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This story was printed from CNET Asia.
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Cameras with flexible displays

By Leonard Goh
13/11/2009
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39001469,62054083,00.htm

These days, it's a bit difficult to find a compact camera with an articulated LCD because such implementations often add bulk and weight to the shooter. Hence, typical point-and-shoots are often without such a feature. But higher-end snappers, especially those with a long-zoom lens, usually comes with flexible screens as the size of the larger cameras can accommodate it.

So what are the advantages of a tilt/swivel display? You can hold the camera overhead or at waist level to facilitate taking pictures using LCD screen with ease. This allows shutterbugs to experiment with more creative composition by taking photos at different angles. Do take extra care when handling flexible LCDs are the hinges are usually quite fragile.

Click here for a feature comparison table.

1.  Nikon Coolpix P90
 
CNET Asia rating: 7 out of 10
The good: Relatively speedy; tiltable LCD; two custom settings slots on mode dial.
The bad: Sub-par photo quality; poor battery life.
The bottom line: While the Nikon Coolpix P90 brings its performance up to speed with the rest of its class, it now falls behind in terms of photo quality.

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2.  Canon PowerShot SX1 IS    
 
CNET Asia rating: 8.2 out of 10
The good: Great image quality; full-HD video recording; 20x optical zoom; dSLR feature set.
The bad: No external microphone input.
The bottom line: The SX1 IS is really the ultimate bridge between a digital still and digital video camera. If you can bear to part with the cash, you won't be disappointed with the superb HD-video and image quality.

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3.  Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.3 out of 10
The good: Fast performance; tilting LCD; Hand-held Twilight mode produces good photos in low light; able to zoom during movie capture.
The bad: Small EVF; no RAW format support; HDMI output requires dongle; no standard continuous shooting mode.
The bottom line: Though it's fast and has some really novel, useful features, the HX1 just doesn't deliver the photo quality expected for its class.

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4.  Canon PowerShot G11
 
Resolution10 megapixels
Focal length/zoom range28-140mm/5x
LCD size (new)2.8 inch
Storage type(s)SD/SDHC
Video resolution640 x 480 pixels

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5.  Fujifilm FinePix S100FS
 
First take
There are dSLRs, and then there are cameras that look like a dSLR. The Fujifilm FinePix S100FS falls into the latter category, and a non-discerning eye probably won't be able to tell the difference. But for the advanced photographers, using this shooter shouldn't be much a problem, with extensive shooting modes and even an option to simulate the color quality of film. If you want to move up the ladder in photography but are not willing to plonk down large amounts for a dSLR, the S100FS could very well be a solution.

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