Big names in the photographic industry don’t come much bigger than AGFA. Founded in Berlin, all the way back in 1867, the German company was among the very best producers of photographic film and chemicals, cameras, and accessories. The heyday was well and truly over by the beginning of the C21st but the name AgfaPhoto lives on as a holding company, with cameras like this AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200 being manufactured under license. It’s a similar deal as with various Kodak cameras, like the Kodak PixPro FZ45 which is also made under license. As such, the digital AgfaPhoto sets out to be one of the best cheap cameras on the market, the best camera for beginners, and the best camera for kids.
AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200: Specifications
AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200: Price
Pricing for the AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200 is a little less competitive in the USA than in the UK and Europe. It’s typically available for around $120 in the USA and £99 in the UK. That makes it substantially or slightly pricier than the competing Kodak PixPro FZ45 on either side of the pond respectively, which sells for around $90/£94. It’s also more expensive than the Minolta MND25 in the USA, although that camera lacks an optical zoom lens.
AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200: Design & Handling
You can pick a flavor, or at least a color, as the AgfaPhoto is available in a range of black, silver, blue, red, and purple colors to suit various tastes. With my serious hat on for a moment, I went for black, which I always feel is the best color for any self-respecting camera. But just how self-respecting is this camera?
It claims to deliver a maximum resolution of 18 megapixels for stills and 1080p for movie capture. However, the physical size and megapixel count of the image sensor are not stated. That’s something that seems to have become quite common recently in the cheap digital camera market and something of which I wholeheartedly disapprove. It leaves the prospective buyer with no knowledge of how much software interpolation is applied to make up the numbers and deliver the final picture size, of 18MP in this case.
On the plus side, the slinky design is just under an inch thick, making the camera eminently pocketable. Typical of low-budget cameras, there’s no viewfinder so you need to compose as well as review shots on the rear screen. In this case, it’s a 2.7-inch screen which is par for the course and, again typically, it’s not a touchscreen and there’s no tilt or vari-angle function.
Handling is basic but fairly intuitive. There’s an on/off button on the top button, just next to the shutter-release button, which has a half-press facility to start metering and autofocus. Unlike some cheap compact cameras, this one has a tripod socket built into its base, which is handy for selfies and vlogging. On one side, there’s a flap that pulls open to reveal an antiquated USB Mini port. It’s a couple of generations behind the latest USB-C standard but at least the camera is supplied compete with the requisite cable for charging the battery and transferring data.
Data itself is stored on an SD card, which I find easier and more convenient than the tiny and somewhat fiddly microSD cards that are now often used with this type of camera. Both the memory card and rechargeable Li-ion battery pack are housed behind a door built into the bottom of the camera.
Around the back, the interface is pretty standard fare, based on a 4-way pad with a button at its center, an additional Mode button, and dual buttons for zooming in and out. The 8x optical zoom range is further boosted by 8x digital zoom.
AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200: Performance
The AgfaPhoto has a pretty good looking spec list, considering its affordable price tag, but the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Image quality has the look of pictures that are upscaled to meet their 18MP credentials, using software interpolation. As a result, fine detail is generally lacking and textured areas can end up looking quite blocky.
In addition to the absence of fine detail, image quality is also disappointing in terms of dynamic range and color rendition. For the sake of comparison, this digital camera delivers far worse image quality than pretty much any mobile phone that’s been made over the last decade or so.
AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200: Sample Images
The following gallery of shots was taken on an overcast winter’s day in the Somerset city of Wells in the UK, in and around the cathedral.
AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200: Verdict
The AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200 certainly isn’t the cheapest digital camera on the market, and costs two or three times the price of some. It resists claiming ’48 megapixel’ (interpolated) output and adds an 8x zoom lens, which gives greater versatility. Overall, it’s a very compact and pocket-friendly camera but image quality is disappointing compared with pretty much any mobile phone on the market.
Should you buy the AgfaPhoto Realishot DC8200?
✅ Buy this...
- You want a pocketable compact digital camera with a zoom lens, that’s relatively cheap to buy.
- You don’t need a camera with any fancy frills and aren’t worried by a lack of image quality, compared with that of your mobile phone.
🚫 Don't buy this...
- You’re happy taking photos and videos with your mobile phone, which is likely to give much better image quality and all-round performance.
- You don’t feel the need for a zoom lens in a cheap point-and-shoot camera, in which case you can buy cheaper.
