Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T99 is a good looking camera having an excellent feature set. But the small land slippery body might come in the way of comfortable shooting and while testing, I found that the touch screen interface was a bit laggy. That said, Sony has packed in a lot of features here in an ultracompact chassis and I would recommend you to buy this camera only if you want a touch screen. If you can do without touch screen interface, there are better options available. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T99 photos look soft and they lack in fine detail when you view it at full size except for the ones that are taken in macro. A camera having 14 megapixel resolution should have good room for cutting down the images. If you like cropping a lot of subjects and then want to print 13x19 photos, I would recommend you to look elsewhere. There are other cameras in the sub $250 category. The overall photo quality on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T99 was brought  [...]

Nikon Coolpix S550 belongs to the new generation of Nikon ultra compact premiums which was started by S500. This range is denoted by triple digit numbers and now has 8 models in its repertoire. At the lowest end, there is the 7.1 megapixel ultraslim S200 and on the other end, there is the S700 with a 12.1 megapixel sensor. The Nikon Coolpix S550 belongs to the top end owing to high end specifications. This camera has 10 megapixel shutter, 230k 2.5 inch screen, 5x optical zoom with focal length equivalent to 36-180mm and at the slow shutter speeds, you get electronic image stabilization. Other features worth mentioning here are face and smile detection. Ultra compact digital cameras with high end specifications are getting really popular these days and the Nikon Coolpix S550 here will have to compete with Casio Exilim EX-X100 (having 10 megapixel sensor, with 4x zoom with a 28mm wide-angle lens) and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170 which looks quite impressive (with optical  [...]

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S2100 is an entry level camera from the company. At the moment, it is the only model from this manufacturer to run on AA sized batteries. For me, that is a highlight in a camera apart form a larger than standard display. This device is made for starters who are looking for easy operation and convenience. The photo quality is strictly OK but that is not unexpected at this price range. The performance is not that good either. But the camera still has some strong points, depending on how you are going to use the photos. The results are not that good but the still live up to the expectations. Controls on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S2100 are pretty basic. You have the shutter release and power button on the top, and rest of the controls are located on the right side of the screen. You have rocker switch for 3x zoom, swtich for toggling between photo and video modes, play button for watching the movies and shots, four direction pad for navigation, and changing  [...]

When it comes to point and shoot cameras, a high price doesn't necessarily mean that the photo quality will be superb or the shooting performance will be fast. Instead, you pay for the latest features that might have come up over a period of time and the body is too kept compact. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX7 is an excellent example of this. It has 25 mm equivalent wide angle lens, the manufacturer's Exmor R high-speed backside-illuminated sensors, 3.5 inch high resolution touch screen display, and it also captures 1080i movies at 60 fps. All this in put in a body that is just 0.7 inch thick which is really impressive. The sensor along with the company's Bionz image processor can do things that are beyond the reach of your standard pocket camera. The performance is speedy, low light photos look great but the photo quality could have been better. Still, prints at 8x10 inches or less look really great and the quality is also good for Web use or watching on TV. The  [...]

The best introduction to Canon PowerShot A480 would be a camera with whom no one expects anything exceptional, and that is what we also will say about it. The PowerShot A480 has got basic low-end camera features and specifications, and is priced accordingly at $100. If you want to get any sort of the modern features then you will have to spend twice the price mentioned here and the same is the case with A480 as well. But in general the camera takes pretty good photos, mentioned that you keep your expectations essentially at ground levels and is modest. The PowerShot A480 comes in four color choices of red, silver, black and blue. The camera might not be huge in terms of length and width, but definitely is thicker than most of the other cameras and hence even though it will easily get into any pants pocket or small handbag, it wont be a easy fit, rather will be a squeeze. The frontage of the camera is pretty stylish, and the camera has a narrow 35mm  [...]

If you like to show the captured photographs to others, then the Nikon CoolPix S1000pj is a cool stuff for you. It has ultra-small projector to show pictures and videos up to 40inches diagonal with a press of button. Except this, $429.95 priced the Coolpix S1000pj features just basic: 2.7 inches LCD display, 5x optical zoom, 28mm equivalent wide-angle lens, 12-megapixel resolution, and complete automatic shooting options. If you need just a compact camera to capture pictures, then you may not choose the S1000pj. The less expensive Nikon S570 and then S640 provide comparable picture quality and better shooting performance. If you really love to share pictures quickly and need something else than just tiny camera display, computer screen or TV, then the Coolpix S1000pj is a great choice. This is the best camera for real estate and business professionals who want to exhibits the picture instantly in a meeting. You will  [...]

Nikon Coolpix S640 is priced at $239.95 that is $50 more than the price of S570. The S640 offers optical image stabilization, improved performance and extra options for shooting. The Coolpix S640 continues to have same 5x zoom similar to its predecessors. The S640 is an ultra-compact camera with 28mm equivalent wide-angle lens. However, the camera does not have HD-quality video mode. We recommend Nikon Coolpix S640 if you need an ultra-compact camera with good basic features. Despite having wide-angle lens, its aperture comes down to f6.6 on zooming out that makes the low-light shots iffy. This is acceptable on S570 because of the low price, but we won’t accept the Nikon Coolpix S640. The flash bulb is located on top left side and you will have to take care while positioning you finger, or else you may block it. Nikon Coolpix S640 has standard controls, which are easy to get used to. The shutter release buttons, zoom control and power button are  [...]

We were wondering about what Samsung could possibly mean when they said Dualview on the camera name. We gave up, after thinking for a lot of time and we finally opened the product to find out for ourselves. What followed really blew us of our feet. Yes! It has a screen right next to the lens of the camera. The screen is used for self portrait and a few other functions that we will discuss later. But a presence of a dual screen would add to the cost and it does take up the price of the product a little. The screen of the Samsung DualView TL220 is about three inches and it is a touch screen interface. Most of the physical buttons have been sacrificed for the LCD interface. The LCD has lots of functions you may get confused with the features of the camera if you are a newbie. This camera has a lot of expert features and has been made for shutter bug freaks. It will get a while for you to get used to this camera if you have never handled one before. The LCD display of the touch screen  [...]

Canon PowerShot S90 has flash on the top of the body that pops up and retracts automatically when turned on and off. The camera is a bit slow when it comes to taking pictures, it will take 1.8 second for the first shot and then for shooting raw the time extends to 3.4 seconds. There are options for the advanced user like exposure bracketing and focus bracketing. These options are not recommended for persons who are using a camera for the first time, they are sure to get confused. There are17 options for ISO from ISO 80 to ISO 3,200. There are plenty of options available for this camera but you have to be a professional to understand them. We were happy with the lens, but there was a small amount of barrel distortion at the camera’s widest 28 mm equivalent position. The zoom is short on this camera (3.8x) The photo quality of this camera is one of the best we have seen, there is a wide option of resolution from 3648 x 2736 to 640 x 480. Pictures can be stored  [...]

Samsung HZ15W is a 10 MP camera and it is quite good, the photo quality didn’t disappoint us. But it was not impressive either. The camera can churn out photos with good detail and the sharpness. There is a command lever near the LCD which can be used to adjust exposure compensation, adjust ISO or white balance. The command lever sometimes comes in the way and there is a possibility of accidental presses while taking a picture or zooming. There is a four way directional pad that is used for changing display information, setting a timer, entering macro and manual focus, or turning on the flash. The Menu/OK button in the centre is used for accessing basic shooting, sound, display, and system settings. There is a Function button, which goes by the name Fn and it is for context sensitive shooting. If you use the command lever for ISO or white balance, then you can use the function button for exposure compensation, which will be controlled again by the command lever. A second press of the  [...]