The Digital Future - A Guide to Digital Camera Reviewing

The Design

More than just the outward appearance of any digital camera, a camera's design can have a huge effect on its usability. What good is a built-in flash, for example, if one's hand is constantly obscuring it's view? How can one put to use an excellent LCD if one's hand is constantly covering it up?

Many design flaws become apparent after some use of the camera. Button placement that may seem comfortable at first may soon become awkward with time. For this reason, each digital camera that falls into our hands is put through extensive field testing, involving both picture taking and picture review. In addition, each button is toyed with, giving us an overall feel of a camera and it's usability.

Some of the most common problems that are encountered when examining camera design are awkward grips and poor button placement. Many times a camera sacrifices adequate grip for size. Although making a camera pocket-sized is a great selling feature, there is not much use for such a camera if the buttons are inaccessible and the lens is easily covered. In addition, a camera with a good grip may place buttons in hard to reach places. Ideally, a camera would mesh all three desirable features into its design, incorporating small camera size with a meaty grip and smart button placement. Unfortunately, this rarely happens.

Don't get us wrong, outward appearance is important too. As much as we may not want to admit it, when we put down hundreds of dollars on a new piece of electronic equipment that will constantly be in the public eye, looks do play a role. Of two cameras with identical features, image quality, and price, one would naturally have to place their decision on appearance. In addition, different people place emphasis on different parts of a product. Indeed, some will value "coolness" over functionality. Obviously, this is a subjective subject and thus we will treat it accordingly, stating our personal opinion. Keep in mind, however, that as with every other subjective subject, the review will state our opinion, which may differ from others'.

The Battery

Closely tied to design, each review will include a description of battery type and longevity, as well as charging options. Battery type is much more diverse than one may think, ranging in options from AA batteries to high capacity lithium ion cells.

As one may suspect, charging is measured upon time required to charge the battery from it's fully depleted state to full charge. In addition, charging options are also weighed, such as an external battery charger or the like.

Finally, battery longevity is measured by actually using the camera in the field. To simulate actual camera use, pictures were taken during the testing, stressing both the effect of the memory writes as well as the occasional use of the flash. The LCD screen of the camera is left in the on state, as we find this to be the most convenient way to take pictures and really stresses the battery.