Digicams Archives - Page 3 of 7

Cambo Wide RS Anniversary Edition

Architecture is one of those specialty areas of photography where the cost of the really high end equipment can be absolutely eye-popping. It doesn’t stop there, either. Imagine having all the problems associated with background, lighting and angles when your subject is two stories tall.

Architectural cameras, like the Cambo Wide RS Anniversary Edition, start with price tags in the tens of thousands and up and that’s just the body. You get to spend almost that much more again on a lens and digital back. Expect the whole kit to be near $30,000.

At least you won’t have any trouble remembering your serial number for warranty service. For cameras like the Cambo Wide RS Anniversary Edition, they’re only making 65 of them. It won’t be that difficult to keep track of your warranty as the cameras come personally engraved with the owner’s information.

What you get for that princely sum is a precision camera with an aluminum body and stainless steel gearing in a “pancake” style camera made to use with medium format digital backs and extreme wide angle lenses. All that precision is necessary to get such a wide angle lens that close to the sensor.

The camera body is built with a variety of wide tilt and swing panels that provide up +/- 5 degrees of tilt along two planes with precision geometry gearing.

All the gearing is designed to move the back, not the lens, so it’s possible to get interesting effects like precision panorama shots just by moving the back.

Definitely not for everyone, but if you’re one of those people who dream about doing architectural photography, this is one of the cameras you dream about owning some day.

The Pentax Q: A Pint Size Camera That Is Packed With Features

Pint size but packed with features the Pentax Q - by Pentax

User reviews of the Pentax Q are starting to filter in after being officially launched back in June. Pentax advertises the Q as the smallest interchangeable lens digital camera on the market.

They definitely got the small part right, the camera easily fits in the palm of your hand. Despite its size, it’s packed with features usually found in much larger cameras.

The 3 inch LCD screen takes up almost the entire back of the camera and the Q has a hot shoe attachment that will accept one of the Pentax external flash units, which are, somewhat ironically, bigger than the camera itself, and can also be used to fit an add-on optical viewer.

Inside the Q packs a 12-megapixel BSI-CMOS 1/2.3 inch sensor behind the Pentax Q-mount interchangeable lens mount. The camera comes with a 47mm f/1.9 prime lens, but several other lenses are available.

Surrounding the electronics is a magnesium alloy shell that gives the little camera better protection than you’d normally expect in small frame cameras.

The software provides the usual mirrorless camera tricks like 5 frame per second continuous shooting and an in-camera HDR option that automatically blends bracketed exposures.

On video it sports full 1080 HD video at 30 fps in H.264 format.

My only niggles are the senor size and price point. For less money you can get a Sony NEX-5 with a full APS-C chip. For perspective, the 1/2.3 chip in a Pentax Q is less than a 10th of the size. When it comes to sensors, size does matter and bigger is better.

All in all, when size is important, the Pentax Q definitely fits the bill.

Take a look at how the Pentax Q stands up against its competitors.

Fujifilm Has A Small But Powerful Camera With FinePix AV200

Fujifilm finepix AV200 — Fujifilm Finepix AV200 is a hot seller this year

Fujifilm fielded a budget camera with an impressive set of features in the FinePix AV200. Released back in January, the compact pocket camera hit the market at a sub-$80 price point.

The FinePix AV200 may be small but it sports a 14-megapixel 1/2.3 in CCD sensor behind a 3x optical zoom Fujinon f/2.9 lens. Although the camera does have autofocus, including multi, area and tracking AF, there is some confusion in the published specs on whether it has any kind of image stabilization. Some sources say it has digital image stabilization, some say it has none, some say yes and no on the same page. Okay, you have to sacrifice somewhere for the price point, even without image stabilization it’s still a pretty good deal.

The CCD chip type also means the camera performs relatively poorly in low light with an ISO rating of 100 to 3200 and not even that at all resolutions. You also don’t get much in the way of continuous shooting speeds, with the camera topping out at a stately 1.2 fps pace.

You will get video, however. 720 at 30 fps, but that it has video capability at all is pretty amazing.

On the back it has a 2.7 in TFT LCD screen and accepts either SD or SDHC storage cards.

The internal software provides some nifty features like Motion Panorama Mode, Scene Recognition, and Face Detection with Red Eye Removal. It also has the ability to search for a particular face on the pictures in your camera.

When you consider you’re getting a 14-megapixel camera for $80 that fits in your pocket, runs on AA batteries and weighs in at a thrifty 196 grams, the FinePix AV200 is a great camera to toss in the tackle box or glove compartment of your car. It’s definitely a step up from most cell phone cameras and offers a lot of features for the price.

See how the Fujifilm Finepix AV200 stacks up to some of its competitors:

Panasonic Announces New DMC-GX1

The new Panasonic DMC-GX1 to upgrade the GF series - by Panasonic

Panasonic launched a replacement for the highly regarded Lumix DMC-GF1 labeled the DMC-GX1. In the GX series Panasonic seems to be taking aim at more advanced users.

Many consider the Lumix GF line, with their interchangeable lenses, small form factor, RAW output, and rangefinder styling to be one the original entries in the mirrorless market that has grown in popularity. Unfortunately, the GF1 successors, the GF2 and GF3, never achieved the market acceptance of their predecessor. With the new DMC-GX1, Panasonic seems determined to push farther into the higher end of the camera market and reclaim the glory days of the GF1.

In the DMC-GX1 Panasonic returned the better build quality and ergonomics of the GF1 with an updated feature set and improved specs.

Packing a 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, with an impressive ISO range of 160-12,800. At reduced resolution the DMC-GX1 can snap off an impressive 20 frames per second.

Panasonic bumped up the video specs as well with the DMC-GX1 delivering full 1080 HD video at 60 interlaced frames per second, along with a stereo microphone.

The LCD screen is also a touchscreen interface with features such as tap to focus on a subject.

New electronic leveler — The GX1 has a built-in electronic leveler

Panasonic seems to be aiming for the niche currently occupied by the Samsung NX200 and Sony Alpha NEX-5 series.

Available in mid-December with an expected price tag of $700 for the body only, or $800 for the kit with the standard 14-42mm zoom lens. The mount is compatible with both the Panasonic and Olympus line of Micro Four Thirds lenses.

From the beginning I’ve questioned the commitment of Panasonic and Olympus to the Micro Four Thirds concept. With APS-C size sensors available at similar price points, I question the utility of the smaller and oddly sized Micro Four Thirds chip.

All the same the DMC-GX1 seems to be a capable performer with very good build quality and attention to detail. If Panasonic and Olympus would ever start pushing the Micro Four Thirds line as a price competitor, they might have something.

Comparisons:

Lytro Announces Pre-Orders On Shoot First, Focus Later Camera

Lytro camera — Lytro's shoot first, focus later light field camera - by Lytro

Apple users will get yet another reason to be happy about as the first Lytro shoot first, focus later cameras go on pre-order for $399-$499. The first models out the door will only work with Mac’s, the Windows version of the software won’t be available until later.

I’ve said before that I think this is an interesting concept that may, eventually make changes in the field of photography, but if the selective focus is the only advantage, I don’t think it’s all that. It will really depend on what other advances the technology brings to photography. I’m not listing my Canon 7D on Craigslist just yet.

The camera itself is only 4.41 inches long and has a dinky 1.61 inch display on the back.

The models come in two flavors and three colors. A gray or blue 8 GB model for $399 or a red 16 GB model for $499. The 8 GB camera will be able to hold about 350 images, the 16 GB camera around 450.

Try as they might Lytro is going to miss the holiday season as the cameras won’t be shipping until next year. As mentioned above, Mac users only for right now and only those living in North America.

If you don’t have a Mac, you can still sign up to be notified when the Windows version becomes available.

While light field technology may have a big impact down the road, right now it’s an interesting novelty with limited applications.