Digital Trends

Smile for the camera—One of the most prevalent new features for point-and-shoot cameras is Face Detection. FujiFilm started the trend with its “fd” cameras and now almost every manufacturer has it including Canon, Nikon, Pentax and others. Basically what face detection does is optimize the camera for shooting a human face. Depending on the model it adjusts auto focus, exposure and flash to get a good shot. Some can handle nine faces in one frame.

Cure the shakes…Image Stabilization got a lot of play as well. Dear readers, be forewarned not all IS is the same. Some companies boost the ISO and shutter speed, others use software to try and eliminate the shakes after you’ve taken a shot. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one to look for—optical image stabilization that actually moves the lens elements to counter hand movement. Many companies do this including Canon, Sony and Panasonic with its MEGA OIS. Please read the fine print before you buy.

Maximum Megapixels. As we reported in our review of the D40, you don’t need a zillion pixels to capture a nice image you can blowup for printing or cropping. Still companies feel they have to introduce more and more. Witness the new Sony CyberShot DSC-W200, the first point-and-shoot digicams with a 12MP sensor! Again, we won’t dare comment on picture quality—especially the amount of digital noise—but we’re on the list and will let you know as soon as we get one ($399, May). That said, 7MP is the pretty much the floor in 2007 and you can move up from there.

Camcorder Update. CES is the big show for home video maker introductions and there was really nothing new to report other than to tell you the new Sony HDR-UX5 that was on display here brings high-definition home recording below a grand. Also at CES JVC unveiled the first camcorder that records true 1920 x 1080I video (all others record 1440 x 1080). The GZ-HD7 ($1,799, due April) was practically under glass in January but at PMA pre-production models were available for show-and-tell. This is loaded camcorder that records up to 13 hours of true HD video on a built-in 60GB HDD. It’s very slick has a lot of potential. Speaking of high-def many cameras touted the fact the can output HD-level images to your HDTV in the appropriate 16:9 aspect ratio (Sony, Canon et al).

JVC GZ-HD7