Canon PowerShot A540 Review
Canon is one of my favourite digital camera brands. I have a Canon PowerShot S1 IS, and while it is a great camera, it is too large for easy day to day use. Trusted Reviews has recently taken a look at the A540, a much more compact digital camera compared to my own, and a few better specifications.
The PowerShot A540 is a mid-range digital camera with a 6 megapixel CCD, a 2.5 inch LCD, and 4x optical zoom.
They give the A540 an eight out of ten and say a few good words on the camera in their vedict section:
The A450 is a very capable camera and good value for money, and would make an excellent choice for anyone who wants to learn more about photography before moving on to a semi-pro zoom or DSLR. It may lack some features found on higher end models, but it is a good all rounder and produces top quality results.
Digital Photography Series 2006 Edition
So for those that don’t have a digital camera, but are thinking about getting one, what do you really need to buy and understand before you can get started taking pictures with the camera? Some people mistakingly think that puchasing the camera alone is enough, but honestly, digital cameras need many of the same things your old film cameras needed to make it work, especially if you want it to work effectively.
This Digital Photography Series will cover as much as possible on purchasing a camera, camera accessories, camera care, image management and editing software, saving your images and general usage tips.
Digital Photography: Picking a Camera
The first thing you will need is the digital camera itself. You can find a digital camera for every type of user and for every need. Most digital cameras perform well in a variety of situations, and for the average user, I would recommend really taking your time and finding the right camera for you. Do you need something compact? Inexpensive? Easy to use? Or what about something with a little more features. If you are looking for something with a fuller size, more features, a better optical zoom, then you will be looking at a whole different grouping of cameras.
Brand Preference and Friendly Advice
Most people also seem to have brand preference, as they have had experience with other products from the same company, or have heard great things from friends and colleagues. I really recommend listening to the advice that other people are willing to give, but remember that their needs could be different than your own, and if they are showing off, they may not highlight the downsides to their camera, leaving you in the same boat.
Megapixel Madness
One of the questions I get asked most often is how many megapixels is enough. Most more experienced photographers will look at you and wince in pain at the question because it really comes down to what you want to do with the image you capture, more than anything else. For most consumers I would recommend something in the five and six megapixel range, as it should be good enough to print images from, and also relatively inexpensive as digital cameras start entering the ten megapixel and above arena.
Baseline Average and Recommendations
A good baseline camera is currently around five or six megapixels, with a three times optical zoom, a few capture modes, a viewfinder and a LCD display. I recommend getting a higher optical zoom around four times or higher, as the digital zoom will quickly reduce the quality of your images when it comes to printing them, as it basically just uses the little computer inside the camera to crop the image and blow it up in size.
You will notice that I mentioned a viewfinder. This is the area where you can look to see what image you are going to take, and many really compact digital cameras are doing away with them, leaving you only the LCD to frame your pictures. While this does seem like an interesting idea, it can become difficult to see anything on LCD’s in bright outdoor conditions, and it also uses much more battery life than a viewfinder, and so I recommend that your first or primary digital camera have a viewfinder.
Other than that, it is really up to you as the day to day user of the camera to go into stores and hold different cameras in your hand, play with their buttons, feel the quality or lack of quality, and figure out if it has the features you want for the price you are looking for.
Canon to drop Film Cameras
You mean there are companies out there that are producing film cameras still, other than the disposable ones? It seems so, but the number of film camera producers might lose another in its ranks to the digital world as Canon considers dropping their development of new compact and SLR film cameras.
They will continue to support and sell existing models while keeping tabs on the marketplace for further efforts to withdraw from the film market sometime in the future.
Earlier this year, Nikon said something along the same lines, as the film camera market is shrinking fast as digital adoption continues, and thus with a smaller market is less profit.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30 Review
Sony has always tried to give off the appearance of high quality with their products, as well as trying to push the envelope sometimes in features and design. The Cyber-shot T30 takes what they did with the T9 and cranks it up a few notches.
Digital Camera Resource Page has a review of the compact digital camera.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30 takes everything that was great about its predecessor (the DSC-T9) and makes them bigger. You get more pixels, a bigger screen, and almost double the battery life. The camera does get a bit larger to accommodate some of these features, but it’s still a very compact (not to mention stylish) camera. While it’s not for everybody, the DSC-T30 is a camera that I can easily recommend to most folks.
Some of what they liked include the stylish body, the image stabilizer, photo quality, and performance. Some negatives with the T30 include its redeye problem, lack of manual controls, and lack of optical viewfinder.
Fujifilm Drops FinePix E900 Price Reduction
Fujifilm USA has lowered the suggested list price of the critically acclaimed FinePix E900 digital camera to $399.
The price move adds extra appeal to an already outstanding camera.
Some of the most popular and trusted sources of digital imaging information have applauded the FinePix E900 for its operational performance and picture quality, including Rangefinder Magazine, Imaging Resource, Popular Photography and PC Magazine, which honored the FinePix E900 with an Editors’ Choice Award.
PRAKTICA DCZ6.3
If modern colour psychology is right, red stands for passion and the desire for happiness. PRAKTICA is adapting this passion – this fire –to its latest model – the DCZ 6.3.
Every single pixel of the six million on the CCD sensor is taking care that even the most filigree detail is stored accurately and brought to life on the 2.5” monitor afterwards.
High resolution video clips are no problem either. Whether you record with 320×240 or 640×480 pixels with a constant rate of 30 frames per second – the world around you starts to move.
But what happens if you want to print out your pictures? There’s nothing easier like that. The DCZ 6.3 is operating on the PictBridge standard and allows you to print your images directly to a printer without using a computer. Print-outs are only one fingertip away.
The focal length rages from 5.8 to 17.4 mm and with exposure times from 2 to 1/1000 seconds and exposure values set up between +/- 2.0, images can be adapted manually as well. The PRAKTICA DCZ 6.3 uses standard alkaline batteries or Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and distinguishes itself by a low energy consumption. The already built-in 32 MB memory can be extended with additional SD cards.
Each camera comes with a USB cable, a TV cable, a software CD, a pouch, a wrist strap, a manual and a pair of batteries.
Canon PowerShot S3 IS Review
Digital Photography Review recently reviewed the PowerShot S3 IS from Canon, and one of my favorite super zoom digital cameras.
Like the S2 IS before it (and for that matter the original S1 IS), the latest version of Canon’s flagship Image stabilized Ultra zoom PowerShot has been one of the most popular cameras on dpreview (measured by clicks) since the day it was announced. Unlike the S2, the PowerShot S3 IS is a relatively minor upgrade to it’s predecessor, much more of an evolutionary change than a wholesale reinvention. The basic spec (aside from the sensor) is pretty familiar; 12x optical zoom, flip ‘n’ twist LCD, tons of photographic control and advanced movie mode with stereo sound.
In the end they give it a highly recommended rating, saying that it is a shame it is not a big update like the S1 to S2 was.
Micron Unveils New CMOS Sensor
Micron has long been a smaller player in the digital camera market as it uses CMOS sensors for its cameras, which are traditionally not as good as the CCD sensors currently used in most mainstream digital cameras, but that could be shifting as Micron has come up with an 8 megapixel CMOS sensor that is the same size as the chips used in current digital cameras.
Micron started producing CMOS image sensors in recent years to help diversify its product portfolio and move away from the volatile market for DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips, which are used in personal computers.
Micron said it will be the first company to market an eight-megapixel CMOS image sensor that is the same size as most image chips used in digital cameras on the market. Other eight-megapixel chips are much larger, company officials said.
“You don’t have to worry about missing the moment, so to speak,” Venkatraman said. “If your kid is about to score a shot with the soccer ball, you can just hold the shutter down. … You don’t have to worry about whether you got the right shot.”
Sony DSC W30 Review
Cameras.co.uk reviews the Sony DSC-W30, a six megapixel compact digital camera, that is really just the cheaper version of the W50 with a smaller LCD.
Sony have made the DSC W30 easy to use and it should not take you long to get up and running with this camera.
In terms of price it is very competitive with other digital cameras with a similar specification. Therefore I can see this camera appealing to more or less anyone who is looking for a straightforward camera that they can take anywhere with them and not have to break the bank to buy.
In the end they give the camera an 81 out of 100, saying that if you are looking for image quality, this would be a camera to buy, as it outperforms the image quality on much more expensive cameras.
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