FREE!      Cameratown Newsletter
NEW!       Zacuto Z-Finder V2 Review

Home New Models Cameras News Deals Video Reviews Firmware Manuals Free Software Rebates Shopping

Cameratown Sponsors





Add This Page to Stumble Upon





Digital Photography Articles

Conventional Digicam Versus the Hybrids

Published by: DPNow       08-27-2005        Read Complete Article
Article Summary

There has been a lot of talk about conventional digital cameras coming under threat from improving hybrids, like camera phones, PDAs with cameras and camcorders with still photo capability. Indeed, I'm of the firm opinion that some time in the future, perhaps as close as 2-3 years, most new consumer digital cameras will be dual-function still and video cameras that will produce prints up to A4 size at a quality we'd be satisfied with, plus camcorder quality video.

even think that high quality premium cameras of the future will record continuous motion, allowing selective frame extraction for high quality still reproduction. But that's quite a way off yet. What about today? I decided to take four different types of affordable digital camera and take a selection of pictures under the same conditions and then print them on 6x4 inch media.

All the image quality evaluation was decided on the prints alone, made using a Canon Pixma iP6000D ink jet photo printer on 6x4 inch premium quality glossy photo media (Canon Photo Paper Pro).

The cameras used in this experiment included a Mustek GSmart D35 budget digital camera, representing the still camera market sector that is most under pressure from camera phones, a Nokia 7710 one megapixel camera phone, a Sony DCR-PC105e one megapixel camcorder with still photo mode and, finally, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1 four megapixel affordable conventional digital still camera.

Were there any surprises? Read on to see how the contestants fared. ....Read Complete Article




View Other Recent Articles from DPNow
Article Title & Description Updated
Review of "Waiting for Light" by David Noton
"...The book has been carefully crafted into four major parts, Vision, Environments, Gallery and, finally, Mechanics. I particularly enjoyed the Environments section, which is again sub-divided into Rock, Sand, Ice, and Earth. Each section is interspersed with his photo essays or a diary entry where we gain more insight into his craft. As I’ve said......

11/26/08
Ultra high-speed Compact Flash - do you need it?
"The acronym 'UDMA' - which stands for Ultra Direct Memory Access - has become the new watchword for high performance in compact flash memory cards. Several newly launched DSLR cameras support the UDMA protocol and UDMA memory cards rated at 266x, 300x and higher are now on sale.

DPNow decided to test a UDMA card and a fast non-UDMA card......

11/14/07
How do you appreciate your digital images ....
"I was prompted to write the editorial after a lot of people criticised the quality of the samples based on examination of the images on-screen and at 100% or 1 image pixel to one screen pixel. The cameras in question were two new ten megapixel models from Panasonic, in particular the Lumix DMC-FZ50. I'm certainly in agreement that the camera indus......

10/30/06
Review: SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash & Firewire 800 Card Reader
"SanDisk has just shipped us their brand new Extreme IV compact flash memory card and Extreme Firewire 800 card reader. We've not only been putting the supplied Extreme IV card through its paces, but also the card reader, which is a bit of a star performer in its own right. And we have compared Extreme IV compact flash performance with 'earlier' ge......

08/08/06
Panasonic DMC-FZ50 Sample Images
DPNow got to spend some time with the soon-to-be-released Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 at a Panasonic Press Event. They have posted some original JPEG images that they shot while using the camera at this event and have even compared the noise reduction of this new model to that of the still current DMC-LX1.......

07/26/06
DSLR Interactive Group Test
A camera group test with a difference! You can get involved in the camera review process. Tell us what you want us examine and we'll do our best to come up with the answers from the five key entry-level DSLRs in this first interactive camera group test.

In a brand new departure for DPNow, let us introduce you to our first interactive group te......

11/05/05
Commercial Photoshop Retouching In The Studio book review
Glenn Honiball has been preparing photo images for commercial publishing for twenty years. That's a fair old time to develop lots of great tips and techniques that work to spruce up ordinary images and also optimise them for commercial print press reproduction. Use of Photoshop for Web image preparation is not covered. If you fancy honing your sk......

10/21/05
Sony officially enters DSLR race
And so it's official, Sony is to enter the DSLR arena, though not entirely un-aided. Today, Konica Minolta and Sony have announced they will be working together in developing future DSLRs. Konica Minolta is a customer of Sony, utilising the Sony APS sensor in its Dynax and Maxxum DSLRs, including the D5 launched last week.......

07/19/05
Photoshop Elements 3 One-on-One Book Review
This is the second Photoshop book by Deke McClelland I have reviewed, the first being Photoshop CS One-on-One, which I rated very highly. Photoshop Elements 3 for Windows One-on-One follows the same formula of a fully illustrated, lesson by lesson, approach that is embodied in a book and bundled CD for PC-based video learning. Photoshop CS One-on-O......

07/05/05
Have Your Say with Panasonic Lumix
Tell Panasonic what you value in a digital camera and DPNow will pass your views on to Panasonic Lumix camera designers and engineers in Japan.

Panasonic UK has given Digital Photography Now a unique opportunity to provide you, the reader, with a voice that will be heard by the key digital camera designers and engineers of Panasonic Lumix cam......

05/18/05
Olympus E-300 Sample Images
Thanks to dpnow reader, Nicholas, we've been able to look at a gallery of 29 Olympus E-300 (Evolt in the US) sample images on the Japanese site dc.watch.impress.co.jp . According to AltaVista BabelFish translation, the shots were taken by Mr.Yamada Kumi, who seems to enjoy a lot of early access to new cameras. The selection includes day and night,......

11/30/04
Unique Photos by Celebrities Auctioned for Charity
The annual Fashion Acts fund raiser to support AIDS/HIV charities kicked off this year with the auction, last night, of 42 framed photos snapped by a selection of celebs from Carole Vorderman to David Bailey. A further 42 photos will be auctioned publicly on eBay, starting from next Tuesday, 23rd November. If you want to own a unique photo taken by......

11/19/04
DSLR Prices Going Down
This week both Nikon and Canon effectively reduced the prices of their entry-level DSLR cameras, perhaps in anticipation of new low-priced entry-level models from Pentax and Olympus. Canon has introduced a £100 cash-back offer for purchasers of its EOS-300D in November through to the end of January, while Nikon has announced a reduction in the D70 ......

11/05/04
Konica Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 7D First Look
Please bear in mind that although we had use of cameras for several hours, including the use of a wide range of lenses, during the rugby match, there wasn't really enough time to consider the camera in the same way as we would in a 'proper' review. It's possible that some aspects of the camera's operation we note in this article might be changed in......

10/25/04
Make your own ISO camera test target
Have you ever wished you could test your own camera like the professionals? Here at dpnow when we test digital cameras we use a variety of test targets, including the standard ISO 12233 resolution target for testing electronic cameras. It's a pretty standard test used by a lot of reviewers. Our target cost us over £100 (approx US$180 or EU€150) but......

10/19/04






HOT DEALS
 
Canon EOS 5D Mark II - Lowest Price Yet
Price: $2439~
42nd St. Photo
Tamrac Expedition 3 - DSLR Photo Backpack
Price: $47.95~
BuyDig
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Digital Camera
Price: $199.99~
Staples
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1K-K Black Digital Camera with 14-45mm Lens
Price: $897 In-Stock
42nd Street
Canon PowerShot SD780 IS Digital Camera
Price: $199.99~
NewEgg
Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens
Price: $509.99~
TriState
Olympus SP-590UZ Digital Camera with Huge 26x Optical Zoom
Price: $311.88~
BuyDig
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Telephoto Zoom Lens
Price: $1679~
42nd Street
 
Copyright @2003-2008 Cameratown.com. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in any form or medium without the
express written permission of Cameratown.com is prohibited.
Please email me with your suggestions or comments.