ultracompacts

Personally, I thought "NV" worked as well as anything for the branding of Samsung's top-of-the-line ultracompact point-and-shoot cameras; nevertheless, for Fall 2008 the new leaders of Samsung's snapshot pack will be dubbed "TL". The two models announced today may have less interesting names, but do offer some novel attributes.

The flagship model, the TL34HD, introduces a 14.7-megapixel sensor--until the camera ships, one can only imagine how ungodly noisy those photos must be--and a fairly cool, if somewhat iPhone-envious, 3-inch hybrid touch screen with a gesture-based interface. As is beginning to look like a … Read more

Though I've yet to see one of these ultraslim ultracompact cameras produce great photos, the specifications on Casio's new Exilim EX-Z150 have me crossing my fingers.

The 8-megapixel camera incorporates an f/2.6-5.9 28-112mm-equivalent 4x zoom lens, which offers the widest angle of view we've seen at that size, and is one of the few ultracompacts in general to provide it. Since people usually use cameras like this for group and travel snapshots, the wide angle is a nice feature to have. It also offers sensor-shift image stabilization; while most of its competitors do too, … Read more

With the holidays, as they say, "upon us," you might want to take a bunch of pictures. They're useful for reminding yourself how grandpa looks passed out on the lounger post-turkey, staying in touch with family, and proving that you have friends documenting good times.

If you want an easy point-and-shooter, this might be a good way to go. It's an ultracompact camera with great reviews and a nice discount. Offered elsewhere at $300, it's available at Butterfly Photo for $220.

What: Sony DSC-T20 Cyber-shot digital camera How much: $219 Shipping: Free Where: Butterfly Photo … Read more

Sandwiched between similar 7-megapixel siblings--the PowerShot SD800 IS on one side and the PowerShot SD1000 on the other--the Canon PowerShot SD750 nevertheless manages to distinguish itself as a well-designed, practical option for snapshooters who favor big LCDs over optical viewfinders.

If you're the rebating kind, there are some impressive rebates associated with this offer, including two on printers and one on poster-sized prints from Shutterfly. Check out the seller's site for details.

What: Canon PowerShot SD750 How much: $259.95 Shipping: Free, varies Where: Amazon.com (via FatWallet.com) When: Through unknown date Click here for product review.… Read more

The biggest origami news of 2007 has nothing to do with Microsoft or ultramobile PCs.

Instead, thanks to centuries-old telescope technology reapplied to camera lenses by engineers at UC San Diego, the origami lens takes the cake.

At just one-seventh the thickness as a traditional lens, the origami system could significantly raise the resolution bar for camera phones. It might also make today's slimmest ultracompact cams seem like anvils.

The system borrows the folded optical system found in Cassegrain telescopes, but uses a single, diamond-cut optical crystal instead of a series of mirrors. The origami system bounces light through … Read more

I'm starting to believe that camera manufacturers are able to stuff tiny quantum singularities into their products. The only way I can explain the increasing range of the internal zoom systems in ultracompacts is with a fold in space. Casio's latest fold holds a 7x zoom, with the 35mm-equivalent range of 35mm-266mm, in an inch-thick ultracompact.

With a camera so small and light, shake can be even more of a problem than usual with long zooms. Casio compensates with no less than four different antishake techniques, including a mechanical CCD-shift image stabilizer and the usual combos of high-ISO … Read more

BenQ has just announced a new big-screen, high-ISO, compact snapshot camera, just in time for holiday shoppers to ask why the company is announcing a new product in mid-December. The X710 is a slim, 7.2-megapixel shooter with a big 3-inch LCD screen and a 30fps VGA movie mode that can hit ISO 4000 sensitivity for filming in low light. Of course, that setting will probably mean incredibly noisy, grainy movies that look like they come out of 1970s-era video tapes. Still shots can only go up to ISO 1200, which will still probably be pretty darn noisy. The … Read more