Showing posts with label camera reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camera reviews. Show all posts

September 06, 2012

6 Reasons to Prefer Point-and-Shoots to DSLR Cameras

The following post is an extension to my previous post which talked about how point-and-shoots are different from DSLRs.
In this post, I am going to highlight 6 reasons to prefer a regular point-and-shoot camera to a DSLR...

 

1. Affordability

Point-and-shoots are generally available at around half the cost of DSLRs. The reason for this wide gap in price is quite discernible - compact cameras are built inexpensively keeping the needs of casual users in mind, while the DSLRs are built expensively keeping the requirements of PROs in mind. Besides that, not everyone can keep up with the cost of accessories and maintenance of DSLRs, except for the professionals and photo maniacs :P

 

2. Portability

A point and shoot camera is your perfect companion for casual occasions like birthday shoots, get together clicks and for travel photography, on the go. Unlike DSLRs, point-and-shoots being sleek, light weight and pocketable are never a burden to carry along with.

 

3. User Friendly Interface


nikon android cameraIt's very easy to operate a point-and-shoot than a DSLR. It's just a matter of getting acquainted with a couple of buttons and you are good to go. Contrary, operating a DSLR requires an exhaustive understanding of so many controls and combinations. I have seen so many novice and wanna be photographers being bogged down by the sheer abstruseness of DSLRs. So, don't ever go for a costly DSLR, until you become an accomplished virtuoso at capturing anything with your point-and-shoot skills. The good news is, Android – the most successful mobile OS has entered to power the compact camera world. Nikon UK has recently launched the first ever android powered camera - COOLPIX S800c.

 

4. Maintenance


Needless to say, DSLRs demand much more care and maintenance than the compact cameras. One really needs to have a stomach to wipe clean all the vital parts of the DSLR unlike its counterpart which can be cleaned and maintained very easily.

 

5. Appealing Looks & Colors

These days the point-and-shoots come in vivid style and colors. Take Sony Cybershot's T series and the whole new range of canon's IXUS series of cameras for example. They are a perfect blend of style statement and functionality in a nice little package. Contrary to that, most of the DSLRs are available in the same retro style but they are very powerful when it comes to the level of performance and acuity.

 

6. Useful in-built presets


Point-and-shoots are usually equipped with so many useful presets like - the panorama mode, macro mode, under-water mode and the portrait mode. These presets perceptibly eliminate the need to fiddle with the manual settings of your camera while capturing different types of scenes.
For instance, to capture due drops on leaves, one can achieve fairly good results in short time by readily operating the camera under the macro mode.
Whereas to capture the same type of scene with a DSLR, one will need to carefully select a suitably larger aperture value and a smaller shutter speed to achieve remarkable results.

So what camera do u prefer to use ? Please add your valuable opinions in the comments below.

June 29, 2011

Sony DSC W320 Review

The Sony Cybershot – DSC W320 still camera is one of the most popular camera manufactured by Sony. It’s affordable, has great design and offers plenty of good features. DSC W320 is a simple point and shoot camera that has almost all the features of the w series of Sony except for sweep panorama and no HD video recording. The photo captured by this point and shoot camera are excellent in quality and the users can click photos using a variety of available resolutions like 14MP, 10 MP, 5MP or even 2MP. The video recording resolution is 640*480 with framing at the speed of around 29 fps(frames per second).


  Lets take a quick insight into it’s technical specifications…

Camera Megapixels 14.1
Video recording VGA and QVGA @ 29 frames per second, video frame dimension – 640*480
Optical zoom 4x
Digital Zoom 8x
Lens Carl Zeiss (26mm wide)
LCD screen length 7 cm (diagonally)
colors 230k
battery rechargeable lithium ION
Memory/Storage internal 30 MB, 4 GB micro SD card included
Camera type Point and shoot
Touch screen No

Sony DSC W320 has 4 basic menu selection screens – intelligent auto mode, program auto mode, scene selection mode and blur reduction mode.

dsc w320 menu

In the image above, the I followed by camera icon represents auto mode, P stands for Program auto mode, SCN stands for scene selection while the last icon represents shooting with blur reduction.

Now we will be discussing each one of these screen menus in details…

Intelligent auto mode

Intelligent auto mode, as the name suggests provides auto image stabilization. It captures every shot with ease no matter where the shots are being framed. Forget about light conditions and the movement of objects, the intelligent auto mode takes care of all these things. You will just need to press the shoot button and the camera will produce the best possible image under those conditions.

The vertical sub menu of intelligent auto mode presents options for easy mode, image resolution selection (14 MP, 11 MP, 10 MP, 5 MP, 2 MP and VGA), single-shot/burst-mode (shooting multiple images as long as the shoot button is kept pressed), OEV (for adjusting screen brightness on a scale of –2 to +2), self timer and smile sensitivity meter.

sample image

dsc w320 review

Program auto mode

Program auto mode gives the end user the freedom and flexibility to choose from a variety of adjustable settings like controlling the camera’s shutter speed, ISO, aperture, flash properties, white balance, area of focus and metering mode.

sony w320 review

sample image

dsc w320 review

Scene Selection mode

Scene selection mode acts like a pre-defined preset in some sort of software. Scene section mode of W320 includes shooting subject with soft background, with high ISO, landscape mode, twilight using flash, predefined settings for capturing food, pets, underwater scene and beach scene

sony w320 review

Blur reduction mode

Blur reduction mode in W320 ensures that the subject is shot with minimum blur induced. The blur can occur on account of shaking hands holding the camera or an unstable subject being framed. This mode finds utility when it is required to capture a digital image of any document or any unstable subject that you do not wish to miss.


Samples and tests

View sample images taken by W320 camera at 14 MP resolution.

Sample video test of W320 camera (watching this video on YouTube is recommended for better analysis).

w320 video test

I have explained this review on W320 camera with the best of my knowledge and experience and i hope that you will definitely like this !!

January 09, 2011

Camera Review: Sony NEX 3


This year SONY launched its most awaited camera NEX 3 and NEX 5. the NEX is a completely new class of camera; one with the features and capabilities of a full-fledged digital SLR, but with a size and weight closer to a pocket size camera. Thus NEX series is aiming to provide digital SLR quality photos with the size nearly half of digital SLR cameras. Most people use digital pocket cameras for its compactness but for those who have experienced digital SLR image quality will not compromise. SONY NEX series is not exactly SLR camera but because of its SLR camera type image quality they are more often compared to SLRs. Traditional SLR cameras are large and heavy, and complex operation makes them unsuitable for many users. SONY created a different class of digital camera featuring facility for users to change lens. In fact they are crowned as world's smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera.



The camera is designed for easy first-time use. You can start with automatic modes and move on to more advanced features as you learn. The camera features built-in guides and helpful tips to take advantage of the CMOS sensor. For example, in auto modes, you can adjust the dial to take the background out of focus, instead of wondering about aperture settings. There is no in-built flash.
This is not a problem as you don't need a flash most of the time, and a removable flash unit is supplied with the camera too. On the other hand it's stylish look had taken many hearts. Thus NEX series is providing style with performance.


Sony nex review   
   
  

Technical Specifications and features…
  • 14.2 MP APS (1.5x) Exmor CMOS Sensor
  • Extremely Compact HD Imaging System
  • Interchangeable 18-55mm E-Series Lens
  • 720p HD video recording/ MPEG-4 format
  • ISO up to 12800
  • Up to 7 fps continuous shooting
  • In-Camera 226° Sweep Panoramas
  • Memory Stick PRO Duo or SD/SDHC Cards
  • Tilt able 3.0" LCD
  • Accepts A-mount lenses via LA-EA1 adapter
  • Detachable flash
  • Optical zoom up to 18 x
  • Aperture range: F/3.5-5.6
  • Focal length: 18 millimeters to 55 millimeters
  • Optical sensor: 15.6 x 23.4mm
  • Image types: JPEG, RAW
What's Good about Sony NEX camera?
  • It's compactness and high image quality surely attracts high-end photographers
  • There is one button movie switching mode which is quiet attractive
  • The 3 inch tilt able screen adds another good feature to this camera
  • It is nearly half in size and weight of Sony's very own lightest DSLR A230L
  • It is capable of recording videos in high definition
  • Captures sharp picture
  • Comfortable for manual focus
  • Fast lenses good for shooting video
  • Handling and overall performance of the NEX-3 is excellent
What's Bad about Sony NEX camera?
  • No neutral image color settings
  • Using detachable flash is inconvenient sometimes
  • The processing takes some extra time. This means you have to wait to get the camera ready for shooting
  • Accessories are very expensive
  • high battery consumption
 


Sony Cybershot Vs. Canon digital camera

Sony Cybershot and Canon are the leading camera makers in the world, which make use of high end optical technology to deliver the best of cameras and camcorders. So you want to buy a brand new digital camera but cannot make a choice between Sony or Canon ? Then this short guide is for you…
 
Picture quality : Canon
Sony Cybershot is known for its excellent performance when it comes to the picture quality. The pictures captured are crisp and clear. On the other side Canon, being the biggest camera maker is a self-explanatory mark. Pictures captured with Canon are perfect and outstanding. Canon technology is a bit superior to Sony Cybershot.


 
Reliability and trust : Canon
Though Sony and Canon are equally leveled brands, yet Sony can't beat the reliability of Canon. Sony is a brand that has command over a wide range of electronic gadgets. It's product manufacturing range is quite large as compared to Canon. From mobile phones, Walkman, televisions, laptops to cybershot digital cameras all are made by Sony. On the other hand Canon concentrates solely on digital cameras and laser printers, making it a more reliable brand than Sony.

Style : Sony Cybershot
Sony is well known for its style statement. All of its digital cams are a sensational blend of style and performance.
Though Canon is new to this feature, it's trying the best to overcome Sony with the newly introduced IXUS series of camera.


Afford-ability : Sony Cybershot
When it comes to affordability, Sony takes away the crown. On comparing the camera models of the two brands having the same mega-pixels, it's quite conspicuous that Sony is more affordable than Canon.


So which camera is worth to go for? Figure it out from following table…
 

Type of user

For Price Range

Your camera choice should be…

Casual/Home user

Up to 280 Dollars

Sony W series/ Canon Powershot

Average user/tourist

From 280 – 360 Dollars

Sony T series or Canon IXUS

Advanced user/Pro

Above 360 Dollars

Sony α Slr/ Canon EOS


Disclaimer : The comparison of the above mentioned camera companies is purely subjective and this may vary from person to person. Some may be die heart fans of Sony and some may prefer Canon for keeps. This review and comparison was posted after taking a survey of around 20 to 30 people I know personally.

December 08, 2010

Sample images of Sony DSC W320

I bought W320 a month ago and i am extremely happy with its image quality. Though there are a number of websites giving its review, but according to me showing sample images of Sony DSC W320 would be an exciting review. It is a 14.1 mega-pixel camera with outstanding image quality. Although it does not allow recording videos in HD, yet its VGA mode with 30 frames per second is capable of creating a wow movie. This compact camera is the most ideal choice for anyone who is on a budget and of course for first time digital camera owners like me. In this blog post I have shared a couple of photos captured with Sony w320. To know more about all the features, do visit this W320 review.


Here are the sample images taken with my Sony W320 under various modes. Click on each image to view in full resolution.

Mode 1: Intelligent Auto
Captures the perfect shot with ease. Automatically determining the optimized settings for different scenes, intelligent Auto mode combines the innovative technologies of Intelligent Scene Recognition, Face Detection and Smile shutter to ensure that every shot is perfect, regardless of the shooting environment.
sample images sony w320


sample images sony w320  

Mode 2: Program Auto
In this mode you have almost the full control over manual camera settings like aperture, ISO, light conditions and so on…

Mode 3: Scene Selection Mode
It consists of various modes like shooting subject with soft background, in low light using flash, in high sensitivity, etc..


Mode 4: Twilight Mode (shooting in low light with flash)
sample images sony w320