Digital Cameras

This blog goes to my buddy in India who was so happy to hear about my blog on digicams.Here’s his story with the Canon IXUS 60, one of the recently launched models in India.The IXUS series of digital cameras have always been about great features and easily usable functionality in an ultra-compact form factor. To the Indian folks out there this 6 megapixeler has to give a mouth watering treat.

The camera is tiny with its 86 x 54 x 22 mm dimensions. It weighs as little as 170 gms, making it easy to carry just about anywhere, be it a shirt pocket or a handbag. A good one for vacations and party animals.
The 2.5″ LCD screen takes up most of the camera’s back side, along with some basic
functionality buttons. Its ISO sensitivity level ranges from 80 to 800. The IXUS 60 offers 3x optical zoom and also has Macro and Infinity (capture distance) modes.

The overall camera ergonomics are great, with a build that allows the user to operate the camera entirely with just one hand. That’s exactly what I look for in starter level ultra compacts — ease of use. But in my case I would say there’s nothing that gives grip
on the camera. Well this one is out on the stands for Rs.9800 or in USD $200.

So let’s say you’re a keen photographer, an drunk photographer to be specific, who likes
to have a swift tipple or two before heading off for some snap happy action. You can back home, pass out, wake up, wonder why you peed on your computer and put the camera in the toilet, manage to fish out the still working memory card, see your beautiful snaps, but – shock/horror – have no idea where you took them. Well, Sony has come up with a solution just for you…

Called the GPS-CS1, this little module for a wonderfully specific target audience is a miniature GPS receiver which you keep about your staggering but Annie Leibovitzian person while snapping away. The 3.5in unit then tracks your location and once back home synchronizes this with the timestamps in your pics.

Next the supplied software interacts with Google Maps to create a geographical record with ‘virtual push pins’ which you can link to each photo and even share online. There is also the option to tag your shots with their geographical info.

A wonderfully straightforward device, which I have to say would be best employed with camera phones (here’s hoping there can be a hack), it charters its way to shop shelves next month and will clarify many a hazy memory for a slightly steep $150.

The Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A100 camera with an amazing all-around lens should be good one to make you intersested. This kit features the versatile new SAL-1870 lens. In 35mm equivalent, it covers wide-angle 27mm to 105mm midrange telephoto for snapshots, portraits, interiors and more an excellent all-around lens to stick on to.

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A100K camera is a classic by all means: the top-quality 10 MP DSLR system camera that builds on a two-decade legacy of Minolta photographic leadership, accepts 20 years of A-mount lenses sold worldwide, and introduces Sony imaging innovations like high-sensitivity shooting with Super SteadyShot in-camera image stabilization, Dynamic Range Optimizer to automatically increase detail in bright and dark picture areas, new Anti-Dust technology to keep the CCD imager clean for better pictures, and Eye-Start Autofocus system for faster camera response. A large, 23.6 x 15.8 mm APS-C-size CCD imager with Sony’s advanced design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise, and providing greater detail when you make big prints or crop in close on your subject. The Sony Super SteadyShot system automatically reduces image blur. And because it works in-camera, youll get the benefit of Super SteadyShot stabilization with every lens you use. With high-sensitivity (ISO 1600) shooting, the Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A100 camera captures great photos without flash even in low light, which makes it an ideal system camera for shooting without a tripod or in locations (like museums and churches) where flash is prohibited.
(* I don’t know why I sound too formal and plain today…well its not a topic of discussion. *)

That may sound a little cruel, but until last summer most of Samsung’s digital camera output had consisted entirely of the Digimax range of compacts that, while often technically competent and always reasonably priced, have been at best uninspiring, and at worst shoddily made, poorly designed and lacking in performance.

Recently however the company seems to have taken on a new lease of life, and has launched a series of cameras very different from its previous efforts. From the ultra-slim Digimax i5 to the fully featured NV7, and a new range of Pentax-based digital SLRs, Samsung has been excelling itself, and the results have been impressive to say the least. It has been getting its hands into the SLR section too…the launch of Pro815 is the undenied proof for that. Well I really hope Samsung would make their gizmos a bit lighter just like their TV’s.

The Samsung Pro815 is an extraordinary camera for a number of reasons. First, its huge 15x zoom Schneider-Kreuznach lens (the German company I told you all before) is the most powerful on any non-SLR digital camera. Secondly, it also has the biggest display on any digital camera, with a massive 3.5in screen. Thirdly, it has the largest battery of any digital camera, with 1900mAh of charge capacity. And most surprisingly of all, it’s a Samsung. Samsung is really into this business …

The Pro815 is what has become known as a “bridge camera”, a high-end digital camera with a non-interchangeable zoom lens, but offering features and image quality comparable to an SLR. It has a list price of £550, but is available for under £400 from a number of online retailers, so in price as well it compares favorably with most consumer SLRs.

It also looks like a SLR in terms of size and weight, measuring 135.5 x 87 x 78.6mm with the lens fully retracted, and weighing a hefty 870g without battery or card. Most of its bulk comes from that huge lens it’s sporting, which is equivalent to 28-420mm on a 35mm camera. With a maximum aperture of f2.2-f4.6 that does make it is exceptionally fast, certainly faster than most equivalent SLR lenses. It also has a mechanical manual zoom, enabling precise framing.

The body of the camera is also redolent of an SLR. It has a strong metal body finished in an attractive semi-matt black texture. With such a large and heavy camera handling is clearly a major issue, so the Pro815 has a large and comfortable rubberised handgrip with a sculpted thumbgrip at the back. I recommend not to use the camera with one hand, I know how bad my hand ached when I experimented with this one.

Officially called the A100 (which seems like a pretty good code to begin your offerings) the model may be about as much Sony as the first ‘Lenovo’ Thinkpads but it does pack some rather impressive specs.

Chief amongst them is its 10.2 megapixel sensor which is a Super HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD with SteadyShot OIS, anti-dust and anti-vibration filters. It is backed up by zippy Bionz Image Processing hardware, a 2.5in anti-reflective LCD, 3fps burst mode, whopping 600 shot battery life and support for both CompactFlash and Memory Stick Pro Duo.

Given the Konica Minolta handiwork in the A100 extends to everything barring the Sony logo it also shouldn’t come as a surprise that the A100 features the company’s A-lens mount which means it has extensive backwards compatibility with the masses of KM lenses already out there as well as the 20+ (yes, really!) new lenses Sony is promising to deliver over the next couple of months.

Currently the pricing is only in dollars, though at just $999 it looks likely to be reasonable value even after the time honored addition of English Tax. Realesed in early august it has made quite news in the market, so if you’re a fan of KM but always wanted a cooler logo the A100 could be well worth a sniff. It’s a little like buying a nicely made M&S sweater only to find out it now sports a Prada label: cheeky, but a bonus.

For a company in disarray Sony is still making a remarkably good steed of its digicam line. Here take a peek inside…

The T10 is the latest swanky addition to a range of products whose major drawback remains its unfailing addiction to MemoryStick flash memory cards. Basic numeracy skills reveal it to be the successor to the T9 and it cuts a similarly svelte figure at 89.7 x 54.9 x 20.6mm despite squeezing in a mighty 7.2 megapixels.

Anti-blur technology makes it across (as it does to pretty much all Sony models these days) and a certain Mr Carl Zeiss is once again responsible for the lens. Furthermore a super sensitive maximum ISO1000 rating should makes it particularly good for photography in low light conditions (*wink wink*) while bundled software enables you to playback MP3s as background music for slideshows.

More standard fare include a 3x optical zoom, 2.5in LCD (though with 230,000 pixels), nine scene selection modes, 56MB of internal memory (essential for the forgetful among us) and a pretty good 250 shot battery life. Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duos are its poison of choice.

An August release date applies if you live in the globally bullied US of A, otherwise it’s a September release for Europeans and we British half-in-half-out Europeans. The Yanks will shell out $400 for a T10 but Sony didn’t risk their anger by providing the mark up for us lot (£250ish sounds about right).

It’s likely that Samsung is not content with taking the consumer electronics and notebook world by storm. Now Samsung wants to gain significant market share in the digital camera market. To make it possible Samsung is announced its new NV range of digital cameras. The NV range comprises of three models, each with very distinct market positioning. NV3 is what I could get hold of, as of now…so here it goes.

The NV3 is aimed at the fun end of the market, for users who want a slim and light device in their pocket that can do pretty much anything. As well as being a digital camera the NV3 can playback music and video direct from the SD card. There’s also a loudspeaker built into the unit, so you can share your music with friends and get on the nerves of other passengers on trains.

The 2.5in LCD monitor is impressively sharp with 230,000 pixels; while the internal zoom lens gives you a 35mm equivalent focal length of 38 – 114mm. Samsung has packed 7.2-megapixels into the NV3, while allowing ISO ratings from 50 all the way up to 1000. But I still wanna see how the NV3 handles CCD noise at the highest ISO rating.

The NV3 can also shoot video in a widescreen aspect ratio, although the 720 x 480 resolution is more friendly to US consumers with NTSC TVs, rather than us Brits who use PAL.

With dimensions of 94.5 x 57 x 17.5mm the NV3 is pretty slim and pocket size, while the quoted weight of 142g is good, but doesn’t include the battery or memory card.

The NV3 should be available in the stores for £229. I didn’t get my homework done on its internet pricing sorry about that.

The latest development in the digital camera segment is obviously the ‘Megapixel Jump’: update an old model within six to eight months of release changing almost nothing but the megapixel rating. Thankfully, these two models aren’t guilty of this.

The newly announced Optio A20 from Pentax do smack the numbers right out, from seven to ten, but just enough new technology is crammed in which means they escape this troublesome tag for sure.

The Pentax A20 comes out forward by adding shake and blur reduction modes, face recognition technology just as its brother, the Optio S7 and boosted an ISO range to 800. SD High Capacity (SDHC) cards are also now supported though the rest of the specs remain stagnant with 22MB of built in memory a 2.5in LCD, VGA video recording at 30fps and a 3x optical zoom.

The Pentax Optio A20 is scheduled to be out in October for a more wallet burning $350 though it looks fairly good value.

If you are wondering what this one has to offer apart from the standard higher megapixel blah blah, that would be stamina. The new M20 running off just two AA Lithium batteries Pentax boasts the camera can shoot up to 700 shots off a single charge though AA alkalines drop that to just 220. Blur reduction, anti shake and face recognition wizardry also get a run out here and SDHC cards now work groovy. Naturally enough the boxes beside ‘2.5in LCD’, ‘3x optical zoom’ and ‘30fps VGA video’ all find a big red tick in them.

The M20 will also be first on the scene, flashing subjects from September if they have a spare $200. Of course, this frugality is compensated somewhat by the fact you now need to buy larger memory cards but that’s cos all might be fair in love and war but you know -life ain’t fair.