News / Reviews & Previews

Just Posted: Our review of the Pixel Vertax D12 third-party battery grip for the Nikon D800. Third-party manufacturers offer a broad range of accessories for popular cameras, providing more options or lower prices. Vertical grips can aid the handling of DSLRs for portrait-format shooting and when working with long, heavy lenses. In this short review, we look at the Pixel Vertax D12 battery grip. At $99 it's considerably cheaper than Nikon's MB-D12 but can it do the same job? Click through for our opinion. 

Just Posted: Sony Alpha NEX-5R hands-on preview. We've been investigating Sony's latest mid-range NEX to try to get to the bottom of the features it adds to the NEX family. These include a revised 16MP APS-C CMOS sensor with phase-detection elements to power the camera's hybrid AF system, and the ability to download proprietary apps. The body may look the same as the previous 5-series cameras, but don't let that fool you - there are a lot of changes under that magnesium alloy skin. Read our preview to find out more.

Just Posted: Our review of the Sony RX100 large-sensor compact camera. The RX100 may look a lot like its 1/1.7" sensor peers but it boasts a sensor 2.7 times larger, which should directly translate into better image quality. It also packs class-leading video features into its tiny metal body. It's already being heralded in some quarters as the best compact ever so, after extensive use in a variety of conditions, can it possibly live up to the hype? Read our review to find out.

Nikon has announced the Coolpix S800c - the first compact camera from a major manufacturer to openly use the Android mobile operating system. On one side it's a 16MP BSI-CMOS compact camera with a 10x, 25-250mm lens built in, on the other it's a 3.5" OLED touchscreen device running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). We've had an opportunity to use a pre-production camera and have prepared an overview of the first real compact camera/smartphone hybrid.

Nikon has revealed the Coolpix 7700 a CMOS-based enthusiast compact camera with class-leading zoom lens. Its 28-200mm lens has a maximum aperture range of F2.0-4.0, making it a whole stop brighter than its predecessor, the P7100's. The P7700 is built around a 1/1.7"-type 12MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor, enabling 1080p30 video and 8fps shooting. The bigger lens means there's no room for an optical viewfinder but the P7700 gains a flip-out swivel LCD instead. We've had a chance to handle the P7700 and have prepared a preview looking at the changes.

Just Posted: Our review of the Canon EOS 650D / EOS Rebel T4i. The 650D is the latest in Canon's popular series of mass-market DSLRs and, at first glance, the 18MP camera doesn't look radically different to its predecessor, the 600D/Rebel T3i. However, Canon has added a touchscreen interface and a hybrid autofocus system aimed at improving focus performance in live view and movie shooting. What do these capabilities add to the otherwise familiar camera? Read our review to find out.

Just posted: Sony NEX-F3 review. In the latest of our collaborations with Jeff Keller of the Digital Camera Resource Page, we look at the Sony NEX-F3 - the company's latest entry-level mirrorless camera. The F3 continues the lineage of the original NEX-3, including many of features of Sony's more expensive models in a less expensive body. In the case of the F3 this means the latest 16MP APS-C sensor capable of up to 6 frames per second, plus Auto Portrait Framing mode, a built-in flash and an LCD that flips all the way up to aid self-portraiture. Do these latest additions offer a significant improvement for the baby NEX? Click through to read the review.

What improvements has Canon's Hybrid AF system brought to the EOS 650D's usability in live view, and what might this mean for the forthcoming EOS-M mirrorless camera? As a precursor to our imminent 650D/Rebel T4i review, we've published two videos showing how Hybrid AF works, compared both to conventional phase-detection AF and to a contemporary mirrorless rival (in this case the Panasonic DMC-G5). It's a chance see how the 650D performs but also gives an idea of what we can expect from the EOS-M, which uses the same technologies.

Just Posted: Our Samsung NX210 review. The NX210 is one of the first of Samsung's range of 'smart' Wi-Fi connected models. While plenty of manufacturers are experimenting with cameras that can connect to smartphones, Samsung is the first to offer this capability built-into an interchangeable lens camera. Spec-wise, the NX210 builds on the 20MP NX200, so our review mainly looks at the differences between the two cameras. Does the NX210 succeed in bringing smartphone convenience to large-sensor photography? Read our review to find out.

We've just posted a six-page review of the Nokia 808 PureView, focusing on its photographic features and performance. On paper, the 808 offers the most advanced camera features of any smartphone, including manually selectable ISO sensitivity from 50-1600, exposure bracketing, and five white balance presets. Then, of course, there's the unique way it uses its large, high pixel-count sensor. So just how much of a threat does this represent for conventional compact cameras? Read our six-page review to find out.

We've just updated our in-depth review of the Nikon D3200 entry-level DSLR to include a page of information about Nikon's WU-1a Wi-Fi adapter. The WU-1a arrived in office as we were preparing the review for publication so we've spent the past 48 hours using it, before adding it to the review. The WU-1a allows both wireless image transfer to a an Android smartphone or tablet, or to use the device as a remote shutter trigger (release of an iOS version is planned for fall 2012). Click here to read our updated 21-page review.

We've just posted our in-depth, 20-page review of the Nikon D3200 entry-level DSLR. The D3200 builds on the the company's line of simple, accessible beginners' DSLRs by adding a higher-resolution screen, boosting its continuous shooting rate and adding details such as a microphone jack and infrared remote sockets. And then, of course, there's the 24MP CMOS sensor, making it by far the highest pixel-count camera in its class. Does its impressive specification translate into class-leading performance? Read our review to find out.

We've updated our initial preview of the Canon EOS M with lots more information, including our own hands-on pictures of the camera and a video illustrating the shutter sound. So if you're interested in finding out more about Canon's first mirrorless offering, it's worth having a glance through to see if there's anything you missed first time around. Click through for the link.

Canon has, as expected, announced the EOS M - its first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. Based around the same 18MP APS-C sensor as the recent EOS 650D/T4i, the EOS M is the first model to use a new, smaller 'EF-M' lens mount. It is launched alongside two EF-M lenses that use STM stepper motors optimized for use with the camera's hybrid AF system. As we've seen before in the mirrorless sector, the EOS M is predominantly aimed at the point-and-shoot upgrader market looking for DSLR quality and makes greater use of a 650D-style touch-screen interface. We've been using the EOS M for a little while and have prepared a preview, looking in more detail at Canon's first mirrorless EOS camera and how it handles.

Just Posted: Sony Cyber-shot HX20V review. We've collaborated with Jeff Keller of the Digital Camera Resource Page to bring you a 10-page review of Sony's latest travel-zoom compact camera, the 18MP HX20V. The new model boasts 18MP resolution, a 20X optical zoom lens and built-in GPS. So how does it perform overall? Read our 10-page review to find out. 

We've had a chance to use Panasonic's latest models, and have prepared previews of the DMC-LX7, DMC-G5 and DMC-FZ200. The LX7 is the company's latest pocketable enthusiast model, featuring an impressive F1.4-2.3 lens covering a 24-90mm equivalent range. We've included a real-world samples gallery, to show how it performs. We've also taken a detailed look at the G5, seeing how it compares to the G3 and what its more comprehensive feature set offers for photographers. Finally we look at the most interesting superzoom we've seen in quite some time - the DMX-FZ200 - a camera that puts lens brightness (and hence usability) ahead of offering the biggest possible zoom number. Click here for links to our previews

Just Posted: Nikon Coolpix S9300 review. We've collaborated with Jeff Keller of the Digital Camera Resource Page to bring you a 9-page review of Nikon's latest travel-zoom compact camera, the 16MP S9300. We liked last year's S9100, and the newer model features the same 18X optical zoom lens, with the addition of a higher resolution sensor and GPS. So how does it perform overall? Read our 9-page review to find out. 

Just Posted: Our in-depth review of the Fujifilm X10. It's been a long time coming, but we recently got our hands on a modified X10, which incorporates the sensor fix for the much-publicised 'white orbs' blooming issue. Since then, we've been working hard to incorporate our experiences with, and samples from the modified camera into this unavoidably-delayed review. Click here to read our full report on Fujifilm's flagship compact. 

Just Posted: Nikon Coolpix P510 review. The 16 megapixel Nikon Coolpix P510 sports a 42X optical zoom, covering a currently unmatched focal range of 24-1000mm (equivalent). As well as an extended zoom range compared to its predecessor the P500, the new model also features a new 16MP BSI CMOS sensor, and a handful of new features and enhancements, including GPS with logging and (according to Nikon) improved image stabilization compared to the P500. So how does it stack up? Click here to find out.

Updated: We've had a production sample Canon EOS 650D/Rebel T4i for a few days now, and we've been busy running it through our usual studio and real-world tests, ahead of a full review. We've updated our previously-published preview with a gallery of 27 real-world samples from the production camera, both JPEG and converted Raw, and included some Raw files for you to examine yourselves. We've also added the 650D to our studio comparison database, allowing you to check out how it compares to its peers and predecessors in our standard studio test scene. Click through to see the additional samples.