Labs

This 7-megapixel camera is also an MP3 and MPEG-4 video player. Software is supplied to convert video to the XviD format and the results look excellent on the 2.5in screen. It's less impressive as an MP3 player, though. The supplied headphones are okay, but the controls are awkward and the battery only lasted for 41/2 hours. Still, we like how the camera can be charged using the mains adapter or USB cable.

Performance is among the slowest in this group test at three seconds between shots. Photographic controls are spread across three sets of menus, but adjusting them was reasonably quick once we knew where to look.

Image quality was variable, sometimes giving beautifully exposed, richly coloured shots, while at other times it veered way off course. Detail was reasonable, but deteriorated in low light as noise reduction processing kicked in. The macro mode was by far the best here, though.