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Olympus Pen E-PM1 hands-on (video)
Joining the family of Olympus Pen products is the lovingly nicknamed "PEN Mini," or E-PM1. Compared to its big brothers the PEN E-PL2 and E-PL3, this little guy packs some serious punch in a tiny body, with a similarly small price tag of $500. But can this ILC that Olympus claims offers "DSLR quality in a compact camera design" stack up against the big boys in the pit at the US Open? The 12.3 megapixel camera comes with a 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens and includes a Micro Four Thirds mount, enabling it to accept compatible lenses from both Olympus and Panasonic -- something that was really easy to get the hang of for speedy switching between sets. Check out our impressions as we go hands-on with the camera at one of the biggest tennis matches of the year. %Gallery-132239% %Gallery-132243%
Olympus E-PL2 camera gets reviewed, deemed worthy to carry on the E-PL1's torch
Olympus's E-PL2 only surfaced on the public radar just last month, and already reviews are rolling in indicating The Schwartz is quite strong with this latest Micro Four Thirds entrant. Interestingly enough, both Photography Blog and Popular Mechanics saw the improved MSC 14 to 42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens as the most important change to the new rig. That's because it's been retooled to be lighter, slimmer, and shorter, adding to the overall compact feel of the camera. A new internal focus is also apparently much faster and nearly silent -- making it more appealing for video shooting. Outside of the lens changes, both saw the camera's new 3-inch, 460,000-dot LCD, faster max shutter speeds, and greater ISO sensitivity as welcomed additions to the solid foundations laid by the E-PL1, resulting in a highly recommended rating from PB. Reviewers at Popular Mechanics also futzed around with the new Bluetooth-enabled photo sharing PENPal accessory and found it great for transferring photos to a phone -- but lamented how it blocked the camera's hot shoe in the process. To dive into all the juicy review details for yourself hit up the source links below.
Canon's PowerShot G9: the DSLR wannabe
More from Canon, this time it's their top-o-the-line G-series, PowerShot G9 compact shooter. Think 12.1 megapixels (1/1.7-inch CCD), 6x optical zoom, optical image stabilization, a DIGIC III image processor, optical viewfinder and 3-inch LCD, Canon's Advanced Face Detection wares, ISO 1600 max sensitivity, 23 shooting modes (including manual), SD/SDHC media support, and even a RAW image mode to pretend you're a pro. Hell, it's even compatible with optional wide-angle, telephoto, and macro supplementary lenses, EOS Speedlite flashes, and Canon's waterproof cases. In stores starting in October for a cool $500 making this one helluvan interesting new shooter.%Gallery-6114%
Sony's CyberShots: 10 megapixel DSC-N2 and 7.2 megapixel DSC-T50
If you've been craving that hot, 3-inches of touchtastic screen riding atop double-digit megapixels then check it pixel junkies, 'cause Sony's here to sate that need. The CyberShot DSC-N2 is just what we expected following those leaked images and specs: 10.1 megapixels from a tiny 1/1.7-inch CCD, 52MB of on-board memory, a massive 3-inch touch-screen LCD, and an all-too-familiar image-stabilized 3x optical zoom lens in a 6.6-ounce followup to the DSC-N1. The DSC-T30 also got a bump with the announcement of a new top-end T, the 7.2 megapixel DSC-T50 which ditches some of the mechanical buttons 'round back by introducing touch-sensitive control to the existing 3-inch LCD. This 4.6-ounce cam still maintains the same Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar 3x optical lens with image stabilization but drops the built-in flash memory by 2MB to 56MB. Get your Sony Style, pre-oder on starting tomorrow or wait for these to go retail in October at $450 for the champagne gold DSC-N2 and $500 for the DSC-T50 in your choice of silver, red, or black. Peep the DSC-N2 after the break. [Via Digital Camera Review]
Samsung announces 3-inch VGA LCD for digital cameras
Samsung has taken the wraps off what they claim to to be the world's first 3-inch VGA LCD that meets industry standards for use in digital cameras. With a 300nit brightness and 350:1 contrast ration, the 640 x 480 LCD also promises to consume less power than displays currently used in digital cameras, operating on a 30Hz source driver instead of the 60Hz commonly used now, as well as employing a so-called "dot inversion scheme" that reduces flickering associated with 30Hz LCDs. We're assuming the water is intended to show how sharp the image is, not that it's waterproof, but you never know. Commercial production is set to begin in the first half of 2007.[Via Photography Blog]
