Gavin Stoker Reviews Archive 
News from Gavin Stoker
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Olympus E-PM1 Pen Mini review
REVIEW
Can the baby Pen deliver a grown up performance?
12 December 2011 9:00 GMT
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The 12.3-megapixel E-PM1 - from a 13.1 MP Live MOS (or CMOS) sensor - is the new baby of the Olympus range of interchangeable lens compacts, or, as its manufacturer prefers, ‘Pen’ system. The other two models are the flagship E-P3 for just...
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Casio Exilim EX-ZR100 review
REVIEW
Finally a ‘travel zoom’ worth the fare?
1 December 2011 22:50 GMT
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A good zoom on a travel camera is a great idea, youll get closer to the action, and with cameras like this Exilim, you'll still be able to fit it in your pocket. And, although the original asking price was a hellish £299, we found the Exilim...
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Olympus VR-310 review
REVIEW
Mega-value zoomer
30 November 2011 17:09 GMT
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Looking for a knockabout pocket camera with larger than average zoom that won’t cost the earth? The metallic silver VR-310 we had in for review – with black, red, or purple also available - is both attractive in an unassuming way, bit also...
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Nikon Coolpix S1200pj review
REVIEW
Is it just projecting?
29 November 2011 15:44 GMT
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At one time - say the mid 1970s to mid 1980s - projecting our photographs or Super 8 films was the chief way to share holiday exploits and pictorial adventures with friends and family. In the digital age, when most of our snapshots are dumped on a...
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 review
REVIEW
The lens reach is stretched, but so the price
8 November 2011 17:09 GMT
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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 is the new flagship model in Panasonic’s FZ range of superzoom bridge cameras. It replaces the FZ100 and comes hot on the heels of the cheaper, but very similarly specified, FZ48.
For £120 more than the latter...
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Olympus VR-320 review
REVIEW
Can this 12.5x optical zoom camera get closer to perfection?
27 October 2011 19:01 GMT
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The Olympus VR-320, which falls into the ‘compact super zoom’ or travel zoom category, is the bigger brother to the VR-310. Fielding a 12.5x optical zoom that is a match for the similarly-featured Casio EX-ZR100 at twice the price and bettering...
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Samsung WB700 review
REVIEW
Best value travel zoom on the market?
27 September 2011 17:31 GMT
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The "travel zoom" market - meaning pocket compacts with extended lens reaches beyond, let's now say, 8x or more - has really taken off in recent years, with Panasonic's all-conquering Lumix TZ series, and recent TZ20 iteration, leading the pack. However...
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Sony NEX-C3 review
REVIEW
Not a huge upgrade to the NEX-3
27 September 2011 13:09 GMT
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Sony came to market with its first compact system camera duo in the NEX-3 and NEX-5 last summer, quickly securing the number one sales spot in the Far East, based largely on the fact that its system, when lens is removed, is truly compact.
This...
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Olympus E-PL3 review
REVIEW
Third generation "Pen Lite" subtracts as much as it adds
29 August 2011 10:00 GMT
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Priced just a pound dearer than Panasonic’s rival Micro Four Thirds compact system camera, the Lumix DMC-GF3, and bundled with M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F/3.5-5.6 II T lens kit zoom, the Olympus E-PL3 is also being touted as the "Pen Lite". It...
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Canon PowerShot A800 review
REVIEW
Cheap yet cheerful?
17 August 2011 9:40 GMT
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At one time all digital cameras were made this way. Fashioned obviously from plastic with a blue-grey hue and power coming courtesy of two bog standard AA batteries, they were viewed as PC peripherals rather than the lifestyle accessories of today.
Upon...
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Canon PowerShot A3300 IS review
REVIEW
Spend more, get more…
29 July 2011 10:03 GMT
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On the look out for an entry level snapshot, and have a bit over £100 to spend? The A3300 IS has a suggested asking price exactly £20 more than its PowerShot “A” family doppelganger in the A3200 IS, give or take a couple of body colour...
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 review
REVIEW
Is third generation Micro Four Thirds 3x better?
20 July 2011 9:04 GMT
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As regards to truly compact, compact system cameras, Olympus may have got there first with its E-P1 in late-2009, but Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-GF1 wasn’t far behind, stealing some of its Micro Four Thirds system co-developer’s thunder...
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Canon PowerShot A3200 IS review
REVIEW
Competent happy snapper
6 July 2011 16:18 GMT
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Looking for an inexpensive yet not unimpressive snapper to slide into your pocket this summer for casual use? For somewhere around the £100 mark, if we go by street/online pricing rather than the manufacturer’s own, the 14.1 megapixel, 1/2.3-inch...
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Leica V-Lux 30 review
REVIEW
All aboard for Costa Packet
1 July 2011 16:17 GMT
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There’s a new travel zoom on the block in the shape of the Leica V-Lux 30, a 14.1 effective megapixel, 1/2.33 CMOS sensor incorporating, 16x optical zoom model with sophisticated accents yet familiar boxy styling. In fact, it resembles a re-badge-d...
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Fujifilm FinePix Z900EXR review
REVIEW
Thin edge of the wedge?
24 June 2011 10:00 GMT
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With its slide open and shoot faceplate, mainly metal build, internally stacked lens and glossy good looks, the svelte and pocket friendly Fujifilm FinePix Z900EXR logically follows on from last year’s very similar Z800EXR, a previous Hot Product...
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX10 review
REVIEW
Luxuriously styled snapper with future proofed spec
16 June 2011 10:06 GMT
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Updating last year’s WX5, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX10 is around £50 cheaper than its near numerical doppelganger in the current waterproofed DSC-TX10, though it’s unable to withstand the wet and the cold in the same way. Both cameras share...
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Pentax Optio S1 review
REVIEW
A case of reflected glory?
10 June 2011 13:02 GMT
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Looking for an inexpensive bauble with which to turn heads every time you take a snap? Photography stalwart Pentax is better known for practicality than trend setting, yet recent(ish) pocket snapshots including the Optio I-10 and RS1000 have bucked...
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Samsung PL170 review
REVIEW
Do dual LCD screens add up to twice the fun?
6 June 2011 9:45 GMT
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Isn’t it always the case that whoever is usually taking the pictures in the family rarely gets into shot themselves, while most attempts at self-portraiture result in merely highlighting double chins or inadvertently chopping half your face out...
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS37 review
REVIEW
A touchscreen compact that’s straight to the point
2 June 2011 9:11 GMT
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Looking for a reliable pocket camera for the holidays? Along with the Lumix DMC-FS35, the Panasonic FS37 we have here upgrades last year’s FS33, upping the stills resolution from 14 to 16 megapixels, spread across a 1/2.33-inch CCD sensor. Though...
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX10 review
REVIEW
Slim yet tough shockproof and waterproof snapper
25 May 2011 22:02 GMT
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Tough and beautiful can make for an arresting combination. Just ask fans of Xena Warrior Princess or, more recently, fem-bot Cameron out of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Both qualities are to be found in Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-TX10...
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Nikon Coolpix P500 review
REVIEW
New superzoom goes “one louder” than Canon
19 May 2011 11:30 GMT
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Although we all like the idea of swapping camera lenses as and when we want to, in reality a one-lens-fits-all approach makes for greater convenience. A couple of months back Canon’s latest 35x optical zoom PowerShot in the SX30 IS nudged ahead...
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 review
REVIEW
A true DSLR alternative?
12 May 2011 9:00 GMT
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Available in black, red and white in the UK (and “chocolate” in Europe), this new DSLR-styled, mid-range Micro Four Thirds compact system camera (CSC) slots between last year’s DMC-G2 - which drops down to become the entry-level model...
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Olympus SZ-20 review
REVIEW
Affordable retro futurist travel zoom
4 May 2011 13:50 GMT
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Like Nikon with its Coolpix S9100, Olympus is a late entrant into the travel zoom class. But not to be outdone it’s shoehorning a 12.5x optical zoom into a 16-megapixel pocket snapper with the launch of the SZ-20, the headline spec an exact match...
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Fujifilm FinePix XP30 review
REVIEW
Will this GPS tough compact sink or swim?
29 April 2011 9:00 GMT
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It seems it’s not enough these days for a digital compact “just” to be able to withstand a fumbled drop onto the pavement, a dip in the ocean, a spell in the deep freeze, or having sand kicked in its, um, fascia.
The latest...
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Nikon Coolpix S9100 review
REVIEW
Can this 18x travel zoom go the distance?
17 April 2011 8:50 GMT
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As the variety and quantity of “travel zoom” compacts grows, kicked off in earnest by Panasonic’s TZ series a couple of years back and now sporting everything from Full HD video and GPS to 3D shooting, it was about time Nikon pimped...
Acer CloudMobile Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone set for MWC launch 4.3-inch award winner
Best iPhone utilities apps Resistance is futilities?
Samsung not worried by Apple iTV threat EXCLUSIVE: AV boss not concerned
HTC PlayStation certification devices coming 2012, time to get your Crash Bandicoot skills up to scratch EXCLUSIVE: Game on
Samsung Galaxy S III: Review of rumours, features, pictures and specs Thinner, faster, better
New HTC Ice Cream Sandwich device pictures leak Another one for the rumour pile...
Samsung O table is for the kitchen of the future Flexible hob
Nokia 700 Sleek and desirable Nokia
LG Miracle picture and details leak Update: More pictures from the wild
Google home entertainment device detailed WSJ solves device mystery
More leaked iPad 3 parts help form bigger picture - including Sharp Retina display iPad 3, in kit form
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) pictures and hands-on Up close with the ICS tablet
Tesla Model X SUV goes back to the future DeLorean lookalike announced
APP OF THE DAY: Tweetbot review (iPad) Should a Twitter app cost?
New Apple TV leaked in software update? iOS 5.1 says so
Panasonic Lumix GX1 review
The one?
Sony PlayStation Vita review
Curriculum Vita
Nokia Lumia 710 review
WP7 on a budget
GoPro HD Hero2 review
Amazing things come in small packages
HTC Explorer review
A phone for people who make calls
BlackBerry Torch 9810 review
Middle of the road
Sony Alpha A65 review
Affordable SLT. But is it a DSLR-beater?
BlackBerry Bold 9790 review
To boldly go where we've already been before
Fiat 500 TwinAir Plus review
Two-cylinder beast
Motorola MotoACTV review
Just add exercise
Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition review
Mini Xoom
BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981 review
For the fast lane
Sennheiser IE80 review
Tune that bass
Kingston Wi-Drive review
Expand your storage
Huawei Ideos X3 review
Cheap but imperfect