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Nikon’s COOLPIX P90 is the company’s latest super-zoom digital camera, sporting 12.1 Megapixel resolution, a tilting 3in screen and a 24x optical range that’s equivalent to 26-624mm. Announced in February 2009, it’s the successor to the COOLPIX P80 and joins the increasingly competitive market for SLR-styled cameras with enormous zoom ranges.

The COOLPIX P90 may be similarly-styled to its predecessor and retains Vibration Reduction, a 1cm Macro mode and the same degree of manual exposure control, but sports upgrades in all the key departments: the sensor resolution has increased from 10.1 to 12.1 Megapixels, the screen enlarged from 2.7 to 3in and fitted to a tilting platform for greater compositional flexibility, and the zoom range increased from 18x (27-486mm) to 24x (26-624mm).

To this, Nikon’s also added Smile and Blink detection, Scene Recognition, Active D-Lighting, time-lapse movies and a high-speed shooting mode which can fire-off up to 45 low resolution frames at an impressive 15fps. It’s a competitive specification and priced at a similar level to key rivals like Canon’s PowerShot SX10 IS. But the question as always is whether it can live up to the promise and deliver the goods in practice. Find out in our review where we’ll detail the new features and directly compare the image quality against key rivals.

The 8.1-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-T70 from Sony is a compact point-and-shoot that feels solidly built. Unfortunately, you must navigate the camera’s menu and controls via a 3-inch touch screen LCD (in wide-screen format). The panel is large, but the touch-screen controls are hard to press and annoying to use. My frustrations with it prompted no small amount of colorful language at times.

The camera’s slim, minimalist design is attractive, and it has a thumb grip on its right side perfectly placed to make holding it steady easier. The only real buttons on the camera are on the top side. There you’ll find a small power button and a small review button, which I found hard to press, though the larger shutter-release button worked very well. To the right of the shutter button, a small sliding button operates the camera’s zoom. I found my finger often slipping off this latter button, and there was a lag between my pressing the button and the camera actually zooming in or out.

But I didn’t dislike everything about this camera. The DSC-T70’s ISO range of 80 to 3200 is above average compared with most of its competitors (a few reach ISO 6400). The camera also offers the ability to shoot still images in 16:9 mode, which is great for displaying on an HDTV or a wide-screen monitor. It also has a movie mode that captures 640-by-480 video in MPEG 4 format, but I was disappointed that I was limited to the 4:3 width in shooting videos.

The DSC-T70 has plenty of scene modes, including ones for fireworks, high brightness, water (to bring out blues), high speed, landscape, low light, portraits, soft background, and a new mode that Sony calls Smiles. Similar to a feature found on Olympus models, the camera in this mode takes a picture when it recognizes a smile. You can set the “smile level” to high, medium, or low depending on whether it’s a smirk or laugh that you’re trying to capture. I did not find this feature particularly useful, though.

One limitation of the camera is that it has no manual white balance setting–only presets.

In the PC World Test Center, the DSC-T70 scored about average for image quality and for battery life. It consistently ranked in the middle on our image-quality subcategories, except for a high score in our image quality distortion test. The camera was able to last 290 shots before the battery died from its full charge–almost exactly the average for the compact cameras we tested in the same batch.

For $300 (as of 11/07/2007), there are other point-and-shoot cameras–such as the Fujifilm FinePix F50fd or the Casio Exilim EX-Z1080–that will produce better images. The Sony DSC-T70 will surely turn heads with its slick design. However, the wow factor that the unique touch screen provides may quickly wear off, leaving you with an irritating camera that takes only average pictures.

The Canon PowerShot SD960 IS replaces the previous SD790 model in the company’s lineup, and is based around a 1/2.3″ 12.1 megapixel CCD image sensor, DIGIC 4 image processor, and a Canon-branded 4x optical zoom lens. The SD960 IS’s lens offers focal lengths ranging from a useful 28mm wide angle to a 112mm telephoto, and features true optical image stabilization. Maximum aperture varies from f/2.8 to f/5.8 across the zoom range, and macro focusing is possible to just two centimeters. Continuous shooting is possible at 0.8 frames per second.

There’s no true optical viewfinder, with the Canon SD960 IS instead opting solely for a 2.8″ LCD display with 230,000 dots of resolution. The maximum image dimensions are 4,000 x 3,000 pixels, and 30 frames-per-second 720p (1,280 x 720) movie recording is also possible with the Canon SD960. Sensitivity ordinarily ranges from ISO 80 to ISO 1,600 equivalents, and can be extended to ISO 3,200 equivalent in a high sensitivity scene mode. A built-in flash strobe is rated as good to 13.1 feet (4 meters) at wide angle, and 6.6 feet (2 meters) at telephoto. Images and movies are stored on SD cards, HDMI high-definition and NTSC / PAL standard definition video output plus USB 2.0 High-Speed computer connectivity are on offer, and the Canon PowerShot SD960 draws power from a proprietary NB-4L Lithium Ion rechargeable battery.

Let the Good Times Last Forever Fun, simple, and smart, SAMSUNG’s S1060 gives you 10.2 mega-pixels of fantastic image quality and a 5x optical zoom lens, to help you make the most of the moment wherever you may be. Plus, the 2.7″ Intelligent LCD screen lets you view and share your images right away. And with helpful features such as Digital Image Stabilisation and Face Detection, crisp and clear pictures are as easy as saying “cheese!”

Specification:-

• Type : 1/2.33″ CCD
• Effective Pixel : Approx. 10.2 Mega-pixel
• Focal Length : SHD f = 6.3 ~ 31.5mm (35mm film equivalent: 38 ~ 190mm)
• Digital Zoom : Still Image mode: 1.0X ~ 5.0X Play mode: 1.0X ~ 12.0X (depends on image size)

There are high definition camcorders. The former thinks it’s done its bit simply by shooting at HD resolution, without charitable the sharpness level and the overall picture excellence that should come with it. The latter, on the other hand, is the real deal – high resolution, high detail… and high definition. The Canon HG10 belongs to the latter group.

Just a seem at the device and it gives you an idea that it’s not aimed at the casual vacationer. It’s a little too big, a little too grave, and a little too serious for that. The on the whole design doesn’t break from the traditional camcorder look, even if it’s a bit on the curvy side. The hard drive is placed on the right, over which you have the hand strap. The zoom toggle is located appropriately on top of the camera, while most other recording-related controls can be accessed from the rear.

The 2.7-inch LCD display is non-touch screen, which is a pity considering the otherwise high specs of the camcorder. Instead it has the playback controls located at the bottom of the display with a jog cum d-pad based menu control system on the left of the screen. This is where Sony camcorders have an benefit. As much as one may crib about touch screen, it’s still the best option to have in camcorders instead of dodgy controls that are questionably receptive.

The HG10 opens up to reveal slots for everything, starting from a flash/accessory shoe on the top to the connectivity options hidden next to the hard drive. It took me a couple of minutes to figure where to find the connectivity and growth options, but bearing in mind how many of these the HG10 supports, they’re absolutely better left hidden.

View Specifications

The biggest draw of the HG10 is its ability to shoot in full HD resolution (1080p), but what I really like about it is the number of class settings it offers you for each resolution. Not everyone has a machine that can support AVC HD video playback in full excellence settings, so you have the option to select the right bitrate (5-15Mbps) that would run well on your system. Of course, you don’t have to bother about that if you’re playing the video directly from the camcorder, but selecting a lower bitrate will help you make the most of the 40GB hard drive.

For connectivity, the HG10 provides you with practically every option you would need. You can output the video using composite, component, as well as direct HDMI. It really features an HDMI slot so you can use a standard cable instead of a custom conversion cable. You can access the files on your computer via USB. There’s no firewire option though.

As far as picture quality goes, the Canon HG10 is quite brilliant. It is well capable of capturing the right amount of detail level even in video mode to qualify as real ‘high definition’. The colors look very natural with the right amount of saturation, without any of the fear density marks that plague lower-end HD camcorders. The HG10 shot without hiccups even under low lighting conditions, but I wouldn’t advise going gung-ho with it at night, as that’s where it tends to take a while to get the right focus. But that’s an intrinsic problem with camcorders anyway.

The on the whole audio clarity was very clear. Even the sound from behind the camera was well recorded. But as always, the camera mics are placed a little too close together to acquire any real channel separation. At Rs 75,000, the HG10 is obviously not meant for the casual user. Enthusiasts and semi-professionals who can truly be pleased about the superiority output could definitely give it a look.