VXI BlueParrott B100 Specifications download pdf (Page 48)

reviews

TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED

84 MAXIMUMPC HOLIDAY 2005

85HOLIDAY 2005 MAXIMUMPC

nitially, in the compact and ultra-compact

segments of the digicam market, more

pixels crammed onto tiny image sen-

sors generally equated to poor image qual-

ity—especially at ISO speeds above 200. But

compression methods and image-processing

technology have improved dramatically during

the last year, as is reﬂected in the improved

picture quality of today’s smaller cameras.

Case in point: We lassoed four new

cameras—two compacts and two ultra-com-

pacts—from four industry stalwarts, and only

one of them sucked. A year ago we’d have

been happy with one winner out of four.

—STEVE KLETT

CASIO EX-S500

If slipping the ultra-compact, ultra-light,

ultra-thin Exilim S500 Card Camera into your

shirt pocket doesn’t make you feel at least

a little bit like 007 on vacation it’s likely no

camera ever will. Not only is the S500 sexy,

it’s also style conscious—coming in three

color variations. Despite its diminutive size

and weight, the camera feels quite durable,

thanks to its stainless steel–clad body.

The S500 delivers in the performance

category, too. Not only is it relatively

speedy (power-up to ﬁrst shot takes less

than two seconds, and images can be shot

sequentially in intervals of less than two

seconds, as well), but pictures look very

good across a wide range of conditions.

Outdoor shots were nicely exposed and

saturated, and indoor performance was

excellent, even under moderate-to-low

lighting conditions, thanks to the S500’s

very capable auto-focus and ﬂash. Image

noise crept into our

pictures at 200 ISO,

and even more so

at 400 ISO—but not at unacceptable levels.

The S500 offers 29 preset “Best Shot”

program modes, covering just about every

conceivable shooting situation. And you

can customize your own modes, too. While

these presets make the camera very friendly

to less-experienced shooters, it can be frus-

tratingly slow to switch among them. The

entire camera operation is controlled with

buttons, which also makes ﬁne-tuning the

external 3x optical zoom a bit tricky.

You’ll need to rely on the 2.2-inch

LCD display for composition—there’s

no viewﬁnder. We didn’t miss it, though,

because the LCD works acceptably even

in bright outdoor situations, and it bright-

ens automatically in low-light conditions.

Interestingly, while the camera boasts “anti-

shake” technology, we noticed little differ-

ence between shots taken in low light with

the feature on or off.

The camera also offers several movie

modes, which will give you serviceable

clips—though of quality far below DV cam-

eras, which is to be expected. The Past

Movie mode is noteworthy as it continuously

stores images in its 8MB of onboard

memory, so you can retrieve a clip beginning

ﬁve seconds before you depressed record.

A super slim formfactor with superb per-

formance, the S500 is tough to beat.

NIKON COOLPIX S1

While its dimensions are almost identical

to the S500, the Nikon S1’s slightly thicker

body makes it feel less like a “spy camera.”

This isn’t a knock, certainly, as the S1 is still

plenty small—you’ll have no problem stash-

ing it in your pocket or handbag.

The internal, very quiet, Zoom-Nikkor

3x optical lens produces very good overall

image quality with nicely saturated colors in

both indoor and outdoor shots, as well as

balanced exposure. We did see a bit of bar-

rel distortion in images shot at wide angle,

and just like every compact camera we’ve

tested, noise became noticeable at ISO 400.

(Though, again, not at an alarming level for a

camera in this category. And ISO 200 shots

appeared slightly better than with the S500.)

Like all the cameras in this roundup, the S1

has the traditional automatic exposure mode

coupled with a variety of scenic modes to ﬁt

most any occasion. And it has an excellent

macro mode—able to shoot subject matter

as close as two inches to the lens.

In terms of raw shooting performance,

the S1 is on par with the S500, with the

added ability to shoot in continuous mode,

which was very speedy for a camera of this

size and delivered impressive results. One

downer is that the LCD displays the last

image captured, even in continuous mode,

which can make it tricky to follow a mov-

ing subject. As is becoming common these

Compact Camera

Kerfuffle

Smaller bodies and higher resolutions do not equal poor image

quality and less features

$400, www.casio.com

CASIO EX-S500

PIXEL-ICIOUS

Small, lightweight, durable;

loads of features; good

quality pics.

PIXEL-SICKISH

Menu modes are tough to

navigate quickly; twitchy zoom controls.

SPECS

RESOLUTION CCD WEIGHT (WITHOUT BATTERY) PRICE

EX-S500 5.25MP 1/2.5-INCH 4.06oz $400

COOLPIX S1 5.1MP 1/2.5-inch 4.2oz $380

POWERSHOT SD500 7.1MP 1/1.8-inch 6.0oz $500

DSC-T7 5.1MP 1/2.5-inch 4.1oz $500

Nikon’s CoolPix S1 is a great little camera,

but its lens position can be problematic.

2.3"

3.5"

Casio’s EX-S500 is the best all-around ultra-compact camera

we’ve put through the mill yet.

3.5"

2.3"

1 2 ... 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

Comments to this Manuals

No comments

VXI BlueParrott B100 Specifications Page 48

Comments to this Manuals