Reviews

EPSON L-500V

The trend in consumer digital cameras has finally settled into three stable categories: the big digital single lens reflex (DSLR) with 8-14-megapixel resolution, the midsize ćenthusiastä models offering 8-megapixels and longer/faster non-removable lenses, and the extremely popular subcompact 5-megapixel models with 3X zooms. This last category makes up the vast majority of sales, so of course there are hundreds to choose from hailing from every imaginable camera and consumer electronics maker.

Epson was in the digicam game fairly early on, offering respectable midrange units that were well received by reviewers but obviously did not meet the companyās sales goals, as they pulled out of the North American market a few years back.

Now Epson is back with a range of delectable cameras that have a real chance to taking a healthy slice of marketshare from the big boys: Sony, Canon, Olympus, Nikon, Kodak, and HP.

I admit that when the L-500V box came to my office, I sighed and imagined yet another ho-hum, Chinese-made subcompact for the masses. I opened it up and slipped the lithium-ion battery into its silo, pressed the flush-mounted power button atop the center of the smooth, black-and-dark grey body, and suddenly felt my chin hit the floor when the most beautiful 2.5-inch display Iāve ever seen lit up like a shuttle launch. Crikey, this thing has Epsonās Photo Fine LCD panel! I rushed over to my colleagueās office to get a second opinion. Could it really be this good, or am I delusional? He put it next to the Sony Cybershot DSC-V3 he was reviewing at the time, moved it around, changed the lights, took it outside, then declared the Epson the better of the two, no question. In detail, color vibrancy, accuracy, viewing angle, and just plain wow-factor, the Epson walks away with the Best Picture Award.

Epson created a new breed of display that embeds three colors per pixel in a high density panel. This one offers a generous 512x384 of them with the ability to display 262,144 colors at 256 pixels per square inch. The result is gloriously bright and uncommonly crisp ÷ you can zoom in on your photos as far as they will go and it just looks better and better. It must to be seen to be believed. Epson has dramatically raised the bar for mobile device displays.

This camera is a real sleeper. Itās not flashy at all; it doesnāt have any trendy design flourishes except one: a photorealistic display that fills the backplane of the thing. There is no optical viewfinder and none is really needed. I think those dinky optical finders on some subcompacts are vestigial and are there solely to comfort those who are new to digital cameras. With indoor/outdoor LCD panel technology this good, who needs optical? Sony has done remarkably well with its sleek silver T1, a camera with no optical viewfinder. May a thousand finder-less cameras bloom in its skinny wake!

Once you get over the L-500Vās brilliant display (like thatāll ever happen) you are left with a modern subcompact with just about everything you could expect for $400: an f2.8 lens with a 3X zoom, five way joystick control for choosing options, a menu button, scene modes for easy shooting, and high speed SD card support up to 1GB in capacity. To this you can add a 640x480- pixel, 30 frame-per-second movie mode, 3-frame-per-second still photo shooting at full resolution, and the fastest zoom servomechanism weāve even seen in a sub-$800 camera. There is also a dedicated Print button for directly connected Epson printers, and the one thing I could have done without: Epsonās Photo In Frame (PIF) button, which lets you superimpose customizable picture frame borders around your photos. Itās cute and Iām sure lots of people will get a real kick out of it, but itās not for me, thanks. There is an included desktop component for creating your own unique frames for both Mac and Windows computers ÷ a thoughtful touch until you remember this camera is from a company that would really like you to print as many photos as possible, please.

In the shooting department, I have no complaints. The L-500V is as good or better than any subcompact from any maker Iāve seen this year. The camera is responsive, with imperceptible shutter lag and rapid reset for the next shot. AF/AE is virtually flawless and the flash does a good job of throttling down the lumens when it needs to. Battery life is very good ö about the only complaint is the pathetically undersized 16MB SD card that ships with it. Throw it away and buy a fast 512MB from a name brand maker and youāre good to go.

It is a sign of the times that features that one year ago seemed revolutionary are now commonplace and completely taken for granted. One thing that has changed dramatically only recently is the quality of displays we get on reasonably priced cameras. In the case of the new little Epson, the display makes all the difference in the world.

÷David MacNeill

Home

© 2004 D.C. Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Dreamweaver-Templates.org