GE E1486TW Digital Camera Review

Features
Handling
Performance
ePHOTOzine verdict and ratings
Specification

GE E1486TW: Click on the thumbnail for the larger image.

Gary Wolstenholme takes a look at the GE E1486TW, which Priced at around £150, offers a lot of features for a fairly modest price tag.

The GE E1486TW is a feature packed compact digital camera which sits at the top of GE's 'power' series of cameras and costs around £150. It seems very reasonably priced for the features included. You get an 8x zoom with 28mm equivalent wide angle, optical stabilisation and a touch screen interface for your money. The camera is aimed at those who want more features than the usual basics in a compact form factor. Will the extra features be enough to tempt users from alternatives at this price point? Here we will take a closer look.

GE E1486TW: Features
The 8x zoom lens which lies at the heart of the GE E1486TW provides an angle of view equivalent to 28-224mm on a 35mm camera, which should be a very useful range indeed for a wide range of shooting scenarios. Optical Image stabilisation should also help to keep camera shake from ruining shots taken at the longer end of the zoom range.

A touch screen interface has been employed, which keeps the rear of the camera devoid of clutter. The menu system is clearly laid out and easy enough to navigate, although I did it take a little bit of getting used to, especially as my thumb kept catching the top corner of the screen in use. During playback, you move from one image to the next by swiping your finger across the screen, just like with an iPod Touch or iPhone. At 307,200 dots, it isn't the highest resolution screen currently available and some of the menu text looks a little blocky and pixelated as a result. Still, the screen is contrasty enough for use outdoors, providing a clear enough image for composition.

GE E1486TW Key features: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
The 8x zoom lens is in three sections to allow it to fold into the slim, compact body.	There are no buttons to press on the back as menus and features are navigated via the touch screen interface.
The camera is slim for its zoom range. The shutter release and zoom controls are placed on top of the camera body.	A rechargeable Li-Ion battery provides power for the E1486 TW.

The 14 megapixel resolution should be ample for producing large prints so long as images are focused and exposed correctly and sensitivities up to ISO3200 are provided for low light shooting. A variety of different detection modes are provided to ensure picture taking is as fool-proof as possible including Face Detection, Blink Detection, Auto Scene Detection and Smile Detection. A manual mode is provided, but this doesn't provide control over the aperture and shutter speed selected, simply adding control over exposure compensation and white balance.

GE E1486TW: Handling
Thanks to the touch screen interface, the rear of the E1486TW is free of fiddly buttons, although I would've liked a little more space to rest my thumb, as I found I kept accidentally pressing macro mode selector on the right side of the screen in use. The touch interface is quite responsive and only needs a gentle touch to register you intentions. I also would’ve liked something to add a little more grip on the front of the body, as the smooth painted metal finish can sometimes feel a little slippery.

A bezel around the shutter release can be moved left or right to operate the 8x zoom. The zoom moves through the range at a good speed, not so fast that it zips past where you wanted it, and not so slow either. Two tiny buttons for power and playback are located on top, which I sometimes found a little fiddly to operate, due in part to my fat fingers.

The slim dimensions mean the camera is easily pocketable and weighing only 135g, it isn't a heavy camera either, which is especially impressive given the zoom range.

GE E1486TW: Performance
Although not lightening quick, I found the focusing system adequate for most subjects, although in difficult situations it may take up to a couple of seconds to lock on. The face detection system works well, finding faces almost instantly. Plenty of detail is rendered by the 14 megapixel under ideal conditions, but I did find images started to look quite soft when taken in lower light conditions.

The exposure system also works quite well, providing well balanced exposures even in tricky contrasty situations. I did find it would struggle with backlit subjects, preferring to expose for the brighter light than the main subject of the image. A little positive exposure compensation can work wonders here.

The macro function allows pictures to be taken down to 5cm from your subject, which isn't all that close, especially as the lens has an equivalent angle of view of 28mm here. Still it is useful for the occasional close up and results are normally quite sharp.

GE E1486TW Performance: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
The exposure system works well, even under high contrast situations.	Plenty of details is recorded by the 14 megapixel sensor in good conditions.
At 5cm, the macro mode doesn't allow for extreme close ups, but it is useful all the same.	Colour rendition is good, although the auto white balance often needs overriding.

ISO and noise performance
It is often the case that squeezing too many pixels onto a small sensor such as the one in the E1486TW can cause degradation of quality in low light conditions and although this camera doesn't perform badly, there is some room for improvement at higher sensitivities. Images are clear, sharp and virtually free of noise until ISO200. At ISO400 noise starts to creep into the shadows and the camera's noise reduction system makes images visibly softer, although images will still look acceptable in moderate sized prints. By ISO800 noise artefacts have become more prominent, although it's not until ISO1600 that the levels of noise really start to take over. ISO3200 should be reserved as a last resort, as images here lack colour depth and display high levels of noise.

GE E1486TW Outdoor ISO speed test: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
ISO 80	ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1600	ISO 3200

GE E1486TW Test chart ISO speed test: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
ISO 80	ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1600	ISO 3200

White-balance
In use I found the auto-white balance a little in consistent and I found myself overriding it more than I would do normally. As can be seen on the test images below, the AWB setting struggles to correct the cast created by either incandescent light or the warm white fluorescent lights in our studio. The manual presets give much more accurate results.

GE E1486TW White-balance test: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
Auto white-balance in Incandescent lighting.	Incandescent preset in incandescent lighting.
Auto white-balance in fluorescent lighting.	Fluorescent preset in fluorescent lighting.

Buffer read/write times
Generally I found the E1486TW to be quite a responsive camera when it comes to read and write speeds. The shot to shot delay is about 2 seconds, which isn't the fastest I've seen, but certainly acceptable for a camera of this type and price point. Scrolling through images in the playback mode is quite pleasant also, with the touch screen interface adding a little novelty to the action of flicking through images.

Lens performance
Generally the 8x zoom lens on the GE E1486TW performs very well, proving itself resistant to flare and ghosting, while rendering images sharp from corner to corner. The 8x zoom range is very useful for a wide range of subjects and the image stabiliser appears to do a decent job of taming camera shake.

GE E1486TW Lens quality: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
Plenty of detail has been rendered on the train lines, but the camera focused to close to get distant details sharp.	Despite shooting into the light, there is no flare.
The 28mm equivalent wide angle is useful when you wish to capture a wide area.	Taken for the same spot as the image to the left, this shows the pulling power of the 8x zoom.

GE E1486TW: Verdict
For the price, the GE E1486TW offers a lot of features and as a result will represent good value to those who will value a larger zoom above all else, but wish to keep the size of the camera pocketable.

The camera does have a couple of weaknesses. Images taken at high sensitivities can be quite noisy and the auto-white balance struggles a little in controlling colour casts indoors. If much of your picture taking is outdoors in good light, say for example if you enjoy walking, or only use the camera when out and about on holiday, then these weaknesses may be a non-issue for you. In fact if you do use the camera in this way, it could be a very good value choice indeed.

GE E1486TW: Pros
Useful zoom range
Compact dimensions
Touch screen interface
Good lens quality
Decent build quality
Price

GE E1486TW: Cons
Noise at high sensitivities
Auto White Balance occasionally struggles

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE
OVERALL

GE E1486TW: Specification

Price	£150.00
What comes in the box	Battery, USB Cable, Strap, CD ROM Manual, Quick Start Guide, Software
Contact	www.general-imaging.co.uk
Lens	5.1-40.8mm f/3.3-5.8 (28-224mm equivalent)
Resolution	14.1Mp
Max. Image size	4320x3240
Aspect ratio	04:03:00
LCD monitor size	3 inch
Optical viewfinder	No
Focusing system	Contrast Detection
Focusing Modes	Single AF, Multi-AF (TTL 9-point), Face Detection+AE, AF Assist Light (On / Off)
File types	JPEG
ISO sensitivity	ISO80-3200
Metering modes	Auto, Manual, ASCN, Movie, Scene (Sport, Children, Indoor, Leaf, Snow, Sunset, Fireworks, Glass, Museum, Landscape, Night Landscape, Night Portrait), Portrait, Panorama.
White-balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Custom
Exposure compensation	+/- 2EV
Anti-shake mode	Optical Image Stabiliser
Movie mode	Exif2.2 (JPEG) QuickTime Motion JPEG, Audio: G.711 [monaural]
Monitor	3.0 inch (307,200 pixels) TFT- LCD (Touch Panel)
Media type	Internal Memory: 18MB SD/SDHC Card (up to 16G support)
Interface	USB2.0 / AV-OUT (Integrated Proprietary Connector), HD OUT
Power	Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery GB-10, 3.7V 700mAh
Size (wxdxl)	3.94 inch Width x 2.32 inch Height x 1.06 inch Depth
Weight	Approx. 135gg

The GE E1486TW costs £150 and will be available from Warehouse Express soon.