All cameras are used in a normal way, for family portraits or in the street with friends. But in order to compare we take them through the same tests.
The first test is a scene, always the same, indoors, by artificial light, reproducible and similar to daylight. It’s photographed with a tripod, at least twice, once using the flash and once without. We use this scene with the intention of observing if use of the flash distorts or saturates colors. Also, we want to see if the digital camera is able to display more accurate colors without the flash, and if pictures are exposed correctly.
If the option is available (not on fully automatic versions), this scene is also shot with all the camera’s available sensitivities.
Still indoors, we evaluate the macro mode in low light mode (by candlelight), contrast, pictures taken against the light, zoom efficiency with a test pattern, and, last but not least, the
video mode.
The video mode is no longer a just a toy! Many cameras work in 640 x 480 pixel resolution and a 30 images per second framerate. Without attaining digital camcorder quality, results are already pleasant on a big screen. Another advantage is that these cameras are much simpler to use than camcorder tapes. You may spend hours in shooting and processing videos (often leading to stocks of useless tapes), but here you just copy and paste. You can also edit your movies or even add a soundtrack with Studio 9, etc
Cameras speed
This is often a neglected factor, but is quite essential. Those who bought cameras in the past may have realised this each time they took pictures. It may take excellent pictures, but if it’s too slow this can be frustrating. You may even stop using your camera because of this.
Four speed criteria are measured:
-Switching on the camera.
-Time between pictures. The fastest required one second, three times less than one competitor
-Time to auto focus in a daylight
-Focusing in a poorly lit scene
Each test resulted in a score, and there is a page dedicated to each camera where we gave it a quality / price ratio. This grade isn’t universal, of course, but is estimated by comparing cameras in the same category. Don’t think that an Ixus 50 / SD400is better than a 350D…
