Panasonic DMC-FX8
It’s our new favourite camera! It isn’t the fastest or the most accurate for pictures or videos, however. The reason for this choice is that the FX8 has, like the FX7 (the previous version), an optical stabilizing device. Indoors, everything changes. Where all the others use the flash or the picture is blurred this camera continues to work without it until 1/8 seconds shutter speed. Also, we have tested other stabilizing devices and this one is particularly efficient. The FX8 is a light camera without a handle, real grip, or viewfinder and still pictures taken at 1/8 s are effortlessly sharp. With bridge cameras like the Canon S2-IS or Konica Minolta Z5, it is best to stay at 1/13s with handles and viewfinders.
Between the FX7 and the FX8, the video mode has improved (the new one is very good, even if no numeric zoom or optic are activated) and the autonomy is better.
The camera is not perfect. There is still a lack of sharpness compared to the best cameras of this category, a lack of flash homogeneity, and less precise macro and video modes than the Canon. Despite all these problems, the $60 price gap with the Ixus is justified.
Those who want to have more details on the functioning of stabilizing devices based on perception of movement by the camera’s two gyrosensors can take a look at the short movie made by Panasonic. Of course, it’s made to promote this function, but it’s nice and demonstrates very well the efficiency of this technology:
here and
here.
Sony DSC-T7
After a disappointing attempt with the T33, Sony is back in the ultra flat market with this surprising T7. This 15 mm thick camera is fast and more accurate than the Casio S500. Like in many others the viewfinder has disappeared and is replaced by an extra wide LCD monitor. It is particularly impressive with this camera. The downsides are that the colors reproduced aren’t the most accurate. This camera has a warm predominance (red), but if you are looking for an ultra thin camera to print satisfactory pictures in A4, the T7 would be a very good choice.
The mediocre results of the video test deserve some explanation. The camera is sold with standard Memory Stick Duo memory. With this configuration, the T7 will not activate its best video mode, only available if you buy a Memory Stick
Pro Duo, the most expensive type of memory. Sony did not sent us any and we did not buy one either. This problem leads us to ask why Sony continues to use this type of memory for these cameras. With the release of SD they could have progressively changed the memory format. The manufacturer, however, chose to stop using the usual Memory Stick and released a new format, the Duo, which isn’t compatible with many memory card players (including those used in printers to print directly from memory). Adaptors were created to transform the Duo into normal memory. We don’t see the purpose of all this.
Also, the fact that standard memory doesn’t give the possibility of using the camera at its full potential comes from, according to Sony, a low transfer rate of
standard Duo, which is solved with the Pro version. The competition, however, systematically uses SD memory cards, that are cheaper and always work for all video modes. The quality of sequences shot with Canon and Kodak cameras with standard SD shows our point perfectly well. From this we are led to believe that it’s another technology that Sony missed like MP3 or LCD monitors (though for these two Sony has recently changed strategy). For Memory Stick after reassuring us years ago with the promise of a multitude of products based on this memory, we are still at the same early stage. Only Sony uses them.
This price difference for memory has an impact on the overall price of the camera, which was already one of the most expensive. If we add the difference of price between the SD and MS Pro Duo memory of $50, the T7 will cost you more than $400 (more than the Panasonic FX8). Despite its unusually small size, this is quite a lot of money for a camera and we prefer without any hesitation the one with the stabilizing device, better videos, colors etc.
