The powerful new Rollei dp5200 compact camera nicely fits into the "middle class" of digital cameras: It is an attractive combination of stylish, practical design and extremely high operator comfort as well as sophisticated shooting functions. Its extra-flat, stylish metal body houses a 3x zoom lens supported by a 4x digital zoom. Additional functions include video and voice recording.

The Prego dp5200 is a very user-friendly camera. With dimensions of 88.5 mm x 54.5 mm x 24 mm and a weight of only 130g, it is compact and light, however, the 2.5-inch TFT color display gives a perfect view of subjects and settings.

The Prego dp5200 comes with a 5.2-megapixel CCD for making large prints. Its 3x HFT f/2.8-4.8 zoom lens covers focal lengths from 5.4-16.2 mm, equivalent to 32-96 mm in 35mm photography. Automatic focusing is possible from 0.5 m to infinity, macro focusing from 6 cm to 50 cm. Auto focusing is performed through the lens (TTL). In addition, the Prego dp5200 permits both average and spot metering. Available shutter speeds are from 1/2 s to 1/1000 s.

Flash, white balance and exposure compensation can be controlled either automatically or manually. Manual exposure compensation is possible in 1/3 increments over +/- 2.0 EV. White-balance presets include daylight, cloudy, tungsten and fluorescent. Flash also offers various modes, including night portraits and red-eye reduction.

Depending on the intended use of the photos and the capacity of the storage medium used, the photographer may choose between Fine, Standard and Economy image quality, which are stored on SD memory cards.

A built-in microphone and loudspeaker allow the Prego dp5200 to be used not only as a versatile still camera, but also as a mini video camera or even dictation machine. Voice recordings of up to 30 seconds are just as easy as the recording of video clips complete with sound. Video clips may be recorded with either 640 x 480 pixels or 320 x 240 pixels in MPEG1 (AVI) format. It also as a built-in self-timer with a 2 or 10-second delay.