BenQ GH800 Digital Camera Review

[Raj]

BenQ GH800 is a powerful Digital Camera loaded with great features and unique design. The GH series by BenQ offers a reasonable variety of Digital Camera that is ideal for basic and advance shooting. You can choose from various models that offer composite feature of Point to Shoot and DLSR. GH Series emphasis more on professional photography. Other models in the same series are GH210, GH600, GH650, GH700 & GH800. GH800 lies on the top. The camera belongs to an advance series where rich features and perfect blend of technology provide you a product that can instantly capture photos like professional. No need to mess up with additional settings here. GH800 is unique in its own kind. In the year 2012 BenQ released two cameras to extend its GH Series. They were GH600 & GH700. Compared to the older one these models were more powerful and better. And just after a year in mid of 2013, BenQ came up with a more powerful model which is GH800. In this article we are going to test out GH800 and we will see whether it is worth buying or not. As per the features the camera looks really great. It offers you 36x Zoom, 18MP Camera, 22.5mm Wide Angle, 1CM Super Macro and 3inch LCD with Tilt View. Along with this it also provide you a sturdy design adding more to the grip and comfort in taking picture.

User Friendly UI makes the camera more comfortable to use and capture photos offering the best picture clarity over others. Professional Photographers usually prefer to go with camera with interchangeable lens. That gives them more choice to get the right kind of photo, light exposure and perfect focal length in capturing photos. They also spend a huge amount is buying camera accessories, additional lenses and many more stuff. For them BenQ GH800 has nothing much to give. But if you are looking for a composite model which is packed with advance photography features, durable design, simple preset mode and easy to use camera then GH800 is worth to checkout. Before moving ahead you can just read below and checkout the camera features and specification in detail.

Features:

• Powerful 36x Zoom: Get extremely near to the object and capture rich detailed pictures.
• 1cm Super Macro: Detailed nearby images with blurred background.
• 3” 920k Pixel Tilt-View Screen: Simple screen adjustment to get the right shot.
• 22.5m Wide Angle Lens: Easy to Capture large area with minimum movements.
• Mode Dial: Choose from the best settings instantly without wasting time.
• Electronic View Finder: Ideal for professionals who are serious about photography. Save battery also.
• 18M CMOS Sensor: Low Noise Level, Sharper image under different mode.
• HDR Image Enhancement: Take the best image with high contrast and proper color output.
• HD Video Recording: Record up to 1080p video at 30fps with photo capturing while recording.
• Scene Mode: Powerful Preset modes to get high quality effects in your phone. Like Magic Q that add High Contrast and Saturation in your images. Choose from 6 different modes.

Specification:

• Sensor : Sony 18 Mega Pixel, 1/2.3 inch BSI CMOS
• Zoom - Optical: Optical: 36x. Digital: Up to 5x (Preview) / Up to 10x (Playback)
• Lens - Focal Length: f = 4 (W) ~144 (T) mm. F= 3.4 (W) ~ 5.7 (T). （f = 22.5~810mm, 35mm equivalent）
• Focus Range: Normal: W=50cm ~ Infinity ; T=220cm ~ Infinity. Macro: W=10cm ~ Infinity ; T=220cm ~ Infinity. Super Macro: 1cm.
• LCD size / resolution : 3.0“ 920k Pixel Tilt-View Panel
• Image Resolution : 4:3- 18M / 8M / 5M / 3M / VGA; 16:9- 9M / 2M; 3:2- 10M; 1:1- 9M
• Movie Mode: 1920x1080p / 1280x720 / 640x480 with 30fps. 1920x1080i / 1280x720 with 60fps. Continuous recording with sound (Slow motion: 640x480 120fps).
• Shutter Speed : Auto: 1/2000 ~ 1 sec；Manual Mode: 1/2000 ~15 sec
• White Balance : Auto / Daylight / Cloudy / Tungsten / Fluorescent_1 / Fluorescent_2 / Custom
• Exposure : –2.0 ~ +2.0 EV (1/3 EV / step)
• ISO : Auto, 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600 ,3200, 6400, 12800
• Flash: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced On/Off, Slow Sync.
• Power Source : CIPA approx 400 base on bundle Li-ion battery
• Storage: Built-in Approx. 68MB (+-5%). 4GB SD/ 32GB SDHC/ SDXC(>64GB) card compatible
• File Format: Still Image: JPEG (EXIF 2.3 compatible). Video: MOV；Audio:WAV；Sound: Stereo sound.

[Raj]

Design:

BenQ GH800 features a sturdy design with leather covering at important parts. This adds more to the grip. As per the design it is not at all slippery. The build material looks quiet thick made up of rich plastic element and as I said it has rubber covering at important parts. It is a fully functional camera. All buttons and controls are well placed which are easily accessible when you know them well. Like the famous Mode Dial. For newbie’s I will advise you to spend some time with it. Whichever camera I had tested so far, BenQ GH800 is heavy among all. The fixed lens lies on the front side with leather covering over the round body. This allows you to hold the camera firmly while taking pictures. From a distance BenQ GH800 gives a tough look. It is not flashy at all. Black body makes it look like a stubborn device instead of a simple point to shoot camera. The front lens is huge. For travelers it is better to hook the camera on strap and hang it on your shoulder or neck. It is not only heavy but big in size. It is not comfortable to keep it holding in hand and moving. While if attached on a strap you can simply walk with it and use it whenever needed.

Front:

At first look BenQ GH800 looks sturdy. The complete black color body also adds bit durability in the look and feel. A major part on the front side is occupied by the lens. It is a full size lens with pop out mechanism that allows you to have 36x zoom. The high zoom feature adds more visibility and detailing in the images. The look here is impressive. In the image below you can see the front part as well the maximum pop-out lens. It is a fixed lens. You cannot remove it. Just left to that lies AF Illuminator. This helps you to capture photos in dark. The placement remains effective where the camera is able to lock object under low light. At the extreme left lies a rubber coating over the side part which gives more grips. Many camera features a flat rectangular design, but GH800 is thicker. Due to which it is easier to hold up. The thick body here has added advantage, but sometime the weight is a problem.

Back:

At the backside lies a 3inch LCD Screen with Tilt View. This LCD has an added advantage here. Due to tilt feature you do not require to adjust the entire camera while taking pictures. Ample of time you have to tilt the camera completely to get the right image in LCD. This screen is really effective. It is best when you are talking photos from low height. The screen offers you easy navigation and changes you need. The screen adjustment is limited. You cannot completely bend it towards down side or simply turn it upside down. Due to this tilt mechanism you can simply move the LCD screen a bit away from camera body. This works well when you are using a tripod. Because here you do not require bending your head, you can just move the screen towards you and change settings. The screen offers you two way tilt facility. One towards the down side where you can bend the screen to 80 degree maximum and have 135 degree of display angle.

Just over the top of LCD Screen you can see EVF. EVF stands for Electronic View Finder. Ideal for those who does like disturbance around them. A number of times you cannot judge the photo output through LCD. For that BenQ has added an EVF features also on the top of screen. And just before that lies an EVF/LCD On/Off Button. When you press that, the LCD is turned off, and through EVF you can manage the right capture shot. EVF is one of the oldest features used in many cameras, which is used by professionals. The complete LCD screen is projected over tiny display which brighter output. The EVF is supported by Dioptric Correction knob on the left side to adjust the screen clarity. It is for those who wear glasses and find complicated to get the clear output. The EVF is also covered with rubber coating. I really do not understand what is the use of having a rubber coating over EVF, no one is going to hold the camera from that place.

[Raj]

At the right side lies all kind of controls. This is the primary controls which are common in many GH series model. The first one on the top marked with red dot is the recording button. Next to that lies Jog Dial. Also known as Shuttle Wheel. It allows you to select from different mode and the same knob also helps you to control the F settings under different modes. Below the video recording button lies AE/AF Lock button. This button is not providing in lower series. Through which you can lock Auto Exposure and Auto Focus to get identical images. It is really helpful in capturing panorama pics. Ample of time the automatic modes in camera try to modify the image quality by adjusting shutter speed, aperture, iso & white balance. You can force the camera to use certain settings. This button can be helpful for you to capture great quality images under low light.

The third button is the Menu key. This offers you the OSD of GH800. The UI looks very simple and outdated here. There are all common features available with bit of advance settings. The menu is divided into three categories. Photo, Video and Settings. Below lies a control wheel is set of five different keys on it. The central circle itself is a 4 way key which is used for navigation also. In the image you can see each buttons as proper markings and icon on them. In the control wheel. The key functions are Top: Exposure Control, Right: Flash, Bottom: Timer & Left: Focus Mode. The center button is the OK key. At the bottom there are two more buttons available. The first one is Image/Video Playback button. You can play all videos and images which are captured through this button and next to that lie a delete button.

[Raj]

Left / Right:

At the left lie Strap eyelet and connectivity ports. For connectivity you have USB and HDMI port only. The speaker also lies in the same place. Along with this there are two more things available. First is the Zoom Lever. This Side Zoom Lever is a bit complicated to access. Compare to that the one which is available on the top side is easier. There is a Flash button also available on the top side. When you press it the flash pops outside. While on the right side lies nothing except a strap eyelet.

Top:

The top part of GH800 has a mode dial. This mode dial offers you easy accessibility is changing from 10 different modes instantly while capturing photos. They are Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program, Smart Scene, Scene Mode, Night Scene, Night Portrait, Continues Shooting & HDR. Next to that lies a single LED indicator and power button on the bottom. While at the extreme front lies Shutter button with Zoom Lever. The front Microphone lies over the flash panel. Two stereo mics are placed at the same place and voice capture quality is decent but not great. The audio is affected based on the distance where the camera is kept.

Bottom:

At the bottom lies tripod mount and battery panel. The same battery panel also has slot for inserting memory card. BenQ GH800 works on 1700mAH battery. That provides it is a decent battery life. It can be around 5 to 6 hours approximately. But if you are using flash for every photo set on high resolution, the battery will drain out fast.

Overall BenQ GH800 offers you rich and durable design. I will not stay this is a portable device. It is heavy and thick to carry. So better attach straps to it. The camera gives a hard look and has a rough finish over the body. Being a full size camera you will surely look like professional photographer when you carry it with you. In terms of design I found this mode a bit advance compare to the older one. You have EVF on it which allows you to take a proper shot avoiding extra lights and disturbance around. Being a bridge camera it offers composite features of SLR and Point to shoot camera. We will move ahead in testing out the internal settings, and image quality ahead.

BenQ GH800 Operation:

Now we will move ahead to test out all the features of this camera. After using it for some time I found the device helpful in capturing photos. But I had already used a more portable version before, due to which I am getting issue to adjust with it. The camera is designed to offer more performance. Being a high end series it is loaded with all required features that any professional needs for capturing great images. It is best to called it a bridge camera. This kind of devices between professional and layman models. If you are a serious photographer then surely you will never get satisfied with such models that do not provide you adjustment, but if you are looking to start photography as a hobby and want to move ahead with camera that has easy to use features with advance option then BenQ GH800 is right one to choose. In terms of internal features, it is straight forward. The menu is simple here. You can just pick it up and start capturing photos instantly. 36x zoom allows you to reach extremely close to an object. This model is great for those who love Macro Photography. Autofocus works well in giving crisp image output.

The camera features Sony 18 Mega Pixels, 1/2.3 inch BSI CMOS which is great enough to give plenty of dazzling images. Different modes makes job much easier. There is no need to waste time in manual adjustment. The famous mode dial over the top side allows you to get the right kind of preset mode instantly. Once turned on the camera takes a few second to give you the screen display. The menu is also very basic. 18MP Lens is quiet great in getting the right image quality under different environment. And under low light the flash does the job really well. But something it makes the image over bright which are not possible to adjust. You can limit the exposure value under that case. BenQ GH800 offers you an image of maximum 4896x3672 resolutions. You can also go with 3968x2232 at an aspect ratio of 16:9 over 9MP only. Depending on your need you can stick with the kind of image quality you want. Below you can see all the different image size and aspect ratio available. Under Quality we have nothing special, but the refine option allows you to choose some effects to get clean photos. While there is a Custom option also available in which you can manually adjust contrast, sharpness and saturation.

[Raj]

The photo section also provide you different adjustment associated with white balance, iso, metering, af area, af lamp, etc. those who are not aware about this it is better to leave the camera on default settings. Layman can simply use the mode dial and select the right mode. For Marco Photography Focus Mode offer more clear zoomed images. The 4 way navigation key allows you instantly choose different Macro mode to get crisp photos. One thing I noticed in BenQ GH800 that you need a very stable hand to get the clear Macro Shot. Or else the image will keep on getting blurred. The Jog Dial allows you to change the F settings while taking close up photos. It is also essential that you must maintain a good amount of distance and there must be ample of lights in the surrounding to get better photos. Compare to indoor, the camera works great in outdoors. Under Manual mode everything depends on your camera skills, while under preset mode you have to do nothing. Image processing sometime takes time while capturing high resolution photos. There is no clear information available on the internal processor. That can put more highlight on the processing power.

Under Videos a set of few things are only available. That you can see in the below image. BenQ GH800 offers you HD video recording with clear voice support. You have to enable WindCut so that your voice can be captured more clearly. The video output you can get on this camera is 1080i60 @ 60fps or even higher. It is quiet great here. This is the expected ratio of many high ends DSLR. To activate everything you will need a memory. In terms of internal memory GH800 offers you nothing. Adding around 8GB or 16GB is more than enough. Avoid using flash under high light. That will save your battery. Or better carry a spare battery with you while travelling. In terms of operation BenQ GH800 is quiet easy. Everything is properly configured over Mode Dial. You have ample of choices to select the type of mode you want and see a short preview in the screen before taking the final picture. The camera is good for taking portrait and landscape shot.

BenQ GH800 Camera Modes:

We will now quickly checkout the different modes available in the camera. This is one of the prime features of many digital cameras. Camera Modes are based on pre-configured settings. No rocket science is needed to understand this thing. Just hook your camera on the right mode and start capturing your photos. I am going to list you all the modes which are available in the camera. The speed dial allows you to switch camera modes. Among all the impressive part is Scene Mode. This single mode provides you 19 different types of photo settings. It is worth to play. We will start with Manual mode first.

Manual: Marked as M on the Mode Dial, here you can find all settings under your control. You can manage everything here. Manual Mode is for advance photographers. Jog Dial here allows you to reduce and increase F Settings and Shutter Speed. When you put the camera on Manual mode at the bottom you can see the current F value and Shutter Speed. By pressing OK button you can switch between Aperture and Shutter.

[Raj]

Aperture Priority or Av Mode: Under this you have control over Aperture, while the shutter speed is adjusted automatically by the camera itself. This is helpful who does not want to mess with shutter speed and needs a prefect close up shot.
Shutter Priority or Tv Mode: This is reverse of Av Mode. Here you have control over the Shutter Speed while Aperture is configured automatically by the camera itself.
Program Auto: If you do not want to bang your head in understanding in the configuration just put the camera on Program auto and start capturing your images.
Smart Scene: Under Scene mode you can manually choose from 19 different scenes. While under Smart Scene, on the basis of lighting condition the camera selects the best scene mode.
Scene Mode: After adjusting Mode Dial to SCN press the Menu button and down key. And choose from 19 different scene modes. They are Landscape, Sunset, Backlight, Kids, Lomo, Fireworks, Snow, Sports, Party, MagiQ, Flowing Water, Food, Mirroring, Love Portrait, Self Portrait, Panorama, Fisheye, Toy and Portrait. The impressive mode here is MagiQ which adds a bit of fantasy effect in the images. While different type of Portrait shots allow to get more proper photos. BenQ GH800 offers you more under Panorama. By pressing the down navigation key you can choose from 3 different photo settings. You can select from 120 Degree, 180 Degree and a full 360 degree image.

Night Scene: This mode allows you to capture more clear photos in low light environment.

Night Portrait: Ideally designed to work in extremely low light. This mode works best for taking portrait photos in night.

Continues Shooting: This mode allows you to capture a set of different photos with single press. It has options like High Speed Burst that captures upto 5 images @ 10 fps, Pre-Shooting which helps you to get a image preview before capturing it, Speed Burst 60 where you can get upto 25 photos at a single press @ 2MP, speed burst 120 where you can capture around 50 photos on vga resolution and multi-shot 16 where you can capture 16 constant shot at 30fps.

HDR: This is the last mode. It is recommended to get more crisp and bright nearby images. Once you select the mode, choose the object and half press the shutter button. The camera will automatically adjust the dark area and once you are satisfied with the quality hit the button.

Along with different modes there is an internal video and image editor also. It is not really awesome but gives you reasonable option to instantly edit a photo or video. Under photos you can zoom in an image, you can trim it and rotate it. The navigation keys here help you to crop an image. The process is same for video and image editing. You have to press the play button and then you can use the zoom lever to crop an image. For video editing you have to first hit the Play button and then use the top and bottom navigation keys to adjust the movie time interval.

[Raj]

Conclusion
BenQ GH800 provides high zoom features with various scene modes to choose from. The camera work really well on tripod. For nearby images you require very stable hand or else the image gets blurred out instantly. That can be due to the internal processor which responds slow on high zoom. 18MP CMOS sensor and Optical Image Stabilization technology makes this camera high featured and great for everyone. Due to long zoom range you can capture distance photos much more easily compare to any other model available in the market. The cost of this camera is Rs.14,000. This might be a good choice, but still in terms of features it is a great camera. According to me the camera is best for those you want to start with photography. Going step by step from beginning to advance levels. For professional who had already played with different lens and modes, BenQ GH800 does not offer much to them. It is an offer a sturdy body design and build up material also looks durable. The control keys have everything to manage. I found complication in taking long range photos. The preview output that we see in EVF or in the LED screen is not clear enough.
The camera lens is awesome for nearby photos. I would recommend you to use the camera with a tripod. That will make you job easier. After testing it for some days I am really not happy with the image stabilization in indoors. While in outdoors it works really fine. Under low light capturing image took long time. HD Video Recording goes well with it. The high resolution output gives rich video quality with reasonable audio recording also.

Pros:

• Awesome Zoom
• Great Photo Video Quality
• Cool Camera Modes.
• Sturdy Design

Cons:

• Heavy to carry
• Poor Image Stabilization under low light
• Fast Battery drain on Continuous Flash Usage
• Outdated UI

[amltz]

Good and cheap！

[goprocessing]

BenQ GH800 is a powerful Digital Camera loaded with great features and unique design. The GH series by BenQ offers a reasonable variety of Digital Camera that is ideal for basic and advance shooting. You can choose from various models that offer composite feature of Point to Shoot and DLSR. GH Series emphasis more on professional photography. Other models in the same series are GH210, GH600, GH650, GH700 & GH800. GH800 lies on the top. The camera belongs to an advance series where rich features and perfect blend of technology provide you a product that can instantly capture photos like professional. No need to mess up with additional settings here. GH800 is unique in its own kind. In the year 2012 BenQ released two cameras to extend its GH Series. They were GH600 & GH700. Compared to the older one these models were more powerful and better. And just after a year in mid of 2013, BenQ came up with a more powerful model which is GH800. In this article we are going to test out GH800 and we will see whether it is worth buying or not. As per the features the camera looks really great. It offers you 36x Zoom, 18MP Camera, 22.5mm Wide Angle, 1CM Super Macro and 3inch LCD with Tilt View. Along with this it also provide you a sturdy design adding more to the grip and comfort in taking picture.

User Friendly UI makes the camera more comfortable to use and capture photos offering the best picture clarity over others. Professional Photographers usually prefer to go with camera with interchangeable lens. That gives them more choice to get the right kind of photo, light exposure and perfect focal length in capturing photos. They also spend a huge amount is buying camera accessories, additional lenses and many more stuff. For them BenQ GH800 has nothing much to give. But if you are looking for a composite model which is packed with advance photography features, durable design, simple preset mode and easy to use camera then GH800 is worth to checkout. Before moving ahead you can just read below and checkout the camera features and specification in detail.

Features:

• Powerful 36x Zoom: Get extremely near to the object and capture rich detailed pictures.
• 1cm Super Macro: Detailed nearby images with blurred background.
• 3” 920k Pixel Tilt-View Screen: Simple screen adjustment to get the right shot.
• 22.5m Wide Angle Lens: Easy to Capture large area with minimum movements.
• Mode Dial: Choose from the best settings instantly without wasting time.
• Electronic View Finder: Ideal for professionals who are serious about photography. Save battery also.
• 18M CMOS Sensor: Low Noise Level, Sharper image under different mode.
• HDR Image Enhancement: Take the best image with high contrast and proper color output.
• HD Video Recording: Record up to 1080p video at 30fps with photo capturing while recording.
• Scene Mode: Powerful Preset modes to get high quality effects in your phone. Like Magic Q that add High Contrast and Saturation in your images. Choose from 6 different modes.

Specification:

• Sensor : Sony 18 Mega Pixel, 1/2.3 inch BSI CMOS
• Zoom - Optical: Optical: 36x. Digital: Up to 5x (Preview) / Up to 10x (Playback)
• Lens - Focal Length: f = 4 (W) ~144 (T) mm. F= 3.4 (W) ~ 5.7 (T). （f = 22.5~810mm, 35mm equivalent）
• Focus Range: Normal: W=50cm ~ Infinity ; T=220cm ~ Infinity. Macro: W=10cm ~ Infinity ; T=220cm ~ Infinity. Super Macro: 1cm.
• LCD size / resolution : 3.0“ 920k Pixel Tilt-View Panel
• Image Resolution : 4:3- 18M / 8M / 5M / 3M / VGA; 16:9- 9M / 2M; 3:2- 10M; 1:1- 9M
• Movie Mode: 1920x1080p / 1280x720 / 640x480 with 30fps. 1920x1080i / 1280x720 with 60fps. Continuous recording with sound (Slow motion: 640x480 120fps).
• Shutter Speed : Auto: 1/2000 ~ 1 sec；Manual Mode: 1/2000 ~15 sec
• White Balance : Auto / Daylight / Cloudy / Tungsten / Fluorescent_1 / Fluorescent_2 / Custom
• Exposure : –2.0 ~ +2.0 EV (1/3 EV / step)
• ISO : Auto, 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600 ,3200, 6400, 12800
• Flash: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced On/Off, Slow Sync.
• Power Source : CIPA approx 400 base on bundle Li-ion battery
• Storage: Built-in Approx. 68MB (+-5%). 4GB SD/ 32GB SDHC/ SDXC(>64GB) card compatible
• File Format: Still Image: JPEG (EXIF 2.3 compatible). Video: MOV；Audio:WAV；Sound: Stereo sound.

thats really a splashing camera group.
I have tried it once for some snapshots and was amazed to visualize its picture quality amazingly
thanks for sharing it again with us