WB850f Photo's

Really nice shots don444, they serve both to illustrate the camera's ability and some good subject choices.

I was impressed with the restuarant shot at 400 iso - the camera resisted the tendency to blow the highlights and although shadow detail shows noise, it is exactly what one can expect from this grade of sensor. Furthermore, it went down to f2.8 so it makes best use of aperture.

The shot of the interior white walls (circular space with smallish windows) actually was impressive - I could see gradations of white shading on those walls - the DR of the sensor looks better than average for this type of camera.

The lens is also impressively sharp but some full zoom images would be very useful to see.

There is just one image I dont understand - the one of the doors and handles - it is listed at 800 iso at 1/10 sec yet looks like it was taken in bright light.

Is the exif correct and did you do it handheld? If you did then the stabilization function is also very good.

I looked at this camera in a shop yesterday and handled it - it is a solid metal case but two things struck me as stupid styling design limitations - firstly the battery was very small - along with GPS on, I doubt that one will get more than 150 shots max, if you are lucky, out of it, and secondly, the pop up flash is where you would hold the camera and is ridiculously small, to boot. It's tele range is listed in the specs as around 3 meters and that's really not much at all considering the fantastic long end.

But it is the promise of the 23mm wide-angle that really appeals to me - this camera is vastly cheaper than a wide angle lens for my DSLR and looks like a viable option to cart around with the DSLR for those wide angle shots I'd like to do.

Good luck with it - it looks like a winner in spite of the design issues.
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jamesza