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Product summary
The good: Quad-core CPU and extra RAM bring fast performance at a low price; decently sized hard drive.
The bad: Irritating sliding panel in front of media card reader; you can get similar core features for less in a dual-core box.
The bottom line: For performance-minded shoppers on a budget, the $700 quad-core Acer Aspire M5100 is fast enough to make you think about spending more than you might otherwise. If all you need is a capable PC with a decent hard drive, you can get away with a less expensive dual-core system.
Specifications: Processor: AMD Phenom X4 9500 (2.2 GHz); RAM installed: 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM; Hard drive: 500 GB Standard

Editors' review
Reviewed by: Rich Brown
Reviewed on: 03/25/2008
Released on: 02/01/2008

And the trickle-down continues. At the end of last year, we saw quad-core desktops coming in under $1,000. Fast-forward three months and quad-core has become even less expensive. The $700 Acer Aspire M5100 is an excellent representative of this new breed of affordable quad-core desktops. The question is, considering that you can get a $430 dual-core desktop with very similar features, is it worth it to pay more for two extra cores? If performance is important to you, the answer is yes. But for anyone looking for basic desktop functionality, you're safe sticking with a less expensive PC.

Aside from its quad-core AMD Phenom 9500 CPU and 3GB of RAM, the Aspire M5100 is similar to most other standard $400-to-$700 PCs. You typically won't find graphics cards, dual hard drives, TV tuners, Blu-ray drives, or wireless networking in this price range, but what you get is a solid workaday computer that, short of gaming or intense multimedia editing, is capable of performing most tasks you'd expect it to. What's interesting is there's not a lot separating this $700 Acer from the $430 eMachines T5246.

Aside from the CPU and the memory, the only features the Acer has over the more affordable eMachines are an extra 100GB of hard drive storage and 128MB more RAM available to the Acer's onboard graphics chip. Neither of those advantages justifies an extra $250 in our minds. Taken together with the quad-core CPU and the extra RAM and the Aspire M5100 starts to look a bit rosier, provided its overall performance comes out ahead. We should add that the Acer has an HDMI port, making it possible for you to haul this desktop into your living room to play standard-definition video on your HDTV. The eMachines has only a standard analog video output, but since neither of these systems is what we'd call "living room friendly." We don't find the eMachines' lack of an HDMI port a significant disadvantage. What is clear, as you can see from our benchmark results, is that the Acer has a definite speed advantage.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

The quad-core Aspire M5100's achieved almost total victory over the dual-core eMachines T5246. The only test on which the eMachines won was our single-core Cinebench test, which is almost purely tied to the clock speed of an individual CPU core. That result makes sense, given the eMachines Athlon chip is just barely faster at 2.21GHz to the Acer's 2.19GHz Phenom. But on tests that take advantage of multiple processing cores, such as Photoshop, or where memory comes into play, like iTunes, the Acer's advantage is clear. The extra memory, in fact, probably gives the Acer a bigger advantage than the quad-core chip itself. Neither four CPU cores nor the added RAM are enough to make the Acer even a passable gaming system, as you can see from its unplayable Unreal Tournament 3 frame rate, but we suspected as much from the beginning.

If the Acer has an advantage in performance, its design offers only a bit more than that of the eMachines system. The cases are more or less equally bland, although we prefer the eMachines because it has no irritating gimmicks such as the hard-to-open, sliding plastic door that covers the Aspire M5100's media card reader. Each system also offers a reasonable degree of upgrading, with a handful of free expansion slots, including a 16x PCI-Express slot. They're also both equally limited to only mainstream 3D card upgrades, because each uses a 300-watt power supply that would likely choke if you matched it to a more substantial 3D card.

We've gotten into the habit of tracking the amount of trialware and desktop clutter the various PC vendors preinstall on their systems, and we found Acer only a mild offender in this regard. The Aspire M5100 came with a total of six extra desktop icons. Three are for applications that are at least semi-useful, including a disc-burning program, a system monitoring tool, and a Media Center-lookalike (which is where the "semi-useful" part comes in, since with Vista Home Premium this system has full-fledged Media Center already). Three other icons want to sell you stuff. Fortunately, the Recycle Bin icon is located conveniently nearby.

For service and support, the aforementioned system monitoring tool actually puts memory usage and other information in an easily accessible floating task bar. You can shut it off for the sake of a clean desktop, but it does surface some handy system information. The default warranty grants one year of parts-and-labor coverage, and Acer also provides toll-free phone support from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, and on the weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:
Acer Aspire M5100 Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.19GHz AMD Phenom 9500; 3GB DDR2 667MHz SDRAM; 256MB (shared) ATI Radeon HD 1250 graphics chip; 500GB 7,200 rpm hard drive

Nikon Coolpix S210 (blue)

2008-07-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

Buy ! Manufacturer: Nikon

General

Product Type - Digital camera - Compact
Color - Cool blue
Weight - 4.2 oz
Width - 3.5 in
Depth - 0.7 in
Height - 2.2 in

Main Features

Resolution - 8 megapixels
Sensor resolution - 8 megapixels
Optical Sensor Type - CCD
Effective Sensor Resolution - 8,000,000 pixels
Total Pixels - 8,150,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size - 1/2.5 in
Light Sensitivity -
ISO 64, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 2000, ISO auto (64-800), ISO auto (64-1600)
Digital Zoom - 4 x
Shooting Modes - Frame movie mode
Shooting Programs: Copy, Museum, Sunset, Close-up, Dawn/dusk, Fireworks, Landscape, Back light, Beach/snow, Sports mode, Party/indoor, Portrait mode, Night portrait, Night landscape, Panorama assist
Special effects - Cool, Sepia, Vivid, Portrait, Black & White
Exposure Modes - Program, Automatic
Exposure Compensation - ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
White Balance - Presets, Automatic
White Balance Presets - Flash, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Incandescent
Digital video format - AVI
Still Image Format - JPEG
Continuous Shooting Speed - 1.2 frames per second
Color support - Color
Face Detection - Yes
TV Tuner - None

Memory / Storage

Integrated Memory - 52 MB
Floppy Drive - None
Digital Storage Media - None
Image Storage: JPEG 3264 x 2448, JPEG 2592 x 1944, JPEG 2048 x 1536, JPEG 1024 x 768, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 1920 x 1080
Supported Flash Memory - MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card

Lens System

Type - Zoom lens - 6.3 mm - 18.9 mm - F/3.1-5.9
Focal Length - 6.3 mm - 18.9 mm
Lens Construction - 5 group(s) / 6 element(s)

Additional Features

Self Timer - Yes
Self Timer Delay - 2 sec, 10 sec
Additional Features: DPOF support, Audio recording, Cropping an image, In-camera red-eye fix, Digital image rotation, Face-priority AF function, Digital image stabilization, Camera orientation detection

Camera Flash

Type - Built-in flash
Flash Modes - Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
Red Eye Reduction - Yes
Features - AF illuminator

Viewfinder

Viewfinder Type - None

Display

Type - LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
Mounting - Built-in
Resolution - 230,000 pixels

Digital Player (Recorder)

Type - None

Microphone

Type - Microphone - Built-in

Connections

Connector Type - 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output
Expansion Slot(s) - 1 x SD Memory Card

Lens Systems

Auto Focus - TTL contrast detection
Type - Zoom lens
Focal length - 6.3 mm - 18.9 mm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera - 38 - 114 mm
Focus adjustment - Automatic
Auto Focus Points (Zones) - 99
Min Focus Range - 23.6 in
Macro Focus Range - 10cm
Lens Aperture - F/3.1-5.9
Optical Zoom - 3 x
Zoom Adjustment - Motorized drive
Lens construction - 5 : 6

Miscellaneous

Carrying Case - None
Cables Included - 1 x USB cable, 1 x A/V cable
Included Accessories - Carrying strap

Power

Power Device - Battery charger - External

Battery

Supported Battery - 1 x Nikon EN-EL10 Li-ion rechargeable battery ( Included )

Software

Type - Drivers & Utilities

Reviewed by: Lori Grunin

With its supermodel-slim body and classy chassis--clad in jewel tones of brushed metallic blue, plum, bronze, and basic black--the Nikon Coolpix S210 will certainly make a style statement when you whip it out of whatever tiny pocket you've slipped it into. But as with its slightly more expensive and marginally slimmer-than-thou competitor, the Casio Exilim EX-S880, the performance and photo-quality trade-offs you make for high style and low price may not quite be worth it.

It's not only pretty, the design is also pretty functional. Though the buttons, zoom, and four-way-navigation-plus-OK switch are relatively flat, they're clearly labeled, fairly large, and provide good tactile feedback.

Only the shutter button feels a bit small, especially when shooting vertically--my finger kept sliding down to the narrow end.

The S210 uses the typical Nikon menu scheme, though better implemented than in the annoying Coolpix S600. A Mode button pops you into selecting among auto, Hi ISO (auto ISO up to 1600, compared with ISO 800 for normal auto ISO), Scene, Voice recording, Movie, and Setup modes. Menu calls up frequently accessed shooting options: image resolution, white balance, ISO sensitivity (Auto plus manual 64 through 2000), and color effects.

You'll also find the AF area mode options here, which include Center, Manual spot, Auto, and Face Priority, as well as the various drive-mode options: single, continuous, Best Shot Selector, Multi-shot 16 (16 successive shots in a single frame), Interval Timer, and Time-Lapse in movie-capture mode. The BSS can be quite useful--it shoots up to 10 photos as you hold the shutter down, then saves the sharpest of the bunch.

But you really don't want to shoot at higher than ISO 400 with this camera, so forget the high ISO mode. As with the S600, the face-priority AF is too slow, as well as too erratic, to take seriously, and as with most snapshot models, the auto area AF invariably picks the wrong subject. As usual, I recommend that you eschew all the fancy AF modes and instead use center AF, focus, and recompose. For selecting the appropriate subject, you're still faster than the camera. There's also D-Lighting, which can apply tonal corrections in-camera for those inevitable underexposed shots, but this feature works best on models that have better high-ISO performance; it unavoidably exacerbates noise. The camera lacks optical image stabilization, and electronic stabilizers are generally poor substitutes.

Unfortunately, the S210's performance is fairly sluggish. It wakes up and shoots in a reasonable amount of time--2 seconds--but its normal single and sequential (not burst) shooting performance trails both competitors and what we consider generally acceptable. It takes 0.9 second to focus and shoot under optimal conditions and 1.5 seconds in suboptimal circumstances; most snapshot cameras have gotten those times closer to 0.5 and 1 second, respectively. Firing two shots in a row takes 3.1 seconds, 3.4 seconds with flash, both of which are close to bottom-of-class performance. Oddly, continuous-shooting performance does OK, bursting at a rate of about 1.5 frames per second.

The LCD fares pretty well. At 2.5 inches, it's a bit small for a fashionista camera and a tiny bit smaller than the EX-S880's, but about as big as you could fit on this model and typical for the price. If you boost the brightness, it's adequately viewable in direct sunlight, though that will eat into the camera's 220 shot battery life (CIPA rating). But it's got a nice, wide viewing angle that delivers a good overhead shooting and group viewing experience.

If it weren't for the poor lens and 8-megapixel sensor, the S600 would probably have much better photo quality. The 3x 38-114mm-equivalent f3.1-5.9 lens has a typical range and reach for its price class, but it's probably one of the worst we've seen with respect to sharpness.

It looks as if there's a relatively sharp zone in the middle, but detail outside that zone is a blurry, smeary mess, with frequent fringing on high-contrast edges.

As a result, you really don't want to print these photos at larger than 8 inches by 10 inches--even at that size the artifacts are obvious--and you certainly don't want to crop into anything but the center. That kind of defeats the purpose of having the high-resolution 8-megapixel sensor in the camera.

In one respect, the S210's noise profile is fairly typical for a snapshot camera. It's solid up to ISO 100, OK but visibly softer at ISO 200, and detail pretty much disappears by ISO 400. Oddly, at even higher ISOs, flat colors develop areas that look like pixel dropouts.

On the upside, it renders pleasing, bright colors, and its exposures look pretty good. The VGA-resolution, 30fps movies are also good (it writes AVI files at a bit rate of about 1MB per minute of video), but the inability to zoom while capturing severely limits the usefulness of the movie feature.

Aside from its good looks, the Nikon Coolpix S210 has price on its side: if you want the skinniest camera you can get on the cheap, this one's right down there. But if you also want decent photo quality and performance, look at the marginally more expensive but older Canon PowerShot SD1000--it's not as pretty or slim, but it's small, fast ,and delivers better photos. Or stretch your budget a little further for the also tiny and attractive, but better performing and optically stabilized, Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS.

Shooting speed (in frames per second)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time (flash)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon PowerShot SD1000

2.4

1.5

0.9

0.5

Casio Exilim EX-S880

1.5

2.8

1.8

1.1

0.5

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120

1.8

2.7

1.3

0.5

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80

3.2

4.4

2.2

1.2

0.7

Nikon Coolpix S210

3.4

3.1

1.5

0.9

Typical continuous-shooting speed (in frames per second)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Canon PowerShot SD1000

1.7

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80

1.5

Nikon Coolpix S210

1.5

Casio Exilim EX-S880

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120

Buy !

Rename digital pics automatically

2008-07-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

By kmot321, A CNET user submitted tip

It's tedious work labeling vacation photos, naming them Europe_1.jpg, Europe_2.jpg, etc. Luckily, you don't have to do this if you're running Windows XP. Simply perform this hack to quickly apply a meaningful label to every picture in the folder.

Open the picture file folder and select View, Thumbnails.
Select all the pictures by clicking the first picture once, holding the Shift key, and clicking the last picture once.
Right-click the first photo, and select Rename from the drop-down menu.
Windows XP will highlight the filename for the first photo, enabling you to rename it.
Type in the new name, for example, SummerVacation_1, and hit Enter.

Windows then applies the name with a sequential number to each picture in the folder.

When renaming, you may get this pop-up warning:

If so, click No, and insert the file type as a suffix to your new name. For example, if you see .jpgSummerPic, change SummerPic to SummerPic.jpg. at the end of the photo you are renaming

Avoid lens fungus on your digital camera

2008-07-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

By Aimee Baldridge, CNET Editor

If you live in a dry, temperate climate, you're probably saying, "Lens what?" But if you're from one of those ghastly regions where the humidity will melt the headliner out of your car and turn your sun porch into a sauna, you know what we're talking about. Moisture trapped inside a camera can provide a healthy environment for foul fungus to grow, causing cloudiness and veiny patterns to form in the lens.

The best way to deal with lens fungus is to prevent it from taking hold, but even if it does creep in, your optics aren't necessarily doomed.

1. An ounce of prevention. Don't leave your camera sitting in a camera bag when you're not out shooting. Store it in a cool, dry place. If you're in an especially humid climate, keep your camera and lenses in an airtight container with some little bags of silica gel that will absorb moisture. Make sure to change the bags regularly so that you don't leave saturated silica gel sitting around with your gear.

If you go out shooting in the cold, wrap your camera in a plastic bag before bringing it into a warm room to prevent moisture from accumulating inside the camera.

2. A pound of cure. If it's too late for prevention, you'll have to have your lens cleaned. Otherwise, the fungus can affect image quality and eat into the coating on your optics. Don't rely on home remedies such as leaving your lens in the sun; they won't solve your problem.

We strongly recommend sending the camera to the manufacturer or taking it to a repair shop for a professional cleaning. However, if you're determined to do it yourself and are willing to risk doing serious damage to your camera, you can try taking the lens apart with a jeweler's screwdriver and cleaning it with a vinegar solution on a soft cloth. Fungus usually grows between the glass elements of the lens, not just on the front or rear surface, which means that you can't simply clean it off of the outer surfaces. You must disassemble the lens.

Improve your digital camera's battery life

2008-07-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

By Aimee Baldridge, CNET Editor

Night of the living dead batteries

You know that battery life isn't eternal, but what if even brand-new AAs give you just a few dozen shots in your new digital camera? Most current models can take hundreds of photos before running out of juice, so if you're getting substantially less than that, there's a problem. Fortunately, it's probably very easy to solve--although you may have to spend a little money to fix the problem.

Well, maybe not as long as the undead, but they should be able to hold up for a good long shoot. Here's what you need to know to boost your camera's stamina.

1. Use the right AAs. If your camera runs on AA cells, the problem is probably that you're using alkalines. Many manufacturers package their consumer snapshot cameras with alkaline AAs, despite the fact that the cameras aren't designed to use that power source. Why? Because they can knock the cost of rechargeables and a charger off the price and make you think you're getting a bargain.

If you don't already have rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride cells and a charger around the house, you'll need to buy them. The higher the mAh rating, the longer they'll last--look for 1850mAh or higher. Another option is using disposable lithium AAs. They last much longer than alkalines, but of course you can't reuse them. Some cameras run on larger CRV3 cells, which are also disposable and provide much longer life than alkalines.

The good news is that you can probably bring those seemingly dead alkalines back from the grave: Stick them in your CD player or another low-drain device, and they'll have a whole new life.

2. Return the damned to their maker. If your camera came with a rechargeable lithium-ion cell instead of AAs, and you're getting very short battery life on a full charge, there's probably something wrong with the camera. Take it back for an exchange or refund.

Lens fungus: avoidance and remedy

2008-07-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

By shyamalmitra, CNET Member

Digital cameras have the same optic mulicoated lenses as 35mm, 6x45, and large format cameras. Some SLR manufacturers continue today with SLR lenses for SLR shaped bodies which have digital CCD inside instead of the film at the rear nodal plane. Digital lenses however as a general have smaller diameters to suit the smaller equivalent format in comparison to the 35mm format, and compact digitals have even smaller lenses fitted.

Now to the tips.

1. Early check and prevention. Lens fungus as Aimee has said, love humidity and darkness. Therefore open your camera and check periodically (if possible front to back as in case of detachable SLR lenses) to notice one or more minute clustures of wavy lines branching out from a central dot like a spider's web. This most common lens eater is the oligodendral asci whose spores come and settle on the outer surface of your lens's prime element in the beginning. (OK. Your camera lens's outer surface!). Wipe it off very gently with absolutely no pressure using a very soft lens tissue paper and a lens cleaner. Do not use an ordinary rag and water! Never use a chamoise leather piece! If you are successful you have saved your lens. If not then get hold of an electronic flash gun and fire it repeatedly on the lens. The flashlight falling on the fungus shall kill its spread and arrest it temporarily. Take your camera to a camera repair shop and hope for the best. Even if the fungus has attacked inner elements, which you can not reach (and should not reach if you are not known to repair lenses) the flashlight will stop all fungal activity in your entire lens. Every time you store your camera for a good period of rest fire an electronic flash on the lens before packing.

2. Preventive storage of cameras, lenses and ( for non digital cameras, the negatives and transparencies). Aimee has very correctly advised the use of dessicants/dehydrants in form of silica gell bags in your camera cases. Photographers all over the world pack these in SLR bodies, lens cases and in camera bags and cases when doing outdoor work. When you are back in your home, have a strong wall mounted wooden/plyboard showcase with glass doors (sliding on rails if possible) with a wired socket inside for mounting a 0 watt clear electric bulb using 110/220 volts direct current and have that bulb switched on always. Your cost of electricity consumed will be very very small in comparison to the cost of repairing (or God forbid losing permanently) a fungus eaten lens in you expensive camera. Store your entire camera system in here and forget lens fungus. Your negatives and slides that are also commonly damaged by fungii shall also stay safe in here with guarantee.

3. General lens care. Keep your fingertips away from your camera lens and view finder. Educate yourself to remember this common human carelessness that also invites fungus spores other than smudges. Use soft lens tissues and specialised lens cleaning detergents to clean your fingerprints. Use a blower (not a blower brush) to blow away the occasional dust spec. Never blow air on you lens from your mouth. You could blow in a good amount of vaporised mucous from your mouth to ask bacteria and fungus spores to come in and colonise! Never try to vaporise the lens surface with hot breath to wipe the surface afterwards. These are not your ordinary daily wear opticals. Where possible use plastic or metal lens caps or hoods. Avoid taking your camera to seacoasts and waterfalls where a high degree of humidity persists. If at all shooting there, clean your lens in the manner described above after returning to normal environments.

This is my own regimen. I would like folks that read this to comment in these columns.

Thanks.

This is a just an addition to Aimee Baldridge's educative and valuable article published here on the subject. I agree with everything she has written and want just to add a few more lines from my 15 year old experience as a serious amateur in the field of photography and lens maintenance.
Digital cameras have the same optic mulicoated lenses as 35mm, 6x45, and large format cameras. Some SLR manufacturers continue today with SLR lenses for SLR shaped bodies which have digital CCD inside instead of the film at the rear nodal plane. Digital lenses however as a general have smaller diameters to suit the smaller equivalent format in comparison to the 35mm format, and compact digitals have even smaller lenses fitted.
Now to the tips.
1. Early check and prevention. Lens fungus as Aimee has said, love humidity and darkness. Therefore open your camera and check periodically (if possible front to back as in case of detachable SLR lenses) to notice one or more minute clustures of wavy lines branching out from a central dot like a spider's web. This most common lens eater is the oligodendral asci whose spores come and settle on the outer surface of your lens's prime element in the beginning. (OK. Your camera lens's outer surface!). Wipe it off very gently with absolutely no pressure using a very soft lens tissue paper and a lens cleaner. Do not use an ordinary rag and water! Never use a chamoise leather piece! If you are successful you have saved your lens. If not then get hold of an electronic flash gun and fire it repeatedly on the lens. The flashlight falling on the fungus shall kill its spread and arrest it temporarily. Take your camera to a camera repair shop and hope for the best. Even if the fungus has attacked inner elements, which you can not reach (and should not reach if you are not known to repair lenses) the flashlight will stop all fungal activity in your entire lens. Every time you store your camera for a good period of rest fire an electronic flash on the lens before packing.
2. Preventive storage of cameras, lenses and ( for non digital cameras, the negatives and transparencies). Aimee has very correctly advised the use of dessicants/dehydrants in form of silica gell bags in your camera cases. Photographers all over the world pack these in SLR bodies, lens cases and in camera bags and cases when doing outdoor work. When you are back in your home, have a strong wall mounted wooden/plyboard showcase with glass doors (sliding on rails if possible) with a wired socket inside for mounting a 0 watt clear electric bulb using 110/220 volts direct current and have that bulb switched on always. Your cost of electricity consumed will be very very small in comparison to the cost of repairing (or God forbid losing permanently) a fungus eaten lens in you expensive camera. Store your entire camera system in here and forget lens fungus. Your negatives and slides that are also commonly damaged by fungii shall also stay safe in here with guarantee.
3. General lens care. Keep your fingertips away from your camera lens and view finder. Educate yourself to remember this common human carelessness that also invites fungus spores other than smudges. Use soft lens tissues and specialised lens cleaning detergents to clean your fingerprints. Use a blower (not a blower brush) to blow away the occasional dust spec. Never blow air on you lens from your mouth. You could blow in a good amount of vaporised mucous from your mouth to ask bacteria and fungus spores to come in and colonise! Never try to vaporise the lens surface with hot breath to wipe the surface afterwards. These are not your ordinary daily wear opticals. Where possible use plastic or metal lens caps or hoods. Avoid taking your camera to seacoasts and waterfalls where a high degree of humidity persists. If at all shooting there, clean your lens in the manner described above after returning to normal environments.
This is my own regimen. I would like folks that read this to comment in these

How to avoid fuzzy photos

2008-07-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

By Helen Bradley, CNET Class Leader

If you get fuzzy pictures when zooming in from a distance with your digital camera, the fuzziness is probably caused by one of two things:

One is that you’re moving the camera when taking the shot. Any movement is exaggerated when you’re zoomed in, so try using a tripod or stand very still, take a deep breath, hold it, take the photo and then breathe out.

The other problem is that you might be using digital zoom, which isn’t a true zoom, and the results are more likely to be fuzzy simply because the camera is enlarging the pixels to make the images bigger, rather than really zooming in on the subject. I always turn off digital zoom, and doing that might help. You won’t be able to zoom in so close, but you might get clearer shots,

As for photographing moving people: Try following them with the camera so you actually move the camera with them. Take the shot as you move and keep moving until it’s all done. That way you should get the person nicely sharp and the background nicely blurred.

Prevent loss of precious digital photos

2008-07-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

By jon barleycorn, CNET Member

["Loss of precious digital photos can be prevented by purchasing an inexpensive chip reader (~ $20 these days) and downloading your photos to your laptop (or other backup device).","Loss of precious digital photos can be prevented by purchasing an inexpensive chip reader (~ $20 these days) and downloading your photos to your laptop (or other backup device)."]

Cameras with a Short Shutter Delay

2008-07-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

Lori Grunin, Senior Editor

Updated March 10, 2008

Everyone's looking for a point-and-shoot camera fast enough to catch Sally making the winning goal or Fido catching a Frisbee in midair. There are two main factors that impact your camera's speed: the time it takes to lock focus, which affects how fast the camera captures an image after you press the shutter button; and processing and write speeds, which affect how fast you can shoot the next image after you've just taken a picture. In our reviews, we refer to the first factor as shutter lag and measure it in both high-contrast and low-contrast situations. We call the second factor shot-to-shot time. Here are five of the fastest we've seen, with shot-to-shot times (in good light) of 1.5 seconds or less and shutter lags of 0.5 second or shorter in high-contrast conditions and 1.2 seconds or less in dim conditions.