Digital Camera Reviews

Canon’s release of the S95 has excited comment from many bloggers and review sites as to whether it is a worthy update on its predecessor, the S90, which was very well received but had a couple of niggling problems. With these in mind I took the S95 on holiday with me to Ibiza for a thorough trial run.

I think of the NEX-5 as my photographic Swiss Army knife: a small package with lots of tools, which will tackle 90% of the tasks you throw at it. Here are some aspects of the NEX which I’ve found the most useful or interesting over the past few weeks…

To call the Olympus Pen range and their Micro Four Thirds brethren a watershed in the camera market doesn’t sound quite right, even if it’s true. To call the Pen E-PL1 a watershed once housed for diving is maybe a little more understandable – though it’s not any kind of shed you’d recognise from your garden. Sharing the latest toughened up styling with the housed E-620 SLR it carries off a cute Tonka toy look with aplomb, but is it merely a plaything?

Once again Canon have attempted to create a camera with sufficient capability to ensure value for money, with longevity a high priority. Broadly speaking, this is not a camera that anyone will be bored of quickly, with a superb array of capture modes and controls which will grant enormous creative license to experienced photographers whilst being easy-to-use for beginners.

I didn’t think that more than a year on, the Micro Four Thirds posse would still have such a dominant position in the new market space they created. The move seems to have genuinely caught the camera world off-guard and now we’re beginning to see some really impressive offshoots…

I’ve used a lot of Canon bodies and currently use a Canon 1Ds Mark 3 – I’ve had a 300D, 20D, 40D, 5D, 5D Mark II, 1D Mark II, 1Ds Mark II, 1D Mark III, 1Ds Mark III, 350D, 400D, 450D, 500D and now a 550D – so I’m very familiar with what Canon’s XXXD series is like. It’s interesting that the price has started to go up again and that the XXXD series is no longer Canon’s entry level body. This is a good thing in my book as it means that the 550D is actually a pretty solid choice for those not wanting to spend the extra to get a XXD or the (relatively) new 7D.

Those of you who read my previous review of the Canon SX200 will probably be wondering where I could take another camera that would be more bizarre than a hitchhike to Morocco. I came up with Blackpool… In my defence, it was Blackpool in January, for a Ballroom Dancing competition.

It’s fitting that this little Lumix showed up for review so soon after the Olympus E-P1 paid a visit. The E-P1 is a new breed whereas the Panasonic LX3 is acknowledged as the best of an existing niche. The LX3 is also an enthusiast’s compact, with many of the features of an SLR in a much smaller package.

What better way to test the Olympus Mju Tough 8000 digital camera then, than to give it to three miniature demolition experts and send them out in to the world (or the garden) to take photographs with it? Just how tough is Tough? Let the games begin…