Camera

PMA 2008 is finally winding down, but not after revealing dozens of new cameras to the world. Here's a look back at some of the major announcements made over the past two weeks.

Canon

Fujifilm

Nikon

As expected, Sony quickly followed its 24-megapixel full-frame sensor announcement by revealing that its previously alluded-to pro model will use the new chip. Since there's a Super SteadyShot housing for the new chip, we can also expect the camera to have in-body image stabilization. The camera is scheduled to "launch" by the end of this year.

Sony also said it will address "the full spectrum" of Alpha products this year, which to me foreshadows a few more product announcements. That's all Sony shared today, but we can expect more details around Photokina this fall. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Panasonic is a relative newcomer to the camera business, but the electronics giant outlined strong ambitions for the business Monday.

"We will try our best to achieve 15 percent market share by 2009," Tokihazu Matsumoto, director of the company's digital still camera business unit, said at a news conference at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here. "We aim to become one of the top camera brands in the industry."

The company also is hoping to reach 15 million units globally during the fiscal year, which for Panasonic runs through March 2010.

That's … Read more

Panasonic follows up last year's compact megazoom Lumix DMC-TZ3 with two models. The DMC-TZ4 and DMC-TZ5 have similar feature sets, which include an optically stabilized 28mm-280mm 10x zoom lens and the next-generation Venus Engine IV image processing; Panasonic claims the latter provides improved noise reduction, faster performance, and more responsive stabilization.

The cameras differ mostly by resolution and LCD size. The TZ4 incorporates an 8.1-megapixel CCD and 2.5-inch display, while the TZ5 uses a 9.1-megapixel CCD and 3-inch display. The latter also supports 1280x720 30 frames-per-second movie capture.

Color choices for the $299.95 TZ4 are … Read more

You've read the blog, now see the video. Starring Phil and Canon's new consumer dSLR, the EOS Rebel XSi.

OK, so I'm asleep at the wheel. We knew the Samsung GX-20 was forthcoming, but completely missed all the rumors that rendered our embargoed knowledge obsolete. We do know something that I haven't seen elsewhere, though: the price. The body-only version will be $1,399.95--inexplicably $100 more than its identical twin, the Pentax K20D--and will ship in March.

Along with the several pricey, high-end cameras it unveiled today, Fujifilm announced two new budget-priced, ultracompact models. The FinePix J10 and the J50, two new sub-$200 shooters, are aimed squarely at more frugal users.

Though both cameras feature 8-megapixel sensors, they otherwise offer very different features. The ultraslim J10 measures three quarters of an inch at its thinnest part, and uses a 38 to 113mm-equivalent, f/2.8-5.2 3x zoom lens, and a 2.5-inch LCD screen. The J50 measures 0.9 inch across, but includes a 37 to 185mm-equivalent, f/3.2-5.2 5x zoom lens, and … Read more

One of the hidden gems in Fujifilm's compact camera line has always been its F series cameras, which offer high sensitivity, manual exposure controls, and a conveniently small form factor. New to the line this year is the F100fd, which carries on the long tradition boasting a sensitivity of ISO 3,200 at its full resolution of 12 megapixels, as well as ISO 6,400 with resolution limited to 6MP, and ISO 12,800 if you don't mind being limited to 3MP. Fuji has also extended the zoom range, with a 5X optical, 28-140mm f/3.3-5.1 … Read more

Sometimes, it's simply too hard to resist quoting the press release: Fujifilm "today unveiled the FinePix Z20fd, a new ultraglam digital camera packed with useful features that let you face it, beam it, blog it, and now roll it with a new MPEG-4 movie-recording mode for the movie-crazed Generation Z."

Translation: The Z20fd replaces the Z10fd in the pretty-but-not-too-pricey market segment. Its basic specs include 10-megapixel sensor, a slow f/3.7-8.0 35mm-105mm-equivalent (3x) zoom lens and a low-resolution 150,000-pixel 2.5-inch LCD. Some of the more noncorporeal features include Fujifilm staples like Intelligent Flash (… Read more