Acer CR-8530 review

Verdict:

Review Date: 22 Jun 2005

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Acer's CR-8530 may not look great, but it feels well made and reassuringly weighty.

It has an 8-megapixel sensor and produces photos at resolutions up to 3,264x2,448. It also has an LCD screen that's ideal for framing and reviewing your shots, and a small but functional optical viewfinder.

However, the CR-8530 is one of the slower cameras to use. This is partly due to the large files it generates. Also, its auto-focus and flash-recharge times are sluggish. Still, the menu system is refreshingly simple, providing quick access to all the important settings. One touch brings up the exposure compensation options, and shutter and aperture controls are just as easy to use. Like many compact digital cameras, it has a 3x zoom lens. Despite its high-resolution CCD, its pictures are softer than those produced by the Panasonic and FujiFilm. Its sensor is better than its lens, and this combination gives textures and fine repeating detail a surreal, painted look. Colours are recorded faithfully and white balance and exposure are gauged correctly.

The CR-8530 produces faithfully coloured but soft images that can be printed on 10x8" paper at 300dpi. Unfortunately, its problems with fine detail show that the quality of a camera's lens is just as important as its resolution.

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