GE G2 Review
Review Date: April 17th 2008
Author: Mark Goldstein
Leave a comment about this Review
|
Conclusion
 |
|
|
Ratings
(out of 5) |
|
| Design | 4 |
| Features | 4 |
| Ease-of-Use | 3.5 |
| Image Quality | 2.5 |
| Value for Money | 4.5 |
The GE G2 is the first camera that we've tested from GE's second generation, and it undoubtedly improves on the E850 model that we reviewed last year. As we awarded the E850 our lowest ever score, however, that isn't a particularly difficult achievement. The G2 offers much faster performance, more solid build-quality, and marginally better images than the E850. Having said that, when compared to its main rivals, the GE G2 is no great shakes, especially in terms of image quality.
Noise is less noticeable than on the E850, not really beginning to appear until ISO 200, but photos taken with this camera at ISO 200 and above have a strange mottled appearance that masks any fine detail in the scene, a result of over-aggressive processing to help mask the noise, and they also exhibit obvious colour artifacts. At ISO 800 and 1600, there's actually a noticeable colour shift, with images losing saturation especially in the red channel. Pictures are also very soft, with no option to increase the sharpening level in-camera. On the plus side, the G2 dealt quite well with chromatic aberrations, and the long shutter mode of 30 seconds allows you to get creative after dark.
As with the E850, the GE G2's main strength is the long list of features on offer, with the winning combination of 4x zoom lens and incredibly slim 18mm body taking the plaudits. Face, Smile and Blink detection promise to make life easier for the beginner, but in reality we achieved better and faster results by turning them all off. Performance is better than on the E850, but the G2 is still seriously hampered by slow and inconsistent focusing in low-light, with the camera struggling to focus on the subject after numerous attempts.
So the GE G2 is a better camera than the older E850, but it's still not on a par with the majority of its competitors. Ultimately you should try and ignore that hugely attractive price-tag of �99.99 / $179.99 and spend a little more, unless you value good looks and a comprehensive feature list above speed and image quality.
|
PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the GE G2 have
been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.