Monthly Archives: January 2012

Samsung PL210

January 29, 2012   vitya   No comments

 

Samsung PL210 is a compact digital camera focused towards beginners. It has a resolution of 14.2 megapixel s, 10x optical zoom, focal length from 4.85 to 48.5mm and a luminous intensity of F3.3 to 5.9.

This inexpensive model is available in two colors- silver and black. Apart from the uniform controls there is a 3in screen on the back with a resolution of 230000 pixels. The Samsung PL210 has ISO sensitivity between 80 to 3200. The manufacturer claims it can record videos in HD quality (1920×720).

The camera delivers decent quality in most environments. The 10x optical zoom performs quite well. We noticed good quality up to ISO 800, at ISO 1600 an amount of visible noise starts appearing. The manual mode we took few macro shots in F3.3 with ISO 100 and a shutter speed of 1/80 and were left pleasantly surprised with the results.

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Canon Ixus 1100 HS

January 25, 2012   vitya   No comments

 

The Canon Ixus 1100 HS is nice to handle because it offers both touch-screen maneuvering as well as buttons for operations. It has a good solid feel to it, the sort that gives you confidence you will get good pictures out of it. And it does—to the extent that compact cameras do. The pictures are adequately good, though you will notice colour disparities occasionally. One bug bear is the delete function. These days, erasing a picture is a matter of pressing a button or an icon on the display. With this one, you have to first access the delete icon via the Function menu and then proceed. But what goes most against the 1100 HS is its price. At almost ? 25,000, it is too highly ‘ tagged for a camera that offers neither manual exposure nor the shutter and aperture priority modes. Its big 12X optical zoom, though, can be helpful in day-light photography.

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Nikon P500

January 24, 2012   vitya   No comments

 

The Nikon P500 is one of those cameras some used to call ‘bridge’ cameras, a category which sits in between standard compacts and DSLR cameras. Of course, this was before mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras swooped onto the scene, thus becoming the new bridge cameras. Still, we think that the P500 is really a compact camera that comes with super-long zoom and manual handling.

The P500 has an impressive 36x optical zoom, which is 35mm lens focal equivalent of 22.5-8l0mm. Trying to get the same length with a DSLR would involve multiple lenses, one of which large and heavy enough to warrant its own tripod. The P500 doesn’t of course; it packs that super-long zoom into a much smaller package which you can comfortably stuff into a bag, and that’s its strongest point.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX78

January 23, 2012   vitya   No comments

 

While the Panasonic FX78 sports an unassuming body with clean lines, this shooter is also the slimmest and most compact of the lot, slipping into jeans pockets with ease. Of course, its flat design also made keeping a grip a little tough while snapping photos. A whopping 3.5-inch touchscreen takes almost all of the real-estate at the back, with a short row of physical buttons residing on top. While Panasonic certainly didn’t cut any corners in terms of build, the FX78′s touch-based controls took a fair bit of getting used to. The touch interface was also sluggish at times, and can be a little complicated in terms of navigation, in contrast, the physical zoom slider switch seemed overtly sensitive, making accurate zooms a matter of trial and error.

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Canon PowerShot 310 HS

January 18, 2012   vitya   No comments

 

The Canon PowerShot Elph 310 HS packs a lot of camera into a very small package. The slim 12-mega-pixel shooter manages to squeeze in an 8x zoom lens that covers a 28-224mm (35mm equivalent) field of view. Images from the camera are sharp, it performs well in lower light, and it has a bright and sharp 3-inch LCD. All of these features and its ability to capture 1080p24 HD video make it our new favorite midrange compact point-and-shoot camera.

Light and compact, the 310 HS measures just 2.2 by 3.8 by 0.9 inches (HWD) and weighs in at 4.9 ounces. Its metal body feels very sturdy. Our review unit was finished in matte black, but the camera is only available at retail in purple, green, blue, pink, and silver.

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