Digital Camera Brands

It's old news that Apple is lagging when it comes to making the Mac platform friendly with tape less camcorders. Currently, only a few tape less camcorders out there are truly Mac-compatible, and Sony's high definition HDR-SR11 Handy cam happens to be one of them.

Easy to use, craftily designed, and packed with features, the HDR-SR11 is a strong contender in the tape less HD camcorder market-especially because it currently doesn't have much competition.

This camcorder shoots and stores high-definition video and still images on a 60GB hard drive or Memory Stick Duo or Pro Duo card. Most importantly, you can import your video seamlessly into movie '08 or Final Cut Pro. On top of that, the camcorder's video looks stunning, on par with that of Canon's Vixia HV30, our top product in the Mini DV camcorder category. There's still work to be done, but we can only hope more manufacturers work with Apple the way Sony did to get their camcorders working properly with the Mac.

Though a little bulky, the HDR-SR11 rests comfortably in your palm. The weight of the camcorder tends to lean toward the left, so it's best to hold it with two hands (left hand under the LCD, right hand on the body) to ensure stability. The zoom tab is within easy reach of your index finger. A menu wheel, which you control with your thumb, toggles between Memory Stick recording and HDD recording.

I especially liked the design of the plastic doors all around the camcorder used to protect connection ports from dust: They easily snap open and are much sturdier than the removable rubber covers found on most camcorders.

The HDR-SR11 features a very intuitive touch-screen control panel located on its LCD. Most camcorders we've tested use a joystick, which can be quick and snappy, but ever since the phone’s release, touch-screen technology has been getting sexier and preferable. The HDR-SR11's touch screen buttons are easy to understand, so you shouldn't need to consult the user manual to figure out how to use this camcorder.

When it's time to import your video and photos, the HDR-SR11 works exactly as it should: You simply connect the device to your Mac via USB, and iMovie '08 and Final Cut Pro will recognize the camcorder and allow you to choose the clips you wish to import. After that, all you have to do is wait for the files to transfer over and you can start editing.

In our test footage, the HDR-SR11's video at both low-light and standard-light settings looked impressive. Colors looked pleasing and accurate (though a little heavy on the blues) compared to our control objects. Upon close inspection, some motion artifacts were slightly visible, but they were negligible; for the most part, motion looked smooth. Our panel of experts gave the HDR-SR11's video quality a Very Good rating.
Still images were less impressive: Colors looked too dark, even when we used the flash.

We photographed a line chart to test the HDR-SR11's resolution, and overall the image looked slightly fuzzy. Our jury gave the camcorder's still-image quality a Good rating.

Sound quality was nothing spectacular, but built-in camcorder microphones have never been very good. Fortunately the HDR-SR11 features a microphone jack and accessory shoe so that you can add an external microphone.

MacWorld’s buying advice

Given the limited options Mac users currently have, the HDR-SR11 is an easy choice for those wishing to jump on the tapeless bandwagon. With this device, Sony has all the bases covered: the camcorder is Mac-friendly, sports impressive video quality, and is elegantly designed.

[Brian Chen is a Macworld associate editor.]
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If, owing to they say, discrepancy is the zip of life, the fitter we have in camcorders today must be a little like a bowl of four-alarm chili. For at least the past decade or so, it could be argued that too much variety is the problem when deciding which the best digital video camera to select is. From basic single-chip models, to the latest three-chip rigs, the world of digital camcorders today offers more choices than any other category of video camera. In order to help you sort things out, let's take a look at the features and capabilities you can expect to find in basic, intermediate and advanced models with an eye to helping you understand what to look for when you go out to buy your next camcorder.

Finding the Best Digital Video Camera: Entry-Level ($600-$1,100)

Digital cameras cover the hawk at around $600. Samsung's SC-D80 lists as congruous $599. Sony produces cameras in a transition format called Digital8 that use Hi8 tape stock but record a digital video signal, the TRV240 ($600) for example. Entry-level Mini DV camcorders are not any more expensive, however, and unless you have an archive of analog Hi8 tapes, you might want to consider Mini DV. Entry-level Mini DV units are sure to sport plenty of automatic controls, like auto focus and auto iris, in addition to laying a visually pleasing picture to tape. Even the most basic DV camcorders are capable of quality video graphic. And since the Mini DV format is all-digital, every camcorder in this category records video and audio in a format that can be edited on a computer without translation.
Finding the Best Digital Video Camera: Mid-Level ($1,200-$2,400)

At the imminent extirpate of action further price are Mini DV camcorders that start at around $1,200. These single-CCD units are incredibly popular for vacation videos, family events and other types of typically non-commercial video production. Yet, in the hands of a serious videographer, they are often fully capable of professional work.

As you disturb maturity the monetary worth adjustment with a single chip Mini DV camcorder you'll find three causes for the increase. First, the units will typically get smaller and smaller. Some of them are so small and unobtrusive that it is a snap to toss them in a small bag and tote them along wherever you go. Mid-level Mini DV models are small in size, but they have a large feature set. When you look at two cameras with similar features at two very different prices, you might find that the more expensive camera weighs in at less than a pound (the lightweight Samsung SC-D590, at $1,299, for instance) while the less expensive camera might be nearly three times as heavy.

Second, learned are fresh bells and whistles, some of them useful, some of them less so. While digital wicked effects and infrared night mode might have their uses (and they sure are fun), not everyone needs them. An increasingly more important feature may be the ability to take quality mega pixel digital still images and save them to a memory card. At $1,699, the Canon Optura 200MC is a fine example.

The inquiry concede as slightly supplementary prices is more advanced manual controls such as white balance, exposure and shutter speed, offered by camcorders like the $1,500 Panasonic PV-DV852.

While it's apt that a single-chip camcorder won't typically realize a construe that duty compare to the quality level of it's more expensive three-chip cousins, camcorder manufacturing technology has advanced to the point where - when you pay attention to proper lighting - even a modestly priced single chip Mini DV camcorder will produce a professional picture. Just don't tell the pros we said so.

The ($499) isn't just another digital camera. Rather, it's Casio's attempt at making a convergence device, putting a camera and camcorder into one compact device. On the camera side there's a 5 Megapixel CCD, 5X optical zoom lens, rotating LCD display, manual controls, and plenty of scene modes. On the camcorder side you'll find a high quality VGA movie mode, a zoom lens that can be used during filming, and stereo sound recording.

The last device like this that I reviewed was the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1, and I wasn't thrilled with it. Has Casio done a better job? Find out now in our review!
What's in the Box?

The Exilim EX-P505 has an average bundle. Inside the box, you'll find:
The 5.0 effective Megapixel Casio Exilim EX-P505 digital camera
NP-40 rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Battery charger
Lens cap w/retaining strap
Lens hood
Wrist strap
USB cable
A/V cable
CD-ROM featuring Casio Photo Loader and Photo Hands, Lead Movie Wizard SE VCD, and drivers
Printed basic manual plus full manual on

CD-ROM
Casio is one of those camera manufacturers who don’t include a memory card with their camera. Instead, they build some memory right into the camera. Unfortunately Casio gives you an absurdly low amount of built-in memory -- just 7.5MB. Yes, you read that right.

That holds just THREE photos at the highest quality setting. So consider a larger memory card to be a required purchase. I'd recommend a 256MB or larger Secure Digital (SD) memory card to start with. Casio doesn't say that a high speed memory card is required for the fancy movie mode, so it looks like you can save your money on this.

Battery life on the P505 is above average. The camera uses the same NP-40 lithium ion rechargeable battery as several other Casio cameras. This battery has 4.6 WH of energy, which is decent. That translates in to 220 shots per charge using the CIPA battery life standard. Compare that with 500 shots per charge on the upcoming Canon Power Shot S2 and 160 shots on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1.

My usual complaints about proprietary batteries like the one used by the EX-P505 apply here. They're expensive ($45 a pop), and you can't put in a set of alkalizes to get you through the rest of the day like you could with an AA-based camera.

When it's time to charge the battery, just pop it into the included external charger. This is my favorite type of charger -- it plugs directly into the wall with no power cable (remember that cameras sold outside of the U.S. may have a different charger). It takes about two hours to fully charge the battery.
The P505 includes Casio's PhotoLoader and Photohands software. PhotoLoader is used to download and view stills and movies from your camera. The Mac version is not OS X native, but works in Classic mode. Photohands is for Windows only, and is used for retouching and printing images.

Ulead Movie Wizard SE VCD (say that three times fast) is a Windows-only product for editing the videos produced by the P505 and then burning them to a VideoCD (VCD). Mac users are left out in the cold in this department. In fact I don't even think it's possible to edit these videos on a Mac... at least as far as I can tell. More on this subject later.

Casio has been imitating Olympus in the manual area in recent years. They include a skimpy "'basic manual" in the box, leaving the full manual on CD-ROM. My question is: if you're going to print a basic manual, why not print the whole thing and do the right thing for your customers? The quality of the manuals themselves is about average for a digital camera (read: not great).
Look and Feel

First impressions are important when reviewing products. My impression when I picked up the EX-P505 was "wow, this thing feels really cheap". And I still feel that way. This is one of the most plastic-feeling cameras I've seen in some time. Maybe it's just because the camera is made of plastic and is therefore light, but I wasn't filled with confidence in the P505's build quality after using it.

The camera is small but easy to hold thanks to a decent-sized right hand grip. The important controls are all easy to reach and operate. The official dimensions of the camera are 98.5 x 55.5 x 73.5 mm / 3.9 x 2.2 x 2.9 inches (W x H x D, excluding protrusions) and it weighs 215 grams / 7.6 ounces empty. That's a heck of a lot smaller and lighter than both the Canon Power Shot S2 and especially the Sony DSC-M1.

That's enough of that; let's move on to the tour portion of the review now!

The Exilim EX-P505 features an F3.3-3.6, 5X optical zoom lens. That's a pretty slow maximum aperture range, which may be a problem when there's not enough light in the room (since the camera will have to use a slower shutter speed). The focal range of this lens is 6.3 - 31.5 mm, which is equivalent to 38 - 190 mm. While the lens barrel is threaded, I don't know the measurements and Casio doesn't mention any support for conversion lenses or filters.

One thing worth mentioning is that the lens is completely self-contained. That means that it never extends out of the body, which will make a difference when we talk about the movie mode later in the review.
Directly above the lens is the camera's pop-up flash. This flash has a working range of 0.4 - 3.0 meters (about average), though Casio doesn't say whether that's at wide-angle or telephoto or both. You cannot attach an external flash to the P505.

BenQ DC-C610: BenQ introduces a new addition to its line of digital cameras. The BenQ DC C610 compact camera is designed to appeal to a wide range of users desiring affordability, compact form factor and advanced features. "The BenQ DC-C610 is a perfect option for users looking for a convenient way to enter the digital photography market," expressed Conway Lee, BenQ Digital Media Business Group General Manager, "The BenQ C610 camera is compact, features BenQ's intuitive user interface and advanced features." In addition to its fashionable exterior with sliding front cover, the BenQ DC C610 comes with a 6.0 Megapixel CCD sensor and a comfortably sized 2.0" LTPS LCD screen for playing back photos.

BenQ C610 camera - Dimensions

The BenQ C610 also uses AA batteries to ensure worry-free travel and universal replaceability. The BenQ DC C610 is currently available in the European market. The BenQ DC-C610 includes PictBridge for direct photo printing via a compatible printer and supports Secure Digital flash memory card of up to 2GB. SDHC flash memory cards are not supported. The dimensions of the camera are only 89 x 54.5 x 24 mm with a weight of 85 g. The entry-level digital BenQ DC C610 is easy to use and ideal for the starting digital photographer.

BenQ DC-C610 features
• 6 Megapixel image resolution
• fixed focus lens 42 mm
• 2-inch LTPS LCD monitor 153.600 pixels
• Secure Digital flash memory support
• ISO ratings auto, 80, 160, 320, 400
• Video clip mode 320 x 240 pixels at 24 fps
• USB 1.1 interface
• 2x AA format batteries
• Weight 85 g
• Dimensions 89 x 54.5 x 24 mm

About BenQ
The BenQ Group is currently comprised of ten companies that operate independently while sharing resources and leveraging synergies among them. The BenQ Group companies include AU Optronics Corporation, the world’s third largest manufacturer of LCD panels; Darfon Electronics Corporation; Daxon Technology Inc; Airoha Technology Corporation; Copax Photonics Corporation; Darly Venture Inc; BenQ Guru Software Co., Ltd; Philips BenQ Digital Storage; and Cando Corporation. 2004 revenues for BenQ Group exceeded US$10.8 billion dollars.

Acer CU-6530

I have to admit I was initially a little bit skeptical when I received this newly-launched camera from electronics and computer component manufacturer Acer. From past experience with other companies trying to break into the digital market, I assumed that it would be similar to many other low-cost Chinese import cameras bearing the logos of well-know electronics brands. I have seen a number of such cameras, and they have generally proved to be of extremely poor quality. I’m happy to report however, that I was pleasantly surprised when I unpacked the CU-6530.

The camera is being launched at a high street price of £199, which puts is well above the level that could be considered ‘budget’, although it is still towards the low end for an ultra-compact six megapixel camera, especially considering that the actual retail price will very probably be lower than that.

In both style and price it’s competing with the likes of the Pentax Optio S6 and Olympus FE-140, both of which have an RRP of £229. That’s a pretty ambitious start for a company that’s relatively new to the digital camera market. Can this new camera really compete with such long-established brands?

The overall design of the CU-6530 is exceptionally good. The camera is comparable in size, weight and shape to the Optic S6, although it is actually 1mm thinner. The strong all-metal body has rounded corners and smoothly recessed controls, making it the ideal shape to slip into a shirt pocket or handbag. The matt grey finish and chrome details are stylish and durable, and the camera looks and feels a lot more expensive than it actually is.

Some cheaper camera brands cut manufacturing costs by using inferior internal components, resulting in very slow start-up times and poor performance, but the CU-6530 powered up in a very respectable two seconds, faster than many more expensive cameras. The 2.5-inch LCD monitor is exceptionally clear and sharp, with a resolution of 230K pixels, again superior to many other more expensive cameras, and has a fast refresh rate and very little display lag. Certainly there are cameras with faster displays, but this one is by no means bad.

Canon SD1100 IS Overview

The Canon SD1100 IS Digital ELPH includes an eight mega pixel 1/2.5" CCD imager again a Canon-branded 3x optical tear lens with image stabilization, which covers a fairly standard range of 38-114mm equivalent -- a moderate wide angle to a moderate telephoto.

Exposure is in reality automatic, but the user albatross tweak essential with 2.0EV of exhibition compensation and four metering modes to handle difficult lighting, including a mode which ties metering to the cameras face detection system.

Thirteen vitality modes livelihood the camera approachable now beginners. A long-exposure anatomy in the Canon SD1100 IS ELPH lets you set exposure times as long as 15 seconds manually, and a 2.5" LCD display plus an real-image optical zoom viewfinder -- rather rare on digitals cam these days.

The Canon SD1100 IS sports a rather uncluttered ISO tangibility range, from 80 to 1600. The Power Shot SD1100 IS is Picturing compliant, besides so is able to print to any printer that supports Picturing directly, without the need for a computer in the middle. Images are stored on SD/SDHC/MMC memory cards with a not-so-generous 32MB card in the product bundle, and power comes from a proprietary NB-4L lithium-ion rechargeable battery.

Available from March 2008, the Canon SD1100IS Digital ELPH retails thanks to below US$250. Five habits colors are available: silver, gold, brown, gloomy and pink.

Canon SD1100 IS
User Report

Canon's massed SD1100 IS has deserved about intact the bells also whistles you could imagine for a camera that's about the size of a pack of cards. To start, there's a healthy 2.5-inch LCD monitor, built-in optical image stabilization (that's the IS designation), Face Detection, a small, but still quite useful optical viewfinder, 8 mega pixel still capture mode, an excellent 640 x 480, 30 frames per second movie mode, a 3X optical zoom (expandable by 1.6X and 2X), and a host of other cool features that we'll get into later in this report.

Look again feels. The Canon SD1100 has a simple, yet unripe feel. Corners taper softly, extremely a interest from the SD1000's hard angular design. It's actually a little thicker than the SD1000, perhaps to accommodate the new image stabilization system inside; but the controls are essentially unchanged. The shutter button is flat and easy to find, with the zoom toggle surrounding it. On the back you'll find the 2.5-inch LCD and a selection of controls. The mode switch is on the upper right, with choices of Still Record, Movie Record, and Playback modes. The other buttons and the multi-controller are flush mounted, and a soft press activates them.

One peculiarity rule representative that I welcome is the way you can reprogram the function of the Transfer button just right of the LCD screen. You can set it to one of a number of functions, including Face Select, EV compensation, White Balance, Custom White Balance, Red-Eye Correction, Digital Tele-converter, Display mode, Record Movie, Display Off, or Play Sound Effect. Because I often switch between Still and Movie mode, I chose Record Movie, which instantly drops me into Movie mode and starts recording.

An optical viewfinder further graces the SD1100. This is a rarity monopoly digital cameras string this size category, further Canon is to be commended for keeping it in such a small digital camera. There are many scenarios in which having an optical viewfinder is huge benefit, such as in overly bright environments where you can't see the LCD screen very well, or in very dark places where it's hard to judge framing.

Of course, these viewfinders are scarcely accurate, thereupon sell for conversant that you're going to capture more than you see through the optical viewfinder. According to our tests, you see 84 percent of the view at wide angle, and only 82 percent at telephoto.

On the nil of the Canon SD1100 is a handsome surprise: a metal tripod socket that replaces the ingenuous unequaled on the SD1000.

Lens. The shoot up is a 3X optical flash similitude to a 38-114mm lens, with digital enhancements of 1.6X and 2X. This means that effectively the zoom is about 60mm on the wide end at 1.6X digital zoom, and 182mm on the telephoto end. From a practical standpoint, I'd keep the digital zoom at 1.6X maximum because digital artifacts start creeping in if you blow the images up significantly. Another problem is that using this digital zoom mode eliminates your wide angle photography ability, so it's probably best to stick to the traditional digital zoom if you use it at all.

Canon pioneered Optical Image Stabilization lousy with agedness ago guidance its camcorders further in special IS lenses made for its larger EOS digital SLRs. It's a tribute to their genius that they have evolved the design of their image stabilization hardware to fit inside the Canon SD1100 IS, the smallest of their pocket digital cameras. Canon uses optical image stabilization, where the actual elements of the lens are shifted to stabilize any shaking. This form of image stabilization is arguably the better of the various forms of IS available today.

Function. The Function nutrition sets commonly-changed items.

Menu. The Main mess sets body else Interface. The cooking disposal in the Canon SD1100 is a inconsiderable confusing unless you're already familiar with Canon cameras. It's the Menu system that must be mastered before you can become really adept at setting up the camera for the many shooting conditions you might encounter. There are two menus, and two ways to enter them. To enter the Function menu, you must press the Func./Set button. You are presented with a left column and a lower row that is used to set all the controls for the Canon SD1100. At the lower row are the menu controls for selecting either the Automatic or Manual mode.

There are again differentiating Scene Modes now selecting shooting conditions that consign help you take better pictures under specific shooting conditions: Portrait, Night Snapshot, and Kids and Pets. The Manual mode allows even more controls, with selections for JPEG resolution: Superfine (least compression), Fine (moderate compression), or Normal (the most compression). The lower row also controls the capture image size.

For the finest address quality, images should hold office captured at Large/Super Fine resolution. For sharing images on the Internet, you admirable select Small/Normal for images that are lower in resolution, but very quick to upload and download, but if you ever plan to enlarge your images, be sure to stick with the Large/Superfine resolution, since images shot at lower resolutions, or compressed too much can never be up sampled.

Along the disconsolate scan you further choice the type of metering (Evaluative, Center Weighted, or Spot). Evaluative is the default metering mode, but the Spot setting is great for difficult lighting situations. White Balance is also selectable here (Automatic, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Manual). Finally, manual exposure override can also be selected through 12 different offsets in 1/3EV settings.

Face Detection. Before you commensurate half-press the shutter, the Canon's Face Detection finds also brackets integrated the faces absolute it recognizes. When you press the shutter release, it picks the faces it can keep in focus and puts a green box around them. After capture, it zooms in on the most clear face it found so you can check focus and exposure. You can use the zoom toggle to get in closer, and press the Set button to switch between the faces to check them all.

Special Features. Face Detection is the newest buzzword due to superlatively of today's point-and-shoot digital cameras. Canon's serial of appearance detection performs very well in scenes that have a moderate amount of light. The Canon SD1100 found faces quickly and accurately, even from a surprising distance. The Canon SD1100 not only sets auto focus with its face detection algorithm, it also sets exposure; quite useful since having the face exposed properly is key to a good portrait.

We efficacious string the continuance of High-Definition TV, therefrom it was really nice to see that the SD1100 IS has two features that make it easy to capture shots ideal for viewing on your wide-screen HDTV: the Widescreen mode and the Stitch Assist Mode. Widescreen is a special mode that captures an image at a 5-megapixel resolution of 3264 x 1832 pixels. When you view this image on the SD1100's built-in LCD monitor you'll see black bars at top and bottom, the so-called letterbox mode. This is OK because the LCD monitor was only designed to show images that were captured in the more standard 4 x 3 capture mode. But when you watch the Widescreen captured images on your HDTV set, thanks to a provided AV output cable, it will look much more dramatic. You'll still see a black bar at the top and bottom because all widescreen TV's have a larger screen size.

To incorporate the Canon SD1100's Widescreen gather mode, you impress Funs./Set and select WS (Widescreen) from the row at the bottom of the LCD screen. This is where you also select the six other image size modes (including the 8-megapixel maximum size for best print quality, all the way down to low resolution 640 x 480 for quick uploading and downloading). In my opinion, once you start shooting in Widescreen mode, you may never want to go back to the normal mode, especially if you watch the image playback on HDTV’s, or if you make DVD slide shows based on these widescreen images.

The Canon SD1100 IS again has a invaluable movie die -- 640 x 480 reconciliation at 30 frames per second -- but they also have several lower resolution versions that are very useful if you were shooting video for e-mail or for websites. The image quality rivals MiniDV recordings on camcorders.

Storage also battery. The video record convenience at the unparalleled quality is about 16 minutes for a 2GB SD card. So if you want to shoot an hour epic, be prepared with an 8GB SDHC card. These cards are essentially commodities today at under $100, with 16GB and 32GB versions becoming available later in 2008. A 4GB SDHC card will also hold about 1118 Large/Superfine shots.

The Canon SD1100 uses the twin NB-4L 3.7V 760mAh lithium-ion assembly for its predecessor, which guilt capture 240 shots, which is about average. Note that the plastic battery door seems quite fragile, but should be fine if the camera is treated with the care that all camera components demand.

Another description that Canon has been promoting considering partly now long as they have been making digital still cameras is the Stitch Assist mode. In this mode you can shoot a sequence of overlapping images and have the bundled Stitch Assist program stitch or blend them into a new, seamless, wider-than-widescreen image. The trick to make this work right is to shoot with the right amount of overlap. Canon makes this easy by retaining a small amount of the previous image to allow you a fast way of getting the proper overlap.

Stitched. Making a ferocious vanity is obvious with the Canon SD1100, besides tells a better story about your surroundings. (Images are stitched in the computer after capture.)

Stitch reinforcement foundry powers the equable mode, and you can shoot successive images in either a left or a right direction. If your overlap doesn't fall within the proper range, you will get a noticeable seam at the overlap points. The panoramic stitched effect is startling. It can even be made comic if you have a person staging themselves in different parts of captured images -- a process that can have your friend and their many digital clones reacting in the same panoramic scene.