DIWA member LetsGoDigital have reviewed the Ricoh GX100 digital camera, which features a 10.01 megapixel CCD, fast 24-72mm wide zoom lens and a removable electronic view?nder.

“The Ricoh Caplio GX100 soon becomes my standard travel mate on the bicycle or during a stroll through the city. The camera fits in my pocket with ease and with the wide-angle I can photograph what I want. If I want more I can use the lens attachment, although it usually stays in the bag because mounting it is hard and the camera gets too big. Nevertheless, the stick-on viewfinder stays on the camera at all times. It provides a nice image and looking into the camera from above offers a fresh view on the world. “

Website: LetsGoDigital - Ricoh GX100 Review

Website: Read our Ricoh GX100 Review

Megapixel.net have reviewed the Fujifilm S700 digital camera, which features 7 megapixels, a 10x optical zoom, 2.5 inch LCD plus electronic viewfinder, ISO 1600 and Picture Stabilization mode.

“The Fujifilm FinePix S700/S5700 is a very good camera that easily produces excellent images. If its flash is no better than most compacts, its image quality outdoors is one of the best we have seen recently. This said, could the FinePix S700 be even better? Yes, it would be even better if it also offered an effective optical stabilizer. But even as is, this camera should garner a wide following.”

Website: Megapixel.net - Fujifilm S700 Review

CNET have reviewed the new Kodak Z712, which is positioned as an alternative to a DSLR, offering a 12x zoom lens (36-432 mm) and 7.1 megapixels.

“Image quality is generally pleasing, especially at lower ISOs, though I did notice some purple fringing in high contrast areas of my images, and some artifacts which made some lines look jaggy and gave some blocks of color a mottled look. Overall colors generally look accurate, though slightly oversaturated. This isn’t a problem, though, since most people prefer and are used to slightly oversaturated colors, since most consumer film has slightly oversaturated color.”

Website: CNET - Kodak Z712 Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the new Olympus SP-550 UZ. This is the first digital camera to offer an 18x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 28-504mm.

“Focussing is a little slack, particularly when the zoom is at the telephoto end. It can hunt about looking for things to focus on. It isn’t quick either. Things are better at the wide angle end, but it’s still fairly sluggardly. Packing an 18x optical zoom, giving the equivalent reach of 504mm in 35mm terms, means that optical stabilisation is a jolly good idea. In practice it isn’t a safety net for casual handling, as even in bright light with the shutter speed at the top end, plenty of photos were blurred.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Olympus SP-550 UZ Review

Website: Read our Olympus SP-550 UZ Review

Ricoh have released the fourth firmware update, v1.16, for the Ricoh GX100 digital camera.

1. Adjusted the exposure in bright-light shooting with a flash.
2. Modified the following display phenomena.
• If you playback a picture (3:2 or 1:1) enlarged, the location window in the right corner of the LCD may be out of alignment.
• If you assign FOCUS in the Fn button, and set to enable the STEP ZOOM, and if you switch a focus setting to the MF from the other focus settings with the Fn button, it may remain a number of zoom display on the zoom bar in the left of the LCD.

Website: Ricoh GX100 1.16 Firmware Update

Sony have issued a safety notice for the Cyber-shot DSC-T5 digital camera. The metal plating on the the bottom casing may peel away from the camera body and warp outwards, possibly resulting in a slight cut or scratch to the user’s skin. Sony is offering a free service to replace the bottom case on affected units (serial numbers between 3500001 and 3574100)

The SeaLife ECOshot is waterproof to a depth of 75 feet/23 meters and shockproof to 6ft/2m. Small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, the 6 megapixel ECOshot has a Spy mode that takes continuous pictures at set time intervals from 5 seconds to 5 minutes. The SeaLife ECOshot is available now for $279.95.

The SeaLife ReefMaster Mini is waterproof to 130 feet/40 meters and and shockproof to 6ft/2m. “The ReefMaster mini is SeaLife’s entry level camera that gives the snorkeler or diver the opportunity to take great underwater pictures with a small, compact camera,” said Joe Ifi, SeaLife’s director of sales and marketing. The SeaLife ReefMaster Mini is available now for $329.95.

Luminous Landscape have reviewed the new Canon S5 IS ultra-zoom compact camera, which features a 12x optical zoom lens equivalent to 36-432mm, optical image stabilizer and 8 megapixel sensor.

“The sensor is a 1/2.5” which translates to 5.76 x 4.29 mm. The ISO (gain) settings range from 80 to an ambitious 1600. As the following images indicate, (taken at 1/125s, f/5.6 and 14.5 mm) you should not expect to obtain reasonable-sized prints or do a lot of cropping with anything above ISO 200 – and maybe even that’s a little optimistic. I leave the camera set at ISO 80 so I don’t have to think about it. This is where the 3-stop image stabilization saves the day.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Canon S5 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Samsung L77 digital camera, which offers a 7x internal optical zoom lens equivalent to 38-266mm, a 7 megapixel sensor and 2.5 inch LCD screen.

“Image quality was ok. While most of our samples are sharp, and show good exposure and color balance, I did see above average amounts of barrel distortion and chromatic aberrations. The internal 7x optical zoom lens offers much more versatility over the typical 3x zoom on most consumer compacts. Covering an equivalent zoom range of 38 - 266mm, it favors the telephoto end, however the 38mm wide angle extreme will afford decent interior and landscape photos.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Samsung L77 Review

The BenQ E1000 digital camera features a 10 megapixel sensor, 3 inch LCD screen and 3x zoom lens. A full range of P/Av/Tv/M modes are offered, along with a Face-Tracking function and ISO speeds up to 1600. Availability of the E1000 varies from region to region. The BenQ E1000 will be first available in China in August.

DigitalCameraInfo have reviewed the GE G1 digital camera, which features a 3x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD screen and 7 megapixels.

“The GE G1 sells for a budget-friendly $199, but it isn’t worth it. Pictures in bright light were often overexposed, and it was nearly impossible to see anything on the LCD screen because of the horrible glare. Images in low light were either speckled with noise or infused with unnatural lighting from the flash. The GE G1 is one of the lowest priced digital cameras in the trendy ultra-slim market, but there are cameras that take better pictures for less.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - GE G1 Review

PopPhoto have reviewed the new Canon S5 IS ultra-zoom compact camera, which features a 12x optical zoom lens equivalent to 36-432mm, optical image stabilizer and 8 megapixel sensor.

“The Canon PowerShot S5 IS feels good in the hand, whether shooting with the EVF or using the LCD viewfinder. For long-reach photography, we strongly recommend using the EVF and a two-handed grip to ensure stability, even with Optical Image Stabilization activated. We were able to achieve acceptably sharp images at full telephoto just over three full stops below the reciprocal focal length when shooting in this style—1/50 second on a 435mm lens.”

Website: PopPhoto - Canon S5 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Nikon Coolpix L11 digital camera, which offers 6 megapixels, 2.4 inch LCD screen, 3x zoom lens (37.5-112.5mm), maximum ISO of 800 and a choice of 16 Scene modes.

“The virtue of this well-balanced compact camera is its simplicity. You could hand this to anyone and they’d be able to take pictures, video or record a voice memo. They’d know just how to hold it and which button to press to get a picture. Slide the Mode switch and they could take movies. And show them the Scene mode for a Voice Memo and they’d be able to record their thoughts, too. As a bonus, it offers several key Nikon technologies, including Face-Priority Auto Focus, that are really quite useful. It’s a nice little package, a real camera, at a very affordable price.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Nikon Coolpix L11 Review

The new Samsung NV20, Samsung NV15 and Samsung NV8 digital cameras offer 12, 10 and 8 megapixels respectively. All three models include a refined Smart Touch User Interface, up to ISO 3200 and faster Advanced Shake Reduction system. “Quite simply our new NV cameras ensure photographers of all levels can enjoy taking high quality images they can be proud of” said Robert King, Commercial Director, Samsung Cameras UK. The NV20 is priced at £249 / $399, NV15 at £229 / $299 and NV8 at £199 / TBC and will be available from September 2007.

The Samsung i85 is an all-in-one camera, MP3 player and portable media player with a large 3 inch touchscreen LCD. Other features include an 8 megapixel sensor, 5x optical zoom lens and Intelligent Face Recognition Technology. The Samsung i85 will retail at £229 / $349 and be available from the end of August 2007.

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Nikon Coolpix P5000 camera, which offers 10 megapixels, 3.5x zoom lens (36-126mm), Vibration Reduction to combat camera shake, ISO 3200 capability and a 2.5 inch LCD screen.

“Ergonomics are great. The P5000 is well designed, offering a nice comfortable feel in your hands, thanks in part to the large handgrip. The camera controls are well placed and functional, and I especially liked the new command dial. This dial is much like one you would find on a dSLR, and is used to adjust exposure values like aperture and shutter speed, ISO, etc.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Nikon Coolpix P5000 Review

DPReview have reviewed the new Canon S5 IS ultra-zoom compact camera, which features a 12x optical zoom lens equivalent to 36-432mm, optical image stabilizer and 8 megapixel sensor.

“Canon took an already great camera and gave it a better screen, better viewfinder and a flash hot shoe, and made it a bit prettier to boot. They then put inside it a sensor that is noisier than its predecessor, meaning that - for the most part - the resolution increase simply isn’t reflected in the output.”

Website: DPReview - Canon S5 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review

PopPhoto have just reviewed the 15x zoom Sony Cyber Shot DSC-H9 digital camera.

“At higher ISOs, noise reduced the image quality rating, but we were pleasantly surprised. At ISO 800, the H9 displayed Moderate noise and Extremely High resolution, about 1550 lines average. At ISO 1600 and 3200, noise creeped into Unacceptable—but not by much. This is much better than many highmegapixel compacts we’ve tested, and similar to some recent DSLRs. Plus, the H9’s grain pattern at high ISOs is tight, like grainy color film. So, if not enlarged too much, shots at ISO 3200 could be usable.”

PopPhoto - Sony Cyber Shot DSC-H9 Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the new Canon S5 IS ultra-zoom compact camera, which features a 12x optical zoom lens equivalent to 36-432mm, optical image stabilizer and 8 megapixel sensor.

“The S5’s image quality results were pleasing, both indoors and out. The majority of our outdoors sample images were sharp thanks to the accurate AF system and high-quality Canon lens, and exposure and color saturation are also very nice. You can also adjust the degree of sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color using the Custom My Colors function. Image noise is a very important factor when choosing a Prosumer model like this, where is it likely that you are going to be using higher sensitivity settings. I feel noise levels are very low at sensitivity settings of ISO 80 and 100, becoming more noticeable in shadow areas at ISO 200 - 400. “

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon S5 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review