One Hundred Pictures

A Review of Thin Digital Cameras

August 12th, 2008 at 02:23pm Under Main Content

SMaL Camera Technologies, a developer of digital imaging solutions and the enabler of award-winning super-thin digital cameras, announced that it has enabled the FlatFoto digital camera from RadioShack. The 1.3 Megapixel FlatFoto is the second in RadioShack’s series of thin, stylish, easy to use cameras based on SMaL designs. Elastic sides provide a perfect fit to most ultra-thin digital cameras. A belt loop and removable shoulder strap provide convenient carrying options.

Last summer Casio replaced it with the Exilim Z850, which is part of their “Zoom” line of cameras. It looks almost identical, has 8.1 instead of 7.2 megapixel, longer battery life, and costs less. With the footprint of a credit card and a profile skinnier than a pack of Virginia Slims, the Exilim really is teensy (and weighs just over three ounces). As digicams go, it’s pretty smart, featuring six preset shooting modes that eliminate gaffes and guesswork. Still, take one look at the Exilim S500 and then see if you can resist it.

The S560 is the world’s smallest camera in its class, with 10 megapixels, a 5x zoom lens and advanced features such as Smile Mode. Both cameras use Carl Zeiss lens technology and 4x optical zoom along with Optical SteadyShot image stabilization. Both cameras will be available in September with the T700 retailing for $400 and the T77 going for $300. The Carl Zeiss lens is capable of 3X optical zoom but it doesn’t protrude from the camera as a zoom lens normally would. That’s because the lens is mounted sideways and is already extended inside the body of the camera with a prism used to reflect light so that the lens can see ahead.

It also has 3x optical zoom, 3″ touch screen LCD display, ISO 1600 and stainless steel body. One of it’s best features is that this camera could recognize your face. The optical setup is kept fully constant offering the advantage of being able to compensate spatial differences in sensitivity. Such compensation can only be performed if a reference is measured with exactly the same settings (focal length and opening of lens) as the actual image. The team is now designing variable-focus folded optical systems that have air between the reflective surfaces of the imager. Such imagers may be especially useful for lightweight, inexpensive infrared vision applications.

If you’re not quite sure what Digital Cameras to buy, be sure to check out helpful customer Buying Guides.  The picture was barely discernible, with large digital-artifacts appearing where the software’s compression utility hadn’t quite done its math correctly. The most obvious problem was the lack of motion.

This prototype is going to make up the high end of its line, it has a Nikon sensor and a Pentax lens. What makes it unique is something far more mundane, the lens surround. Other options to consider are the Panasonic FS3 (my personal favorite in this price range) and the the Nikon Coolpix S210. The FS3 is probably the best of the group in low light, but all are solid all-around cameras and should meet your requirements otherwise in terms of price, memory, etc.

By Dave Jackson Add comment

A Review of the Sony DSC-H3 camera

July 18th, 2008 at 07:14pm Under Main Content

It sports a 10x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization, high definition output and face detection abilities. It will retail at $300 when it is available in September. The zoom toggle’s soft-touch feel allows for fine adjustments, and the zoom is not stepped – allowing for apparently limitless settings between 1x and 10x. An on-screen read out displays the magnification level. Dominating the front of the camera is a Carl Zeiss-branded Vario-Tessar 10x optical 38-380mm equivalent f/3.5-4.4 zoom lens, which feeds light to an 8.1-megapixel CCD sensor. Around back you’ll find a 2.5-inch, 115,000-pixel LCD.

Combine this with a step-less 10x zoom lens covering an equivalent 38mm to 380mm and multi-mode image stabilization and you’ve got the makings of a winner for an amateur sports/nature photographer. A promised battery life of around 330 shots is equally enticing; we’ll see whether the H3 lives up to this hype, but Sony’s Stamina battery technology has proven true to the advertising copy in the past. Whereas most compacts have a paltry 3x zoom - boosted by an often unusable digital zoom - superzooms typically offer around 10x-18x optical zooms. But do they fill a gap or merely offer too many compromises? Sony puts 10x optical zoom in the palm of your hand. With compact body design, 8.1-megapixel resolution, and a top-quality Carl Zeiss lens, the Cyber-shot DSC-H3 packs more photo opportunities in a small size.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3 is yet another take on the emerging compact ultra-zoom theme, sporting a 10x optical zoom in a large pocket camera package. Amid some other more prominent entries into this field, the Sony seems to have been often lost in the mix. The 8.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3 features an optically stabilized f/3.5-4.4, 38mm-380mm (35mm equivalent) 10x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom lens and 115,000-pixel, 2.5-inch LCD screen. In addition to the lens, the camera’s design, resolution, and price put it into close competition with Canon’s PowerShot SX100 IS . To begin, the new camera features a powerful Carl Zeiss ? 10x optical zoom lens, which makes it ideal for capturing every expression when shooting little stars from the audience. It also includes a long-range flash that lights up subjects farther from the camera.

It offers a generally good, stabilized 10x zoom lens, snappy shot-to-shot performance, a good flash unit, and nice color reproduction. But in evaluating cameras, I always come back to the idea of how refined a particular unit feels. But as is typical of the 10x pocket camera, there’s neither an optical viewfinder, nor an EVF on the H3.

By Dave Jackson Add comment