HTC Sensation

         This handset is only 6mm taller, a single millimeter wider, and -- at 11.3mm -- actually slightly thinner than the 4-inch HTC Incredible S. Putting aside the measuring tape and grappling with the pair confirms what those numbers suggest: the 4.3-inch Sensation is nigh indistinguishable from its more modest family mate.

        

HTC has gone from being an unknown manufacturer for bigger brands to one spewing out leading Android smartphones. The Desire was a landmark phone in the fight against the iPhone, but now tech has moved up a level - can the HTC Sensation stay at the sharp end?

With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Motorola Atrix and (to a degree) the LG Optimus 2X, dual-core phones have become the darling of the tech enthusiast.

• HTC Sensation vs Samsung Galaxy S2 - which is right for you?

And HTC has recognised that in bringing out a phone that ticks all the boxes for the most sought-after tech, bringing an 8MP camera, 1080p video recording, a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm chipset and a qHD resolution 4.3-inch screen.

         The Sensation is a simple and untainted joy in the hand. Its 148g (5.22 ounce) weight is perfectly balanced, the curvature that starts at the sides and rolls all the way through the back is spot on, and there are almost no issues of fit and finish. Almost. Our review handset had a small crevice in its lower left side that allowed the backlight intended for the capacitive Android keys to leak out. This is a problem that will only matter to you if you're actively looking for it, but it does detract from the phone's otherwise sterling build quality. 

           Praise is due for the aluminum frame that HTC has wrapped around the sides, back, and even a small portion of the Sensation's front. It's rigid, shaped from a single slab of metal, and makes this a sturdy and creak-free handset. A pair of soft-touch plastic inserts take up a third of the rear cover each, with the upper one protruding a little bit in front of the camera lens and LEDs, lending them an extra bit of protection. You should be mindful that that also creates a niche where dust and debris can snuggle up. Speaking of snuggling, the very design of the Sensation's wraparound enclosure makes it a bit of a pest to pry open. Nothing quite so maddening as what HTC served up with the Inspire 4G (then again, what is?), but this is definitely not the case for you if you're inclined to perform quick and dirty SIM swaps between your phones. A microSD card slot also lurks under the Sensation's skin, and it's filled by default with an 8GB unit, which augments the 1GB of onboard storage. It's accessible without removing the battery from its silo, though the SIM card slot is not.

via  techradar

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Samsung Galaxy S II

         

          The Samsung Galaxy S2 is almost impossibly thin when you pick it up – dimensions of 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5mm mean it's one of the thinnest smartphones on the market at the moment, rivalling the likes of the iPhone 4 and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc for the title.

         We whipped out a ruler and checked, it's true. Admittedly, that measurement expands a little at the handset's bottom, where a curvy bump houses its loudspeaker, and around the camera compartment, which protrudes ever so slightly from the rest of the body, but even at its thickest point, this phone doesn't allow itself to go beyond the 1cm mark. 

        The Samsung Galaxy S II is the phone the Korean firm deems the successor to its best smartphone so far. And with a 1.2GHz processor, super-slim chassis and feather-light innards, it's easy to see why.

The dual-core race is set to heat up massively over the next few months, with the LG Optimus 2X already released, and the Motorola Atrix, HTC Sensation and iPhone 5 all set to bring the tech to market too.

        Moving between the Galaxy S2's many home screens is made simple by two quick navigation tricks. You can jump to a specific screen by tapping one of the numbered dots along the bottom of the screen, or you can perform a two-fingered pinch to shrink them all down to thumbnail size, and then tap the one you want to see. We first saw this thumbnail view on HTC phones like the Desire, and it demonstrates how Samsung makes a habit of reproducing some of its rivals' best ideas on its own phones.

via techradar

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Pentax Optio RS1500

         Changeable covers may have been all the rage with mobile phones ten years ago, but, for whatever reason, the concept never really took off with compact cameras. With its latest RS1500 model, though, Pentax clearly reckons the audience for them is still there, with the camera equipped with ten changeable covers and two lens rings as standard.

        The model follows Pentax's RS1000 which worked on the same principle, only the company claims that the covers may now be changed with greater ease and with no additional tools. And, should none of the ten provided quite suit the user's personality, they're invited to download further options from Pentax's website, or even design and print their own creations using software.

The new model is otherwise a carbon-copy of the previous RS1000. It sports a 14MP CCD and a 27.5-112mm zoom lens, the latter of which incorporates three aspheric elements to help control distortion and spherical aberration. This is particularly impressive for a model priced at £70, as is the 3in LCD screen on the camera's rear, although, unsurprisingly, it's resolution is at 230,000 dots.

          On the inside, Pentax has equipped the RS1500 with a trio of focusing options: 3-point multi area, spot and AF tracking. It's capable of focusing down to a minimum distance of 40cm on its standard mode and 15cm when set to its Macro option, although the Super Macro setting only brings this figure down down to a minimum 8cm. Face Recognition, Smile Capture technology and a Shadow Correction option are all provided, as are a range of scene modes and digital filters such as Fisheye and Toy Camera. 

        The camera's sensitivity settings span a native range of ISO 100-1600, while further options equivalent to ISO's 3200 and 6400 are provided for when the standard options won't suffice. Sadly the camera's metering pattern cannot be adjusted from its default multi-segment option, although the capability of a 3.2fps burst mode at full resolution is a nice surprise.

        Not all budget compacts have caught up to offer with HD video yet, but the RS1500 provides 720p recording at a maximum 30fps. While this isn't complemented with an HDMI port, this is unlikely to be a deal breaker for most. Instead, the model relies on a sole micro USB port for transferring images and videos. The model also runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, rather than on AA cells common to budget compacts, which helps to keep its profile slim next to similarly priced models.

via Techradar

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3

          Panasonic's GF3 is the smallest, lightest, Micro Four Thirds compact system camera (CSC) that the company has introduced to date. In fact, it's so small that at first glance you could be forgiven for confusing this latest model with Panasonic's top-end compact camera, the LX5.

Unlike the Panasonic LX5, however, the Lumix GF3 accepts interchangeable lenses and the reduction in size has, in part, been achieved by a redesign of the lens mount box.

          Although it measures only 107.5 x 67.1 x 32mm, the GF3 is a little larger than the Sony NEX-C3. The NEX-C3 is the world's smallest interchangeable lens camera, but the GF3 has the honour of being the smallest interchangeable lens camera with a built-in flash - excluding the recently announced Pentax Q which has a compact-sized sensor.

Nevertheless, the Panasonic Lumix GF3 is still 17% smaller and 16% lighter than the GF2 and it makes a significant difference to the camera's look and feel.

Panasonic tells us that the GF2 is to continue and the GF3 is now its entry-level model designed specifically for compact camera users who want to move up to a camera that offers more control, better quality images and accepts interchangeable lenses.

via Techradar

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Sony Cyber Shot DSC-HX7V

           Sony's 2011 Cyber-shot lineup has three compact megazooms in it: the high-end HX9V, the low-end H70, and, snuggled in between, the HX7V. The HX7V is essentially a beefed-up version of the H70, featuring the same lens and body size, but backed by a high-speed, 16-megapixel Exmor R backside-illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor instead of a slower CCD sensor. That sensor among other things gives the HX7V many more shooting options, such as a Background Defocus mode to simulate a shallow depth-of-field, and creating high-resolution panoramas. And it does most everything quickly. 

Specifications :

Dimensions                                     :  4.1x2.3x1.1 inches
Mega pixel,image sensor size,type   :16 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch backside-illuminated (BSI) CMOS 
LCD size,resolution/view finder       : 3-inch LCD, 921K dots/None
Highest Resolution (still/video)         : 4,608x3,456 pixels/1,920x1,080 at 60fps (interlaced; 24Mbps)

Batery type, CIPA rated life            :  Li ion rechargeable, 300 shots
Storage Media                                :  SD/SDHC/SDXC; Memory Stick Pro Duo; Eye-Fi Connected
                                                         support

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via cnet

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Olympus PEN E-P3

           With its recent announcement of the PEN E-P3, E-PL3 (L standing for Lite) and the E-PM1 (M for Mini), however, Olympus has attempted to deal with this identity crisis as well as make a few other improvements.

While sharing the same basic specs, the three new models are designed to appeal to different users. The PEN E-P3 sits at the top of the range and caters for advanced users, the E-PL3 is in the middle for those perhaps looking to upgrade from a high-end compact model, while the E-PM1 (Mini) is for photographers who want a very a compact camera that accepts interchangeable lenses.

The Olympus PEN E-P3, aka The PEN or P3, will be on sale at the end of August, but the Lite and Mini variants will be following in late early autumn.

        Like the PEN Lite and Mini cameras, the Olympus P3 has a Four Thirds type 17.3 x 13.0mm Live MOS (CMOS) sensor with 12.3 million effective pixels.

       Olympus has a working agreement with Panasonic and the sensor in the new PEN camera hails from Panasonic's factories – it is believed to be the same sensor as in the Panasonic GF3.

As a compact system camera, the P3 has no reflex mirror, so it employs a contrast detection auto focus (AF) system that uses information from the imaging sensor. The Live MOS device inside the P3 has a fast read-out speed of 120fps, which helps to speed-up the AF.

         Olympus claims that the TruePic VI processing engine in the new PEN cameras is faster than Panasonic's Venus Engine VI FHD device, so it can get more speed out of the AF system. Consequently, Olympus believes that the P3 has the world's fastest AF when used with its MSC (Movie Stills Compatible) optics.Being a Micro Four Thirds model, the P3 can accept lenses with the Micro Four Thirds mount from Olympus and Panasonic.

         In another upgrade to the PEN AF system, the P3 has 35 AF points, which cover all but the outer edges of the imaging frame. Helpfully, Olympus has also added an AF assist light to improve focusing in low light conditions. In addition to the usual single and continuous AF options, the P3 has a Tracking Continuous AF mode (like Panasonic's) that allows the user to specify the subject for focus and then leave the camera to keep it sharp as it moves around the scene.

        Olympus clearly has faith in it TruePic VI processing engine's ability to control noise as the P3 has a sensitivity range that runs from ISO 200 to ISO 12,800, with ISO 3200 and above being listed as extension values.  

via techradar

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Canon 7D Review

         The Canon EOS 7D is Canon's top of the range APS-C camera. Below it sit the compact forms of the 1000D, 450D and 500D, and above it the full-frame glory of the £200 more expensive EOS 5D MKII.

The big difference between the 5D MKII and the 7D is inside. The 5D MKII is the cheapest of Canon's line-up to offer a full-frame sensor – the 7D has the same size image sensor as cameras such as the 500D, Nikon D5000 or Pentax K-x.

          There's also a slight difference in resolution - the 5D MKII has the edge with its 21.1MP sensor, versus the 7D's 18MP APS-C CMOS.

Build quality is basically indistinguishable from the 5D MKII. The body – with the exception of the memory card and battery doors – is made from tough-feeling magnesium alloy. Every point of contact is coated in thick, tactile rubber, making the 7D easy to hold on to through a pair of gloves.

And, unlike Canon's smaller consumer range – the 450D or 500D, for instance – the grip is practically sized for grown up hands, and feels like the body will be perfectly balanced paired with one of Canon's L-series telephoto lenses.

          The body of Canon 7D is festooned with buttons, which while initially intimidating for beginners, will be unbridled joy for anyone upgrading from a consumer body. Focus zone, continuous shooting and ISO are controlled from a row of buttons next to the shutter release.

          Each button controls two functions one button manages white balance and focus zones, for instance and you choose which setting you want to change by using either the click wheel on the back or the command wheel on the right hand shoulder.Learning which
wheel does what means the 7D has a relatively steep learning curve, but after a while making important changes to shooting modes takes a few seconds, and you'll only need to refer to the onscreen menu system when reaching for more obscure functions.

          All this is helped by the presence of a secondary LCD screen which shows shooting information. A final button on the top shoulder controls a handy backlight for making changes in the dark.

For those married to the 3in LCD, the Q button on the back gives you a big-screen glance at the camera's settings. The inclusion of a RAW/JPEG button is useful for one-off RAW shooting  when faced with a scene with particularly wide dynamic range, for instance.

          Canon does make a few concessions to those still learning the ropes. Switch the shooting mode to CA and you can make changes on the menu system. Settings such as aperture and exposure are broken down into layman's terms such as Blurred<->Sharp and Darker<->Brighter. And for when all else fails there's always the green square mode for letting the camera handle everything.

Unlike the 5D MKII the 7D has an integrated pop-up flash. A potential weak spot in the otherwise rock-solid body, the flash feels secure and activates via a reliable-sounding motor release. It will be of mixed value - attach a hood to most lenses and the flash will be obscured. However, the 7D is the first Canon to come with an integrated Speedlite transmitter.

        This is immensely valuable for professionals – if you have a standalone flash you can set it to fire remotely without needing to spend money on a flash transmitter or PocketWizard setup.

While the 5D MKII might have the edge in terms of pure image quality, the 7D has a few advantages, despite being cheaper. It's arguably better for sports and wildlife photographers, for instance.

The 5D MKII shoots at a maximum of four frames per second, claims Canon. In our tests, the 7D was little short of unbelievable. Canon claims it will hit eight frames per second, and although we couldn't get it to match that number against a stopwatch, it nevertheless took 52 shots in 7.22 seconds, or 7.2fps.

Source : techradar

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