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Fujifilm's six megapixel F20 thrives at night
Besides the S6000fd that we just brought you, Fujifilm has another six megapixel shooter slated to hit stores in September, though this model is more at home in a pocket than a camera bag. Being touted as the little brother to the company's already-compact F30, the new F20 sports many of the same features as its big bro -- besides the 6.3 megapixel CCD, they both share a 3x optical zoom and 2.5-inch LCD -- with the major differences being size, display resolution, and battery capacity. Also like the F30, this model is designed to perform in low-light conditions that would prove difficult for other compact cameras which don't share its relatively high maximum sensitivity of ISO 2000. The other nice touches here center around the flash: it automatically adjusts its intensity based on ambient lighting, and is part of the innovative "Natural Light & Flash" feature that snaps two consecutive shots -- one with flash and one without -- to provide users with a so-called "photographic safety net." No word yet on pricing, but since you can pick up the F30 for under $400, we imagine that this model will be available for around the same cost.
Casio introduces 7.2 megapixel Exilim EX-Z70
So Casio's just announced that it's taking the six megapixel Exilim EX-Z60 and bumping the resolution up to 7.2 megapixels in a new model whose name you can probably guess, while at the same time managing to make it just a little more pocket-friendly by shaving a few millimeters off the depth. Besides those extra million or so pixels, though, the Exilim EX-Z70's specs remain nearly identical to its sibling's, so the 2.5-inch LCD, 3x optical zoom, and digital image stabilization will come as little surprise. Retailing for around $425, a black version of this 118-gram point-and-shooter will be available at the beginning of July, while a silver edition will hit the streets about a month later. Keep reading to get a view from the back, though if you're familiar with Z60, you'll have seen it all before...
Fujifilm FinePix V10 reviewed
We first peeped Fujifilm's compact FinePix V10 at CES earlier this year, but if you've been wondering how it actually performs, the folks at Lets Go Digital have got your fix in the form of an in-depth review. The camera itself is a 5 megapixel number, with a 3.4x optical zoom, and a large 3-inch LCD taking up pretty much all of the real estate on the rear side of the device. Also notable is the high ISO settings (up to 1600), which is rarely seen in a camera of this class. Lets Go Digital really didn't find much negative to say about the camera, giving it high marks for its great lens, fast start-up speed, good color rendition, and general user-friendliness -- they even dug the camera's built-in games. Sticker price is still $349, but it looks like most retailers are selling it for closer to the $300 mark -- although the orange model here seems a bit harder to come by. Why, we don't exactly know; we're assuming it's probably not due to demand.[Via DP Blog]
Casio's compact 10 megapixel EXILIM EX-Z1000 reviewed
Proving that there's still a little bit of life left in the so-called megapixel race, Casio is offering a compact digital camera that packs a 10 megapixel sensor into the smallest space we've seen since Samsung's latest ridiculously excessive cameraphone, and what's more, Let'sGoDigital finds that the company actually puts some of those extra pixels to good use. Besides its unrivaled maximum resolution of 3648 x 2736, Casio's EXILIM EX-Z1000 initially impressed us with a high res 2.5-inch display and unusual maximum ISO of 3200, but LGD finds that while the screen indeed delivers superior performance, the latter feature, as we suspected, produces unacceptable levels at noise. Images captured at ISOs below 400, however, were judged to be "impressive," with good color accuracy and visible detail, and there are plenty of options available to manually tweak such settings as white balance, flash intensity, and even aspect ratio for slideshows on either 4:3 or 16:9 TVs. The biggest downside to the Z1000 is probably its sub par 3x optical zoom, although this is one area where the camera's abundance of pixels helps to compensate somewhat, as Casio includes a "Non Deterioration Zoom" mode that lets you sacrifice image size for better-than-average digital zooming at settings as high as 17.1x. Overall, it sounds like your $400 buys you a well-built, full-featured, and solidly-performing camera -- with a very respectable 300+ shot battery life -- along with the dubious distinction of being the only person on your block to own a point-and-shoot sporting more megapixels than most people's DSLRs.
Sony's 7.2 megapixel Cybershot DSC-W70 reviewed
Wasn't it just a few years ago that $300 wouldn't buy you much of a digital camera? How times have changed, because these days, you can not only score a compact 7.2 megapixel model for under three C-notes, but a good one at that -- especially if it's the Sony DSC-W70, says Digital Camera Review. We've known all about the W70 since before this year's Photo Marketing Association show, where it was introduced along with four other Cybershot models, but this one really seems hit that sweet spot of providing the most features for the least amount of dough. As you probably recall, the W70 sports a 3x optical zoom and 2.5-inch display, along with 54MB of internal memory and a 300-plus-shot battery in a case barely bigger than a deck of cards, yet according to DCR, still manages to capture quality images with good color accuracy, white balance, and detail -- although it does produce visible noise at ISO settings above 200. Still, with almost no shutter lag, ergonomic controls, and intuitive menus, the W70 sounds like a serious contender for consumers looking for a hassle-free model that takes a good picture at a fair price -- which is probably, like, most of them.
Casio announces Exilim EX-Z5 compact
Casio has just announced a new member of the Exilim family, a 5 megapixel shooter with 3x optical zoom called the EX-Z5. Successor to the Exilim EX-Z4, the new Z5 also sports a 2.5-inch TFT LCD (but as usual, no optical viewfinder), an odd 8.3MB of internal memory (expandable via SD/MMC), and the usual suite of burst mode, in-camera image enhancement, and multiple flash options. Of special interest to photo buffs will be the Revive Shot function, which lets you take a picture of an old photograph for the camera to perform a little digital restoration on, all without taking your photos out of the album. No word yet on pricing or availability, but with Casio calling the Z5 a "perfect companion for the summer," it's probably a safe bet to expect this model on shelves prior to September 21st.
Ricoh Caplio R4 superzoom compact reviewed
Of course the first thing you notice about the Ricoh Caplio R4 six megapixel compact is how freakin' huge that lens is -- and luckily, at least according to Digital-Lifestyles, it knows how to use it. Equally impressive at both zoom extremes, the 28-200mm equivalent, 7.1x barrel of a lens includes handy features such as optical stabilization for negating hand shake on tight shots, and even an on-screen cursor for manually selecting the focus area in macro mode. Other nice touches include a skew-correction feature that adjusts non-level shots and and histogram function for technical types, but some issues with picture quality -- most notably visible banding in a few shots and significant noise at higher ISOs -- earned this model a good-but-not-great 84%. Still, the Ricoh definitely gets a thumbs up from D-L, and the sub-$450 pricetag won't break the bank.
