Other Cameras

A compact – and competent – long-zoom digicam with 8-megapixel resolution and Full HD 1080 widescreen still picture recording.Sony has packed an optically-stabilised Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 10x optical zoom lens and 8-megapixel imager into a compact body in its new DSC-H3 Cyber-shot camera. Small and light for a long-zoom camera, the H3 is well designed. Neither optical nor electronic viewfinder is provided and the 2.5-inch, 115,000-pixel LCD takes up most of the rear panel, leaving little space for control buttons, although most are large enough and adequately spaced.

The DSC-F88 has the highest resolution of Sony’s rotating lens digicams but its 5-megapixel sensor is smaller than that on the DSC-W1, P100 and P93 models, and the lens isn’t as fast. However, it’s small enough to slip in a purse or jacket pocket. Four still shooting modes are provided – auto, program AE, manual and scene – plus a movie setting that captures VGA clips at 16.6 frames per second or ‘video mail’ at 160 x 112 pixels and 8.3fps. While the auto setting provides few adjustments, the P mode lets you access exposure compensation, focusing, metering, white balance, ISO, quality, burst, picture effect, saturation, contrast and sharpness settings. M mode adds the ability to adjust apertures and shutter speeds independently.

Although it has the same sensor as the DSC-P150 reviewed in this issue, Sony’s new DSC-V3 Cyber-shot is quite a different beast. Designed to attract serious photographers it features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 4x optical zoom and a reasonably fast aperture at both wide and tele positions. It also sports a pop-up flash plus a hot shoe for accessory flash units and dual CompactFlash and Memory Stick slots.

Many keen photographers will welcome the release of Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-R1, which replaces the aged DSC-F828 at the top of the company’s line-up. Like the F828, the new model sports a non-interchangeable lens – a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* wide angle zoom covering a field of view equivalent to 24-120mm in 35mm format – and a high-resolution sensor. However, Sony has fitted a much larger CMOS chip in the R1 and its resolution is significantly higher.

An interesting multi-function digicam with a long zoom lens and extensive video capabilities.It’s difficult to classify Canon’s PowerShot TX1 camera because, functionally, it sits somewhere between a medium-resolution digicam and a camcorder. Combining a 7.1-megapixel imager with a 10x optical zoom lens, the TX1 is larger than Canon’s Ixus models but has a similar, stainless steel clad body. But its zoom range and video resolution are closer to Canon’s high-definition camcorder products.

[ia] Available in orange, black or silver, Sanyo’s VPC-J4 has a dual Basic/Expert shooting menu system and talking navigation guide that announces the selected mode when the camera is switched on. A vertical slider selects between stills, video and playback. The flash button doubles as an erase button in playback mode. The arrow pad adjusts exposure and focus modes.

A well-built and affordable slimline digicam with a wide zoom lens, large LCD and capacious internal memory.Samsung’s slim L74 Wide digicam stands out from the crowd in several ways. Most obvious are its 3.0-inch touch screen LCD and wide zoom lens, which encompasses an angle of view equivalent to 28 mm at the wide setting. More revolutionary is the provision of 450 MB of internal memory and some interesting functions that will appeal to travellers, including the ability to load a built-in Tour Guide with information covering 4,500 regions in 30 countries. Users can also store additional data, such as maps and directions in the camera to help them en route.

A well-built digicam with touch-screen control and on-board tour guide.With its matte black body, slim lines and huge LCD touch-screen, Samsung’s 7.2-megapixel L74 Wide is an attractive looking digicam which, as its name suggests, sports a wide zoom lens. The 3.6x optical zoom range starts at the equivalent of 28mm in 35mm format and extends to 101mm, a useful range for everyday photographers.

A well-built slimline digicam with multimedia capabilities and a large internal memory.Samsung’s i85 digicam is more than just an 8.2-megapixel camera with a 5x optical zoom lens. Inside its slim, stainless steel body are a camcorder, voice recorder, text viewer and multimedia player. There’s also a World Tour Guide that provides images and travel information covering 2,600 regions in 30 countries. To store all this information – and the pictures and movie clips recorded with the camera – 190MB of internal memory is provided, along with an SD/SDHC/MMC card slot.

An affordably-priced high-resolution digicam with a 5x optical zoom and large LCD.Samsung’s S1050 almost qualifies as a slimline digicam but its protruding lens makes it too large to be truly pocketable. Featuring a 10.1-megapixel CCD imager and 5x optical zoom lens it has a large LCD monitor (but no viewfinder) and many features that will appeal to budding photographers, although it will probably be used mainly as a point-and-shoot camera.