Hasta La Gadget!

You won’t be coloring us surprised at the launch of the E-PM1, but those other two? Well, let’s just say we’ve always been big fans of the elusive trifecta. Olympus just went live with the PEN E-P3 (shown above), PEN E-PL3, and PEN E-PM1, three 12.3 megapixel interchangeable lens cameras with Live MOS sensors, TruePic VI image processors and an ISO ceiling of 12,800. You’ll also get a reengineered autofocus system, a 1080i HD video mode, newly designed user interfaces and a variety of Art Filters. The E-P3 is outfitted with an all-metal body and “the world’s fastest autofocus” (really?), while the rear is dotted with a 614,000 pixel OLED touchscreen. The E-PL3 steps it up with a 3-inch tilting LCD, while the smallest and lightest of the PEN line (yeah, the E-PM1) will be shipping in a half-dozen hues. The outfit also revealed a new pair of prime lenses, a camera grip and a FL-300R flash, all of which are detailed in the source links below. The bad news? Only the P3 is being priced, with $900 landing you a fairly swank kit this August.

Update: We got hands-on with these guys, and you can check it out right here.

Continue reading Olympus reveals PEN E-P3, PEN E-PL3, and PEN E-PM1 interchangeable lens cameras

Olympus reveals PEN E-P3, PEN E-PL3, and PEN E-PM1 interchangeable lens cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We already gave you some hands-on impressions of Panasonic’s new Lumix GF3, but we just had a chance to shoot video and stills with the Micro Four Thirds cam at an event in NYC, leaving with a couple hundred photos and a small handful of video clips. There’s no question that this GF2 successor was designed with interchangeable lens camera (ILC) newbies in mind, with no dedicated mode dial, a touchscreen display, and a boatload of auto settings, along with the usual spattering of effects modes. Panasonic chose a mock wedding scene as the centerpiece of its demo today, complete with bride, groom, and celebrity cake designer (a rather enthusiastic Ron Ben-Israel). Weddings mean colorful flowers, well-dressed subjects, and food — but also dim lighting and chaos — a perfect environment for showing off a camera’s strengths shooting in low-light, assuming it can actually deliver. The GF3 probably won’t be the camera of choice for our next celebration, however.

First up was a balcony shot with bride and groom. As expected, the backlit scene presented an incredible challenge for the GF3, which had trouble focusing and compensating exposure to properly light our subjects — even the professional wedding photographer on hand had difficulty focusing his GF3 at times. The position-adjustable flash allowed us to light our subjects at an angle, or to bounce light off the ceiling, which didn’t seem to work well in the cavernous room. As we progressed through the morning, additional scenes highlighted new shortcomings. Jump past the break for a sample video and more impressions, or check out the gallery above for sample images — the first four shots highlight different positions with the adjustable flash.

Continue reading Panasonic Lumix GF3: sample photos and video

Panasonic Lumix GF3: sample photos and video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s only one way to make leaked blurrycam images appear even less legit: shoot ’em in black and white. That’s exactly what we have here with the claimed leak of a new Olympus camera — the E-P3, according to Photo Rumors — in all its Micro Four Thirds glory. The camera appears to be a hybrid of both the E-P2 and E-PL2, including a P2-style button layout, but with a pop-up flash and sloping top plate reminiscent of the PL2. The new cam is also rumored to include a new 12 megapixel sensor, a max sensitivity of ISO 12,800, a high-res touchscreen, much-needed AF improvements, and an updated UI. Photo Rumors expects Olympus to announce the E-P3 on June 30th, along with an E-PL3 and E-PM1. That last model would be the first in the rumored Pen Mini series. We don’t expect the E-PM1 to best the new Pentax Q’s record-breaking small size, but with a significantly smaller sensor, the Q will be no match for any of Olympus’s new Micro Four Thirds offerings.

Update: Andrea wrote in to tell us that Mirrorless Rumors now has a much clearer publicity shot. Isn’t it lovely?

Is this the Olympus E-P3? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, the Sony NEX-C3 was the world’s smallest interchangeable lens digital camera. It’s not anymore. That title now belongs to the Pentax Q. To achieve the camera’s incredibly small body size, Pentax had to shrink the sensor as well, making the Q not only the world’s smallest interchangeable lens camera (ILC), but also the cam with the world’s smallest sensor in an ILC. The Q uses a 12.4 megapixel, 1/2.3-inch backlit CMOS image sensor, manufactured by Sony — significantly smaller than the 4/3 and APS-C sensors used in Micro Four Thirds and Sony NEX-series cameras, respectively. As image quality is dependent on sensor size, the Q won’t be able to compete directly with any other ILC — instead, its images are most comparable to those you’d capture with a traditional digital compact (which, ahem, don’t cost $800).

The Q will ship in late September or early October with a 47mm f/1.9 kit lens for about $800, and will be available in black or white — abandoning the incredibly diverse color palette offered with other Pentax DSLRs. It will also be compatible with a 27.5-83mm zoom ($300), a 160-degree fisheye ($130), and 35mm and 100mm “toy camera” lenses ($80 each). The ILC will shoot 1080p/30 video with h.264 compression, 5 fps stills, and includes an HVGA-resolution 3-inch LCD and unique pop-up flash. A dedicated bokeh filter makes up for the camera’s natural inability to capture images with a shallow depth of field. During our brief hands-on, images captured at up to the Q’s highest available sensitivity of ISO 6400 appeared to be usable, at least based on a magnified LCD view (we weren’t permitted to capture images to our own SD card). The cam offers traditional DSLR capture modes, in addition a a variety of creative modes and Smart Effect Options, including an HDR capture mode. The version Pentax had on hand wasn’t fully baked, but jump past the break for our video walkthrough with a product manager.

Continue reading Pentax intros Q, world’s smallest interchangeable lens digital camera (hands-on video)

Pentax intros Q, world’s smallest interchangeable lens digital camera (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already established that the N9 is a delight of a phone, both inside and out, but our hands-on time with Nokia’s new flagship gave us only a brief look at its camera performance. Now the company is graciously filling that gap in our knowledge with some further disclosure about its new 8 megapixel imager, including the lofty claim that the N9 is the fastest phone yet when it comes to capturing an image — ousting the likes of the iPhone 4, the Galaxy S II, and even the Canon S95, perhaps the best pocket camera around at the moment. Measuring the time taken from activating the camera app to the completion of the first shot, the N9 clocks in at 2.6 seconds, whereas Apple’s latest does it in 3 seconds and Samsung’s takes a split second more. Aside from its speed, the N9 has Carl Zeiss optics, a wide F2.2 max aperture, dual-LED flash, continuous autofocus, and a 720/30p video mode to boast about, but the benefits of those items will need to be experienced first hand. So Nokia, when are you shipping this thing?

Nokia claims N9 is ‘the fastest image-capturing phone’ yet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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