Customer Reviews

GE 1255W-BK 12MP Digital Camera with 5X Optical Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD Screen with Auto Brightness (Black)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not to be outdone by the reigning princes of the point and shoot market, the new GE 1255W 12 Megapixel camera enters the ring as a serious contender loaded with extras. Packed with a cornucopia of features including a 3" LCD screen with brightness adjustment, 5x optical zoom, 4.5 digital zoom, and a 28mm wide angle lens, its all business for this sleek model.

As with all new electronic gear, I had to take this model out for a test drive. I found the panoramic feature a sweet surprise. Simple to operate, I captured some great shots. Photo quality outdoors was outstanding. A nice collection of crisp colors and stable images without tweaking were the end product. As usual with limited lighting, indoor shots were give and take at best but still usable.

Simplicity at its best, this light weight camera also covers the bases with auto scene, face and smile detection. Usually with point and shoots, the onboard red eye removal tool is hit and miss. Not with this camera. Image stabilizer is pretty standard. It goes without saying that the best stabilizer is still a good old fashioned tripod. My only gripes are that the controls are a bit small and the obvious omission of a viewfinder.

Even though this model has a limited 24 megabyte internal memory, no worries. It operates with both SD & SDHC cards. The GE 1255W is packaged with a rechargeable lithium ion battery, battery charger, USB cable, AV cable, CD ROM, Guide, operating manual, and a wrist strap. One big selling point is this particular model easily slips into my shirt pocket.

Arcsoft Photo Impression 6 album software is also included. After looking over the photo software its okay, but not something I wish to add to my computer. The best free photo working software out there is still Google's Picasa 3. Its packed with outstanding tools and does not hog up space on your computer. The GE 1255W comes in Black, Silver, Pink and Red finish. GE backs this product with the standard one year warranty.

As an avid photographer, I am not generally impressed with many point and shoot cameras. There are a few that hold their own. Surprisingly I find the GE1255W strong with plenty of potential. Economically priced and packed with more features then most of the name brands, this model sells itself.

For those that want to jump into the realm of digital photography, I would recommend this product as a good starter camera. First time digital camera buyers won't be disappointed in performance or price.

We have our share of point and shoot cameras, all purchased within the past year for various family members. Now, we are all fighting over this GE camera.

The four cameras I'll be referring to are these:
GE 1255W-BK 12MP Digital Camera with 5X Optical Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD Screen with Auto Brightness (Black)
Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Canon PowerShot 10.0MP Digital Camera - Blue (A480)
Nikon Coolpix S220 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.5 inch LCD (Plum)

Although the menu options on this one (GE 1255W-BK) are not as intuitive as they are on our two Canon's and one Nikon, we found several things we liked better on the GE.

First, the back screen was the biggest of the four at 3". It also handled bright light photo previewing better than the others. It also has the most MP, but unless you are printing enlargments of small, cropped areas I wouldn't be too concerned with the amount of megapixels between these four cameras.

The optical zoom on the GE is also the highest of the four at 5x. Add that with the slight increase in megapixels and you might do better with the GE if you tend to use zoom often. The Canon A590 has 4x, and the other two have 3x.

Actual pictures:

The GE and Canon were tied for picture quality while the Nikon sorely suffered compared to the others. I found that with both the GE and the Canon that flash was not needed indoors 90% of the time (so i manually turned it off). The colors were bright and the pictures were clear, no matter if it was a close up or if I was using zoom.

Size/Weight:

The GE was the second lightest and second smallest coming in at 6 oz with the battery and memory card installed. The only one lighter was the Nikon at 4.2 ounces, which honestly, is not nearly as good of a camera as the GE. The Canon A590 was the heaviest and most versatile, at 8.5 ounces. The A480 was 7.1 ounces. The Canon A590 allows for a lens adapter to be added as well as filters, but at twice the price, the GE might suit your needs just fine.

Of the four cameras, the only one still offering a view finder is the Canon A590 IS, which can be helpful in the future if you should have your LCD damaged (as happened to my son last year). Digital camera manufacturers just don't seem to be including viewfinders any more, and the GE is no exception.

Battery Life:

All four of the cameras have excellent battery life. But, I like the fact that with the Canon A590 and the Canon A480 I can use regular AA batteries. On vacation, if I forget my battery charger (it's happened) I can just buy any AA's and they'll work just fine. The Nikon and the GE both require a special battery battery that I found to be interchangeable between the two brands.

If I were in the market for a new camera, the GE would be my choice over the Canon A480 and the Nikon S220, even though they are each within $10 of each other. The GE just packs in more features, takes better pictures, has more MP, a wider angle lens, a larger LCD screen, and a better zoom. But, if you want to take some really professional looking photos on a budget and don't mind spending a bit more, take a look at the Canon A590IS because you can add a Wide Angle Lens or a High Definition² Telephoto Lens, or a variety of 3 Piece (UV, PL, FL) Filter Kit to capture more accurate colors. There are also several underwater cases that can be used with the Canon A590, so again, if you don't mind spending twice as much on the camera, and then another $100 on accessories, and don't mind a bulkier and heavier camera, the Canon A590 (or their newer model) would be a better choice. But, for an inexpensive point and shoot, I love the GE!

Not to be outdone by the reigning princes of the point and shoot market, the new GE 1255W 12 Megapixel camera enters the ring as a serious contender loaded with extras. Packed with a cornucopia of features including a 3" LCD screen with brightness adjustment, 5x optical zoom, 4.5 digital zoom, and a 28mm wide angle lens, its all business for this sleek model.

As with all new electronic gear, I had to take this model out for a test drive. I found the panoramic feature a sweet surprise. Simple to operate, I captured some great shots. Photo quality outdoors was outstanding. A nice collection of crisp colors and stable images without tweaking were the end product. As usual with limited lighting, indoor shots were give and take at best but still usable.

Simplicity at its best, this light weight camera also covers the bases with auto scene, face and smile detection. Usually with point and shoots, the onboard red eye removal tool is hit and miss. Not with this camera. Image stabilizer is pretty standard. It goes without saying that the best stabilizer is still a good old fashioned tripod. My only gripes are that the controls are a bit small and the obvious omission of a viewfinder.

Even though this model has a limited 24 megabyte internal memory, no worries. It operates with both SD & SDHC cards. The GE 1255W is packaged with a rechargeable lithium ion battery, battery charger, USB cable, AV cable, CD ROM, Guide, operating manual, and a wrist strap. One big selling point is this particular model easily slips into my shirt pocket.

Arcsoft Photo Impression 6 album software is also included. After looking over the photo software its okay, but not something I wish to add to my computer. The best free photo working software out there is still Google's Picasa 3. Its packed with outstanding tools and does not hog up space on your computer. The GE 1255W comes in Black, Silver, Pink and Red finish. GE backs this product with the standard one year warranty.

As an avid photographer, I am not generally impressed with many point and shoot cameras. There are a few that hold their own. Surprisingly I find the GE1255W strong with plenty of potential. Economically priced and packed with more features then most of the name brands, this model sells itself.

For those that want to jump into the realm of digital photography, I would recommend this product as a good starter camera. First time digital camera buyers won't be disappointed in performance or price.

I am a photography hobbyist who uses a variety of different types of cameras to capture images, from a high end Nikon DSLR to a old school Polaroid instamatic. I'm not a snob and happily use several different types of point-and-shoot cameras.

To review this new point-and-shoot camera from GE, I took a variety of pictures in different shooting conditions. I also used my old stand-by, a Sony DSC-T200, and the iPhone's built-in camera to compare images. The Sony has a higher price point and built in Carl Zeiss lens, while the iPhone is at the opposite side of the spectrum. For a camera that retails on Amazon for less than $150, the GE surprised me. It held its own against the $400 Sony camera under certain conditions, and beat the pants off of the iPhone.

The camera features are impressive. Some worked far better than expected, some were a let down:

Pan-Capture Panorama
The panorama function was a bit sketchy. It had great functionality, but it didn't do a very good job creating a seamless panorama. Even under basic conditions, my back yard (see image above), you could clearly see where the camera put the images together. It is a cute little feature, though, and if you aren't [...] retentive about a perfect panorama, you'd probably get a kick out of it.

Auto Scene Detection
I found a few instances in which the camera didn't open the aperture or fire the flash to accommodate pictures being taken inside. For the most part, it was fine. Out of the almost 1000 pictures I shot with the camera before writing this review, I only had an issue with about 10 of them.

Blink Detection
Very, very cute feature that worked like a charm. It always caught a blink. Sometimes it confused someone with their face slightly turned as blinking, but that wasn't a problem. It never prevented me from taking the photo, but it warned me after the fact that a blink occurred.

Smile Detection
I didn't really notice the camera reacting to a smile or not.

Face Detection
The camera did seem to detect faces, although there were times when this was a bit of a nuisance, such as when I was trying to shoot flowers.

Image Stabilization
This worked well... too well. There were a few instances when I missed a shot because the camera was working to stabilize the image. If I'm shooting moving butterflies, I need the camera to react faster. That said, this feature came in very handy at a concert when I was zoomed in very tightly to the subject.

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There were times when the camera couldn't adjust to very bright situations. If you look at the sample shots I uploaded under product photos, you'll see a photo of a cabbage white butterfly that is very "blown out". The Sony handled the situation without a problem, and even the iPhone did a better job that the GE. Those situations were few and far between.

It was fun trying out the camera at a concert because of the tight zoom I was able to achieve. At max zoom, I did get a few remnants in the images (remnants can sometimes make the image look pixelated/blocky), particularly in red light. I fared better with the shots I took using only the mechanical zoom, without interpolation. Point and shoot digital cameras use two types of zoom. Mechanical zoom means the hardware is doing the work. Interpolation relies on software to manipulate the image to mimic a tighter zoom. Zooming using interpolation usually results in lower image quality in most cameras. Some cameras handle interpolation better than others and in this regard, the GE is only so-so.

The color depth was excellent for this price range. I'm very [...] retentive about my images, and run everything I print through Photoshop to make the necessary corrections. I had very little to change in terms of color depth or contrast in many of the images. The pictures I uploaded to the product description have been completely unaltered, so you can get a feel for what the camera is capable of.

All in all, this is a fantastic little point and shoot camera. I'm giving it four stars only because of the occasional problem with over exposure and interpolation. I would definitely recommend it for anyone wanting a fun little camera that isn't going to cost them a fortune. Definitely one of the best products in this price range.

I've been shooting with an older Canon Powershot for quite a while, and although I like it a lot, it is not easily "pocketable." It's just a bit too bulky. By contrast, this GE point and shoot will fit in any pocket. It's about the size of a deck of cards, with almost the entire back side taken up by the LCD screen. Some other reviewers have already done the list of features, I'd like to focus (no pun intended) on my initial observations.

1. No true manual mode
One of the things I like a lot about my Canon Powershot is that you can go totally manual, adjusting the aperture, shutter speed, and pretty much any other setting you please. While the GE 1255 has what it calls a manual mode, it just lets you adjust white balance, ISO, and a few other settings. You cannot manually adjust aperture and shutter speed. This probably doesn't matter to most point and shoot users who just want to push the button and get a picture. For those purposes, the camera is fine.

2. Auto white balance is so so
I took some pictures outside while the sun was going down. They came out with a bluish cast, which was easily fixed when I adjusted the white balance in Adobe Lightroom. Ideally, the auto white balance in the camera could have handled this on its own. Again comparing to my trusty Canon Powershot, the GE didn't do very well. I rarely need to do much white balance adjustment with the Powershot.

3. The auto panorama feature sounds great, only works ok
I love the idea of automatic panorama. In practice it works ok, but nothing to write home about. As you pan the camera there's a little circle and a little square, you line them up and the camera takes the next picture in the series of three. It's fun and fast and simple, but the resulting panorama wasn't as well matched up as if you do it manually.

4. The controls are really really small
As I mentioned, most of the back is taken up by the LCD, which is great, but this means the controls are all huddling together off on the edge, and they are very very small. For most people this is a non issue since they're just going to hit the shutter button and ignore everything else. But if you're the type to tweak settings, get out your reading glasses.

All that said, I still think it's a cool camera for the price. It has some nice features, including the face and smile detection. If you leave it in fully automatic mode with all the default settings it's an easy point and shoot camera. For vacation time this camera is pretty perfect. Yes, you need to remember to bring the battery charger, but you would need some sort of charger anyway. This one is small and light. The camera will fit in your pocket and you can bring it everywhere. It has a nice solid feel.

I should also add that I was happily surprised that the camera has a "Rule of Thirds" grid option and a live histogram option, accessible through the menus. Both are off by default, so turn them on.

Overall I like this little camera. In this price range and small size you'd be hard pressed to find something better.

GE Digital Camera?!! Isn't that the same company that makes Washers, dryers and host other home appliances? - You are correct; Apparently GE has an Imaging division Torrance, California which makes pretty good line-up of digital cameras.

So how well does this camera stack upto the plethora of other brand name Digital cameras that are out there in today's market?

General Imaging's new GE E1255W digital camera reviewed here is a 12.2 Megapixel based image sensor with GE's Proprietary 5x Optical Zoom that is capable of focal length equivalents from a useful 28mm wide angle to a 140mm telephoto.

Well there is an "Electronic Image Stabilizer" which attempts to take a steady picture by increasing the ISO sensitivity which does decent job at times but with the expense of some added image noise when looked closely. Optical Image stabilizers are better in this area but that is beyond the price range this camera is being offered. GE offers Optical image stabilization technology in the E1276W (MSRP $199) and the X3 (MSRP $229)

If you are a photographer who would like to take Panoramic images, this camera does a pretty decent job of automatically stitching together a panorama by simply panning the camera across the scene and taking pictures without the need of stitching the images with help of a computer and software later.

It has host of other interesting features which one may find useful they include...

(*) Blink Detection - A function which alerts you when camera finds closed eyes so that you can retake that image
(*) Smile Detection - A function that helps you take picture automatically when you say "cheese" and people smile
(*) Auto Scene Detection - An Automatic Function that determines the appropriate available scene types and optimizes exposure types for a sharper well balanced picture.
(*) Face Detection - An automatic function to focus on face and optimizes exposure for a clearer picture
(*) Built-in Red-Eye Removal - Allows you to remove red-eye in camera without using a computer or software
(*) Auto LCD Brightness - The LCD screen brightness adjusts itself to surrounding lighting conditions so that you can see images more clearly.

PROS:
[+] Simple point and shoot camera which is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket
[+] Large 3.0" LCD display with 234,000 dot resolution
[+] Takes true 16:9 {9} Megapixels (4000×2248) HD picture to view on Bigger LCD/ Plasma TV's (Most of us now-a-days just view pictures on TV rather than printing them)
[+] In-camera editing of images like panorama and Red-Eye removal
[+] AF assist lamp to help camera focus is low-light environments
[+] Includes Arcsoft Photo Impression 6 editing software for free!
[+] IMHO a well written manual is included to help you understand all the features & functions of your camera.

CONS:
[-] Proprietary 700mAH Li-Ion Battery which means you will have to buy a Li-Ion spare battery that generally costs more than having spare AA batteries.
[-] Separate Battery charger for the Battery, more items to carry on your trip
[-] No optical View finder - you must use the LCD screen to take pictures which consumes batteries
[-] Proprietary connector that doubles as USB and A/V port which means if you forget that special A/V cable, you cannot see pictures on your hotel room TV
[-] Still uses 640x480pixels: 30fps/15fps or 320x240pixels: 30fps/15fps QuickTime Movie capture mode, with larger capacity SD/SDHC cards available these days it would have been nice if it captured movies at higher resolution.

Final thoughts:

Overall it is a pretty decent 12 Megapixels camera for the price range.

It is not the fastest camera on the market or is the smallest to carry around, It is not too heavy either, It carries the GE logo that we have seen in many other areas of our lives and embraced it with confidence.

FYI, the popularity of this camera is currently very low, GE cameras cannot be found yet on flickr camera finder as GE Company is not known for making digital cameras, But hey! That could very well change who can predict the market?

Not to be outdone by the reigning princes of the point and shoot market, the new GE 1255W 12 Megapixel camera enters the ring as a serious contender loaded with extras. Packed with a cornucopia of features including a 3" LCD screen with brightness adjustment, 5x optical zoom, 4.5 digital zoom, and a 28mm wide angle lens, its all business for this sleek model.

As with all new electronic gear, I had to take this model out for a test drive. I found the panoramic feature a sweet surprise. Simple to operate, I captured some great shots. Photo quality outdoors was outstanding. A nice collection of crisp colors and stable images without tweaking were the end product. As usual with limited lighting, indoor shots were give and take at best but still usable.

Simplicity at its best, this light weight camera also covers the bases with auto scene, face and smile detection. Usually with point and shoots, the onboard red eye removal tool is hit and miss. Not with this camera. Image stabilizer is pretty standard. It goes without saying that the best stabilizer is still a good old fashioned tripod. My only gripes are that the controls are a bit small and the obvious omission of a viewfinder.

Even though this model has a limited 24 megabyte internal memory, no worries. It operates with both SD & SDHC cards. The GE 1255W is packaged with a rechargeable lithium ion battery, battery charger, USB cable, AV cable, CD ROM, Guide, operating manual, and a wrist strap. One big selling point is this particular model easily slips into my shirt pocket.

Arcsoft Photo Impression 6 album software is also included. After looking over the photo software its okay, but not something I wish to add to my computer. The best free photo working software out there is still Google's Picasa 3. Its packed with outstanding tools and does not hog up space on your computer. The GE 1255W comes in Black, Silver, Pink and Red finish. GE backs this product with the standard one year warranty.

As an avid photographer, I am not generally impressed with many point and shoot cameras. There are a few that hold their own. Surprisingly I find the GE1255W strong with plenty of potential. Economically priced and packed with more features then most of the name brands, this model sells itself.

For those that want to jump into the realm of digital photography, I would recommend this product as a good starter camera. First time digital camera buyers won't be disappointed in performance or price.

I had been researching and comparing digital cameras for several months. This camera had the 12 mp, a 5X optical zoom, rechargeable battery and price I was looking for. Based on Mr. McGyvers's review, I chose to buy the camera.

Once the battery was charged and the camera turned on I was impressed by the quality of the picture. The button on the back was smaller than I like but it works well. The overall size and weight of the camera is not too small or heavy to use and fits nicely into a purse or pocket. It is packed with a lot of features that I am still trying out like wide angle, pan-capture, image stabilization with face and smile recognititon. There are a number of symbols on the shooting and playback display to learn but not to frustrated by. I can quickly take a picture with little fuss and delay between flash. The only negative which is minor. There was no mention on the box packaging (print very tiny) of the size of the internal memory (24 mb). That a memory card is not included or what size SD/SDHC (64mb to 8gb). I had to read instructions to find the size under the specifications.

Overall, I do like the feel of the camera, picture quality, the extra features and definitely the zoom. I would buy this again.

I received the GE E1255W last Friday and have taken tons of pictures. The picture quality, which I always view as the priority, came out surprisingly good.

This is the secondary camera to my Nikon D60. At this price range, it is well beyond my expectation. Like many others, I didn't know GE didn't get into the heated camera market until 2007. I was more leaning towards a Canon before I found this one. I am glad I didn't make my decision solely on the brand.
Here are some pros and cons on this little camera,
Pros
1. The picture quality is very nice, especially under bright light. The color is rich and vivid.
2. The Automatic mode and other preset shooting modes should satisfy most of the casual users. The controls and menu are informative and easy to follow. It even has a Manual mode that lets you tweak some settings like ISO level, white balance, and exposure compensation level, which is very cool if you feel you are a litter advanced than a point and shot type of beginner.
3. It has some very cool functions like face detection and blink detection.
Cons
1. The panorama mode is below my expectation. It works. But after several tries, I have to admit that some other reviewers were right. You might get better result with the help of software.
2. The pictures taken indoor or under dim light are less impressive. But again, I compare it with my Nikon DSLR.
3. The controls might be too small for big hands.
I really like this camera and just want to be a little picky so people who actually have concerns on those cons will be aware.

On the side note, I recharged 2 times already during my test run. I took about 300 pictures and some videos. Not sure if it's an OK battery life among other P&S digital cameras.

I would highly recommend you read all the specifications on this product and some reviews so you get a good idea of what kind of a camera this is. There are some very good features and others that are either equal or less than in most digital cameras. Two years ago I had a Nikon Coolpix L19 8MP Digital Camera with 3.6 Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Silver) and most recently I had a Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) that I really liked, so I have two to compare.

Being one who takes lots of pictures but not a 35mm camera buff, I was very surprised that this GE E1255W digital camera was one-half the price of my Canon Powershot. It has some very good features, the first being the 12.2 mega pixel range for finer quality (my Canon had 8 mega pixels). (An 8 mega pixel shot will allow you to print a 16" X 22" photo, while a 12.2 mega pixel allows a 20" x 34" print - that is, if you are into posters!). You can set the quality from Normal to Fine to Best Quality (Best will give you about 873 pictures on a 4GB memory card). There is 24MB of internal memory, but at Normal, this will only take about 16 shots. Get a high MB Memory card. The quality actually varied. I found outside conditions to be great all the time, while indoors were not always perfect in quality.

The 28mm lens gives you a larger picture than most digital cameras and has some truly amazing features. There is a "blink detection" that warns you when one of your subjects blinks. That is cool. There is a "smile detector" that actually goes off when people expose their teeth. This is cool as well. The "face detection" will focus on the face and the built-in "red-eye removal" allows you to manage that on the camera without software. The "Auto Scene Detection" adjusts for exposure types so your pictures are well balanced for color and exposure. The 3" LCD on the back is ½" bigger than my Canon Powershot and will adjust its brightness so you always can see your subject. However, the 3" LCD size makes the five `wheel and button' functions on the side smaller, but this didn't bother me. People who cannot read small text might not like this, however. The camera kit also comes with an easy manual, GE software, and a rechargeable lithium battery.

The lithium battery is proprietary, so I had to buy a second backup one for [...] only available at GE. There is a battery recharger that plugs into the wall socket, but both the USB cable and the cable for connecting to your television set are proprietary. There is no optical viewfinder, but seriously, I think this is unnecessary with a 3" LCD screen. I think this is what happens with all digital cameras, as I cannot interchange any cable or batteries with my Canon or Nikon. The Quick Time Movie is always nice, but it is limited to 640 X 480 pixels, so the screen quality suffers. Even with a 4MB memory card, it is limiting.

There are some things I am not an expert on, such as 4.5X digital zoom and the 5X optical zoom which claim to be better than other cameras. Although there is an `anti-shake' Electronic Image Stabilizer which works great with regular shots, I found long distance shots with the maximum combination zoom (28.5) was not always perfect. But the Pan-Capture Panorama is very, very cool. In three shots, you can get a panoramic shot simply by taking your first picture, whereas the left screen shows a square with a plus sign and the right screen shows a circle with a plus sign. Just move your camera to the right until the plus signs line up and the camera `automatically' takes the second picture and so on. There is no need for any software stitching on the computer. However, a wide angle picture is not always perfect. Shooting shorter panoramics seemed to stitch better.

Comparing the extra features and low cost of the GE E1255W digital camera to the Canon Powershot, I have to say it's a toss-up. If the price were the same, I'd go for the Canon, but GE really has made an inexpensive and good quality camera for basic camera use and I like it the more I use it.

UPDATE: 9/6/2009 - After more work with this camera, I found the panoramic feature to be hit and miss. You really need to practice with it for a while. Sometimes, just using the PLUS signs is too far. Try standard stitching in a computer program. However, I had an 18" X 24" print made and it is perfect - no pixels, great color and detailed.