The best new compact cameras 2014

The market is so saturated with cameras it is almost impossible to decide which is right for you. There is almost as deep a pile of review sites giving you their version of what to buy. This article in The Telegraph at least tries to cover the full gamut in camera type and price

The best point-and-shoot cameras on the market, for everything from cheeky selfies to heavy-duty travel photography

Sony Cyber Shot RX 100 II, available in black, RRP £649.00 

For a camera with so many intricate settings, the Cyber shot RX100 is surprisingly easy to understand. As you scroll between the major modes (Auto, Aperture Priority, Macro and so on), a sentence on the screen will appear to tell you what that program does and when you might use it. There’s also a handy spirit level to show you when you’ve got the camera completely straight.

Once you are in and shooting, there is even a “help” button which brings up practical advice on capturing difficult subjects: dusk, for instance, or the greenest leaves.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5, available in black, blue, orange or silver, RRP £249.99

It’s sacrilegious to compare anything to a Leica; but it’s also an open secret that Leica’s digital lenses are made by Panasonic. If you dream of owning a digital Leica, complete with famous red-spot logo, then you’ll have to set aside at least £500. But if the quality of the photograph is what matters to you, you can get your Leica lens for less with a Lumix. It’s what quite a few professional photographers carry around with them

 

Sony TF1 –available in red, black and blue, RRP £140.00

This relatively cheap camera is slim and light and sits easily in the hand, with rubberised edges to keep your grip secure. I was initially befuddled by the placement of the lens in the top-left hand corner of the camera – which is where I suppose you would expect to find it on a cameraphone. But with a largeish screen, when your finger strays into shot, which it inevitably will, you can see it and readjust accordingly. The zoom button on the top of the camera is ridged, which makes it easy to get hold of; the zoom is internal, not telescopic, which makes it more robust – if you dropped it, there probably wouldn’t be dire consequences.

See the rest of the reviews of these cameras and the others recommended here

Best Bridge Camera 2013

A bridge camera is a bit like a dslr but without interchangeable lenses and smaller so more portable

Tech Radar up first

Sometimes you don’t want to lug around a DSLR and an assortment of lenses – you want one camera and one lens that does it all.
This means a feature set that cherry picks the best that a typical DSLR has to offer, including manual control and preferably the ability to shoot in raw format as well as JPEG, along with a lens that offers a very broad focal range, so it won’t matter that it can’t be swapped.
Enter the superzoom camera, also known as an ultra zoom or bridge camera – so called because it bridges the gap between a point and shoot compact and an all bells and whistles DSLR, in terms of handling and feature set, at least.

Buying Guide

For this reason, superzooms tend to closely resemble DSLRs in terms of look, build and – to an extent – handling, but feature smaller image sensors and, partly because of this, afford physically smaller lenses.
While not a replacement for a DSLR then, the advantage here is that the cameras can offer a very broad focal range; one that, if you were to try and achieve similar with a DSLR, would make for a prohibitively expensive and awkwardly unwieldy combo.
The larger physical size of a bridge camera or superzoom when compared with a snapshot camera may deter some, but there’s a lot more creative versatility here in terms of framing choices. A case in point: many models also offer tilt and swivel LCD screens as well as optical or electronic viewfinders. Again, with a bridge camera there is more choice and more options for the photo enthusiast.
So if you are after one jack-of-all-trades digital camera – either instead of a DSLR, or perhaps as a less expensive back up – and you value convenience and flexibility as much as image quality and pixel count, then a bridge or superzoom camera could be your ideal companion. So here we’re shining the spotlight on the best of some recent releases.
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX300

Price: £325/US$430/AU$550
Specs: 20.4MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, 50x zoom with 24-1200mm (equivalent) focal length, 1080p video
Best compact camera 2013It’s very nearly brilliant
There’s a lot to love about the Sony. It has a class-leading 20.4Mp image resolution, a fast 10fps burst rate, generous 30-1/4000th-of-a-second shutter-speed range and a big 50x zoom range (24-1200mm equivalent).
It has clever tricks too. For example, as well as a two-speed powered zoom lever by the shutter button, you can also adjust the zoom and focus settings via a control ring on the lens barrel. This alternative zoom method is still motor-controlled but enables greater precision in adjustments.
Further highlights include a high-res 921k pixel LCD that also boasts a tilt facility.
It’s good for shooting from very high or low perspectives, either holding the camera above your head or for shooting from ground level without getting muddy knees. However, unlike some Sony tilt screens, it doesn’t flip over completely to help with self-portraits.
In other areas, the Sony comes up a bit short. It does have an electronic viewfinder but the unspecified resolution seems pretty poor, on a par with the Canon and Panasonic cameras.
A more surprising shortcoming, given the otherwise advanced collection of creative shooting modes and high-end features, is that ‘stills capture’ is a JPEG-only affair, without the ability to shoot in raw. There’s also no hot shoe, so you’re stuck with the fairly minimal power of the pop-up flash.
Back on the plus side, handling is very good overall, with a high-quality build and quick access to plentiful shooting parameters.
Performance
Impressive in most areas, performance benefits from effective autofocus and metering even in tricky conditions.
The optical stabilizer matches those of other cameras in the group, giving consistently sharp handheld images under decent lighting, even at very long zoom settings.
The only real upset is that image noise can be very noticeable in low-light shots, even at the lower end of the ISO range.

Fuji FinePix HS50 EXR

Price: £350/US$450/AU$510
Specs: 16MP 1/2-inch EXR CMOS II sensor, 42x optical zoom with 24-1000mm (equivalent) focal length, 1080p video
Best compact camera 2013It’s a bit of a whopper
Compared with some competitors in the group, the Fujifilm is a real hunk of a camera. It’s got a big, beefy body and, unlike some, the lens doesn’t retract when the camera is switched off.
Big isn’t necessarily bad, however, and the camera feels wonderfully natural with superb handling. It can’t quite match the leaders in the group for outright zoom range, but the 42x lens still gives the equivalent of a mighty 24-1000mm span of focal lengths.
Not only does the Fujifilm have an electronic viewfinder, but it’s of considerably better quality than any of the other cameras on test, with a super-sharp 920k pixel display. Composition and manual focusing are all the easier for it.
Along with a plethora of basic and advanced shooting modes, both raw and JPEG quality options are available.
Battery life is similarly impressive, with 500 shots available from a full charge, where most competing cameras only last for about 300 shots.
There’s no power zoom facility but, in practice, the smooth and precise manual zoom and focus rings on the lens enable greater precision, without the constant danger of overshooting the mark and having to yo-yo back and forth. Like only the Canon in this group, the LCD is fully articulated so gives a complete range of pivot functions.
Performance
Autofocus is a bit special; the hybrid phase/contrast system doing better than the contrast-detection systems of competing cameras to track moving targets.
Continuing the speed theme, there’s a fast 11fps drive rate available, which increases to 16fps if you limit yourself to medium-sized JPEG capture.
In the standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-3200, noise is well controlled and there’s excellent retention of fine detail, even at very high ISO settings. Ultra-high sensitivities of up to ISO 12800 are available in expanded mode, if needed.
Nikon Coolpix L820

Price: £190/US$200/AU$300
Specs: 16.79MP 1/2.3-inch back illuminated CMOS sensor, 30x zoom with 22.5-675mm (equivalent) focal length, 1080p video
Best compact camera 2013It’s more of a point-and-shoot bridge camera
Photographers who use Nikon SLRs are usually rewarded with a wealth of shooting options and customisable functions, available through almost-endless scrolling menus.
The L820 is an entirely different proposition and really quite basic in operation.
You don’t have to be eagle-eyed to spot the lack of a shooting mode dial and, indeed, there are no aperture-priority, shutter-priority or metered manual modes.
Instead, you’re limited to ‘auto’, ‘easy auto’, ‘smart portrait’, and a number of scene modes and filter options. If you like being in control, it can feel a bit limiting. For example, the only way to get a shutter speed slower than one second is to switch to the ‘fireworks’ scene mode. At the other end of the scale, shutter speed tops out at just 1/1500th of a second.
Sensitivity only reaches ISO 1600 in the standard range, and ISO 3200 in expanded mode.
Other areas which might be disappointing for accomplished photographers are the lack of a viewfinder or hot shoe and the absence of raw capture.
On the plus side, the Nikon is very compact, helped by the retracting lens which tucks away when the camera is switched off. Then again, the 30x zoom range is the smallest in the group.
With an effective 22.5-675mm focal length range, it’s quite generous at the wide-angle end, but loses out for long telephoto shooting. Zooming itself can be a bit hit and miss. Unlike the Canon, Panasonic and Sony cameras, there’s just a single-speed (and reasonably fast) power-zoom mechanism which can make precise adjustments a real frustration.
Performance
The Nikon redeems itself somewhat when it comes to image quality, which is generally very good even under dull lighting conditions.
Autofocus isn’t particularly rapid but it copes better in tricky conditions than Nikon’s high-end Coolpix P7700 compact camera, which we reviewed back in issue 139.

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

Price: £350/US$430/AU$475
Specs: 12.1MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, 50x zoom with 24-1200mm (equivalent) focal length, 1080p video
Best compact camera 2013Small but powerful and feature-packed
Slightly smaller and lighter than competing cameras that also feature an electronic viewfinder, the Canon nevertheless boasts a 50x zoom lens, equivalent to 24-1200mm in range.
As one of Canon’s ‘HS’ series cameras, it’s intended to give good performance in low lighting conditions, which is why its image resolution is relatively modest. As such, the camera is fitted with a 12.1MP image sensor, whereas most others in the group are between 16MP and 20.4MP.
The shooting mode dial is packed with wide-ranging scene modes, a full complement of PASM shooting modes, special effects aplenty and two user-defined custom settings. Further direct access controls around the back make it quick and easy to get to important shooting parameters.
Further attractions include a fully articulated LCD screen and a hot shoe for mounting an optional flashgun.
Ultimately, it really does feel like a ‘proper’ camera. By contrast, the low-resolution electronic viewfinder is a bit lacking in clarity.
With the immense telephoto reach on offer, one nice touch is the pair of buttons on the side of the lens barrel. These enable you to instantly zoom out if you lose a target at extremely long focal lengths, reacquire it, then zoom back in again to take the shot.
For normal operation of zoom, there’s a two-stage lever which enables both slow and fast action. The ability to shoot in raw mode as well as JPEG is another plus point for the Canon.
Performance
True to its low-light claims, image noise is well controlled and the longest available shutter speed is better than most, at 15 seconds.
Maximum burst rate is a bit pedestrian at 4.1fps (frames per second) but you can boost this to 13fps if you don’t need autofocus after the first shot in a sequence.
Sharpness is good throughout the zoom range and the optical image stabilizer works well.

This is from What Digital Camera

The Best Bridge Camera of 2013 – our pick of the very best bridge cameras currently on the market
Bridge cameras – P520
The bridge camera remains one of the most popular types of digital camera, owing to their huge zoom lenses, DSLR-esque handling and relatively compact proportions.
There are several factors to consider before buying a bridge camera, including whether in fact a bridge is right choice for your needs. If you’re uncertain we highly recommend you read our in-depth Guide to Bridge Cameras first, just be sure.
But if you’ve done that, or you’re already confident that a bridge camera is for you, then read our round up of the best bridge cameras of 2013…

Best bridge camera 2013 – Canon PowerShot SX50HS
Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
Street price: £360
Even though it’s by no means the biggest bridge camera on the market the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS it was the world’s first bridge camera to feature a 50x optical zoom, extending from 24mm to an impressive 1200mm.
Paired with Canon’s latest DIGIC 5 processor, the 12MP HS sensor is renowned for its high speed and good high ISO performance. The SX50 HS also offers a full tilt and swivel LCD screen, raw capture and a selection of 58 scene modes, while the hot-shoe allows for Canon EX Speedlite flash guns to be attached.
Best Bridge Camera for: Canon Compatibility
Read more on the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
Find the best deals for the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

Best bridge camera 2013 – Fujifilm HS50 EXR

Fujifilm FinePix HS50 EXR
Street price: £400
The Fujifilm HS50 EXR features the highly regarded EXR sensor technology, which can be optimised to provide High Resolution, Wide Dynamic Range or Low Noise, depending on the conditions. In this case it’s a 16MP chip that also incorporates an array of phase detect pixels to provide what Fujifilm claims is the fastest AF of any bridge camera in the world.
The manually operated 42x zoom lens goes from 24mm to 1000mm with a twist of the lens barrel. Additional features include a high resolution articulated LCD screen, a 1.44 million dot EVF, an impressive 11fps burst rate, full 1080p HD video, raw capture and a range of creative filters and film simulation modes.
Best Bridge Camera for: DSLR styling and operation
Read our full review of the Fujifilm HS50 EXR
Find the best deals for the Fujifilm FinePix HS50 EXR

Best bridge camera 2013 – Nikon Coolpix P520
Nikon Coolpix P520
Street price: £350
The Nikon Coolpix P520 is one of the smaller bridge cameras of the group. Its 42x lens extends from 24mm to 1000mm, and uses lens-shift VR to minimize camera shake.
Image capture comes courtesy of an 18MP backlit CMOS sensor, while images are viewed on an impressive 3.2in 920k dot vari-angle screen. The P520 also boasts a GPS function through which images can be placed on a map using the supplied ViewNX software.
Although the P520 is a little more plasticky than some rivals this also helps make it quite a bit cheaper.
Best Bridge Camera for: Those with a premium on size
Read our full review of the Nikon Coolpix P520
Find the best deals for the Nikon Coolpix P520

Best bridge camera 2013 – Panasonic Lumix FZ200
Panasonic Lumix FZ200
Street price: £400
The Panasonic Lumix FZ200 is the world’s first, and so far only, bridge camera to offer a constant f/2.8 aperture throughout its zoom range.
This is a huge benefit, enabling lower ISOs and/or faster shutter speeds to be used that other bridge cameras in the same conditions, and also affording potentially narrower depth of field. It’s a Leica lens too.
The only downside is that its zoom range is a relatively modest 24x, extending from 24mm to 600mm. The FZ200 also features Lightspeed AF for superfast focusing, 12fps burst shooting, a vari-angle LCD screen and high speed video shooting at 100fps.
Best Bridge Camera for: Wildlife and nature photography

Read more

 

The dos (and don’t) of summer photography

Phil Daoust on The Guardian Photography pages has hints and tips that he could have stolen from us at OSP Towers, as he didn’t and he has written them up with such clear prose we recommend you head over there and find out how to do it

The sun is out which means it’s time to get snap-happy. With a bit of know how and some advice from the pros, you too can take striking images……Summer’s here! At least it was when this guide went to press, though anything could have happened in the few days since. Still, the holiday season is definitely upon us, so here are a few dos (and one don’t) to help you take better photographs, whether you’re using a £1,000 SLR, a £100 point-and-shoot, or the camera built into your smartphone…..Read the article here

 

Photograph: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos

Sony introduces its first full-frame compact camera

In the pages of the BJP we learn about this compact camera that has a full frame sensor only previously seen in top range DSLR camera.

Olivier Laurent writes: Sporting a resolution of 24.3 megapixels, the new Cyber-shot DSC RX1 is Sony’s first compact camera to feature a full-frame sensor.

As of 12 September, Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 is claimed to be the world’s first compact camera with a 35mm full-frame 24.3 effective megapixel sensor.

The camera, which weighs 482g, features a f/2 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* lens with a fixed focal length of 35mm. “Derived from the German word ‘sonne’ (sun), the Sonnar name reflects the ability of the lens to capture as much light as possible,” Sony explains. “This premium lens features newly designed optics including an advanced aspherical glass element that contributes to the camera’s compact palm-sized dimensions, without sacrificing optical performance.”  READ MORE HERE

This is what DP Review says about this new beast            and more here

The price, a whopping £2,600 phew! It better be good

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2204784/sony-introduces-worlds-first-fullframe-compact-camera#ixzz26Rmstk4a
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Best Point-and-Shoot Cameras, Spring 2012

By Mike Perlman on May 9, 2012 in Photography

The Point-and-Shoot market has evolved substantially within the past few years. Pocket-sized models can shoot better in low light, are faster with up to 10fps full resolution burst modes, have enhanced optics and focusing capabilities, to name a few general improvements. But it wasn’t until the end of last year that we began to see a major shift in the point-and-shoot market: the bigger sensor. Up until then, even advanced point-and-shoot models were saddled with smaller sensors, but that’s not the case anymore. While manufacturers continue to crack the code that enables them to outfit portable, fixed lens models with sensors from DSLRs, we’re only in the beginning stages of the point-and-shoot revolution.

That’s why it’s harder to buy a point-and-shoot now than it ever was. I guarantee in a few years, most serious point-and-shoots will have DSLR sensors inside of them. But for now, I’ve rounded up my top point-and-shoot models to prevent you from a bogus buy. These are models that have raised the bar time and again. Some models I’m in the midst of testing, but they are proving themselves worthy adversaries. So, if you need to buy a decent point-and-shoot before the summer, have no fear! Heed my Best Point-and-Shoot list and all will be well...Read the reviews here

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Canon Powershot S100 Camera Review

From the excellent DP Review site

“When Canon revived its PowerShot S range with the S90 in August 2009, it was in acknowledgement of a clear demand from enthusiast photographers for high quality yet pocketable cameras offering extensive manual control. The S95, which followed almost exactly a year later, stuck with much the same formula – a relatively large sensor (at least in compact camera terms), a 28-105mm equivalent zoom lens with a fast F2 maximum aperture at wideangle, and a multi-functional control dial around the lens. But while its successor, the S100, looks much the same again on the outside, it is to all intents and purposes a brand new camera.

Crucially, the S100’s three key imaging elements are all entirely new. The lens range has been extended wider and longer, to a 24-120mm equivalent 5x zoom; it retains the fast F2 maximum aperture at wideangle but is limited to a rather less-impressive F5.9 at telephoto (an inevitable consequence of the camera’s compact dimensions). Secondly the S100 debuts Canon’s latest DIGIC 5 image processor, which the company says is six times faster than the previous version, allowing more sophisticated image processing and noise reduction. But perhaps most significantly, the S100’s image sensor is a Canon-made 12.1 MP ‘high sensitivity’ CMOS sensor in the 1/1.7″ format (approx 7.5 x 5.5mm); only the second home-grown sensor the company has used in a compact camera after the PowerShot SX1 IS of 2008.”……..……..READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE

Here is a quick roundup of the review

Conclusion – Pros

• Very good image quality, especially at low ISO settings.
• Well optimized JPEGs, low contrast detail is well-preserved at low ISO settings
• Automatic fringing/CA correction in JPEGs
• Fast operation
• Bright LCD screen is easy to see in daylight
• Exposure simulation in live-view and accurate live histogram
• Good manual controls (in particular the control ring)
• Compact and well built
• Addition of hand grip makes the camera easier to hold than its predecessors
• Integrated GPS allows you to geo-tag your images.
• Zooming is possible while recording videos

Conclusion – Cons

• Manual focus preview resolution is too low to be useful
• Lack of in-camera alignment of HDR images makes it a much less useful feature than it could be
• Auto ISO is limited to 1600 (wasting two stops of extra ISO sensitivity)
• Pop-up flash can be blocked by your finger
• 

 

Why buy a compact camera – Three contenders … compact digital cameras

There is no doubt that compact camera sales are falling in the face of smartphones with cameras. But is this such a good thing if you care about taking pictures? This article in The Canberra Times addresses some of the reasons why a camera is better than a phone and makes suggestions as to which camera you might choose.

“COMPACT digital cameras are stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, many people with high-end smartphones no longer feel the need to carry a separate camera for happy snaps. On the other hand, people who care about picture quality often make the leap to hefty digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras.

So, who does that leave? People who don’t own a smartphone, happy snappers who care about picture quality and serious photographers who don’t want to lug around an SLR. For less than $200 you’ll find cameras that outgun most smartphones.”

READ MORE HERE

 

Photography Courses Jan/Feb/March 2012

We have recently released dates for our next series of courses. These start in January with the ever popular Understanding your DSLR on the 11th, this is a 4 session evening class but we also have a one day version in January, this is on Sunday 22nd January, so 2 courses to help all of you who receive brand new cameras at Christmas.  A little later in the term we start the Introduction to Photoshop, Composition – Seeing Pictures, Portrait, Black and White Digital, Understanding Your Compact Camera, Intermediate Photography and more Understanding Your DSLR courses spread throughout the term.

Here is a full list of all the courses and dates

	Understanding Your Digital SLR:start dates:11.1.12; 30.1.12; 3.3.12; 7.3.12; (Saturday morning)Understanding Your Digital Compact Camera – starts: 27.2.12 Introduction to Photoshop and Photoshop Elements – starts 22.2.12 6 sessions, Composition In Photography – Seeing Pictures – starts 2.2.12 Portrait Photography: – starts: 1.3.12 Intermediate Photography – starts: 24.1.12 Black and White Digital Photography – starts 6.3.12 Travel Photography starts spring term One Day Understanding Your DSLR – 22.1.12; 19.2.12; 25.3.12; 29.4.12 Most courses are 4 sessions one per week, (Photoshop and Intermediate Photography are 6 sessions) all run on consecutive weeks from start dates. 1 Day DSLR is a one day course, there are 4 dates this term To book a place please send us an email with the course title and start date you wish to attend

The Ultimate Guide for Buying Your First Digital SLR

“Let’s assume that you’ve been shooting with your “point and shoot” for a while now, and you’ve taken some pretty nice snapshots. But maybe you are starting to feel a little limited by what the camera is capable of doing. You’ve read up on photography, and there are things you want to work on. You feel it is time to step up!

This guide will help you to understand some of the basic features of Digital SLR cameras (DSLRs), and hopefully help you find one that fits both your needs and budget.”“…..more

Best compact cameras- top four

While micro cameras are getting all the headlines, with their raw file and video capture abilities plus their interchangeable lenses, compacts still have their place as truly pocketable snap cameras. Kevin Carter reviews four of the best….more Author: Kevin Carter at The BJP