Posted on 02 September 2009 by admin
We’ve been wondering when Panasonic would do something a little more interesting with a Micro Four Thirds sensor than simply pack it into an SLR-style body, and it looks like the new Lumix DMC-GF1 is the first step along that road. First leaked early last month, the spec sheet aligns pretty closely to the similarly sweet-looking Olympus E-P1, although most of the numbers max out a little lower: 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor with ISO 3200 sensitivity, 720p 30fps AVCHD Lite or Motion JPEG video (sorry, no mic input), three-inch LCD, and HDMI out. (In terms of size it’s a wash: the GF1 is less wide, but it’s a tick taller, and they’re both about the same thickness, although the GF1 has a built-in flash.) Ready for the bad news? Panny’s going to be selling this thing in two kits come October, one with a 20mm/f1.7 “pancake” lens and the other with a 14-45mm/f3.5-5.6 zoom, and both are priced at $900 — not including the optional viewfinder attachment. Yeah, that’s a lot of scratch, especially since the E-P1 has slightly better specs and lists for $800. We’ll see what street prices look like after a couple months, but for now we’re, oh, let’s say, “waiting to be convinced.”
Update: Well, what do you know? PhotographyBLOG has a nice gallery of sample shots up to give you a solid idea of what this bad boy’s capable of.
From engadget
Posted on 08 January 2009 by admin
Four more compact cameras from Casio: EX-Z400, EX-Z270, EX-S12, and “sleek and sturdy” EX-S5. The top end of these lower-end shooters is the Z400 (pictured above) which features a wide-angle 28mm, 4x optical zoom, 3.0-inch LCD, CCD-shift anti-shake, and 550-shot battery. The Z270 drops the LCD down to 2.7-inches while the 12.1 megapixel S12 drops the zoom to 3x. Bringing up the rear is the 10.1 megapixel EX-S5 with YouTube capture mode for those who want (or need, frankly) to keep it simple. Sorry no 30fps burst or super slow mo’ in this lot. Prices will range from $300 for the Z400 on down to $180 for the S5 when these pop for retail in March.
From engadget
Posted on 08 January 2009 by admin
Casio knows a thing or two about high-speed image capture as demonstrated over the last year and half. Now they’ve squashed that innovative circuitry and imaging technology into compact cameras offering high-speed 30 shots-per-second, 6 megapixel still image burst rates and high-speed movies at up to 1,000 fps. Amazingly, Casio’s 9.1 megapixel EX-FS10 does this in a 16.3-mm thin compact shooter with a not so amazing 2.5-inch LCD and 3x zoom lacking any kind of optical image or sensor stabilization. The 9.1 megapixel EX-FC100 is larger thanks to a 5x zoom, 2.7-inch LCD and CMOS anti-shake technology — yet it’s still small enough to easily fit in the palm of your hand unlike Casio’s other fast bursting cams. These compacts will (attempt to) automatically select only the best image (no blur, eyes opened, subject smiling) captured in high-speed burst mode or slow things down on the viewer so that you can select the best image yourself. HD movies? Yup, that too in a 720p pixel resolution. Of course you also get that goofy ability to insert moving subjects into static images. The EX-FS10 should hit by March for $350 in blue, gray, red and white while the EX-FC100 will roll out in gray and white for $400.
From engadget
Posted on 28 October 2008 by admin
We had a chance to gaze through the wireframe of this 8.1 megapixel Casio W63CA Exilim cellphone back in August courtesy of the FCC’s finest. Now check it in high-gloss, plastic flesh. The latest Japanese super-phone squeezes 480 x 800 pixel into a 3.1-inch OLED display. Let that sink in for a second… the very same 384,000 pixels on a display smaller than the 3.8-inch LCD heralded by the Touch HD. The camera features a wide-angle lens, 9-point auto focus, face detection, anti-shake, and a YouTube video mode that records VGA video at 30fps to microSD. All this in a Japanese-only flip measuring 110 x 50 x 17.4 ~ 22-mm when it launches in early November.
[Via Impress]
more info
from engadget
Posted on 28 October 2008 by admin
We’ve always had a soft spot for Canon’s G-series of prosumer compacts, and it looks like the new G10 won’t be any exception — Photography Blog just put the boxy camera through its paces and found that it’s “undoubtedly the best ever” in the line. High marks were particularly given to the new wider-angle 28-140mm lens (which suffers less barrel distortion than the G9), higher-res LCD screen, and the new exposure dial, which allows you to fine-tune exposure settings without a trip to the menus. The new 14.7 megapixel sensor didn’t receive the same praise, however: ISO 400 images were quite noisy, and the 800 and 1600 settings were “virtually unusable.” That’s not exactly news for the G-series, but it’s pretty unfortunate — especially considering that the G10′s $499 pricetag edges into low-end DSLR territory. Still, if you’re looking for a compact with deep manual controls and real optics, it sounds like the G10 is worth a look — hit the read link for the full review.
more info
from engadget
Posted on 22 October 2008 by admin
We know you want a pro-friendly
medium format digital camera — so do we — but they’re awfully expensive, aren’t they? You might have to think about dropping as much as $30,000 one of these babies if you’re the discerning type, but Mamiya is trying to convince you that you can save a few thousand dollars and still get results. Enter the DL28 digital camera system, which combines the body of the well-established
645 with Leaf’s Aptus-II 6 digital back. It’s got 16-bit capture, a 12-stop dynamic range, an ISO range of 50 – 800, and a fancy 3.5-inch touch screen at price of $15,000, appropriate for cash-strapped professionals and financially comfortable hobbyists — unless Nikon has
something to say about it.
Posted on 30 September 2008 by admin
Samsung was content with teasing us all weekend long, but it has finally seen fit to officially reveal its next 8-megapixel handset, the Pixon. Boasting a 3.2-inch touchscreen, 13.8-millimeter thin design and an inbuilt camera with Auto Focus, face detection and geotagging, the handset clearly emphasizes the importance of taking a few photos each and everyday. Sammy has confessed that the currently unpriced mobile will start shipping in around a fortnight for those in France, while most other European / Asian countries will see it shortly. As for North America? Take a wild guess.
[Via PhoneScoop]
more info
from engadget
