Home Reviews ,,,,, In recent weeks we have had Andoer CDR2 in our hands, a product that makes its price an interesting invitation to purchase for those who want to put a digital camera with some useful function in their pocket. The quality is not at the highest level but the accessories included in the package allow you to experiment with different types of photography, proving to be an interesting alternative especially if placed in the hand of a child who approaches photography for the first time and wants to imitate his dad with a machine that camouflages itself with those of professionals.
Who starts well …
Externally, the packaging is not all that different from the much more expensive camera boxes, with illustrations highlighting the aesthetics of the camera and its main technical specifications ( in Chinese). Inside, in addition to the camera, we find several accessories , including the user manual, the miniUSB cable for charging, the shoulder strap, a UV filter, two interchangeable lenses and a bag for the transport of the latter.
How it is made
The camera is made almost entirely of rather light plastic: the front plate that partially surrounds the main lens, the hooks for the shoulder strap, the screw attachment for the lenses and the shutter button are instead made of metal. Despite its similar size to a mirrorless (approx.11.2 x 6.5 x 3.5cm), the handle is very good, especially for those with small hands.
On the base there is a standard 1/4 '' screw connection for coupling to a tripod and the drawer for battery and SD card, on the back there is are the T and W keys for 4X digital zoom, the DISP key, MENU and the multifunction dial, plus the 3-inch TFT TFT display to function only as a practical monitor in self-portraits and selfies: it is not possible to lock it in other positions, for example at 45–90 degrees to facilitate some low-level shots or in other particular angles. Finally, on the upper side, in addition to the shutter button, there is a switch to release the Flash LED and the ON / OFF button as well as a ring that unfortunately has only one aesthetic function as it is locked and offers no function.
Technical aspects
It may seem like a paradox but where it seemed most limited to us is in its functionality, although the menu is quite large and varied. It is in fact possible to select the resolution for the photos (up to 24MP at 5600 x 4200 pixels) and the video (up to Full HD), the type of shot (between single, self-timer and burst) and the mode being able to choose between the specific one. for Sport, Night, Portraits, Landscapes, Backlight, Party, Sea or let the machine decide with the Auto mode.
Then there is a specific mode to soften the details of faces in the case of portraits, to get facial recognition or automated shooting when the smile of the framed person is recognized, you can also adjust the white balance by choosing between various presets. and exposure, up to ± 3 EV. The film sensitivity is also adjustable between 100, 200 or 400 ISO and you can enable or disable effects, filters, file quality, saturation, activate the anti-vibration mode for handheld shots and adjust a series of internal parameters, including power saving mode, formatting the memory card and little else.
In short, the prerequisites for having a good product are all there, yet during our tests it seemed rather limited in its functions, not diverging too much from any other compact camera. ISO and exposure aside, there is no aperture to adjust (even minimally) and it is not even possible to increase or decrease the shutter speed: in short, there is no Manual mode to experiment properly with the photography for those who want something more than just point and shoot.
The lenses
Playing with photography is still possible using the lens included in the package. The camera in fact, basically, mounts a lens that to the eye should be around 40-50mm in focal length. However, it is possible to screw the lens wide-angle 0.45X above the latter (52mm attachment) which increases the field of view. It is a lens that, qualitatively speaking, does not differ much from the kits compatible with smartphones, with a slight loss of detail at the edges.
Very good and fun to use, however, the lens Macro which is obtained by unscrewing the ring that keeps it attached to the wide-angle lens. Thanks to this it is possible to photograph flowers, insects and small details with good detail and a large blur that proceeds from a small central area towards the edges of the frame.
Constructively speaking, they are also excellent, with a very robust all-metal structure. The thread of the screw connection is also metallic, ensuring excellent durability over time.
Beware of the battery
Among the reviews of those who bought it, we noticed many complaints about the inability to turn on or recharge the camera. There are those who left it still to recharge even for several hours, but then the camera refused to turn on. We ran into this problem too, discovering that it is actually an error in using the camera. The battery, in fact, when you take the camera out of the package, is already inserted in the appropriate slot. Trying in vain to turn it on, it is thus spontaneous to connect it to a charger to restore energy.
Actually you need to take it out of the slot and remove the orange film that protects the contacts. Many manufacturers – including smartphones – are used to using this expedient to avoid contact of the battery with the connectors in order to avoid wear, but in this case the film is very thin and allows the connection in part, managing to transfer that little bit of enough energy to turn on the camera (which, however, suddenly turns off at the slightest vibration) or the charging LED, which does not actually happen.
How is it going
We carried it in our pockets during an afternoon outing, replacing it with our smartphone for a few shots in trying to understand how it goes. The biggest problem, from our point of view, is in the autonomy *: the battery (800 mAh) in fact allowed us to take just over 100 shots before turning off. You could go as high as 150–200 photographs if you avoid switching modes or checking (with a lot of zoom) each shot after capture, but probably no more. From this point of view, even the Standby mode does not help since, instead of deactivating the screen, when it is activated it actually completely turns off the camera, forcing us to start it again (it takes about 5 seconds to complete the operation).
Then there is no real focus of the framed subject. When the shutter button is pressed halfway, the camera shows the point of focus but in reality no such operation takes place. From our tests we found that the subjects must be at a minimum distance of 35 centimeters from the lens (with the Macro lens this distance is obviously very small): everything that is over 35 centimeters will be in focus.
Qualitatively speaking the photographs are quite good. Sin, especially in the shaded areas, of an exaggerated saturation of the blue tones, there is no lack of chromatic aberrations especially near the branches of the trees but the detail and the contrast are quite good, as well as the fidelity of the colors. In some cases the camera tends to overexpose the scene too much and you are thus forced to manually act on the exposure proceeding by trial and error: the camera will in fact show on the screen the effect of the exposure reduction only after selecting it and exiting the menu.
100% crop 
Macro 
Macro 
Wide angle 
Shooting without lenses 
Digital zoom 
Digital zoom at maximum extension 
Conclusions and price
Andoer CDR2 costs around 70 euros on Amazon. At this price – or a little more – on the same we now find compact cameras that are far better in terms of photographic quality. Why buy it, then? The only reason we see is that aesthetically it is very similar to a professional camera.
Therefore, a child who approaches photography may be more inclined to use it, perhaps to follow his father in a carefree photo session. From this point of view there is then to consider the two interchangeable lenses that not only give way to have fun in the detachment of the various lenses, but actually offer a different effect to the photographs, between wide angles and macro to capture the small details of flowers. and insects.
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