Noise
The noise test consists of pictures of our studio shot taken at increasing ISO levels to show the effect on the image. The pictures were taken after resetting the cameras to their factory default settings. The cameras were then set to record with the highest quality option using Tungsten WB (if possible). Click on a 100% crop below to view the full-size image.Unfortunately, none of these cameras have the option to change the ISO setting. Therefore, we are comparing the noise levels of images taken in Auto mode. From the EXIF information, we know that both the Fuji A330 and Olympus D-540 images were taken at ISO 100. In the User's Guide, Kodak indicates that the CX7330 uses an ISO rating between 100 and 200.
| Fuji FinePix A330 | Kodak CX7330 | Olympus D-540 |
 (ISO 100) Click to enlarge. |
 (ISO Unknown) Click to enlarge. |
 (ISO 100) Click to enlarge. |
It is clear from this crop comparison that the Olympus D-540 has produced the most noise in our sample shot. The difference between the Fuji A330 and the Kodak CX7330 is much harder to see. Both cameras are capable of producing a fairly low-noise image. If we had to choose one over the other, we would pick the Fuji camera due to the higher visibility of JPEG artifacts in the Kodak image.
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Jeff7181 - Friday, December 31, 2004 - link
Nice article... would have been nice to see it BEFORE the holidays though ;)stephencaston - Friday, December 31, 2004 - link
#4,Unfortunately, when it comes to digital cameras, it is impossible to cover every camera at a specific price point. We had to make choices when picking which cameras to use and ended up choosing three cameras at $150 with very similar features to make the comparisons more relevant.
I did not mean to imply that this article will determine the best camera at $150. The article was meant to compare these three cameras to each other. I have amended the title accordingly to reflect this.
We always encourage people to do as much research as possible before buying a camera. There are so many different things to consider when reviewing digital cameras and each review site focuses on different areas.
PrinceGaz - Friday, December 31, 2004 - link
I'd take the Minolta DiMAGE X31 over any of the cameras reviewed any day; it's a lot more compact than them which is what many people desire when out and about, is reported to give a good picture for it's price and size, has lots of features, and at $150 is just as cheap as them. My DiMAGE X20 is a lovely little camera that does everything you could ask of it, and from what I've read the X31 makes a good thing better.I will reiterate a point I made when digicam reviews first appeared on AT, which is that unless you can review *every* model in depth to find which is the best in that category, then you are doing a dis-service to your readers by potentially not even looking at what might be the best camera in that range.
Specialist digicam websites review all cameras so that they can give an informed opinion on any new models, even if that means buying one themselves like AT might do for a computer product that free review samples weren't available for. What AT is doing with digicam reviews is just picking two or three models out of the many available and saying one of them is the best, when better ones you didn't even look at are available. AT does excellent reviews of computer components, but I'm afraid you'd have to be a fool to only use your recommendations when buying a digicam.
orenb - Friday, December 31, 2004 - link
The best digital camera at this price point is the Ricoh Caplio RX. 28-100mm zoom. Metal body. Almost no shutter lag. These three don't even come close.Prog.
Joony - Friday, December 31, 2004 - link
The Canon A400 should be in this review...cosmotic - Thursday, December 30, 2004 - link
Again, Kodak EasyShare is turned into an ad link and blends into the background of the table cell.