Small Wonders

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Where there are tourists, there are cameras, now more than ever before. During last week’s Republican National Convention, delegates and protesters alike took pictures of everything, including each other. Digital cameras are smaller than ever, more affordable, and allow amateur photographers to delete bad pictures without paying for developing. And this summer saw a new wave of ultra compacts, cameras so small that some of them can hide behind a credit card, perfect for off-the-cuff photography.


The new ultra compact cameras, led by the Pentax Optio S5i ($399), jam in a host of new features that are gradually bringing these tiny machines in line with their much larger cousins. The Optio S5i has a new sport mode designed to capture objects moving at high speed and a capture time of 0.1 seconds, a dramatic improvement over older models.


The Optio is also the first ultra compact to pack five megapixels on its receptors, but really, that’s far more than casual photographers are likely to need. The amount of information a digital camera can capture is limited by the number of pixels that can be packed onto the electronic photoreceptor, measured in million pixel units called megapixels. The first digital cameras had but one megapixel and produced pictures that were only suitable for viewing on computer monitors. Professional photographers now use cameras in the eight-megapixel range that generate pictures with enough resolution for magazines or newspapers.


But casual users don’t need that level of resolution. Four megapixels capture enough visual information to print out a high quality 8 x 11-inch print. When companies start talking about five, they’re trying to impress consumers with larger numbers. Don’t be fooled.


Reviews of the latest ultracompacts have been con 594 1804 647 1816363 1817 411 1829436 1817 540 1829sistently good for picture quality, reflecting recent improvements in lens construction and the increase of most ultra-compacts to at least four megapixels. When deciding among them, look at the features the camera offers and how easy it is to use. Many Web sites examine and compare these precise attributes (www.dpreview.com and www.megapixel.net are two excellent examples) and can provide pictures of the cameras from many angles.


The camera’s ergonomic quality is another aspect to consider when buying. A tiny camera like the Pentax, which fits inside an Altoids tin, is difficult to hold with two hands, which makes it hard to keep steady. Canon’s SD100 ($299) uses a rotating wheel to change modes between video record, manual, and automatic. The wheel is easy to use, but it often moves around in a bag or pocket, which can lead to unplanned video segments where a picture was called for. Design features like these may seem small, but they can be the difference between catching a spontaneous moment or missing it as you fumble with buttons.


Though they’re improving, the ultracompacts certainly will not offer the complete range of manual controls available on even slightly larger cameras. They also have a limited capacity to zoom and no capacity to attach extra lenses. Serious photographers will want larger, more powerful cameras that provide manual control over focus, white balance, and f-stop. The intended audience of the ultracompacts is a casual photographer who needs a good autofocus mechanism for the quick shot.


The New York Sun

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