GE A830

Viewfinder (0.0)
The GE A830 does not have an optical viewfinder, and relies on its LCD screen for the view. This is common on point-and-shoot digital cameras. Those that do include the optical viewfinder are usually very inaccurate and only useful when the batteries are seriously depleted or in direct sunlight.

The view through the LCD screen is hampered by icons on the right side of the LCD screen. Focus, flash, battery power, memory options, number of pictures left, zoom graphic, image size, image quality, and mode all crowd the frame. These can’t be hidden because there is no way to change the display. Users only have the option to hide the histogram, which is done through the Setup menu.

LCD Screen (6.0)
This GE digital camera has a 2.5-inch LCD screen that looks bigger than it actually is. The screen is framed in black and plastic covers the LCD and the frame together. When the camera is turned off and all is dark, it looks like the A830 has a 3-inch screen. Don’t be fooled.

The 2.5-inch screen has lackluster resolution of 153,600 pixels. The low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color LCD doesn’t show a smooth enough view to accurately judge the focus. It can be seen when held out to the right and left, but not when held above or below eye-level.

There is a 10-level brightness adjustment that makes the screen easier to see in bright lighting. The adjustment can also help save battery power if dimmed in dark lighting. Outdoors at the normal brightness setting it is very difficult to see what’s framed on the screen. The image seems to wash out and lose all contrast.

Compared to other manufacturers’ budget models, the A830’s screen is average in size and resolution; it’s not the worst of the bunch and not the best either. The smoothness of the view isn’t very impressive and the LCD’s resolution isn’t that great. Add in the slow refresh rate of the LCD and most moving subjects will look like a blurry pile of pixels.

Flash (4.75)
The GE A830’s flash unit is located almost in the center of the camera along the top edge. This is out of the way of wandering fingertips, so it probably won’t be blocked like most other compact cameras’ flashes. The downside is that the A830’s flash is still off-axis from the lens, resulting in spotty coverage and thick shadows along the side of subjects.

The camera’s reported flash range at ISO 400 is 0.98 to 11.15 feet when the lens is zoomed wide. When zoomed to full telephoto, the flash is effective to 9.84 feet. These specs aren’t very impressive, especially considering this is at ISO 400, which means the flash will be less effective at lower ISO settings.

The flash overpowers subjects within about 6 feet of the camera, causing glaring white foreheads and shiny chins in photos of people. Subjects beyond that may or may not be illuminated; the flash seems to fade out in the corners and along the bottom of the frame.

The camera’s Flash modes are accessed by pressing the left side of the multi-selector, and are: Auto, Red-eye Reduction, On, Off, Slow Synchro, and Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro.

It’s best to turn the flash off most of the time. It often makes photos look awful and adds a ridiculous amount of lag time to taking pictures. The flash is fine for taking a single picture, but it takes almost 10 seconds for the flash to reboot before its next shot.

Zoom Lens (5.75)
The GE A830 has a 3x optical zoom lens that extends from the body in two segments. It is composed of seven elements arranged in six groups. Two plastic sheaves cover the glass lens when the camera is turned off.

The 3x lens has a 6.1-18.3mm focal length – equivalent to 36-108mm in the 35mm format. This is the same lens found on the GE A730 and is slightly wider than the GE G1’s 3x, 38-114mm internal lens.

The A830’s zoom is controlled by a button on the upper right corner of the back. It is labeled with an engraved "W" (for wide) on the left and "T" (for telephoto) on the right. This button is too small. It could easily have been made larger, as there is extra space surrounding it. When tapped lightly, the control allows the user to stop at six different focal lengths. It can do this zooming in and out, although the lens huffs and puffs a little when zooming out, which can be a hassle to the user. Even more annoying is the noise the lens makes when it moves. The noise is worse when zooming out because of the jerky halting.

The camera is equipped with an electronic image stabilization system that functions only in the Stabilization mode or the Movie mode. There’s a hitch, though. The image stabilization only functions in the Movie mode if the frame rate is set to 15 frames per second (fps). The unavoidably choppy nature of the 15 fps frame rate cancels out any good the stabilization may have done and actually looks worse than the non-stabilized 30 fps videos.

The lens has a maximum f/2.8 aperture, which is about average for a compact digital camera. It allows plenty of light to come into the lens and hit the image sensor. When the lens is zoomed to Telephoto mode, the max aperture is f/4.8, which is also about average.

The GE A830 also has 4.5x digital zoom that can be turned on and off in the Setup menu. Digital zoom should generally be avoided as it impacts image quality. About 1.5x of digital zoom is functional while recording movies, but optical zoom isn’t available for movies.

GE skimped on this component. The noisy lens has a limited 3x power and shows some barrel distortion.