Digital Cameras Ratings

This is one of the few ultracompact cameras with a 5x optical zoom.It is very small with a large (2.5″) beautiful LCD screen.It is also packed with useful features.I researched many ultracompact cameras and this one came out on top.The only caveat is that it takes an xD picture card (developed for Olympus and Fuji cameras), which is 3 times more expensive than an sD picture card.Also beware… some of the features of the camera, such as the panorama function, will not work unless you use an Olympus H type xD picture card, which of course, is the most expensive type of xD card.It is still a great camera, but it would be nice if somewhere in the official description of the camera, Olympus had included this information!Some great features:
‘Available Light’ mode for taking indoor photos — useful when the flash washes out the subject, but the scene is too dark without the flash.
‘Image Stabilization’ for low light photos
‘Sunset’ which brings out the reds and yellows
‘Fireworks’ — a great option that makes fireworks photos look fantastic
‘Behind Glass’ which reduces the glare and reflection of subjects taken through glass
‘Documents’ which increases contrast

Some features that are funky:
‘Expression Edit’- this takes a photo and changes the expression of the subject, but makes them look more like a cartoon character
‘Smile Recognition’- when you lock on the subject, the camera takes a photo when the subject smiles (I haven’t gotten this one to work yet, but can’t imagine using it very often either).

The menu system is very easy to use and there is an on camera guide to help you take better photos.

The BEST thing about this camera is the in-camera panoramic function!It is SO cool and easy to do.I love it.

If it wasn’t for the xD card, I would rate it 5 stars.Because of the fact that you are forced to buy the Olympus xD card to get all of the functions to work, I rate it 4.5 stars.

Product Description
Shoot in rain or shine, at the beach or on the slopes. Sealed and coated in all the right places, the Stylus 820 resists water, snow and dust. It’s amazing to see 5x optical zoom in a digital camera this thin. Previewing, composing, shooting and sharing are so much easier and more enjoyable with this bright, premium-sized 2.7-inch HyperCrystal LCD.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Olympus Stylus 820 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Blue)

I bought this camera because the consumer reviews were excellent, and my first impression of the camera was very good also, based on size, handling characteristics, and the way photos displayed on the 2.7″ screen on the back of the camera.However I had business distractions and didn’t display my photos on a full-size screen until after the Amazon return time expired. The image quality of my camera (perhaps I have a lemon) is very poor when compared to my three year old Olympus point-and-shoot.I was shocked at how “soft” the images were when viewed on a 15″ computer screen.I took identical comparison shots using a tripod and self-timer to verify that I wasn’t seeing motion, but in sunlight or low light, the images are visibly and objectionably soft.Around bright patches, such as sky showing through the leaves a tree in the foreground, there is heavy blue fringing, and some sections of the photos are “foggy” as though a fingerprint was on the lens, but there were no fingerprints or debris on the lens.There are noticeable blotches of off-color (like “noise,” but bigger) in shadow areas, even at low ISO.I should have tested the camera better, sooner, and I blame myself and my schedule for not doing that.Here is the lesson:(1) Don’t buy a camera unless you can thoroughly test it immediately, including judging the image quality on a large screen, not the screen on the camera. (2) Order the correct memory chip the first time, so you don’t get delayed waiting for the correct chip to arrive. This Sony is not compatible with all SD memory chips. (3) Compare the camera against another camera of known qualities, but do in time to take advantage of Amazon’s return option.I’ve shipped my camera to the repair center in Texas and it hasn’t returned yet.If they fix it satisfactorily, I’ll amend this evaluation to say so.

OCTOBER 17, 2008 UPDATE:The camera was promptly returned from Sony service in Texas with no notation or explanation regarding what repair, if any, was done.The post-return images seem very much like the former ones I complained about.However, I have softened my criticism a bit because I think my original expectations were too high.This is a quite small, light, easily carried and concealed camera with intuitive controls and it has a reasonable optical viewfinder.For it’s size, it does the job well enough, so, in retrospect, I think I was expecting a bigger camera’s performance from an instrument I purchased on account of it’s very small size.That expectation might have been unreasonable in some degree. I also have a Canon G10, which costs twice as much and is two and a half times heavier.The Canon takes lovely pictures, but I find myself carrying around the Sony most often because it is so small and so light (6 oz. with battery), which is a compelling argument in its favor.

Product Description
The Sony DSC-W170 features an enviable 10.1-Megapixel resolution, Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens, and Sony’s Double Anti-Blur solution for crisp, clear images with a sophisticated, compact body. A large, bright 2.7″ Clear Photo LCD display includes an anti-reflective coating that provides for excellent visibility to help you compose, view, and share photos with superb clarity and color reproduction, even in bright sunlight. In addition, Face Detection technology, Smile Shutter, and Intelligent Scene Recognition elicit stunning detail from special moments. High-resolution images can be enjoyed in 16:9 High-Resolution Mode simply by connecting the camera directly to a Sony BRAVIA HDTV or other compatible HDTV with an optional cradle for optimal HD playback. Because an off-center subject can make your shot more interesting, a 9-point auto-focus measures the focus at 9 precision points instead of 5 for a greater creative freedom to compose your image. Super SteadyShot(R) Optical Image Stabilization compensates for shaky hands and minimizes blur with optical sensors that detect camera movement and send correcting signals to a stabilization lens.Shutter Speed -Auto (1/4 – 1/1,600) / Program Auto (1 – 1/1,600) Aperture Range -Auto (F3.3/F8.0 (W), 2 steps) / Program auto (F3.3/F8.0 (W), 2 steps) with ND Filter White Balance -Automatic, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, Fluorescent 3, Incandescent, and FlashMovie Modes -MPEG VX Fine with Audio (640×480 at 30fps), MPEG VX Standard with Audio (640×480 at 16fps), Presentation (320 x 240 at 8fps) Scene Modes -Beach, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight, and Twilight Portrait Flash Modes -Auto, Forced On, Forced Off, and Slow Synch In-Camera Editing -Red-eye reduction, soft edge filter, cross filter, partial color filter, and fish-eye filter

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony Cybershot DSCW170/R 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot (Red)

I have only recently received this camera. I upgraded from the Stylus 810 which was an outstanding camera. If you are a professionalphotographer or like to adjust your own aperature or speed setting then this is not for you. If you are like most of the people who will buy this camera I find it difficult to beat.You can carry it easily in a shirt pocket or a purse. The 8 MP is more than enough for most point and shoot cameras.The dual stabilization makes it hard to create any picture with a blur. This is almost a must for zoom pictures and perhaps the best stabilization of any ofthe many cameras I have tried. It offers a close up setting and a micro close up setting. It offers 4 settings for thequality of the picture you will take (pixels).If you want a picture for ebay use the low setting with close up feature. If you want a picture of your family go for the high setting. It has to many presets to mention for such things as action, people, night scenes, etc. The camera is simplicity at its best. Even a noviceshould be taking pictures a few minutesout of the box. Set the built in flash to auto and forget it if you want to. Allcontrols are clear and easy to use. If it israining do not worry as this camera hasaweather tight case.I have used the professional Nikon,s etc but for most of you this camera is all you willeverwant andmore. I highly recommend this camera. Two caveats and that is to buy a 1G or 2G memory card as the camera does not come with a card. Also buy an extra battery so you will always have an extra charged battery available if you take a lot of pictures. I also recommed the soft carrying case made by Olympus. I give this camera 5 stars.

Product Description
Shoot in rain or shine, at the beach or on the slopes. Sealed and coated in all the right places, the Stylus 830 resists water, snow and dust. Olympus brings you the latest in anti-shake. Dual Image Stabilization technology captures crisp, clear pictures. Mechanical CCD-shift Image Stabilization from Olympus keeps your images clear by adjusting the CCD to compensate for camera shake. Digital Image Stabilization prevents blurry images caused by moving subjects. It’s amazing to see 5x optical zoom in a digital camera this thin. Previewing, composing, shooting and sharing are so much easier and more enjoyable with this bright, premium-sized 2.5 inch HyperCrystal LCD.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Olympus Stylus 830 8MP Digital Camera with Dual Image Stabilized 5x Optical Zoom (Black)

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Sony T200 is a best buy.I have owned several Canon A series and SD series cameras up from 3MP, and this is the first Sony camera I bought, so here is my opinion comparing Sony T200 against Canon ones.

1) Adjustable flash intensity: T200 offers three levels of internal flash intensity: soft, normal and strong, user selectable.I haven’t seen it on my Canon yet.Soft flash is particularly useful for taking pictures on my kids.Their eyes are so precious to protect.

2) Smile face scene mode:Sony innovation.No Canon has this yet.It makes life easy when picturing my little kids.With other cameras, I have to shoot 10+ pictures in high speed mode and hope that one of them would come out with that beautiful natural smile. Definitely Sony advantage.

3) 3.5″ LCD touch screen: another Sony innovation on camera, (only Apple iPod Touch has a similar size). As I measured, 3.5″ is the screen horizontal dimension, corner to corner is about 3.75″, no Canon has this LCD size at this moment.Bright, clear and beautiful.LCD surface has special coating, so no light reflection found on most other cameras.Plain fun to frame a picture and review photos with this Large LCD.Touch screen replaced those many traditional tiny navigation/select buttons, very nice to me.Big Sony advantage.

4) 5X optical lens: most Canon SD series cameras have 3X or 4X lens, but Sony T200 has 5X.Lens quality is very good, as the pictures are sharp and clear.Sony advantage.

5) Anti-vibration: Sony uses Super Steadyshot feature which is a sensor based floating feature to compensate for vibration.Canon SD870IS uses lens based stabilization feature.They are both quite effective on this kind of compact cameras.I don’t see much difference on pictures.

6) Face detection: both Sony and Canon digit III have this new feature, very good for taking portraits alike. Sony and Canon equal.

7) Simple, easy to use menu: without even looking at the user manual, I can touch through the menus and start taking pictures in minutes. Canon has a good menu system too, I don’t see either superior than the other however.

Battery: Sony T200 has a relative small 680mAH battery and is rated for 250 shots, it does run down fairly quickly. Canon SD870IS cameras is rated for 270 shots, not any better.Generally speaking, compact cameras using LITHIUM ION rechargeable battery requires frequent charging because their tiny size has usually less than 1000mAH in capacity.If you are looking for cameras with long lasting battery, buy a Canon A series which uses AA NiMH battery with 2500+mAH capacity, you may then totally forget about charging issues.It’s bulkier though.

9) Picture quality: nothing above is important if the pictures doesn’t turn out great.In side by side comparison, Sony natural color mode is close to Canon vivid color mode.Sony color saturation are great and close to life. Canon pictures is more earth and natural.I personally prefer Sony color as I most often take family pictures and sightseeing pictures and would like a rich looking color scheme.

10) Picture noise: outdoors, both Sony and Canon did a good job, no visible noise.Indoors, Canon does a better job in noise reduction than Sony. Canon indoor pictures may be printed directly without noticeable noise.Sony is slightly worse than Canon, although much better than Panasonic FX9 which produced horrible noise.However, T200 doesn’t bother me, as I have Neat Image software to filter out the noise.After filtering, Sony T200 pictures turn out to be even better than Canon unprocessed pictures, noise is completely gone.

11) Video:Sony uses MPEG codec while Canon uses motion JPEG codec. For same time duration and 640×480 fine mode, Sony video file is half size of a Canon video file, so memory card may store twice the videos on Sony because of the MPEG codec.This is Sony advantage.In outdoor environment, video quality between Sony and Canon are comparable.Indoors low light, Sony seems to automatically switch to higher ISO to keep higher shuttle speed, the good side is the higher shuttle speed the better image quality (less ghosting like on Canon), the bad side is the higher ISO the slightly more image noise than Canon. Nevertheless, none of Canon or Sony camera-based video can match to an average camcorder.They are both good for day-to-day quick life snap, for best video quality, go for a camcorder.

12) Some reviewer complains about Sony T200 auto mode performance at indoor low light shots.It is true, but this is not just Sony.Like all other cameras, including Canon, auto mode is only suitable for outdoor shots or well lite area, unless you don’t care of the picture quality.Tips: for good indoors shots, use T200 program mode where there are more choices in ISO setting, white balance etc for fine tuning to get a good picture.

In summary, given that the current market price for Sony T200 and Canon SD870IS are similar, and all the points above, I consider my Sony T200 is a best buy, without regret.

Product Description
With slim vertical design in three fashion colors and a giant 3.5-inch widescreen touch-panel LCD that fills the back of the camera, the DSC-T200 catpures your attention before it even takes a shot. 8.1-megapixel imaging, a Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens and special features like Face Detection and Smile Shutter mode help you bring out the best in everyone — and the Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution delivers sharp color images even in low light. With the HD output, you can also share images in high definition on your Sony Bravia HDTV or other compatible HDTV screen.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony Cybershot DSC-T200 8.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization (Black)

Sony T200 is a best buy.I have owned several Canon A series and SD series cameras up from 3MP, and this is the first Sony camera I bought, so here is my opinion comparing Sony T200 against Canon ones.

1) Adjustable flash intensity: T200 offers three levels of internal flash intensity: soft, normal and strong, user selectable.I haven’t seen it on my Canon yet.Soft flash is particularly useful for taking pictures on my kids.Their eyes are so precious to protect.

2) Smile face scene mode:Sony innovation.No Canon has this yet.It makes life easy when picturing my little kids.With other cameras, I have to shoot 10+ pictures in high speed mode and hope that one of them would come out with that beautiful natural smile. Definitely Sony advantage.

3) 3.5″ LCD touch screen: another Sony innovation on camera, (only Apple iPod Touch has a similar size). As I measured, 3.5″ is the screen horizontal dimension, corner to corner is about 3.75″, no Canon has this LCD size at this moment.Bright, clear and beautiful.LCD surface has special coating, so no light reflection found on most other cameras.Plain fun to frame a picture and review photos with this Large LCD.Touch screen replaced those many traditional tiny navigation/select buttons, very nice to me.Big Sony advantage.

4) 5X optical lens: most Canon SD series cameras have 3X or 4X lens, but Sony T200 has 5X.Lens quality is very good, as the pictures are sharp and clear.Sony advantage.

5) Anti-vibration: Sony uses Super Steadyshot feature which is a sensor based floating feature to compensate for vibration.Canon SD870IS uses lens based stabilization feature.They are both quite effective on this kind of compact cameras.I don’t see much difference on pictures.

6) Face detection: both Sony and Canon digit III have this new feature, very good for taking portraits alike. Sony and Canon equal.

7) Simple, easy to use menu: without even looking at the user manual, I can touch through the menus and start taking pictures in minutes. Canon has a good menu system too, I don’t see either superior than the other however.

Battery: Sony T200 has a relative small 680mAH battery and is rated for 250 shots, it does run down fairly quickly. Canon SD870IS cameras is rated for 270 shots, not any better.Generally speaking, compact cameras using LITHIUM ION rechargeable battery requires frequent charging because their tiny size has usually less than 1000mAH in capacity.If you are looking for cameras with long lasting battery, buy a Canon A series which uses AA NiMH battery with 2500+mAH capacity, you may then totally forget about charging issues.It’s bulkier though.

9) Picture quality: nothing above is important if the pictures doesn’t turn out great.In side by side comparison, Sony natural color mode is close to Canon vivid color mode.Sony color saturation are great and close to life. Canon pictures is more earth and natural.I personally prefer Sony color as I most often take family pictures and sightseeing pictures and would like a rich looking color scheme.

10) Picture noise: outdoors, both Sony and Canon did a good job, no visible noise.Indoors, Canon does a better job in noise reduction than Sony. Canon indoor pictures may be printed directly without noticeable noise.Sony is slightly worse than Canon, although much better than Panasonic FX9 which produced horrible noise.However, T200 doesn’t bother me, as I have Neat Image software to filter out the noise.After filtering, Sony T200 pictures turn out to be even better than Canon unprocessed pictures, noise is completely gone.

11) Video:Sony uses MPEG codec while Canon uses motion JPEG codec. For same time duration and 640×480 fine mode, Sony video file is half size of a Canon video file, so memory card may store twice the videos on Sony because of the MPEG codec.This is Sony advantage.In outdoor environment, video quality between Sony and Canon are comparable.Indoors low light, Sony seems to automatically switch to higher ISO to keep higher shuttle speed, the good side is the higher shuttle speed the better image quality (less ghosting like on Canon), the bad side is the higher ISO the slightly more image noise than Canon. Nevertheless, none of Canon or Sony camera-based video can match to an average camcorder.They are both good for day-to-day quick life snap, for best video quality, go for a camcorder.

12) Some reviewer complains about Sony T200 auto mode performance at indoor low light shots.It is true, but this is not just Sony.Like all other cameras, including Canon, auto mode is only suitable for outdoor shots or well lite area, unless you don’t care of the picture quality.Tips: for good indoors shots, use T200 program mode where there are more choices in ISO setting, white balance etc for fine tuning to get a good picture.

In summary, given that the current market price for Sony T200 and Canon SD870IS are similar, and all the points above, I consider my Sony T200 is a best buy, without regret.

Product Description
With slim vertical design in three fashion colors and a giant 3.5-inch widescreen touch-panel LCD that fills the back of the camera, the DSC-T200 catpures your attention before it even takes a shot. 8.1-megapixel imaging, a Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens and special features like Face Detection and Smile Shutter mode help you bring out the best in everyone — and the Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution delivers sharp color images even in low light. With the HD output, you can also share images in high definition on your Sony Bravia HDTV or other compatible HDTV screen.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony Cybershot DSC-T200 8.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization (Red)