Photo comparative test, 4-megapixels (page 1: Introduction)

The first digital camera comparative test posted on Hardware.fr is now three years old. The objective at the time was ambitious: testing products around $500. Very few of them were that cheap and all of them were 1-megapixel cameras.

Three years later, the average budget allocated to a numeric camera remains inferior to $500. But fortunately there is a larger choice of products. For $500 it is possible to buy a 2-megapixel (not much left), a 3-megapixel (entry level products), a 4-megapixel (a lot of choice), or a 5-megapixels. One innovation in our test is the video mode, which will probably be one of the selling points. Some of the products as you will see in the tests can be used as an additional camcorder.

Between all digital cameras (our partner registered more than 300 reference below $500!) some of them are definitely better than the other. There is the Canon A80 (with Vari-Angle LCD Monitor), the Konica-Minolta Z2 (10X optical zoom), and the Kodak DX6490 (optical zoom 10 X, nice design, big LCD screen) the Olympus Mju 410 (with a all weather metal case)…
These digital cameras are all 4-megapixels.

So this test is a 4-megapixels digital camera comparative test. Later this year we will test more digital camera, with other sensor. Later…

The digital cameras:

Canon, FujiFilm, Kodak, Konica Minolta (the two companies merged in the beginning of the year), Nikon, Olympus and Sony sent us their last digital cameras.

Update 10/08/04: are integrated to the comparative test, the Nikon Coolpix 4100 and Samsung V4 absent from the original version.

The cameras