Compact Digital Cameras
Point and Shoot with Compact Digital Cameras
Cameras have evolved a lot over the years, getting faster, easier to use, more compact and more portable. We’ve come a long way from the accordion-style glass plate cameras, though things stalled out a little bit with the 35mm camera, since the size of the film canister and the amount of film which needed to be exposed at once limited how small the camera could physically get. Manufacturers experimented with smaller film canisters to get more compact cameras, but the image quality was never good enough to justify enlargements past 4”x6”, so the smaller films never became very popular. Then the digital camera came into the market and things underwent a revolution.
Not only did the digital revolution bring about cameras which could take an infinite number of photos, it brought about a whole different breed of small compact digital cameras. Suddenly the possible size of a camera wasn’t limited on the bottom end by a big film canister. Batteries and lenses soon became the only limiting factors in the race of manufacturers to get the smallest, most compact camera, and soon even these considerations took a backseat to overall usability. Though small cameras are easier to carry around then their larger, bulkier relatives, manufacturers realized that there was such a thing as too small. Things plateaued again, setting the small end of the pocket camera market at a size roughly equivalent to a deck of standard playing cards. Anything much smaller than that meant that the buttons and LCD screen or view finder of the camera became too small to effectively use.
Though there are a host of small digital compact cameras today, most of them do come with some disadvantages to larger Single Lens Reflex or SLR cameras. Their obvious advantage is their small size; they fit easily into shirt pockets and purses, making them popular for parties or casual photos with friends since they can really be taken anywhere. However, they usually have little or no optical zoom, which can be problematic especially in outdoor situations. In the past the small cameras have had fewer mega pixels than the larger cameras, though better image capture technologies have been closing this gap. They also usually have shorter battery life and fewer features than larger digital SLR cameras, though again these are categories where many manufacturers are gaining ground. Perhaps the largest threat to the use of the small digital camera is the refinement of the camera phone, which is also making up ground quickly on dedicated digital cameras.
Popular Compact Digital Cameras
Below are some of the latest compact digital cameras
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Score one for the rumor mill: Pentax launches K-mount mirrorless
For more than a year now, rumors have swirled, suggesting that Pentax was planning to launch not one, but two mirrorless camera products with differing lens mounts. Some pooh-poohed the idea, perhaps understandably, but today the believers are vindicated, with the launch of the Pentax K-01.
It's a bold move from Pentax, to be sure. Last summer, they showed a willingness to go it their own way, with the launch of the Pentax Q--a camera whose ethos is clear: make a real interchangeable-lens camera, really small. The Pentax K-01 takes a completely different tack, combining a mirrorless...
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Canon G1 X Still Life lab shots posted!
We've just posted our "Still Life" ISO/NR series test shots from a production-level Canon G1 X, straight from the lab!
The Canon PowerShot G1 X is the company's first large-sensor PowerShot model, and looks to be Canon's rebuttal to the burgeoning compact system camera market. It's based around a brand-new, Canon-developed 14.3-megapixel CMOS sensor that's almost as tall as those in Canon's APS-C based SLR cameras, but with a 4:3 aspect ratio instead of the more typical 3:2 aspect. The PowerShot G1 X looks to offer a clear advantage over most existing system cameras in terms of overall...
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Leica M9 test shots posted!
We've just posted test shots from a Leica M9 (an M9-P, actually), taken with a Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 lens!
The Leica M9 is based around a Kodak 18-megapixel CCD image sensor with approximately the same dimensions as a frame of 35mm film, making it the smallest full-frame digital camera. The M9 accepts most Leica M lenses built to date, and thanks to the full-frame sensor, all of these lenses offer the same field of view as they would with a 35mm film camera body. The Leica M9 uses a metal blade shutter design capable of offering shutter speeds ranging from 1/4000 to 32 seconds, plus a...
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Printer Review: HP Envy 110
There are quite a few things we liked about the $249.99 Envy 110. It's not just the most beautiful all-in-one device we've seen but it has brains, too. The menu system, accessed via a large touch screen, is well thought out and the Envy can communicate with some intelligence as well, accessing the Web for content, printing from an iPad and even printing documents emailed to it.
But there are enough misses that we'd hold out for the Envy 410. And while we used the Envy exclusively as our all-in-one device for a while, we discovered one fatal flaw. Read our review for the full...
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Olympus PEN E-P3 review posted!
Although it looks very similar to its previous PEN-series flagships externally, the Olympus E-P3 includes several significant changes.
Key among these is a new brand-new autofocus system, branded 'Frequency Acceleration Sensor Technology', or FAST for short. Olympus showed supreme confidence in choosing the name, and it wasn't misplaced: the E-P3's AF performance actually rivals that of many SLRs. The P3 also includes a new touchscreen interface, and a built-in popup flash that addresses one of the main concerns with its predecessor.
Tweaks in its imaging pipeline are more subtle,...
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Nikon P7100 review posted!
Despite its good image quality, the Nikon P7100's predecessor was a little too cumbersome to use for some. Thankfully Nikon fixes most of those issues with the P7100, making a digital camera that's not just pleasant to shoot, but whose images are worth talking about. Click here for our Nikon P7100 review and get the whole story!
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Sony NEX-7 review posted!
Making quite a leap for compact system cameras both in terms of image quality and camera control, the Sony NEX-7 really impressed us. We used words like "astonishing" and "amazing" when describing image quality, both printed and onscreen, because the NEX-7's images are even sharper than the A77's. And for an APS-C sensor to approach the quality of the Nikon D3X, well, that is saying something. Its Tri-Navi interface takes the NEX-7's camera control beyond the extra dials we find on other enthusiast digital cameras: Just a single button allows the dials to jump from controlling exposure...
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Lens Review: Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
In 2011, Sony released the 30mm f/3.5 Macro as the fourth in its series of NEX E-mount lenses. The lens offers full 1:1 (100%) macro reproduction, with a very short working distance of under four inches; when you consider the length of the lens and the distance of the sensor, this equates to about an inch from the front of the lens itself. Just under five ounces in weight, Sony suggests it is the smallest and lightest macro lens to offer 1:1 reproduction. Click here to read our full review of the Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro.
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Canon G1 X: Your questions, answered
Among photo enthusiasts--and if you're reading this news item, there's a fair chance you're in that number--the Canon G1 X is one of the big talking points of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. With that in mind, we conducted a public Q&A right before the show kicked off with Chuck Westfall, Technical Advisor with the Professional Engineering & Solutions Division at Canon U.S.A., Inc., to discuss the G1 X at length. The session took place the day before the show, but fear not: you can still find all the answers, archived for your leisurely perusal in our Canon G1 X hands-on preview...
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Nikon D4: You asked, they replied
Nikon made a big splash right before the combined Consumer Electronics Show / Photo Marketing Association tradeshow kicked off, with the debut of their latest professional SLR, the Nikon D4. It's generated a huge amount of excitement and discussion in the last week, and so we sat down with Steve Heiner, Senior Technical Manager at Nikon Inc., for a lengthy public Q&A session right before the show kicked off, in an effort to get all your questions answered. The session took place the day before the show, but fear not: you can still find all the answers, archived for your leisurely perusal in...
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Canon G1 X, 520 HS, 110 HS: Three new PowerShots, including large-sensor fixe...
Canon USA Inc. has today announced three new PowerShot series digital cameras for the Consumer Electronics Show: the large-sensor Canon G1 X, long-zoom Canon 520 HS, and fashion-friendly Canon 110 HS.
Among photo enthusiasts--and if you're reading this news item, there's a fair chance you're in that number--the Canon G1 X is sure to be a big talking point. With that in mind, we've just posted our Canon G1 X preview, and we'll also be conducting a public Q&A with Canon's Chuck Westfall to discuss the G1 X later tonight. The session takes place at 6:15PM Pacific time (that's 9:15PM Eastern...
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Nikon D4: Professional SLR announced, previewed!
Nikon Inc. has today announced the Nikon D4 professional SLR, which follows in the footsteps of the venerable--but now rather long-in the tooth--Nikon D3S and its predecessor, the Nikon D3, and we've just published our Nikon D4 hands-on preview.
The Nikon D4 has a redesigned body and features a raft of updates throughout, bringing improvements both for photographers and videographers alike. Key among these for still shooters are a new 16.2 megapixel FX-format image sensor, EXPEED 3 image processor, Advanced Multi-Cam 3500 autofocus module, 3D Color Matrix Metering III sensor, 10...
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Accessory Review: Datacolor Spyder4
The big story with Datacolor's Spyder4 is its significantly improved accuracy. But Datacolor has also made an effort to extend its software's reach to devices other than you computer monitor. And these days, you look at your images on all sorts of screens: desktop monitor, laptop, netbook, HDTV, projector, tablet, smartphone. The Spyder4 can handle them all.
We've been using it for about a week to calibrate a laptop LCD screen and an iPad. And a week just isn't enough to mine all the new tools in the software for evaluating a monitor. On the other hand, the iPad calibration was a simple...
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Lens Review: Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH POWER OIS LUMIX G X VARIO PZ
Our lens review today on SLRgear is the Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH POWER OIS LUMIX G X VARIO PZ. Panasonic has introduced a new style of interchangeable lens, replacing traditional manual focus and zoom rings with power-assisted options that work much like you would find on a standard point-and-shoot digital camera. The resulting weight and size savings is substantial: the new lens is nearly half the size and weight of the current Panasonic 14-42mm kit lens. The big question is: has the image quality been affected in the process? Click here to read our full review of the Panasonic...
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Software Review: Nik Software Snapseed
Over the years, we've praised Nik Software for its sharpening technology and its U Point technology while enjoying its library of preset effects for both color and black and white work. For Snapseed, which runs on iOS devices like the iPad, Nik Software seems to have tossed nearly all of that into the pot and stirred.
Along with a look at all the different filters Nik supplies with Snapseed and printing from Snapseed to an HP Envy, we examine a befuddling problem maintaining image resolution on iOS devices. Which was about the only issue we found in several weeks of editing our...
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