What Photo Gear

While most will probably take notice of the 3 inch touch screen LCD that Panasonic is touting on their latest offering, the spec that has me most excited (and should excite you too!) is the 5x image stabilized zoom lens starting at a wide 25mm!

Not only will that wide angle lens open up a lot of shooting opportunities, it’s also extremely rare in compact camera’s nowadays. We’ll be lucky if we get a lens starting at 28mm or even 35mm (in 35mm terms) in compact camera’s - so this is definitely a welcome surprise from Panasonic.

Not only that, but you get full manual controls as well, including Tv (Shutter priority) and Av (Aperture priority) modes. And the much hyped 3 inch touch screen LCD as well, and of course, as standard on pretty much all Panasonic digital compacts - their lens-based Image Stabilization system (OIS).

ISO tops out at ISO 1600 (with a High Sensitivity Mode using ISO 1600-6400) - which pretty much means that those setting are just for emergency use only. (High ISO performance has always been the Achilles heel of Panasonic digital compacts) One feature that compacts can do that DSLRs can’t is shoot video’s and the FX500 does one better by letting you shoot HD video (1280×720p at 30 or 15fps) as well as take photo’s in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

So far this looks to be promising and pretty competitively priced and full featured camera from Panasonic. If image quality can compete with or do better than other compacts in the same price range, this just might become a “photographers compact.” I wouldn’t mind having a 5x 25-125mm compact with me while traveling too.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500:

• 10 megapixels (1/2.3″ CCD)
• 5x f/2.8-f/5.9 stabilized zoom lens (25-125mm in 35mm terms)
• 3 inch touch screen LCD
• 1024×720p Video Recording
• Uses SD and SDHC cards
• ISO 100-1600 (with High Sensitivity Auto ISO at ISO 1600-6400
• Adjustable noise reduction in ±2 steps.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is available in May, with an MSRP of $399. Click here to download the full spec sheet from Panasonic.

Pentax has just released an interesting budget compact today - the Pentax Optio V20. Boasting an 8MP sensor, a 5x zoom lens (36mm - 180mm equivalence) and a pretty generous 3 inch LCD all in a pretty compact 3.8 x 2.2 x .9 inch body.

Coming in at an MSRP of $279.95 this May, the V20 looks set to be a very interesting option for those shopping for a sub-$300 compact. The zoom range on the lens is certainly useful, but again, regular readers of this blog know that I much prefer a wider lens instead of a longer one. But the zoom range on the V20 isn’t all that bad, if not rare in this price range.

Unfortunately the lens lacks image stabilization, which would’ve been useful for a lens with that reach, but given the price, it’s hard to complain. Pentax does throw in a Digital Shake Reduction feature, which is just another way of saying that the camera simply ‘intelligently’ boosts your ISO when it detects shake. Useful, but it’s at the expense of image quality and more grain in your images. Which is of course still better than getting a blurred picture - but still not a real alternative to true image stabilization. But again, given the price range and the zoom range of the lens, it’s hard to complain.

The 3 inch LCD dominates the back, and as you can see there is no optical viewfinder (unfortunately) so you will have to do all your framing using the LCD.

The V20 also features what Pentax calls an Auto-Macro mode - which allows close-up photography to as close as 4 inches without changing the focusing mode.

You also get the latest gimmick in compact digital camera’s this year - the smile shutter. I’ve never actually seen one in action - but the camera supposedly ‘detects the key facial expression of happy people and releases the shutter automatically.’ (Not my description, that’s from the Pentax Press Release)

Plus a Blink Detection feature which warns you if the camera detects any subjects with closed eyes, so you can re-shoot if you want to. As well as the usual plethora of scene modes like ‘Night Scene, Portrait, Natural Skin Tone, Sports’ etc..

The Pentax Optio V20:

• 8 Megapixels
• 5x zoom (36mm - 180mm equivalence)
• 3 inch LCD
• Compact body, less than in inch thick
• ISO 80-3200 (ISO 6400 available in Digital Shake Reduction mode
• Uses SD Cards
• Auto-Macro Mode

The Pentax Optio V20 is currently available for pre-order from Amazon for just $279.95.

Casio has today announced the Casio Exilim EX-Z9, the latest in their Exilim line of compact camera’s. This 8 megapixel compact has a standard 3x zoom lens (37mm-112mm equivalent,) a 2.7 inch LCD, the YouTube video mode as found on other Casio digital camera’s and of course you get the 23 scene modes, or what Casio refers to as the Best Shot Modes.

The Casio EX-Z9:

• 8.1 Megapixels
• 2.7 inch LCD
• 3x zoom (37mm-112mm equivalent)
• Measures 3.6″ x 2.17″ x .91″
• 23 Best shot modes
• Anti-Shake (ISO boost)
• Comes in Black, Silver, Pink! and Orange!
• Available this month for about $159

I’ve actually been fairly impressed with what Casio is doing with their digital camera’s. They limit themselves to compact, stylish digital camera’s that’s targeted more to the fashion conscious crowd, but most of their digital camera’s are actually pretty good. They’re feature rich, compact, easy to use and priced very competitively. Image quality for most of their digital camera’s are fairly decent compared to similar camera’s. I could find a lot of issues with the quality if I wanted to, but that would mean discounting the fact that their camera’s are targeted to users who just want a camera that takes pictures without having to click half a dozen different dials and buttons.

Full press release after the jump.

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Here’s an interesting article courtesy of the New York Times Online - entitled A Camera That Frees Your Face - the brief article is sort of a mini-review of Sony’s A300 DSLR, but what’s interesting about the article is the discussion on how Sony designed the Live View system.

Actually, a few recent S.L.R. models do, in fact, have this Live View feature, but it’s mostly a disaster. It works by flipping that mirror up out of the way, so that light from the lens hits the image sensor, which feeds the image to the screen. Trouble is, once the mirror goes up, no light hits the autofocus sensor, so the camera can’t focus.

So here’s what happens when you press the shutter button. There’s a noisy clank as the mirror drops down again; the screen goes black; the camera computes focus and exposure; the mirror lifts again; the screen comes back to life; and finally — a second or so later — the shot is recorded.

In other words, Live View on existing cameras is slow, noisy and deeply confusing. All of this silliness arises because the camera’s image sensor must do double duty: it’s responsible for supplying the screen with a live preview and for recording the shot.

Sony’s technical breakthrough on the A300, therefore, was this: “Duh! Put in another sensor!”

On this camera, turning on Live View sends light from that main mirror onto a second sensor, one that’s devoted solely to feeding the preview screen. The autofocus sensor works normally as you compose a shot, since the mirror never has to flip up.

As a result, Live View is a completely different experience. The camera focuses quickly as you aim the lens, without ever blacking out the screen. When you press the shutter, the screen doesn’t go on-off-on, there’s no loud clacking, and there’s no baffling exhibition of mirror calisthenics inside the camera.

And he does make a nice point too - while most so-called purists and other experts may dismiss the Live View features of DSLRs as mere gimmicks, I think they are extremely useful. Sure, the best way to frame a photo is still holding the viewfinder to your eye, but there are always numerous occasions where Live View on a flip-out LCD is extremely useful. Why lie down in the dirt when trying to frame a flower on the ground when you can just sit and use the LCD to frame for example?

The article is written by David Pogue, owner of Pouge Press, the publisher of the Missing Manual series of books. One of which - Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual is I think one of the better books currently available for Photoshop Elements. If you haven’t already, you can click here to read the rest of the article.

Just a quick round-up of various Digital Camera’s reviewed around the web recently:

First up is a review of Sony’s current entry level DSLR - the Sony Alpha a200 courtesy of Photoreview. But that’s not all these Aussies have cooked up, they also have a review of Sony’s very competitively priced mid-range DSLR, the Sony Alpha a350.

ThinkCamera has a review of the Ricoh GR Digital II. While conceding it is not a camera for everyone, with it’s fixed 28mm lens - it does still manage to impress. “Once you get into the ‘old’ style way of working, the conversion lenses and the like, it’s an inspiring way of working that delivers great results.”

Jeff Keller over at DCResource has also been busy - he’s got a review of the Nikon Coolpix S51, a 0.8 inch thin point and shoot with a huge 3 inch LCD.

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You’ve probably heard of the term ‘grey market’ before. Whether they be grey market camera’s, grey market lenses or other accessories. So what exactly are grey market items?Well first, we have to understand the way the likes of Canon and Nikon and all the other manufacturers distribute their products all over the world. See, you’ve got the mother company, Canon, Inc or Nikon Corp in Japan somewhere, then they manufacture and assemble their camera’s and lenses in factories out in Thailand or the Philippines but then you also have your official distributors for these different products in different regions.

So these distributors would be your Nikon USA or Canon Canada, or Fuji Hong Kong or it may be some other company, for example, Gentec Intl is the official distributor for Sigma Lenses and products in Canada. Grey Market products on the other hand - are the products that are imported to your country by someone other than the official distributor.

So for example, it’s entirely possible that a US retailer may choose to purchase units of the Canon 450D XSi DSLR from the Canon distributor in Hong Kong. The reason for this is, the retailer may get them cheaper from a distributor in another region compared to the official distributor in the US.

Now, it is important to note that not only is this legal in most countries, but these products - camera’s, lenses, flash guns etc.. are the exact same units you would get had they been purchased from the official country/region distributor. In fact, they most likely came off of the same production line.

But, the important difference though is that since these are not officially imported units by the official distributor, they would not qualify for the official warranty being offered by these distributors. So if you purchased a grey market digital camera that was imported from Hong Kong, then you won’t be able to send it to Canon USA or Nikon USA if you need warranty work done! You have to send it all the way back to Hong Kong.

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