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Hardware April 2001 • Vol.9 Issue 4 Page(s) 14-17 in print issue |
Picture Perfect High Performance Digital Cameras For The Serious Photographer | ||
 Some might also call "advanced" digital cameras "prosumer" models: They balance both consumer and professional needs. In the advanced digital camera category, you'll find more emphasis on manual controls. Vendors know that amateur outdoor and sports photographers need more than 3X zoom capabilities, so now you see the first line of 10X models appearing, accompanied by the necessary function of image stabilization. (Having the former without the latter, or at least a good tripod, is begging for blurred images.) Lenses on cameras in this category tend to be of better quality, resolutions rarely dip below 3 megapixels, bundled memory is a bit more spacious, and high-end features such as external flash hot shoes and handheld remote controls start to appear. Niche cameras also start to crop up in this range. Sony's MVC-CD1000 (see below) might be considered a niche camera as it is the only consumer model that writes to a recordable CD. Olympus's C-211 Zoom ($799; not reviewed here) includes the Polaroid-based ability to print its own images. The company's C-3030 Zoom ($999; not reviewed here) costs $200 more than the almost identical C-3000, with virtually the only differentiating factor being the amount of internal buffer memory used to yield better, faster burst mode shooting, which is a feature that will generally only appeal to action photographers. If niche features appeal to you, you'll probably want to buy a camera in this category. If not, you may be better off considering some of the higher-end intermediate models, because many of the basic features (such as resolution, flash capability, and manual settings) can be quite similar. Casio QV-3000Plus. One of the best mixes of price and features in the advanced class, the 3.34 megapixel Casio QV-3000Plus ($1,000; 800/836-8580, 973/442-5707; http://www.casio.com) offers good quality results in a well-designed, easy-to-use camera. The 3000Plus sells for $200 more than Casio's QV-3000EX, the difference being the bundled 340MB IBM Microdrive kit. Much as we love kicking a camera into its highest-quality mode and seeing "245" show up on the remaining images indicator, we were disappointed that Casio neglected to include a TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) shooting mode. We didn't miss the swivel design of the QV-2300Plus as much owing to the fact that the 3000Plus is left with a very solid, comfortable form factor. We particularly enjoyed being able to navigate the camera's menus in either icon- or list-based viewing modes, both of which proved to be intuitive. Interestingly, Casio opted for a virtual recording mode dial rather than a real one, letting users select from P, A, S, movie, night scene, and other modes from an animated on-screen dial, an approach we found cute but not particularly practical. Images from the camera were generally of good quality. The 3000Plus, with its Canon lens, was in the top third of advanced cameras for overall clarity, sharpness, and general picture quality. We did note that the Casio tends not to freeze motion particularly well and that images ran just a pinch dark in automatic mode. In our test shot of a green Honda Civic, the car appeared to be more of a teal or blue. The QV-3000Plus has some nifty perks. The camera automatically detects if you're shooting in portrait or landscape orientation and saves the image accordingly. You get a viewfinder diopter, focus lock, panorama recording, three-shot burst mode, and two movie modes. There are manual controls for focus, exposure, white balance, aperture, and shutter speed, although the 3000Plus actually has less aperture and shutter range than the 2300Plus. Macro focus extends all the way down to 6 centimeters, and the camera allows for center, spot, and multi metering. There are a handful of other controls, such as flash intensity and sensor sensitivity, but you won't find the breadth of settings as, say, a Nikon would have. Some users may prefer this simplicity while still getting a good overall camera.
To its credit, the 3000Z produced very good color saturation. Faced with the difficult task of capturing fine detail in two side-by-side dogs, one black and the other white, the Epson preserved the best white detail in auto mode of any camera we evaluated, although it did so at the expense of losing much dark detail. However, the camera still failed to freeze action entirely in "sport mode" and ran a bit dark in landscapes. Overall, though, clarity and color were decent, and the camera performed well, despite the ability to only capture one 9.1MB TIFF image on the bundled 16MB CompactFlash card. The 3000Z is predominantly a one-handed camera. Most of the buttons are unlabeled, as the LCD (liquid-crystal display, which proved very readable outdoors) fills in the function descriptions depending on the camera's mode. We found this approach usable although less than user-friendly. The camera has a dedicated mode for continuous shooting, the ability to set interval shooting from 10 seconds to 24 hours, ISO and exposure control right from the top-mounted status LCD, and the ability to record and play audio clips, although the sound quality is pretty minimal. Like the Casio, manual settings cover all the basics, but Epson goes one more step in letting you save a certain combination of manual settings, which comes in handy when shooting intervals or panoramic sequences. All in all, the 3000Z is a good product that needs to be repriced at $699 or $799, despite the generous inclusion of four AA NiMH (nickel-metal hydride) cells and a charger. Fujifilm FinePix 4700 Zoom. We hesitated to include the FinePix 4700 Zoom ($799; 800/800-3854; http://www.fujifilm.com) in our roundup because Fujifilm told us shortly before press time that the model will soon be phased out and replaced. However, because we're so fond of the 4700's form factor and want to encourage you to seek out its successor, we've kept the unit here. The 4700 Zoom is the latest in a series of Fujifilm cameras optimized for use solely by the right hand, comfortably controlled with just the thumb and index finger. Second only to the Sony DSC-P1 for compactness, the 4700 Zoom is fabulous for slipping into a pocket and shooting high-resolution images on-the-fly. Easy as the camera is to use, the 4700 Zoom does show some weaknesses against the competition. Manual settings include focus, flash brightness, white balance, ISO, and metering, but not aperture, color filtering, or other advanced features. While most cameras offer sensitivity from ISO 100 (default) to 400, the 4700 starts at 200 and extends to 800. This makes the unit an excellent choice for indoor shooting, but we found that outdoor results tended to be dark and below average for clarity, despite Fujifilm's incorporation of its "Super CCD" technology. The camera does do well with skin tones, though. With continuous shooting, automatic exposure bracketing, movie, and audio features, not to mention a pair of NiMH batteries and a charger, the 10.9-ounce FinePix 4700 Zoom packs a lot of value into a little space. For anyone who shoots for fun first and quality afterwards, look for this model on a closeout sale soon.
This adoring prelude is part of why we still wonder if we received a partially defective evaluation unit. Even with HP Imaging Technology (or perhaps because of it), our image results were inescapably below average. While saturation remained good, images were much too fuzzy, fuzzier even than the intermediate 618 unit we reviewed, and both models use the same 2.24 megapixel CCD sensor. In one portrait shot of a person sitting on a car bumper, the camera appeared to focus on the vertical lines reflected in the glass behind the subject, and a large pinkish-purple blotch obscured much of the image's lower half. While having the 2-inch LCD flip up on a 90-degree hinge is a stellar idea, the display itself was so poor as to be practically invisible outdoors. The HP 912 only offers manual control for focus, exposure, shutter, color, and flash, some of which can be fine-tuned through the sub-dial located below the shutter button. The unit does have fixed sensitivity settings from an ISO equivalent of 25 to 400, sound recording, bracketing, TIFF mode, macro focus to 2 centimeters, and fast recovery time for the next shot. Of course, the best industrial design and fancy features in the world don't matter if your image quality stinks. We'd like to think we just got a lemon.
The DC4800's color handling was very good, with both the best depth of field range and saturation of any camera in our advanced roundup and especially strong performance in skin and mid-tones. (The manual settings also have a few color filter options for certain situations.) Clarity was average for a 3+ megapixel unit. LCD response was a bit slower than we'd like, but still acceptable for general use. Kodak includes a rechargeable Li-Ion (lithium-ion) battery, allows for TIFF images, focuses macros down to 0.7 feet, has a port (not a hot shoe) for external flash, and offers limited burst shooting. The DC4800 never wowed us as being exceptional in any particular aspect, but neither did it disappoint us. This is a strong performer that grows on you over time.
The 990 is a large, two-handed affair with a 270-degree swivel lens design that throws in every feature from an external flash port to bracketing to exposure lock to a 30fps (frames per second) "ultra high-speed" burst mode. (This is distinct from the 40-second QuickTime movie mode.) Oddly, though, there is no panoramic mode. At first, we were unimpressed with the 990 when shooting in automatic mode. Images tended to look a little faded compared to the Kodak and HP, both of which boost saturation by default. But when we zoomed in, the world changed. The 990's clarity wasn't just better than the competition; it was in an entirely different league. In our portrait test, the 990 was the only 3X zoom camera that let us see the subject's individual eyelashes. So if you're willing to wade through menus and don't need any hand holding through the technical details of setting up complex shots, the CoolPix 990 is probably the best 3X unit on the market. Olympus C-2100 Ultra Zoom. If you need a seriously versatile outdoor camera and don't plan on printing photos above 5 x 7 inches, don't miss Olympus's C-2100 ($1,000; 888/553-4448, 631/844-5000; http://www.olympusamerica.com). Commonly available for $200 below list price, this camera comes with only two pieces of bad news: The maximum resolution is only 1,600 x 1,200, and the unit lacks some of the more robust advanced features, such as color filtering and panoramic shooting. If you can live with this, all the other details are outstanding. For distance shooting, not even Sony's similarly equipped 10X MVC-CD1000 could touch Olympus's phenomenal clarity. Color quality across all shots was good but could have benefited from a manual color adjustment, such as the one in Kodak's DC4800. While the camera tended to lose detail in blacks, its contrast range was actually quite impressive, and the built-in image stabilization was more than adequate to counteract shaky hands when at full zoom. The C-2100's design is impressively light considering the mass of its lens barrel. Except for the macro, metering, and drive mode buttons to the left of the status LCD, all other controls are within reach of the thumb and index finder, making the unit very quick and comfortable to shoot. Menu navigation, while slightly lengthy, is a snap to figure out, and there are enough manual controls (including a nifty start or end slow-sync flash) to carry off even the most demanding shots. A voluminous 16MB buffer enables burst mode at 3fps and a 1.2-second standard shot recovery. Start to finish, the C-2100 is a joy to operate, and we felt there was no trade-off in image quality for zoom capability. If the camera only had a 3.3 megapixel CCD, it would be unbeatable.
In testing, the DSC-P1 offered surprisingly good clarity and color on landscapes, and we were impressed with the unit's zoom capacity. For close-up and portrait work, Sony's propensity for faded colors crept in, and clarity fell more in line with most 3.3 megapixel models. While menu navigation is smart and simple, manual options are few. White balance is limited to indoor, outdoor, hold, and auto. On the other hand, one of the camera's strengths is file formats. In addition to JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and TIFF, the DSC-P1 can save multiple GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) files as an animated file for Web use, as well as full-frame, 15fps motion MPEG with audio. Underwater shooters will take heart from the optional MPK-P1 underwater accessory housing (approximately $250), good for use down to 100 feet, although the camera offers no port for an external flash. The DSC-P1 suffers from only two potential shortcomings: This was the only camera we reviewed in any category not to install under Windows Millennium Edition, and you're stuck with Memory Stick media. Such minutia aside, the DSC-P1 yields strikingly good quality images from a very convenient form factor.
Then reality sets in. First off, Sony's manual settings are surprisingly minimal. All you get is white balance, sharpness, flash level, focus, white balance, and exposure. With a $1,300 price tag and a luscious 2.5-inch LCD (by far the best and brightest we found for outdoor shooting), we expected Nikon-like options or better. As is usual for Sony, sharpness was quite good, although not up to the standards of Nikon or Olympus, and colors were washed out. The camera was excellent at capturing details in blacks, however, and had a very strong depth of field. Voice clips, TIFF files, and 15-second movies (with sound) are allowed, but no burst mode. The CD1000's playback features are outstanding, but question how often you'll watch slideshows and solarize your images while they're still in the camera. Enticing as it seems, the CD-R (CD-recordable) format has its drawbacks. First off, it's CD-R, not CD-RW (CD-rewriteable), so while you can "delete" images for simplicity's sake, the disc space for the supposedly erased file is still consumed. (Even worse, it costs additional disc space to delete an image. Go figure.) Unlike conventional media, Sony discs must be initialized before first use and finalized before your computer can directly read the media in a CD or DVD drive, and both processes mean time out from shooting. We were consistently frustrated when trying to capture action scenes, because once you depress the shutter button, the LCD or TTL LCD viewfinder goes dark during the seconds in which the image is being recorded, forcing you to lose the subject, and the image captured was invariably a fraction of a second too late. Lastly, after finalizing our test disc, our PC failed to read about one in three images from the disc, a problem that disappeared when we downloaded the images by USB (Universal Serial Bus) from the camera. Our advice? Wait for the second incarnation, or at least for competitors to adopt CD media and force Sony to refine its advanced functions. If you want outstanding zoom, check out the Olympus or buy an accessory zoom kit for a good 3X unit.  by William Van Winkle
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