Labs

Digital cameras: DSLRs

This month, we put three types of camera on test: budget and premium compacts, super-zooms and DSLRs. In total, 14 cameras come under scrutiny, along with four of the best from last month's round-up of budget digital compacts. In each case, you'll find scores out of six in four categories: Image Quality, Features & Design, Value for Money and an Overall score.

Image Quality

Although camera designs may differ in emphasis, they all have the same purpose: to take photos. Each camera is awarded a score out of six for the quality of its images. To arrive at this score, we use every camera to take three sample shots in its most appropriate automatic or semi-automatic shooting mode. The first shot is an outdoor image taken in Greenland Dock in broad daylight. The second test is a macro shot of a flower, taken from as close as the camera's focus will allow. The third shot is a view over the London skyline in failing light. Two members of the Labs team then independently award scores for each shot. Since image quality is of universal importance, we use the same scoring criteria for every camera, focusing on the image's cleanness, level of detail, colour balance and exposure. For the macro shot, we also consider how close the camera was able to get to the subject.

If the camera has a movie mode, we also test this, assessing its ability to produce smooth, detailed video clips with clear sound. All these scores are then converted into a single score out of six for each shot, and the results are reproduced below. The scores for the compacts and super-zooms are below; the scores for the digital SLRs are left out to avoid direct comparisons, since they're dependent on the lens - see the individual reviews for more detail. It's important to remember that a digital SLR can accept a range of different lenses, so the scores we give in the reviews relate only to the specific kit lens on test. For each review, the scores are finally combined into an overall Image Quality score out of six.

Features & Design

Clearly, the different types of camera don't compete directly with one another. Compacts tend to be aimed at the casual photographer who wants an unobtrusive device that will take great snapshots with minimum fuss. DSLRs, meanwhile, appeal to the more dedicated photographer, for whom portability is a secondary consideration: what's critical here is flexibility and control. For this reason, we haven't tarred all this month's cameras with the same brush. Each camera has been awarded a score out of six for Features & Design, which takes into account CCD resolution, zoom ratio, range of shutter speeds and so on. However, when reviewing compacts, ergonomics and ease of use have also been key considerations affecting this score, while with the more sophisticated cameras we've focused on advanced features in determining this score.

Value for Money

The Value for Money score reflects each camera's price (including delivery cost) in light of its scores for Image Quality and Features & Design. Since the cameras in this month's Labs divide into three distinct markets, each camera's value score is relative only to the other models in the same category. In all cases, top marks don't necessarily go to the cheapest camera, but rather to the one that delivers the best combination of features and image quality per pound.

Overall

The Overall rating is a straightforward mean of each camera's scores for Image Quality, Features & Design and Value for Money, although due to rounding it may sometimes appear higher or lower than expected.