Three clicks - Digital Cameras Under 6990

Planning to buy a digital camera this diwali? here are three affordable options you can explore

The war of the megapixels is not going to end soon and there is every chance that you don’t want to be left behind. But at the end of the day, we all buy digital cameras to capture our moments of joy and share them with our friends. With more people gradually increasing their digital footprint and fewer opting to actually print their pictures, the 10 megapixel barrier is proving to be more than sufficient for home users—you can print a 30x40 inch picture with a file from a 10 mp camera. And, trust, me, just because your camera has a whole lot of pixels does not mean your pictures will be good. That will still depend on the person behind the viewfinder.
I have selected three cameras under Rs 7,000 for review this time. All three cameras have some features in common—all support AA pencil cell batteries, so that you don't have to carry a charger everywhere, and are approximately 10 megapixels, with 3X optical zoom. While the Samung has a 2.5” LCD screen, the Olympus and the Kodak both sport a 2.4” screen. All cameras also support face detection and have some kind of blur reduction.

Samsung ES15 (10.1 MP) @ Rs 6,530


Though Samsung is one of the least known brands when it comes to digital cameras, they have a great line-up supported by a large network of service centres. A 10.1 mp camera with a 2.5” LCD, the ES15 is ideal for beginners. The camera can also be used to record just voice (up to 10 hours), a useless feature if you ask me. However, you can add 10 second voice memos to still images, which will be handy if you are taking random pictures. It comes with 11 MB of Internal memory and can support up to 8 GB SDHC cards. The good part is that the camera can accept both SD as well as MMC Plus cards.

WHY I LIKE IT: Great service, good picture quality, very nice finishing.

Kodak C180 (10.2 mp) @ Rs 6,299



The best thing about this one is that it is YouTube compatible-- you just have to connect it to the Kodak Software to upload video directly to YouTube. The 2.4" screen is bright and nice, and the dedicated share button lets you automatically fire up the software on your PC the moment you have connected to trigger automatic upload of images. The camera has simple face detection and can record video of up to 80 minutes, if you have the memory capacity. There are no complex menus and hence the camera is very easy to use. The camera supports high-speed SDHC memory cards.

WHY I LIKE IT: Great brand, YouTube compatibility, simple menus

Olympus FE 25 (10 mp) @ Rs 5,995


This, like the Kodak, can take up to 115 frames on a pair of AA pencil cells. It also features a 19 MB internal memory, which acts like a reserve in case you run out of space on the memory card. The camera has 16 shooting modes and also allows users to create panoramas by stitching frames using the Olympus Master Software. On the flipside, the camera uses an x-D picture card which is not so easily available and is expensive. It, however, comes with a micro-SD Adapter. The camera goes a step further from standard face recognition by detecting up to 16 faces. Exposure Compensation Preview is a great option for those learning how to use the exposure to take better shots.

WHY I LIKE IT: EV preview, 16 face detection and 19MB internal memory.

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The Above review was printed in the Indian Express, on Sunday 13th September 09