GE G100 Digital Compact Camera Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification


The G100 was released in February 2012 as part of GE's Spring 2012 range of digital cameras. It has a 15x optical zoom lens, 14 megapixels and is available in red, white and black for £159.99.

GE G100 Features

The GE G100 has a 14 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor with a 15x optical zoom lens, which is a 35mm equivalent of 28-420mm, with optical image stabilisation to help keep images blur free. As well as auto mode there is manual, shutter priority, face beautifier and panorama modes as well as a wide range of scene modes.

The G100 shoots full resolution pictures at 10 fps when in continuous shooting mode. Other features include HDR+ (which blends three images at different exposures) and Multi-Exposure (which captures six successive shots and combines them into one photo).

Videos are recorded at full 1080p HD with optical zoom available. The camera can be connected to a HD TV via a HDMI cable.

Key Features

• 14 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor
• 15x optical zoom (35mm equiv: 28-420mm)
• Optical Image Stabilisation
• 3.0 inch (460,000 dots) TFT LCD screen
• 10 fps high-speed shooting in full resolution
• Full 1080p HD video recording
• ISO 100 - 3200
• 5cm minimum focusing distance
• HDR+
• Multi Exposure
• Smart features
• Available in red, white and black

GE G100 Handling

Thanks to the rubber grip on the front, the G100 is easy to grip, there is also a bumped area on the rear for your right hand thumb. It has a metal body and is small enough to carry in your pocket. There are plenty of buttons, with a mode dial placed on the top alongside the power button, shutter release and zoom rocker. The exposure compensation button allows access to change the aperture and ISO as well. There is also a button which gives access to the various continuous shooting modes.

On the rear of the camera is a 3 inch screen, which is bright and easy to view in varying lighting conditions. Buttons on the rear include movie record as well as a rotating d-pad wheel. Once you get used to using the various buttons to change the settings, the menus become simple to navigate.

The battery has a CIPA rating of 170 shots, and during testing it proved capable of achieving this amount and more. We tested each camera's performance at focusing, shutter response, shot-to-shot time, continuous shooting etc. and have posted the results below. To test this we took 6 or more shots and calculated the average, so that consistent results were produced.

Shutter Response		0.25 secs
Wide - Focus and Shutter Response Average		0.35 secs
Full zoom - Focus and Shutter Response Average		2.0 secs
Switch on Time to Taking a Photo		5.3 secs
Shot to Shot (without flash)		3.2 secs
Shot to Shot with Flash		6.4 secs
Continuous Shooting (at full resolution)		10 fps
Continuous Shooting High Speed (VGA)		105 fps
Continuous Shooting Fast (4 megapixels)		16 fps

When using the lens with its full zoom, the camera needs to be focused before the shutter is fully pressed, making it quite slow. It also takes a considerable amount of time for the camera to be ready to take a shot after switching it on. The G100 offers a good rate of high-speed shooting, with full-sized images possible at 10 fps.

GE G100 Performance

Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review and product ratings.

GE G100 Sample Photos

Sample Photos - The G100 takes pictures which are well exposed and have good colour reproduction. Portraits have soft, pleasant skin tones and are free of red-eye.

GE G100 Lens test images

Lens Performance - Detail is OK when shooting wide, but isn't as good when using the full optical zoom, in the example above there is a significant amount of purple fringing. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 5cm and is capable of a decent macro shot.

GE G100 ISO test images

ISO Noise Performance - Images are noise free at ISO 100, with very little appearing at ISO 200. ISO 400 sees more noise appearing and ISO 800 having enough to cause images to lose detail and sharpness. When using the highest settings of ISO 1600 and ISO 3200, noise causes the images to lose a significant amount of detail, which patches of colour completely disappearing.

GE G100 White-balance test images

White Balance Performance - Under the incandescent lighting in our studio, the auto white-balance (AWB) setting takes an image with an orange cast, with the incandescent preset taking a good picture. When using the fluorescent lights, the respective preset and AWB setting perform well, both taking a very similar image.


Panorama | 1/179 sec | f/9.3 | 5.0 mm | ISO 100

Panoramas are OK, they are fairly evenly exposed, but when you view them full sized you can see a mismatch in where the images have been stitched. We tried to use the Multi Exposure mode without any success.

Digital Filters - The G100 has a number of filters which can be used during shooting to add an extra touch of creativity to your images, with examples of each below.

GE G100 Digital filters

Video - Below is a video shot at full 1080p HD, optical zoom can be used during recording, an example of which can be found on the ePHOTOzine Youtube page. The zoom is extremely sensitive and the camera takes a little while to refocus.

Value For Money

The GE G100 is available for £159.99. Other compact cameras to consider with manual controls are the Canon PowerShot SX150 IS (around £140), Samsung WB150F (around £180), Ricoh CX6 (around £270), Canon PowerShot SX40 HS (around £330), Nikon Coolpix P510 (around £330) and Fujifilm X-S1 (around £520).

You'll also need to buy a memory card and a case or bag to keep your camera safe and protected - have a look at our complete guide to camera bags.

GE G100 Verdict

The GE G100 offers plenty of features and is available for a decent price. Sadly image quality isn't fantastic and is slow in use, taking a while to switch on and focus when using the zoom. But on the bright side, it has full manual controls, 1080p HD video recording and can shoot at a fast rate when using continuous shooting. The slow focusing makes it difficult to capture fast moving objects, but if you like to shoot static objects and landscapes, prefering to share images on the web rather than print them in large format, the GE G100 isn't a bad option considering its price tag.

GE G100 Pros

Manual controls
Feature packed
Full 1080p HD video recording
Fast continuous shooting at full resolution
Images have good colour reproduction
Decent panorama images

GE G100 Cons

Slow focusing when using the zoom
Battery has a low life expectancy
Slow switch on time
Image quality isn't great

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

GE G100 Specifications

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