Hasta La Gadget!

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Terrillo, who seems eager and excited to make the leap up from the point-and-shoot universe. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I really want a new camera, but not a point and shoot — more like a DSLR or a Micro Four Thirds. My budget is $300 but I can go up to $400 if there’s sufficient reason. I really want to get a new camera before Christmas. Any suggestions?”

Suggestions? Boy, are there. The interchangeable lens / Micro Four Thirds market has exploded this year, making up nearly all of the news that flowed from Photokina in September. Panasonic’s GF2 has seen glowing reviews, as has Sony’s NEX line. So, readers, what do you recommend? Speak out in comments below.

Ask Engadget: best Micro Four Thirds / interchangeable lens camera on a budget? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do not adjust your browsers, that really is a Pentax product adorned with a generous helping of the three primary colors and a mech‘s head attached to its flash hotshoe. Why? In response to customer demand, of course. It’d seem people were so enamored with the way the K-x got abused restyled that they wanted more of that Korejanai magic, and Pentax is kindly obliging them with a limited run of 100 “robotized” K-r sets. The internal specs are unchanged from the original, but you do get a new 35mm prime lens with a wide F2.4 aperture to play with. Pre-orders costing ¥99,800 ($1,187) will start on December 24th for a delivery in early January. Yup, just in time for you to be the coolest blogger at CES.

Pentax K-r receives a rainbow paintjob, 35mm prime lens for limited edition kit originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wondering just how large a premium that Ferrari badge was adding to Hasselblad’s Ferrari-branded H4D? Oh, around €7,500 (if not more). Hot on the heels of the aforesaid announcement, Hasselblad has just revealed yet another variant of the famed H4D-40, with the Stainless Steel edition offering a classy, classic motif and another limited run item for collectors to snatch up. Only 100 of these will be produced, with each one selling for €13,990 ($18,497) sans lens or €14,990 ($19,809) with the HC 2.8/80 mm. If this guy’s more “within reach” than the Italian-inspired alternative, hit up your local dealer as soon as humanly possible… or just before your 100 closest friends, anyway.

Continue reading Hasselblad H4D-40 Stainless Steel medium format camera: limited to 100 units, priced at €13,990

Hasselblad H4D-40 Stainless Steel medium format camera: limited to 100 units, priced at €13,990 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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