Digital Camera Reviews

TNT Magazine’s annual travel writing photography competition is back. The awards are judged by TNT’s specialist panel, including Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall, and are highly regarded within the independent travel market. Readers Choice Awards are also given for both the writing and photography categories with online voting. You have until 16 August 2010 to submit your work. Winners of the photography categories; People and Places, The Natural World, Your London and Readers Choice will each receive an Olympus E-PL1 mirrorless system camera (pictured) with retro camera bag.

The Sinar p-slr adapter lets DSLR users attach their camera bodies to Sinar view cameras, and use them as digital backs. This allows superior perspective control, selective focus and focal plane tilting and gives DSLR users an opportunity to use high-resolution digital Rodenstock lenses. The Sinar p-slr can be used with all Canon and Nikon single lens reflex cameras currently on the market. Thanks to the quick locking adapter supplied with the Sinar p-slr, the format can be changed from vertical to horizontal with only a few motions and within seconds. A positioning- and centering aid serves for the exact positioning of the camera on the optical axis. This upgrading set will be available as of August 2010 and it can be ordered right now at the price of 1980 Swiss Francs (not including the Value Added Tax).

The Samsung ST80 is a new Wi-Fi enabled, 14.2 megapixel point and shoot camera. The ST80 supports Wi-Fi and Samsung’s AllShare (DNLA) connectivity, as well as offering a 3 inch wide touch-screen LCD, 3x optical zoom, and 720p HD video recording. The Samsung ST80 will be available in September for $249.99 / £199.99.

The Samsung ST5500 (also known as the CL80) is an innovative 14.2-megapixel digital camera with integrated Wi-Fi connectivity and a 3.7 inch WVGA AMOLED touch-screen. Using an available Wi-Fi connection, users can send a digital image to any email address using the ST5500’s touch-screen QWERTY keypad or the built-in address book. The ST5500 also supports two other wireless connectivity options, Bluetooth 2.0 and DLNA, and can upload images directly to popular websites such as Facebook, Picasa and YouTube. Also on offer are a Schneider-Kreuznach branded 7x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilisation, 720p HD video recording at 30 frames-per-second in the H.264 format, a Smart Gesture touch-screen user interface with a built-in Acceleration Sensor that responds to finger commands, and a One Touch Auto Focus feature that allows you to focus on a specific part of the frame simply by touching the desired area. The Samsung ST5500 / CL80 is available in black, grey or orange priced at £349.99 / $399.99.

Word has it that Samsung will release the NX100 mirror-less digital camera in September 2010. This new APS-C sensor-based camera has completed the testing phase and is currently in the final stage of development. Samsung plans to unveil the camera on September 14th, 2010. Furthermore, the new NX100 will be showcased along with three new lenses at the Photokina on September 21st, 2010.

Pentax is ready to launch a Classic Silver variant of the Pentax Optio I-10 in the Japanese market. In case you didn’t know, the Pentax Optio I-10 is a retro compact camera that features a 5x zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent focal range of 28-140mm, a 12 megapixels sensor, a 2.7-inch LCD screen, a triple anti-shake protection, a 720p HD movie recording and a wireless remote shooting. In addition, the first Optio I-10 model has been released in February this year in Classic Black and Pearl White. The Classic Silver variant will start shipping next month in Japan.

The Samsung PL200 is a stylish yet competitively priced 14.2-megapixel, 7x zoom point-and-shoot digital camera that also shoots HD video. The lens, whose 35mm equivalent focal length range goes from a relatively wide 31mm to 217mm telephoto, features optical image stabilisation. Other highlights include a three-inch rear screen, Smart Auto scene recognition technology, Beauty Shot and Smile Shot modes, as well as Blink Detection and Face Detection. Available from September, the Samsung PL200 is expected to hit the shelves at a price of about $180.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 is a new digital camera with a 3.8x, 24-90mm zoom lens, 10 megapixel CCD sensor and HD movie recording. Successor to the popular LX3 model, Panasonic Lumix LX5 features a fully re-designed lens, CCD sensor and image processing engine, together with other improvements and upgrades.

Gary Fong has announced an extension of its Flip-Cage line with the introduction of the Pro-Series designed to accommodate larger point-and-shoot cameras. The Flip-Cage provides protection from accidental drops or general wear and tear and swings out to provide a stable table-top platform that locks a point-and-shoot camera in a vertical or horizontal orientation, enabling the photographer to step out from behind the lens and become part of the shot, or to capture macro photographs. Accommodating cameras up to 3” x 4-1/4” x 1-3/4”, the new Flip-Cage Pro-Series is available for $19.95.

The Canon Legria HF M32 is a Full-HD camcorder boasting a touch-sensitive screen and 64GB of internal memory. Featuring a 3.3-megapixel CMOS imager and 18x Advanced Zoom with image stabilisation, it’s also the first Legria model to support SDXC memory cards. Advanced Face Detection Technology identifies up to 35 faces in a frame, ensuring that friends and family remain in focus and well-exposed at all times – an individual face can even be manually selected to track someone moving around. Canon’s Instant AF technology provides the high-speed, pin-point auto-focus required for HD video. Additionally, the Legria offers an easy way for users to share content online. An in-camcorder HD-to-SD conversion tool combines with an Easy Web Upload feature to allow clips to be transferred to YouTube with the minimum of effort. The Canon Legria HF M32 will become available in September 2010. In the U.S.A., the Legria HF M32 is known as the Vixia HF M32 and is expected to sell for $1000.

The Sony Handycam NEX-VG10E is an interchangeable-lens Full-HD camcorder using the Sony E lens mount – the same as the one found on the new Sony NEX digital system cameras – and an APS HD CMOS sensor. The NEX-VG10E comes supplied as standard with an image-stabilised E18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS lens, optimised for video shooting and offering smooth, ultra low-noise autofocus and stepless diaphragm control. Alongside the three currently available E-mount lenses, users of the NEX-VG10E can mount a wide variety of A-mount DSLR optics by using the optional LA-EA1 mount adapter. The Sony NEX-VG10E comes equipped with a 3”, 921,000-dot LCD screen and a 1,152,000-dot electronic viewfinder. Apart from capturing Full-HD video, the Handycam NEX-VG10E can also shoot stills at a resolution of 14.2 megapixels. Availability is slated for September in the U.S.A. and October in Europe. The price is $2,000 including the 18-200mm lens.

In Germany, Mamiya is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its being in business with a promotional offer on the Mamiya 7 II medium-format rangefinder camera. The company was founded in 1940 and soon became famous for its Mamiya 6 medium-format folding camera that featured film-plane focussing (which meant that the bellows and the lens did not move while focussing, but the film plane did). The year 1948 marked the launch of the first Mamiya Twin-Lens Reflex (TLR) camera, while next year the company entered the 35mm market. The second half of the twentieth century saw the introduction of a series of innovations by Mamiya, including the Magazine 35 – a 35mm camera featuring interchangeable film backs -, the Mamiya Press – a 6×9 format press camera -, the Mamiyaflex C – a series of TLRs with interchangeable lenses -, the RB67 Professional 6×7 SLR with a rotating back, as well as the M645 and the RZ67 Professional SLRs. The company recycled the Mamiya 6 name in 1989 when it introduced a medium-format rangefinder camera with interchangeable lenses, which was later followed by the Mamiya 7 and 7 II. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s your chance to bring home one of this Fujifilm Finepix Z37 digital camera for as low as $69.99 (regular price $129.95) at Amazon, which means you could save up to $59.96 (46%). Specs-wise, this compact camera offers a 10-megapixel CCD image sensor, a 3x optical zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD screen, an SD/SDHC card slot, ISO up to 1600, VGA video recording at 30fps and a long-life rechargeable Li-ion battery.

Praktica has debuted its 14-megapixel compact digital camera namely the Praktica DCZ 14.1. The digicam boasts a a 3x optical lens with a 1/2.3 CCD sensor, a 2.7-inch TFT color monitor, a 32MB of built-in memory, a smile detection, PASM mode, a face tracking, a digital anti-shake, a blink detection and an intelligent scene mode. Too bad, there is no info on pricing at this time. Each purchase comes with a USB cable, a CD driver, a camera pouch, a camera strap and a couple of AA batteries.

Loreo has launched the brand new Stereo Lens-In-A-Cap for Canon cameras with APS-C format subframe digital SLR sensors (22-24mm) x (14.5-16mm). The Loreo 3D lens features a twin blade diaphragm with 3 stop aperture settings: f11, f16, f22, and a continuous focusing slider from 1.5m to infinity. It is compatible with Canon EOS D30, D60, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, Rebel 300D, 350D, 400D, 450D, 500D, 550D 1000D, 7D (Canon EOS mount). Most Canon SLR cameras work with the Loreo 3D lenses in auto-metering mode, but exposure bias should be set to -1.5 or -2. If you are interested, you can purchase the Loreo 3D lens for $165.