A Review of the the 8 Megapixel GE A835: A Digital Camera Anyone Can Afford

One of the most popular items popping up on Black Friday sales catalogs this year are digital cameras. A camera that is certain to fly off of the shelves is the 8 megapixel GE A835 which is appearing in K-Mart's circular this year for less than $80. It is quite rare to find a digital camera from a name brand like GE and with a sensor as good as 8 megapixels for less than $150. I have gotten my hands on one of these to see if this deal is just too good to be true. I'm going to let you know how it performed for me so you can decide if it is worth waiting in the lines the day after Thanksgiving.

Features: 3/5

Image Quality: 3/5

Ease of Use: 4/5

Value: 5/5

Overall: 4/5

Product Overview:

At first glance this handsome GE looks like a high dollar point and shoot. It has a black exterior that looks a lot like some of Sony's digital camera offerings. The 2.5" LCD display on the back is of adequate size but doesn't take up the whole space; there is enough room to fit in some of the controls. This digital camera does not include a view finder which is often the case with these budget models. I found that this wasn't a big problem, however in bright directly light the screen washes out and a view finder would have proved useful.

The image quality is striking for an $80 camera. It isn't the best I've seen, but for the money I doubt anyone will be knocking it. It does a great job in well lit settings and even takes decent high speed photos. With low light settings there is a noticeable amount of noise in the photos but nothing extreme. The flash does a nice job and will reduce that noise.

The features on this camera are quite limited; however GE has included some of the basic shooting modes. Other features are the smile and face detection as well as an image stabilizer, none of which are typically found on budget level digital cameras. The controls are easy to access even for those with large fingers like myself, and the layout is intuitive.

Product Value:

This is the perfect little camera for first those just looking to get into the scene. If you have a child that is less than careful with their electronics then this is a great option since it will take excellent photos but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. At $80 this is a steal and would be well worth waiting in some long lines on Black Friday.