Hasta La Gadget!

Look closely at that photo above. Those, friends, are digital cameras from Samsung. That’s right, even that boxy one that looks quite a bit like an old-school medium format film shooter. This photo was quietly inserted into a blog post from Sammy about lens design, without so much as a caption to clarify what our curious eyes were seeing. Might this be a future model meant to compete in the highest-ends of the digital camera market? Or is it something cooked up in the lab and abandoned for a more practical and mainstream design? There was a rumor kicking around last summer that Samsung was working on a medium format CMOS sensor and this could be a test rig for just such a slice of silicon. Whatever it is, we’re intrigued and we’ll be keeping an ear out for more info on what the Korean company has brewing.

Is this Samsung’s first medium format digital camera? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 15:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Right on schedule, Panasonic’s gone and made its thinly-veiled Lumix DMC-G3 Micro Four Thirds shooter official. The camera succeeds the G2 with a 16 megapixel sensor, support for 1080p AVCHD video recording with stereo audio, 4fps burst shooting at full resolution, and an articulating, 3-inch touchscreen that supplants some of the dials adorning the last-gen model. In addition to poking around menus, you can touch that display to focus on your subject, and slide your finger to tweak exposure, white balance, and depth of field — all in all, not unlike how you might interact with a smartphone camera. And, at 11.8 ounces, the aluminum-clad body weighs about ten percent less than its predecessor. Look for it in June for $700 in brown, red, and white — in addition to your garden-variety black. In the market for something more compact? Panny also trotted out the Lumix-FH7, a 16 megapixel point-and-shoot with 4x optical zoom and 720p movie recording. Oodles of photos below with a press release after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 ups the interchangeable lens ante with fancy new touchscreen

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 ups the interchangeable lens ante with fancy new touchscreen originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Given the sheer quantity of marketing muscle that Casio put behind the Tryx, you’d think the company was gearing up to rival Nikon and Canon in the DSLR space. Instead, out popped the outre device you see above. Without qualification, this is one of the strangest, most bizarrely designed cameras we’ve ever seen, featuring a pop-out display and a grand total of two buttons for operation. At 4.8- x 2.3- x 0.6-inches, it’s certainly one of the slimmest, easy-to-carry point-and-shoots on the market, but is the absence of an optical zoom and a removable battery enough to tank an otherwise radical idea? Head on past the break for our two pennies.

Continue reading Casio Tryx (EX-TR100) review

Casio Tryx (EX-TR100) review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 12:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is it spring already? Nikon has just assaulted us with no less than nine new Coolpix models, freshening up its consumer offering with a litany of hot new shades, touchscreens and hardware updates. We’ll let you dig into the press releases after the break for the full details, but the two new Performance range cameras, the P500 and P300, are worth discussing in more detail. The P500 improves on Nikon’s P100 by a few orders of magnification, touting a voyeur-friendly 36x optical zoom, while also offering a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, 1080 / 30p video plus stereo sound recording, max ISO of 3200, and an 1100mAh battery. The back is also adorned with a tiltable display, sized at 3 inches diagonally and fitting 920k dots. Yours on March 3rd for $400, €464 or £400, depending on your local currency.

The P300 is cheaper at $330 / €348 / £300, however it might well be the more appealing option for image quality obsessives as it boasts a lens with an aggressive F1.8 aperture and 4.2x optical zoom. It shares the same backside-illuminated sensor as you’ll find in the P500, but benevolently permits its user full manual control to let him or her capture that perfect shot. Rapid-fire shooting at 8fps for up to seven frames is available, but we’re loving the fact it can also do 1080 / 30p with continuous autofocus and the ability to both capture images and use its optical zoom while recording. If Nikon is to be believed, the P300 is basically the P7000 that came out last year, but shrunken down to the size of a compact. It really is a very diminutive and attractive — it has that intentionally understated matte black finish that huskily whispers the word “prosumer” in your ear — compact camera. It lands on March 17th.

Continue reading Nikon crams 36x zoom in P500, full manual controls in P300, refreshes Coolpix range with tons of color

Nikon crams 36x zoom in P500, full manual controls in P300, refreshes Coolpix range with tons of color originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who woulda thunk it? Half a year ago, finding a conventional point-and-shoot with integrated GPS was a chore, but these days, it’s growing tougher and tougher to find one without it. Pentax is joining the geotagging frenzy this evening with its Optio WG-1 GPS, a rugged 14 megapixel shooter that’s waterproof up to 33 feet, shockproof in nature and engineered with a “crushproof” body that can withstand weight force of up to 220 pounds (but not another Black Eyed Peas halftime show). You’ll also get integrated face detection technology, the ability to snap in sub-freezing temperatures, a 5x optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch rear LCD. There’s also a 720p movie mode, HDMI output, IR control compatibility and support for Eye-Fi‘s wireless SD card. It’ll ship this April in black or yellow-green for $399.95, and if you’re uncomfortable remembering where you took each and every photograph, the GPS-less Optio WG-1 will also be available (in black or purple) for $50 less.

In related news, the company is taking this opportunity to issue a limited edition K-5 DSLR, with this one touting a silver body, a uniquely shaped grip and shock-resistant, scratchproof glass surrounding the LCD. Outside of that, everything else about the 16.3 megapixel shooter will remain the same as it ever was, and the $1,699.95 (body only) price point is most certainly no easier to swallow. For those still sold on the idea, Pentax will also be offering a trifecta of silver prime lenses: the 21m f/3.2 AL, 40mm f/2.8 and the 70mm f/2.4. Check out Sir Silver (and the full press releases) just after the break.

Continue reading Pentax reveals Optio WG-1 and WG-1 GPS rugged cameras, limited edition K-5 DSLR

Pentax reveals Optio WG-1 and WG-1 GPS rugged cameras, limited edition K-5 DSLR originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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