Nikon D2X

Nikon has delivered a product that is close to being perfect, especially for the pros who are ready to let their wallets out for this amazing product. The D2 series has been designed completely fresh from the D1 series and D2x is a new entrant into this. This version obviously inherits lot of things from the family especially the key features of the D2 series. In the D2 series, Nikon has drastically improved, refined and innovated in many aspects of the camera be it the functionality, the aesthetics, controls, body design, frame, shutter etc. Further to the common features of the D2 series, D2X showcases additional improvements.

One major thing that Nikon has worked on in this series is the sensor as they have taken almost year between the releases of two D2 series members. Some of the major improved features over the previous versions include:

1. The vertical shooting grip has been provided with a command dial in the front.
2. It features a larger color LCD which is even brighter than before.
3. The camera features a built in Voice annotation.
4. You can set the White balance in Kelvin directly, and also the white balance gets its own sensor which is dedicated for the purpose and is placed in front of the prism. Custom white balance is very convenient to set and has been provided with two different methods to do it. The settings can also be saved using the names provided by you.
5. The D2X also feature the new FUNC button which can be assigned by the user and is placed in the front position of the camera. Though, the desired list of assignments is limited as compared to expectations, still it can provide a great deal of flexibility as compared to the older models.
6. The viewfinder has also been improved by providing extra information on the displays including all possible major settings can be seen on the finder itself. The blackout time has also decreased to minimal levels during shots, plus the shutter lag is also negligible making it one of the fastest cameras around.

So the Australian professional photographers, this is the camera for you if you are ready to do some really beautiful photography out there and capture the world in your D2X.

Fuji film FinePix F200EXR

Fujifilm after surprising a lot of people with the F30 and the F31fd models which includes sensors which are larger than what is normal in the other cameras of its category. Now Fujifilm is again back in the Australian market with a bang, and yet a newer product. This time they have the Fuji film FinePix F200EXR, in their bag. Looks like, this time they are all set with the Novel sensor technology that they came up with, for the low light photography. In a world were we see that digital cameras are being sold like any other ordinary product in the market, its really good to notice that Fuji film is really trying to put in some innovation in the cameras and are really interested in making the product really superior to others brands in the market, those offer similar products in a similar price range.

The Fuji film FinePix F200EXR uses one of the largest sensors which is 1/1.6” type and that would mean this would have a surface area of 0.45cmX0.45cm. The lens that comes with the Fuji film FinePix F200EXR provides the users a very useful range that is 28-140mm in 35mm film terms, on the other hand other contemporary digital SLRs’ provides a 28-85mm range. I would not call this lens the in the Fuji film FinePix F200EXR the fastest but it’s not slow as compared to its peers in the market either.

While shooting in out door situations you must have experienced the difficulty of shooting in different modes due to shaking and all especially if you are not having your tripod handy with you. But that’s no longer going to stay the same with the Fuji film FinePix F200EXR and its image stabilization feature; this is going to ensure sharp pictures every time you click on the shutter button. The other features those come packed with this are it has a 5X optical zoom, The Fuji film FinePix F200EXR has a 3 inch TFT review screen with 230,000 dots in that to give you a crystal clear preview of you snaps. It has ISO 3200 sensitivity, IR communication, VGA movie capture, and Aperture priority mode.

With all this packed inside the camera people in Australia are quiet likely to fall in love with the snaps that you take.

Canon Power Shot SD880

Canons are my personal favorite, and there will be numerous individuals in Australia who share the same views as there is a reason for it. I have seen that Canon is one of the pioneers in the imaging and optics related industry and some how that manage to get real good stuff in the market which you can categorize as real value for money. Like wise is the product Canon Power Shot SD880. It’s very affordable; it weighs 6.3 ounces, with a 2.2 inch height, 3.7 inches width, and 0.9 inches depth. It would absolutely have no difficulty in slipping into the pockets of you pant or your coat. The Digic 4 image processing engine now would produce 10 mp images for you than the earlier 8 mp. And also it comes with different modes for the scenes. The optical zoom is 4X a little greater than what normally shows up in its category and the lens covers an area of 28-112 mm and this is supposed to be a highlight of the Canon Power Shot SD880.

The Canon Power Shot SD880 this time has introduced H 264 codec which has replaced the earlier Motion Jpeg. The total number of scene modes is 16, and has the very well known stitch assistant for the panoramic views. The underwater usage capability is still there but not without the optional casing that you would have to buy separately from the market.

The new features are the pillow shaped buttons that certainly gives more easily while using the camera, and also the Print Share button is now customizable into a short cut key for accessing one of the nine shooting functions available.

As far as the shooting speed is concerned it’s a little on the slower side involving 1.2 sec for the first shot, and re-shoot would be 1.9 sec later. The shutter lag is just too good at 0.4 sec for well lit situations and 0.8 for under illuminated situations. However the time stretches a little bit for shooting with the usage of the flash. The 3 inch LCD panel works extremely well even under direct light and comes with a wide viewing angle.

What you would absolutely love about the Canon Power Shot SD880 is its picture quality. The colors every time would be natural and vibrant. Over all you would love the performance of the Canon Power Shot SD880.

Canon Powershot SD870 IS

Canon Powershot SD870 IS is an 8 Megapixel and 4x optical zoom camera from the PowerShot range of compact cameras of Canon. Foremost, its good performance features include good image quality, effective image stabilization and face detection. These features make it one of the most features packed compact camera in Australia.
Looking at the model number, it may seem that it is a family member of SD850 IS, but with its wider, 28mm-to-105mm, f/2.8-to-f/5.8, 3.8x optical zoom lens, it actually should be a successor of SD800 IS. It gives many advantages over its predecessor such as an 8.3-megapixel CCD sensor, a larger 3-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD, and Canon’s new Digic III processor. There are other cosmetic enhancements as well. The new processor brings along the Advanced Face Detection functionality for Canon, which is a very attractive feature as it can pick up to nine faces in a single frame. The faces can also be used for setting autofocus and exposure options.

There also some improvements in the looks especially the back side. The inclusions are the new format of Canon’s multicontroller pad which makes it similar to the SD750.  The response of this pad is much better than the SD800 IS.  An enhanced ring provided around the edge provides a much improved feeling. There is an interesting feature on the pad that when a thumb is placed on the pad in a specific orientation, the graphics on the LCD displays the options available on pressing the pad completely.

SD870 IS’s has also performed very well in the real tests. It’s very quick in starting up and taking pictures successively. Even with the flash turned, the response time was very quick. Plus the shutter lag is very less in multiple shooting conditions. These observations suggest that the camera is really packed with some really impressive features and provides a really good buying option for the Australian people.

However there is a minor limitation as well that the camera does not provide manual exposure controls and there is no optical viewfinder. Though the camera can be very well be used without these features these features can be helpful in some conditions.

Canon PowerShot SD850

Canon PowerShot SD850 IS is the new entry in the Canon’s SD series which is also called the Digital Elph line due to its compact sized camera range. The SD850 is an improvement on the previous version SD700 IS. The major improvements in the new version include an increase in resolution from 6.2 mega pixels to 8.3 megapixels which is in fact a very substantial and welcome jump. SD850 also features the new Digic III image processor, which introduces the feature of face detection and also an increase in the sensitivity to ISO 1,600 increasing from ISO 800. Therefore, the SD850 packs almost everything a compact point-and-shoot camera would require.

One thing you would have expected more is the optical zoom that is still 4x. The camera has very effective optical image stabilization technology that helps in keeping the images sharp and clear even if the clicking conditions are not steady.

If we talk about the design, there is not much differences between the SD850 IS and SD700 IS apart from the body colors. Also the multicontroller pad of the new model is even more improved than the really good one in SD800. You can experience better tactile response from the raised ring. There is an interesting feature on the pad that when a thumb is placed on the pad in a specific orientation, the graphics on the LCD displays the options available on pressing the pad completely. This really helps as you will not have to move away your eyes from the screen while you change the settings. Also it helps in managing the controller’s functions, as you are able to see only the active functions onscreen that you are currently using.

The image quality of SD850 IS is really impressive with accurate colors and enhanced sharpness especially when considering a compact camera. It is working very well with almost no noise at the least ISO setting. Even at higher ISO settings, noise hardly creeps in and becomes noticeable only at ISO 800.

The PowerShot SD850 is really a power house with only few shortcomings and will definitely be a favorite with Australians.