Nikon Coolpix S640 – Review – 34

Harley Ogier on Nikon’s quick-draw compact

Nikon’s Coolpix S640 is a truly pocket-sized digital compact camera, optimised for the quick-draw shooting most compacts just can’t manage.

At just 0.7 seconds, the S640 boasts the fastest start-up time in its class. In the automatic shooting mode you really can take a shot less than a second after pressing the power button, with reasonable results. The key is leaving the camera in the auto mode – if you turned it off in another mode that’s not so quick to focus, the result won’t be as speedy.

To complement the quick start-up, the S640 also features extremely fast autofocus. I found it comparable in speed to a dSLR’s phase-detect autofocus, definitely much faster than the average digital compact. A subject-tracking mode further enhances the autofocus, allowing you to lock on to a moving subject. Results vary depending on the situation, but I had consistent success tracking human faces and small animals – for photographing kids and pets as they run wildly about the place, the S640 is a clear winner.

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Ricoh CX2 – Review – 34

Harley Ogier puts Ricoh’s new compact through its paces

Ricoh’s CX2 is a high-zoom digital compact camera with a professional look and feel. Well constructed, it features a solid metal body and a particularly comfortable grip. Unlike many compacts, ample thumb space is provided beside the controls; you can hold the camera tightly without accidentally mashing buttons.

A good case is included in the box and provides a fair amount of protection while keeping the camera pocket sized. With the CX2’s basic rectangular shape and lack of protrusions, sliding the CX2 into a pocket is a real option – it fits easily in a jacket. The case also features a belt loop and a metal D-ring for a lanyard.

Despite its compact size, the CX2 packs an awesome 28-300mm equivalent zoom lens. This is 100mm longer than the CX1, with only a 1.5mm increase in the camera’s thickness. The lens is a decent size, exposing enough glass to justify the 9.29 megapixel sensor.

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Canon PowerShot S90 – Review – 34

Tim Grey welcomes back Canon’s S-series

In the last round of releases under the PowerShot moniker, Canon apparently decided to buck the trend for ever-increasing megapixels and focus on the real business of taking photos: image quality.

As far as we can surmise, the rationale behind shrinking resolution was simple: extra pixels created more noise while shooting in low light, while photographers would rarely be making a print the size of a bus with a compact camera. With this in mind, Canon released two cameras that use a new 10 megapixel, 0.43cm2 sensor: the G11, whose predecessor had a 14 megapixel sensor, and the S90, the latest in the long-dormant S-series.

The G-series cameras tend to make professional photographers lusty, particularly the G10, which has found its way into the back pockets of shooters who use dSLRs. The cameras have great lenses, shoot RAW and go fully manual, but despite all their high-end functionality, the Gs aren’t really that slim. Enter the S90.

Gone are some functions, the swivel screen, and you’ll have to look at the monitor rather than through a viewfinder. Continuous shooting isn’t as quick and the zoom has been shaved. None of it matters. This is a camera that’ll fit in real-world pockets and which has guts to boot.

The first feature you’ll notice is the aperture ring on the front, which is easily assignable to a number of functions, including ISO, aperture, the (probably unnecessary) white balance, and the fantastically useful manual focus, which throws a magnified section of your shot into the centre of the screen and allows you to make fine adjustments to focus. Spin the wheel at the front and Bob’s your uncle – the experience is something like using a shrunken SLR.

While it’s a feature that belongs on more compacts, the wheel itself is a bit on the tacky side, and a small turn makes the whole camera move.

Otherwise the camera is solidly built despite its stature, with few plastic elements giving you the sense it’s going to break. It’s small but not fiddly, and its particularly well designed form means it’s not really in need of extra grip.

Although the S90 forgoes a viewfinder, given the compact’s intended usage its inclusion would have been inessential. While the 3.0-inch PureColor II LCD is big and crisp, it’s still an LCD screen and you’ll struggle to see it in bright daylight. When the going gets tough you can, however, trust your histogram, which handily pops up on the viewscreen.

Of course, what really matters when it comes to cameras is image quality, and with the S90 the quality is particularly high. The 28-105mm f/2.0 is an outstanding lens, especially for a camera of this size. It’s fast and sharp glass, and you’ll be able to create shots with shallow depth of field without hassle.

The S90 also makes good on its promise to deliver better low-light performance. While the f/2.0 lens in concert with the built-in image stabilisation goes a long way when you’re shooting in the dark, the sensor design takes it a step further. Noise is still an issue anywhere above and beyond 800, but shooting at 1600 will produce usable shots.

Make no mistake: at $899 the S90 is more than a lot of people would want to spend on a point-and-shoot. But it’s a cracking camera and it’s nearly $200 cheaper than its bigger brother, while matching it in terms of performance. Discerning photographers lusting after a compact camera, eat your heart out.

Canon PowerShot S90 – Specifications

Manufacturer: Canon
Model: PowerShot S90
RRP: $899
Effective pixels: 10.0 million
Image Sensor: 7.60 x 5.70 mm, 0.43cm²
LCD Monitor: 3-inch, 461,000-dot, PureColor II
Shutter: 1/1600 to 15 seconds
ISO: 80-3200
Exposure Metering: Evaluative, center-weighted, spot
Movies: 640 x 480 at 30fps, 320 x 240 at 30fps
Storage Media: SD, SDHC, MMC, MMCplus, HC MMCplus
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI
Battery: Lithium-ion NB-6L and charger
Dimensions: 100 x 58 x 31mm
Weight: 195g (incl batteries)

Contact: www.canon.co.nz

PROS

• Performs well in low light
• Sharp, fast f/2.0 lens
• Very compact

CONS

• Aperture ring sticks while spinning

• Expensive for a compact camera

Design                      19
Performance             17
Features                   18
Image Quality           16
Value for money       17

TOTAL 87/100

This article is from D-Photo 34. Click here to check it out.

Nikon Coolpix S1000PJ – Review – 34

Harley Ogier trials a camera that doubles as a projector

Miniature LED-based projectors have appeared in recent years. Nikon has applied that technology to the Coolpix S1000pj, bringing photography and projection together in a camera body.

At a glance the S1000pj looks like an average midrange digital compact camera. The layout and controls are relatively standard and although the camera is a little heavier than its contemporaries, that may just be a product of its solid construction. The only thing that really stands out is the extra lens for the projector, located on the centre-front of the camera.

The camera’s imaging lens is the non-extending type, zooming and focusing entirely within the body. When the camera is off the lens is well protected by an external shutter. This makes for a particularly robust lens: you’ll never suffer motor damage when the lens extends in your pocket. That’s great for parties and travel but the flattened optics have a cost in terms of image quality.

Overall, image quality is reasonable – exactly what you’d expect of a midrange compact camera. Dynamic range is good and can be improved further with Nikon’s D-Lighting feature. However, noise can be a problem, even under good lighting conditions. If you’re shooting for the web (Facebook, Flickr and the like), this is fine. The noise disappears when you resize the image to more screen-friendly dimensions, leaving you with rich, well-contrasted photographs. If you’re hoping to use all 12 megapixels for extensive cropping or detail work, expect to be disappointed.

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Sony A550 – Review – 33

Harley Ogier reviews a dSLR that has a particular penchant for Live View

The A550 is a comprehensive addition to Sony’s entry-level range, offering functionality catering to both digital-compact camera users and those with existing digital SLR experience.

Taking a clever approach to Live View, the A550 uses a secondary image sensor to capture the preview image shown on screen. This lets the camera use its fast phase-detect autofocus, instead of the slower contrast-detect method seen in most Live View implementations. The result is viewfinder-speed autofocus in Live View, the fastest I’ve seen on any camera to date.

A second mode, ‘Manual Focus Check Live View’, is also provided; this uses the camera’s main image sensor, giving you far more detail and allowing you to zoom in on screen to check focus.

Combined with the A550’s beautifully crisp variable-angle LCD monitor, the two Live View modes provide the full digital compact camera experience. For those new to digital SLRs, this is a great way to smooth the learning curve. Even to experienced amateurs and professionals, the convenience is still noteworthy.

On the downside, the A550’s viewfinder is set flat into the rear of the camera, half a centimetre back from the raised LCD monitor. I found this meant my nose was always in the way, pressed up against the screen when looking through the viewfinder. Not only is this uncomfortable, but it ensures the screen is perpetually smudged.

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Samsung ST550 – Review – 33

Harley Ogier finds Samsung’s new compact to be less of a gimmick than you might think

Samsung brings a major innovation to the market with its latest digital compact offering, the ST550. In addition to a huge high-resolution touchscreen, the ST550 features a secondary display on the front of the camera next to the lens. This is brilliant for framing self-portraits, a feature more useful than ever before in the world of Facebook and MySpace.

Even under close inspection, it’s difficult to spot the front display. The 1.5-inch monitor is hidden behind the camera’s shiny plastic facade, a standard fingerprint-magnet. Held under the right light at the right angle, the edges of the display are barely visible. However, two taps on the camera’s rear touchscreen bring the front screen to life, shining clearly through the casing. At the very least, it’s a great party trick.

The ST550 boasts strong face detection, combined with a smile shutter-release feature that actually works. Together with the front screen, you can snap the perfect profile picture or group shot without having to press the shutter button.

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Canon 7D – Review – 33

Tim Grey loves Canon’s new dSLR but hankers after a full-frame sensor

You’d need about eight frames per second to capture the rate of camera development. When you’re choosing a new kit, you’ve either got to steel yourself for your new camera’s almost instantaneous obsolescence, or be prepared to fork out for the latest model as well.

With the release of the 7D, Canon hasn’t so much as updated any of its existing cameras as carved out a new niche, creating what the company describes as an “all-rounder” that ostensibly targets the prosumer sports-orientated shooter.

At first glance the 7D looks like it might be a souped-up 50D, last year’s sporty EOS, or a slightly cheaper version of the mighty 5D Mark II. In fact, the 7D actually rumbles all three models in significant ways.

Announced at the beginning of September, the 7D has received a feverish response from the photo community. D-Photo’s web story on the camera’s release was the month’s most read and retailers have been telling me they just can’t keep the things on the shelf.

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