Digital Cameras

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Digital Cameras

Digital Camera Reviews: Choose the Best Compact Camera [ Updated:May 15, 2012 ]

If you don't need a complicated SLR, then make sure you pick the best point-and-shoot digital camera you can afford. Today's smallest cameras might have wide-angle lenses, image stabilisation and touchscreen interfaces, but competition is still fierce.

Buyer's Guide: The Best Hybrid Cameras [ Updated:May 10, 2012 ]

In-between compact cameras and SLRs, a new breed of camera has cropped up, known as interchangeable lens compacts, hybrids or mirrorless cameras. With sensors ranging from small to large formats, these cameras are a diverse bunch. Their designs vary too, as while some look like outsized compacts others resemble mini-SLRs. What's more, some models are aimed at novice users while others are clearly aimed at experienced photographers. Confused? Our buyer's guide is on hand to help!

Buyer's Guide: The Best Compact Cameras [ Updated:May 10, 2012 ]

Under threat from smartphones and hybrid compacts, the classic compact camera could soon be struggling to hang onto its place in the market. Manufacturers are coming up with all kinds of new features to help their products stand out, and while we're not convinced by web-connected cameras, superzoom compacts are well worth a look.

Digital Cameras: SLR, Micro 4/3 and Interchangeable Lens Reviews [ Updated:April 17, 2012 ]

Now that today's SLRs offer HD video, the boundaries between these cameras, point-and-shoot compacts and camcorders are beginning to blur. The new interchangeable lens systems from Panasonic, Olympus, Sony and Samsung show just how fast the market for digital cameras is changing.

Archive: SLR, Micro 4/3 and Interchangeable Lens Camera Reviews 2008-2010 [ January 25, 2012 ]

Buyer's Guide: The Best SLR Cameras [ Updated:November 23, 2011 ]

SLRs are advanced cameras with high-end technology, manual controls and optical viewfinders for accurate shooting. That said, Sony's Alpha range is pioneering a new type of camera with an electronic viewfinder rather than the standard optical viewfinder. These are know as SLT cameras.

Buyer's Guide: The Best Bridge Cameras [ November 23, 2011 ]

A bridge is a bit like a compact camera disguised as an SLR. They have the same bulky lenses, chunky grip handles and, more often than not, electronic viewfinders. The main advantage of a bridge is usually its lens, as these can be faster and more powerful at zooming than regular compact camera lenses.

Archives: Compact & Bridge Cameras 2010-2011 [ Updated:July 7, 2011 ]

This archive contains reviews of compact and bridge cameras from 2010 and 2011. Reviews of cameras that are still on the market can be found on our current reviews page.

Camera Reviews: Understanding the Face-Off [ Updated:February 1, 2011 ]

The camera face-off has always been a key part of the review process here at DigitalVersus. The face-off is designed to help readers form their own opinions about a camera's quality from a series of photos taken in standard conditions in our test lab. Let's take a look at the different test shots and see what they tell us about digital cameras.

Digital Camera Screen Tests: First Results, First Conclusions [ Updated:January 4, 2011 ]

Last month, we developed a procedure for testing the screens built into digital cameras. Since then, we've put 17 camera screens to the test with our special sensor and we've seen some very mixed results. Here's a brief overview of what we've found and what preliminary conclusions can be drawn from the results.

Archive: Compact and Bridge Cameras 2009-2010 [ Updated:October 19, 2010 ]

In this archive, you'll find reviews of compact and bridge cameras that were released between 2009 and 2010. For reviews of current products, please go to our main digital camera reviews articles.

Digital Camera Reviews: Some Criteria Explained [ Updated:October 19, 2010 ]

Some of our test criteria aren't particularly easy to explain, whereas others are obvious, and you can spot them as soon as you look at the tech specs. Here are some of the basic criteria we use to assess the quality of a digital camera. It could also be seen as a wish-list of spec and features—manufacturers take note!

Guide: Demosaicing and Colour in Photos [ Updated:June 21, 2010 ]

Photographers often use processing software like Aperture, Bibble or Lightroom to demosaic their shots—but what is this process, and why is it so important?

Hybrid Cameras: The Future of Photography? [ Updated:June 3, 2010 ]

They're as practical and easy to use as compact cameras, but they have interchangeable lenses and the kind of manual controls typically found in SRLs. These attractive new digital cameras, sometimes referred to as 'hybrid' cameras, can therefore be as appealing to beginners as they are to professionals.

Guide: Diffraction and Camera Sensors [ Updated:April 16, 2010 ]

When we explained how the size of a digital camera's sensor affects its performance, there was one detail we left out: smaller models are more susceptible to suffering from diffraction. With the latest 14 Megapixel cameras around the corner, it's time to take a look at this little-known optical phenomenon

Why doesnt my camera capture a scene exactly how I see it? [ Updated:March 23, 2010 ]

Beginners are often puzzled by their cameras apparent inability to capture the exact same scene as their eyes can see. So why exactly does a camera see the world so differently to our eyes? Read on and Ill try to explain.

Is reducing the resolution a good idea? [ Updated:March 2, 2010 ]

The more pixels you pile onto a minuscule sensor, the less each is sensitive to the light. The result is that sometimes old 6 Mpx cameras give nicer images than recent 12 Mpx compacts. If you set your 12 Mpx at a lower definition, does this improve things?

Archive: Bridge Cameras 2007-09 [ Updated:January 25, 2010 ]

Here you'll find our archives of bridge cameras from 2007 to 2009

Archive: Compact Digital Cameras 2008-09 [ Updated:January 18, 2010 ]

You'll find all the compacts we tested in the 2008-09 season. We won't be updating this archive, so for up-to-date models, you should visit the ongoing Product Survey.

Photos with a built-in flash [ Updated:December 3, 2009 ]

Loved by some, derided by others, the built-in flash is now available on almost all cameras, with varying results. Lets take a look at some common settings.

Guide: ISO Sensitivity in Photography [ Updated:September 24, 2009 ]

We talk to you about it in all of our camera tests: managing sensitivity is a key challenge for today's digital cameras. It directly effects the quality of your photos at low light levels.

Guide: White Balancing in Photography [ Updated:September 21, 2009 ]

Do your photos indoors look too red? Or too blue when you go outside? It's almost certainly a problem with the colour temperature of your light source, but it's easy to correct by adjusting the white balancing of your digital camera.

Can the Panasonic DMC-TZ7 replace your camcorder? [ Updated:September 4, 2009 ]

Released in spring 2009, the Panasonic DMC-TZ7 has won many plaudits for its HD video mode, which, on paper looks like it could get close to rivaling a dedicated camcorder. But what's it like in the field?

Guide: Exposure in Digital Cameras [ Updated:September 1, 2009 ]

Exposure, speed, aperture, ISO ... it's all rather complicated, isn't it? The fact that today's cameras take care of almost everything so well make some of these terms even more of a mystery. One setting remains in your control though: exposure compensation, which is easy to understand--and to use!

Guide: Sensor Size in Digital Cameras [ Updated:August 26, 2009 ]

When cameras still used film, the photographic sensor was the same size for (almost) everybody, with rolls of 35 mm film in use everywhere from the simplest compacts to the most advanced SLRs. That isn't true any more with digital cameras, and it's often said that 'SLRs have better sensors'. But why?

Archive: Compact Digital Cameras 2007-08 [ Updated:May 21, 2009 ]

The ideal camera has a wide angle, little noise in high sensitivities, a big screen, and is stabilized and fast. These little gems do exist and you will find good compacts at low prices.

Product Survey: Digital SLR Cameras 2007-8 [ Updated:April 15, 2009 ]

Update March 15 2009: Following the arrival of the Panasonic G1, we've created a new Product Survey containing more recent digital SLRs and other cameras with interchangeable lenses. This Product Survey is an archive of our older tests of digital SLRs.

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