Product Reviews

Acer's smart 6-megapixel CS-6530 digital camera marks a departure from the company's usual design and is actually quite stylish. The slim metal shell feels solid and well made, and it doesn't look out of place beside pricier cameras from more established manufacturers. Its 3x zoom lens is bright and its controls are responsive.

The CS-6530 is a pleasure to use. A bright 2.5" screen occupies most of the rear face, but buttons are well placed and reassuringly firm. A slider switches between still, movie and playback modes, so it's easy to

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keep track of which mode you're in. Flash, macro, timer and exposure compensation settings can be accessed quickly and efficiently, and have all the variations you need for everyday use. All the camera's options are easy to access, thanks to a clean and well-designed menu system.

However, things turn a little sour once you transfer the photos to your computer. Well-lit shots have warm, pleasing colours, but while the maximum resolution of 2,816x2,112 should allow for prints up to 9x6", we noticed a general softening of fine detail. This is more noticeable in landscapes than close-up shots or portraits, but all our test photos showed less detail than we'd expect from a 6-megapixel camera.

Results from low light and flash photography are mixed. Colours are generally warm and inviting and the white balanced expertly judged, but once the ISO slips to 200, noise becomes a big problem.

Acer's stylish and well-specified camera seems a bargain. Sadly, the 3x zoom lens and 6-megapixel sensor don't produce such impressive results. We'd prefer a camera that looked worse and had fewer megapixels, but took better photos.