Danel
Senior Member
I was looking for a camera with great image quality that was small, stylish, and had image stabalization. I realize that this site was less than totally enthusiastic about this camera when it was reviewed, giving the camera a 7 for image quality and only a "recommended". However, other sites reviewing the camera seemed to like it alot so I thought I would give it a try.
Overall, I have been very pleased with the camera. True, there is occasionally some softness in a small part of the upper corners at 28mm in certain situations, but so what? Few subcompacts even offer 28mm, and most of the time the softness isn't even noticeable. I rarely focus on the upper corners of a picture unless I'm just looking for problems. Another issue is that there is a tendency to blow some highlights when shooting in bright conditions, but most if not all compact digicams have this problem. I have used the camera enough to know when it is likely to happen so I just set exposure to -1/3 or -2/3 in those situations and the problem is mostly solved. Lastly, like almost every other camera in this segment (except a couple of fujis) the high ISO noise starts kicking in at ISO 400, but the result is actually better than what you see on many compact cameras. With a little noise reduction in PP ISO 400 is generally very usable. Let's face it, ISO 800, 1600, and 3200 (some cams) on most of these little digicams are really there just for marketing purposes. ISO 1600 and 3200 on a 1/2.5 sensor? Puhleease!
What I like is that 90 to 100% of the photo (depending on conditions) is nice and sharp even at 28mm. Once you zoom in a bit corner softness quickly disappears and the whole photo is sharp. The colors this camera produces are very nice indeed, and the optional settings give you some control over what you get. In short, the image quality is super almost all of the time. To me, that is the most important consideration. The image stabalization works great and is, IMO, almost a necessity on a little camera like this. I have shot a few hundred pictures thus far, and I can count on the fingers of one hand (without the thumb) the number of pictures that have been blurred. The performance of the camera is pretty snappy, quick to start up, fast focusing, fast flash recovery (I was surprised you could leave the flash on in continuous mode and still get almost a shot a second if the subject isn't too far away). Pretty impressive for a sub-compact.
So in my opinion, if you want a very nice little compact point and shoot that takes great pictures, has speedy performance, and does it all with style, this camera fits the bill. I'm not saying its perfect...no camera really is. When you go for a little sub-compact there are always going to be some compromises. Still, overall, this is a great camera. "Highly Recommended" IMHO ;-)
Overall, I have been very pleased with the camera. True, there is occasionally some softness in a small part of the upper corners at 28mm in certain situations, but so what? Few subcompacts even offer 28mm, and most of the time the softness isn't even noticeable. I rarely focus on the upper corners of a picture unless I'm just looking for problems. Another issue is that there is a tendency to blow some highlights when shooting in bright conditions, but most if not all compact digicams have this problem. I have used the camera enough to know when it is likely to happen so I just set exposure to -1/3 or -2/3 in those situations and the problem is mostly solved. Lastly, like almost every other camera in this segment (except a couple of fujis) the high ISO noise starts kicking in at ISO 400, but the result is actually better than what you see on many compact cameras. With a little noise reduction in PP ISO 400 is generally very usable. Let's face it, ISO 800, 1600, and 3200 (some cams) on most of these little digicams are really there just for marketing purposes. ISO 1600 and 3200 on a 1/2.5 sensor? Puhleease!
What I like is that 90 to 100% of the photo (depending on conditions) is nice and sharp even at 28mm. Once you zoom in a bit corner softness quickly disappears and the whole photo is sharp. The colors this camera produces are very nice indeed, and the optional settings give you some control over what you get. In short, the image quality is super almost all of the time. To me, that is the most important consideration. The image stabalization works great and is, IMO, almost a necessity on a little camera like this. I have shot a few hundred pictures thus far, and I can count on the fingers of one hand (without the thumb) the number of pictures that have been blurred. The performance of the camera is pretty snappy, quick to start up, fast focusing, fast flash recovery (I was surprised you could leave the flash on in continuous mode and still get almost a shot a second if the subject isn't too far away). Pretty impressive for a sub-compact.
So in my opinion, if you want a very nice little compact point and shoot that takes great pictures, has speedy performance, and does it all with style, this camera fits the bill. I'm not saying its perfect...no camera really is. When you go for a little sub-compact there are always going to be some compromises. Still, overall, this is a great camera. "Highly Recommended" IMHO ;-)
