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This story was printed from CNET Asia.
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Top 10 cameras of June

By Leonard Goh, CNET Asia
31/07/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39001469,62044379,00.htm

In May, we saw Canon's Digital IXUS 860 IS fall off the charts but it seemed that consumers could not resist its charm and it bounced back to fourth place last month. Still hot, the Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS continued to be king of the heap with Fujifilm's FinePix following a close second. Panasonic took third with its Lumix DMC-FX36, though its other siblings the FX520 and TZ15 had dropped off the rankings. Olympus, Sony and Nikon continued to hang on with the Mju 1030SW, Cyber-shot DSC-T300 and Coolpix P80, respectively. But with Panasonic and Samsung having just announced their new lineup, we foresee changes to come.

Note: Results are based on readership and polls conducted with selected retailers (Alan Photo Trading, Cathay Photo Store and MS Color Service) in Singapore.


First five | Next five cameras | Last month's ranking


Click here for a feature comparison table.
1.  Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.6 out of 10
The good: Great image quality; minimal shutter lag; speedy performance; optical image stabilization; face detection; optical viewfinder
The bad: No manual exposure controls; slow flash recycle time
The bottom line: Canon's IXUS 80 IS adds optical image stabilization to last year's hit IXUS 70, while delivering just as impressive image quality.

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2.  Fujifilm FinePix F100fd
 
CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10
The good: Ultra-high ISO sensitivity of 12,800; wide dynamic range; intuitive face detection; short shutter lag; 5x optical zoom with 28mm wide-angle lens; good image quality.
The bad: Relatively heavy; awkward positioning of flash, easily covered by fingers; lacks full manual control.
The bottom line: Despite an awkwardly positioned flash unit, the F100fd didn't disappoint with its enhanced feature set and excellent image quality.

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3.  Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX36
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.6 out of 10
The good: 25mm wide-angle lens; HD-quality video recording; elegant design; maximum ISO of 6,400
The bad: Slightly soft images; focusing a tad slow.
The bottom line: A worthy successor to the FX33, the FX36 is a compact powerhouse capable of delivering decent-quality pictures and HD videos.

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4.  Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS    
 
CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10
The good: Impressive performance and image quality; optical image stabilization; face detection.
The bad: No manual exposure controls; no optical viewfinder.
The bottom line: While the Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS doesn't have an optical viewfinder or manual exposure controls, it captures beautiful images with its wide, 3.8x optical zoom lens and ranks among the top compact cameras we've seen.

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5.  Fujifilm FinePix F50fd
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.8 out of 10
The good: Has aperture- and shutter-priority exposure controls; sensor-shift image stabilization; wide ISO range.
The bad: Sluggish between shots; shows minor noise even at ISO 400; no full manual exposure mode.
The bottom line: The Fujifilm FinePix F50fd should works for most photographers, in fact, it would even please those who are slightly more advanced.

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First five | Next five cameras | Last month's ranking


Click here for a feature comparison table.
6.  Olympus Mju 850SW
 
Color optionsBlack, Blue, Pink, Silver, Yellow
Sensor Resolution (effective)8 megapixels
Storage type(s)xD-Picture Card

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7.  Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.1 out of 10
The good: Good user interface; lots of options; impressive burst mode stamina.
The bad: Frustrating zoom rocker switch; cluttered controls; proprietary Memory Stick format.
The bottom line: Plain Jane styling and cluttered controls belie a wonderfully intuitive graphical user interface and some clever features. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170 is a surprisingly adaptable camera that can be tweaked to take decent pictures in various environments.

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8.  Canon Digital IXUS 970 IS
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.2 out of 10
The good: Optical image stabilization; optical viewfinder; decent photos.
The bad: Poor shot-to-shot performance; small LCD; awkward design; no optical zoom in movie capture.
The bottom line: A solid compact snapshooter, the Canon IXUS 970 IS nevertheless disappoints when compared with its predecessors and line mates.

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9.  Nikon Coolpix P80
 
Dimensions110 x 79 x 78 mm
Weight365 g
Sensor Resolution (effective)10.1 megapixels
Optical zoom18x
Digital zoom4x
Light sensitivity (auto)64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 ISO
LCD size (new)2.7 inch
Storage type(s)Secure Digital, Internal memory
Still image format (new)JPEG
Max. image resolution (new)3648 x 2736

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10.  Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.6 out of 10
The good: Fast performance; tons of handy image editing and playback features; zoom rocker is in a much more comfortable position.
The bad: Soft, noisy photos.
The bottom line: A great design, fast shooting, and lots of features can't overcome the fact that the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 simply doesn't take very good pictures.

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