- Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"I almost returned this camera"
Pros: resolution, sharpness, features, look, Av, Tv, manual settings
Cons: battery life and battery life
Summary: Tests:
65% of your pics will be crisp. 35%- still good. And with a lot of detail.
In bright sunlight may miss the dynamic range (colour shading) but that's the case with all of them. It's mostly attributed to the bright daylight I was shooting in. That created dramatic contrasts and less tones.
You may get "noise" in the darker/shaded ares, therefore I recommend setting the ISO to 50 which generally gets rid of the noise. In this prospective, someone complained you don't have ISO above 200. But why would you add noise to your own picture?-just set your shutter at a slower rate and you'll get the best pic of your life (almost).
Another complaint I hear is that there is no optical viewfinder. I've looked at some of the few cameras that actually have it and didn't find it useful at all. In general, the viewfinders are so small it's hard to find and use them. I believe we all are beyond the point of using a view finder on a digital point and shoot. That's not even a true representation of the image you are getting...
You can use a 2sec timer to ensure you don't shake the camera while pressing the shutter (just place the camera on top of something and let it do the job). It will take a perfect picture.
The flash is actually good. I used it quite a bit and it gets your subjects reasonably lit.
The slow shutter setting is the best. Set it at 8sec. and it will produce amazing night shots. However you got to play along by probably adjusting the white balance i.e. using the user set mode. Very handy feature!
Weaknesses:
2 new Energizer batteries are good for about 65 pictures. Or if you use the flash and shoot short movies: about 45 pictures. Not enough. That's why I purchased 4 rapid charging rechargeable batteries and charger and it solved it all. Secondly there is s slight shutter lag, meaning you may want to plan ahead id you want to shoot a fast moving subject. Here you can actually use the 4pic burst mode which has got me good results. You don't get to hear a shutter "click" or preview the burst sequence, but why would you need that? See it all after the shoot is done.
No image stabilization but that's not a reasonable expectation for $169.
USB cable and the plug itself seem tiny and weird.
Feels a bit chunky. I like that. Those days cameras are kind of small and somehow hard to handle.
Power and shutter buttons kind of hard-er to use.
There are no interchangeable lenses for this model (just joking
)
The bottom line: The camera takes very, very good pictures. Not as refined as the 10MP SLR I tested for 2 weeks, but the pics aren't under exposed, you don't need to adjust those RAW SLR files and costs 10 times less! If you aren't ready to put up with some slight issues, just spend $500-600 and get a no brainer. It's pitty but in 2 years all digital cameras SLR or not gonna be dinosaurs.Updated
The same camera is sold under three different brands:
Norcent DC-1020,
BenQ C1000 and
Praktica Luxmedia 10-X3Updated
1. Compare ISO200-left vs ISO50-right
http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=norcentiso200leftvsiso5vs9.jpg
and another
http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=norcentiso200leftvsiso5kf3.jpg
2. Norcent 1020- ISO50 on top vs ISO200- bottom
http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=norcentiso50topvsiso200rz1.jpg
3. Two months ago I tested Canon XTI 10MP. Alhtough in different conditions I'm comparing it now (top pic) to Norcent 1020 (bottom).
http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=canonxtitopvsnorcent10mok7.jpg
4. Same. http://img400.imageshack.us/my.php?image=canonxtitopvsnorcent10mdt5.jpgUpdated
http://img61.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsci0203uo1.jpgUpdated
http://img124.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sourceimagenl3.jpg
and the second image
http://img485.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sourceimage2lx7.jpg
- 1 reply to this review
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I agree with pretty much everything you said in your review.
My experience with battery life was even worse than yours, however.
New Energizer batteries lasted for less than 12 photos (no flash, minimal zoom). I replaced them with Duracell Ultras, which lasted for another 20 photos. I've gone through 5 sets of batteries and taken less than 100 photos.
Rechargable batteries aren't much of an option for me, as my main use is to go mountain climbing and take a several hundred photos before I'll be back to a place where I'd be able to recharge batteries.
Another negative is that the manufacturer doesn't respond to emails. I sent them a question about the battery life, and also asked where one could purchase the optional AC adapter. It's been 4 months and I haven't received a reply.
