Photo mates

About Rohit Chawla

An ace fashion photographer and ad filmmaker, Chawla is best known for making beautiful women look even more beautiful. But when away from the women, he is also a wanderer, having recently undertaken a three-month road trip through the heart of Africa.

Nikon Coolpix S510

The high-contrast LCD screen allows you to view the screen even in the most harsh conditions.

Rohit’s comments: This is a small, affordable point-and-shoot camera. What I liked about it the most is the very high ISO (film speed) setting on the device, because that allows you to shoot in poor light conditions without the flash. At a party, using the flash can make your girlfriend look ugly.

KEY SPECS

8.1 megapixels
2.5 inch high resolution LCD
3x optical zoom
Auto ISO adjust up to ISO2000
Face Priority technology
Price: Rs 18,950 (with One GB SD card)

Canon IXUS 960IS

But what if you wanted something different. Of course, as Chawla points out, you also want your electronics to make a statement about you. So, if price is no object when buying a digital pointand-shoot camera, go for any camera from the Leica range. “Lovely red and black bodies, coupled with fantastic glass, these cameras are fantastic, because they look like a proper camera should,” says Chawla. The problem is that Leica cameras are not available in India currently. The middlerange Leica D-Lux 3 with a 10-megapixel sensor and 4x optical zoom will cost around $600 (Rs 24,000), and thanks to the lower dollar, that is fantastic value. And even though for the same price you can find a higher-megapixel camera from another manufacturer, Leica still has some amount of snob value in a world of silvery toys.

The camera has 18 shooting modes, which allows for photography even in the most difficult light conditions.

Rohit’s comments: I have been a Canon user for quite a while and I think that its image processor is brilliant. I also feel that a camera should look and feel like a camera and not a phone, so while this Canon is not slick, it is the best camera in its class. The only problem is that it is a bit pricey, and while it does have the highest megapixel count, I also feel that beyond a point, megapixels count for nothing.

KEY SPECS

12.1 megapixels
2.5 inch pure-colour LCD
3.7x image stabilising optical zoom
Auto ISO shift up to ISO1600
Face Detection technology
Price: Rs 24,995

Sony CyberShot DSC T200

This camera has a party piece its challengersdon’t— a wide touch-screen LCD and a bigger zoom. Pity we could not use it since Sony sent us the wrong charger.

Rohit’s comments: It looks like a very good camera and it has good glass from Carl-Zeiss. The touch screen thing seemed a bit gimmicky, because most professional photographers use ‘Auto’ mode most of the time, so you would hardly be using such a feature very often.

KEY SPECS

8.1 megapixels
3.5 inch touch screen LCD
5x optical zoom
Face Detection technology
Long-life battery
Price: Rs 19,990