Portrait without flash
The camera is no longer in automatic but in P mode. The flash is turned off and the portrait is shot at all available sensitivities. Below is the picture that combines the best sharpness / noise ratio. Pictures are still taken from 3 meters and the focal at 100 mm (equivalent 35 mm). Pictures can be compared to the Canon’s EOS 350D reflex:
 Canon Ixus 800-IS |  Casio Exilim S600 |
 FujiFilm FinePix F11 |  Konica Minolta Dimage X1 |
 Nikon Coolpix P4 |  Olympus Mju 720 SW |
 Pentax Optio W10 |  Panasonic DMCFX01 |
 Ricoh Caplio R3 |  Sony DSC-T9 |
Pictures are much nicer than with a flash or at least colors are much more natural. Our star model is no longer flat, shadows are reproduced, and there are two non-overexposed eyes with normal hair that is less synthetic. There are differences in exposure. Canon, Casio, Nikon, Panasonic and Ricoh are too dark. Editing the level of brightness with your computer could be necessary.
The above extracts aren’t at full size. They are reduced to fit in our pages. Nevertheless we detect differences in noise levels from one picture to another. It is interesting to take a closer look at these images:
Canon EOS 350D, 1600 ISO, 1/25s  Canon Ixus 800-IS, 400 ISO, 1/10s |  Casio Exilim S600, 400 ISO, 1/15s |
 FujiFilm FinePix F11, 800 ISO, 1/17s |  Konica Minolta Dimage X1, 200 ISO, 1/13s |
 Nikon Coolpix P4, 200 ISO, 1/17s |  Olympus Mju 720 SW, 1600 ISO, 1/30s |
 Pentax Optio W10, 800 ISO, 1/30s |  Panasonic DMCFX01, 200 ISO, 1/5s |
 Ricoh Caplio R3, 100 ISO, 1/5s |  Sony DSC-T9, 400 ISO, 1/13s |
Five cameras produce disappointing results; the Casio, Konica Minolta, Olympus, Pentax and Sony. Among them three out of five don’t have optic image stabilization (only the Fuji gives good results despite the lack of stabilization). The Konica Minolta and Sony have double level stabilization but are less efficient than the others and their pictures are blurry. We would have preferred to try the X1 at 400 ISO for sharper photos, but unfortunately the camera was restricted to 200 ISO. For Sony, photos taken at 640 ISO have more noise and are less precise. At 200 ISO, the T9 shutter speed of 1/6s is too low and pictures are blurry.
Cameras can be separated into two groups. There are Canon and Ricoh on one side and Fujifilm, Nikon and Panasonic on the other. The first two only make a few corrections to their pictures in the camera. The noise level is quite high but the level of detail is good, especially for Canon. You can see the individual hairs, the iris is perfectly distinguishable, and the hair in front of the eye is more precise.
Fuji, Nikon and Panasonic apparently chose to work more on the processor to erase pixel defects. It is quite rough, however and it looks like to a crude blurred effect processed on the picture. Photos do have less noise, but they are also less accurate. The iris is blurry, hairs are flattened, and the hair in front of the eye sometimes is lost in the skin.
Between the two processes, it’s up to you to choose your favourite.
