Slimline

Quality rating (out of 10)
Build: 8.0
Ease of use: 8.5
Image quality: 8.5
Storage capacity with supplied card: no card supplied
Value for money: 9.0

[ia] The first camera in Kyocera's Contax 'i' range, the i4R, is small, slim and very stylish. Its aluminium shell, which is available in red, silver or black, will please all tastes and its bright LCD screen is easy to view. No viewfinder is provided. For the most part, the i4R is beautifully constructed, with an easy-to-use control layout and top panel buttons that lie flush with the camera body. However we have some reservations about the battery/card compartment door, which is attached by a slender thread, although it fits quite snugly when closed. The camera is supplied with a neat carrying pouch.

The i4R is activated by sliding back the flash/lens cover module, which uncovers the Carl Zeiss Tessar T* 6.5mm f2.8 lens. This lens has been developed for digital photography and its T* designation indicates special coatings to minimise flare and ghosting. With such a small optic, the only zoom is digital and up to 6x digital zoom is provided for stills, though only 2x for movies.

The sensor is slightly larger than those normally found in ultra-compact digicams and supports four still image size settings: 2272 x 1704, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960 and 640 x 480 pixels, all in JPEG format. No compression adjustment is provided but we estimate the ratio to be approximately 3.5:1 for all sizes, which is moderate. Movies can be recorded with sound at VGA or QVGA resolution with frame rates of 15 or 30 frames/second.

Most controls are pretty standard, although mode selection is via a LED display panel with four icons: movie, still, playback and set-up. Adjustment is by buttons above and below the display. The four-way controller doubles as a digital zoom control and accesses the flash and focus settings. Button controls are provided for the drive modes, menu and scene settings, of which there are eight. The i4R is supplied with a USB cradle that recharges the battery and makes image downloading easy. It can also be connected to a TV set for direct playback of shots.

Two innovative features are worth mentioning: in-camera resizing and zoom playback. With the first, users can resize an image to 320 x 240 pixels or 160 x 120 pixels after it has been taken, and save it for use with a PDA or image-capable mobile phone. They can also crop the area to be resized from the whole image to a quarter or one-sixteenth of the shot. Playback zoom extends to 8x and when it's used on a series of images taken in continuous mode, photographers can zoom in on any shot then scroll through the rest of the images in the series at the same magnification.

No memory card is supplied so intending purchasers should budget for a high-speed SD card with at least 256MB capacity, especially if they want to use the camera's movie function. This will allow just under two minutes of VGA video to be recorded at 30fps. The i4R also lacks a tripod socket which, along with its slow shutter speed limit of one second, limits its use after dark.

Pictures taken with the test camera were generally very good when the camera was used within its limitations. Although we detected some colour fringing near the edges of some shots, overall image sharpness was excellent and we found no evidence of excessive sharpening due to post-capture processing. Colours were accurately recorded and, although image contrast was slightly high (a common problem with compact digicams), skin tones were well modulated and detail tended to be lost only in the brightest highlights and deepest shadows. Shadow noise was obvious in low light shots taken at ISO 400, particularly when the flash was used for illumination. Flash output is non-adjustable, which means close subjects were often over-exposed.

The i4R's macro setting, which can focus to 5cm, produced some excellent available light close-ups and the bright LCD display made shot composition easy in most lighting conditions. Shading of the screen was only required in bright sunlight.

The test camera powered up and shut down in less than two seconds. We measured an average capture lag of 0.7 seconds, which reduced to 0.2 seconds with pre-focusing. The burst mode recorded a stream of high-resolution shots at consistent 0.3 second intervals with a standard SD card, confirming Kyocera's claims for the RTUNE image processing system used in this camera. [22]

Image sensor: 5.27 x 3.95 mm CCD with 4,190,000 photosites (4.0 megapixels effective)

Lens: 6.5mm f2.8 Carl Zeiss Tessar T* lens (equivalent to 39mm in 35mm format)

Zoom ratio: up to 6x digital zoom for stills, 2x for movies

Dimensions (wxhxd): 94 x 38.5 x 21 mm

Weight: 90 grams (excluding battery and card)

Shutter speed range: 1-1/2000 seconds
Focus system/range: Video-feedback AF; range 60 cm to infinity; macro 5-60 cm
Exposure metering/control: CCD multi-area evaluation metering plus centre-weighted and spot metering; Program AE

White balance: Auto, preset, daylight, incandescent, cloudy, fluorescent

Flash modes/range (ISO auto): Auto, red-eye reduction, off, on; range 60 cm to 1.8 m

ISO range: Auto, ISO 50, 100, 200, 400
Sequence shooting: 1.4 or 3 frames/second to card capacity
Storage Media: Secure Digital cards; no card supplied

Viewfinder: none
LCD monitor: 1.5-inch TFT colour LCD (130,000 pixels)
Power supply: 3.7 V Lithium-ion rechargeable battery (USB cradle/charger supplied)