The Canon SD990 IS is the only pocket camera with an optical viewfinder and manual shooting control worth buying. Or, really, available at all.
(Credit: Canon)Read through the user reviews of point-and-shoot cameras on CNET and you'll come across a common question: where's the optical viewfinder? The answer is there aren't any. Well, almost any. Canon is basically the lone major manufacturer of compact cameras with optical viewfinders. And even its numbers are dwindling.
In Canon's current lineup of PowerShot Digital Elph and A-series models, there are just five models featuring the company's real image optical zoom viewfinder. If you want manual control over shutter speed and aperture, the only option is the 14.7-megapixel SD990 IS (and it's nearing the end of its life). (On the upside the SD990 can now be found for more than $100 less than its original $399.99 price, making it a much better purchase than when I originally reviewed it.)
Below is a listing of the five models that are still readily available at retail with links to their reviews. Generally, they're all very good cameras and at current prices I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them if you must have a viewfinder. If you want it to be powered by AA-size batteries, too, you're limited to the A-series models. Also, if you don't mind a larger, more advanced camera, Canon's PowerShot G11 and Nikon's Coolpix P6000 models both feature optical viewfinders.
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The funny thing about the Canon PowerShot A2100 IS is that I like it more than its barely different predecessor, the A2000 IS for basically one reason: it's black instead of a boring two-tone gray.
The size and shape are the same. They both run on AA batteries. They both have bright 3-inch LCDs on back and a 6x zoom lens on front with optical image stabilization. Yet, the change from gray to black makes the camera look like it performs better. (Sadly, they both have fairly mixed performance.)
So if you don't care about the body color, why go with the A2100 for $50 more? Well it has Canon's Digic 4 processor for better face detection among other things, a 12-megapixel resolution compared to the A2000's 10 megapixels, and the A2100 has Canon's Smart Auto scene recognition.
However, both cameras take excellent photos regardless. (At least below ISO 200, that is.) It's just that you can do a little more cropping with the extra resolution on the A2100.
And it is black.
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Olympus' concept model of a svelte compact camera using the Micro Four Thirds standard.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)LAS VEGAS--Olympus has set a ship date, albeit one with a lot of wiggle room, for its first high-end compact camera using the Micro Four Thirds technology.
The camera maker first showed a nonworking "concept model" of the camera at the Photokina show last September, and the same model is on display here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show. Now, though it sports a label, "launching this summer."
... Read moreCompact-camera manufacturers have begun testing the waters with a wealth of high-end features as they search for new ways to gain revenue, market share, and recognition.
In earlier digital photography days, a camera with an extra megapixel of resolution, face recognition, or image stabilization could stand apart from the herd. But now that herd has grown larger, most folks who'll buy a digital camera already have done so, the economy has put consumer spending on ice--and camera makers are making some bolder bets with high-end features.
Among them: Nikon's built-in GPS support to record where a photo was taken, Casio's high-speed video, and the Micro Four Thirds camera system from Panasonic and Olympus.
Premium features aren't an easy sell. They tend to appeal to market niches rather than the mainstream. Early implementations are often rough around the edges. And it's hard enough to convince people to buy a new camera, much less one with the higher price of premium features.
But winning those customers can have a good payoff with better profit margins. And that's critical in this day and age. Market research firm IDC expects that after years of growth, the shipments of digital cameras will decline in 2009.
"It's crowded, and it's getting crowdeder," IDC analyst Ron Glaz said of the digital camera market. "We're anticipating that with the slowdown in economy and disposable income, we'll start seeing consolidation of the vendors." In other words, even though something in the neighborhood of 38 million digital cameras are sold annually, some companies will throw in the towel.
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Pentax's new 8MP V20 includes a 5X optical zoom lens.
(Credit: Pentax)Pentax has just announced a new addition to the company's V-series of compact cameras. The Optio V20 includes an 8-megapixel CCD sensor and 3-inch LCD screen, much as last year's V10 did. However, the V20 sports a 5X optical, 36-180mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens--a major step up in zoom from the V10's 3X lens.
The V20 also has a robust face detection system--Pentax calls it Face Recognition--which can find faces when they're in frame and use them to focus and set exposure. Like some other cameras on the market, it has a Smile Capture face detection mode, which captures an image when it sees someone smile, and it also has a Blink Detection mode that informs you when one of your subjects has blinked, so you can shoot another picture. The camera also has an Auto-Macro mode, to make the ultra-close-ups a bit less complicated.
Sensitivity ranges from ISO 80 up to ISO 6,400, and can be limited to a range of your choice when you have the camera in its Digital Shake Reduction mode, which automatically raises the ISO to allow for faster shutter speeds to freeze the action in your photos, while compensating for hand shake. While this isn't quite as appealing as optical or mechanical image stabilization, it's better than nothing. The camera's movie mode does have more-effective stabilization--it's still digital, but since the camera doesn't need to use the entire sensor to capture videos--it can do up to 640x480-pixels at 30 frames per second (fps)--it can use some of the sensor's remaining pixels to provide effective digital stabilization. Just in case shooting that video uses up space on your memory card, the V200 includes 51MB of internal memory.
Pentax says that the Optio V20 will be available this May for about $280.
Kodak's Z1275 with 2.5-inch LCD screen
(Credit: Eastman Kodak)In addition to its new M series of budget compact cameras, Kodak announced an ultrazoom compact and a high-megapixel compact for its Z series line of digital cameras on Tuesday.
Both cameras, set to be available this August for about $249, have Kodak's digital-image stabilization feature to assist with camera shake.
Kodak's Z1275 offers an impressive 12 megapixels for $249. (In this price range, 10 megapixels is on the better side of average.)
The Z1275 has a 2.5-inch LCD screen and will stitch together photos for one panoramic, a fun feature to have on board. It also has 64MB of internal memory in addition to an SDHC/SD/MMC card slot.
Kodak's ZD710
(Credit: Eastman Kodak)For what it's worth, Kodak claims that this camera has an ISO sensitivity of up to 1,600, with a 3,200 boost, depending on which mode you are shooting in and the size of the photo.
The ZD710, as the name and body suggests, is the obvious predecessor to the Kodak Z710 as it also has a 10x optical-zoom lens that offers the 38mm to 380mm (35mm equivalent) range.
Unlike the Z710, however, which we at CNET complained had no optical image stabilization and an ISO of only 400 with an 800 boost, the new ZD710 does have Kodak's digital-image stabilization and offers an ISO up to 1,600.
While digital-image stabilization is not the same as optical-image stabilization, it's a start.
Kodak's ZD710 with 2-inch LCD screen
(Credit: Eastman Kodak)The ZD710 also comes with the typical SDHC/SD/MMC memory card slot, scene modes, color modes, video capability and shooting modes for partial manual control typical of a camera in this class.
As is the problem on many of these cameras caught between the compact and dSLR worlds, the ZD710 has only a 2-inch LCD screen in order to fit in a control wheel.
While the rumor mill surrounding a new Nikon release for DSLR consumers "hots up," as the British press would say, Kodak is addressing its amateur photographer base.
The new M-series budget-priced compact cameras offer color choice, portability, nice LCD screen size and megapixels high enough to make 30x40 inch prints.
Kodak's M753 in copper
(Credit: Eastman Kodak)Notably, these are not the cameras and cell phones with Kodak's own CMOS chips that Kodak President Antonio Perez mentioned we would soon see. Those 5-megapixel cameras are due to come out "in time for the holiday season."
The M753 available now for $149 is a 7-megapixel 0.9-inch slim camera with a 2.5-inch LCD screen and SD/MMC slot that comes in color choices of black, silver, purple, copper, pink and blue. It's counterpart, the 8-megapixel M853, will be available in August for about $179. Also with a 2.5-inch LCD screen, the M853 comes in white, red, graphite, silver and espresso. Both have a 3x optical zoom lens.
Kodak's M883 in red
(Credit: Eastman Kodak)For a little more, you can get a compact camera with a 3-inch LCD screen (go for it) and face detection technology with your 8 megapixels in the M883. It'll be available for $229 this September in silver, black or red. Not willing to pay the extra $30 for a bigger screen and face detection? There's the 8-megapixel M873 for $199 that also comes in a metal alloy body in silver or black. Sorry, no red.
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