In summary
[ia] Available with black, camel or indigo leather-coated front panels, Kyocera’s Contax U4R has the same CCD sensor as the Contax i4R we reviewed in the last issue of Photo Review but replaces the fixed focal length lens with a 3x zoom that ranges from 38-115mm equivalent in 35mm format. Like its smaller cousin, the U4R’s lens is made by Carl Zeiss and carries the T* tag to indicate superior anti-reflection coatings. . . [more]
Full review
Rating (out of 10)
Build: 8.0
Ease of use: 8.5
Image quality: 8.0
Value for money: 7.5
[ia] Kyocera’s Contax
has the same CCD sensor as the Contax i4R we reviewed two months ago, but replaces the fixed focal length lens with a 3x zoom that ranges from 38-115mm (35mm eqivalent). It is available with black, camel or indigo leather-coated front panels.
Like its smaller cousin, the U4R’s lens is made by Carl Zeiss and carries the T* tag to indicate superior anti-reflection coatings, but the U4R’s magnesium alloy body is radically different, with a ‘twist-and-shoot’ style in which the lens and flash section swings forward for picture-taking, while the section with the monitor is held vertically for shot composition. The monitor is a large (2-inch) display and the main camera controls sit above it. There’s no tripod socket but, with long exposures limited to one second, it can be dispensed with. The U4R is supplied with a USB cradle that recharges the battery and simplifies image downloading.
Although the U4R is designed for point-and-shoot photography, its white balance and ISO sensitivity are manually adjustable and users can select from three metering patterns and two AF modes. Images sharpness and colour saturation are also adjustable.
Shots taken with the test camera were sharp although slightly high-contrast. Most colours were accurately recorded, although greens were slightly orangey. Edge-to-edge sharpness was excellent and distortion was generally low. The digital zoom was an adequate performer (although shots lacked optimum sharpness) and the white balance handled fluorescent lighting, well but performed badly with incandescent lighting.
Low light shots were free of stuck pixels but noise was evident at ISO 400. The flash emitted enough light to cover an average room but performed better at ISO 400 than ISO 100. The U4R is quick to start up and shut down and shot-to-shot times averaged about five seconds. We measured an average capture lag of 1.0 seconds, which reduced to 0.2 seconds with pre-focusing. The burst mode captured shots at 0.3 second intervals for as long as space remained on the card. Power use was conservative. [23]
This camera was reviewed before Imatest testing was begun so no test results are available.
Specifications
Image sensor: 5.27 x 3.95mm CCD with 4.0 megapixels effective
Lens: 5.8-17.4mm f2.8-4.7 Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* zoom lens (38-115mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 3x optical
Dimensions (wxhxd): 102 x 63.5 x 19mm
Weight: 140g (without battery and card)
Image formats: Stills – JPEG (Exif 2.2); Movies – VGA/QVGA at 15 or 30fps
Shutter speed range: 1-1/2000 second
Focus system/range: Video-feedback AF; range 60cm to infinity; macro 20-60cm
Exposure metering/control: DDC multi-area evaluation, centre-weighted and spot metering/Program AE
White balance: Auto, daylight, incandescent. Cloudy, fluorescent
ISO range: Auto, ISO 50, 100, 200, 400
Sequence shooting: 3.3fps (2fps with AF Continuous); number of shots varies with resolution and card speed
Storage Media: Secure Digital card – no card supplied
Viewfinder: none
LCD monitor: 2-inch 130,000 pixel TFT colour LCD (558 x 234 screen pixels)
Power supply: BP-1100S 3.7 V lithium-ion battery pack plus AC adaptor/charger
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