Toshiba PDR-M81

It's apparent that little attention has been paid to the aesthetic appeal of Toshiba's PDR-M81. However, behind the unprepossessing chassis is a surprisingly powerful digital camera.

The PDR-M81 is fitted with a 4.2Megapixel CCD, giving it a highest capture resolution of 2,400 x 1,600 pixels as well as two other resolution settings of 1,200 x 800 and 720 x 480 pixels.

All images are captured with varying degrees of JPEG compression (between 3.5:1 and 15:1), but there's no uncompressed option. Like many digital still cameras, the Toshiba PDR-M81 has a movie capture mode.

This uses MJPEG compression to create a 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 resolution AVI of up to 180 seconds. It doesn't have the extended record facility of the Cyber-shot DSC-S85, but it does let you use the zoom facility during recording.

The lens is a 7.25 to 20.3mm (equivalent to a 35 to 98mm 35mm camera), giving it an optical zoom rating of 2.8X. ISO equivalency is 100 by default, but 200 and 400 are also selectable, as well as shutter speeds of between 1/2 and 1/1000 of a second.

The PDR-M81 also features a slow exposure setting of up to 15 seconds for low light conditions, but no slow sync setting for the integrated flash.

The camera has both aperture and shutter priority modes, with a range of aperture settings between f/8 and f/2.9. There's also a three-picture burst mode, with a 0.8-second interval between shots. This is also used for the auto-bracketing function. Manual focus is rather rudimentary, allowing only 1m, 3m or infinity.

The simplicity of the controls makes it easy to pick up and use for the novice. In Manual mode, the display is cluttered with rather too much detail and some of the menu options can be a little obscure. The inclusion of a dynamically updating histogram serves more to obstruct the image than inform the user.

In saying that, our test shots showed the camera capable of some great results. Colour balance is even and unsaturated, although you can change this by selecting Vivid from the set up menu.

The camera only includes a 8Mb SmartMedia card, although you get a soft carry case. The PDR-M81 uses four AA batteries, making recharging outside the camera, or getting replacements in a hurry, a simpler task.

Despite its appearance, the PDR-M81 is a competent product with a big price advantage over its rivals. If you've no interest in manual operation, it would be a good choice.

Price: £599 (incl. VAT)

Contact: Toshiba 01932 828 828
www.home-entertainment.toshiba.co.uk

See also:

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Canon Powershot A40

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Olympus C-4040 Zoom

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Much improved and powerful digital camera that produces very good results.  01 May 2002

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