Cameras: March 2008 Archives
Samsung's new NV line of digital cameras which have been on the show circuit for months has finally been officially released. The big buzz generator among the newbies is the 10.2 megapixel NV24 HD, which sports a 2.5-inch AMOLED--Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode--display. AMOLEDs have been hailed by camera cognoscenti as the coming thing in display technologies. They're not subject to viewing angle problems, show more natural color, are bright even outdoors (haven't we heard that claim before?) and, according to Samsung, have response speeds as much as 2000 times faster than conventional TFT LCDs.
As you may have guessed, the HD in the unit's nomenclature stands for High Definition. The camera can shoot 1280 x 720 video with stereo sound at 30 frames per second. It stores video files in the latest version of H.264, a standard for the greater compression of video without quality loss, and uses MJPEG to improve contrast efficiency--i.e., dynamic range--of video shot with the device.
The snapper, which can be controlled with a remote, has a 24mm ultra wide angle 3.6 optical zoom and a punchlist of features that have become standard for top shelf point-and-shooters these days--optical and digital image stablization; face, blink and smile detection; and in-camera red-eye correction.
Although Samsung says that the NV24 will be available this month, its availability date is listed as April 15 at Amazon Prime where the DSC will be selling for $349.99.
In addition to NV24, Samsung also announced the NV40, NV30 and NV4.
Memory card camcorders received some considerable media exposure this week when New York Times gadget guru David Pogue embarrassingly reviewed a hot little item called the Flip. It's easy to understand why columnist Pogue has overlooked the camcorder for over a year. At $180, it didn't have the kind of prictag that attracts the attention of high-profile reviewers, who can be a tad elitist when it comes to what they deem worth inspecting. Ironically, as Pogue was penning his mea culpa in the Times, another major player in the memcardcam market, Sanyo, was introducing a new model in its Xacti line. At $279.99, the new Xacti CG9 is at the higher end of this category. However, it does sport a 9.1 megapixel CMOS sensor that boasts the ability to capture stills as well as video at that resolution. It also has some features that would be considered perks in the point-and-shoot camera world--face recognition for up to 12 faces in a still shot; a 5x optical zoom with a fairly bright lens--F/3.5 in wide, F/3.7 in telephoto mode; five frames a second continuous shooting of 2MP images; macro focusing as close as 2.54 inches from a subject; and a 2.5-inch pivoting display. Granted, the new Xacti lacks the simplicity that has made the Flip such a hit, but for folks who want point-and-shoot simplicity wrapped in a totable video package, the Sanyo offering, expected to reach retailers in the middle of April, will be very difficult to resist.
Panasonic joined the touch-screen ranks of Sony and Apple yesterday with its new Lumix FX500 digital camera. If you're going to substitute poking a screen for pushing buttons, you'll need a large display and the new Lumix FX500 has one--a three-inch LCD with a resolution of 230,000 dots and 100 percent coverage. It can be prodded with a finger or a stylus packaged with the unit.
The 10.1 megapixel pokecam with a 1/2.33-inch sensor also has a 5x Leica DC "ultrawide" optical zoom lens that's the equivalent of a 25-125mm zoom in 35mm format, as well as a 4x digital zoom. For macro shots, the F/2.8-5.9 lens can get as close as 1.9 inches to a subject.
The unit's face detection technology can manage as many as 15 mugs in a frame.
Compact--the DSC measures 3.7-by-2.2-by-0.9 inches--and lightweight--it tips the scales at 6.2 ounces with rechargable lithium ion battery--the camera has a respectable sequential shooting speed of 2.5 frames per second at full resolution, as well as a high speed burst mode of 6 fps for 2MP shots.
In addition to allowing an operator to modifty the exposure compensation for a shot, the unit allows them to fine tune the white balance, too, in ±10 step increments. Of course there are also programmed WB settings like cloudy, shady, daylight and such.
The point-and-shooter also supports 1280-by-720 HD video capture at 30 fps.
Other features include a high ISO auto mode (1600-6400), as well as "intelligent" ISO support; 50MB of internal memory and support for SD, SDHC and MMC memory cards; title editing with an onscreen keyboard; 21 scene modes, as well as intelligent scene selection for scenery, portrait, macro, night portrait and night scenery modes; AF tracking; digital red-eye correction; and advanced image stablization using gyrosensors.
The camera is expected to hit the shelves in May and sell for $399.95.
A new Optio model, the V20, has been announced by Pentax. The eight megapixel silver camera has all the features you'd expect to find in a state-of-the-art, point-and-shoot image snatcher, and a little more. It has a 5x optical zoom (36-180 equivalent), as well as a 5.1x digital zoom, and a three-inch LCD that's treated with an anti-reflective coating to improve viewing in sunlight. In addition, the display has a wide viewing angle of 170 degrees and high resolution of 230,000 dots. All the latest digital novelties are packaged in the unit--focus and exposure face recognition, smile capture and blink detection. The camera has auto scene choosing for four of its 16 scene modes. The feature will analyze a scene and automatically choose the appropriate pre-set for it from landscape, portrait, night scene, flower and sport modes. For steadier shots, the unit has image stabillization based on automatic light sensitivty, or ISO, adjustment. Top ISO for the snapper is 6400. Other automatic features include auto macro focusing to within 3.9 inches of a subject and auto adjustment of focusing as an object moves. The unit is expected to be available to retailers in May and to sell for $279.95.
As they say in business school, never sell the power of a prestige brand short. When camera legend Rollei launched its novelty MiniDigi in 2003, the pygmy version of its famous dual-lens reflex camera flew off the shelves. Now the company hopes to catch lightening in a bottle again with a new, beefed-up version of the product. The new edition, the AF5.0, is also three inches high, but has a three megapixel CMOS sensor that captures images at a maximum of 2304-by-2304 pixels. No, you're not seeing double. The unit shoots snaps in a square format. It has a tiny 1.1-inch LCD display, and you have to rotate a hand crank between shots. As with its much bigger brother, the camera is designed to be held at the waist when shooting, and it has a pop-up hood to make the display easier to see in bright sunlight. For storage, the byteshooter uses Mini SD cards but it does include an adapter so it wil accept the more widely used standard SD cards. You can get a lot more camera for $399, but lets face it, Rollei is selling the cachet of its brand here, not state-of-the-art electronics.
Canon juiced up its digital Elph line this week with three new 10-megapixel models. The PowerShot SD890 IS ($399.99) has a 5x optical zoom (37-185mm equivalent), while the two other models, the SD790 ($349.99) and SD770 ($299.99), have 3x optical zooms (35-105mm equivalent). Both the 890 and 770 have 2.5-inch LCD displays and optical viewfinders; the 790 has a 3-inch monitor and no viewfinder. The 890 also has a super macro mode that lets the camera focus as close as one inch to a subject.
All the units, which are expected to reach retailers at the end of this month or early next month, have Canon's intelligent anti-blur system that combines optical image stablization, motion detection, intelligent ISO selection and noise reduction technologies to fight blurry photographs. In addition, the units have the company's proprietary face recognition technology that not only optimizes focus and exposure settings when there are faces in an image, but also chooses the best white balance settings for mugs in a shot. What's more, the cameras have an AF Poiint Zoom feature that permits snapjacks to digitally enlarge the main subject's visage in a frame to better time their clicks.
The snappers also have internal editing features like automatic red-eye correction and an image inspection tool for displaying photos on the units' LCDs and zooming in on the details of a photo to make sure everyone in a shot is in focus, has their eyes open and doesn't look like they're posing for the photo on a driver's license. In addition, the units have a trimming function for cropping photos in the camera without a computer.
General Imaging, the company that has exclusive rights to use the GE name on digital cameras, will be rolling out a new 12-megapixel compact point-and-shoot product on the Home Shopping Network on Friday. The new E1235, available in black, silver and red, will sell for $199.99 on the network, which is delivered to 90 million households, making it the fourth largest on cable television in the United States. The new snapper is bristling with the latest technology for the pop-shot set--blink, smile and face detection; in camera red-eye removal and panorama stitching; and image stabilization. Other features of the unit are a 1/1.72 CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD (no viewfinder) and maximum ISO of 3200 for shots with a top resolution of 3MP.
King of Slim Casio unveiled an 8.1 megapixel digital camera today for under $160. The new member of the company's Exilim line, the EX-Z9, is smaller than a three-by-five index card--3.64 inches wide and 2.17 inches high--thin--0.91 inches thick--and light--weighing in at 4.48 ounces. The unit jams more than eight million pixels on a 1/2.5-inch CCD sensor and has a f2.8-5.2 3x optical zoom (37.5 to 112.5mm equivalent) and a "wide" 2.6-inch LCD. Shutter speeds range from four seconds to 1/2000 second. Image sizes available are 8MP (3264x2448), 3:2 (3264x2176), 16:9 (3264x1840), 6MP (2816x2112), 4MP (2304x1728), 2MP(1600x1200) and VGA (640x480). Movie modes include a "YouTube" mode and an HQ Wide offering (848x480). In additon to 18.6MB of internal memory, the DSC accepts SD, SDHC, MMC and MMC-plus memory cards. ISO tops out at 1600 and minimum macro range is about six inches. The DSC also has 23 pre-programmed shooting modes and supports face recognition. It runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and includes a world time clock. Expect to see the camera at retailers this month in an array of colors--pink, black, silver and orange.
More and more digital SLR owners have been approaching me lately asking for recommendations for a point-and-shoot camera. They explain that they love their DSLRs, but confess that they often leave their darlings at home because the snappers are too bulky to tote around at all times. On the other side of the fence, I've talked to point-and-shooters who acknowledge an attraction to DSLRs, but balk at losing the ability to compose shots in an LCD and preview changes in photographic settings in it. These murmurings from photographers of both stripes have been heard by Olympus which today introduced a compact DSLR with many of the amenities of a point-and-shoot DSC.
At 13.4 ounces, the new 10MP E-420 is light, and, it's one of the smallest DSLRs in the market at 5.1-by-3.6-by-2.1 inches. By comparison, the Nikon D40 weighs 18.4 ounces and measures 4.9-by-3.7-by-2.5 inches. It has a "live preview" mode so shots can be composed on the camera's large 2.7-inch LCD display; "perfect shot preview," which lets you preview simultaneously what a shot will look like at different settings; and on-screen autofocusing. The unit has some of the high-tech features found in Olympus's point-and-shoot models--face recognition and shadow adjustment--as well as those on its DSLRs, such as its dust reduction system with Supersonic Wave Filter.
The E-420, which will accept CompactFlash and xD media, is scheduled to reach retailers in May. A body-only model will sell for $499.99; a kit with a f3.5/5.6, 14-42mm (28-84mm equivalent) Zuiko digital zoom for $599.99; and a kit with a f2.8, 25mm lens for $699.99.
