Hasta La Gadget!

The 600mm zooming capabilities of Panasonic’s DMC-FZ200 superzoom not quite up to your telephoto needs? The company’s added a new sibling to its Lumix lineup as a followup to the FZ60, dubbed the FZ70. Also known as the Lumix FZ72 in the UK, it’s packed with a 16.1MP sensor and a 20mm lens that’s capable of 60x zoom (1200mm), besting both the FZ200 and FZ60 (24x zoom). That said, you’re looking at a variable aperture of F2.8-5.9 and HD video recording that tops out at 60FPS for 1080i and 720p resolutions. A powered optical image stabilizer is onboard to help you keep things steady for stills and movies, while built-in Dolby-certified microphones capture stereo sound. The FZ70’s Venus image engine lets burst-mode lovers shoot at 9FPS, although you’ll be capped at three photos per use. As you’d expect, creative filters and an intelligent auto mode are included and some of the existing Lumix tele-converters, flashes and filters can hookup with this camera. There’s no word on price or retail availability just yet, but zoom past the break for more details in the meantime.

Filed under: Cameras

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You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Nokia’s new Pro Camera application may debut on the Lumia 1020 announced yesterday, but the software will also be rolled out to the company’s existing PureView Windows Phones, albeit after a firmware update to pave the way later this year. Pro Camera marks a considerable step up over the default Windows Phone camera app, overlying concentric controls for exposure, ISO, and more over the preview screen, and giving real-time feedback on what tweaking each of the settings will actually do.

Now, Nokia has confirmed that the Lumia 920, Lumia 925, and Lumia 928 – all of which are PureView branded – will also get the Pro Camera app eventually. It’ll require the “Amber” update first, however, which Nokia has previously said will be released sometime this month.

It’s not the first we’ve seen of Nokia ensuring that existing owners aren’t left behind when new features arrive. Amber will also bring support for the Smart Camera application we reviewed on the Lumia 925, offering features like combination shots coupling together elements from multiple frames, and object removal.

Meanwhile, Amber will also have an impact on the quality of photos, Nokia has promised. On the Lumia 920, for instance, the update will add a broader ISO range, among other things.

Of course, even with the Pro Camera app, there’ll be some things the Lumia 920, 925, and 928 can’t do that the Lumia 1020 can. The biggest is lossless digital zooming, which will remain the preserve of the 1020′s 41-megapixel sensor.

There’s more on the Nokia Lumia 1020, and the Pro Camera app, in our full hands-on. As for how the oversampling system in the Lumia 1020 works, check out our SlashGear 101 on the topic.

Nokia Lumia 1020 PureView hands-on:

Nokia Lumia 1020 Pro Camera app will get 925, 928 and 920 release is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Optical engineering is something that we take for granted these days, with almost every smartphone packing its very own camera for our convenience. But if you take a look at the delicate structure inside a mobile camera module, you may appreciate the technology more every time you snap a shot. Like this cut-out diagram of the Nokia Lumia 1020’s camera, for instance: you can see how the six lens elements and other tiny parts are tightly packed together above the 41-megapixel sensor. The elements are actually a combination of five plastic lenses plus one glass lens, with the reason being a taller module would’ve been made if all the lenses were made of glass.

And to enable optical image stabilization, ball bearings are used to counteract hand movement — there’s one near the bottom right corner of the above image. Luckily, the module is also designed to withstand normal drops, so neither the bearings nor lenses would fall out of place unless you try really hard. One more shot after the break to compare sensor sizes.

Check out all the news from today’s Nokia event at our hub!

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Kodak may be in deep trouble financially, but it seems they’re trying to get their pennies in order and their balance back. Today, we’re seeing leaked photos of an upcoming Micro Four Thirds camera from the company that aims to put Kodak back into the photography spotlight. No official name has been determined for this new snapper, but it seems it’ll be called the S1.

It doesn’t appear to be the same one we saw back in January, either. Final specs are still a mystery, but based on the photos, we can get an idea of some of the things we’ll be working with when this bad boy eventually pops out on store shelves. The camera will have WiFi capabilities, and the overall body of the device seems pretty compact — nothing too surprising in the looks department.

The kit lens looks to be an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, which also comes standard on Olympus PEN cameras as well as discontinued E-P series shooters. The camera will have a generously-sized LCD screen on the back, although we’re not sure if it’ll be touchscreen or not. Seeing as how there’s already plenty of physical controls on the camera, it’s not likely we’ll see a touchscreen on this one. It will, however, be able to pop out at an angle for easy viewing in live mode.

As many other Micro Four Thirds cameras, the S1 will be able to shoot in manual, as well as either shutter or aperture priority. Of course, there’s also an automatic mode for the novices, and you’ll also be able to record video, which we’re guessing will be 1080p, but we can’t be too sure at this point.

Based on the photos, it looks like there will be a matching flash for the camera, but we’re not sure if that will be available separately or if it will come with the camera. Again, no specs have been leaked for the camera, nor do we know about price, but come next year, Kodak fans should be able to grab one of these.

VIA: 4/3 Rumors

Kodak Micro Four Thirds camera leaks, tipped for 2014 arrival is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.