Digital Camera World » new cameras

Sony A58 review

jmeyer — Sun, 19 May 2013 12:00:31 +0000

Sony A58 review: Sony’s new 20-megapixel entry-level SLT camera promises a lot of specs for its price. But is it capable? Find out in our hands-on Sony Alpha 58 review video.

The Sony A58 joins the SLT Alpha range as the Sony A57 replacement and sits just above the entry level 37. New to the Sony A58 are a host of features that should appeal to photographers who are starting to get more serious about their photography and want to take more control over their pictures.

Along with the Sony A58′s newly designed 201-megapixel Exmor APS-C HD CMOS sensor and Sony’s translucent mirror technology, the A58 adds an increased ISO range from 100 to 16,000, full HD video recording, an improved EVF and an enhanced Bionz image processing engine.

It’s an impressive spec list indeed. Here Amy Davies takes a look at what this new Sony Alpha camera has to offer in her Sony A58 review video.

Sony A58 Review Video Transcript

Sony has introduced a new camera at the bottom of its SLT line-up, the a58. It replaces not one,but two cameras – the a37 and a57, in an attempt to simplify the beginner range of Alpha cameras.

The a58 is a DSLT – the T standing for Translucent and referring to the fixed mirror inside the camera. Unlike normal DSLRs, light travels directly through the mirror, rather than it flipping out of the way. This means that the camera can offer faster frame rates and quicker autofocus speeds in live view – which the camera is effectively always shooting in – and video mode.

The a58 has a fairly hefty body, with this large grip and rubberised coating helping when shooting one handed.

On the top of the camera is a mode dial for switching between the various shooting modes on offer, including fully automatic, fully manual and semi-automatic options, such as aperture and shutter priority. There are quite a few other options also found here, including scene mode, sweep panorama and picture effects.

The buttons on the back of the camera are well laid out, with easy access to almost everything with your right thumb. Only the main menu button is more inaccessible, but with the quick function menu accessed with this button, you should find that you don’t need to delve into the full menu very often.

You can access all the most commonly used settings, including white balance, Drive Mode and Picture Effects, via this function button. It’s also here that you’ll find Auto Object Framing, a new feature for the Alpha series which automatically crops your images for what the camera considers to be a better composition.

We’d previously seen Auto Portrait Framing, but with the addition of Auto Object Framing, any kind of photo can be cropped, rather than just people shots.

At the top of the camera is a zoom button, this is used to activate Sony’s Clear Zoom function, which uses By Pixel Resolution Technology and doubles the effective focal length of whichever lens is attached. We’ve been impressed by how well this performs compared with other forms of digital zoom before, and a similar performance is put in by the a58.

Unfortunately, a lot of the most interesting features of the a58 can’t be used when shooting in raw format. These include Picture Styles, Clear Zoom and Auto Object/Portrait framing.

Annoyingly, this means that you need to delve into the full menu, switch off raw format shooting, then go back to whatever you’re trying to use. This can be a bit of a tedious process and we had hoped Sony would have come up with a better solution for this by now.

As there’s not a traditional mirror in the camera, the a58 uses an electronic, rather than optical, viewfinder. Sony has used an OLED in the a58, compared with the LCD in the a57. It’s a noticeable improvement, offering a clearer and brighter view. Some don’t like electronic viewfinders, but there are a couple of distinct advantages.

The ability to see any changes you make in live time via the viewfinder is useful, as is the captured image popping up to help you know whether you’ve nailed the shot or not. This sensor here automatically switches to the viewfinder, and switches off the LCD screen, when the camera is lifted to the eye.

The 460,000 dot screen isn’t fully articulated, but it does tilt up and down to make it easier when shooting from some awkward positions in landscape format. It’s not as much help when shooting in portrait format though.

It’s quite a low resolution screen, but it doesn’t suffer too badly from glare or reflection, with the ability to tilt the screen helping if the sun is very strong. Once again, Sony has chosen not to incorporate a touchscreen on its entry-level model.

One of the problems with a translucent mirror is that less light is able to get to the sensor, sometimes meaning that the lens hunts around to attain focus, especially in lower light conditions. The A58 kit lens has quite a noisy focus mechanism, so this can be a little distracting in certain situations.

Sony Alpha cameras have impressed us before with their excellent image quality, and the a58 is no different. Generally, it produces very detailed shots with good colour rendition and exposure.

It’s worth experimenting with different Picture Effects and Styles, as well as the Sweep Panorama when you want to get more creative, too.

Canon EOS 100D review: does the Rebel SL1 / EOS 100D offer more than its size?

jmeyer — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:06:08 +0000

The Canon Rebel SL1 / EOS 100D is the world’s smallest and lightest DSLR. But is its image quality up to scratch? Find out in our Canon EOS 100D review.

Canon finally introduced its own CSC last year with the Canon EOS M, but now it has also released the Canon EOS 100D – also known as the Canon EOS Rebel SL1 in the United States – which is the world’s smallest and lightest DSLR.

The Canon EOS 100D / Rebel SL1 is an all new DSLR that joins the EOS camera line-up, sitting between the EOS 1100D and EOS 600D. But what else does it offer apart from its size?

Here Amy Davies of our testing team takes a look at what this camera has to offer in her Canon EOS 100D review video.

Canon SL1 / Canon EOS 100D Review Video Transcript

This is the Canon EOS 100D, which at the time of launch is the world’s smallest and lightest DSLR.

Canon has managed to shrink down all of the major components of this camera, but still retain an APS-C sized, 18 million pixel sensor at its heart.

This grip, although not as pronounced as on other DSLRs, still allows for good purchase, even when shooting with the camera one-handed. This dial here just next to the grip is used for altering aperture or shutter speed, depending on the mode you’re in.

Despite the camera’s small size, Canon has managed to keep a good button layout, with the majority being easily reached by the thumb on the right hand side. There’s also a mode dial, which is used to access fully automatic modes, semi-automatic modes, and full manual modes.

You’ll also notice here that the on/off switch can be pushed one step further to activate the movie mode on the camera. This makes it quicker to reach than having to spin the mode dial all the way around, and should make capturing those spur of the moment movies much easier.

We’ve seen “Creative Auto” mode before, and it helps new photographers get the shots they want, without using complicated photographic terms. So for instance, using this setting to make the background more or less blurred is actually altering the aperture.

Creative Auto Mode also makes accessing the digital filters, such as Toy Camera effect easy. Although you can’t shoot in raw format with digital filters, you can access a Extra Effect Shot mode which shoots one standard JPEG, and one with the effect added – useful if you decide you don’t like the filter further down the line.

Bizarrely, although digital filters can be accessed when shooting in other modes, such as aperture priority, you can only reach them when shooting in Live View mode, and the option to use Extra Effect Shot is not available.

For better control, you could choose to use Picture Styles. A number of presets are already included, such as Landscape and Portrait, while there’s also space for up to three of your own, useful if you want to create a custom setting, such as high contrast monochrome. You can also shoot in raw format too, for added flexibility.

On the back of the camera is a 3-inch touch sensitive LCD panel. This can be used for a range of things, including quickly accessing the Quick Menu. Simply tap this Q button here, then touch the setting you want to change. You can then use the scroll dial at the front of the camera to quickly move through the different options.

One of the good things about the touchscreen is that if you don’t want to use it, you don’t have to. Exactly the same operation can be achieved by using this button in the centre of the four-way control pad and the arrow keys here.

There are a lot of similarities between the button layout on this camera and other Canon DSLRs. So for instance, here we have a button to control exposure compensation, and another here to play back images.

The autofocus point can be changed in one of two ways, depending on whether you’re shooting in Live View or not. Press this button here to choose from one of the nine AF points available. You can use the touchscreen, which is especially useful in Live View mode – in fact you can also touch the screen to fire the shutter. Tap the screen at the point you want to use and the camera will focus and take the picture. This is useful in a few different scenarios, such as when using a tripod.

Unlike the majority of compact system cameras on the market, the 100D has a traditional optical viewfinder. This sensor here automatically switches off the screen when the camera is lifted to the eye. It’s worth bearing in mind however that the viewfinder doesn’t offer a 100% field of view, something to consider when composing your images.

We had high hopes for the Canon EOS 100D at its launch, with its promise of similar image quality to other cameras we’ve been impressed by in the past. In reality, the 100D delivers excellent images which are bright, punchy and detailed from a range of different shooting conditions.

However, we can’t help but feel that having the world’s smallest and lightest DSLR doesn’t mean too much when the rest of the system remains comparatively large and heavy. It’ll be interesting to see how the sales figures of this camera compare with its CSC rivals.

PAGE 1: Canon Rebel SL1 / Canon EOS 100D Review
PAGE 2: Our original Canon Rebel SL1 / Canon EOS 100D announcement story

Canon T5i review: is the EOS 700D / Rebel T5i a worthy upgrade?

jmeyer — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:12 +0000

The Canon T5i / EOS 700D promises to be Canon’s most advanced EOS camera to date, but is the 18-megapixel newcomer enough of an upgrade over the Canon T4i / EOS 650D? Find out in our Canon T5i review video.

The Canon EOS 700D (Canon Rebel T5i) is the replacement for the Canon EOS 650D. It will sit alongside the Canon EOS 600D at the very top of Canon’s “consumer” lineup, just below the Canon EOS 60D that starts its “enthusiast” range.

Along with its 18-megapixel APS-C Hybrid CMOS sensor and DIGIC 5 image processor, the Canon T5i / EOS 700D also boasts 5fps shooting and a native ISO range from ISO 100 to 12,800.

Find out in our testing team’s Canon T5i review video whether this new Canon camera is a worthy addition to your camera bag.

Canon T5i Review Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Angela Nicholson head of testing for Future Publishing’s photography portfolio and in this video I’m going to take a look at the Canon EOS Rebel T5i / EOS 700D

Anyone who owns a T4i/650D will spot that this camera looks very similar, in fact it’s almost identical and has the same 18-million-pixel APS-C format sensor, Digic 5 processor and 9-point autofocusing system.

As before, this camera has a touchscreen which is backed up by the usual array of button and dials so it’s up to you how you adjust the camera settings.

The screen is very responsive and once you start using it you start to rely on it more and more. It provides a really quick way of changing settings, scrolling through images and zooming in to check details.

The downside to this is that the screen quickly gets covered in fingerprints and these obscure the image in bright light, so it’s essential that you carry a cloth to wipe the screen regularly.

On the top of the camera we can see that the mode dial has been changed a little with the introduction of raised icons and a finer textured edge. It also rotates through 360 degrees making a little quicker to find the option that you want.

As in the camera it replaces the T5i, or 700D, has pixels on its imaging sensor that are used for the phase detection part of the hybrid focusing system that is available when using live view mode or shooting videos.

However, Canon has improved the live view focusing performance of the new camera and it focuses quicker with one of the STM lenses mounted.

I still wouldn’t use live view when shooting a moving subject though, you’re much better off composing the image in the viewfinder and using the faster phase detection AF system.

The STM lenses have stepper motor autofocus drive and this is designed to move subjects more smoothly into focus when shooting video.

It works well and is almost silent so you get very high-quality footage with the subject moving slowly, but smoothly into focus.

One of the biggest changes brought with this camera is that the impact of the JPEG-only Creative Filters can be previewed on the screen when shooting in live view mode.

Alternatively, you can apply these filters using the camera’s image processing controls.

The menu system will be familiar to Canon SLR users and as usual it’s divided into tabbed screens that allow quick navigation.

The My menu option is especially useful as you can register up to 6 features that you want to access from it. I find it useful to use it to reach features like mirror lock-up and the flash control options.

There’s also a Quick menu that can be reached by pressing this button or touching this icon on the screen. It gives a quick route to the most commonly used features and adjustments can be made using the physical buttons or the on-screen controls.

The T5i/700D produces high quality images with bags of detail, rich, pleasant colours and a good range of tones.

However, as we have found before with Canon’s iFCL Evaluative metering system, the exposure can vary significantly in high contrast situations depending upon the brightness of the subject under the active AF point. It responds more like a centreweighted metering system than you might want.

PAGE 1: Canon T5i review / Canon EOS 700D review
PAGE 2: Our original Canon T5i / Canon EOS 700D announcement story
PAGE 3: Our original Hands-on Canon Rebel T5i / Canon EOS 700D review

Full-frame vs APS-C cameras: what you need to know

jmeyer — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:04 +0000

So what is full-frame, and what do you need to know in terms of full-frame vs APS-C cameras? In their latest guest blog, our friends at the photo management blog Photoventure run through some of the key points to remember in the great full-frame vs crop sensor debate!

APS-C, or ‘crop-sensor’ cameras, are those that have sensors smaller than a frame of 35mm film. APS-C-size sensors are found in most DSLRs and measure approximately 24x16mm, producing images with a narrower angle of view because they capture a smaller section of the image than a full-frame camera with a 35mm-size sensor can capture.

These sensors are close in size to the APS-C film format, from which they get their name. In the beginnings of digital photography, most cameras had sensors around this size. But as technology has improved, full-frame sensors have become more ubiquitous – and, crucially, cheaper in price.

Which brings us to you. What do you need to know about full-frame vs APS-C cameras when making your decision to upgrade?

Viewfinder performance
If you switch to full-frame cameras you’ll find that the images appear brighter in your viewfinder. This is simply because your full-frame camera provides a larger mirror.

Wider views with wide-angle lenses
Full-frame lenses deliver their ‘true’ focal length on full-frame cameras. There’s no need to apply a focal factor.

Lenses
Your lenses never go obsolete – and at the prices you paid for them, you probably don’t want to have to re-buy them! What you need to know about using lenses on full-frame vs APS-C cameras is that you can use your crop-factor lenses on a full-frame camera, but the camera will restrict the sensor area to an APS-C size rectangle in the middle of the frame and you won’t get the benefit of your full-frame camera’s resolution.

Depth of field
When you make the switch to full-frame, the change in the appearance of depth of field, or out-of-focus areas, becomes obvious. Let’s put it this way. If you put a 50mm lens on a full-frame camera, in order to capture that same angle of view on an APS-C camera you’d need a 35mm lens.

And the 35mm lens will yield much more depth of field because of its shorter focal length. If you’re a landscape photographer, the shallow depth of field you’ll get shooting full-frame might cause trouble for you. If you’re a portrait or close-up photographer, however, this could make all the difference.

Image quality
Images taken with full-frame cameras (provided the photographer knows what he or she is doing!) will generally have more dynamic range and better fine detail than photos taken on APS-C cameras.

Low light
A full-frame camera will generally produce cleaner images in low light. Push your ISO up to the higher settings and you’ll be amazed at the results it can deliver. If you do a lot of shooting at night, this could be a reason to make the jump.

Body size
While you get more dynamic range, cleaner images at higher ISO settings and better resolution with full-frame, you’re also getting a bigger camera body. And, frankly, that’s a deal-breaker for some people.

If you’re a street photographer and speed and portability are your chief concerns, a smaller APS-C camera might be best for you. Even many compact system cameras now boast APS-C sensors and can deliver DSLR-quality images.

File size
Prepare to invest in bigger – and more expensive – memory cards if you switch to full-frame, as these cameras produce much bigger file sizes. This will also, of course, affect your computer and photo storage options.

Olympus E-P5: price, release date, official specs revealed

jmeyer — Fri, 10 May 2013 05:00:35 +0000

The new 16-megapixel Olympus E-P5 offers a quality retro body design with a 1/8000sec shutter speed, a built-in WiFi and the same sensor as the OM-D. The Olympus E-P5 price tag will be €999 body only

Olympus has unveiled its latest flagship camera, introducing the 16-megapixel Olympus E-P5 compact system camera.

Boasting a sleek, minimalist retro body design “with no visible screws in normal use,” the Olympus E-P5 incorporates the same 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor as the award-winning Olympus OM-D, as well as built-in WiFi and in a world first for compact system cameras, a 1/8000sec shutter speed.

The Olympus E-P5 price tag will start at €999 for the E-P5 body only, and kits start at €1099 for the 14-42mm lens and the 17mm 1:1.8 kit will sell for for €1449 (including the VF-4).

An Olympus E-P5 release date is slated for end of June 2013.

Among its new features, the Olympus E-P5 is the first compact system camera with a mechanical shutter capable of shooting at 1/8000sec, the company says. Photographers can also freeze fast-moving subjects with its 1:1.8 aperture.

A 2×2 Dial Control system incorporates two dials and a switch mounted on the back and top of the camera. According to Olympus, when shooting manually, the switch on the back of the E-P5 body can be moved to one of two positions.

In the first position, moving the dial on the front of the camera adjusts aperture while the dial on the back affects exposure time. With the second setting, the dials change the ISO value and white balance respectively. Alternatively, you can use the switch on the back of the camera to assign other functions.

Other features onboard the Olympus E-P5 include 5-axis IS, 9fps continuous shootingFocus Peaking on MF Assist, 12 Art Filters, FAST AF with Super Spot AF and Touch Shutter AF and a tillable LCD screen.

Olympus claims the E-P5 provides the best-ever image quality achieved by a PEN.

For more about this camera, see our testing team’s Olympus PEN E-P5 hands-on review.

Sony HX50: new Cyber-shot is world’s smallest camera with 30x zoom

jmeyer — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:54 +0000

Sony has unveiled the world’s smallest and lightest ever camera with 30x zoom, launching the Sony HX50.

The new Sony Cyber-shot camera boasts an equivalent focal length of 24-720mm and offer image stabilisation that’s twice as effective as its predecessor, the Sony Cyber-shot HX200V, according to Sony.

Onboard the Sony HX50 is a 20.4-megapixel3 Exmor R CMOS sensor and BIONZ processor, with high-speed autofocus that works at more than twice the speed of the Cyber-shot HX200V4, Sony says.

Among the camera’s other key features are a dedicated Exposure Compensation dial on the Sony Cyber-shot camera’s top plate and integrated Wi-Fi that allows photographers to share photos instantly or use their smartphone as a remote control for the camera.

A Multi Interface Shoe allows photographers to incorporate accessories such as an electronic viewfinder, flash or microphone for better video sound quality, and the camera boasts a Multi Terminal for using a remote controller.

Other features on the Sony HX50 include a Memory Recall mode, which allows photographers to store three favourite camera settings, a battery life of 400 images and a range of creative effects modes.

The Sony HX50 price tag will be £350, with a release date set for the first week of May 2013.

Official Sony HX50 Specs

Effective Pixels (approx.)
20.4 megapixels

Image Sensor
1/2.3 type (7.82mm) Exmor R CMOS sensor

Processor
BIONZ

Lens
Sony G, 24-720mm, f/3.5 (W) – 6.3 (T), 11 elements in 10 groups (including 5 aspheric elements)

Zoom
30x

ISO (still image)
Auto/80/100/125/160/200/250/320/400/500/640/800/1000/1250/1600/2000/2500/3200/
4000*/5000*/6400*/8000*/10000*/12800*
* Achieved using “By Pixel Super Resolution” technology and overlay burst shooting.

Display
7.5cm (3.0type) (4:3) / 921,600 dots / Xtra Fine / TFT LCD

Wi-Fi
Yes

Battery
NP-BX1 and USB Charge/USB Power Supply

Battery Life / still image shooting (approx.)
400 images / 200 minutes

Approx. dimensions W x H x D
108.1mm x 63.6mm x 38.3mm

Weight (body only, excluding media and battery)
Approx. 272g (Battery and Memory Stick DUO are included) Approx. 246g (Body Only)

Hands-on Ricoh GR review

jmeyer — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:48:52 +0000

Hands-on Ricoh GR review: the latest addition to the Ricoh GR range brings a new, large APS-C sensor to a smaller body and embraces some of the qualities that Ricoh’s 35mm film compact cameras so popular. Find out our first impressions in this hands-on Ricoh GR review video.

The Ricoh GR is the latest update to the GR range and features a 28mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.8 lens, 16.2 million pixel APS-C sensor and light weight magnesium alloy body.

The Ricoh GR’s new sensor is nine times larger than the 1/1.7-inch sensor found in the Ricoh GR IV. And with the Ricoh GR price tag starting around £599 (approximately US$920 / AU$882), it could perhaps give the Nikon COOLPIX A a run for its money.

Here Ali Jennings of our testing team takes a look at what the Ricoh GR premium compact camera has to offer in his hands-on Ricoh GR review video.

Hands-on Ricoh GR Review Video Transcript

This is the Ricoh GR, the update to the company’s premium line of compact cameras. It’s quite a significant upgrade however as has an APS-C sized sensor, which is around 9x larger than the 1/1.7 inch device in the GR IV.

The pixel count of the sensor has also been boosted from 10 million to 16.2 million.

To accompany that sensor is an 18.3mm f/2.8 lens, which is equivalent to around 28mm in 35mm terms. Although it’s a fixed focal length lens there’s an optional adapter available to transform it into a wider, 21mm optic. At the other end of the scale, a 35mm crop mode is also available.

One of the trade offs Ricoh has made as a result of the larger sensor is that the lens can’t focus quite as close as its predecessor. However, Macro mode can be activated via this dedicated button to get as close as 10cm to the subject.

Built from a sturdy magnesium alloy, the GR is billed as the world’s smallest and lightest APS-C format camera. Despite the much larger sensor, as you can see it’s actually only marginally larger overall than the GR IV.

This slightly pronounced grip, which has a useful rubberised texture, helps when shooting one-handed. The layout of the buttons on the back of the camera also makes changing settings with a thumb quick and easy.

Here at the top we’ve got a mode dial for speedily changing between automatic, semi-automatic and fully manual modes. There’s also space for up to three customisable groups of settings here and this lock button prevents accidental dial changes while the camera’s in a pocket or bag.

This small dial on the grip is used for altering aperture or shutter speed, depending on the mode you’re shooting in. When shooting in fully manual mode, this dial is used for aperture, while this switch at the back of the camera controls shutter speed.

One of the best things about the GR is that several of the buttons on the back, and side, of the camera are customisable. These dedicated function buttons here and here can be changed to suit your needs, while this effects button and this switch are also customisable.

Exposure compensation is changed quickly by this plus and minus switch which doubles up as the zooming buttons during playback.

Changing autofocus point by default is done by tapping this Function button //Fn 1// and using the arrow keys to scroll around the scene to the point you want to use. After pressing this button, you can use the zoom //+// to check critical focus.

On the back of the camera is a high resolution, 1.2 million-dot 3 inch LCD screen. It’s not articulating, or touch sensitive, but it appears cope reasonably well with direct light, not suffering too badly from glare or reflections.

Making an appearance just weeks after the Nikon Coolpix A, the Ricoh GR will go on sale with an asking price of around £599 (that’s about 920 US dollars)– making it significantly cheaper than the Nikon camera.

It will be interesting to see if this camera manages to capture the imagination of the experienced user looking for a backup compact that is capable of delivering excellent images. Look out for our full review of the Ricoh GR in the near future.

Panasonic TZ40 review

jmeyer — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:00:45 +0000

Panasonic TZ40 review: the new addition to Panasonic’s popular ultra-wide TZ range of travel compacts brings a lot of sophisticated features. But can it deliver on image quality? Amy Davies puts it to the test in her Panasonic TZ40 review video.

The TZ series is Panasonic’s popular range of travel compacts and this is the TZ40, the latest version, featuring a 20x optical zoom Leica lens.

The TZ40 has built-in Wi-Fi, which means that you can control the camera remotely via a smartphone app, where you can also save images for sharing online.

On the side of the Lumix TZ40 is an NFC chip, which means that if you have any compatible devices, all you need to do is tap the two devices together for an instant connection.

GPS is also built in, which is useful for a travel camera as it saves you having to remember the exact location of all your photos.

Amy Davies of our testing team puts this new Panasonic camera and all of its key features to the test in her Panasonic TZ40 review video.

Panasonic TZ40 Review Video Transcript

The TZ series is Panasonic’s popular range of travel compacts and this is the TZ40, the latest version, featuring a 20x optical zoom Leica lens.

Unusually for a compact, the TZ40 features a mode dial on top of the camera, where you can access fully manual and semi-automatic modes, such as aperture and shutter priority. Also on this mode dial you’ll find scene modes and fully automatic modes and space for upto two groups of customised settings.

This camera has built-in Wi-Fi, which means that you can control the camera remotely via a smartphone app, where you can also save images for sharing online. Here on the side of the camera is an NFC chip, which means that if you have any compatible devices, all you need to do is tap the two devices together for an instant connection. If you don’t, then you can still connect via entering a unique password in your device’s Wi-Fi settings.

GPS is also built in, which is useful for a travel camera as it saves you having to remember the exact location of all your photos – though it is worth remembering having GPS activated can be a drain on a battery life.

On the back of the camera is a 920,000 dot touchscreen. This is extremely useful for changing the autofocus point, which you can do simply by tapping the area on the screen you want to use. You can also use it to fire the shutter release – the camera will focus first, then capture the image. This is fairly fast and responsive, and is useful when shooting on a tripod for example, or for capturing quick action.

Aside from the mode dial, there are no settings dials on the TZ40. Instead, if you want to change aperture, you press this Exposure button and then press left or right. To change shutter speed, you use the same button, but press up or down. Perhaps a little confusingly, you don’t alter exposure compensation with the Exposure button – this has it’s own dedicated button on the four way control pad here.

A Quick Menu button gives access to all the most commonly used settings, saving you from delving into the more extensive menu. Here you’ll find everyday settings such as ISO and white balance. The number of options changes depending on the shooting mode being used, for instance, you’ll find more when shooting in semi-automatic and fully manual modes.

The optical zoom lens is extended and retracted via a small switch around the shutter release. The zooming mechanism is pretty smooth and fluid, which is good news considering the 20x optical length. As the zoom reaches its maximum optical capability, it stops, requiring a second push to enter the digital zoom – this is great for preventing an accidental stray into the digital zoom if you don’t want to use it.

There’s no need to worry about capturing an image at the far end of the optical zoom as Panasonic’s image stabilisation does a fantastic job of preventing blur, even when shooting handheld. Here’s a comparison of the lens extended to full with image stabilisation off, and here, with image stabilisation switched on.

Previous TZ cameras have really impressed us, so we had high hopes for the TZ40. Happily, we have not been disappointed, with bright and punchy images with plenty of detail.

Nikon Coolpix A review

jmeyer — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:00:55 +0000

Nikon Coolpix A review: Nikon surprised everyone launching the Coolpix A, its new premium compact camera which boasts the same sensor as the D7000. But is its image quality worth the Nikon Coolpix A price tag? Find out in our Nikon Coolpix A review video.

The Nikon Coolpix A, sits at the very top of the Coolpix range and features a DX, or APS-C size sensor — the very same sensor as can be found in the D7000 DSLR.

Although this is not quite a jeans pocketable camera, it’s remarkably small considering the size of the sensor. As a trade off, you get a fixed, 18.5 — or 28mm equivalent — lens, with a maximum aperture of f/2.8.

Here Amy Davies takes a look at what Nikon’s latest premium compact camera has to offer in her Nikon Coolpix A review video.

Coolpix A Review Video Transcript

This is the Nikon Coolpix A, a compact camera which sits at the very top of the Coolpix range and features a DX, or APS-C size sensor – the very same sensor as can be found in the D7000 DSLR.

Although this is not quite a jeans pocketable camera, it’s remarkably small considering the size of the sensor. As a trade off, you get a fixed, 18.5 – or 28mm equivalent – lens, with a maximum aperture of f/2.8.

There’s no hand grip on the camera, but this small strip on the front of the camera helps give extra purchase, especially when shooting one-handed.

Like many premium compacts, this camera has full manual control, with access to the manual mode, and semi-automatic modes, such as aperture and shutter priority found on this dial here. There’s also space for upto two groups of user defined settings – particularly useful if you often find yourself shooting in a given scenario, such as low light.

For further convenience, there are two function buttons. These can be found on the back of the camera here, and the second on the front. Here you can assign various settings, such as ISO or white balance, for quick access.

The focusing mode can be changed via this switch on the side of the camera, allowing you to change between autofocus, to macro and manual focusing. Macro focusing needs to be activated if you want to shoot fairly close-up as otherwise we found the camera can struggle.

If activating manual focusing, this ring around the lens is used for fine-tuning the focus. It’s a shame that this ring can’t be used for other settings – such as aperture, or shutter speed – when it’s not being used in manual focusing mode, as otherwise it’s redundant. Instead, this dial here is used to make changes to aperture or shutter speed, coupling up with the dial around the OK button when in fully manual mode.

To change the autofocus point, first you need to hit the OK button and then use the arrow keys to scroll around the screen to the point you need. It’s a little bit of a long-winded process, and would have been speedier with a touchscreen.

With its large sensor and high asking price, we had great expectations for the Coolpix A. While image quality is great, there is noticeable vignetting, even when shooting at mid-range apertures of f/8.

Focusing speeds are also a little lacklustre, making it a little slow for the street photographer that this camera is so very clearly aimed at.

On the plus side, detail and colour is fantastic, and you really do get DSLR quality images from a pocket sized device. Full manual control and raw shooting capabilities are an extra bonus.

PAGE 1: Nikon Coolpix A review video
PAGE 2: Our original hands-on Nikon Coolpix A review video
PAGE 3: Our original Nikon Coolpix A announcement story

Fuji X100S review

jmeyer — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:56:39 +0000

Fuji X100S Review: the Fuji X100 proved popular with enthusiast photographers looking for a high-end compact camera that produces images on a par with a DSLR.

In her Fuji X100S review video, our head of testing takes an in-depth look at what this X100 replacement has to offer.

While Fuji has promised 70 improvements on the X100S, the the big news is that its APS-C format X-Trans CMOS II sensor boasts the same colour filter arrangement as the Fuji X-Pro1.

In her Fuji X100S review video, Angela Nicholson takes a look at the new Fuji camera’s image quality, performance and and key specs to see if it’s the right camera for you.

Fuji X100S Review Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Angela Nicholson, head of testing for Future’s photography portfolio and in this video I’m going to be looking at the Fuji X100S.

Like the X100 it replaces, the Fuji X100S has an APS-C format X-Trans CMOS II sensor inside it, however it has 16.3-million effective pixels instead of 12.3 million and Fuji has used the same sensor design as is in the X-Pro1.

This sensor doesn’t have the standard Bayer colour filter, but uses a random arrangement of colour filters within each block of 36 photo receptors, and this makes the images less prone to suffering from Moire interference.

As a result Fuji has left off the the anti-aliasing filter that is normally used to avoid moire patterning, and this enables the camera to capture sharper details.

As it’s a so-called compact camera the 23mm f/2 lens on the Fuji X100S is fixed and it gives a 35mm focal length equivalence of 34.5mm – which is a great choice for street and documentary photography.

As you can see the Fuji X100S has the same retro design as the X100 and exposure is set using this aperture ring, shutter speed dial and exposure compensation dial.

When the dials are both set to A, the camera takes control over the exposure. When just the shutter speed dial is on A, the camera is in aperture priority mode, while shutter priority is selected by setting the aperture dial on A and selecting the shutter speed you want to use.

Fuji has worked on improving its automatic focusing for the X100S, and although there’s usually a small, but noticeable backwards and forwards adjustment, the hybrid focusing system usually gets the subject sharp pretty quickly. It even copes well with quite low light.

The continuous autofocusing is also reasonably fast and smooth, but it’s rather hampered by the fact that the AF point is limited to the centre of the frame.

The X100S can be set to focus manually via this switch, and there are a couple of new features available to help you get the image sharp.

First off, the X100S is the first camera to feature a digital split image and when this option is selected the centre of the screen or viewfinder is turned monochrome and divided into bands.

When the image in these bands aligns, the subject is in focus. It’s reasonably effective, but it’s not always easy to see what’s going on.

I prefer to use the focus peaking option. When this is active, the focused areas are outlined with white and black. I find this pretty easy to use, but there are times when it would be helpful to be able to choose different highlight colours.

The X100S can record images as raw or JPEG files or both simultaneously. There’s also a collection of 10 film simulation modes that give JPEG images a particular look. Provia, for instance is the default or standard setting, its a good choice for many situations, but there’s also Velvia when you want more vivid colours with higher saturation, and Astia for a more subtle, natural result.

Though the film simulation modes can be used when shooting raw and JPEG images, the Advanced filters can only be applied to JPEGS. However, it’s nice that the camera automatically switches to shooting JPEGs when a filter is selected, and you don’t need to delve into the menu to change file format.

Like the X100, the X100S has a nice solid build and although the grips are fairly minimal, it feels reasonably secure in your hand. The control arrangement is the same as on the X100, but this button is now marked with a Q rather than Raw and gives access to the quick menu. This menu provides a quick route to 16 of the most useful features for speedy adjustment. You just navigate to the one you want and select the setting using this dial.

Although the direct-view optical finder can display key information like the exposure values and AF point, I prefer the electronic finder as it shows the image as it will be captured – and it gives a nice clear view with plenty of detail.

While the X100S might intimidate novice photographers, enthusiasts will find there plenty to get excited about and the exposure controls are a joy to use. Perhaps even more importantly, its also capable of capturing superb, well-exposed images with lots of sharp detail and pleasant colours.