Hasta La Gadget!

Dear Nokia and Samsung, please come to reception to collect your old and busted 12 megapixel cameraphones. The new king of the phonecamera heap, in appearance at least, has arrived in the shape of LG’s L-03C. It comes with a retractable 3x optical zoom lens from Pentax, a 12 megapixel CCD sensor, a Xenon flash, and a 720p movie recording mode. The L-03C is also intentionally styled to remind users of the more timeless compact camera designs of the past (and present) and it’s only by entering the NTT DoCoMo OS and hitting up the dialer that you discover that it’s also a cellular phone to boot. In spite of its 3-inch display and 800 x 480 resolution, this is still strictly just a featurephone, but it’s sure put in a lot of work to make sure one of those features stands out. Look out for it in Japan from this January.

LG L-03C has 3x optical zoom, 12 megapixel CCD sensor, Xenon flash — and it can make phone calls! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At first glance, sitting all on its lonesome like that, the GF2 might forgivably be perceived as just another mundanely incremental upgrade on what was already a lauded predecessor in the Lumix GF1. But, for once, our pessimism was not borne out by the facts — far from it. With the GF2, Panasonic has somehow managed to shrink its smallest Micro Four Thirds shooter even further, by a reported 19 percent, and the difference in handling is tangible. The Japanese giant has also lightened the load by seven percent, thrown in a new touchscreen-centric UI, and, predictably, upped the video ante to 720/60p or 1080/60i recording in AVCHD format. Join us after the break to see what we thought of this delicious new recipe for pseudo-pocketable large-sensor shooting.

Please note: Panasonic has not yet finalized the GF2’s firmware, meaning that the sample images and video below may not necessarily be indicative of the quality you’ll get from the final product.

Continue reading Panasonic Lumix GF2 preview

Panasonic Lumix GF2 preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At long last, the Lumix DMC-GF2. Hitting the scene just a few weeks after the GH2, this here Micro Four Thirds rig is Panasonic’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens system camera, and it’s packin’ quite the specs list. From the top, you’re looking at a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor, compatibility with the company’s own 3D interchangeable lens (the LUMIX G 12.5mm / F12) and an enclosure that’s seven percent lighter (not to mention 19 percent smaller) than the GF1. You’ll also find a three-inch touchpanel on the rear, contrast AF system, a freshly designed Touch Q user interface, internal dust reduction system and the ability to record video at 1920 x 1080/60i or 1280 x 720/60p in AVCHD. Better still, lower resolution options are available with Motion JPEG recording, and the 23-area focusing system shouldn’t have a difficult time nailing your subject. We should point out that the ISO only ranges from 100 to 6400, but the included hot shoe accessory definitely allows for a flash. Of course, there’s no optical viewfinder here, but hey, you can’t have it all when you’re looking to save space. The GF2 will ship in January with three color choices (silver, red and black) and two bundle options: a 14mm F2.5 pancake kit and a 14-42mm zoom lens kit. Unfortunately for you, pricing won’t be announced until mid-to-late December. Bah, humbug!

Continue reading Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 now official: 12.1MP, Full HD movie mode

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 now official: 12.1MP, Full HD movie mode originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zombies are scary. So are ghosts. Especially scary are zombie ghosts–that’s when a zombie dies but still feels it has unresolved zombie work to do on Earth OR when a regular ghost gets bitten by a zombie and spends its time looking for ghost brains to eat.

It’s all almost too scary and complicated to think about.

But if you want really scary this Halloween, I have three words for you: massive debilitating injury. Nothing is scarier than being reminded about the frailty of the human condition. I spend way more time contemplating plane crashes, undiagnosed tumors, and falling branches than I do about the oncoming zombie apocalypse.

And that’s the brilliance of this costume, which actually dates back to 2006. One former A/V club president designed a way to use a simple digital camera and travel DVD player to make it appear as if he has a gaping wound in his abdomen. The digital camera is strapped to his back capturing the action behind him, the image transmits to the DVD screen in the front, creating the gaping hole effect. It’s actually kind of brilliant. And, with the advance of technology in just the last four years, it’s probably a lot easier and cheaper to do in 2010.

Way more frightening than a ghost zombie.

via Make, image via Flickr

The more things change, the more they stay the same, and though Canon’s PowerShot superzoom line has gone from SX20 up to SX30, the new model has received a review that’s strikingly similar to that applied to last year’s model. On the SX20 they liked the focal range but hated the noisy image quality, and such is the case on the SX30 IS. This year it has a whopping 35x focal range, going from 24mm all the way up to 840mm and adding “very effective” IS to boot. The problem is double-trouble on the image quality front: noisy shots anywhere north of ISO 400, and chromatic aberrations that add a little too much Technicolor delight on contrasty shots. Ultimately it sounds like a hugely flexible and capable shooter, but only for those who aren’t too picky about quality — and who don’t mind the $429 MSRP.

Canon’s 35x SX30 superzoomer reviewed: dazzling specs don’t trump sub-par performance originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Oct 2010 07:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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