Photo Review Reviews section

Samsung NX10

9 Rating

An affordable, interchangeable-lens system camera that provides DSLR features in a compact and portable body.Samsung expanded the interchangeable-lens compact (ILC) camera category with the announcement of its mirrorless NX10 system in early January. Styled like a traditional DSLR camera, but significantly slimmer (thanks to a shorter flange-back resulting from the elimination of the mirror box), the NX10 competes head-to-head with the Micro Four Thirds models introduced recently by Olympus and Panasonic.

Samsung EX1

8.5 Rating

A compact digicam with a fast, high-quality 3x zoom lens, P/A/S/M shooting modes and support for raw file capture – but only VGA video.The 10-megapixel EX1 is the new flagship of the company’s compact digital camera range. It features a new high-performance 1/1.7-inch (7.6 x 5.7 mm) CCD sensor plus a fast Schneider Kreuznach Varioplan lens with 3x optical zoom (24-72mm equivalent). It also boasts a 3-inch, swivelling AMOLED screen that provides users with a higher contrast ratio, deeper blacks and more accurate colours under most lighting conditions.

Samsung Digimax V50

With a 5-megapixel sensor, Schneider 3x zoom lens, and dual SD/MMC and Memory Stick Duo card slots, Samsung’s Digimax V50 is the flagship model in the current line-up. This model supports VGA movie capture at 30 frames per second and the MPEG-4 compression used lets you record up to 110 seconds of top quality video on the supplied 32MB SD card, making it worthwhile for those who want high quality in both stills and movies. However, its shooting controls are complex and adjustments to white balance and ISO settings, exposure compensation, long time exposures (up to 15 seconds) and R, G and B colour adjustments can only be made through a sub-menu controlled by an ‘S’ button. The icons displayed with this button are small and difficult to read, but the range of adjustments is generous.

Samsung Digimax Pro815

8 Rating

An ultra-long zoom camera that produces excellent video clips with stereo sound. Image processing is rather slow and still picture quality is variable.Samsung’s new Digimax Pro815 camera is an interesting beast in several ways, combining the best features of a compact digicam (integrated lens, live preview and video capture) with much of the shooting versatility of a digital SLR. Its black polycarbonate body has the largest rear panel LCD of any still camera and a top-mounted 1.44-inch wide data LCD doubles as a viewer for waist-level shooting. A neat (and useful) concept! The fitted Schneider-Kreuznach Varioplan zoom lens covers the longest zoom range in a compact digicam (15x). [ia]

Ricoh R8

8.5 Rating

An elegant slimline digicam with above-average resolution performance and some innovative features.Ricoh has dropped the ‘Caplio’ tag and simply labels its latest digicam the R8. The new model, which is a minor upgrade to the 8-megapixel R7, sports a 10-megapixel CCD imager, 7x optical zoom lens and 2.7-inch LCD. Its body is a tad squarer and its LCD monitor slightly larger with a significantly higher resolution. The zoom lens and image processor are essentially unchanged.

Ricoh GR Digital II

8.8 Rating

A slim and lightweight wide-angle digicam with features and performance to attract serious photo enthusiasts.A successor to the award-winning GR Digital, which was released in October 2005, Ricoh’s GR Digital II offers higher resolution and a new GR Engine II image processor but otherwise retains most of the features that made its predecessor popular with photo enthusiasts. Superficially, the diecast magnesium bodies of both cameras are almost identical, but the new model sports a slightly larger LCD.

Ricoh CX5

8.5 Rating

A minor upgrade to the CX4 model with faster autofocusing, three new scene pre-sets and two new colour options.Aside from cosmetic modifications, nothing much has changed in Ricoh’s CX series of slimline digicams since the CX3 was released early last year. The sensor is the same 10-megapizel back-illuminated CMOS chip and the camera has the same retracting 10.7x optical zoom lens. But under the hood, there’s a new, faster ‘hybrid’ AF system plus three new scene modes.

Ricoh CX4

8 Rating

A minor upgrade to the CX3 model with six new scene pre-sets and revamped cosmetics.Ricoh’s CX4 is a relatively minor upgrade to the CX3, which was announced in February this year. The 10-megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor and Smooth Imaging Engine IV image processor appear unchanged, as does the 10.7x optical wide-angle zoom lens. Video capture remains at 720p maximum resolution.

Ricoh CX3

8.5 Rating

A slimline point-and-shoot digicam with a 10.7x optical zoom lens and new, back-illuminated CMOS sensor.Although the latest addition to Ricoh’s popular CX series of slimline digicams, the CX3, retains the overall styling and 10.7x optical wide-angle zoom lens from its predecessor, it has some new additions to improve imaging performance. Most noteworthy are the new, back-illuminated CMOS sensor that records more detail in low light photography and the inclusion of 720p HD video recording.

Ricoh CX2

8.5 Rating

Ricoh’s second CMOS-sensor digicam extends the zoom range of the previous model to 10.7 times.Ricoh’s second CMOS-equipped digicam, the CX2, comes hard on the heels of the CX1, which we reviewed in March. It has the same 6.16 x 4.62 mm CMOS sensor with 9.3-megapixel (effective) resolution but boasts a new lens that provides 10.7x optical zoom and wide-angle coverage in a camera body that is only 29.4 mm thick.