could have been better. May be the manufacturer should have used better coating for improving the brightness and clarity. I shot some photos using 18-200mm lens and their performance was better.

The video on the Sony Alpha NEX-5N was looking good with saturated and bright colors. The sharp edges were relatively saturated and there no moiré or rolling shutter in the video mode of 60p. The busy scenes have some compression artifacts like water splashing in front of bushes or trees. This might affect the editing but things look fine when you see it on a large HDTV. The dynamic range and details are better as compared to the many camcorders from this manufacturer. In my tests, the autofocus was working quietly and quickly while shooting videos too.

Web has reported some stories saying that the Sony Alpha NEX-5N has overheating problems and they are complaining about some mysterious clicking noise. I did see some clicking but I could hear it only when the camera was close to my ear. Maybe the controls are a bit loose inside. But the controls are quite easy to hit when the camera is gripped in the right hand. Sony says that they have acknowledged this phenomenon but the manufacturer doesn’t know how many units affected with this problem. They don’t any plans of finding any cure for it either.

Regarding the overheating problem, I tested the Sony Alpha NEX-5N by shooting full possible clip length indoor in my offices (the maximum limit is 30 minutes) and when I stopped it, the camera was feeling a bit warm. I guess the camera will overheat conditions outside in the hotter conditions. It all depends on what you are planning to shoot.

The brand new camera offers a brand new amalgamation of resolution, image quality and speed and as per Canon it is the most advanced EOS that the company has ever manufactured.

The Canon EOS-1D X boasts a brand new sensor, fresh metering technology, a restyled autofocus (AF) system; and the new dual Digic 5+ processors of the camera have been developed for precision and speed.

The 18.1 MP full-frame sensor of the camera has also been developed with a sensitivity range from ISO 100-51200, and can easily be expanded to a stunning ISO 204,800. The brand new Digic 5 processors of the camera have also been designed to render 2 stop steps up in noise show.

The autofocus system here is a 61 point wide-area system, which again is new for a camera of this range and features 41 cross-type points, though the brand new AF presets of the camera have been designed for captured testing subjects.

The newly-fangled RGB metering system of the Canon EOS-1D X camera is also seen on board. The 100,000 PX RGB metering sensor of the camera is being associated with the AF system and gets power from its very own devoted Digic 4 processor, and let’s colour and face detection for precise enhanced AF tracking and exposure levels.

The Canon EOS-1D X will be the first camera powered by dual Digic 5+ processor, which according to Canon boosts the performance of the camera three times quicker than the conventional Digic 5 processors. In association with the 16 channel read-out of the sensor, the twin processors offers bursting-resolution constant shooting up to 12 frames-per-second having complete camera operation and 14-bit A/D adaptation, which makes it the fastest dSLR presently available in market. The Super fast mode of the camera extends the shooting speed of the camera to around 14 fps on only JPEG format, whilst the brand new mirror and shutter mechanism of the camera promises to reduce the mirror bounce and shutter lag.

Now, don’t consider this as a disappointment, because the 24x optical zoom camera has an extensive focal range equal to 25-600 millimeter, and all that on a old film camera, which means that this camera is being classified as a ‘super zoom’.

The lens here makes the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 a useful camera for picturing landscapes as for lock up portraits and the zoom of the camera could also be used while recording videos. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 could record high definition video at 720 pixel resolutions, and the camera also boasts a separate record button for recording video. The separate camera button to record allows the user to record instantly regardless of the shooting option that you choose from the 14 shooting options that you have. The zoom for the FZ48 moves a lot slower in the video mode for preventing the stereo microphones catching the adjustment noises.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 boasts a chunky handgrip which makes it easy for the user to hold the camera, and makes it easy to shoot at full zoom. The lens of the camera has image stabilization, which prevents any sort of blurring from the camera shake, although it’s not ideal but it’s better than nothing. The petite buttons of the camera were fiddly but at the same time they were straightforward and visibly marked. The camera also has a handy pop-up flash, which is concealed above the lens.

The camera takes two seconds to power up. The video and photos in the camera could be composed on the 3 inch display screen on the rear end and there also is an EVF (electronic viewfinder) positioned above this. The EVF is low in quality than the screen and we found it rather less satisfactory.

Strangely, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 boasts smaller resolution than its precursor the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45 having 12.1 MP, but we think that it shouldn’t be a major problem as far as quality is concerned we would say that its easily more than enough.

With a complete charge, the battery of the camera lasted for around 400 shots, which certainly is better than average. The color production here was warm and rich and the best thing is that it appears natural, though a Photo Style mode lets you a vigorous boost in case you want.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 is a superb camera for anyone who wants to do everything, from impressive photos to videos.

Though, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 certainly is not a small camera, and hence if you only want simply high-quality photos then we think that a cheap dSLR easily could be a better choice for you, while the ‘travel zoom’ cameras for example Panasonic’s TZ20 also offers additional zoom power, but all that at smaller proportions.

It’s possible to change the look of the camera to meet your new mood or attire using the supplied faceplates for the camera. Also if you are bored of the supplied faceplates, then there also are blank faceplates that will give you a chance to create design according to your mood.

Concealed behind the variable frontage of the Pentax Optio RS1500 is a compact boxy camera having a silver-colored carcass, and to be frank the unadorned variant of the camera also has a certain charm, though for our liking it was rather plasticky.

Positioned at the rear end of the Pentax Optio RS 1500 is a 3 inch screen to compass and view images and menus, which for us was rather easy to navigate. There also is a 4x optical zoom and along with the 14 MP still images, the Optio RS1500 also has the capability to shoot HD video at 720p resolution.

The shooting mode for still images ranges from automatic, which includes the camera detecting the best settings as per the conditions to a manual mode where most of the settings could be changed.

Along with the shooting modes for sport, portraits and more there also was a panorama mode which can create a wide image by sewing 3 shots jointly. The panorama mode of RS1500 does both track and detect faces, though the results weren’t all that clear and the camera didn’t always succeeded in finding faces. The Smile detection feature of the also worked pretty nicely.

The Pentax Optio RS 1500 has decent flash and it was sufficient to see a tripod socket on the underside. In general the picture quality was pretty good, though there was certain noise in low light conditions.

The camera has rather basic fitted editing tools, and we got fast and effective results, though still they weren’t a match for dedicated editing software. The onboard memory for the camera was sufficient for a handful of pictures, and hence an SD memory card must be taken. The rechargeable battery of the camera was sufficient for a day’s shooting.

Both memory and battery card of the Pentax Optio RS 1500 have been fitted in a small compartment positioned at the base and there also is a micro-USB socket on one side of the camera for attaching it to a PC for image transfer, the lead for this is included.

Finally, we would say that for its price the Pentax Optio RS 1500 is a rather idiosyncratic compact camera capable of taking fast photos, though the build quality of the camera holds it back.

The Fujifilm X10 allows you to frame images using 2.8 in, 460k-dot LCD or using the eye-level optical viewfinder of the camera. The optical finder of the camera offers 85 percent frame reporting, and at the same time zooms along with the lens of the camera.

The Fujifilm X10 makes use of a 2/3 in EXR CMOS image sensor for recording video and images. The images could easily be saved in JPEG, JPEG+RAW format and RAW, and the 1080p30 video recording in the camera is executed in QuickTime format having high-superiority h.264 compression. The optical zoom lens of X10 covers a 28-112mm f/2-2.8 (35 mm equal) field of vision. The lens of the X10 is operated manually, rather than using the power zoom device which at present is seen in most of the compact cameras for accurate control. Instead of using a dedicated power switch, the camera is turned on or off by twisting the camera lens, which makes it possible to turn on the camera and at the same time, set your focal length.

The Fujifilm X10 measures 2.7 inches x 4.6 inches x 2.2 inches (H x W x D) and weighs around 12.3 oz with memory card and battery. The camera has an all-metal body and the chassis and front plate of the camera is aluminum alloy, though it’s top and base plate are magnesium alloy. The X10 comes only in black color and the model name and a retroactive Fujinon Lens System logo have been printer in white on its top plate, and emulate the design of the classic Leica rangefinder. The camera will be manufactured in Japan for ensuring stringent quality standards.

The Fujifilm X10 will be entering the market in early November, but we don’t have any information on the pricing of the camera. The package of the Fujifilm X10 includes a battery, shoulder strap, charger, CD-ROM, USB cable and lens cap. Fujifilm will also be marketing a lens hood and ever-ready leather casing for the X10, but it will be offered independently.

Design and Arrangement :

The design and arrangement of the Sony Alpha SLT-A35 is pretty much like the traditional dSLR camera that has an EVF (electronic viewfinder), positioned above the 3 inch LCD screen on the rear end of the camera and a huge finger-grip on the right-hand side of the camera. Buttons for the camera are laid out on both rear and top, and at the same time there is a mode dial fitted on the left-hand top, close to the button for the in-built pop-up flash. Now, though this entire arrangement isn’t anything spectacular, but what’s interesting here is the fact that half the buttons of the camera are a tad recessed in the camera body. In case you are using the Alpha A35 above close to your eye, it could make finding and pressing some buttons a tad different. One another exciting feature here is the absence of eloquent LCD screen, which the previous Alpha A33 had.

For a dSLR, the body of the Sony Alpha SLT-A35 is rather compact. But still the camera is a chunky beast in comparison to the mirrorless camera, but in comparison to the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D3x II, the Alpha A35 is a toy-sized camera. This is what makes it superb for throwing the camera into your backpack or purse, where the big cameras will be tough to fit. The good thing about the size of A35 is that the ergonomics of the camera aren’t compromised by the smaller size of the camera. The Sony Alpha A35 takes Sony A-mount lenses, in the cameras that come with single- and twin-lens kits.

Performance :

As far as performance is concerned, the Sony Alpha SLT-A35 delivers image quality equivalent to other entry-level and mid-range consumer dSLR cameras such as the Olympus E-P3, Canon EOS 600D, Samsung NX11, Nikon D3100, LUMIX GF2 and Olympus E-5 and so on. The JPEG images from the camera although suffered a bit from too much of noise reduction, overcharge sharpness, which makes capturing photos a tad smudged when we viewed them at full size on a computer monitor.

Verdict :

Finally we would say that the Sony Alpha SLT-A35 is a feature loaded small camera. But we had problems with the buttons and the lens kit of the camera and wish that they should have been a tad more finger-friendly, as all those small changes would have made the Alpha SLT-A35 better than it rivals. As for now, the camera is pretty much like many other entry levels cameras in the market.

The Olympus TOUGH TG-310 has a respectable overall build quality and for a tough device, it’s pretty easy to use camera. The buttons of the camera have a rubber cachet on them and hence the water can’t get in between the photographic camera body. The menu steering buttons here are tactile. The 2.7 inch display screen of the camera cannot be seen easily on the vivid daylight if not you don’t shield the camera completely from the sun.

The close button for the Olympus TOUGH TG-310 has a different two-step feel. Holding the camera is a rather comfortable maneuver. The positioning of the lens of the eye at the exceed-left corner of the camera body intends that you got to be a tad extra heedful while holding the camera, because you don’t want your figure to come in the way while you’re shooting with the camera. The camera has a broad angle lens of 28mm and it has been placed ahead of a 14 MP sensor.

The image quality from Olympus TOUGH TG-310 is sufficient overall. The images are best looked at equal to a Complete HD resolution. View them in any bigger size and the images will lose their perfection. For most of the part we shot in iAuto mode, and we have to say that the camera delivered  pretty decent job.

So finally we would say that the Olympus TOUGH TG-310 is a pretty decent rugged entry level camera without any exceptional feature. But if you want a camera that could handle a bit of rough handling during your outdoor activities then the Olympus TOUGH TG-310 surely is a considerable option and will not disappoint you.

If you look at the lower end of the market you will find a lot of cameras that have cheap lenses, sub-standard image quality and poor construction, and that’s what makes it hard to pick a real bargain. A lot of times what you think as a bargain turns out to be a total rip off and that’s what calls for extra cautiousness and carefulness.

However, with all this confusion there enters the Canon Powershot A800, which also is a low-priced digital camera from an incredibly respected brand. Priced at only £70, some compromises are bound to come your way, but the good thing here is that there are quite a few compromises here. And to top of that, it’s nice to see that Canon has been cautious while bringing in those cutbacks, and has made sure that those compromises don’t affect the performance or the user-friendliness of the camera adversely.

For instance, the Canon Powershot A800 is a tad bulky than most of the sleek ultra-slim compact cameras available in market, but you cannot blame Canon for that, as they understand that making the camera ultra-slim will elevate its price, and hence instead they have opted for a more practical design.

The Canon A800 is powered by two standard AA size batteries, which add considerably to the running cost and weight of the camera. But while the absence of a rechargeable power pack is problematic for some users, we would say that there also are some advantages, especially considering the fact once you run out of juice its easy to get a new set of batteries from the counter rather than sitting and waiting for the battery to get charged completely.

Canon makes full use of the huge battery compartment of the camera has incorporated it into the cake-cut-shaped design of the Canon A800. The thick end of the camera forms the grip of the camera. The camera was incredibly comfortable in operation. The immense user-friendliness of the camera could be attributed to the simple menu system and proverbial button layout of the camera.

As far as the raw hardware of the Canon A800 is concerned, we have to say that they are rather generous. The camera has the capacity to capture still images at a 10 megapixel of resolution. The camera also has a little 2.5 inch screen and a 3.3x optical zoom lens. The A800 is also pretty modest with its options and extras: for instance, you could get video recording, but even that is not available in high definition.

As far as picture quality is concerned, we would say that it was rather good. Photos shot from the camera were as sharp as you gets from any slightly expensive camera offers. Though there is tad softness, but even that could easily be overlooked in favor of the terse colors and plethora of details of the camera.

All that is particularly when you consider the low cost of Canon A800 costs.

If you like to do a lot of shooting in low or dim light conditions then let us tell you that the Sony HDR-CX700V comes with a backside-lighted sensor and a vast 1/2.88 in CMOS sensor. The back end-lighted sensor on the rear end of the camera prevents it from choking up the entering light.

The good thing about all these jargons of the Sony HDR-CX700V is that it makes the Sony HDR-CX700V better than all the other cameras of its roundup. The HDR-CX700V delivered comparatively sharp and smooth images when we played it on the big HDTV screen.

The Sony HDR-CX700V really excelled when it came to outdoor shooting, but still was a step following the Canon Vixia G10, which we reviewed. The footage from the camera had a bit less particulars and failed to match the brilliant and tepid color replication of Canon’s camera.

The HDR-CX700V has a LCD touch panel measuring 3 inch, which is around half inch smaller than the previous model, which according to us is a stupid move by Sony and will make many of the users ask “Why?”

Finally we would say that there’s a lot to like about the Sony HDR-CX700V characteristic-rich HD camcorder, but simultaneously there also are few disappointments. But still because of its superb picture quality delivering ability and plethora of options, we would say that the HDR-CX700V is one of the best cameras you can get in modern times.

The Olympus E-P3 flaunts a retro design and metal construction, which makes it clear that the camera has been made to last. Although the camera resembles with a compact camera, the lens given on the front could be swapped like on the bigger SLR models.

All this combined with a better electronics than what we’ve seen on most of the compact models, makes sure that that the camera delivers high-definition video recordings and improved quality pictures in the uppermost resolution – 1080p.

The most significant improvement over the previous Olympus E-P2 is a turn up flash, which settles down on the top plate when it’s not in use. The grip now can be removed, though we prefer to keep it on and the screen here is touch-sensitive, though sufficient buttons still have been continued and it’s nice because we avoided using the touchscreen and preferred the physical buttons.

Our review Olympus E-P3 came with a 14 – 42mm Olympus lens equal to 28 – 84mm on an older film camera and this was rather quieter than the previous model, which has been criticized for noise. The camera can use ‘micro 4-thirds’ lens system from any maker.

IN general it has been seen that the expensive cameras are rather complex, but thankfully that was not the case here and the E-P3 was rather easy to use. For example the Intelligent Auto mode of the camera includes ‘Live Guide’ and allows the or else complex alterations for example blearing a background at the same time keeping a subject sharp. We just dragged the on-screen slider unless we got the picture as we wanted.

The one surprise that we had in the Olympus E-P3 is that the camera still has the 12.3 MP resolutions that we saw in the 2009 range of Olympus, while the current rivals from Panasonic and Sony have moved up to 16 MP. It’s nice to see that the Olympus E-P3 delivers plenty of details.

The features that we used most in the Olympus E-P3 included the ‘Art Filters’ digital effects, counting a fun mode, which made everything appear pretty small or just as pop art. All these come from the E-P2, but in the new E-P3 the camera has around 10 options as opposed to 8.

Finally we would say that, although, the Olympus E-P3 looks pretty much like a blast from the past, but it’s an all new camera and is a lot faster and responsive than the previous versions of the camera. The Olympus E-P3 delivers clear and sharp images, and the only problem we have here is the price, but even that we think is worth paying because the camera deliver impressive quality, convenience and quality.

The all new Olympus SP-801UZ comes with a 14 megapixel image sensor and a 36x ultra zoom together with a 3 in viewfinder LCD screen. The Olympus SP-801UZ has also been fitted with TruePic III+ image processor of Olympus under its hood. The camera also has both digital and mechanical image stabilization, improved low-light potentialities and to top it all, the camera has been fitted with the ability to capture 1080p HD video, which can be played back on a huge screen using the HDMI output.

The camera also comes with a 10 “Magic Filters”, which can be applied on both still images and videos like Reflection and Miniature. The Olympus SP-810UZ will be entering the market with a price tag of £229.99, in the month of September and will be available in silver and black finish.

To start covering the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ47/FZ48 we would start by giving the three major features of the camera. The first impressive feature in the Lumix DMC-FZ47/FZ48 is its optical zoom of 24x (35mm equivalent to 25-600 milimeter) from LEICA lens, which offers maximum opening of F5.2 ajar. The second impressive feature about the camera is it’s 2-parter, the image processor and the sensor; the Lumix FZ47/FZ48 comes with the Venus Engine FHD processor and a 12.1 MP CCD (1/2.33’’-type). The Venus Engine FHD is the actual brains behind the camera. The 3rd major feature in the system is its HD video recording potentialities; the Lumix FZ47/FZ48 also has the capacity of recording 1920×1080 60i fully HD video in the high-class AVCHD arrange.

The aforementioned features are only the major highlights of the system, but apart from these three the Panasonic Lumix FZ47/FZ48 comes with a large number of other features as well. Among the top features that impressed us the most about the camera was its creative mode which gives the users physical control over video and photo captures, you will get a chance to regulate things such as the opening priority in videos and shutter. The second impressive thing that we found was the Power O.I.S. (optical image stabilization) of Panasonic. The Power OIS makes capturing the fast-moving videos and photos a lot easier. The third impressive thing that we found here was the clever dynamic range control of the system, which allegedly will be making sure that your images doesn’t look blown out regardless of the situation, because of the vulnerability optimization for every segment of the photo.

Apart from these aforementioned features, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ47/FZ48 comes with plenty of other advanced features and surely will impress the modern customers with its potential to capture images and videos. The all new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ47/FZ48 will be entering the market next month and is expected to have a price tag of $399.99 MSRP.

The Leica M system camera are among some of the very fine cameras in the market, and has been respected by several high-end street photographers, travelers and photojournalists for their compact body, light weight and adaptability.

The MP was introduced by Leica in 2003, as was an all-mechanical edition of their classic design which looked and felt like an entirely conserved objet d’art from your grandfather’s shelf.

The Leica MP basically is a stripped-down device and comes loaded with only sheer essentials. The camera doesn’t have any bells and whistles of its high-end cousins. And yes the good news here is that this is a film camera. Even the strong all-metal construction of the camera with brass bottom and top is an incongruity: Its hard not to see or feel any plastic in a camera this small these days. The Leica MP doesn’t gets any bright branding, as well. The strange thing here is that the Leica “red dot” symbol of the company, which we’ve seen in most of the cameras from the company is also missing from here. But that doesn’t mean that anyone will mistake this camera for anything else, other than a very expensive gadget for photography.

The Leica MP showed its effect when we took the camera out on streets. It was nice to see that even in the modern times when affordable small digital cameras and camcorders and high-end smartphones with heavy camera capabilities, people were keen on what kind of Leica we are using.

One another great thing about the Leica MP is its superb ability to deliver silent operation. The camera might be having an all-mechanical body, but the operation of the camera is immensely silent. As a matter of fact the mechanical shutter of the camera makes less noise than the vibrator of your iPhone.

The focus ring given on the lens, a 50mm Summiux-M ASPH, is immensely smooth and even if you haven’t used a lot of range finder, it wont take too long for you to get use to this system and also make you a convert.

Finally, we would like to say something about the overall package, the Leica MP –the Leica MP’s retro styling, quality and feel of the materials, rock-solid build and the capability to continue operating without the need for electricity makes it one of the finest cameras in the market. Also it should be known that the Leica MP is so expensive and iconic that it has a huge burden to perform, and we are happy to see that the camera lives up to its expectations.

But before you even start doing that, you will have to find out how exactly this Micro Four Thirds camera having mirror-less, exchangeable-lens and excessively complex design actually functions.

The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH2 is the subsequent model to Panasonic’s 2-year-old DMC GH1, and the camera has the same looks and feel that we had seen in GH1, but in addition to that same design and build, the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH2 also comes brings in some vital upgrades and features, and in addition to that it brings the ability to capture 3D photos. The ability to shoot 3D photos definitely is a  major highlight for the camera, and in addition to  that the camera comes with, what we can say is the biggest enhancement in the GH2 in the form of its lightning-fast auto focus.

Considering the fact that the cameras having Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens makes use of Janky contrast detection auto focus systems we think that locking a subject and at the same time capturing the shot can just be a matter of luck.

The GH2 has been powered by three CPUs and the Venus Engine FHD processor of the camera performs the task for the camera. The processor helped us in capturing some stunning shots. The camera also comes with superb lowlight capabilities and we were able to capture comparatively low-noise shots at equal to ISO 3200, and we must say that it was noticeably better than the previous models. The problem arises when you try capturing shots at ISO 6400.

The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH2 saw some changes that weren’t all that we weren’t all that impressed with some of the touch controls of the camera and a lot of touch controls on the 3 inch LCD screen of the camera were more of a mess than usable.

In addition to that, there is touch tracking, which makes the camera to lock on any subject of your choice by just touching it. As far as video shooting is concerned the touch-tracking feature of the camera allows you to “rack” or “pull” focus on any subject that you are interested in, so it remains pretty sharp while the remaining scene blurs, which is really poor.

As far as video shooting is concerned we will have to say that the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH2 is the best non-DSLR camera that we’ve seen in the market.

Finally we will say that the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH2 camera comes with a strong glowing auto focus, is capable of superb HD video quality with its faster bit rates and comes with touchscreen tracking, which allows you to pull focus in an easy manner.

But then again, we will pay $100 more to get the bodily controls of S95 instead of the 500 HS’s touch screen procedure. If you are considering this camera as a low-cost alternative to get the f2.0 lens and shutter and aperture speed controls, you will be disappointed, looking at the fact that you will be using touchscreen for all. Shooters who only intends to use all these things sporadically and don’t want to do a lot of playing with the settings perhaps will not mind the absence of bodily controls. Also considering the fact that the Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS is able of turning some really high class photos, just sweetens the deal for the system.

Tech Specifications:

Design:

The overall design of the Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS is pretty identical to Canon’s previous touch-screen camera, the Canon SD3500 IS. The Elph 500 HS comes only with very few physical controls that includes; play, shutter release and power buttons; the aforesaid shooting mode button on the top of the camera and a zoom ring about the shutter release. The rest of all the functions for the camera are being covered with the touch interface.

The touchscreen of the camera is rather reactive and can easily be calibrated as per your affect, but the user interface at times can be a tad frustrating at times. For instance, while piloting the option list from the main menu arrangement of the camera rather than using the straightforward changeable arrows, you can drag the list using your finger. This will be fine if it functioned smoothly, but the problem is that it doesn’t and if you use screen’s right side you accidentally could change the settings to restart. Also there are certain shooting options that require double tap for selecting them while some others wants you to “OK” the change and some others wants you to select them and then wants you to press a return arrow. If you’re considering the Elph 500 HS for its aperture and shutter controls, then let us tell you that the alters are done using onscreen slippers, which can be a tad cumbersome if you earlier have used fast dials for dSLR. For finding out or meeting with on occasion, we think they should be perfect. Although, when altering the aperture it doesn’t shows you the affect on its shutter speed or vice versa.

There also are certain positives about the touch interface of the camera. Canon also has fitted the camera with a couple of options for rearranging and customizing the layout of the website, so in case you want quick accession to ISO or to the White Balance, you can well include those icons on your screens. One of the finest uses of the touch screen is for centering exact subjects by knocking them, which we must say that Canon does exceedingly well. However, unlike several other new touch-screen cameras you can’t tap to shoot and focus.

If you want to associate the camera to a monitor or camera or HDTV, there also are Mini-HDMI ports and Mini-USB given on the right edge of the body. The memory card and battery compartment is given at the bottom, along with a Non-locking door. The battery for the camera can not be charged in camera, and the inclusion of touch screen don’t seem to help the shot count of the battery, so you could find yourself closing and opening the battery section quite a number of times. The rated battery life for the Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS is of 180 shots, but if you are using a lot of advanced features than the battery life easily could shorten.

Performance:

The Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS delivered pretty expected performance, and just as all the other “HS” models that we’ve tested this year, here also the noise and noise reduction was nicely balanced. The photos got some softness and noise above ISO 200, like any other point-and-shoot cameras, but the good thing is that the photos captured even in ISO 400 and ISO 800 is pretty usable. The colors did show some desaturation at ISO 1600 and 3200. You also will like to think before using the photos for full size printing.

The Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS delivers superb color precision and delivered bright and vivid results. The exposure generally is pretty decent, but the highlights still tens to blow out.

The video shot from the Elph 500 HS is pretty great and pretty much like we gets from pocket video camcorders, and we would say that it’s sufficient for web usage and casual TV viewing. The camera records complete HD video records @ 24fps and although panning out the camera will produce a bit shake, and that there is seeable sprawling on the moving subjects, the video still is respectfully watchable.

Verdict:

The Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS comes with a pleasant f2.0 ultra wide-angle lens, and delivers superb photo quality for its class and also delivers a nice blend of shooting modes for its class.

On the right hand side of PEN E-PL1, you will find the LCD run playback, menu and info delete buttons, while the user definable function button is on the top, which allows you to assign to disable the button entirely, invoke face detection mode, waterproof protector attachment toggle, provide depth-of-field preview, duplicate function of movie record button, set manual white balance, toggle LCD backlight, reset AF area to its home position, pull up MyMode custom settings, use manual focus, take an unsaved test picture and override raw settings. Overall it is an excellent alternative to entry level DSLR cameras for those who are looking for an excellent point and shoot device.

Technical Details:

Design:

The Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS that we are covering here is the smallest camera of its range and in general is a really impressive pocket camera. It’s not because the camera is small, but also because the camera is immensely easy to operate and works really well. The Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS might not have as many features as some of its rivals, but the camera does have a lot to offer, and should be sufficiently fast for most of the users. And if you want really great photos directly from the camera except for the Auto, this is just the perfect camera for you.

The overall look and design of the Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS has not been drastically changed from its precursor, the SD940 or the SD1400 IS. The good thing here is that the camera still is rather small in size; as a matter of fact the camera is so small that at times you might even hesitate in carrying the camera with you. Although you should be careful when carrying the camera because the chances of you forgetting it is very large. Also, if you are planning to carry the camera in a big bag, then make sure that you have proper protection for the camera, so as to protect the camera for any sort of scratching the stunning screen and body. The Elph 300 HS comes in silver, red and black bodies. The lens barrel color matches closely with the body as well, and that gives it a special uniform look. Canon did introduce a tad gritty texture to the overall body of the camera, which is immensely appreciated, but even that could be irritating for some.

Using the Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS is immensely comfortable, even for the users having comparatively huge hands. Even the users having huge hands wont are having any sort of problems in operating the camera. All the controls of the camera have been flat and have been flushed with the body, and that’s what gives it a smooth finish. The four way directional pad of the camera and the center Function/Set button of the camera could be a little problem for some. The buttons on the camera could be pressed a lot easily than the previous models. Also, though we didn’t have any problems in using the buttons, but the zoom rocker and shooting-mode switch for the camera are rather small, which easily could be a problem for some users; so it would be an impressive to try your hands on the camera before you actually buy one.

Despite their small shape and size, the controls on the camera are rather easy to learn. The menu system on the other hand could be a tad problematic for some, but even that will depend how smart you are in learning to hit the Function/Set button to get mode specific shooting settings and the Menu button for all the other things. You also will be getting an option to turn on a help system with tips and hints to help you decide the best shooting mode for you. It’s not hard to locate that, but still Canon has done a great job fir it.

The ports for connecting the camera to a monitor, HDTV or computer, the camera has been equipped with Mini-HDMI outputs and Mini-USB/AV under a small door placed on the right side of the camera body. The memory card and battery compartment for the camera is positioned at the base behind a non-locking door. The battery of the camera can not be charged inside the camera, and the camera comes with a rated battery life of 220 shots, so if you shoot frequently, then you probably will be opening and closing that apartment too frequently.

Performance:

Overall the performance of the Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS was respectable and the camera delivered generally brilliant snapshots. The photos captured from the camera did became a tad noisier and softer above ISO 200 which is rather conventional for point-and-shoot cameras, but the still the ISO 800 and ISO 400 are rather usable. The Noise reduction and noise in the snaps are nicely balanced. The colors on the other hand desaturate at around ISO 3200 and 1600, subjects starts looking rather soft and the details. While you might not want to view them at larger sizes or heavily crop them, the high-ISO results should be satisfactory for Web or prints at small sizes.

The Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS has a little edge over the other cameras of the same league like the Sony Cyber-shot WX9. The video quality on the other hand is similar to Video quality delivered by a brilliant HD pocket video camera and is sufficient for Web use and even for non-discriminating TV screening. The complete HD video recording starts at 24 frames per second, and although trashing the camera could cause a little judder on the images and the moving subjects shot from the camera will have visible trailing. But all these things are common for the normal compact cameras as well.

Conclusion:

The all new Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS actually is an improved camera, and not just a bumped up camera, as a matter of fact the camera is a lot more improved than the previous cameras of its class. The video and photo quality for the Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS is superb. So if you are looking for a small and performing camera, then the Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS, definitely is a superb alternative.

Although the outcome here isn’t as good as Sony’s all new NEX shooters, which also uses the APS-C sensors, this is a fairly lovely looking compact camera having striking picture-taking powers and a smooth, ergonomic body.

The Samsung NX100 somewhat resembles to a classical range finder-style camera, but the good news is that it somehow feels modern, and the smooth, curves made on the polycarbonate body of the camera are sufficient to attract you towards the camera and make you shoot with it. The huge shutter button of the system gives you the feel as if you are shooting with a dSLR, though the auto focus is not practically as responsive.

Just as all its rivaling EVIL cameras, the Samsung NX100 also comes with a contrast-detection auto focus system, and although its better than some of the other models, it can feel a tad slow at times. This is particularly true for the cycle timings between the shots, which at times can feel unfriendly if you are shooting a series of images. The camera also has a quick continuous mode that can capture stills at 30 frames per second, but while doing that, the image size for the images comes down to 1.4 MP, and it takes around 8 seconds for capturing two consecutive shots.

The menu system of the camera is displayed on the 3 in sharp AMOLED screen, and clear iconography of the camera makes navigating the deep feature set of the camera a breeze. We also appreciate i-Function button on the 20-50 mm (f/3.5-5.6) kit lens; this buttons allows you to change key settings like ISO, exposure and white balance without taking your hand from the barrel.

The lens of the camera is not all that sharp, particularly in the corners. And if you want to shoot in dim or poor lightening conditions or even if you want to create backdrop blur for photographs, you will have to get one of those forthcoming faster aperture lenses of Samsung, for example the new 85mm f/1.4.

The 720p HD video mode of the Samsung NX100 delivered dazzling high-definition footage while shooting subjects confrontationally, but suffered from serious problems related to shutter problems, when we panned swiftly from side-to-side. Rolling shutter of the camera is immensely common in a lot of cameras using CMOS sensors for capturing video, but the problem in NX100 is just unavoidable. One another disappointing feature about the Samsung NX100 is that the camera doesn’t comes with a port for adding up a stereo mic, which means the only option that the only option that you have is of the en suite monaural unit.

As far as the still images are concerned, we have to say that the Samsung NX100 delivers above average pictures. If the lightening conditions are decent, the camera delivers some of the finest color and dynamic range that we’ve seen from any camera of this class. The camera suffers a bit in poor lighting conditions, though the camera suffered a bit with noise, when shooting at ISO 3200 or above. The NX100 performed so bad at time that it felt as if we have applied paint-like effect to our images.

As far as the effects are concerned, the Samsung NX100 offers a lot to choose from, counting miniature (tilt-shift), vignette, halftone dots, soft focus and fish-eye.

So in generally the Samsung NX100 offers a lot to like about it, including the smart, striking design, straightforward navigation and loads of features. The only problem that we had with the camera is that the camera could have delivered a tad better image quality, and that the video didn’t suffer from any such marked rolling-shutter effects.

The all new offering from Leica is the V-Lux 30, and is priced at $749 (USD). Now considering the fact that it is a point-and-shoot camera and even doesn’t have an interchangeable lens, that might sound quite a bargain for some, but considering the fact that it’s a Leica, it seems an absolute bargain. But even if you still consider it a loot, then let us tell you that for that much you will be getting a 15.1 megapixel sensor having a 16x zoom lens. The camera comes with a capacity to record HD video at up to 1080i resolution and will be using the complete 16x zoom range doing it.

The Leica V-Lux 30 also comes with a 3D mode of some kind and an included GPS. The GPS in the camera allows you geotagging images and in addition to this the camera also comes with a POI database to help guide you during your travels. The LCD screen at the rear end of the camera is a 3 in touchscreen, which allows touch control and at the same time comes with a resolution of 460K pixels.

The Leica V-Lux 30 will be entering the market sometime this June.

The Fujifilm Z900 EXR will be entering the market in May and will be having an expected retail price of $280. The features for the Fujifilm Z900 EXR includes an all new 16 MP EXR CMOS sensor, a 3.5 touchscreen LCD having 16:9 aspect ratio and high resolution and a basic multi-touch interface and a Fujinon 5x broad angle refractile optical zoom lens (28-140mm eq).

Some other highlights for the camera include EXR Auto, which is a completely new mode, which recognizes the 27 scenes. The camera also comes with one-touch access to complete 1080p High Definition movie catch, an enhanced Flash animation interface having “tap and shoot” capacities, an visceral Dual Direction GUI (Graphic User Interface) for soft feature navigation,  and quick image tagging and automatic uploading function to the social networking website like Facebook and YouTube.

The camera also comes with a brand new EXR Sensor having CMOS Technology. This new EXR sensor is said to develop superb image quality, better low light sensibility and quicker performance, in addition to 12 frames per second of high-speed constant shooting and high-speed movies at 320 frames per second at entire resolution.

The camera also comes loaded with Motion Panorama 360 degree mode, i-Flash Intelligent Flash, Dual Image Display on its broad LCD screen for splitting the screen in several ways for viewing multiple images, and lastly a Photo Book Assist function which allows the users to organize and select the images in their camera for creating a digital photo book of sort.

The Samsung TL500 is the very first offering from Samsung in the compact digital camera territory, and we have to say that it indeed is an impressive one. The camera comes with an attractive and thoughtful design, flip-and-twist AMOLED display and fast f1.8 lens. But the camera will face some serious competition in the market, and seeing at the camera overall we will say hat it fails to keep up with the market pace.

The reason why we are saying that is the fact that the camera delivers immensely inconsistent performance. Whether it’s the raw versions of the images or the JPEG images from the camera, there is a significant amount of difference between the two and it becomes pretty apparent with the very first look at the images. Even the performance is a rather slow, but considering the fact that most of the cameras of its class are rather slow, we won’t criticize the Samsung TL500 on this point.

Technical Details:

• Price (MSRP): $449.99
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 4.5 in x 2.5 in x 1.8 in
• Weight (with media and battery): 13.1 oz
• Megapixels: 10-megapixel
• LCD size: 3-inch
• Image stabilization type: Optical
• Battery life: 350 shots

Design:

The overall design of the Samsung TL500 was rather functional and attractive and that’s what we liked the most about the camera. As far as size is concerned the camera is almost of the same size as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, but is a tad heavier and is a tad more strongly built. The camera also comes with a surprisingly slippery rubberized grip on its frontage, which we wish could’ve been either a tad bigger or a tad smaller; the rubberized grip is not comfortable enough for one-handed shooing, but is not shallow enough to make you change the way you hold the camera. The camera also comes with a horizontal jog dial, which has been embedded in the grip and is used for controlling controls shutter speed, exposure compensation, aperture, and some other features depending on your mode. It’s really tough to differentiate the wheel from the grip by feel. It means not only finding the wheel in different, but to tell whether or not you’ve turned the wheel on or not is also difficult to tell.

The top shelf of the camera houses a mode dial having the conventional set of manual, semi-manual, and automatic options together with a not-so-typical drive mode dial having self timer, bracketing settings and continuous shooting. The camera also has a small power button positioned right in the middle of the camera.

The rear end of the camera houses a conventional control layout, and the highlight of the control layout is the devoted metering button. The camera also has an Fn button which is used for pulling up shooting settings such as white balance, focus area and quality, which can be Navigated through scroll dial. The navigation dial also functions as buttons for ISO sensitivity setting, macro, display and flash settings. The ISO button given on the camera on the right edge of the camera and the devoted movie record button that falls under your thumb and can cause some problems as we hit them quite a number of time while holding the camera.

Performance:

We didn’t expected stunning performance from the Samsung TL500 considering its class and hence were a tad less disappointed. The overall performance of the camera is disappointingly slow, but that is the case with almost every camera of its class and hence we were not all that heavily disappointed and not because of the focusing system of the camera, but because of the terribly sluggish card operations and file processing.

The camera takes 1.8 seconds to get started from a completely off state. The camera takes 0.4 seconds focuses and shoots in around 0.4 second in decently high-contrast conditions, and at the same time delivers a respectable 0.7 second performance in low-contrast ones. The Samsung TL500 takes complete 1.8 seconds between 2 consecutive JPEG shots, while for raw shots the camera takes 1.9 seconds, which moved up to 2.5 seconds with flash.

As far as the picture quality is concerned we will say that the camera was immensely inconsistent. So, there actually is nothing much to cheer about even in terms of picture quality.

Conclusion:

We expected the Samsung TL500 to be more impressive than how much it has been and if Samsung will offer a successor to the camera, which can easily offer a lot more consistent image processing and some design enhancements as well it would appeal a lot more users then the number of customers it has impressed currently. As far as the current version of the Samsung TL500 is concerned, we will say that the camera is a solid camera and customers will definitely be happy to shoot with this camera.

Pros: The Samsung TL500 comes with an eye-catching design and a vivid flip-and-twist display.

Cons: The Samsung TL500 suffers from minor irritating control placements, conflicting photo quality, and a lackluster feature set. All these deficiencies blemish the overall appeal of the camera.

The Canon PowerShot A3300 IS has the capability of turning out excellent images with sharpness and fine details at ISO 200. The color performance is solid from A3300 – accurate, bright and vivid; on the other hand exposure is very good. Video quality is on the par with high definition pocket friendly camera: good enough for nondiscriminating television viewing and Web use. The ISO sensitivity ranges from Auto, 1600, 80, 800, 100, 400 and 200; while the white balance mode gives you access to settings for Auto, Custom, Daylight, Fluorescent H, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Tungsten.

Canon PowerShot A3300 IS also features some recording modes which include Program, Movie, Live View Control, Discreet, Auto, Creative Filters, Easy and SCN. The Focus modes are Normal Autofocus (Center, Face and Tracking), Infinity and Macro; on the other hand the metering modes offer Spot, Evaluative and Center Weighted Average. The A3300 also offers some color effects like Vivid, Custom (saturation, contrast and sharpness) Neutral, White and Black and Sepia.

The shooting modes of Canon PowerShot A3300 IS are designed for point and shoot use, while the Program mode gives you access to settings for metering, white balance and ISO. One of the extensive and exquisite features found in A3300 is the Live View Control mode that allows you to adjust the tone, brightness and color with onscreen sliders. The Scene mode comes with some usual suspects such as Portrait, Long Shutter, Landscape, Fireworks, Pets and Kids, Snow, Low Light, Foliage and Beach. Canon also offers a Smart Shutter mode including Face and Wink Detection self-timers and smile activated shutter release.

The Creative Filters of Canon PowerShot A3300 IS are now located underneath the mode dial which allows you to select Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Fish-Eye Effect, Monochrome, Poster Effect and Super Vivid. Canon Company has greatly improved the finish and fit of A3300 so that it looks good and feels solid, on the other hand menus and straightforward too. The mini-USB port is located on the right hand side of the camera for connecting to a television or a computer. The SD memory card slot and battery compartment is on the bottom of the A3300 behind the sliding door. The Program mode also gives you access to plenty of other options which include ISO sensitivity, image quality and size, white balance, metering mode, continuous shooting and color rendering. Overall it offers solid shooting performance with excellent image quality and size.

Priced at above $1,000, the Canon Vixia HF G10 must have something really special for the modern customers apart from its widespread manual features, especially as Canon is creating a potentially puzzling lineup by introducing their HD CMOS Pro sensor in this camera, skipping the next one, and then making use of the midrange HF M4xx series. The sensor of the Canon Vixia HF G10 is the one that is being used currently in the entry-level pro models of the company. Though, on its own the sensor is the one used in the trio, because it’s bigger than the conventional consumer sensor, having 2.75 micron pixels instead of the 1.7 micron pixels. Canon also claims a 280 % enhancement in the dynamic range of the camera over the previous prosumer cameras, having a brand new minimum suggested light level of 1.5 lux.

There also is a significantly expensive “pro” variant of this camcorder, the Canon XA10, which will get you a detachable handle, which includes dual XLR inputs, an infrared light, audio switches, a detachable microphone holder, a tally lamp, record and zoom switches, and a pass-through accessory shoe.

Performance:

The Canon Vixia HF G10 comes with a blend of a high-quality lens and larger-pixel sensor, which results in superb video quality, which is a tad unseen for a consumer camcorder. Though, the video was a tad softer than what we like, but we’ll say that its rather decent as you are using this video for playing straight on to the TV. In general you can say that the Vixia HF G10 offers rather imposing dynamic range, with only the vividest of white highlights trotted. If you are doing a lot of video editing then you might want to crush the blacks for improving the contrast, but if the video is going straight to TV its looks pretty decent.

The low light video shot from the Canon Vixia HF G10 is also rather impressive, up to an extent. In our test scene of around 17 lux, the camera delivered some of the finest results of its class. The audio quality is impressive as well.

In general you can say that the Canon Vixia HF G10 delivers respectable performance, in each and every department. So you surely won’t be disappointed with the camera as long as the performance is considered.

Pros:

The Canon Vixia HF G10 delivers respectable video quality and comes loaded with plethora of useful features for modern advanced shooters.

The bad:

The Canon Vixia HF G10 suffers from some minor design issues, which frequently affects the adjustments made to the camera, and hence could seriously annoy the very people for which the camcorder has been designed and considering the price at which the camera is being offered, it should come with at least a double-capacity battery.

Verdict:

The Canon Vixia HF G10 might have a respectable features set for the shooters, and might deliver respectable video quality as well. But considering the price at which it is being offered, we think, that’s just too much to ask for what the Canon Vixia HF G10 offers.

The Olympus E-PL2 also supports the additional stop of sensitivity up to ISO 6400. It allows you to shoot comfortably at ISO 800, but the colors artifacts become readily apparent at ISO 3200. The E-PL2 delivers excellent image quality as compared to E-PL1 with improved metering for producing slightly better exposures in similar lighting conditions. Some of the key specifications include 12.3 megapixel Live CMOS sensor, ISO sensitivity range from ISO 100 to ISO 6400, 2x focal length multiplier, continuous shooting of 3 frames per second, optional plug-in articulating EVF, 11-area contrast autofocus, three-inch screen, sensor shift image stabilization and Mic; mono input.

The body shape and design of Olympus E-PL2 is fundamentally similar to E-PL1, but I like the all black a little better as compared to its predecessor. The layout remains unchanged with top dial button which includes manual, preset automatic and semimanual modes along with dedicated Art Filters and movie mode. The Olympus Live Guide appears in the automatic mode and offers user friendly shooting tips and adjustment interface. For shooting, there is a dial button for navigation, four-way navigation keys and large buttons.

The Olympus E-PL2’s retro styling gives the E-PL2 a boxy shape, but is surprisingly comfortable to hold. One of the extensive and exclusive features found in this camera is the built in sensor shift image stabilization. The stabilization comes with three different modes called 1, 2 and 3. The mode 1 stabilizes in both vertical and horizontal planes, while the modes 2 and 3 apply stabilization on horizontal and vertical planes respectively.

Like all conventional and mirrorless compact point and shoot cameras in the market, the Olympus E-PL2 features a contrast based auto focusing with five different focus modes in all. Single autofocus with manual fine tuning, single autofocus, AF tracking, manual focus and Continuous Autofocus. The main menu system is activated by pressing the menu button beneath control dial. Olympus calls the quick menu system as Live Control which gives you access to settings for ISO sensitivity, image stabilizer, sequential shooting, metering mode, flash mode, color space, white balance and picture mode settings including gradation, contrast and saturation. The menu system is arranged on six different tabs that have quality settings, card formatting, image size and setting presets. It comes with 22 different scene modes which include Portrait, Beach and Snow, e-Portrait, Fireworks, Landscape, Panorama, Landscape with Portrait, Documents, Macro, Sunset, Sports, Candle, Night Scene, Nature Macro, Night Scene with portrait, Digital Image Stabilization, Children, Low key and High key. Apart from these modes, there are three scene modes such as macro, wide converter and fisheye. Overall it delivers excellent image quality and performance along with nice shooting experience.

The photo quality of GE X5 is good for a point and shoot camera and is actually better than expected given it price and specifications. The video quality is also quite good and best suitable for nondiscriminating Web use. The ISO sensitivity ranges from Auto, 3200, 80, 1600, 100, 800, 200 and 500, while the white balance mode offers Auto, Manual, Daylight, Incandescent, Cloudy, Fluorescent CWF and Fluorescent. It also features some recording modes such as Auto, Panorama, ASCN, Portrait, Manual, Scene, Shutter Priority, Movie and Aperture Priority. Some of the focus modes are Center Autofocus, Face Detection AF and 13-point multi Autofocus. The metering modes are multi, spot and center weighted average, while the color effects include Vivid, White and Black and Sepia.

There are very few point and shoot cameras in the market that come with aperture priority, manual shooting options and shutter priority, but GE X5 has them. The apertures are f3, f7.3, f3.3, f5.8, f3.8 and f4.6. One of the extensive and exclusive features found in this camera is the fully automatic mode and automatic scene mode which determines the appropriate settings based on conditions of what you are doing. The Program Auto mode gives you access to the settings for exposure compensation, ISO and white balance. The X5 also offers two menu systems such as main system menus that are reached by Menu button and shooting mode specific accessed by OK/Func button.

With a miniature electronic viewfinder and 2.7-inch LCD screen, the GE X5 feels like a bargain basement camera. Once the shooting situation is perfect, the X5 offers images with excellent photo quality and while shooting outdoors, it provides images that are bright and sharp with realistic colors. Overall it is a budget competent megazoom camera that comes with wide angle long zoom lens with manual and semimanual shooting options and electronic viewfinder.

The main reason to go with Nikon Coolpix S9100 is its wider longer lens, excellent video and image quality and faster shooting performance. Some of the key features of S9100 include backside illuminated 12-megapixel CMOS sensor, three-inch LCD screen, MPEG-4 AVC/JPEG file format, highest resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels, digital and mechanical image stabilization and supports SDXC/SD/SDHC memory cards. The image quality from S9100 is excellent and its sensitivity ranges from ISO 160 to ISO 3200. The video quality is on the par with good high definition pocket camera; good enough for nondiscriminating TV viewing and Web use.

Standard features on Nikon Coolpix S9100 are ISO sensitivity range from Auto ISO 160 to ISO 3200 and white balance mode that consists of Auto, Open Shade, Daylight, Fluorescent and Tungsten settings. Some of the recording modes include Auto, Backlighting HDR, Scene Auto Selector, Night Portrait, Scene, Night Landscape, Continuous and Special Effects. The Focus modes are 9-point Autofocus, Macro, Manual AF, Subject Tracking AF and Center AF. It also comes with metering modes which include Matrix, Spot and Center Weighted, while on the other hand there are some color effects – Hue, Brightness and Vividness controls.

The Nikon Coolpix S9100 offers two different Auto modes; one is the Scene Auto Selector of Nikon which automatically adjusts the settings based on six common scene kinds. There is an Auto mode which is similar to AE mode of other point and shoots cameras; it allows you to change the autofocus mode and area, ISO, light metering, white balance and exposure compensation. The S9100 provides highly convenient exposure sliders.

Once you press the Exposure button on Nikon Coolpix S9100, a trio of Brightness, Hue and Vividness sliders appear which allows you to adjust the exposure, color and saturation. It would have been better if Nikon offered advanced shooting options called Manual, Program AE and Shutter Priority. Instead it depends on the capable ISO sensitivity range, versatile autofocus system and 256-segment matrix metering system.

One of the extensive and exclusive features found on Nikon Coolpix S9100 is the Electronic Vibration Reduction System which is not that effective as good optical system, but offers excellent quality images. Additional features on S9100 are 12.1 million effective pixels, 18x optical NIKKOR lens, 74MB of internal memory, Motion Detection, Best Shot Selector and hi-speed PictBridge/USB interface. However, it offers slick performance in terms of both attractive handling and design. While there plenty of manufacturers in the market who have bulked up their high definition compact point and shoot megazoom cameras with manual and semimanual shooting options, GPS receivers, 3D image capture and touchscreens.

The Nikon D5100 enters the market as a replacement and rival from Nikon; replacement for the Nikon’s two year old D5000 and rival to Canon’s EOS Rebel T3i. And we have to say that although this is the first time Canon and Nikon are going head-to-head in terms of their product launch timing and updates in technology, but both the manufacturers are doing exceedingly well. The Nikon D5100 enters the market with as a complete replacement of D5000 in almost every aspect; but the D5100 differentiates itself nicely from being an unnerving sub-$1,000 dSLR.

The image quality offered by the Nikon D5100 is better than the D5000 on all ISO sensitivities, though we have to say that the D5000 was a tad better when it comes to white balance. The camera also has a superb JPEG noise profile, and remains rather clean up to ISO 400 and, remains rather usable up to ISO 1600, except for few detailed degradation from color noise. After that the quality largely depends on the content of your scene, though we wouldn’t recommend ISO 6400 or higher. Though there also is a lot more color noise in the high ISO JPEGs than what I’d like, but there still is sufficient detail, tonality and color saturation that makes photos immensely usable.

So in general the Nikon D5100 is a respectable replacement and a respectable rival for the respective cameras.

Design:

Just as many of the cameras of its price bracket, the Nikon D5100 feels a tad plasticky, but strong. The overall design of the camera has quite a number of changes, and one of the most apparent changes for the camera includes the more prominent slope built on the left shoulder of the camera, although we don’t like the slope too much and thinks that it will make the camera look lopsided, but the good news here is that it does not affect the shooting experience from the camera. One of the most impressive updates for the camera is its bigger and higher-resolution display. Nikon also has worked and changed the movement of the spoken LCD to a more conventional flip-out-and-twist from a drop-down-and-twist. Sadly, we found the display of the camera a tad too contrasty, which sometime even made us think as if our exposures are off. Also, its really hard to have a look at the screen despite changing the angle.

Similarly, the viewfinder of the camera looks like most of the low-end models: dim and having small auto focus points, which are immensely difficult to see without lighting them up with the help of pre-focus. Although, there are bigger AF area markers and in general we like the camera more than the Canon’s.

The controls on the rear end of the camera are laid in a typical manner. The information edit button on the camera is different from the info button positioned on top of the camera and is used for adjusting the shooting settings. The only problem that we have with the camera is that the navigation switch of the camera can not be locked.

Performance:

The performance for all the cameras of this class is sufficient to handle the typical consumer shooting, though the Nikon D5100 that we are covering here comes on the lower end of a comparatively fast group. The camera powers on and shoots in just around 0.3 seconds. The average time for focusing and shooting for the camera is of 0.3 secs, and 0.6 secs under poor or dim lightning conditions. So overall the performance of the camera was a tad slower than what we expected.

The best thing here is that the camera might be a tad on the slower side, but the camera delivered excellent photo quality and the overall picture quality of the camera is really impressive.

Verdict:

The Nikon D5100 delivers superb photo quality along with a superb noise profile, a smooth shooting design for both video and photo, and a wide, sensible feature set which enhances the strengths of Nikon D5100.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 is available for the price of $299.99 and is equipped with standard list of extensive and exquisite features like 14-megapixel ½.3 inch CCD sensor, three-inch LCD screen with viewfinder, Motion JPEG/JPEG file format, digital and optical image stabilization, SDXC/SD/SDHC card slot and Photofunstudio 6.0 Edition bundled software. The image quality of ZS8 is slightly better as compared to ZS10; on the other hand, the images are visible at full resolution highest sensitivity ISO 1600. Exposure and color are also quite good from ZS8 till ISO 400. Video quality is also on par with high definition pocket camera.

Standard and extensive features on Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 include ISO sensitivity full resolution including Auto, 1600, 100, 800, 200 and 400; white balance mode which includes Auto, Manual, Daylight, Incandescent, Cloudy and Shade. There are some recording modes which include Intelligent Auto, Movie, Program, My SCN 2, Aperture Priority, My SCN 1, Shutter Priority, SCN, Manual and Custom, while the Focus modes include Face Detection Auto Focus, AF Tracking, One Point Auto Focus, Spot AF and 23-Point AF. It also comes with few metering modes such as Multi, Spot and Center Weighted Average, while the color effects are Standard, Happy, Natural, Warm, Vivid, Cool, White and Black and Sepia. One of the distinctive and unique features found in ZS8 is full resolution burst shot limit mode which includes three images in fine mode and five images in standard mode.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 provides you with wide array of shooting options for semimanual and manual exposure modes and fully automatic snapshots. The Intelligent Auto mode automatically adjusts the sensitivity based in scene brightness and subject movement so that you can set the minimum shutter speed. On the other hand, the Program Mode allows you to adjust settings for exposure, ISO and white balance. Additional features found in ZS are the scene modes which include Portrait, Under Water, Soft Skin, Photoframe, Transform, High Dynamic (standard/ art/ B&W), Self Portrait, Film Grain, Scenery, Pinhole, Panorama Assist, Aerial, Sports, Snow, Night Portrait, Beach, Night Scenery, Fireworks, Food, Starry Sky, Party, Flash Burst, Candle Light, Hi-Speed Burst (speed priority/image priority), Baby1, High sensitivity, Baby2, Sunset and Pet. Overall it is a fine compact megazoom camera that comes with slightly larger LCD screen, wider longer lens and wide array of shooting options.

The metering and exposure in Canon EOS 60D live up to the expectations, on the other hand 14-bit Canon processing pipeline tends to deliver impressive tonal range results. Compared with D7000, the JPEG processing and noise profile of 60D looks strikingly similar; the major difference between these models is the automatic white balance, the D7000 delivers excellent results. The 60D provides set of manual exposure controls and frame rates which have the Canon DSLR models an unparalleled choice for filmmakers. It comes with responsive and capacitive three-inch articulated LCD screen which is great boon for shooting video. The 60D is slower as compared to previous model in certain aspects; it powers on and shoots in 0.2 second.

The Canon EOS 60D comes with extensive list of features which include 18-megapixel CMOS sensor, ISO sensitivity range from 100 to 12,800, continuous shooting at 8 frames per second, 19-point Auto Focus, optical image stabilization and three-inch articulated screen. The easy mode of Canon is called Creative Auto which now operates through ambience selection – Standard, Monochrome, Vivid, Darker, Soft, Brighter, Warm, Cool and Intense.

Additional features include Higher resolution sensor, Lower burst rate, supports SD, instead of CF memory cards, Redesigned control layout with slightly fewer buttons, Wireless Speedlight control, Slightly reduced customization options, Support for optional infra-red remote release, one Custom mode, Articulated 3:2 high resolution LCD screen, in-camera raw conversion, creative filters, ambience settings, more JPEG options, Plastic body shell, High Definition video recording, Standard ISO range extends to 6400 and user-definable Auto ISO upper limit.

The color tones, sharpness, saturation and contrast in Canon EOS 60D are applied using number of Picture Styles for color photography; so you have choices between Standard, Faithful, Portrait, Neutral and Landscape, while further Monochrome options provides four toning and four filter effects. One of the exclusive and exquisite features found in EOS 60D is IFCL metering system which was initially introduced with acclaimed EOS 7D with Dual Layer 63-Zone Sensor. However, the EOS 60D is an excellent digital camera with extensive features like APS-C CMOS sensor, advanced creative features with basic+, integrated Speedlite transmitter, Vari-angle 7.7cm LCD, nine-point Auto Focus system, full high definition movies with manual control and DIGIC 4.

The Canon PowerShot G12 is an unparalleled choice for demanding enthusiasts and like previous model; it is not alone in targeting enthusiasts with powerful pocket camera. There are several models in the market packed that provide excellent image quality and are packed with exquisite features such as Canon PowerShot S95 and Lumix LX5. For their size of reliability and performance, the enthusiasts are willing to pay additional amount of money. It comes with standard features like optical viewfinder, built in neutral density filter, articulated screen and offers excellent image quality. Overall it is designed to please image enthusiasts or aficionados.

The new updates to Canon PowerShot G12 include 24p/720 video capture, mini high definition media input connector and stereo audio. Like PowerShot S95, the G12 also comes with HDR scene mode which is used for combining three shots. The image quality of G12 is similar to G11 and looks great at lowest ISO sensitivities with excellent exposure and color. The colors and artifacts are a bit different and you will be able to gain little sharpness from RAW. The lens of PowerShot G12 is quite sharp and unsurprisingly the video looks better as compared to old VGA offering. The stereo mic, microphone jack and articulated LCD screen add to its video flexibility. However, it doesn’t have the capability of zooming while recording with no manual exposure controls that save exposure compensation.

Standard features on Canon PowerShot G12 include 10-megapixel CCD sensor, ISO sensitivity range from 80 to 3200, three-inch capacitive LCD screen and optical image stabilization. On the top of G12, you will a dial for exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity dial around circumference of mode dial. Indeed, the PowerShot is comfortably one of the heaviest and biggest of its rivals. One of the extensive and exclusive features found in G12 is that it allows you to assign 19 functions to Shortcut Key including I-Contrast, Display Off, White Balance, Digital Teleconverter, Custom White Balance 2 and 1, AF Lock, My Colors, Red-eye Correction, Bracketing, Drive mode, Servo AF, flash compensation, Movie quality, Neutral Density filter, Compression, Aspect Ratio and RAW or JPEG.

The Canon PowerShot G12 comes with built in flash which can be set to Auto, On, Slow Synchro or Off. The dedicated flash menu provides flash compensation between red-eye correction, +/-2EV and rear curtain. New to PowerShot G12 over its predecessor are additional Miniature Effects, Super, Fisheye, Vivid and Poster Effect along with HDR mode which is used for combining three exposures for extending the tonal range. Overall it remains an excellent camera that delivers better JPEG images as compared to previous model.

The key features in Nikon Coolpix P500 include 12-megapixel 2.3-inch backside illuminated CMOS sensor, three-inch capacitive LCD screen, support for AAC and JPEG file format, digital and mechanical image stabilization and SD/SDXC/SDHC storage media. The photo quality of P500 is quite good, but the images lack fine details. The image quality is good for a point and shoot camera, while on the other hand color performance from P500 is very good. Video quality is excellent with basic high definition pocket camera; good enough for nondiscriminating television viewing and Web use. The ISO sensitivity ranges from Auto, 3200, 160, 1600, 200, 800, 400 and 200. The white balance mode consists of Auto, Open Shade, Daylight, Fluorescent and Tungsten.

The Nikon Coolpix P500 comes with long list of recording modes which include Auto, High Speed Movie, Scene Auto Selector, Movie, Scene, User, Night Landscape, Manual, Night Portrait, Shutter priority, Backlighting HDR, Aperture priority, Smart Portrait and Program. The Focus modes include 9-point AF, Manual, Manual AF, Subject tracking AF and Center AF. Some of the color effects are Normal, Custom (Saturation, Contrast, Image Sharpening), Softer, Monochrome Filter (Yellow, Image Sharpening, Orange, Contrast, Red, Sepia, Green), Vivid, Black & White, More Vivid and Portrait.

The shooting performance of Nikon Coolpix P500 is on the par which goes from off to first in more than 1 second with shot to shot time of 1.4 seconds. Some of the exclusive features found in this model are electronic viewfinder and vari-angle LCD screen for framing up the shots. The menu system is very easy to read and sharp, but there are no shortcuts for metering, changing ISO, area mode or autofocus mode and white balance.

The Canon PowerShot SX230 HS comes with standard list of extensive features which include backside illuminated 12-megapixel CMOS, digital and optical image stabilization, SDXC/SD/SDHC cards, Map Utility 1.0, PhotoStitch 3.1/ZoomBrowser EX6.7 and ImageBrowser 6.7. The SX230 is one such camera that provides fine image quality from compact megazoom, particularly at ISOs. Colors are accurate and fine at ISO 3200 and 1600 and the images are quite clean and crisp at small sizes. Color performance is one of the best in its class and everything turns out reasonably accurate, bright and well-saturated. The video quality is also quite good and shoots in full high definition at 24fps (frames per second). The white balance mode allows you to select from different options such as Auto, Custom, Day Light, Underwater, Cloudy, Fluorescent H, Tungsten and Fluorescent.

There are some extensive set of recording modes in Canon PowerShot SX230 HS which include Smart Auto, Program, Easy, Shutter priority, Movie Digest, Aperture priority, Portrait, Manual, Landscape, Movie, Kids & Pets, Creative Filter and Scene. The Focus modes include Manual, Face Detection AF, Tracking AF and Center AF, while the metering mode gives you access to Spot, Multi and Center-weighted average functions. There are some exclusive set of color effects including Vivid, Custom Color, Neutral, Vivid Red, Sepia, Vivid Green, Black & White, Vivid Blue, Positive Film, Darker Skin Tone and Lighter Skin Tone.

Canon has also put on the mode dial three famous scene selections in Canon PowerShot SX230 HS including Kids & Pets, Portrait and Landscape and SCN choice that gives you access to scene settings such as Low Light, Panorama Stitch Assist, Beach, Fireworks, Foliage and Snow. The Creative Filters of Canon are located underneath the mode dial and the filters include Color Accent, Color Swap, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Fish-eye Effect, Monochrome, Poster Effect and Super Vivid. Under the dial, you will find a dedicated record button and playback button for movies, while underneath these buttons; there is unmarked directional pad/control dial. Overall it is one of the fastest compact megazoom digital cameras with longest lens that provide excellent photo quality and long list of shooting options including manual and semimanual modes.

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i or the EOS 600D is the younger and affordable sibling of Canon’s 60D, and if you didn’t thought that the 60D was a overpriced camera then you definitely will think now. This cheaper and younger sibling of Canon EOS Rebel T3i enters the market with some corners cut, but in the general is pretty much the same basic camera. The most noticeable difference that we found in the camera was its nicely constructed body and an intentionally underdeveloped burst shooting speed. You can also take the T3i as a tad expensive T2i, but this time with the addition of an uttered LCD and some features for the people who like to use automatic mode a lot. In both the scenarios, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i remains a sold but a bit dull follow-up for its precursor, although a follow-up which will attract more videophiles than still shooters.

But that doesn’t means that the camera makes any sort of compromises in its photo quality. On a whole the T3i comes with a superb noise profile, which is to no one’s surprise is similar to 60D.

Design:

Even in terms of body design the T3i is not all that different and, apart from few exceptions here and there the entire body and interface of the camera is pretty much like what we’ve seen in T2i’s. The camera is a tad heavy, thanks to the vivid, flip-and-twist LCD. But the good thing here is that the camera feels strong and although the rubberized grip of the camera feels a tad cheap, it is comfortable for one hand shooting and easily bear up the weight of a good lens. We never have been a fan of the viewfinder of Rebel series’, and this one actually offers even low magnification than the previous models. Although we didn’t notice any differences here, but there surely are better ones in the market. The AF points here were too-briefly-flashing, and we didn’t like them either.

The control layout and user interface of the Canon EOS T3i is pretty much what we say in T2i, although the display button for the camera has been moved and has been replaced by Info button. The operation of camera is pretty straightforward. Positioned on the rear end of the camera are direct-access controls for exposure compensation, Live View/video recording, AE/AF lock, auto focus method (single, AI Servo and AI Focus), white balance, Picture Style, drive mode, and focus area (all-points auto or single-point manual). All these settings can easily be changed, and in addition you can change flash, image quality, metering and some other settings using the typical Quick Control screen. All the buttons on the camera are a bit too flat.

Performance:

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i definitely delivers fast performance, but in some cases it’s not as fast as its precursor and that’s what surprised us the most. The camera takes 0.3 secs to power-on and focus on the subject and shoot. The shutter lag in decent lightening conditions for the camera is 0.3 secs while its 0.6 secs in slightly poor lightening.

The Photos shot from the Canon EOS Rebel T3i appeared pretty clear on its default settings. The colors in the photos were both comparatively accurate and saturated; the exposures and metering for the photos were both predictable and consistent. The dynamic range for the camera is sufficient enough to let a respectable amount of shadow and highlight recovery. The videos shot from the camera were as usual impressive and the movies shot from the camera were amazingly sharp.

Verdict:

Finally, we would like to say that considering the price of the camera the Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a superb choice for dSLR though the comparatively cheaper and affordable T2i can also satisfy you if articulated LCD is not on your wish list. The T3i still is a superb alternative for creative still shooters.

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i comes with 18-megapixel CMOS, Digic 4 image processor, 3.7 frames per second of continuous shooting and three-inch articulated LCD screen. The new lens claims an additional stop of image stabilization, but is not that effective. Although the performance of this model is very fast as compared to previous models; it shoots in around 0.3 second with quick 0.6 second in dim lighting and 0.3 second in bright lighting. However, the continuous shooting slowest acceptable speed for dSLR is slower as compared to other models in the market such as Pentax K-x and Nikon D500. The interface and body of T3i is similar to previous models and is a bit heavier with its flip and twist bright LCD screen. It feels firm and the rubberized texture grip feels quite cheap in hand. Overall the camera can shoot single handed and is quite comfortable to hold. The options of T3i are straightforward and on the back you will find direct access for controls like Live video/View recording, focus area, exposure compensation, image quality, white balance, AF/AE lock, autofocus method, Picture Style and drive mode. There are some additional settings called plus metering, Quick Control System and image quality.

One of the exquisite features found in Canon EOS Rebel T3i is the dial model which includes usual set of scene, manual, automatic and semimanual modes. Canon’s easy mode is called Creative Auto that operates through ambience selection and includes several functions like standard, monochrome, vivid, darker, soft, brighter, intense and cool. The scene mode uses the ambience selection mode for making them more flexible. Overall it is an unparalleled choice for dSLR videographers.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 comes with so many things to like about that the very few, but serious flaws that it has comes as larger distractions. On the positive side, the camera retains the really nice design of the GF1, but comes with a superbly designed touch-screen interface, and betters the already fast performance of the camera. Also if you shoot raw, the camera can deliver really nice quality images. But at the same time the camera suffers from two major flaws: firstly the camera comes with the same deprived JPEG processing engine which also caused problems in the LX5 and also had the same tantrum-inducing inability for locking the focus area on its touch screen, as we saw on the GH2 and G2.

Design:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 flaunts an immensely easy to use design, having big buttons offering direct access to some of the useful functions of the camera. This makes the operation of camera a rather easy maneuver. The touchscreen interface of the camera is also one of the finest that we’ve seen. Operating the camera with two hands is a rather easy maneuver, in fact operating the touchscreen of the camera with thumb feels like texting on modern smartphones with QWERTY keypad. The Fn/Q.Menu button of the camera can easily be programmed for any particular settings in the Q.Menu. Also, the Q.Menu of the camera can be customized easily.

Though, the interface on a whole is rather easy, but the AF area can not be locked for stopping it from moving if the screen gets touched accidentally. Adjusting it every time could be really annoying.

Features:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 comes with a practical and logical set of shooting options, whether it’s manual, semi-manual or automatic. The touchscreen of the camera calls for touch focus and shutter, which again is well understood, and then there are the 3 custom settings slots which are a lot easy to access then what they use to be in Panasonic E-PL2. While we appreciate the incorporation of Panasonic’s My Color mode, we also will like to say that the camera wasn’t as flexible and fun as some of the other Olympus’ Art Filters. That said, the My Color Mode of the camera worked respectably with video capture. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 does not support full stops, though it does have 5 shot bracketing. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 has the same 6-face recognition system, which we’ve seen in many of the other Panasonic cameras.

Conclusion:

Despite all its upgrades and updates the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 lags behind a bit in photo quality, especially given the fact that it will be rivaling with the cameras like E-PL2 and NEX-5. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 basically is a respectable choice for the people who primarily shoots in raw and are ok with the aforementioned glitches with the camera. But for anyone else, the camera surely is not a decent choice.

Some of the physical controls in Sony Cybershot DSC-T99 are shutter and power buttons, small playback mode button and small zoom rocker button on the top. It gets a streamlined look and it can also be turned off or on by raising or lowering the lens cover, while all other things are controlled via touchscreen display. The touchscreen is quite responsive and capacitive and is also calibrated by fingers or stylus. Once you tap the menu button at the left hand side on the top, you will find a panel that displays the available shooting options and the access to toolbox icon for secondary menu for general settings. On the down-left, there are some shooting function options and on the right hand side, there are some playback icons and shooting modes. Overall the touchscreen is quite responsive as compared to touch-based smartphones and iPhones in the market.

On the bottom of Sony Cybershot DSC-T99, there is a multiuse button along with the cable for connecting it to a television, computer or a display through audio-video output and USB port. It also has the capability to support Eye-Fi wireless SD cards. The battery compartment and memory card slot are protected by a lockable door which you will need to open while removing the battery for charging. The shooting modes of T99 are well-suited and ideal for snapshot photography and the program auto mode allows you to adjust Dynamic Range Optimization of Sony, ISO, exposure values, white balance, light metering and autofocus points for rescuing shadow details. There are lots of other modes which include intelligent auto scene recognition mode that allows you to turn the reliable results without any kind of adjustments.

The image quality of Sony Cybershot DSC-T99 is on an average as compared to other Sony Cybershot models in its segment. The video quality is also quite good and is good for a pocket-sized camera. Those who want to view the high definition images and movies will have to connect the camera to one of the high definition televisions with the included proprietary component cable. Overall, those who are looking for an ultracompact digital camera, T99 is the best choice.

The DualView cameras from Samsung are a superb choice for the people who like capturing a lot of self-portraits. And that’s not because the camera captures superb photos, but because the LCD screen on the frontage of the camera makes it easy to look at what you’re shooting at from the front of camera. The Samsung DualView TL205 at present is the least expensive model from Samsung, having these features and we must have to say that some compromises were definitely made to keep the price of the camera low. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad or a poor camera, but it definitely is the camera having some limitations. Basically the TL205 is a step up from an average smartphone or a camera phone, and the front LCD of the camera definitely gives good value for money. But if you have problems in accepting the second screen of the camera then its better you skip the camera.

Body Design:

As far as the design of the camera is concerned, we will say that the design of the camera is both good as well as bad. The camera comes with front LCD; an attractive 7-degree slant on the base of the camera and an ergonomic viewpoint to the shutter release facilitating tad more comfy shooting. The slant on the base of the camera results is better shooting angle for self portraits when the camera is placed on a flat surface. The camera on a whole is not ugly; the camera is just a camera having silver trim and having a basic glossy black. The lustrous rear end of the camera instantly gets covered in fingerprints as soon as you pick up the camera. Even the build quality of the camera is not all that good and the camera feels pretty cheap when held in hand. The low build quality of the camera becomes pretty apparent with the low-quality LCD placed on the rear end of the camera or from the auto focus system and loud lens movement. Also the buttons positioned on the camera body are black and has black marking, which makes it impossible to see the cameras unless you are not operating the camera in full light; the only buttons that are labeled in white are Delete and Menu.

Performance:

The Samsung DualView TL205 is a sub $150 camera and like any other camera of this price range the shooting performance of this camera is also slow. This makes the camera average for its class. The camera takes 2 seconds to start and capture its first shot and further 1.9 seconds for capturing two consecutive shots; using the flash in general doubles the wait time for the camera. The Shutter lag for the camera is of 0.5 secs in bright lightening conditions and is 0.6 in dim lightening conditions.

As far as the picture quality for the photos captured from the Samsung DualView TL205 are concerned, the camera requires a lot of light to deliver good quality photos. The low light photos or the photos captured inside are noisy, have color problems and have smeared details. But if you are using the camera in outdoors or in respectable lightening conditions that we have to say that the pictures captured from the camera are pretty good.

Conclusion:

The Samsung DualView TL205 comes has a low price and comes with a front LCD, which makes the camera a superb choice for the people who loves shooting a lot of self portraits or for the photographers who are on a short budget.