Acer CI-6330 review

"Solid fun" are the words emblazoned on the CI-6330's packaging, which forms an image of a rather large camera. The camera itself is chunky but elegant, and it has an air of resourcefulness we wouldn't normally expect at this price.

The CCD is capable of recording 6-megapixel images, and the mode dial has shutter priority, aperture priority and full manual modes to complement the usual auto, scene preset and video modes. Two rechargeable AA batteries and a charger are supplied, although there's no labelling to show which way to insert them into the camera.

The controls are straightforward and well laid out, but the camera is slow in use; it takes six seconds to take a shot from power-up and this increases to 12 seconds when the flash is required. Browsing pictures in memory is slow, too, and pointless text information momentarily obliterates the view each time you move to the next picture.

The priority and manual modes are a big bonus for creative photographers, but the one-second maximum shutter length is too short and there's no Exposure Value (EV) readout to help with adjustments. The screen's brightness changes to reflect these settings but only when the shutter is half-pressed, not continuously.

Image quality was above average, with none of the sharpness issues we've seen from other Acer cameras. Outdoor shots were pleasantly exposed, although we found skin tones had a tendency to be overexposed. The camera also sometimes focused on the background, even though our subject was in the centre of the frame. Indoor shots were decent, but the flash produced pasty skin tones and had a limited range.

The CI-6330 is a well-balanced camera, but even at this price its image quality needs to be better to warrant our unreserved enthusiasm.

Author: Ben Pitt