Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 is a compact sub $180 camera having 8x zoom wide angle lens, HD movie capture, and .. well, nothing else. That is all you get; I am not complaining but this is pretty basic camera made for entry level users. The photo quality and shooting performance could have been improved; the speed is OK and so are the results. If you are looking for some advanced features here, I won’t recommend this camera to you. This is a simple camera with a low price and flexible lens. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 is available in five color options and overall, the device looks quite attractive. You can easily put it in a pants pocket but it might make you uncomfortable. The gadget is comfortable to use and hold and it feels well constructed for this price point. Controls of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 are easy to master and if you have used digital  [...]

Point and shoot digital cameras are popular amongst people who are new to the world of photography. Here I will tell you about the best point and shooters that I have ever come across to date. First one in my list is the Canon PowerShot S90 which has good control system for the semimanual and manual shooting. The wide-angle F2 lens are fantastic and the photo quality in low light conditions look great. The camera does come with a few drawbacks though, the performance is just average and not as good as some of the best point and shoot digital cameras that you get in the market. There is no optical zoom or HD movie mode so if you yearn for good quality videos, this camera is not for you. Apart from that, I was disappointed to see that there is no optical view finder here and the camera suffers from some design miscues. I would still recommend this camera; the photo quality  [...]

I will be talking about two best point and shoot digital cameras in the market right now. You can check them out and buy the ones that suits you the best. Panasonic FH20 is the first one amongst them and this camera is quite easy to use. Point and shoot cameras are usually user-friendly and I was glad to see that the manufacturer didn’t break the trend in this model. Even a newbie will get used to this digicam in no time. I also liked the fact that the market put a very flexible lens in such a compact body. Such combination is rare in digicams these days and this is the primary reason why the Panasonic FH20 made it to my best point and shoot digital camera list. This camera is rich in features, you get everything that you’d expect in a point and shoot digital camera. I tested this camera in my labs and was satisfied with the performance  [...]

Casio Exilim EX-S7 looks better than what the price suggests. The camera looks very stylish with a thin and lightweight design. Most of the room is occupied by the LCD and there is also a slim control panel. You thumb will rest between the LCD’s right edge and a discrete Movie mode button. Pressing it once will start the recording, pressing it again will stop it and then take you to shooting still option. Underneath this, there are the Camera and Playback Mode buttons, Set button, circular direction pad, Best Shot and Menu buttons. Casio Exilim EX-S7 settings are located in the Menu button. There is a settings panel on the right which gives you a faster access to the shooting options. Pressing the down/up direction pad will change the flash settings and display information respectively. The right and left toggles the  [...]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5’s performance is better than its predecessor, the LX3 and it is on par wit the competition too. It takes just 1.6 seconds for the camera to wake up and start shooting. Shooting and focusing in good light takes just 0.4 second and in dim light, it goes down to 0.8 second. Without the flash, the shot-to-shot time is better than other digicams that I’ve seen in my labs till now - 1.6 and 1.4 seconds for JPEG and raw respectively. With the flash, it is 4.6 seconds. The continuous shooting speeds on this camera is faster than what you get in the competition at 2.6 frames per second or fps. Also, the battery life is better than a lot of cameras out there. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 is physically bigger that its previous model. However, it is still pretty comfortable to hold in the hand. It is not as small as the really famous Canon  [...]

Sony recently got five consumer cameras for its dSLR line up and amongst them; the Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 is the best one. All five cameras are within the $500 and $750 price range and I really liked the Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 because it gives great value for money. The quality of photo too is better here and I was impressed by its performance. Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 has a tilting LCD on the back. This device is pretty similar to the step-up A550 with a few exceptions. The A500 screen has a lower resolution and the sensor resolution too is lower. This camera doesn’t have continuous shooting mode either. Finally, I must say that the A500 bulkier and heavier as compared to the other four in this series or other dSLRs in the competition. Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 is well built and it feels solid in the hand. However, I didn’t like the plastic body as it feels  [...]

This is a very nice looking compact megazoom camera with nice set of features. You get a 27 mm wide angle lens, 10x zoom, three inch LCD, and 12 megapixel super CCD EXR sensor which should guarantee better quality photos than a standard point and shoot camera. It is designed to improve dynamic range and low light performance. On the top of the camera, there is a power button, shutter release, and zoom ring. Remaining controls are located on the back, right next to the LCD. The functions of the camera are easy enough to learn and even a newbie will get going in no time. However, you might get frustrated by the menu system of the camera. There are two of them, one is located under the menu button and one beneath the F button. On the top, there is a mode dial which includes scene and automatic shooting modes. This dial also contains full and automatic shooting mode along with the full manual  [...]

When it comes to touch screen cameras, there are complaints sometimes about the display responsiveness but I was glad to see that the Nikon Coolpix S4000 doesn’t have any. The touch controls are quite responsive both through the stylus and fingertips. I really liked the way Nikon made the screen useful; the buttons are not just put up there as physical key’s substitutes. I had two problems with this camera – first is the autofocus system which was inconsistent and the general shooting speeds too were unimpressive. The photo quality of the Nikon Coolpix S4000 in dim lighting or indoors is not that great. But you won’t complaint much if you just want to upload the photos to the Web or take small prints. I would recommend this camcorder if you are looking for an inexpensive touch screen camera for taking portraits that are well lit. Such types of photographers are really rare though  [...]