Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100

The Sony T100 spices up the ultra-slim digital camera market. It comes with 8.1 megapixels, a 5x optically stabilized zoom lens, face detection, and even high-definition output. The trendy and glittery T100 has an enormous 3-inch LCD screen and automatic exposure modes with a smattering of manual controls that makes it appealing to point-and-shooters. It weighs 6 ounces with the battery and Memory Stick Duo card. There is subtle branding on the front that fits the overall style. The camera is also available in red or black. Slide the front panel down and the camera powers up and you’ll see the flash, lens, mic and AF Illuminator sensor. Of note is the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar glass that’s a 5x non-protruding optical zoom

The DSC-T100 easily slips into a pocket but make sure there’s no change or keys there to prevent scratching the 3-inch LCD screen on the back. The LCD takes up most of the rear real estate, as you’d imagine. There’s just the wide/tele toggle switch, Menu and Home keys as well as the typical four-way controller with center set key. The top of the camera has a shutter button with power and playback keys angled to the side. The right of the camera has the battery/memory card compartment while the bottom simply has a tripod mount and an input for Sony’s bizarre hydra-headed connector that lets you connect it to a TV using A/V inputs or a computer via USB.

With the Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 shooting in low light doesn’t have to result in blurry, grainy photos. Sony’s Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization counters camera shake and stabilize images so you can easily shoot with longer exposure times. Also, it can identify up to 8 faces in the camera’s LCD frame, and automatically adjust white balance and flash as well as focus and exposure for sharp, clear photos. Sony’s Clear raw noise reduction technology will help reduce the picture noise common to low-light exposures.

The camera comes with a typical kit including the body, strap, rechargeable battery/charger, hydra-cable, printed manual and CD ROM with basic software and drivers.

Sony Cybershot DSC-W55

The 7.2 megapixel Sony DSC-W55 features a 3x optical zoom lens with Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar branding, 2.5" 115,000 pixel LCD display, optical viewfinder, and a maximum sensitivity of ISO 1,000 equivalent. Auto and Programmed Auto exposure modes are offered, as well as seven scene modes (Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, Beach, Snow, High Sensitivity, Soft Snap).

Other Sony W55 features include 2x "Precision" (interpolating) digital zoom, up to 14x "Smart zoom" (which simply crops to achieve the zoom effect, resulting in lower resolution images, but no softening due to interpolation), three metering modes (multi-pattern, center-weighted or spot), +/- 2.0EV exposure compensation and a 2 or 10 second self-timer. The DSC-W55 captures movies in MPEG1 format with audio at resolutions up to 640x480 pixels, at a rate of up to 30 frames per second.

Like other Sony models, the W55 uses Memory Stick Duo memory cards and comes with a fairly generous 56MB of internal memory available for image storage. Sony DSC-W55 interfaces include USB 2.0 (high-speed), A/V (NTSC or PAL), and DC input via a dummy battery that's included with the optional AC adapter. Power is provided to the Sony W55 via a Sony NP-BG1 Li-Ion rechargeable battery.

The Sony W55 is offered in a variety of colors including Caribbean blue, pale pink, elegant black and sleek silver and is carrying a list price of US$200.

Canon PowerShot SD800

The Canon SD800 IS Digital ELPH features a compact, stylish case with rounded horizontal edges, and a retracting lens to make it pocket-friendly. The Canon SD800IS includes a 7.1 megapixel imager, and a Canon-branded 3.8x optical zoom lens covers an optimized range of 28-105mm equivalent, a good wide-angle to moderate telephoto.

What's really cool, though, is that the Canon ELPH SD800 IS incorporates Canon's excellent Image Stabilization (hence the "IS" in the model name) technology that drastically reduces the effects of camera shake at slow shutter speeds, or long zoom settings. This means that with the SD800 IS Digital ELPH, you can shoot in low light without having to put the camera on a tripod to avoid the camera shake. IS typically lets you take crisp shots under light conditions four times darker than you could manage without it.

Exposure is fully automatic, but the user can tweak it with 2.0 EV of exposure compensation, and three metering modes to handle difficult lighting, while 10 scene modes keep the camera approachable for beginners. A long-exposure mode in the Canon SD800 ELPH also lets you manually set exposure times up to 15 seconds long, and a large 2.5 inch LCD display plus an optical viewfinder -- rather rare on digicams these days -- gives you a choice when framing images. The Canon SD800 Digital ELPH also sports a rather wide ISO sensitivity range, from 100 to 1,600.

Canon also manufactures a line of photo printers, and prides itself on the level of integration between its cameras and printers. The Canon Digital ELPH SD800 IS is PictBridge capable, so is able to print to any printer that supports PictBridge directly, without the need for a computer in the middle. When connected to a Canon printer, though, you can set paper size, print quality, and a number of other parameters; capabilities lacking in basic PictBridge connections.

Nikon Coolpix S500

The Nikon S500 is a compact camera that will, fully automated, do its job by means of the intelligent software inside the camera. Actions are being performed nearly completely automatic and correct the image quality if needed. The compact format and the light weight make it easy to take the camera along in your pocket. An important component of the camera is the VR image stabilization system; it directly contributes in the image quality, in this case the sharpness of the picture. Although the Nikon S500 does not have an exceptional large range, such a system will alleviate movement blurring, which has been caused by a too long shutter speed in bad lighting situations. It's a pity that the Nikon Coolpix S500 has not been equipped with a 28mm wide-angle lens.
The image quality of the Nikon Coolpix S500 compact camera is fine and the color saturation is average.n excessive artificial light, the Nikon S500 may deviate from its excellent white balance metering, but this can be adjusted by selecting the right white balance setting in the camera's menu.
Focusing with the Nikon Coolpix S500 goes nice and smooth and, with a few exceptions, will never fail.Noise is strongly visible here and to my opinion you should only use this option in emergencies.
The camera sets lighting and image processing so it is adjusted to the type of subject; this way the end result will be bit more appealing than a picture taken in the standard Auto mode. The Nikon Coolpix S500 also has a panoramic setting, less convincing because of the lacking of a wide-angle setting, but it will still give nice results nevertheless.
The camera is extremely users friendly and gives a fine end result. In regards to comfort and user friendliness the Nikon S500 does not seem to need many improvements.