Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15 is a simple camera with simple functions and so is the photo quality, quite simple. It is for newbies or for people who don’t look for high end features in a camera. Considering the price that it is offered for, this is a good camera for basic photography. The features worth mentioning here are 5x zoom and 29mm-equivalent wide-angle lens. Shutter lag makes this camera churn inferior quality photos but if your prints are small, then you won’t be disappointed by this camera’s photos. The controls on the camera are simple and it shouldn’t bother you too much if you are used to using digital cameras. On the top there is a power button and shutter release and zoom ring sit right next to it. There is also a button for Panasonic's Intelligent Auto mode (iA) which is decides the best Scene mode and is used resolving issues of brightness, focus and blurring. The iA button also lets you switch between movie and photograph mode. You  [...]

Oregon Scientific ATC5K Waterproof Action Camera is made for people who want rugged video recording devices. This camera while shine even if you accidentally drop it on to the floor. It can live in water up to ten feet. These 2 features are the main selling points on the other wise low quality video recording camera. We were glad to find that the camera is water proof and still has a LCD built on it that can last under water. The LCD is shock proof too. The lens of the camcorder is recessed and it has lots of rubber and plastic around it to keep the water from going inside. There are light indicators, red lights up when the camcorder is writing and green lights up when the camcorder is recording. There are 2 rubber buttons, one for photography and video each. The buttons will register press only when you keep it pressed for more than 2 seconds but we were told that this was done to prevent accidental presses. There is a 1.5 inch LCD screen that  [...]

The next level after the simple point-and-shoot cameras is the dSLR which have advanced features. However a newbie might get intimated by the variety of options and features that a dSLR has to offer. There are manufacturers who make one of the best point and shoot cameras coming on to the dSLR’s territory. But they are not making full fledged dSLR devices because they are still retaining those simple basic features found on point-and-shoot cameras. D3000 is one of those devices and hence we will call this a entry level dSLR camera. The Fn button is programmable and the features offered here are release mode, self timer, image quality, white balance, ISO sensitivity, Active D-Lighting menus. Other than this there is shutter button, power switch, info and exposure compensation buttons. The info button is used for back display toggle. The top mode dial gives you options of aperture and shutter priority, program, manual and full auto  [...]

The unique selling point of this camcorder from Samsung has to be the storage capacity. SMX-F34 has 16 GB of internal memory and you can further expand it through SDHC card. It has a host of manual shooting controls that you rarely find it such compact cameras and the lens is capable of 34x zoom. On the downside, this product from Samsung doesn’t give good quality of videos. Speaking of controls, the F34 has a zoom rocker, mode button which has options of playback, photos and music and shutter release which is used for still capture (but not for recording movies). Connection ports include miniUSB port, DC power input and 3.5 mm AV jack. There is a big record button and spring based power button next to the cover of the jack. The SDHC card slot and the battery compartment of the device are located behind the sliding door which is placed at the bottom of the camcorder. Open the LCD and three more buttons are revealed like LCD enhancer, Easy Q and  [...]

This is another point and shoot camera from Panasonic and they have revamped a few features to give better photo quality while still managing to keep it small. The autofocus system of the device is re-engineered, the optical image stablilistaion has been improved to provide better quality pictures clicked with shaking hand and there is a great new 8x zoom wide-angle lens. It is a surprise how Panasonic has managed to put all this and still make it a sleek and thin camera. Mostly you find 5x or 3x optical zoom on cameras of this class, we were glad to find an 8x zoom. The secret behind the compact lightweight body is the presence of extremely thin 0.3 millimeter elements in the lens. If you need a reason to buy this camera, it must be for the Power OIS, a new image stabilization feature from Panasonic. We  [...]

Camcorders built on solid state drives or SSD are fast becoming popular, the only thing that keeps it from reaching the masses is the high price. However we are sure that with time it will become cheaper and completely replace traditional hard disks even in computers. SSDs are more popular because there are no moving parts and hence less heat dissipation, less noise and larger battery life. SSD is still costly which means you will have to shell out a premium price if you want to own this device. The all plastic exteriors make this device look good and the keys like photo button, zoom switch, mode, power and record are all located under your forefinger or thumb which makes it easy to operate. Below the device are the connectors for USB, miniHDMI, power connectors and AV. The grip of the camera rotates up to 150 degrees but it will lock only at 2 positions. Buttons for photo flash, power switch, full auto easy Q, options for image stabilization and  [...]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 is an improved version of the older FZ28 from the same company. This new camera has bigger resolution, faster AF, AVCHD Lite movie code support and improved optical stabilizer. All this gives you better photo quality and better performance from the older model but we don’t think this is the best of mega zoom cameras. The modes such as intelligent auto, PASM and preset scene program are all there and in addition to it, we really liked the new movie mode which had manual controls and the capability to save three custom settings groups. There are plenty of options for AF like tracking, face detection, narrower spot, 1-area and 11 area mode. The Fn button is programmable and is the short cut button to white balance, ISO sensitivity, metering, AF mode or mode of intelligent exposure. You will have to read the reference manual of the camera carefull before you start using the unit even if you are a veteran photographer. This is because  [...]