Plemix

Want a big zoom camera at a reasonable price? The 9MP SX110 IS maybe the one you have been looking for! It may not have the biggest lens or the highest pixel count but it is capable of taking very nice pictures. Like Fujifilm S2000HD reviewed before, the SX110 IS also accepts AA batteries. Let’s find out how it performs!

The package contains the camera, two AA Alkaline batteries, a wrist strap, a USB cable, an AV cable and a CD-Rom. Since it is a budget model Canon may be forgiven for not including a charger. You will need to spend some money for rechargeable AA batteries and a charger, don’t forget to pick the ones with a higher capacity.



The camera has a plastic feeling but it feels sturdy in my hand. The small handgrip allows for a comfortable grip. Unlike other big zoom cameras the SX110 IS is more curved and does not have a SLR-like design.



The 36-360mm equivalent lens has optical image stabilization. The camera can engage in full manual, aperture priority, shutter priority and program mode. Common scenes can be selected via the dial and if you are unsure of the proper mode to use simply turn to the green AUTO position.



The 3” LCD is bright, colorful and sharp. Canon completely removed optical viewfinder so you have to be extra careful with battery life as you cannot turn off the screen to save battery. There is a button for enabling Canon’s Face Detection. The dial remotely resembles the ones used in the Canon dSLR cameras. The dial can also be used as a 4-way D-pad for changing ISO, flash, drive, and manual focus.



There is no pop-up mechanism for the flash so you have to manually “pull” it out.



I like the large zoom rocker and shutter button a lot as I do not have to look for them while I am concentrating on the LCD screen.



AA batteries may be heavy, but they are cheap and easy to find. They are especially useful when you are travelling and don’t want to take the charger with you (in some countries you may also need an adapter, ouch!). The SX110 IS accepts SDHC cards (optional) which can have up to 8GB capacity (about 2000 images).



In the manual mode, the exposure compensation button can be used to select aperture or shutter for changing the value with the dial. The camera also gives you a real-time estimate of the exposure on the right.



The camera enlarges a portion of the image in manual focus mode to help you get a better focus. With the huge 3” LCD, manual focusing is easier on the SX110 IS than on budget dSLR’s which have a small optical viewfinder.



The camera has a resize feature for you to reduce the image size down to 640 x 480. I don’t think you will need this feature very often but it could be handy for squeezing a few more pictures on an almost full card.



View and share your creation in the 3” LCD screen! The camera can create a slideshow of your pictures for easier browsing.



In close-up shots you really want to trust yourself over the machine – luckily the SX110 IS has an easy-to-use manual focus mode!



The shot below can give you some idea of the blurring effect produced by SX110 IS in marco shots.



The SX110 IS has a lot of convenient features to help with focusing and exposure settings. The full-feature manual mode allows you to express your creativity with the most flexibility. The only downside of this model is the slightly slow focus time and the plastic-like body construction. However at this price I can’t really expect it to perform like the prosumer cameras.

With the S7330 in hand, I can’t help but to think that Samsung is mimicking LG. The S7330 employs the touch-sensitive, vibrating screen used in so many LG phones. Is it just a worthless clone or a capable contender? Let’s find out now.

The package contains the phone, a battery, a charger, a USB cable, a handsfree with an adapter, and a user’s guide.

The phone has a somewhat mixed design. The grey body is strong and has a serious feeling to it while the touch screen has a playful feeling to it. Personally I don’t think they are a good match, but you may feel otherwise.

The only controls on the front surface are the touch screen, the two soft keys and the answer/reject buttons. The touch screen can only display the dark orange color and it changes with the program. On the LG models the touch screen is more colorful and provides an aesthetic element to the phone but on the Samsung, sorry, I can’t see any artistic element there. Most of the time it functions like an ordinary D-pad but in the camera it provides quick access to the most common features (see video below).

You can minimize the music player by pressing the Reject button, which brings you to the home screen. It is possible to use other functions of the phone and there is no sensible delay.

The keypad is excellent! It may not earn the design award but the keys are big and sensitive.

Since the phone does not have much internal memory you will need a microSD card (not included) to store all your music and photos. Hot-swapping is possible but the card cover is a bit awkward.

To save space, Samsung opts for an adapter instead of a 3.5mm earphone jack. The adapter has a microphone so you can turn any earphone into a handsfree with it. Music quality is good but the music player does not have as much features as the Nokia’s (eg: Stereo Widening).

The 3MP camera has auto focus, flash and face recognition. Photo quality is pretty good for a 3MP camera.

The back of the phone is divided into two parts. The top part has a reflective steel surface while the bottom part is plastic. I suspect the plastic part is used to add friction for a better grip.

The interface maybe plain, but it has a lot of goodies beneath it. You can browse the web or read RSS feeds using the HSDPA connection. It also has a photo editing tool and a pretty capable video player.

The phone is fast. You don’t have to wait too long for any function and the HSDPA connection is HASTY. At this price there are not too many 3G phones available, not to mention phones that have both 3.5G HSDPA and video call. If speed is important to you, get this phone now.

The pictures in the reviews are taken by Canon PowerShot SX110 IS Camera.

Fujifilm has launched her first HD compatible camera FinePix S2000HD. I should never underestimate its affordable body because it is packed with advanced technology: 10-megapixel CCD sensor, 15x optical zoom lens and plenty of shooting modes. Let’s look at it closely one by one.

The package of the FinePix S2000HD includes the camera body, a USB cable, an AV cable, 4 AA batteries, a lens cap with string, a strap, a CD ROM and a user’s guide.



The body does not look cheap at all. The large handle gives a firm grip. The sheen of lens shimmers with elegance. The lens cap needs a bit of hassles to remove and fit. Otherwise, the design is gratifying.



Fujifilm FinePix S2000HD allows photo-taking and video-recording in 16:9 format, unlike the traditional 4:3 aspect, the image will not be distorted when it is played back on HD TV, even at full screen.
This is how the camera looks like when it is on with flashlight popped up. Intelligent Flash of the camera captures both the subject and the background with natural brightness. Even in low-light environment, the flash works well to keep the atmosphere unspoiled.



On the mode dial lie the Movie mode, settings for Auto, Program AE (P), Shutter-priority AE (S) and manual exposure (M) as well as Custom and Scene Position settings and settings for Zoom Bracketing, Natural Light & Flash, Natural Light (no flash) and Anti-Blur.



In the Scene Position sub-menu, users can choose from 13 settings including standard Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Museum, Party and Flower modes, along with a Text mode and an Auction Mode which we’ll explore later.

The 15x optical zoom lens covers a broad range of focal lengths from wide 27.6 mm to super-telephoto 414mm on 35mm format; it only takes one second for the lens to go from the widest to super-tele. It’s very fast for the camera to fix the focus as well. Isn’t it amazing? The super-macro photography is pretty awesome. Clarity is still guaranteed as close as 1CM!



The new One-Touch Instant Zoom helps convert from landscape to portrait orientation with just a click, making sure a focused capture on a moving object in wide view.
FinePix S2000HD prevents blurry photos with its Dual IS system. Combining mechanical sensor shift stabilization and Fujifilm's Picture Stabilization, it freezes movements to preserve delicate detail.
Intelligent Face Detection allows up to 10 faces detected on one frame. It works on giving a harmonious sharpness and color tone to the human subjects and red eye removal will remove red eye automatically when the picture is processing. The button is to the right of the dial.

The rear looks like the conventional Fujifilm camera design with the LCD dominating. The 2.7-inch, low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD qualifies satisfactorily.



Navigating to control FinePix S2000HD is easy. You can gain quick access to macro, delete, flash and instant zoom settings through the D-Pad arrows. The f (photo) button brings you to ISO (from 100 to 6400), Quality and FinePix Colour settings. The button on the bottom right is the exposure compensation button. Further settings can be found in the menu.



For playback, it has some quite interesting options. Users can select from three playback types: still, continuous and moving. The Thumbnails allows you to locate favorite image at a glance displayed in 10 x 10 arrays, at utmost convenience.
I like the fact that it works on AA batteries. You don’t have to worry about battery recharge issue when you are traveling, but you may find it too old-fashion and bulky.



Zoom Bracketing enables the camera to take three pictures when the shutter is pushed: one at 10M quality, the second zoomed in by 1.4x at 5M and the third zoomed in by 2x and cropped to 3M. It is more convenient to take three photos of different zooming at the same time, making sure the most photogenic moment is captured.



Auction mode is used to record objects from different angles for image posting on auction website. Four shots at most can be combined into a 640 x 480 pixel single image.



The fast-speed continuous shooting supports two shooting qualities: 6.8fps (at 5MP) or 13.5fps (at 3MP) for at most 33 continuous frames!!



For such a tiny body, FinePix S2000 is sure one hell of a beast. Its performance is more than satisfactory, the zoom, anti-shake and flash are powerful. Design is user-friendly. The grip is strong and firm. With the new HD compatibility, it is definitely a bargain.