Olympus introduces the compact E-450 digital SLR Olympus today introduced the E-450 which, as you might've guessed, is the follow-up
to the E-420. I can describe the changes in a few words: it's the E-420 with
a couple of Art Filters, plus a nicer LCD. And that's about it. Here's
a rundown of all the specs on this compact, entry-level digital SLR:
Supports all FourThirds lenses with 2X focal length conversion ratio
Compact body (by D-SLR standards)
2.7" HyperCrystal II LCD display (230k pixels) has improved contrast
and viewing angle
Live view with contrast detect AF (with select lenses) and face detection; Perfect
Shot Preview feature lets you compare the effects of different exposure compensation
or white balance settings in real time
Optical viewfinder has 95% coverage and 0.92X magnification
Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system
Full manual controls; ISO range of 100 - 1600; white balance can be set
by color temperature and fine-tuned
Plenty of scene modes, plus three Art Filters (pop art, soft focus, and
pin hole)
Continuous shooting at 3.5 frames/second
Built-in wireless flash support
CompactFlash + xD Picture Card slots
Uses BLS-1 lithium-ion battery; 500 shots per charge
Includes the F3.5-5.6, 14 - 42 mm and F4.0-5.6, 40 - 150 mm lenses
Priced at $699; will be sold exclusively through QVC starting May 9th.
Widespread availability in July.
Even more new photo galleries In addition to writing my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 review and being frustrated with PR people (see below), I've been taking a lot of sample photos. Here are five galleries for you, four of which are new.
From Jeff: Why the Rebel T1i article was delayed At 9pm Pacific time last night, Canon announced a major new product: the EOS
Rebel T1i. Canon delivered a real slap to the faces of the readers of this
website (over two million of you visit each month) by not sharing a single shred
of information with us. To make matters worse, Canon contacted a group
of other sites and not only briefed them ahead of time -- they also gave them
cameras to write previews with. Several of these sites get a fraction of the
traffic of the DCRP. I didn't know that the camera even existed until the press
release was in my inbox. Canon says they are trying to prevent leaks of information
by tightly controlling who gets it. Ironically, one of the sites they did trust leaked
the information hours
in advance.
This website is now in its 12th year of business. During that time, we have
not broken any embargoes -- not one. We have reviewed more Canon cameras than
any other brand, with our 92nd review coming by the end of the week. I've spent
hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of hours covering their products -- that's
a lot of free PR. Thus, I can't help but feel hurt and disrespected by what
happened last night. Some may view this as "sour grapes", but I think most
of you will agree that this website (the 3rd or 4th most popular in the world,
depending on where you look) deserves better.
Thanks for reading,
Jeff
Thursday update: Canon has asked that I remove the link to their PR department
e-mail address, and I have done so in hope of having a discussion with them about what
went on this week. If you want to share your thoughts on this issue, please
post them in this
thread in our forums. Big thanks to everyone who took the time to write in -- now let's see if anything changes.
Canon EOS Rebel T1i The EOS Rebel T1i, also known as the EOS-500D, borrows many of the features
from the EOS-50D, strips them down a bit, and puts them into the familiar compact
shell of the Rebel XSi. Here's the full list of features:
3-inch LCD display with 920,000 pixels; screen has glare and scratch resistant
coatings
Optical viewfinder has 95% coverage and a magnification of 0.87X
9-point autofocus system; center point is cross-type
Live view with contrast detect AF and face detection
Full manual controls, plus Creative Auto mode (which lets you adjust aperture and exposure in a simpler way)
Can take up to 9 RAW or 170 JPEGs in a row at 3.4 frames/second
ISO range of 100 - 3200, expandable to 12,800
Capable of recording HD movies at 1920 x 1080 (though at 20 frames/second)
or 1280 x 720 (30 fps) with sound
Recording limit of 4GB, which is about 12 minutes at 1080p
Uses MPEG-4 codec
Camera cannot focus continuously while recording (only the upcoming
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 can do that)
HDMI port
Uses LP-E5 lithium-ion battery; 400 shots per charge
Ships in early May for $799 body only, or $899 with an 18 - 55 mm IS lens
Canon also released a new external flash, the Speedlite 270EX. This compact
flash can tilt upward up to 90 degrees (with four preset positions), and it
can be controlled from the camera's menu system. Pricing and availability for
the new flash was not available.
Exclusive: Canon PowerShot SX200 IS reviewed On Thursday I promised a review of something that I thought people would be interested in, and here it is: my review of the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS. This camera is aimed squarely at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (which has since been replaced) -- read the review to see if I think Canon can match the success of that camera.
For those of you who were hoping for a review of something a little more interesting (say, the Fuji FinePix F200EXR or the aforementioned Panasonic): I still don't have review models of those cameras, and I made a point of telling the manufacturers at PMA last week that I wanted them soon. When I get them, I'll add them to the Upcoming Reviews list on the homepage!
Update: Some readers running Windows were having their browser crash
when
they viewed this review. That issue has been resolved.
{ Thursday, March 12, 2009 }
Samsung TL34HD review canned, but I'll make it up to you Turns out that the Samsung TL34HD that I was about 1/3 of the way through reviewing is discontinued, and no longer available in (most) stores. Thus, I'm going to can that review, and move onto something else. To make up for that -- and the overall slow pace of reviews lately -- I'm going to post a review of something that's not on the Upcoming Reviews list that I think will be popular. Look for that in the next few days.
{ Thursday, March 5, 2009 }
GE introduces their X3 ultra zoom, plus nine more cameras GE -- through its licensee General Imaging -- unleashed a whopping ten new
cameras at PMA. All but one of them cost less than $200. The one that costs a bit more is
their first ultra zoom, the X3:
GE G3WP Next up is GE's first waterproof camera (everyone seems to have one of these
this year), which
will hopefully ship in time for summer vacation.
GE E1250TW / E1255W / E1276W Let's move on to GE's E-series models, which feature metal bodies and large
LCD screens (including one touchscreen model). Here we go:
GE A950 / A1035 / A1050 / A1235 / A1250 The final set of GE cameras are in the entry-level category, with prices as
low as $90. They're all essentially the same camera, with the differences being
the lens (3X or 5X) and the resolution. Here are the details
on the five new A-series models:
Panasonic introduces Micro FourThirds camera with HD video recording Back when Panasonic introduced their first Micro FourThirds camera -- the DMC-G1
-- they hinted that a camera that could record HD movies would be introduced
in 2009. That camera arrives today, and it's called the Lumix DMC-GH1. The
GH1 can record video at 1920 x 1080 at 24 frames per second, when using its brand
new 14 - 140 mm kit lens. This lens has a silent focusing motor and continuous
autofocus capability, which ...
Supports Micro FourThirds lenses, and "classic" FourThirds lenses with
an optional adapter
Venus Engine HD processor
Includes new F4.0-5.8, 14 - 140 mm lens, with image stabilization and nearly
silent autofocus
Dust reduction system
Flip-out, rotating 3-inch LCD display with 460,000 pixels and 60 fps refresh
rate
Ultra-high resolution electronic viewfinder with 1.44 million
pixels (480k in reality)
Live view with super-fast 23-point contrast detect autofocus
Full manual controls, with RAW image support
Intelligent Auto Mode picks a scene mode for you, detects faces, brightens
shadows, and more
Face detection system can now "remember" faces, and give
them priority in future photos
Continuous shooting at 3 frames/second
Records video at 1920 x 1080 at 24 frames/second, with Dolby Digital stereo
sound
Kit lens allows for continuous autofocus, just like on a camcorder
Camera uses H.264/AVC codec
Can also record at 1280 x 720, 60 fps
Wind filter available
Optional external microphone for better sound recording
SD/SDHC slot (no card included)
HDMI port
Uses proprietary li-ion battery; 300 shots per charge using the LCD
Price and availability info to come
I have two lenses to mention, as well. The first is the F4.0-5.8, 14 - 140
mm IS lens that comes with the GH1. The other new lens is an F4.0, 7 - 14 mm
ultra wide-angle
lens, which is the widest Micro FourThirds lens you can buy. Both lenses feature
seven-blade circular aperture diaphragms. I don't have any pricing or availability
info just yet, but hope to find out later today at PMA.
Update: Panasonic said that the camera will most likely ship "before
summer". They also showed off adapters for Leica M and R lenses, though
I don't know when those will become avaialble.
Kodak EasyShare Z915 Kodak has introduced a compact ultra zoom camera, the EasyShare Z915. I'm
a little short on details at this point, but here's what I can tell you:
Sony announces CMOS-based Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 Have you noticed an increase in CMOS-based compact cameras lately? I believe
Kodak was the first to use them on some entry-level cameras, followed by Casio
and then Canon (both with super zooms). Today, Sony is joining in, with their
new Cyber-shot DSC-HX1. I got a chance to use this super zoom camera a few
weeks back, and I was very impressed with its features and performance. It's
pretty clear that Sony is going after the Canon PowerShot SX1 and Casio Exilim
EX-FH20 with this one. Here are the details on the new HX1:
F2.8-5.2, 20X optical zoom Sony G lens, equivalent to 28 - 560
Sony mentioned that the "G" lens (with 6 aperture blades, plus
aspherical and extra-low dispersion elements) is higher quality than
the "Zeiss" lenses typically found on their compact cameras
Optical image stabilization
3-inch, tilt-able LCD display with 230,000 pixels; also has an electronic
viewfinder with 201k pixels
Full manual controls
Intelligent Scene Recognition feature automatically selects a scene mode
for you
Continuous shooting at 10 frames/second at full resolution (for up to
10 shots)
Sweep Panorama feature lets you slowly pan the camera from side-to-side
(you
can
use it vertically) to create a single panoramic image with a 224 degree field
of view; this was very cool in person
Handheld twilight and anti-blur modes take six photos in a row (you probably
won't even notice) and combine them into a single image that's less likely
to be blurry
Enhanced face detection feature can remember faces, and then give them
priority in future photos; camera also has smile and blink detection
Records video at 1440 x 1080 at 30 frames/second (Sony calls this 1080p,
which is a bit misleading, as true 1080p is 1920 x 1080 @ 60 fps)
Sound is recorded in stereo
Uses the AVC/H.264 codec
Optional 1.7X teleconverter lens
11MB onboard memory + Memory Stick Duo slot
HDMI output
Uses NP-FH50 lithium-ion battery; 390 shots per charge
Pentax intros new super zoom camera, 15mm lens Pentax has introduced the X70 super zoom camera today. This is their first super
zoom camera, and it packs a 24X optical zoom lens. Here's more:
F2.8-5.0, 24X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 26 - 624 mm
This may be
the same lens as on the Nikon Coolpix P90 and Kodak EasyShare Z980
Sensor-shift image stabilization
2.7" LCD display with 230,000 pixels, plus an electronic viewfinder
Full manual controls + Auto Picture Mode (which picks a scene mode for
you)
Can shoot at 11 frames/second at 5 Megapixel resolution
Face detection finds up to 32 faces in the scene; also features smile and
blink detection
Auto redeye reduction
Digital Wide feature stitches 2 images together for a photo with a 20 mm
angle of view
Records movies at 1280 x 720 (15 fps); lower resolutions can shoot at 30
fps
33.6MB onboard memory + SD/SDHC card slot
Uses D-LI92 lithium-ion battery; 170 shots per charge
Ships in April for $400
Along with the new super zoom comes a new lens for Pentax's digital SLRs. This
new F4, 15 mm Pentax DA Limited lens features an aluminum finish, a built-in
lens hood, and it will ship in April for $650.
Samsung introduces new interchangeable lens camera concept Back when Panasonic and Olympus introduced the Micro FourThirds standard last
year, many people wondered if other manufacturers would follow suit. Today
Samsung entered the world of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, with
the introduction of their new NX series. While there's no camera ready to ship just
yet, they will be showing off a concept model under glass at PMA.
Here's what
I can tell you about the NX concept at this point:
Uses APS-C type sensor
Lack of a mirror decreases the flange back by 60% compared to a traditional
D-SLR
All shooting via live view on an LCD or electronic viewfinder
Samsung's goal is to become the global leader in the digital camera market
by 2012 (they certainly have their work cut out for them)
First NX series camera will be available in the second half of this year
If I can squeeze any more details out of the Samsung folks at PMA, then I'll
update this news item.
