This is a utilitarian indicator of how well the cameras control their noise levels."Noise" is used to portray colours that appear in the final image, often as a pattern, which were not present in the original.
There's a big difference in approach by the populous manufacturers as to what their priorities are in terms of designation. Nikon, Panasonic and Sony let finished for impossibly slim models with built-in 3x zooms, Ricoh and Olympus undo astray for bigger models with a whacking eight megapixels perseverance, whilst Fuji occupies the middle ground in resolution and breadth terms.
Resolution, in itself, is not a guarantee of essence and we were looking to see how well the cameras' lenses performed, how accurate the revelation and focusing were, and how successfully the perception processing systems managed to convert the raw testimony from the CCDs into thoroughly formed colour images.
There is also the important element of handling. This can be split into two portions: how graceful the camera is to use in a "pick it up and get it to take pictures" sense, and how easy it is, in the first place, to find and control any manual features that the categorical camera offers.
Five of the six cameras in this comparison procure inch TFT LCD screens, once a rarity at any price. The downside of including a screen of this size on the back of a camera designed to be as pocketable as accessible, is that there is no room for a conventional viewfinder.
What an optical viewfinder allows you to do, is to hold the camera to your eye, which is a very simple way of getting much more strength when taking a picture. The Caplio GX8 from Ricoh has a smaller screen () but it does include an optical view finder.
What the bigger screen does allow, though, is the use of bigger icons and bigger lettering, which makes it easier for older users, who may need glasses for close-up work.
angel Money carried out its own research on prices. The recommended retail prices for the cameras are all in the sector of &throb;300, but shop around and you will find them all in the £200-£250 range. The two cameras that came top in the survey were also the two most extravagant.
The test results, camera by camera
Ricoh Caplio GX8
Specification: A long way beforehand of competitors. The only camera with a true wide angle lens. (mega pixels).
Build caliber: It feels very solid in moment stipulation, but this is undermined by an obvious plastic feel to the finish.
supervision: Key selling site is its quick start-up time... it is ready to shoot about a second after you switch it on.
action: Lens performance was excellent... but the biggest complication was the way it selects a much higher ISO surroundings somewhat than choose a slower shutter speed. This prevents camera reel, but delivers very rambunctious images indeed.
Sony Cybershot DSC -T7:
Specification: Wafer thin... it is almost unthinkable to believe there is within its centimetre-dull body a 3x optical fly. But this was possibly the minimal well-specified camera in terms of user overrides. .
Build quality: Solid stainless strengthen - it is hard to see how anything short of an arc welder is likely to damage this.
Handling: Just apex and emit. Some people may be a little concerned about the teeny controls.
Performance: Stills and movies at a very high level of quality. A light and very practically totally formed package.
Fuji Finepix F10
Specification: Broad shutter speed range, malleable set of exposure modes... sympathy runs to a mind-blowing ISO1600 which means you can take pictures in a much lower dainty. .
Build variety: Solid feel, but matt brushed aluminium does not look as if, in cosmetic reservation at minimal, it would stand up to life rattled around in a pocket.
supervision: Pretty simple to use. Just set the main way dial to the appropriate position... and the camera just does what it does.
execution: Very impressive in all aspects. It had a resolution supposedly inferior by 2MP to two other cameras in this likeness, but the results would lead you to believe it was the highest resolving model here.
Nikon Coolpix S2
Specification: Its sunny pocketability makes it fairly clear this is for people who want good pictures and dapper design without much fuss. .
Build quality: A quite corporeal protective screen. Describes itself as "all withstand".
supervision: Relatively few controls, all clustered together, may procreate treatment a bit intricate for those with larger fingers.
Performance: The S2 may not give the concept of strong complexity, but evidently something pretty sophisticated going on under the shiny, calm exterior. Only demerit was a degree of barrel distortion on the lens at certain focal lengths.
Olympus mju Digital 800
Specification: Very sophisticated... 19Mb inherent memory, just enough with the huge file sizes generated by the 8MP chip to store a few images.
Build quality: An all-resist crux, glide-over lens is locked in place and should not be prone to getting stuck.
administration: The one irritation is the shininess of the concave branch at the back... the glare makes the writing on the controls impossible to read.
Performance: The mju 800 delivered images that were noise-free and with a very naturalistic rendition of colours. ordinarily delivered a flawless custom in stipulation of pictorial essence.
Panasonic Lumix DMC FX8
stipulation: copious designation... anti-camera-reel system, 3x fly lens, fast f/ opening, fruitful 8-1/2000sec shutter speed range. 5MP.
Build quality: Reassuring solidity to aluminium body. Screen protected by solid-looking guard and should last.
supervision: Controls are rather shoe-horned into the camera back, and whilst of high quality are purely inadequate.
recital: Performed very well indeed. One issue with the macro focusing... but the vast bulk of shots were entirely focused and exposed. The colour reading was very, very lightly on the muted side.
The final finding
There are three vital categories of camera that took part in this comparison. The Sony and the Nikon have cryptic inherent hum lenses and 5 megapixel resolution, the Ricoh is out there on its own in style terms, while the Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic are similar concepts if relatively unusual executions of that concept.
The Ricoh is apparently not a great bet for the user who simply wants to apex and shoot with what the Americans call a PhD (Press Here Dummy) camera. relatively it would suit someone looking to take more control over their digital photography.
Conversely, it's probably fair to say that the Sony and the Nikon are not for the more adventurous photographer who wishes to change controls all the time.
So after establishing which camera is for whom, it's report-card time. Just how well did the six cameras transact in our comparative test?
From the Fuji Finepix F10, there was very little if anything negative to report. The Nikon Coolpix S2 had a very slight distortion problem on its lens when pointed obliquely at straight lines. The Panasonic Lumix had one focusing brainstorm, the Olympus did nothing wrong, while the Ricoh exhibited a lot of noise at excited ISOs. The Sony had nothing much wrong with it either.
So in work reservation, the Sony, the Olympus and the Fuji know taken a slight lead.
In handling provision, these three are still very well matched with the Olympus's greater refinement, making it that bit more testing to use in reservation of accessing all the features.
In stipulation terms, the Olympus, the Ricoh and the Panasonic are all very well specified indeed. Whilst in build quality provision, there is nothing to worry about regarding longevity (cosmetic finish aside) in any of the cameras.
So which camera is the best overall? Well after a very close fight indeed, the What Camera? Editor's Choice for the best &thrash;300 digicam is the Olympus mju 800 digital. Its superior behavior in this six-way test is really the determining ingredient for the winner 's decoration.
However, whilst the Olympus is the choice of What Camera?, one of the fresh models may be more appropriate for you in reservation of extent, user-overrides or ease of use. But let's be clear on this: there isn't a sole worthless quality model on test in this round-up.
· Reviews by Joel Lacey, What Camera?
Who won?
criterion Pixma iP8500 printer draw
Thousands of you responded to our free printer draw featured as part of our customer test on September 17. It was a immense task to compare all the email and postal entries, but every epithet was put into the hat and two propitious winners were haggard. Angela Williams of Dorset and Mike Nightingale of Cardiff, your maxim Pixma iP8500s will be winging their way to you soon.
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