Samsung goes big with 8-megapixel 15x-zoom Pro815

Samsung — better known to digicam users as a
producer of compacts — has upped the ante and formally launched its first "prosumer" camera. The new
Pro815, which was first spotted back in April, has a lot of heavyweight features, including a couple of industry firsts: the first 15x optical zoom lens, a mammoth 3.5-inch LCD, and what Samsung says is the world's highest-capacity Li-Ion battery (1900mAh, 7.4V). The 8-megapixel cam also features Schneider-Kreuznach optics, a second LCD on the top for waist-level shooting, a 2.5 fps burst mode and 640x480 movies. One thing that seems to be missing is image stabilization, which is crucial for an ultra-zoom lens, unless you want to haul a tripod around with you. Still, sounds like a lot of camera, though the expected price of about $1,089 is more than double that of competing ultra-zoom prosumer cams like the Panasonic Lumix
DMC-FZ5 and Konica-Minolta
Dimage Z5 (of course, both of those are 5-megapixel cams,
but both also offer image stabilization).

[Thanks, Paul]