Travel compacts Grouptest: Fifth and Sixth stops

St Paul's

EXPOSURE AND CONTRAST

At St Paul's Cathedral each camera was tested to see which exposed most pleasingly. A range of images were taken in different scenarios, so that each camera could be assessed in trickier situations where a mixture of shadows and highlights had the potential to sway each model's metering system.

Despite having been pummelled by the others during video recording, the Samsung shone with its exposures. Not only did its metering system strike a good balance between darker and lighter areas, just underexposing a touch in the presence of highlights to preserve detail, but its consistency also meant that it was reliable in different situations. Results from Sony's HX7V were also pleasing, though the issues with white balance meant some images were much warmer and a little more dense than others. Canon's SX230 HS did a good job but produced slightly bright images which compromised a little highlight detail, though this made them more print-ready than some of the others. Panasonic's TZ20 took the opposite route of slight underexposure when the scene contained a range of tones. Its slightly flatter results meant that a better tonal range was visible than in images from some of the others, and sometimes this is preferable to more optimized results.

Nikon's commendable performance was similar to the Panasonic's, though its slightly more contrasty images forced more subtle tonality to be lost, while the Fuji showed the greatest sensitivity to highlight detail, respectively leaving its images a little harsh and sometimes underexposed.

Verdict

Canon SX230 HS 3/5
Fujifilm F550EXR 2/5
Panasonic TZ20 3/5
Nikon S9100 3/5
Samsung WB650 5/5
Sony HX7V 3/5

The London Bridge Experience

LOW LIGHT AND FLASH PERFORMANCE

Our final stop on the tour was the London Bridge Experience (www.
thelondonbridgeexperience.com), one of London's most popular scare attractions. The venue was chosen for its dimly-lit rooms and corridors - ideal for high-sensitivity and flash photography shooting.

With flash, it was the Sony HX7V that did the best job to illuminate the scene evenly when there was no other light, with Nikon's S9100 and Panasonic's TZ20 also doing well. The Fujifilm F550 EXR and Canon SX230 HS produced comparatively darker results, while the Samsung WB650 fared the worst.

In terms of overall image noise, however, the Canon SX230 HS led the way, with the Fujifilm F550 EXR in a close second place and the Sony just behind them, although the Fujifilm F550 EXR produced its best result on its High ISO & Low Noise EXR setting which reduced resolution to just under 8MP. The Nikon S9100 also did very well to almost match these, but the Panasonic TZ20 and Samsung WB650 noticeably struggled to keep up with the rest. The fact that these are the only two models not to employ backlit sensors comes as little surprise.

Finally, on the subject of low-light shooting, it's worth considering that none of these is equipped with any backlighting for their buttons, which makes them tricky to operate in darker conditions. This is perhaps one of the few situations where models controlled largely through their touchscreens have an advantage.

Verdicts

Flash

Canon SX230 HS 2/5
Fujifilm F550EXR 2/5
Panasonic TZ20 3/5
Nikon S9100 3/5
Samsung WB650 1/5
Sony HX7V 4/5

Noise

Canon SX230 HS 5/5
Fujifilm F550EXR 4/5
Panasonic TZ20 2/5
Nikon S9100 3/5
Samsung WB650 2/5
Sony HX7V 4/5