Weighing in at only 205 g, the Rollei dr5100 is encased in a stylish aluminum body and features an ergonomically shaped rubber grip on the right-hand side. Discriminating amateurs and professional users will be impressed by its features: 5.1 megapixels, 3x D-VarioApogon zoom lens, voice and video recording plus a host of manual controls.

The Rollei dr5100 comes with a fast f/2.5-4.3 wide-angle zoom lens covering focal lengths from 28-85mm (converted to 35mm photography). The extremely short focal lengths at the lower end are ideal for sweeping panoramas and group pictures even in confined space. The 5.13-megapixel CCD sensor in conjunction with the Apogon lens is capable of producing images that can be printed out to sizes up to DIN A3. The 3x optical zoom is backed up by a 4x digital zoom so that the range of focal lengths can, if necessary, be extended to 28-336 mm.

Auto focusing is possible from 30 cm to infinity. A macro focusing mode permits full-frame close ups right up to 1 cm from the lens. In addition to a real-image zoom finder there is a 1.8-inch TFT color screen with 130,000 pixels for high-fidelity image display. In the sync-monitor mode, the monitor will switch off at the instant of exposure.

Professional users will appreciate the extremely short shutter lag of the Rollei dr5100. The camera is not only ready to shoot 1.2 seconds after it has been switched on, but will start exposures at a mere 0.12 second after you have pressed the shutter release.

The power-supply concept is versatile: Users may choose between alkaline or rechargeable size AA batteries and a 3.7V lithium-ion battery.

Exposure, white balance and flash can be controlled either automatically or manually, to suit the shooting conditions. Automatic exposure control includes programmed AE and aperture-priority AE. Manual exposure compensation is possible in 1/3 increments over +/-2.0 EV. Metering methods include center-weighted average, multi-zone evaluative and spot metering. The built-in flash features auto On/Off, red-eye reduction and fill modes. There also is a hot shoe for external flash units. In addition to Auto, white balance has presets for Manual, Sun, Cloudy, Tungsten and Fluorescent.

The electronic dial located near the shutter release allows users to set aperture, white balance ISO sensitivity (ISO 60 – 1500) and exposure compensation with your index finger.

In addition to single frames, the Rollei dr5100 allows continuous shooting. A built-in self-timer will trigger the shutter with a delay of either 2 or 10 seconds. To simplify matters for the hurried or less skilled user, there are six subject modes, including portrait, sports, landscape, night, text and high sensitivity.

Both a loudspeaker and a microphone are built in, allowing the Rollei dr5100 to record and play back short video clips with either 320x240 or 160x120 pixels, complete with sound. Both video clips and stills are stored either in the 16MB internal memory or on SD or MM cards. They can be downloaded to a computer or presented on a TV monitor via the USB and video ports (NTSC, PAL). The camera is PictBridge-compatible, allowing direct printout on suitable printers without the use of a PC.