Agfa has both a wealth of experience in conventional photography and a consistently strong range of digital cameras. With the ePhoto CL50, the company has eschewed the unconventional shape of the 1680 featured in the last digital camera Labs (issue 51) in favour of a more traditional shape. It won’t win any design awards, but it does feel comfortable to hold.

The view from the top showing the overall “rounded” styling of the camera. There is no positive fingergrip area except for a small rubberized strip on the front for your fingertips. I tended to always be semi-dropping it if not held firmly, be sure to use the wrist strap! The status display on top tells you the usual things, pictures remaining, image quality, flash mode, macro mode, battery power remaining. You’ll note the four unmarked buttons along the top. They are (left to right): Macro/selftimer, QuickReview, Flash mode and Image Resolution.

The camera ePhoto CL50 has traditional for Agfa the form, however it the design and functional features if not is cardinal, rather hardly are advanced. Bent forward and reverse sides with a LCD-screen are looked by a uniform element and it as a whole has the completed and functional kind. The camera has practically no inertia LCD-screen with a diagonal in 5,1 sm (2 inches), which is possible to use as the range viewfinder. “Opening” door above a screen substitutes illumination per sun day and, accordingly, saves energy of batteries.

The CL50 certainly has some nice touches - the high level of control over its settings, the use of natural light to illuminate the LCD and the high level of zoom - but it can’t match the style and ease of use of the Canon PowerShot A50. What’s more, with a street price of around £400, the Minolta DimÅge is cheaper, has better image quality, and unlike the CL50 comes with a mains adaptor as standard.

Features:

The Agfa ePhoto CL45 Digital SLR Camera comes loaded with a large LCD monitor, fast shutter speeds and an effective megapixel range that would make Eastman Kodak blush. Two of the key elements that make the Agfa ePhoto CL45 camera so appealing are the Agfa ePhoto CL45 powergrip and the wide array of Agfa ePhoto CL45 lenses available.

The Agfa ePhoto CL45 Digital Camera has a plethora of attachments and add-ons, known as Agfa ePhoto CL45 Accessories. A full list of current available accessories is found in the Agfa ePhoto CL45 Manual, or users guide. Always read the accompanying manual to ensure you know and understand the proper steps of safety and maintenance on your Agfa ePhoto CL45 Digital SLR camera.

The normal focus range between the camera lens and the main subject is 50 cm. The min. shutter speed of the ePhoto CL45 was set at 30 seconds and the maximum shutter is 1/2000 seconds. Movies are supported on this camera which is always a useful function. The Agfa ePhoto CL45 camera has an internal storage of 8 mb extendable with Compact Flash. The LCD screen of the ePhoto CL45 is measuring 1.8 “. A USB connection is furnished to connect to a computer.

The Agfa Digital Camera is a cut above the rest. Specifically the Agfa ePhoto CL45 body is made of quality materials and designed for professional use in all kinds of environments.

Specifications:

The compact Agfa ePhoto CL18 is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The optical viewfinder is bright and clear, and the four function buttons are well marked and placed around the easy-to-read control panel, which displays flash and battery status, a self-timer, video signals, image quality, and the remaining number of frames. The CL18 (with 2MB internal memory) is a good value, as long as image quality and macro mode (for close shooting) are not critical priorities for you.

Constructed of high-impact plastic, this camera has a fixed focus 45mm lens which allows you to capture 640 x 480 images at ISO 200. Your suject matter can be as close as 20 inches and with a shutter speed of 1/30 to 1/700 you will be able to take photos in varying light conditions. The camera has 2 quality modes (hi/low) and 2Mb of internal memory to store your photos until you are ready to download them. A carying case is included and this lightweight camera (117 grams) fits nicely in a pocket or purse.

The CL18 can be converted from a still camera to a line-powered Webcam simply by plugging in the included USB cable. Either way, the CL18’s fixed focus precludes adjusting the lens to capture close-ups. Image quality is between fair and good. Though you’ll see a full range of shadow, midtone, and highlight detail, edges are soft, and colors are slightly warm. Oddly, the color and exposure of indoor pictures taken without flash are much better than those shot in sunlight.

The monochrome LCD data display shows the battery condition, the picture quality (hi/low), number of pictures remaining and mode (record or play). The play mode is not a review mode it is for video conferencing.

Specifications:

Picture Resolution: True 640 x 480 optical resolution (in pixels)
Dual Mode: Point-and-Shoot digital camera with video conferencing feature
Internal Memory capacity: 2MB (non-removable)
Number of Pictures on internal memory: 32 VGA images
Image editing software: ArcSoft VideoImpressionTM, Corel Print HouseTM 5, Corel Photo HouseTM5 with AGFA PhotoGenie QuickFix for color correction and image enhancement
Video Conferencing Software: Microsoft NetMeeting
Processing time between pictures: 6-7 seconds
Lens: f/2.0 7.2mm equivalent to 45mm camera
Output file format: JPEG
Video Out: NTSC or PAL selectable
Serial Interface: USB
System Requirements: Minimum requirements for PC
At least 32 MB of RAM
50 MB of available hard disk space
VGA color monitor with at least 256 colors
2x of faster CD-ROM

The stylish and compact CL30 offers an image resolution of 1.5 million pixels using PhotoGenie™ technology, and features both an optical viewfinder and 1.8″ color LCD screen — perfect for framing shots or playing them back. The LCD screen features an on and off switch, so you can make the most of your power supply. You can also store up to 36 images on the removable 4MB CompactFlash memory card. In addition, the CL30 includes both USB and serial downloading capabilities.

Perfect for framing shots or playing them back. The LCD screen features an “on” and “off” switch, so the user can make the most of his or her power supply and extend the life of the batteries. The digital camera operates on four AA-sized alkaline batteries and ships with a 40MB Clik!(TM) disk - enough capacity to store between 60 and 360 images, depending on the resolution setting

Some of the plastic on the rear of the camera feels a little bit cheap, but the buttons and switches all work well. There’s a 2x digital zoom (an optical zoom would be infinitely preferable), and the flash has four modes, including fill in and red-eye reduction. Top resolution is 1152 x 864, and the images produced are pretty respectable, with good colour balance and detail both indoors and out.

There’s no zoom lens: the so-called ‘digital zoom’ just chops down to the centre of the picture. Although the picture quality is okay, Agfa claims a top resolution of 1440 x 1080 pixels at the PhotoGenie setting. But we saw no real difference between the snaps taken at this setting and the next one down, 1152 x 864. Also, at that setting you can fit 120 pictures on one disk. This is an adequate resolution for printouts up to normal photo size, but your pictures will look grainy if you want them any bigger. What’s more, all these pictures are ompressed JPEGs. With 40Mb of storage available on each disk, surely Agfa could ave offered an uncompressed option.

Specifications:

Resolution
P-Genie - 1440 x 1080
High - 1152 x 864 pixels
Text - 1152 x 864 pixels, b/w
Medium (XGA) 1024 x 768 pixels
Low (VGA) 640 x 480 pixels

Screen
1.8″ color LCD display for capture and playback plus optical viewfinder

Lens
Auto and manual focus with macro

- Lens aperture range: f/2.8 - 8.0
- Lens focal length: 43mm equivalent with macro
- Lens focal range: macro: 10 cm - 1m
- 2x digital zoom in low (VGA)mode
- normal: 50 cm - infinity
- Autofocus with macro; four manual focus positions: (1M, 2M, 5M, infinity)

Interface
Serial cable for PC (included)
USB cable for Windows 98, iMac and other USB compliant systems
Serial Mac adapter
Video cable for TV (PAL and NTSC)

In the ePhoto 1680, Agfa has built upon their earlier experience with the ePhoto 1280, and boosted raw sensor resolution to create a 1.3 megapixel camera with higher apparent resolution than the pixel count would normally indicate. At the same time, they’ve addressed a number of issues of interest to serious photographers, including both aperture- and shutter-priority metering, and a unique approach to external-flash support. Its combination of high resolution, excellent image quality, and flexible exposure modes should interest photographers who may have dismissed digital cameras previously due to a lack of flexibility or control. At the same time, its ease of use and strong ergonomics will appeal to first-time picture-snappers.

The 1680 is a true megapixel (1,228,800 pixels to be precise) camera with a 1280 x 960 CCD, compared to the 1280’s 1024 x 768 (786,432) pixels. Software can still be used to interpolate upwards, now to 1600 x 1200, using PhotoGenie to remove artifacts such as those which come from JPEG compression. The 1680 is also much faster at capturing and storing images. Although the 1280 was painfully slow between images it nonetheless won many accolades, including Best Buy from ‘Which?’ in August 1998. Thanks to its swivel zoom lens, both the ePhoto1280 and 1680 may be used to shoot above the head (without ladders), or right down to ground level (without dry-cleaning bills).

The 1680 is a swivel-lens camera, closely resembling the earlier ePhoto 1280, with the lens/flash unit on the left-hand side, and the 2″ LCD viewfinder panel on the right-hand “body” portion of the camera, which also houses the batteries and major electronic components. The “FlashTrack” swivel zoom lens can rotate through 280 degrees, allowing even self-portraits while viewing the LCD monitor. As the name suggests, the flash bar rotates along with the lens, to illuminate the subject regardless of where the lens happens to be pointing. Its design encourages a two-fisted grip, which increases picture-taking stability. (A single-handed (right-handed) grip is possible, but only if you have rather large hands.) A decided plus is the inclusion of 46mm filter threads on the lens, for attaching close-up lenses and other accessories.

Specifications:

Resolution
Four resolution modes:
1600 x 1200 (1.9 million pixels) with PhotoGenie technology,
1280 x 960 pixels,
640 x 480 pixels (VGA), and
text (1280 x 960 b/w)

CCD Resolution
1.3 M (1343 x 972) pixels

Removable Storage
8 MB (3.3V) SSFDC SmartMedia™ memory card
compatible up to 32 MB SmartMedia memory

Lens
Auto and manual focus with macro
- Lens aperture range: F/2.8 (wide) - 4.7 (telephoto)
- Lens focal length: 34 -102 mm (35 mm equivalent)
- Lens focal range: normal: 80 cm - infinity macro: 20 cm - 80 cm- Auto focus 3x continuous optical zoom with macro (38 - 114 mm); plus 2x digital zoom in VGA mode

Interface
Serial cable for PC (included)
Serial cable adapter for Macintosh (included)
Video cable for TV (PAL and NTSC)

Price Range: $30.99 to $40.99

Agfa ePhoto 1280, a feature-rich, affordably priced digital camera, provides photo-quality images and elegant design for professionals who use photos in their work. Agfa is committed to creating a strong family of advanced, affordable digital cameras that give the customers a wide range of choices to match their needs. All professionals use digital images differently, so they should be able to choose the digital camera that best fits their needs. With its ePhoto family, Agfa is committed to providing this choice, while giving customers high quality and ease of use. The ePhoto 1280 is designed for the quality-conscious, and those business professionals who need to capture images for documentation or communication in fields such as real estate, insurance, law enforcement, contracting, and design. ePhoto 1280 features FlashTrack 3x optical swivel zoom lens. The movable lens permits maximum flexibility when taking hard-to-get photos, while the flash remains in line with the lens at all times, ensuring proper exposure. In addition, the ePhoto 1280 includes a superior high-resolution color LCD, providing crisp images for framing or playing back shots under any light conditions. The camera also provides virtually unlimited picture storage with SmartMedia removable flash memory.

The entire camera will fit into an average sized palm and weighs about a pound and a half with the batteries in it. Speaking of batteries, the 1280 comes with NiMH rechargable AA-size batteries and a nice table top charger unit - all included in the base package! Agfa was smart enough to realize that an LCD-only digicam tends to go through batteries like candy so they gave us the best. The manual tells you that alkaline batteries are an extremely poor choice for this camera and recommends using the supplied NiMH, NiCd or lithium type cells only. It is ALWAYS a very good idea to buy at least one or two other sets of NiMH cells and keep them fully charged and ready to go into the camera.

Main features

• Resolution: 0.8 Megapixel / 1.2 Megapixel (interpolated)
• Colour Support: Colour
• Optical Sensor Type: CCD
• Total Pixels: 810,000 pixels
• Interpolated Image Resolution: 1,228,800 pixels
• Optical Sensor Size: 1/3″
• Light Sensitivity: ISO 100
• Max Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
• Min Shutter Speed: 1/4 sec
• Exposure Modes: Manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
• Exposure Compensation: ±3 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
• White Balance: Custom, automatic
• Still Image Format: JPEG

Memory / storage

Flash Memory: 1 x 4 MB Flash - SmartMedia card

Supported Flash Memory: SmartMedia

Image Storage:

• Fine JPEG 1280 x 960 : 6 - with 4MB card
• Fine JPEG 1024 x 768 : 12 - with 4MB card
• Standard JPEG 1024 x 768 : 24 - with 4MB card
• Fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 30 - with 4MB card
• Standard JPEG 640 x 480 : 60 - with 4MB card