The GE G1: We Think We Love It

This is what we're talking about when we say "you get a lot of bang for your buck these days in a point + shoot." (See Amazon's deal at $129.95.)You might do a double take at the GE brand name, but don't think twice -- GE has established itself as a solid player in the point and shoot market. The stats are below, but the feature we adore in this camera is the panorama. You take a photo, move the camera to the right or left, line up the shot with the edge of the last photo in the viewfinder, do this one more time, and then the camera mushes the three shots into a panoramic. It ain't perfect but it's close enough. While we're sure it's meant for beautiful vistas, we had a lot of fun shooting the same person in the panoramic, like this busy kitchen elf you see below.
One thing of note -- GE (like Sony) uses a proprietary USB cable, so beware that if you lose it you'll need to get another one via GE. Still an excellent option for a versatile digital camera -- we're thinking graduation presents, college kids, even on job sites. Our friend at ToolSnob swears by this camera!

- 7-megapixels
- Less than 1-inch thick! (3.62W x 2.5"H x .82"W)
- 3X Optical Zoom, 4.8X Digital Zoom
- 2.5" LCD Display
- MPEG4 movies with audio
- Macro mode for close-ups (5cm)
- Image Stabilization, Multiple Scene Modes, Continuous Shooting
- Face-tracking, Red-eye Removal, Stitching
- Panorama (Wheee!)
- Rechargeable lithium-ion battery (included)
- SD/SDHC memory slot expandable to 4GB

April 7, 2008

The GE G1: We Think We Love It