It takes a while to put a camera like Canon’s EOS 40D fully through its paces, but a few brave souls have blazed through the feature set, menus, ISOs and megapixels afforded to them by the new camera in time to get reviews up mere weeks after launch. Of course, the flashiest feature here is Live View, but the 40D is no one trick pony: unlike the minimal 20D to 30D upgrade, the 40D is all-new and packed with enhancements. Who knows if this’ll be enough for Canon to get Nikon of its turf, but we’ll let you read the mountains of text, peep the comparison shots and draw your own conclusions.

Read – CNET Asia (“The Canon EOS 40D is a leap forward in improvement over its predecessors…” 8 / 10)
Read – Cameralabs (“If the 40D’s price and feature-set suits your requirements, you’ll have few if any complaints.”)
Read – Bob Atkins (“It’s a very good camera and I can recommend it.”)
Read – The World According to Roland (“A nice feature upgrade over the 20D and 30D and at an attractive price.”)
Read – DP Review (Preview)

from engadget

Hasselblad may have already hit 39 megapixels more than a year ago, but that doesn’t make the company’s new H3D II DSLR any less impressive, which hits that same mark with a few other improvements. Those include a new 3-inch display, which promises both a clearer view of images and lower power consumption, as well as an apparently revamped menu system that’ll let you tweak settings using the thumbwheel controls on the camera. Otherwise, you can expect just about everything you could ask for in a $37,000 camera, including 48×36 mm CCD image sensors (the largest currently available), a Global Image Locator that tags photos with the exact geographic co-ordinates at the time they were taken, and an array of features that promise to keep your shots free of noise and moiré effects, to name just a few. What’s more, if 39 megapixels and $37k is just a bit too much for you, you can opt for one of two lesser models that Hasselblad’s also just introduced, including the 31 megapixel H3D-31II ($30,000) and the 22 megapixel H3D-22II ($25,000).

more info
from engadget

This hack has been floating around the internets for a little while now, but it looks like Canon users have just recently begun to catch on to its charms, and its fairly significant benefits. For those not up to speed, the so-called CHDK firmware hack promises to unlock several advanced features of Canon’s DIGIC II processor, not the least of which is support for RAW shooting, something normally reserved for higher-end cameras. Other hidden features including a live histogram, a “Zebra mode,” a DOF calculator, and even a calendar, text reader, and games, among other things. While the hack should work with any DIGIC II-based camera “in theory,” there’s apparently only eight cameras that are officially supported, including the A610, A620, A630, A640, A700, A710, S2 IS, and the S3 IS. Of course, as with any firmware hack, you should proceed at your own risk, but those daring enough can find all the information they need by hitting up the read link below.

[Via Gadget Lab]
from engadget
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It’s out. LG’s newest heartthrob — the KU990 — is official and on the way to the UK (likely with Vodafone) this fall. The German IFA show at the end of the month will mark its coming out party seeing the KU990 dressed up in a 5.1 megapixel shooter with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, image stabilization (likely digital), auto focus, 120fps video, and ISO 800 sensitivity. Sure, the camera is nice and all, but this pup is packing a 3-inch, 240 x 400 touchscreen riding on 3G HSDPA data. 

Gallery: LG’s KU990 touchscreen “Viewty” is a 5 megapixel, HSDPA beauty

  
[Via Akihabara News]
from engadget

We like giving Sanyo heaps of grief over their boxy gear from time to time. But make no mistake, they’ve nailed it with their Xacti series of solid state camcorders. Meet the DMX-HD1000, their first to record full 1080p, 1,920 x 1,080 resolution video using the HD/MPEG-4 AVC codec. It features the ability to shoot 8 megapixel stills via its 1/2.5-inch CMOS sensor, a 10x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, HDMI-out, and the ability to record direct to SD/SDHC cards for up to 2 hours at a charge. That’s plenty of juice since an 8GB SDHC card will only hold about 1 hour and 25 minutes of Full HD recordings. All this in an itty-bitty pistol grip shooter which Sanyo claims is the world’s smallest at this resolution. Available in Japan starting mid September for about Â¥120,000 or about $1,000.

Gallery: Sanyo’s Xacti DMX-HD1000: the world’s smallest 1080p camcorder

   
[Via Impress]
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from engadget

You asked for it, you got it. Some sweet, sweet pics of the wild new 6 megapixel Casio prototype. You know the one — 60fps bursting at full resolution or 300fps VGA video? Believe it or not, the camera is surprisingly light, will use SDHC storage (which won’t last long at these resolutions), and is expected to ship sometime in 2008. Hey, that’s what they told us. Peep the gallery for all the hotness.

Gallery: Hands-on with Casio’s 60fps digital camera

    

from engadget

Hope you’re not tired of Coolpixes yet, cause Nikon’s got another bundle of compact cameras for us, including two new models in its L series and two in its S series. As the model numbers suggest, there’s not a whole lot of difference between the L14 and L15 (on the top above), with the former packing a 7.1 megapixel CMOS and a 3x zoom lens that covers a practical range from 38-114mm, while the latter ups things to 8.0 megapixels and a 3x zoom covering 35-105mm. The L15 also boasts a slightly larger 2.8-inch LCD, as opposed to a 2.4-inch one on the L14. Moving into higher-end territory, the Coolpix S700 packs an impressive 12.1 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom and a 2.7-inch LCD in a slim aluminum body, while the also-aluminum S510 boasts 8.0 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom, and a pink color option in addition to the standard black and silver. Look for the whole lot of them to be available sometime next month, with the L14 and L15 running $150 and $180, respectively, and the S700 and S510 setting you back $380 and $300 apiece.

Read – Nikon Coolpix L14
Read – Nikon Coolpix L15
Read – Nikon Coolpix S700
Read – Nikon Coolpix S510

From engadget