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BUDGET CAMERAS
Smi
le
. You
can
ge
t a good
ca
mera
for
$1
50.
s
ubjects.
Spring
for
an
SLR if you
want
thos
e att
ribu
tes
and
more,
an
d
can
afford
a v
ariety
oflens
es.
As more
peop
le move to SLRs, so
me
co
nve
nie nce fea
tures
are
also tri ckl
in
g
up
fro m
sm
all cameras. Ex
amples
in
clud
e
on
screen
he
lp
guide
s and
real-ti
me or
"live
view
" fra ming on the LCD ra
th
er
th
an
onl
y
thro
ugh th e viewfinder.
DON'T
OVERSPEND ON THE SPECS
Whil
e so
me
5-megapixel models
mig
ht
ling
er
in sto
res
, most
new
ca
mer
as
now off
er
at least 6 or 7
mega
pixel
s, a
nd
a
growing
nu
mb
er
of po i
nt-
and-sho
ots, or
cam
eras with built-in lenses, offer 10
and
12. Six megapixels
pr
ovid e all
the
reso
l
u-
tion
mos
t
peop
le need .
If
you often c
rop
or
dramat
ically
enlarg
e yo
ur
imag
es, get
at l
east
7 megapixels.
If you need high
reso
lution and i
mpec-
cable quality, c
hoose
o
ne
of
th
e
hig
h-
resolution compacts or SLRs
th
at h ad
exc ellent
print
or image qua lity in
our
tests.Shooting at a high
er
resoluti
on
with -
out using a comp
ressed
f
orm
at
suc
h as
JPEG
can
fill yo
ur
memory card
an
d ha
rd
drive
mor
e quickly This year;
though
,more
ca
me
ra
s can reco
rd
on a new; h
ighe
r-
capa
city card
kno
wn
as
SDH
C.
If
hi
gh res-
olution isn't critic al, a model in
our
R
atin
gs
with
very
good
image
q
ua
lity
and
6
or
7
megapixels of
reso
l
ution
s
hou
ld be fine.
Am
on
g p
oint
-and
-
sh
oot came
ras
, t
he
hig
hes
t ISO light-
sensi
ti
vity
settin
g
has
generally
bee
n 400, too low to
make
sh
arp
ha
ndheld
s
hots
in d
im
lig
ht
wit
ho
ut
a
flash. Som e mode stly pric
ed
models have
be
gun
featu
ring
sett
in
gs of 1600 or ev
en
3200,
but
results
can
be
grai
ny
and
notice-
ably
wor
se th
an
th
ose
sho
t at
equi
valent
se tti
ngs
u
sin
g SLRs a
nd
th
e
prici
e
st
poin
t-an
d-shoots
.
If
you're
att
r
acted
to a
p
articular
subcompact or compact be-
caus e of its hi
gh
ISO settings,
ch
eck its
pe
rfo
rma
nce
in
o
ur
Ratings
and
ma
ke
s
ure
you can
ret
urn
it at n o cost if its low-
l
ight
result
s
are
disapp
ointing.
While the digital cameras in our Ratings
cost $200 and up, falling prices mean you
can now easily spend less, even on a cam-
era from a major manufacturer.
To
see
how such models stack up, we
evaluated seven cameras priced from
$120 to $190. All but the Polaroid were
tested in partnership with Intern ation al
Consumer Res
earch
& Testin g, a world-
wide association of 37 consumer organi-
zations of which CONSU
ME
R REPORTS is a
leading member.
Pluses.
Image quality was compara-
ble to that of many compacts and sub-
Canon PowerShot
A460
Kodak
EasyShare
C653
compacts we've te
sted
, while falling
short of the top performers'. Resolut ion
and
LCD
size. at 5 to 7 megapixels and
2 to
2'1, inches, re
spe
ctively. are also in
line with most model s, while falling
short of
the
maximums found on the
priciest point-and-shoots. The same
goes for optical zoom, which was mostly
3x. A couple of models had face d
etec
-
tion, a feat ure only some of the rat ed
models offered.
Minuses. As a group,
the
budget
models are slowpokes; two are worse in
shu
tte
r lag and next-shot delay than
most of the rat ed models. Features are
spartan. None offer optical or mechani-
cal image stabilization; menus and con-
trol s ar e far less plent iful than on
the
pricier rat ed models.
Bottom line.
All
of the cameras have
their drawbacks, but two are worthwhile
money-saving alternatives to rated models.
Here are our recommend ations:
Best
budget choices overall :
Canon PowerShot A550 (7
MP
), $150
Canon PowerShot A460 (5 MP), $130
These have lower resolution and smaller
LCO
s than the ir high-rated siblings. the
Canon Powershot A640
(1) and A630 (3).
And neith er offers manual controls,
which those models do. But their per-
formance is solid across the board, and
they have a 4x optical zoom, the highest
of the group.
Competent though slower
than
most:
Kodak EasyShare C653 (6 MP), $140
Nikon Coolpix
LlO
(5 MP), $120
Penta
x Optio M30 (7 MP),
$1
90
Olympus
FE-
21O
(7
MP
), $140
These willtake decent pictures, but more
slowly than the best models in the Rat-
ings. Shutte r lag is 1second
(1'1,
seconds
for the Kodak). The Nikon is the only
budget subcompact tested, and it has
face detection, as does the Penta x. The
Olympus has a built-in help guide, but its
next-shot delay is 3 seconds, the longest
of the budget models.
Too slow for action-packed
scenes:
Polaroid T737 (7 MP), $1
80
This has the biggest
LCD
of the group,
at 3 inches, but its image quality is fair
to middling. Next-shot delay is a full 5
seco nds, longer than any r
ated
model,
while shutter lag is also on the slow side,
at
1'1,
seco nds.
NO
VEMB
ER
2007 0 www.ConsumerR
eports
.org
37