Fixed Lens

An enhanced successor to the popular GR Digital III, featuring a new image engine and Hybrid AF System.The GR Digital IV arrives a little over two years since Ricoh released the GR Digital III, offering incremental improvements in features and performance. Most are internal, due to the introduction of an updated GR ENGINE IV processing chip. The body design is essentially unchanged. Because it’s small, light and inconspicuous, the GR Digital IV is well suited to candid and street photography.

Panasonic’s latest waterproof camera adds a GPS antenna, Full HD video and a LED light to improve video quality when shooting in low-light and under water. Panasonic’s DMC-FT3 represents the third generation of a line that began in with the FT1, which set the benchmark for rugged, waterproof cameras. The lens hasn’t changed since the first model; nor has the LCD monitor. After a brief flirtation with 14.1 megapixels on the FT2, Panasonic has returned to 12.1 megapixels for the FT3 but added some worthwhile improvements.

A high-resolution compact digicam with a 12.5x optical zoom lens, Full HD video recording and some useful multi-frame capture modes.This year, Olympus has created a new ‘traveller’ category in its super zoom camera range with three models that are more compact than the SP-series models and more competitive with similarly-featured cameras from other manufacturers. Announced on 10 March, the SZ-20 sits bang in the middle of this range and is designed to suit both travellers and family photographers.

An update to the popular S90 model offering additional aspect ratios, 720p HD video recording and SDXC compatibility.Canon’s PowerShot S95 replaces the PowerShot S90, which was announced in August 2009 to immediate success. Claimed as the smallest, slimmest digicam with advanced manual control and raw file support, the S95 comes with improved handling, additional manual controls, 720p HD movie capabilities and Canon’s HS System (high-sensitivity CCD plus DiG!C 4 processing) and a more powerful Hybrid IS stabilisation system.

A slimline digicam with advanced shooting controls plus a high-resolution LCD monitor.Introduced four years after the previous S-series model (the S80), Canon’s PowerShot S90 IS presents as the smallest, slimmest and lightest digicam on the market to offer an Advanced suite of shooting modes plus raw file capture. Equipped with the same 10-megapixel CCD sensor as the PowerShot G11, the S90 boasts a fast (f/2.0), stabilised 3.8x zoom lens and a 3-inch PureColor II high-resolution monitor.

An affordable, feature-rich, long-zoom digicam with HD movie recording and playback capabilities.Fujifilm’s new FinePix S2000HD packs a lot into an affordable camera body. Equipped with a 10-megapixel CCD sensor and 15x optical zoom lens, it also provides full compatibility with high definition television (HDTV) for both still photographs and movies. There are plenty of shooting modes to choose from, including P, S and M settings – but no aperture priority option.

Sony’s latest ultra-zoom digicam offers higher resolution, Full HD video, 3D stills capture and a higher-resolution monitor.The HX100V is the flagship model in Sony’s super-zoom range and one of two digicams announced at the end of January. Featuring a 30x optical zoom lens that covers the equivalent of 27-810mm in 35mm format, it sports a backlit CMOS sensor with 16.2-megapixel effective resolution and provides plenty of attractive features for tech-savvy photographers (although not, alas, raw file capture).

A pocketable, advanced digital camera with a large Foveon X3 Direct Image Sensor and few automated functions.Although many photo enthusiasts have been looking forward to Sigma’s DP2 since the camera was first revealed at Photokina 2008, we’ve had to wait almost eight months to see a review unit. Physically and technologically similar to the original DP1 model (which Photo Review reviewed in March 2008), the DP2 comes with a standard-range lens that is considered more suitable for snapshots and portraits.

A pocketable camera with a large Foveon sensor that delivers rich, natural-looking colours plus a wide dynamic range and supports raw file capture.Sigma’s DP1x features the same 20.7 x 13.8 mm Foveon X3 sensor and wide angle lens as Sigma’s first large-sensor compact camera, the DP1, which was released just over three years ago. This recent update is largely cosmetic and combines the rear panel interface design of the DP2s with the True II processor from the DP2. It also introduces a revised autofocusing algorithm.

The first compact digital camera with a relatively large image sensor.We’ve been waiting for Sigma’s DP-1 digital camera for approximately 18 months. First announced at Photokina in September 2006, it has been withheld from the market through what Sigma describes as “unforeseen image quality problems which resulted in a requirement to change the specification of the camera’s imaging pipeline”. But it’s here now – and a very interesting camera it has turned out to be.