Digital Camera News and Reviews

CNET UK has reviewed a slide-and-shoot faceplate camera from Sony. The camera is called Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX9 and features a 12.2 megapixels Exmor R back illuminated CMOS sensor in addition to a large 3.5″ LCD screen with touch abilities.

Some key features for the :
-12.2 megapixel image sensor
-Exmor R back illuminated CMOS sensor
-4x optical zoom lens (25-100mm)
-3.5″ LCD touchscreen
-1080i AVCHD Movie Mode
-3D sweep panorama mode

CNET UK ends up giving the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX9 an overall score of 3.5 stars out of 5 possible. On the positive side we find aspects such as large touchscreen that is responsive, nice design and small side. But there are some negative sides with TX9 too like that the touchscreen controls can be hard for some to use, expensive compared to other cameras in the same class, the focus could be better and the reviewer found some pixel fringing.
Read the full review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX9 camera here.

Casio EX-H5
Photography Blog has reviewed a travel zoom camera from Casio. The Casio camera is called Casio EX-H5 and features a 10x optical zoom lens that starts pretty wide at 10mm. It also has over 12 megapixels and the new Exilim Engine 5.0 processor.

Some key features for the Casio EX-H5 camera:
-12.1 megapixel image sensor
-Exilim Engine 5.0 processor
-10x optical zoom lens (24-240mm)
-Image stabilization
-2.7″ LCD screen
-Able to record 720p HD movies

Photography Blog ends up giving the Casio EX-H5 a “Recommended” rating with an overall score of 4 out of 5 possible stars. The EX-H5 scores highest on value for your money and ease of use, a bit lower on design and features while it scores lowest on image quality. The Casio is a good family camera, but it have some shortcomings like not being able to do optical zooming while recording movies and image quality could be better as the pictures gets worse at even ISO 200 from noise. Hopefully Casio will work on the image quality with their next camera in this line.
Read the full review of the Casio EX-H5 digital camera here.

Samsung ST100
Photography Blog has reviewed a new DualView camera from Samsung. The Samsung camera is called Samsung ST100 and features a 1.8″ front screen and a large 3.5″ on the back with touch-screen abilities.

Some key features for the Samsung ST100:
-14.2 megapixel image sensor
-1.8″ front LCD screen
-3.5″ LCD screen on the back
-Touch-screen abilities
-5x optical zoom lens (35-175mm)
-720p HD Video Recording
-ISO sensitivity 100-3200
-Uses microSD and microSDHC memory cards

Samsung ST100 ends up giving the Samsung ST100 an “Above Average” rating with an overall score of 3.5 stars out of 5 possible. The Samsung camera scores highest on ease of use, design and features while it scores lower on image quality and value for your money. The biggest gripe the reviewer seems to have with this camera is the high price, but they also had a bit of problems with soft images due to camera shake.
Read the full review of the Samsung ST100 DualView digital camera here.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40/FZ45
About.com has reviewed a compact superzoom camera from Panasonic. The camera is called Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 (known as Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45 in Europe) and has a very impressive zoom range that starts at 25mm and ends at 600mm.

Some key features for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40/FZ45:
-14.1 megapixel image sensor
-24x optical zoom (25-600mm)
-Optical image stabilization
-3″ LCD screen
-HD movies in AVCHD Lite format
-Intelligent Auto (iA) mode
-Uses SD and SDHC memory cards

About.com ends up giving the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40/FZ45 an overall rating of 4 out of 5 possible stars. There are several positive points to the Panasonic camera including good image quality, a good mix of manual and automatic controls, feels like a DSLR camera, good menu structure and it has a viewfinder. There are a few negative aspects like you need to use a tripod to get steady shots at the long end of the zoom range, large size, some focus problems and beginners might not understand the manual aspects of the camera. Overall the FZ40 seems like a good superzoom camera.
Read the full review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40/FZ45 digital camera here.