Inside
The first test is a scene, always the same, indoors, under artificial light, reproducible and similar to natural light. A picture is taken with a tripod, at least twice, once using a flash and once without. We do this to observe if the flash distorts or saturates colors and to see if the digital camera is able to display more accurate colors and a good picture quality without the flash.
If the option is available (not on fully automatic versions), this scene is also shot at all the camera’s ISO settings.
Still indoors we evaluate the macro mode on a bouquet of flowers, the low light mode (by candle light), contrast, pictures taken against the light, the zoom efficiency with a test pattern, and last but not least, the video mode.
The video mode can now be taken more seriously. Many digital cameras have 640 x 480 pixel resolution (or better) and 30 fps. Without reaching the digital camcorder quality, the result is very nice on a big screen. Another advantage is that digital cameras are much easier to use than camcorder tapes. With camcorders you will wait to transfer and then convert the videos, the result being most of the time a pile of tapes on your desk. With digital cameras a simple copy / paste is enough. You can also edit your movie and add a sound reel with Studio 9, etc.
Outdoors
Five scenes are systematically photographed from a variety of subjects. They are always the same: a stone detail on a wall, a subway sign, a statue, a canal and a coliseum. Four of them are photographed twice, once with a wide angle and once with the maximum zoom, without a tripod. Digital cameras with a large zoom have to be efficient even if you don´t have a tripod to stabilize the camera.
Speed
Speed is often a neglected characteristic but still essential as every digital camera owner will agree. A camera can provide superb pictures, but if too slow, it’s quite annoying and tedious.
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Four operations are measured:
-Switching on the camera. The slowest of this test needed approximately 5 seconds.
-The time between pictures. The faster required one second, three times less than one of its competitors
-Time needed to auto focus in a daylight environment (some cameras take twice the amount of time).
-Focusing with little light (one even failed).
