Are you looking for a compact digital camera that features a big LCD, minimum button and quick capture mode with good feature to modify the image as per your choice take a look on BenQ LR100. It may look like other typical camera, but there are some additional effects and settings which makes it intermediate device between professional and fun photography. The camera is designed to give some fun effects making your memorable images happier. With 14 Mega Pixel CMOS camera it can capture high resolution images and record HD videos. There are 5 modes to capture images in various resolutions. Check the small list below:
- 14 Megapixel – 4320×3240
- 8 Megapixel – 3264×2248
- 5 Megapixel – 2560×1920
- 3 Megapixel – 2048×1536
- VGA – 640×480.
As you can see above BenQ LR100 offers a maximum 4320×3240 image resolution with high aspect ratio. Through FN keys you can change the aspect ratio to 16:9, 4:3, 3:2 and 1:1. In this way you can also adjust the image resolution with the aspect ratio to fit it well on the screen. This setting plays a very important role for a professional photographer. But at the laymen’s level using it on 4:3 can offer a optimum resolution picture with no blurry effects. For video recording you can set the quality by providing the right fps setting. The higher the settings the more bigger and detailed will be the images. The video settings offers FHD 30fps, HD 60fps, HD 30fps, VGA 30gps, VGA 160fps and HD. Each of them is capable of giving you a standard to high quality HD videos. Some of the function does not work without inserting a memory card in the camera. The single function key provided on the camera gives you instant changes at the time of clicking photos.
BenQ LR100 offers some very fascinating effects enhancing your existing pictures. All you have to do is hit the Menu Key and go in Scene Mode. There is no need to copy your photos on your computer and then use a complicated photo editing software to add effects. All can be done instantly at once place. The processing takes time depending on the size of photo or video. There are ample of effects which will surely fascinate you. Unlike other digital camera, BenQ LR100 tries to enhance the image. It removes unwanted light and fixes the colour saturation giving distinct look on every common photo. The functions are very easy. The camera does not comes with any complicated buttons or settings which is complicated for anyone to understand. With 5X Optical Zoom you can easily capture a much brighter photo from distance. The central lens mechanism takes less than a second to appear at the front and within 1 second the LCD is completely activated to capture photos. You must remember to keep your hand a bit away from the central part. Because each time whenever you press the power button the central camera pops out and it can be easily blocked by your fingers. Sometime it can fell from your hand also. So better avoid it and hold the top and lower part firmly. The camera gets a bit hot when you capture photos constantly. There is nothing to worry about that. It is the internal processor which gets heat up easily and can be felt while holding the camera. BenQ has not added any special material over the camera body to absorb the heat. The upper material looks to be made of some heat conductive material that gets hot instantly. Let’s check out the some internal feature and look of camera.
Specification :
- Sensor : Panasonic 14 Mega Pixels, 1/2.3 inch CMOS
- Zoom : Optical: 5X. Digital: Up to 5X (Preview) / Up to 12X (Playback)
- Lens : f = 4.6 (W) ~ 23 (T) mm / F= 3.2 (W) ~ 6.4 (T) / （f = 26~130mm, 35mm equivalent）
- Focus Range : Normal: W= 5 cm ~ Infinity, T= 60 cm ~ Infinity / Super macro: W= 5 cm
- LCD : 2.7” LCD 230k pixels
- Aspect Ratio : 4:3 / 3:2 / 16:9 / 1:1
- Image Resolution : 14M (4320X3240) / 8M (3264X2448) / 5M (2560×1920) / 3M (2048×1536) / VGA (640×480)
- Movie Mode : FHD 1080p (1920×1080) 30fps / HD 720p (1280 x 720) 60fps / HD 720p (1280 x 720) 30fps / VGA (640 x 480) 30fps / QVGA (320 x 240) 120fps / HD 720p (1280 x 720) with Watercolor Continuous recording with Stereo sound.
- Shutter Speed : Auto: 1/2000 ~ 1 sec；(Night scene: 1/2000 ~ 15 sec., Fireworks: 2 sec.)
- White Balance : Daylight / Cloudy / Tungsten / Fluorescent_H / Fluorescent_L / Manual
- Exposure : –2.0 ~ +2.0 EV (0.3EV / step)
- ISO : Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 (3M or lower) / 6400 (3M or lower)
- Flash : Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync., Forced On/Off
- Drive Mode : Off / 10 sec. / 2 sec. / Double
- Continuous Shooting mode : Off / Burst / High-speed Burst / Speedy Burst 120 / Multi-shot 16 / AEB
- Power Source : CIPA approx 180 base on bundle Li-ion battery
- Storage Type : Built-in Approx. 42.9 MB (+-5%) 4GB SD / 32GB SDHC / SDXC(> 32GB) card compatible
- File Format : Still Image: JPEG (EXIF 2.3 compatible). Video: MOV；Audio: WAV
- Interface : Digital output: USB 2.0 compatible. Audio / Video output ( NTSC / PAL / HDMI ). PictBridge compatible
- Accessory : USB Cable / Software & UM CD / Quick Guide. Li-ion Battery / Pouch (optional)
BenQ LR100 is a simple small camera. You can see the appearance on above images. It is even smaller than a traditional mobile phone. It is always recommended that you attach a hand strap the camera to avoid falling. It is a very fragile device. The front side has a flash at the top side. The lens part covers the maximum area with shutter button and zoom liver on the to side. Next to that is a tiny power button. BenQ LR100 uses 14 Megapixel CMIS camera. There are two mic provided at the front side to get optimum audio quality. To transfer data you can use a MicroUSB cable. Just above that there is a MicroHDMI cable. Through that you can directly stream the multimedia files of camera on a HD monitor or TV. The battery and SD card lies on the lower part and the backside is occuped with a 2.7” LCD screen. There is a speaker and tripod stand.
BenQ has kept the design of LR100 very simple. You can see that there are 5 buttons with a 4 way roller in the center. Else there is nothing. It shows how simple the camera is but the features provided are advance. This is one of the best part of LR100. With a few minutes of usage you can easily understand what buttons offers what settings. Like the round button in the center. This is the only quick navigation key on the camera that offers a quick adjustment. Begin with the one on the left and going clock wise, the keys are Focus, AE-L/AF-L, Burst and Flash settings. While capturing a video or photo you can instantly use the keys to make current adjustment and get the best shot. The red dot key is the recording button and to play/pause you have to press AE-L/AF-L button. The FN key consist of all the settings which contains the video fps, image resolution, screen mode, and many more. It contains the entire settings functions at one place. The play button at the corner is to view your existing and photos and recording. The most annoying part while recording is the zoom liver. The zoom liver hsa twomodes. The liver moved towards W is for optical zoom and the same when moved towards T is for Digital Zoom. That button on the top side does not offer a good grip and it is on firm while pressing it. There are two clicks when it is pressed. The zoom liver is fast responsive. As you move it left or right the zoom in and out moves rapidly gives a very less time to adjust the right scene. There is on settings available to control is fast responsiveness.
BenQ LR100 has tons of features. It comes in 3 different colors. Maroon, Black and Silver. It ha a very decent desigh with front opening lens mechanism. LR100 has a additional stereo mic to get a better audio quality. There are some unique features and user friendly interface that we are going to discuss in detail. LR100 captures all the imags in single JPEG format and the video’s output format is MOV. The audio is recorded in WAV form. To record a audio the camera shuts of the front lens. You will need to go in Scene Mode and at the last lies Voice Rec. Mode. When it is activated the camera act as a audio recorder only. You cannot use camera at that time. The Scene Mode offers 31 different settings to enhance your photographs and videos. It starts from Auto Mode to HDR and even Panormaic videos. Some modes add extra effects to your photos like Snow, Sunset, Night Shot, HDR, etc. There is many thing that you can test with the camera and get the right image quality of your choice. Once the Scene mode is selected you can press the FN key to modify additional settings. Like changing the aspect ratio, reducing the capture quality, increasing or reducing the video fps.
Some HD video recording features does not work when there is on external memory card present in the camera. The internal memory provided is just 42mb. But still you can expand the external storage by adding a maximum of 32GB memory card. The user interface of BenQ LR100 is very simple. It is not fine to stay that has a outdated user interface. BenQ kept that simple so that you can easily choose the scene mode or settings that you want. There is no need to go much in detail. By pressing the OK button by 1 ot 2 time the settings is activated. So it is very easy to operate. The back lcd has icon indication that gives you a small glimpse where your settings is activated or not. BenQ is able to properly engage all the icons properly on the lcd without reducing the same for capturing picture.
BenQ LR100 has a very bright flash. The first settings which configured on the lower part of round button gives you option to set the flash level. It is recommended to set the same on Auto-Flash. The flash is activated on the basis of light conditions. There are 4 other options which is Auto Ant-Red eye to fix red eye, Force On for constant flash light use, Slow Sync to get right photo on low light environment and Force Off to turn off the flash completely. LR100 is also offers a feature to capture a image in between of video recording. This features is called as PIV. To adjust settings instantly you will need to learn about the function menu. This menu has all settings that can be applied instantly at the time of recording or just before capturing a picture. There are so many things that it can confuse you sometime what to choose and what to not. While capturing effect you can also set some filters affect. The 4 different effects are Fisheye, Toy, Watercolor and Sketch. Each of them are applied as yo capture the photo. But do remember to enable them. You can get a live preview in the camera itself after turning them on. Other features that are commonly found in all camera is like Smile Catch, Blink Catch, etc.
Conclusion
BenQ LR100 might not be stylish, but it is a value product for your vacation. It offers some good enhancements which are easy to understand. With simple layout and user friendly interface you can instantly make changes and get awesome affects. BenQ has emphasised more in adding many affects in Scene Mode. The battery life offers a medium life. You should carry a charger or additional battery if you are going to keep on recording HD videos. For photos this camera has good battery power. BenQ LR100 lacks touch screen support. Whatever changes you have to do you will need to use the keys, due to a lightweight design it provides a easy mobility. It is necessary that you can take care while using the camera. I had already mentioned above this is a fragile device. The connectivity is simple. The cost of BenQ LR100 is Rs.8,990/-.
Pros
- 31 photo effects
- Easy Navigation keys.
- Simple User Interface
- Bright flash.
- 32GB upgradable memory card
- Instant wake time
Cons
- Weak shutter button.
- Uncomfortable zoom liver.
- Heats up early.
- Very low internal memory
