Waller from DigiCamReview has published his Polaroid 1032 digital compact camera review. The compact Polaroid i1032 digital camera features 10.0 Megapixel resolution and is developed for the entry level photographer. High resolution images that can be stored at the internal memory or an external flash memory card like the Secure Digital card. The back of the Polaroid camera features a 2.4 inch LCD monitor that let the user shares his favorite moments with family or friends. The Polaroid also supports PictBridge to allow a direct connection to any printer that supports PictBridge. Besides optical zoom the Polaroid 1032 offers 4x digital zoom.

Slip the compact Polaroid i1032 into your pocket or purse and you’re ready to capture the action no matter where you go! Delivers amazing quality with 10.0 megapixel images that are ideal for making breathtaking portraits, sharing over the Internet or via email. So easy to use with fully-automatic features. Just point and shoot for perfect pictures!

The camera takes 3 seconds to switch on. It takes roughly 4.5 seconds to switch on, focus and take the photo. Focusing is quick in average light at around 0.4 - 0.5 seconds set to wide angle, but slower when using macro. Shutter response is fairly quick at around 0.1 - 0.2 seconds. Shot to shot time is average at around 2.0 seconds between shots (with review switched on), with flash switched on this shot to shot time is around 10 seconds. Continuous shooting allows you to take 4 shots at roughly 1 frame every two seconds (flash not an option). Playback mode is fairly quick, and it’s easy to zoom up to 5x on your last shot and check for blur with the zoom control. Moving from picture to picture is very quick, however it shows you a blurred version first and then shows you a sharper version a second later. Moving around the different menu options is rapid. The screen updates in photo mode are generally very quick and smooth.

Exposure can be hit and miss with this camera when outside on bright sunny days, it can however produce some excellent colours, and very good macro photos on duller days. Purple fringing was quite bad in high contrast areas near picture corners, and will become more noticeable, on prints larger than A4. This is a lens quality issue, which becomes more exaggerated the higher the resolution of the picture. The camera was generally competent at focusing. I noticed slight barreling but no pincushion distortion. There is a good range of image sizes, and compression options, and a choice of two aspect ratios. Auto white balance seemed to be good. The camera gives you good options to customise images - there are three sharpness and metering settings and full manual exposure, for example. The more experienced photographer should find the manual options quite useful. The camera will display a shaking hand, to warn you could end up with blurry pictures, especially in low light, or when using the zoom.

We don’t say this enough, but when it comes to gadgets, substance trumps style. Even if a gadget is pretty and stylish, it’s worthless if it doesn’t do what’s intended. Sure, Kodak’s EasyShare V803 might be pretty and stylish. Unfortunately it’s also a very poor digital camera.

Despite its fat, candy bar shape, the V803’s smooth curves and array of colors make it quite comely. Unfortunately, the camera’s sleek design makes for an uncomfortable control scheme. A handful of tiny rectangular buttons strewn across the top and left side of the camera back access the V803’s different modes and menus. The buttons feel unresponsive and are placed so that you have to use two hands while operating the camera, and we had a hard time trying to distinguish between them by touch. Also, you have to use a small, awkward-to-manipulate joystick to navigate the camera’s various settings and menus. In our field tests, it often mistranslated directional taps and button pushes for each other.

The Kodak V803 includes user-friendly functions such as in-camera digital red-eye removal, a blurry picture warning, and a new “Maintain Settings” menu that lets the user store their preferred settings such as flash, white balance, ISO, and resolution for use each time the camera is powered on.

Other Kodak V803 features include 4x digital zoom, three metering modes (multi-pattern, center-weighted, or center-spot), +/- 2.0 EV exposure compensation, 2, or 10 second self-timer, and a Movie mode that produces QuickTime MOV (MPEG-4) files with audio at 640 x 480, or 320 x 240 pixel resolution at a rate of up to 30 frames per second.

he Samsung i7 is much more than just a simple point and shoot digital camera. The feature list is seemingly endless - 7.2 megapixel still camera, personal media player, music centre, camcorder, portable hard drive, text viewer and voice recorder - all in a compact and stylish black metal body. There’s even a glorified travel guide in the form of the World Tour Guide, which provides images and explanations of famous attractions in 30 different countries! The Samsung i7 offers a very innovative way of accessing all of these options. The large 3 inch LCD screen actually rotates through 180 degrees, with different functionality available at each of the 0, 90 and 180 degree settings.

There are some cameras that promise a lot but when you get them home with the curtains drawn, it’s all rather a disappointment. Not so this smooth, dark beauty. For a start, it’s three things in one - camera with 7Mp res and 3x optical zoom, MP3 player and video player. And it comes with a whopping 3in. screen that rotates into three positions that represent each of the functions. And you don’t even have to press the on button - just rotating the screen turns it on automatically. What’s strange is that the MP3 player position also lets you switch into camera mode as well, but considering that the camera zoom and mode buttons are then hidden this is a little strange to have as an option. As it transpires, the camera mode available, when the screen is in MP3 player position, is Auto, with little user ability to change settings. The spirit of interchangeability extends to the .SDC format movie player mode. Press the menu button here and switch to the MP3 player, a text reader or the built-in Tour Guide to 2600 regions in 30 countries. To be honest, this latter item is of very dubious value as it contains little more than one or two sentences, with no pictures or directions.

The 7 mega pixel i7, with 3x optical zoom, has been created for those who want to capture sound, video and photos wherever they are without compromising on feature quality or design. With the LCD in neutral (0 degrees) the user can access SRS quality music files through the integrated MP3 player; and with the LCD rotated to 90 degrees its Portable Multimedia Player (PMP) function; and turned a full 180 degrees, high quality still images and MPEG-4 SVGA quality moving pictures can be taken. On camera editing means that it’s simple to keep the best material and cut unwanted elements without having to wait until you can get access to a computer.

Introducing the amazing 10.2-megapixel Samsung NV24HD camera. Representing the very best in compact camera technology, it boasts a 24mm wide-angle and a 3.6x optical zoom lens so you have a wider shooting range. Plus, now you can experience full HD quality with your camera. Capture images and record videos in high definition - then watch them on your HDTV in high-quality 720p resolution. Images are richly colored, crisp and clear, simply the best quality available in a digital camera.

Whether you’re indoors or out, snapping a landscape or friends around a table, the 24mm Ultra Wide Angle lens gives you a wider shooting range from a shorter distance and more flexibility for a greater variety of high-quality options. Now you have the ability to capture images of beautiful landscapes and entire buildings from a very short distance - not something you can do with a standard 35mm. The 24mm Ultra Wide Angle is a perfect marriage of advanced versatility with the convenience of a stylish, compact camera.

Twice the technology for crisp, clear images. Dual Image Stabilization eliminates the blur caused by camera shake and delivers clear, crisp images every time, even under difficult lighting situations. Integrating the best lens shifting mechanisms of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) with the sophisticated algorithms of Digital Image Stabilization (DIS), Dual Image Stabilization; another superior Samsung innovation, corrects even the tiniest of shakes.

Realistic color AMOLED technology has come of age with this beautiful display. A wider 180-degree viewing angle, enhanced color reproduction, ultra-high contrast ratio, and quick near-zero millisecond response time are just some of the advantages of this new, thinner, screen. Unlike standard LCDs, the bright 2.5-inch AMOLED screen reduces the glare from sunlight so you can see your images under any lighting condition. Add to that reduced image blurring and a broader color spectrum, and you’ll wonder why you ever considered an LCD screen in the first place.

Cutting-edge image processing algorithm DRIM’s advanced image processing algorithm lets you capture crisp, rich color images with exceptional speed virtually eliminating artifacts and digital noise.

Life can be tough, especially for digital cameras, and precision instruments such as these are not commonly built to withstand the abuse they can sometimes be subjected to. Olympus’ solution is the Mju 725SW, built to withstand being dropped from a height of up to one and a half metres, this camera is not only tough, but also waterproof to a depth of five metres. In this review Gary Wolstenholme searches for a chink in this warrior’s armor.

A choice of two autofocus modes are available through the camera’s menu - iESP and Spot. The iESP mode automatically selects an off-centre focusing point depending on your subject. The Spot focusing mode is fixed to one point in the centre, allowing you to focus and recompose for off-centre subjects. The autofocus on the Mju 725SW isn’t the fastest I have used, but it certainly isn’t slow.

In light of this accolade, in October Olympus launched an updated version, the mju 725 SW. It looks almost identical, with the same tough industrial-looking steel body, complete with exposed Allen bolt heads. These struck me as a bit of a cosmetic pretence the first time around, so in a spirit of inquiry I undid the three on the front panel just to make sure they were real bolts. In fact one of them was a fake, but the other two held the front inset panel in place. The camera comes in three colour schemes (the Titanium version you see here, plus Deep Blue and Cherry Red) with only this inset panel being of the different colour.

The similarity between the two models even extends to the retail price. The mju 720 SW is available online for around £220, while the best price for the new 725 SW is £223.

The only real difference between the 720 and its successor is an improvement to its already impressive durability. Where the 720 was waterproof to a depth of three metres, the 725 is waterproof to five metres, a whole extra 1/5th of an atmosphere of pressure, which I’m sure will make a huge difference.

Specifications

• 7.1 megapixels
• 19 MB internal memory. Removable xD-Picture Card.
• 3x optical zoom equivalent to 38mm-114mm in 35mm format
• 2.5” LCD monitor with 115,000 pixels
• 7cm Super macro mode
• 25 scene programs
• Shutter speed range - 1/2s-1/1000s (up to 4sec. in night mode)
• Sensitivity range - ISO 80 - 1600
• Waterproof up to a water pressure equivalent to 5m depth
• Shock-proof from heights of up to 1.5m