Review: BenQ DC-T700 digital camera

Touch-screen technology, once limited to expensive devices and pub computer games, has recently made its way to digital cameras.

However, the most obvious feature on the BenQ DC-T700 is not the touch-screen control - in fact, its size is what really stands out: at 14.9mm thick it’s extremely small, and it's very lightweight.

As the camera uses a touch screen there is no need for the range of menu and mode buttons that often crowd similar devices, leaving space free for a large and clear 3in screen. Alongside this sit the only physical buttons, including menu and play functions and the controls for the 3x zoom.

Switching the camera on and pressing the menu button brings up the menu and, at first, you might be forgiven for thinking you have bought a camcorder. The first three out of six options are related to the recording capabilities of this device, which include two recording options and a movie button, but none of the camera’s other features are visible. Touching either of the recording options brings up a range of quality options, although we didn't notice much of a difference between the one- and three-star settings.

For those who want to use the camera to take still images, finding the relevant features is slightly more complicated. Touching the settings option on the first menu brings up some basic functions including flash settings and the "Super shake-free" feature, which works well at stabilising images when zoomed in. However, we were disappointed to see that this was the camera's only really advanced feature. That said, image quality is very good.

The touch screen itself is sensitive and big enough for even the largest of fingers, and pictures using the camera's limited features are nevertheless clear and bright for a £175 camera. It comes with 12MB internal of internal memory and an SD card slot, although no memory card is supplied.

Vista compatible: N/A

See also:

Review: Nikon Coolpix S9 digital camera

Six-megapixel pocket snapshot with sports car looks  12 Feb 2007

Review: Pentax Optio T-20 digital camera

Ultra-compact 7-megapixel digital camera  30 Nov 2006

Review: Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z1000 digital camera

A professional-level pixel count for an amateur’s price  27 Jun 2006

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!