Posts Tagged ‘sony’
Cameras, *Cameras*, CAMERAS!
It’s a ‘fast news’ day (a fast f/1.4 day) on the camera front with three new cameras reviewed in the past 24 hours as Sony makes the right kind of ‘noise’ with the world’s teeny-est APS-C mirrorless – with a matching teeny-weeny price.
Cutting Edge from Pentax
First up, though, is Pentax’s double play from a few months back, the K-5 II and K-5 IIS, successors to the K-5. These get a detailed examination by Shawn Barnett in DPReview. (The two cameras are only marginally different.)
These DSLRs set themselves apart from the crowd with their weather-resistance, 100-percent coverage optical viewfinder, and shake-reduction image stabilzation. Having an APS-C CMOS sensor, these are not full-frame DSLRs but compete with the big boys.
The K-5 II (and its sibling) has a number of cutting-edge features, perhaps none more so than Composition Adjustment. This “allows you to actually move the sensor around in the camera to adjust your framing instead of tediously moving the camera on a tripod, show Pentax’s prowess at using digital technology for all it’s worth.”
DPReview’s write-up has paging that may not be immediately evident so be sure to click on the arrow link or use the choice-list to read the entire review (or whichever sections interest you).
A Big Rig from Fuji
The Fujifilm HS50EXR gets the once over from George Schaub in Shutterbug. This bridge camera’s standout feature is its 24-1000mm (35mm equivalent) zoom range – a 42x ratio.
Other noteworthy features include customizable settings, multi-swivel LCD screen, and USB and HDMI slots.
This camera’s image quality is rather uneven. On the one hand it records very good colour and is excellent at skintones; on the other, noise is manifest even at ISO 200.
This is a chunky camera and so it would suit a photographer with big hands.
A Bargain from Sony
The Sony NEX-3N is reviewed by Joshua Waller in ePHOTOzine. And this one’s standout feature is that it probably packs more features per square millimetre than any other camera!
To begin with, this teeny thing (110 x 62 x 34.5 mm) would fit into a child’s pants pocket yet it has, among other things, an APS-C CMOS sensor, 16 megapixels, white balance settings, video mode, and HDMI and USB.
It also has HDR mode, Panorama mode, and more. Some specs, such as shutter response and shutter speed range, are right ‘up there’. What is ‘down there’, however, is this kit’s price, making it one of the best value-for-money propositions around.
A Full Review, a First Look, and a Lacy Leak
English: Candid photo of Zsa Zsa Gabor at a social function (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Full Review
Canon’s PowerShot A810 is the entry-level compact for the layman according to Photography Blog because “prove a hit with newcomers to photography.”
At the price, this camera seems to be a just-right balance in features and specs. In fact, it “appears to be identical, if not slightly better than models we’ve seen at a higher price point.”
Though it is an ultra-simple point-and-shoot, it also provides a plethora of buttons and camera options in the Main Menu for the tyro who wants to exert some finer control.
In image quality the camera shows its low-budget colours, specially once ISO 400 is reached. But then, it “is great value for money” specially in undemanding situations where the main requirement is to get off a shot fast.
The First Look
Sony has recently released a slew of cameras, among them the ‘bridge’ H200, alongwith more modest models in their Cyber-shot range. ePHOTOzine has just published a first look. The H200 has 20.1 megapixels and a long 26x optical zoom. At ‘first look’, it is styled rather like a ‘Big Two’ DSLR.
If you’re looking for a new compact, you can choose between the TF1, WX200 and WX60. The TF1 distinguishes itself by being waterproof up to ten metres and also claims to be dustproof and shockproof whereas the other two boast superior specs in zoom, ISO, and continuous shooting. What they have in common is those shapeless shapes that are a hallmark of the Cyber-shot range!
The Lacy Leak
PhotoRumors has a ‘leak’ comprising all of three lines about the Olympus XZ-10 which they close with “No other details are available.” But when you have pictures like these, ‘details’ are irrelevant. Cameras were made of aluminium, plastic, polycarbonate . . . now they’re made of chiffon and lace! Somehow I don’t think George Schaller would have chosen this baby . . . Zsa Zsa Gabor on the other hand . . .
Regardless of whether or not this camera can even actually take pictures, it will appeal to Manhattan socialites and Nashville vixens alike.
Women have long had their ‘clutch purse’; now, thanks to Olympus, they have the ‘clutch camera’ for formal nights.
The Camera Brands’ Melting-Pot
The camera market is in a bit of a tumult – credit (or blame) Leica and Fuji for having started all the ruckus. Indeed, it’s become like a melting point with new brands arriving and old brands blending and melting into one another.
How about Samsung and Google (with its Android O.S.) entering the camera market? Samsung announced a Galaxy camera (to go with its Galaxy tablet and smartphone) at photokina.
Actually, the Galaxy camera is not a camera but a hybrid camera-smartphone device that is conceived with wireless technology and the Cloud from the ground up. Look at it from the front and it’s a camera; look at it from the back and it’s a smartphone! Samsung’s Sun Hong Lim says, “We combined the best bits of a smartphone with the best bits of a compact camera together.”
The Galaxy camera probably won’t be the finished article and may not go anywhere but it may well herald a new day for cameras – think of the applications (of this kind of ‘connected’ camera) in photojournalism, war zones, and live sports events.
Seems like the good folks at Hasselblad are feeling a bit prickly. The overwhelmingly negative reaction from industry watchers to Hassy getting hitched with Sony (which we blogged about) has provoked a defensive reaction.
Briefly, their new Lunar is basically a spruced up Sony NEX 7 but neither Hassy nor Sony want you to believe that. In a lengthy defence (published in the BJP!) that would cause any American superlawyer to roll his eyes, Luca Alessandrini and Peter Stig-Nielsen of Hasselblad make a precarious situation downright perilous. The most insightful comment is from one Simon Burgess who commented: “Shame but with the demise of Kodak it’s clear to see that no brand, no matter how iconic, is safe and hasselblad are clearly on the same slippery slope that Kodak were on a few years ago.”
Unlike Hasselblad, fellow elite brand Leica definitely has the right partner in mind. It wants to tap up Apple’s lead designer, Jonathan Ive, to design a new Leica M. The project is a little lah-de-dah, what with charity auctions and Bono involved; nevertheless, an ideas-and-design interflow between Apple and Leica has none of the discordant notes of a Hassy-Sony marriage.
P.S. Stay tuned to know more about the iCamera, coming from you-know-who.
Hiya Shutterbug! Here’s a new blog for you
Hiya Shutterbug!
Brilliant Prints is delighted to bring you a cool new blog that won’t try to keep ‘educating’ you with a never-ending stream of photography how-tos . . . most of which you already know! We’ll mix it up by telling you about photography exhibitions and auctions, plus gadgets and gizmos, all seasoned with the practical lesson and spiced with the offbeat item, say about the love-hate relationships our chi-chi ‘celebrities’ have with the lens (go ahead Angelina Jolie, strike another whacko ‘binbag’ pose and make our day . . . puh-leez!)
If you snap the shutter for a living then do we have more good news for you! You’ll find a more professionally-oriented blog on our BPro site. However, if you’re a casual shutterbug then (in real casual way) mosey along to the Pro Blog; you just might find some useful tip or trick or it may even inspire you to take the plunge and go pro!
In any event, this blog’s purpose is to keep you informed and excited about photography, and sometimes even amused and entertained. As we said on the Pro Blog, “You don’t have to trawl the Web – because we do it for you!”
Today has to be ‘gadget and gizmo’ day, courtesy of Sony. In our pro blog yesterday we mentioned that Pentax had made a ‘news splash’. If that was right, then today Sony has made a news SPLASH! They’ve announced an assortment of gear – semi-pro cameras, snapshot cameras, zoom lenses, fixed-focal-length lenses . . . . The SLT-A99 is surely the ‘Headline Act’ in glitzy Sony’s lineup – it’s certainly a lightning rod and is attracting a slew of comments. Also take a peep at the new DSC-RX1 which too is getting a lot of attention.
In closing, we at Brilliant Prints don’t plan to do this in a vacuum so feel free to wade in. Tell us if there’s anything in particular you’d like us to discuss or dig up!
Cheerio,
Kersie
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