Category: Rumors

Major Product Announcement From Canon In November

I’ll admit to being somewhat jaded by corporate media relations but the announcement from Canon about a major product announcement on November 3rd caught my attention.

Canon announcement

If you notice Canon is a little different about product announcements. For them, by the time they announce a product, it’s already on store shelves.

It’s rare that Canon ever makes this kind of production out of a product announcement, so photography and video professionals will be paying attention. The blog sphere is already alive with speculation.

Engadget speculated it could be an announcement of the new mirrorless camera lines hitting the shelves in time for the Christmas holidays, and the timing makes that a definite possibility.

WideOpenCamera thinks it’s an announcement about the rumored Canon 4K movie camera, and announcing that in Hollywood on the red carpet would make perfect sense.

DVFreelancer has a long-shot guess this is the long-awaited and oft-rumored 5D MKIII. Which would work from the holiday timing and Hollywood venue, but that would hardly qualify as “historic”, so I’m going with the 4K.

Whatever the product, Canon certainly has my attention. I’m just hope whatever it is lives up to the hype.  What do you think it is?

Lytro Is Not Going To Put You Out of Business

Old still camera
Lytro technology is not going to put photographers out of business - photo by Arne Nordmann

If you’re in the photography field, you’ve probably already heard of Lytro field technology.  It has some unique imaging capabilities, including the ability to select DoF and a focus point after you take the shot.

Lately there has been speculation on some of the photography discussion boards that Lytro’s technology is going to revolutionize the field of photography overnight, making most of us obsolete in our own industry.  Personally, I’m not worried.

Photography has been around in one form or another for almost 200 years now.  During the entire course of the industry, there have been people getting paid to take pictures.  Photographic technology continued to advance the entire time.  In the 30’s Kodak brought photography to the masses with the Brownie camera and pre-packaged rolls of film.  There was some speculation on those days that cameras in the hands of common people would put photographers out of business.

Yet photographers survived the Brownie, 35mm film, photo labs at the corner drug store, Photoshop, and digital cameras.  There have been more than a dozen times in my lifetime alone that photographers were going to become obsolete, yet here we all are.

It’s too soon to say what impact Lytro’s field technology will have on photography.  Right now it appears to be a generational improvement that has the potential to bring a lot of positive change to the industry, but it will not replace professional photographers.

We went through this in the video industry as well.  Cheap digital video cameras were going to revolutionize filmmaking.  While they certainly revolutionized the porn industry, the rest of filmmaking stayed pretty much intact.

If we can survive digital cameras with big sensors, quality glass and price points under $1,000, we’ll survive this.  Put the world’s most advanced imaging technology available in the hands of an amateur and you’ll still get amateur photography.

Nikon D5100 leaked by Nikon Romania, ME-1, ISO up to 102,400

We previously summarized some of the rumors around the new Nikon D5100 that will be announced this week.

Today it looks like Nikon Romania accidentally leaked details including:

  • The D5100 will have the 16.2MP sensor from the D7000, awesome!
  • It will support ISO up to 102,400, this has been called night vision 🙂
  • There is some info about a microphone, ME-1, a unidirectional stereo microphone, for around USD $200
  • It will feature a new HDR feature, this will be a first for a Nikon DSLR (some Pentax and Sony DSLRs have built in HDR features already)
  • Stereo mic input
  • Side swivel LCD
  • EN-EL14 battery

We’ll keep you updated!

Here is a picture of the microphone:

Nikon ME-1 microphone for Nikon D5100

Nikon D5100 specs and comparisons

There are a lot of rumors circulating that there will be a new Nikon entry level DSLR released shortly.  Nikon is rumored to be announcing the D5100 on April 5th. The D5100 will be the successor of the Nikon D5000 and is expected to have a similar size and body but with many of the features that has made the Nikon D3100 so popular.

Snapsort has compiled some of the rumors and put together our best guess of the full specs of the Nikon D5100.

  • 14 megapixel APS-C CMOS Sensor – the same sensor that is in the D3100
  • A swivel or flip out LCD screen – unlike the flip out screen on the D5000 this one might flip out to the side instead of down
  • Full 1080p video – similar to the D3100 and D7000
  • Contrast detection autofocus – autofocusing while recording has almost become standard on the latest line of Nikon’s
  • 11 AF focus points

Snapsort’s guesses:

  • 3” LCD screen
  • 4 fps
  • 3,200 ISO
  • 12,800 ISO (boost)
  • Price $850 with a lens and around $730 with body only

You can now compare the D5100 to any camera on Snapsort. Here are some comparisons to get you started:

We will update our specs as soon as we learn more about the D5100. What do you think, is it worth waiting for the D5100 to be released?

Nikon's new batch of CoolPix P300, P500, L120

Tomorrow Nikon will be releasing a bunch of new CoolPix digital cameras.

Nikon CoolPix P300

Nikon has added a small but mighty camera to its popular P series with the P300. This is Nikon’s first compact camera to feature a 4.2x Zoom-Nikkor lens and has the widest aperture of any other CoolPix at f/1.8. The P300 has a 12.2 megapixels CMOS sensor and ISO up to 3200.

If you have become accustomed to the great image quality in low-light settings of the other Nikon P series then you should not be disappointed with the P300. The camera has the ability to go into full manual mode and features a EXPEED C2 processing engine which will ensure you pictures look as close to reality as it can get. It has become more and more common to include vibration reduction in pocket cameras and the P300 does not disappoint.

Filter effects have also been improved, including the additions of fisheye lens and cross screen, as well as Nikon’s new in-camera panorama generator. Completing the package the P300 has a full HD 1080p video mode. You should be able to pick up the Nikon CoolPix P300 in March 2011 for only $329.95.

We are hoping the P300 will come with a 1/1.7” sensor similar to the Canon Powershot S95, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 and the recently announced Olympus XZ-1.

Just in case you were wondering here are some comparisons:

CoolPix P500

Some of the most popular cameras on Snapsort are the super zooms, the P500 is a worthy successor to the Nikon CoolPix P100. Featuring a 36x zoom which is the longest of any CoolPix cameras. Similar to the P300 it has a EXPEED C2 processor but this one is a dual processor. This should make it good in low light, Its also features a hybrid vibration reduction stabilization also gives it a better ability to avoid camera shake over other pocket cameras.

The P300 has a three inch LCD with a great night mode which should not wreck your night vision (much) when you take photos at night. Like the P300 it can record in full HD 1080p and has Nikon’s new panorama mode. The Nikon CoolPix P500 is expected to be released in March for only $399.95.

Read our comparison with Canon PowerShot SX30 IS


CoolPix L120

The L120 will not break your wallet at only $279.95. This camera has a 21x Wide-Angle Zoom lens and 14.1 megapixel resolution. With a hybrid image stabilization and able to shoot up to ISO 6400.

The CoolPix L120 is a entry-level point and shoot, that will replace the Nikon CoolPix L110 and should be available in late February.

A quick comparison: