Picture quality is of course the most important criteria, and here the Acer CP-8660 can provide good results under the right circumstances. Colour rendition is very natural, and in good light and normal conditions the exposure system produces generally nice shots.

Oddly the ‘vivid’ colour mode didn’t appear to make any difference to colour rendition at all. The CP-8660 is, as I said at the start, an audacious camera but as it turns out, overly so. It does offer a unique combination of features but performance is slow and the anti-shake system is largely ineffective. However, picture quality is generally adequate and the 6x zoom range is very useful. The problem is that there are better cameras on the market that can beat it in every respect, and for about the same price.

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Picture quality is of course the most important criteria, and here the Acer CP-8660 can provide good results under the right circumstances.

Colour rendition is very natural, and in good light and normal conditions the exposure system produces generally nice shots. Oddly the ‘vivid’ colour mode didn’t appear to make any difference to colour rendition at all.

The CP-8660 is, as I said at the start, an audacious camera but as it turns out, overly so. It does offer a unique combination of features but performance is slow and the anti-shake system is largely ineffective. However, picture quality is generally adequate and the 6x zoom range is very useful. The problem is that there are better cameras on the market that can beat it in every respect, and for about the same price.

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Will the ZD steal the thunder from lower- megapixel models, such as Canon’s 16.6MP EOS-1Ds Mark II or Nikon’s 12.4MP D2x? That’s doubtful, considering the lower price of these cameras, their superior AF, exposure and metering systems, their wider and faster burst modes, and more extensive accessories (including lenses and flash units). It’s also likely that the smaller battery on the Mamiya ZD will deliver only a fraction of the images that those CMOS-based SLRs can capture. But pros who already own a Mamiya 645 AF, in addition to several expensive Mamiya AF lenses, should be drawn like a magnet to this camera. (Current 645AFd owners, on the other hand, will probably opt for the 22MP Mamiya ZD back, which has the same sensor and image-processing capability, but at a lower price.) The Mamiya ZD will primarily attract those special photographers who value image quality above all else, and can’t wait to show off this megapixel champion.

Mamiya expects that most pros will be interested in this camera for its potentially ultrahigh image quality—not for its AF speed and burst performance. On that front, it packs a great deal of promise. According to Mamiya and the CCD’s manufacturer, Dalsa, the ZD sensor provides the highest image quality available in an integrated SLR. The ZD also uses a new Dalsa ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) to help speed image processing and storage. How good is the image quality? We’ll find out for sure when we test a production version of this camera, but the specs for this sensor are impressive.

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Mamiya ZD’s viewfinder is better than most small format SLR, but not quite as super-bright as the Mamiya AF645D. In the viewfinder, beneath the matte focusing screen, the usual LED information display is found and it is quite visible. A viewfinder diopter adjustment is found beside the viewfinder. The two LCDs can be illuminated with a soft green-blue light and are easily readable in the dark. Here the usual data (image size, format, compression ratio, picture number, ISO, selected memory card, white balance etc.) are shown. The menus are viewed on a 1.8″color monitor, which is sufficiently bright, but rather small and only of medium resolution. Mamiya claims that power saving is the reason for this design decision. The menus are arranged into four different color groupings, and are well structured. Menues can be displayed in several languages. The adjustment possibilities are rich and clearly arranged and the functions are highly customizable. 31 Presets can be produced and stored separately. Menu selections are made with two scroll wheels and are achieved very quickly. Especially practical is the exposure shift function which can be used with the Program exposure mode, where pairs of aperture / shutter combinations can be scrolled through quickly.

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SANYO XACTI Digital Movie C5: Brilliant Companion for the Technologically Avant-Garde

SANYO’s Digital Movie Family has a new member: The XACTI Digital Movie C5 has the same self-confident appearance and sets bold new standards with its unique design. The interior of the youngest member of the C Series is refined and mature as well. The multi-talented C5 combines a dual purpose video and photo camera with the finest technology: a resolution of 5 Megapixels, a 2-inch LCD display (diagonal measurement) - all in an extremely compact and light case. The 23 mm deep aluminum body makes the XACTI Digital Movie C5 one of the slimmest photo-video combinations in the world.

SANYO’s new XACTI Digital Movie C5 camera sets bold new trends in fashion and technology with its exceptional design, precision technology and full range of functions. Now you no longer have to decide whether to take a video or a camera to a party or on vacation to capture film or snapshots. The XACTI Digital Movie C5 is both: a full-fledged digital video camera that records films in MPEG4 format with VGA resolution at 30 frames per second as well as an outstanding digital camera with a resolution of 5 million pixels, which the in-camera software can interpolate to 10 Megapixels. And if you can’t decide, simply select the Dual Shot function. It activates the video and photo functions so that you can take full resolution, 5-Megapixel photos while shooting video at the same time.
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