Digital Camera - Ken Gilbert

116 kitzone
hYbrid review
Innovative270°
rotating screen with
touchscreen AF
IntelligentAutoisbetter
forbeginners than your
typical Auto mode
feeLing CHeAteD
DigitalCamera July2010
feeLing tReAteD
The 14-42mm kit lens is
good, but the choice of
extra lenses is limited
It’s a real shame you
can’t recordHDatfull
1080p resolution
For starters, the touch control comes
in addition to the excellent (even
exhaustive)rangeofknobs and dials
thatthe cameraprovidesfor youto
access key functions. However, in
some situations, simply pressing, say,
the current ISOvalue on the LCDin
order to change it can actually be even
quicker – and is certainly an intuitive
way of working for those familiar with
modern mobile phones.
Borrowing the flick and pinch
manoeuvres made popular by devices
such as the Apple iPhone, you can use
the touch interface to scroll through
your pictures and zoom in on detail,
which is very cool. Moreuseful to the
serious photographer is the abilityto
control which of the 23 focus points
the cameraisusing by actually
pushing and stretching the active
meet the
rivals…
See how
the G2 fares
against the
competition
zooming in on the… g2
a quick tour of the camera’s key features
The viewfinder
is of greatquality
and there’s lots of
information about
camera settings
The articulated
rear screen
flips out and
angles through
270°. It’s great
forshooting
awkward
angles and
activating the
touchscreen AF
Pushing the rear dial instantly accesses
handy adjustments in Program mode
panasonic g10
AG2without the
moving touchscreen
panasonic gH1
Luxury model offering
1080i HD video
The touch controls can quickly change
the exposure compensation
focus zone around the screen using
your finger – neat.
BuiLD AnD HAnDLing
Manyofthe controls of the G1 have
been movedaround –but, as we’ve
said, the manual switchesfor focus
mode,AFpoint selection, drive mode
and exposure mode are very welcome.
Anew buttonhas been added to
provide one-touch movie recording
and there’s another new addition that
enables you to access the camera’s
iA Intelligent Auto setting.
One unwelcome change is that
the input dial has movedfromthe
front of the camera to the rear, making
it marginally harder to operate. A nice
feature of this, however, is that it
offersdual operation. In Aperture
Priority, say, youcan use the dial to
Canon eoS 550D
Conventional SLR with
superb full HD video
The interaction
between the
Q.Menu and
main Menu/Set
button can be
confusing at
first,but you
soon get used
to the layout
Despite being
plastic and
lightweight, the
camera’s shell
and 14-42mm
kit lens feel
quite sturdy
Push the film button for fast access to
colour modes and full manual control
alter the aperture, then press the
dial inwards and turn it to alter
exposure compensation. It’s a very
well thought-out execution, with
excellent feedback in the eye-level
LCD viewfinder to help you use such
controls without the need to take
your eye off the subject.
While the fixed nature of screens
on most D-SLRs leaves them exposed
and vulnerable to scratches, the
articulating screen on the G2 will fold
in on itself, so it stays protected when
being carried around.
ContRoLS AnD feAtuReS
This camera doesn’t skimp on
features – if anything, its menus
offer toomanyoptions for the newbie
photographer to feel at home – but
the fundamentals areall there. The
topdrive setting,for instance, offers
continuous shooting at 3.2fps –and
can continue shooting at this rate
until the memorycardisfull if you
use the JPEGfile format(up to seven
frames if you use RAW).
The number of pictures youcan
fit on a card will partly depend on
the aspect ratio youchoose; as well
as the native 4:3 ratio,you canopt for