Best Digital Cameras and Camcorders from CES
By David Elrich
January 16th, 2008
The annual Consumer Electronics Show features tidal waves of products. In the digital imaging world, camcorders are the main event and all of the top companies unveiled new models—Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC et al. As far as digital cameras are concerned the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show is usually the main kickoff and that event is held after CES. Still with zillions of press people roaming the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, it was only logical a few new digicams made the scene. (Don’t worry we’ll be at PMA on January 31st to share the latest and greatest.) What follows are my picks for the best camcorders and cameras from CES. Realize these are the “theoretical” best in show as we really didn’t get a chance to put them through their paces. Still it’s good to have something to look forward to.
Cameras
Quick Takeaway: It’ll be hard finding a mainstream digicam with anything less than a 7-megapixel imager in 2008.
Fujifilm FZ100fd
A much more stylish version of the recently review F50fd, this is an 8-megapixel camera with a 5x optical zoom (equivalent to 36-180mm in 35mm terms). It has a cool sliding door on the front to power it on or off (similar to the Sony T series). The FZ100fd also has Dual Image Stabilization (mechanical and electronic) to eliminate the shakes in your shots. It features Fujifilm’s advanced Face Detection mode with built-in red-eye reduction that really does a fine job with people pictures. The camera also has a 2.7-inch LCD screen and a top ISO of 1600. It comes out in January for $249 USD.
Fujifilm FZ100fd
Sony alpha DSLR-A200
One wouldn’t expect a new D-SLR announcement at CES but Sony always does things a little differently. The new alpha DSLR-A200 is the replacement for the company’s first D-SLR (A100) which is definitely getting long in the tooth. This new 10-megapixel model with optical stabilization built into the body comes with an 18-70mm lens for $700 USD list or with two lenses (an additional 75-300mm for $900 USD). It’s due in February. Sony claims this one has an auto focus that’s 1.7x faster than the A100 plus it has a pop-up flash and a larger LCD (2.7 inches). We liked the original A100 and the new A700 so this one should be solid as well.
Sony alpha DSLR-A200
Samsung NV24HD
Samsung Camera unveiled a mere seven new cameras at the show but my clear favorite was the NV24HD, a 10MP model with a very wide-angle zoom. The 3.6x lens has a range of 24-86.4mm, making it the widest angle point-and-shoot out there ($349 USD, due March). Also very cool is its 2.5-inch OLED screen. You may not want to spend $2,500 USD for Sony’s 11-inch OLED HDTV but this lets you own a small piece of this new display technology (which is really quite good) for a lot less. The camera also records 720p video at 30 frames per second.
Samsung NV24HD
Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1
Casio doesn’t usually break the mold—the company typically introduces skinny digicams that fit into your back pocket. Although they introduced a bunch of them at CES, the real star was the EX-F1, a 6-megapixel camera capable of shooting a blazing 60 frames per second at full resolution. As you can imagine nothing comes close to this one. It can even shoot 1,200 fps in movie mode so you can watch some great slow motion videos. In still mode, you’d be hard pressed to miss a shot—in theory, of course. We can’t wait to get our hands on this one with its built-in 12x optical zoom and high-speed flash. It’s due in April for $999 USD.
Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1
Kodak EasyShare V1273
Kodak unveiled five new models at the show that arrive this spring. Kodak usually doesn’t blow the doors off with its announcements since they’re targeted for mainstream shooters—more like variations on a theme. However, all have a new feature called Smart Capture that is basically like the Intelligent Auto Exposure on Panasonic digicams. With it, the camera makes the adjustments for the subject in front of it (portrait, landscape and so on), basically point-and-shoot plus. 2007’s V1253 12MP edition was a solid little camera and it’s being updated by the V1273 ($279 USD) with a new 3-inch touchscreen to make your menu adjustments rather than the typical four-way controller.
Kodak EasyShare V1273
Read on to see our top camcorders from CES.
Top Camcorders
Quick Takeaway: Hard disk drive and flash memory camcorders grow in popularity as tape and only DVD-based models fade to black. High-def gets slightly more affordable (just slightly).
Panasonic SDR-SW20
Neat. This MPEG2 camcorder (DVD level) is waterproof, shockproof and dustproof, making it a perfect companion for extreme sports fans. You can take it five feet underwater or drop it from a height of four feet. Available in silver or red, this SDHC card-based camcorder has a 10x zoom, a 2.7-inch LCD and Quick Start let’s you start shooting in just .6 seconds. It takes cards up to 16GB so you can record over 13 hours of video. ($399 USD, due February)
Panasonic SDR-SW20
Canon Vixia HF10
Canon always comes up with bizarre names for it products such as Pixma printers. New this year is Vixia for its higher-end camcorders. Whatever…Still I love Canon camcorders such as the HDV tape-based HV20 and AVCHD HDD HG10. New for 2008 are models such as the HF10 that only record to built-in flash memory (16GB) and optional SDHC cards—forget tapes and DVDs. Very cool. The high-def camcorder uses the AVCHD format and records 1920 x 1080i video (up from 1440 x 1080 last year). It has a 3.3MP CMOS sensor, a 12x zoom, optical image stabilization and a $1,099 USD list price (due April).
Canon Vixia HF10
Panasonic HDC-SD9
We know prices of high-def camcorders are still pricey—especially when compared to $250 USD MiniDV models. Still this $799 USD SD card-based AVCHD video maker (due March) might be a steal. This three-chip SD9 weighs just .606 pounds and Panasonic claims “it’s the world’s smallest and lightest.” It also records 1920 x 1080p (not i) video at 24 fps, about as good as you can get in 2008 and not spending 10 grand. The SD9 also is one of the first camcorders with built-in Face Detection that works with moving images (not stills like so many digicams). I held this baby and couldn’t believe what’s packed into it. Let’s hope it delivers in the real world.
Panasonic HDC-SD9
Sony Handycam HDR-SR12
Sony is by far and away the camcorder market leader and it used CES to show it by introducing 16 new ones ranging from a $249 USD MiniDV model with a 40x optical zoom to my favorite, the $1,399 USD HDR-SR12. This hard disk drive baby (120GB!) records 1920 x 1080i video and also has Face Detection. If the 120 gigs are not enough, you can also record to Memory Stick Pro Duo cards (up to 16GB). It has a 12x optical zoom, a 5.66MP sensor capable of taking 10-megapixel stills (using interpolation) along with just about every other trick Sony can add to the mix. This one is due in March and I can’t wait to test it out.
Sony HDR-SR12
JVC Everio GZ-MG730
JVC took the wraps off a number of colorful Everio HDD camcorders (five) as well as just two MiniDV editions. As we’ve stated, tape is going the way of the bulky CRT-based TVs. The one that caught my eye was the GZ-MG730, a 30GB model with a 7.38MP CCD. This means it takes 7MP 3072 x 2304 pixel stills with no interpolation for about the best pure quality you can get from a camcorder. Designed for shutterbugs, it has a flash, offers aperture- and shutter-priority as well as a histogram. This one costs $799 USD and is due in February.
JVC GZ-MG730