PCWorld’s Top 10 Entry Level Digicams

PCWorld reviewed entry-level digital cameras and came out with a top ten list, pitting the cameras against each other in terms of price, image quality, battery life, and a host of other factors.

Here are the winners:

  1. HP Photosmart R717 - 83/100: Feature-rich, has in-camera red-eye reduction, and comes with useful help texts built into the menu system. Retails at 270.
  2. Canon PowerShot A520 - 82/100: Has full manual controls and generally performs well, albeit with a short battery life. Retails at $200.
  3. Casio Exilim EX-Z750 - 81/100: Slim and sleek, starts up quick, has full manual controls, and a large 2.5-inch LCD.
  4. Fujifilm FinePix F10 - 78/100: Good image quality and allowance for high ISO settings (up to 1600). Retails at $329.
  5. Fujifilm FinePix E900 - 77/100: Has high image quality and full set of manual controls. Quite on the expensive side, though, at $410.
  6. Olympus FE-120 - 77/100: Good image quality, but lacks manual controls. The camera also has a small LCD (at 1.8 inches). Retails at $230.
  7. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 - 77/100: A bulky model with 12x optical zoom and image stabilization. Image quality wasn’t very good though. Priced at $400.
  8. HP Photosmart R817 - 76/100: Has in-camera image reduction like teh R717, and a more powerful optical zoom. Image quality didn’t fare too well, though. Priced at $299.
  9. Casio Exilim EX-S600 - 76/100: Sleek and very thin. Has very long battery life and allows for high ISO shooting. The interface is not very easy to use, though, as the lack of a control dial necessitates many button-presses to access features and controls. Priced at $350.
  10. Casio Exilim EX-Z57 - 75/100: Has an extensive set of scene modes and a very long battery life. The LCD is generously sized at 2.7 inches, but the limited set of manual controls is a disadvantage. Priced at $250.

Note that the prices quoted were the street price when the cameras were reviewed (about February this year). My personal favorite, of course, is #2, the Canon A520–I just bought myself one mid-February (only for Canon to release the A530 a couple of months later that, retailing for a lower price than the A520 in February).

April 17th, 2006 Posted by J. Angelo Racoma in Uncategorized at 8:46 am Comment Now! »
Related Posts:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS2 Review
Olympus FE-110 Review
Nikon Coolpix S5 Review
HP PhotoSmart M22 Review
Fujifilm FinePix A600 Zoom

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