Digital Camera News and Reviews

Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1

Photography Blog has reviewed the ultrazoom Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1 compact digital camera. This Sony camera is quite interesting with its 20x optical zoom lens that are supposed to be of high quality. Let us see what the reviewer at Photography Blog thinks about this camera.

Some key features for the Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1:
-20x optical zoom lens (28 – 560 mm)
-9.1 megapixel sensor
-3″ tiltable LCD screen
-Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization
-HD movie recording

Photography Blog ends up giving the Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1 ultrazoom a “Highly Recommended” 4.5 out of 5 stars rating. The camera scores highest on design, features and value for the money. It also has pretty good image quality so the HX1 seem like a very strong ultrazoom camera.
Read the full review of the Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1 camera here.

Samsung HZ15W

Digital Camera Resource Page has reviewed the Samsung HZ15W (also known as WB550 in some countries) compact digital camera. The HZ15W feature 12 megapixels and a long 10x optical zoom lens.

Some key features for the Samsung HZ15W:
-12 megapixel sensor
-10x optical zoom lens (24 – 240mm)
-3″ LCD screen
-720p movie mode
-built-in HDMI connectivity

The reviewer at Digital Camera Resource Page gives the Samsung HZ15W a pretty average score as the camera has lots of nice features, but it also some downsides. On the positive side the reviewer finds that the HZ15W has a useful zoom range, big LCD screen and produces pictures with good color and exposure. There are some downsides like heavy noise reduction even at lower ISO levels making the pictures a bit soft, poor low light focusing and limited manual mode.
Read the full review of the Samsung HZ15W camera here.

Olympus SP-590 UltraZoom

Lets Go Digital has reviewed the ultrazoom camera Olympus SP-590 UltraZoom. This compact digital camera feature a whopping 26x optical zoom so it will be interesting to see what the review says about the image quality.

Some key features for the Olympus SP-590 UltraZoom:
-26x optical zoom lens (26-676mm)
-Image stabilization
-12 megapixel sensor
-Ability to record RAW files
-2.7″ LCD screen

Lets Go Digital ends up giving the Olympus SP-590 UltraZoom a “Good” 72% rating as the zoom range actually seems to be a bit too long. The zoom range is very useful, but image quality keeps the camera from getting a top score. Maybe you should look at a small budget DSLR and use two lenses if you are concerned with image quality.
Read the full review of the Olympus SP-590 UltraZoom camera here.

Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z90

The third camera that Casio (Casio Europe to be precise) announced today is called Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z280. The Z280 has a 12.1 megapixel sensor and 4x optical zoom in addition to image stabilization and face detection.

Some key features for the Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z90:
-12.1 megapixel image sensor
-4x optical zoom lens (26-104mm)
-Face detection
-Image stabilization
-HD movie recording at 1280×720 pixels

The press release for the Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z280 camera does not say when the camera will be on the marked or how much it will cost.

Press release:
More photo fun for the whole family: The new EXILIM Zoom EX-Z280 from CASIO

The new digital camera offers comprehensive features for versatile use

The new EXILIM Zoom EX-Z280 from CASIO is a delight with its captivating functions and is the ideal camera for the whole family. Whether a birthday party with friends, a joint weekend trip or portraits of relatives – the new EXILIM Zoom camera from CASIO transforms the happiest of moments into unforgettable memories. The EX-Z280 combines high performance and lots of fun in its slim and compact casing:

A high-performance, stylish digital camera
The EXILIM Zoom EX-Z280 is a 12.1 effective megapixel digital camera boasting a wide-angle 26 mm 4X optical zoom lens (35 mm film camera equivalent) in a stylishly slim, compact body. Needless to say, it comes complete with Casio’s usual high-performance features, such as a CCD-shift image stabilization mechanism and Face Detection function.

EXILIM Engine 4.0 built-in
The EXILIM Engine 4.0 features a high-speed dedicated image processing CPU in addition to an ordinary CPU, allowing the camera to perform complex processing such as is required to allow users to combine images right on the camera. Casio developed the new engine to make possible beautiful, high-quality images, with outstanding color reproduction and a rich tonal range that guarantees superior visual expression, and noise reduction at high-sensitivity levels.

Various new functions make the most of the new EXILIM Engine 4.0

Dynamic Photo function
This innovative function makes it possible to extract multiple motifs from one series of photos and turn them into an animated sequence. This can then be placed into another photo and now also be enlarged or minimised as well as optimally adjusted to the background within the newly created picture. The photographer can refine his photos even further simply by adding one of the already installed animations. The dynamic photo can subsequently be turned into a film file while still in the camera. This not only makes taking pictures fun, but also the creation of one’s own photo and video compositions.

Make-up function
In addition to recognizing faces and adjusting focus and exposure accordingly, the camera can make adjustments to smooth skin in images and soften facial shadows caused by sunlight, creating beautiful photographs of people’s faces. The photographer can choose from one of twelve levels of skin beauty using different strengths of image processing, and can shoot after viewing the results in the LCD monitor.

Handheld Night Scene function and Lighting function
The camera can automatically detect difficult situations, such as night scenes where there would normally be camera shake, and backlit scenes where faces or backgrounds can be poorly exposed, and then make the most appropriate settings. All the user has to do is to press the shutter button to take great pictures.

Tracking AF
The camera incorporates an autofocus function that automatically follows a moving subject. When a subject leaves the frame the camera makes a record of it, and when the same subject once again enters the frame it is recognized by the camera, and auto focusing is resumed.

High Resolution HD Movies
The camera also features an HD Movie function. Just press the dedicated Movie button to take beautiful movies at 1280×720 pixels.

YouTube™ Movie Mode
Movies can be recorded and saved using the ideal size and quality settings for the world’s most popular video sharing site, YouTube™. Recorded movies can be easily uploaded to YouTube™ using the included computer software.

Easy Mode helps beginners by making camera settings easy to understand
Using Easy Mode, photo settings are restricted to just image size, flash on/off and self timer, and these are displayed on a simplified menu screen.