Canon PowerShot SD880 IS

The 10 megapixel PowerShot SD880 IS Digital Elph is the follow up to the popular SD870 IS, and what a worthy successor it is. It's capable of producing truly excellent pictures for a camera of its size and it has nice components for a sub $300 model including a wide angle lens and optical image stabilization. There are a couple weaknesses, but nothing that keeps it from being an excellent point and shoot camera.

At 6.3 ounces and measuring 3.7 inches wide by 2.2 inches high by 0.9 inch deep, it'll fit more comfortably in a pants or coat pocket than a shirt pocket, but it's by no means big. Compared with the SD870 IS, the SD880 IS has the latest version of Canon's image processing engine, Digic 4, jumps from 8 megapixels to 10, and offers a few more scene modes. The 4x f2.8-5.8 28-112mm lens is a highlight of the camera the wide angle is so nice to have on a camera this small, and it's a tad longer zoom than on the SD870.

It also records video using the H.264 codec instead of Motion JPEG. The directional pad is pretty standard; instead it's the thumb dial that adds interest here. In SCN mode, the dial is used for rifling through your options. It's also used for swapping between Auto and Program in Shooting mode and tone control in Video. It works well, but you can barely feel stops when spinning the dial making it just a little too easy to switch out of whichever mode you want.

The dial can be used for navigating Menu settings, too. Overall, I like the key design and wheel, but I can also see it confusing new users to the point of frustration. The buttons have a pillowy, convex shape, which is not only attractive, but makes for unmistakable presses. The Print and Share button can be turned into a shortcut key to access one of nine shooting functions. As for performance, the SD880 IS is fractionally slower than the first rate SD870 IS.

Time to first shot is 1.2 seconds and you can shoot again in 1.9 seconds. Shutter lag was great just 0.4 second in bright conditions and 0.8 in dim. The only marked decrease in speed is if you're using the flash. The shot to shot time extends to 3.2 seconds, which is a generally slow time and nearly a second longer than the SD870 IS. The typical burst speed is a respectable 1.4 frames per second.

The 3 inch Canon PureColor LCD II performed well in direct light and has a wide viewing angle. More impressive than the SD880 IS's speed is the picture quality. Colors were always natural and vibrant. White balance was accurate and pictures showed good detail and sharpness at ISO 200 and below. Also, if you take a lot of landscape photos, note that the SD880 IS is prone to fringing. Video is better than average considering it tops out at 640x480.

Kodak EasyShare M1033

Measuring 2.3 inches tall by 3.7 inches wide by 0.8 inch deep, the M1033 slides easily into a back pocket, and at 5.2 ounces, it won't weigh you down, either. The camera's mostly metal body comes in six colors black, silver, pink, copper, red, and gray feels sturdy, and has a clear cut design, so you can hand the camera to anyone and let them shoot away. Buttons for the shutter, power, flash, and mode selections are on top, flush with the body, adding to the camera's streamlined looks.

On back is a 3 inch LCD that's bright enough to remain visible in sunlight. A relatively large rocker zoom switch for the 3x 35-105mm equivalent f3.1-5.7 lens is well positioned to the top left of the screen. Below it sits a five way joystick for navigating menus and for the playing of images and video. That's flanked by Delete, Playback, Menu, and Kodak's standard Share button, which lets you tag an image to be printed or e-mailed the next time the camera is connected to a computer.

Powering on to first shot takes 1.7 seconds on average and typically takes the same amount of time from shot to shot. Using the flash adds nearly a second to that. Shutter lag is very good for its class at only 0.4 second in bright conditions and 0.9 in dim. Burst mode offers only a three shot spurt in approximately 1.4 seconds. It's important to note that if you let it by pressing the shutter button completely rather than halfway and waiting for a focus confirmation will take a picture without locking focus.

This does let you capture images extremely quickly, but they'll frequently be blurry. Press the Mode button and you get four options Smart Capture, Program, Scene, and Video. Smart Capture mode integrates scene and face detection, optimized auto ISO, and a broader dynamic range among other things, so you truly don't have to worry about a setting to take a decent picture. This mode also applies Kodak's PerfectTouch technology to help improve detail and contrast.

In general this system works, producing fine photos regardless of subject or lighting conditions. Which is good, since the camera always starts in Smart Capture, regardless of your settings at power off. Kodak EasyShare M1033 also has 22 Scene modes you can switch to in seconds. These include standards like portrait and landscape as well as things like in camera panorama (left to right and right to left), candle light, panning, and blur reduction. The Program mode gives you slightly more control for exposure compensation and metering, color (natural, low, black and white, sepia), white balance, and ISO. It's nice to have, though I'm not sure it's wholly necessary.

Panasonic TC-P54V10

The same basic story stays true for the TC-PV10 series, but it's even better than the G10. This Panasonic plasma has the same deep blacks that grace its less expensive little brother, and adds a couple of key improvements: better video processing to handle 1080p/24 sources, and more picture adjustments that allow it to transcend the limitations of THX mode. Its picture should satisfy all but the pickiest of videophiles, and it also outperforms any LCD based display, LED or otherwise, we've ever tested.

Beyond image quality, the V10 delivers plenty of features and an eye catching one sheet of glass design, for a combination that deserves serious consideration from buyers willing to pay for it. The 50 inch Panasonic TC-P50V10, but this review also applies to the 54 inch Panasonic TC-P54V10. The two sizes share identical specs and should have very similar picture quality.

The Panasonic TC-PV10 series also includes 58 and 65 inch models, but we will review those larger sizes separately when review samples are available later in 2009. Panasonic TC-PV10 is one sleek plasma. Its main external differentiator is what the company calls "one sheet of glass" design, where a pane of glass extends beyond the edge of the screen and over the bezel itself, leading to a seamless look that's even more impressive in person than in pictures.

(It's worth noting that only the 50 and 54 inch models feature the one sheet design the larger members of the series have the more traditional, visually separate bezel around the screen). The V10 series eschews the relatively bright silver fade along the bottom of the frame seen on the company's step down TC-PG10 models, instead opting for a much subtler silver accent that arcs slightly upward in the middle.

We think the V10 looks more attractive and sophisticated than the G10, and indeed it's one of the coolest looking TV designs we've seen this year. As Panasonic's nearly top of the line plasma series, excepting the Z1, the V10 models offer a couple of extras. One is the ability to refresh the screen at 96Hz, which allows the TV to properly maintain the cadence of film when fed a 1080p/24 source typically from a Blu-ray player (the refresh rate remains fixed at the standard 60Hz for non-1080p/24 sources).

The V10 also has a 48Hz setting, but we recommend using 96Hz instead since the 48Hz option can introduce flicker. (Here's where we mention that, like all Panasonic plasmas, the V10's spec sheet includes mention of a 600Hz subfield drive. Our best advice is to ignore this spec it has no visible bearing on picture quality, aside from a slight improvement in motion resolution that's extremely difficult to see.)

Panasonic TC-P50G10

Panasonic announced the TC-PG10 series at CES, we immediately knew it would go up against the Kuro in our lab. What we didn't know is that Pioneer would stop producing HDTVs, leaving the hill wide open for anybody to claim the king's throne. Panasonic G10 series is the new king. No, it's not as good overall as the soon to be extinct Kuro Elite, but it comes closer than ever in the arena of black level performance, and mounts a good fight in just about every other field of picture quality, with the exception of some color accuracy issues.

Panasonic steeped the G10 in extra features compared with its less expensive brethren, adding a THX mode that's largely responsible for its excellent picture, along with VieraCast for access to a limited range of Internet extras. The downside, as always, is that it costs significantly more than lower end models, but if you're looking for the best picture quality in a post Kuro world. The Panasonic TC-PG10 series is the safest bet so far this year.

The 46 inch model, the TC-P46G10 ($1,699 street price), but our remarks on picture quality also apply to at least two other models in the series, the 42 inch TC-P42G10 ($1,299) and the 50 inch TC-P50G10 ($1,999) all three share identical specifications except screen size. The largest model in the series, the TC-P54G10, also shares similar specifications, but the screen size difference is great enough to warrant another hands on evaluation when that model becomes available.

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