Hasta La Gadget!

We missed JVC‘s GX-PX1 camera when it was at CES, just a concept at that point but now getting more real. Impress got a little hands-on time with the curious model that features an incredibly slim, compact-like body behind a hunky, camcorder-like lens assembly. It’ll do 1080p60 at 36Mbps, writing to SDXC or 32GB of internal memory, can capture 10 megapixel stills and, if you don’t mind stepping down to 640 x 360, will manage 300 frames per second. There’s a tiltable LCD on the back and a 10x optically stabilized zoom lens up front. The camera is due to be released later this month, but JVC hasn’t seen fit to tell us how much it’ll cost just yet.

JVC GC-PX1 can’t decide if it’s cam or camcorder, does 1080p60 video and 10.6 megapixel stills originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had a feeling the Olympus XZ-1 would be a winner, and Digital Photography Review seems to think so, too — it called the 10 megapixel, full-manual point and shoot “the best photographers’ compact currently available” at the end of a thorough review. Most of the praise was heaped on that F1.8-2.5 Zuiko lens, providing an “unbeaten combination of range and brightness” whose potent, detailed low-light performance was practically enough to cancel out the publication’s worries about the lack of a adjustable noise reduction setting. Though the publication admitted that the camera lacked the customization of certain Micro Four Thirds cousins, it didn’t miss most of the advanced controls, preferring the streamlined menus and manual dials for easy access to common adjustments. (Battery charging over USB and a dedicated movie button were also deemed nice touches.) In fact, the only major ding DPReview had for Olympus was the complete omission of auto exposure and autofocus locks for focus-and-recompose shooting, but if you’re willing to snap shots using Olympus’s 11 AF points and aren’t looking to tote a set of expensive interchangeable lenses around, this might be the one. Dive into our source link to find out for sure.

Olympus XZ-1 reviewed: $499 for sweet simplicity originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The folks at Ricoh have dependable predictability down pat, and the CX5’s specs are, for the most part, nothing new. We’ve talked up the CX line of compact superzooms since the release of the CX1 almost two years ago, and we’ve watched the company fine-tune the already impressive camera with each new edition. Every incarnation of the CX series is just a tad better than the last: you might recall the CX4 didn’t make any big changes, either. The CX5 offers few marked signs of improvement (at least on paper) over its predecessor, but it does sport a hybrid AF that combines a distance sensor with contrast detection to bring focus rates down to two-tenths of a second: twice as fast as the CX4. Other than that — you guessed it — the CX5 sports the same specs as its predecessor (unless you count the addition of a “continuous golf swing” mode). So, if you’re looking for a big step up from your CX4, you might want to wait for the next generation. Then again, we can’t guarantee Ricoh will break with tradition.

Continue reading Ricoh unveils CX5 with hybrid AF, continues tradition of subtle improvements

Ricoh unveils CX5 with hybrid AF, continues tradition of subtle improvements originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last November Pentax’s mid-range front runner, the K-5 DSLR, got an upgrade, now the K-7 and K-x are following suit. New firmware updates for both cameras tout SDXC card compatibility, increasing memory, but failing to follow through on speed — Pentax notes transfer rates won’t hit UHS. Despite the company’s Japanese website listing the K-7 as a discontinued product, the camera also gets increased video editing functions in playback mode, as well as improved image sharpening settings. Now, follow the source links below, and let Pentax upgrade you.

Pentax K-7 and K-x firmware upgrades pack SDXC compatibility originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine a retro-styled, Micro Four Thirds-sized compact camera with an optical viewfinder. Now, imagine that same camera having a switch that throws all sorts of useful data into your line of sight. That camera is Fujifilm’s Finepix X100, and that viewfinder is real. Back at Photokina, the mockup we ran into didn’t have a functioning viewfinder, but with just two months until the $1,000 beaut is released into the wilds of America, it’s not too shocking that our brethren over at Engadget Spanish managed to come across a (mostly) functional one at CES last week. Eager to show the world exactly what a hybrid viewfinder looks like when being flipped on and off, they shoved a camera up against the OVF and toggled the new mechanism — it’s downright luscious, and it’s waiting for you in the video just past the break.

Continue reading Fujifilm’s X100 hybrid viewfinder demoed on video, gets us all sorts of excited

Fujifilm’s X100 hybrid viewfinder demoed on video, gets us all sorts of excited originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 03:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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