GE E1235 Astoria NY

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GE is a relative newcomer to digital photography, but the company appears big enough to hit the ground running. The E1235's 12.2-megapixel resolution is the highest we've seen in a compact digital camera, which makes the price remarkable. The curved metal body and 2.7in screen add to the impression that this is a premium camera. Other specifications are in line with its price, though: there's a 3x zoom lens and no optical image stabilisation to counteract blur.

The controls are friendly, with quick access to commonly used settings and a dedicated button to cycle through the face-detection options. As with Pentax's Optio W60, the E1235's face detection includes smile and blink detection, automatically shooting when it spots the former and showing a warning after capturing the latter. Smile detection takes over a second to react and can't be overridden manually by pressing the shutter release button, so it's a gimmick that will soon lose its charm. Blink detection worked reasonably well, but no better than our eyes and the screen. Even simple face detection struggled at distances of more than a couple of metres at the wide-angle zoom position.

The high resolution may be impressive, but it's useful only if it boosts detail levels without damaging performance too much. Sadly, there's a gap of 4.4 seconds on average between shots and a 0.7fps continuous mode. Images failed to capture subtle textures such as skin tones and foliage with the precision we'd expect from a 12-megapixel camera. A little noise was detectable in shadows even at ISO 64, and images were hopelessly vague in low light. Colours were pleasing, though, and pictures looked fine under casual inspection.

Still, those on a budget are better off with an 8-megapixel camera such as Samsung's NV8 or Pentax's Optio M50.12.2 megapixels (4,032x3,024 pixels), 3x optical zoom (35-105mm), SDHC slot (26MB internal), 3.7V 1,050mAh Li-ion battery, 56x103x24mm, 145g

Author: Ben Pitt

GE E1235