Olympus announces all-black E-P2 kit, two new Micro Four Thirds lenses Olympus has announced a special "all black" kit for their E-P2 Micro Four Thirds camera, and also released two new lenses while they were at it.
This limited edition kit comes with a black E-P2, 17mm pancake lens, and FL-14 flash. This kit does not include the electronic viewfinder that normally comes with the E-P2. The black kit
will ship in October for $999.
The two new small and lightweight lenses include an F4.0-5.6, 40 - 150 mm mid-zoom model, as well as an F4.8-6.7, 75 - 300 mm telephoto. Both lenses are marked as "MSC" (movie and still compatible), which really means that they have a fast and silent autofocus system. Both lenses will be available in black and silver, with the 40-150 shipping in November for $299, and the 75-300 arriving a month later for $899.
Check out the press releases after the link for a few more details.
Canon announces EOS-60D, four new L lenses Canon today unleashed the new EOS-60D, the long-expected replacement for the 50D. Those of you with good memories will recall that there was once an EOS-D60, which was announced way back in 2002. That camera packed a 6.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor and sported a whopping 1.8" LCD -- all for the low price of $2199 (I can't believe I paid that much!). The new EOS-60D shows how far things have come in eight years, with its 18 Megapixel sensor, 3-inch rotating LCD with over a million pixels, and Full HD movie mode. Here are the specs:
18 Megapixel CMOS sensor (a scaled down version of the one on the EOS-7D)
Supports EF and EF-S lenses with a 1.6X crop factor
Flip-out, rotating 3-inch LCD display with 1.04 million pixels; live view supported, naturally
Optical viewfinder has 0.95X magnification and 96% coverage
Full manual controls, with ISO range of 100 - 6400, expandable to 12,800; three RAW sizes to choose from
9-point, all cross-type AF system, plus 63-zone metering system
Continuous shooting at 5.3 frames/sec
Electronic level available on LCD and viewfinder
Refined controls (the Multi-controller is now inside the large Quick Control dial), with customizable buttons
Full HD movie mode (1920 x 1080 at 24/25/30 fps) with manual controls, wind filter, and sound level adjustment
Built-in wireless flash support
In-camera RAW editing allows you to adjust Picture Style, white balance, color space, noise reduction, Peripheral Illumination Correction, linear distortion correction and chromatic aberration correction right in playback mode
Creative Filters let you apply special effects to photos you've taken
SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot (versus CompactFlash on the 50D)
HDMI output
Uses LP-E6 lithium-ion battery; battery life not available
Optional battery grip
Ships at the end of September for $1099 body only, or $1399 with an 18 - 135 mm IS lens
Along with the 60D comes four new L-series EF lenses and two extenders:
F4L, 8 - 15 mm USM fisheye lens - provides 180 degree coverage on full-frame cameras - anti-smear coating (all of these lenses have it) - ships in January for $1400
F4.0-5.6L, 70 - 300 mm IS USM lens - better glass, image stabilization, and weather-sealing than previous versions - ships in October for $1500
F2.8L, 300 mm IS II USM lens - 8% lighter than predecessor, with improved IS system , superior image quality, and better build quality - ships in December for $7000
F2.8L, 400 mm IS II USM lens - 20% lighter than predecessor, same improvements as the 300mm - ships in December for $11,000 (I'll take two!)
1.4X and 2X EF Extender III - faster autofocus, compatibility with newest super telephotos, and anti-smear coating - both ship in December for $500
Sony announces pair of interchangeable lens cameras with Translucent Mirror Technology Sony today introduced a new kind of interchangeable lens camera, using their new Translucent Mirror Technology. On a regular D-SLR, the mirror sends the light to the camera's AF sensor or CCD/CMOS sensor, but not both at the same time (the third Sony camera below uses a different trick to get around this). As its name implies, the Translucent Mirror lets the light pass through to both the AF and CMOS sensor, which (according to Sony) allows for fast continuous AF, blazing continuous shooting, and a smaller body (since the mirror doesn't actually move, it takes up less space). This design also replaces the optical viewfinder with an electronic one.
I am unable to provide a hands-on preview of either of these cameras since -- in keeping with our ethics policy -- I did not attend a four-day Sony junket earlier this month.
Sony Alpha DSLR-A560 + 3 lenses In addition to the new "SLT" cameras, Sony also introduced a more conventional digital SLR: the Alpha DSLR-A560 -- though many of its features are anything but:
Night photos added to Exilim EX-FH100 review There was a brief break in the fog last night, so I was able to take the night photos for the Casio Exilim EX-FH100 review. Still need to take them with the Sony Alpha NEX-5, but I need to get a camera back from Sony first.
Canon PowerShot S95 Canon also has some news today: three new PowerShots. I'll start with the PowerShot S95, which is a relatively minor update to the S90 from last year. I'm a little short on specs right now, but here's what I can tell you:
Canon PowerShot SD4500 IS Digital ELPH Looking for a compact ultra zoom with full HD recording? If you don't mind a touchscreen interface, than the PowerShot SD4500 might be just what you;'re looking for:
F3.4-5.6, 10X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 36 - 360 mm
Optical image stabilization with "dynamic" option for situations with lots of shake
3-inch widescreen LCD display with 230,000 pixels
Point-and-shoot operation, with Smart Auto mode
Best Image Selection feature takes five exposures and selects the best one of the series
Offers same benefits as other CMOS-based cameras: high speed burst mode (8.4 fps), "super slow motion" movies (240 fps), and things like "handheld night scene"
Records movies at 1920 x 1080 (24 fps) with stereo sound using H.264 codec; can shoot at lower resolutions (including 720p) at 30 fps; optical zoom cannot be used while recording
"Miniature effect" available for both stills and movies
Nikon intros D3100 and four new lenses You may have read about it already, but today Nikon introduced their new D3100 entry-level digital SLR.
As you might have guessed, the D3100 replaces the popular D3000, offering a higher resolution sensor, faster processing, live view support, a
full HD video recording (with continuous AF), and more. So yeah, it's a pretty big upgrade. Here are its specs:
