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TrustedReviews Awards 2008

Author	TrustedReviews
Published	25th Nov 2008

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1st Place: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28

Panasonic also tops our superzoom category with the stunning Lumix FZ28. With a huge 18x zoom lens covering everything from 27mm to 486mm, a 10.1-megapixel sensor, a big 2.7in monitor and an electronic viewfinder it has a specification that sets the benchmark in the superzoom sector.

The camera's main features include a face detection system capable of tracking 15 faces at once, advanced Intelligent Auto feature that sets exposure, scene mode and ISO to cope with almost any situation, and a full range of manual exposure and focusing options for when you want to take control. Build quality, performance and of course image quality are up to Panasonic's usual high standard, and at a bit over £200 it's even good value for money.

Read the full review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28.

2nd Place: Fujifilm FinePix S100FS

After winning our top superzoom category for the past two years, this time Fujifilm has to be content with taking both second and third place. In the number two slot we have the massively impressive FinePix S100FS, the replacement for last year's multi-award-winning S9600.

With a price tag larger than most entry-level DSLRs, the S100FS offers a specification to match, with 11.1-megapixels on a big 2/3-inch SuperCCD HR sensor, a massive 14.3x, f2.8 manual zoom lens with optical image stabilisation, an articulated 2.5in 230k monitor and a very sharp electronic viewfinder. Performance, handling features and image quality make the S100FS a worthy successor to its illustrious forebears.

Read the full review of the Fujifilm FinePix S100FS.

3rd Place: Fujifilm FinePix S5800

Fujifilm also takes the number three spot in our best-of-year line-up with the FinePix S5800. If we had to pick one camera to define value for money, this would be the one. For under £100 it offers a good quality 10x zoom lens equivalent to 38-380mm, 8.0-megapixel resolution, SLR-like handling and a range of manual exposure options.

As well as this it features VGA 30fps video shooting, a dual-format card slot (xD or SD/SDHC) and runs on four readily-available AA batteries. It looks cool and stylish, has good performance for a superzoom camera and even has respectable image quality. If you're on a tight budget but still want lots of features then there's nothing else on the market that can touch it.

Read the full review of the Fujifilm FinePix S5800.

Latest 4 of 83 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

Sivart said on 1st December 2008

Just read the awards article & then looked forward to the comments.

Big disapointment to find it dominated by a fruitcake with a grudge and an old pals reunion d... more

Ardjuna said on 5th December 2008

@Sivart: yes, it would have been nice to see some more comments about the actual products, and about awards other than the arguably least important 'style' one. Still, it... more

AlexMck said on 11th December 2008

Great job Riyad. Have been following the site for a long time but only just decided to register.
Rsaeire and Singularity -- have ye any lives to lead? I should think that,... more

PaulW said on 11th January 2009

@Sivart .. I agree with you to a degree. I dont have the funds to be fortunate to be able to buy a B&W Zeppelin, and therefore look forward to reviews of such products here @ TR. No matter what Riyad (other TR staff say)says, there will also be some contention. I bought a Samsung G600 phone for Xmas .. mainly because of the brilliant review here. As it happens, i dont like it & have gone back to my Nokia 6300. I also have a Nokia E71 (which another user was raving about) & I aint too keen on that either.

So what am I trying to say? Well this .. I find the TR site just about the most "accurate" place to go to read products reviews, and generally I find the conclusions produced "weigh in" with my own needs. I bought a Canon Pixma MP610 on the strength of its review & its brilliant! I also bought a Fuji S9600 camera purely on the review here & what a blinder! Brilliant choice & a brilliant review - altho very controversial at the time! 10 / 10 for a camera that I bought for £199!!

The arguments put forward about B&W Zeppelin as an iPod docking station do produce a smile on my face. I can many years ago, someone in Hi-Fi News stating "the wider you open the windows, the more the muck flies in", and having an iPod myself, I cannot but agree with this statement .. as the audio quality of the Apple iPod is well documented to be "questionable". Poor audio in - poor audio out!

BUT .. at least TR do actually carry out reviews of products tested. Some years back (in an earlier life) I was involved heavily in the PC MIDI market & ran a well know UK PC MIDI company distributing such products as Music Quest MIDI cards, CardD DAW card & Cadenza sequencing software (Gordon .. are you reading this? You & I have had several chats in the past about some of these products.)

On one occasion I was approached by a well known MIDI Music mag (no names mentioned, but their offices were in Bath!) asking for a sample Music Quest card for "head to head" review. I had always had my suspicions about the "authenticity" of reviews carried out by this Mag, & so I sent off a card that I knew to be faulty! It simply didnt work!

We came 2nd in a head to head shoot out with other popular MIDI card! We werent asked to replace the faulty card, yet we came in 2nd place! Amazing eh?

Thanks goodness we have moved on & we have sites like TR.

Well done guys .. whilst I dont agree with all that you say, I am darned glad that you have presence on the web! Sorry for going off topic a tad!

Happy New Year!

@Sivart .. I agree with you to a degree. I dont have the funds to be fortunate to be able to buy a B&W Zeppelin, and therefore look forward to reviews of such products here @ T... more

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