Other Cameras

The smallest and lightest of the Optio ‘S’ series cameras Pentax has made thus far, the Optio S5z fits easily in a shirt pocket and its smart, brushed aluminium alloy body has a ‘quality’ look. A large 2.5-inch LCD monitor covers most of the rear panel, leaving no space for a viewfinder and five tiny rubber buttons provide a secure finger grip. The 3x optical zoom lens slides into the camera body leaving the front panel flat but pops out within a second or two when the camera is switched on.

Key controls on Pentax’s Optio S40 are accessed via the top-mounted mode dial, which has a central on/off switch and settings for full auto (‘Easy Mode’, which is identified by a green smiley face icon), program AE, Picture Mode (which accesses the scene settings), night-scene, landscape and portrait modes, movie capture, and voice clip recording. In the Easy Mode setting users have push-button access to a Help screen, which describes the functions controlled by each button. This works in both capture and playback modes.

A well-built digicam that combines good point-and-shoot performance with an affordable price.A minor upgrade to the Mju 800, the Olympus Mju 810 is $100 cheaper, slightly smaller and lighter. The lens doesn’t focus quite as close but more resolution options are provided for still and video recording. The control layout has been redesigned and the shutter and on/off buttons are now smaller and rectangular. But buttons remain small and too much toggling is needed to access menu settings.

Test shots were rather contrasty with above-average saturation and blocked out highlights in brightly-lit conditions. Low-light shots contained a scattering of stuck pixels but were otherwise relatively noise free. These shots had a more usable dynamic range than shots taken in bright sunlight. The white balance control was an above-average performer, particularly with the manual pre-sets. Average shutter lag was 0.85 seconds.

The Camedia D-590 Zoom features a 4-megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom lens and an enhanced, ‘semi-transmissive’ LCD display that is easier to view in bright lighting than normal LCDs. No viewfinder is provided. The control suite is basic. A slider on the front panel exposes the lens and turns the power off and on, the shutter button is located on the top panel and the rear panel carries the remaining controls.

Nikon’s Coolpix 4100 has a similar body, control suite and layout to the lower-resolution Coolpix 3200 and 2200 models. In auto mode, the only settings accessible are resolution/quality (combined), white balance, exposure compensation, continuous shooting, Best Shot Select and Colour Options. Five colour options are provided: standard colour, vivid colour (high saturation),sepia, and cyanotype (monochrome blue).

Dual lenses extend wide-angle capabilities for this pocketable digicam. Kodak’s new EasyShare V570 is remarkable for having two separate lenses, each linked to its own 5-megapixel CCD sensor. The top lens is the ‘ultra-wide’ one, while the 3x optical zoom sits below it. Neither extends beyond the camera body, thanks to a ‘folded optic’ design that tucks them in, one above the other, just below the flash assembly. Both are concealed behind a metal cover when power is off.

[ia] Although Kodak was the first manufacturer to announce a Wi-Fi-enabled compact digicam, the race to bring cameras to the local market was essentially tied with Nikon, which introduced two Coolpix cameras at the same time. Both launches come at a time when more households are installing Wi-Fi home networks and the majority of notebook PCs are Wi-Fi enabled, so the release of cameras that can use these facilities is timely.

Apart from its 5-megapixel CCD, darker body colour and additional scene modes (backlit, children, flower and fireworks), Kodak’s LS753 resembles the earlier 4-megapixel LS743 model. Its smart metal body has a 1.8-inch hybrid LCD and an optical viewfinder with 80% field of view coverage. Its Schneider-Kreuznach C-Variogon 2.8x zoom lens can focus to 5cm and shutter speeds extend from 16 to 1/1400 seconds.

A slimline digicam with some handy functions for novice photographers and four pre-loaded video games.Fujifilm’s 5.1-megapixel FinePix V10 has a slimline metal body with a large LCD and plastic DV-in and A/V and USB port covers. No viewfinder is provided but a rule-of-thirds grid can be displayed to aid shot composition. Controls are split between the “F” button, which lies on the top panel and handles resolution, ISO and colour modes and four small buttons below the LCD. The four-way controller is replaced by an up/down lever and two arrow pads, which are fiddly to use.