Compact Camera News

It wasn’t too long ago when the use of a CMOS chip in a digicam was a sign of a cheapie camera. Well, the tide has changed, with CMOS today reflecting the highest level of capture in our newest digital point-and-shoots. Yes, there continue to be CCD holdouts even in innovative designs, but the writing is on the wall, spelling an eventual fade-out of the Charge-Coupled Device. And today, the Backside Illuminated (BSI, or simply “backlit”) CMOS sensor is slowly but surely moving into center stage—at least among small-sensor point-and-shoots, for improved light reception at the sensor, hence clearer, tonally fuller, and more detailed images. We’re also seeing quite a few long-zoom models and more GPS-enabled cameras, with a digital compass to boot, mostly in travel/outdoors-oriented designs. The “rugged” category continues to grow, as well as features such as sweep panorama mode (just swing around with your finger continually on the button) and touchscreen displays. But perhaps the new feature that stands out most is Wi-Fi capability. One camera is even Android-powered. The latter may not be smartphones, but they certainly appear to be the smart way to go for the wireless generation. With those trends in mind here’s our roundup of the digicam class of 2012. (Please note that this report contains both cameras on the market as of spring 2012 and those announced to be available when this article goes to press. Check with the various manufacturers for current availability.—Editor)

As advanced electronics continue to supplant more and more elements of camera function and design, often displacing optical and mechanical systems, the camera of the future is being redefined. To give you a clearer picture of the emerging technologies that are destined to change the shape of cameras to come, let’s take a closer look at the implications of some of the emerging new tech found in the latest models.

In the report on the Canon PowerShot G11 (April, 2010, available at www.shutterbug.com) I concluded by saying that it was “an excellent traveling companion.” Ditto on the new G12 ($499, MSRP), the latest iteration of the Canon “G” line of integral lens cameras aimed at the photo enthusiast. In fact, you could ditto many of the form, function, and features of the G12 with the G11, so I will not...

The weirdest camera at the show, the GFAE, wasn’t even recognizable as a camera, not least because it was a view camera with the bellows left out in order to show its construction more clearly. We’ll come back to it later, but first, let’s look at some more conventional offerings.

The new Casio Exilim EX-HG20G (list price, about $350) is a pocket size camera that is a traveling companion for those who like to see where they’ve been. Some examples: during my test with the camera we turned down a dirt road and “got lost” in the back areas of Arroyo Hondo, NM. We saw various side roads going this way and that, roads that weren’t on any map we had in the car. We shot a few pictures with the H20G and later plugged the images into Aperture 3.1 in our MacBook Pro, used the Places feature and voila, we saw exactly where we had been and where those back roads led.

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Touted as being shock-resistant, dustproof, freezeproof, and waterproof, the Casio EXILIM EX-G1 camera would seem to be ideal for those who want to take their camera through such extreme conditions without concern.