And finally, it’s Olympus’ turn to update their cameras for 2010, and oh my, what big steps they’ve taken this year to bring their cameras up to speed with the crowd. I remember I was ranting about the lack of HD video recording on the Stylus/Mju cameras last year… well, no more: the new Stylus/Mju cameras today are Olympus’ first cameras (ever) to feature HD movie modes. That’s not all, they also have ports for HDMI output (finally).

Olympus also executed a move that I’ve been speculating would happen sooner or later – they’ve essentially dumped their long-time (but not so widely adopted) proprietary xD-Picture card format for the more conventional, widely-used SD/SDHC memory cards. Kudos to Olympus! Indeed, this move by Olympus (and a similar unanticipated move by Sony earlier today) have certainly made the world a slightly brighter place to live in .

Well, Olympus isn’t turning their backs on old Olympus camera owners just yet (plus they want to court more buyers) as they’ve included a whopping 1 to 2 GB of built-in memory (versus the paltry 20-50 MB of other cameras) into their new Stylus/Mju cameras today. Again, another thumbs up to Olympus, they really seem to be getting their act together this year. Now, I just hope that they’ve improved performance and image quality of these new cameras as well – I’ll have to see once I manage to get my hands on them!

Olympus Stylus AKA Mju 5010
(Compact camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 26 – 130 mm (f2.8 – f6.5) 5X optical zoom lens
• Sensor-shift image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• No manual controls
• Magic Filters, AF tracking and Intelligent Auto features
• HDMI output port
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC cards; 1 GB internal memory
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $200
• Comes in your choice of silver, blue or pink

Olympus Stylus/Mju 7030 and Stylus/Mju 7040
(Compact camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 28 – 196 mm (f3.0 – f5.9) 7X optical zoom lens
• Sensor-shift image stabilization
• Stylus/Mju 7030: 2.7 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
  Stylus/Mju 7040: 3.0 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• No manual controls
• Magic Filters, AF tracking and Intelligent Auto features
• Stylus/Mju 7040 only: HDMI output port
• Stylus/Mju 7030: VGA (640 x 480) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
  Stylus/Mju 7040: 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC cards
  Stylus/Mju 7030 has 1 GB internal memory
  Stylus/Mju 7040 has 2 GB internal memory
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $200 (Stylus/Mju 7030) and $250 (Stylus/Mju 7040)
• Stylus/Mju 7030: Comes in your choice of silver, blue or purple
  Stylus/Mju 7040: Comes in your choice of silver, blue or pink

Olympus Stylus AKA Mju 3000
(Rugged camera)

• 12 effective megapixels
• 28 – 102 mm (f3.5 – f5.1) 3.6X optical zoom lens
• Sensor-shift image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• Waterproof (10 feet/3 meters), shockproof (5 feet/1.5 meters), freezeproof
• No manual controls
• Tap Conrol allows you to adjust settings by tapping the camera’s sides
• Magic Filters, AF tracking and Intelligent Auto features
• HDMI output port
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC cards; 1 GB internal memory
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $230
• Comes in your choice of red, green, blue or pink

Olympus is also making four new entry-level FE-series models available.

This is madness but no, it ain’t Sparta – Sony has just released a whopping TWELVE digital cameras! Apparently they didn’t want to leave out anybody, so they’ve got compact cameras for everyone today.

Also, someone check that the sky isn’t falling, because all of today’s newly released Sony cameras now support SD/SDHC memory cards (in addition to their own proprietary Memory Stick Duo) via a new, single combo slot which takes both kinds of cards.

The first two cameras are pretty interesting, featuring Sony’s Exmor R backlit CMOS image sensors which promise both high speed shooting and high sensitivity. The new Cyber-shot HX5V is also Sony’s first true “pocket” super-zoom camera (the old H10 and H20 could not fit into pockets), and appears to be the most feature-packed Cyber-shot camera to date (umm, in terms of bells and whistles at least)

Sony Cyber-shot HX5V
(Compact super-zoom)

• 10 effective megapixels (CMOS)
• 25 – 250 mm (f3.5 – f5.5) 10X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• HX5V only: Active stabilization reduces high levels of camera shake in movie mode
• 3.0 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• Some manual controls
• Built-in GPS and compass can record location and direction of photos taken
• Enhanced Sweep Panorama mode
• High Dynamic Range mode takes and combines two photos into 1 HDR shot
• Continuous shooting up to 10 frames per second at full resolution
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• Supports TransferJet wireless transfer of photos to compatible devices via optional accessory
• Full HD (1920 x 1080) 60i FPS movie mode with stereo sound and optical zoom; AVCHD format
• Single memory card slot takes either SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in March for $350

The Sony Cyber-shot TX7 shares plenty of the HX5V’s features (sans GPS), including the Exmor R CMOS sensor and various high speed/high sensitivity modes and puts them into a smaller, thinner and more stylish design with less zoom.

Sony Cyber-shot TX7
(Stylish compact camera)

• 10 effective megapixels (CMOS)
• 25 – 100 mm (f3.5 – f4.6) 4X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 3.5 inch touchscreen LCD (921,000 pixels)
• No manual controls
• Enhanced Sweep Panorama mode
• High Dynamic Range mode takes and combines two photos into 1 HDR shot
• Continuous shooting up to 10 frames per second at full resolution
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• Full HD (1920 x 1080) 60i FPS movie mode with stereo sound and optical zoom; AVCHD format
• Single memory card slot takes either SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $400

So here are the other eight Cyber-shot models. We now have eight W-series cameras for 2010: the Cyber-shot W310, W320, W330, W340, W350, W360, W370 and W380. Mind boggling, right? Even more amazing is the fact that all eight cameras are positioned extremely near to one another within the $150 to $250 range. So add another 10 to 15 bucks or so, and you can “step up” to the next model – hysterical, I know.

For the purpose of saving you from endless scrolling and confusion, I’m only going to list down the “main” four models here – which are the four that Sony put under the spotlight this CES. The other four are merely gap fillers and you can roughly guess their specifications (ie give or take megapixels or different display).

Sony Cyber-shot W310
(Compact camera)

• 12 effective megapixels
• 28 – 112 mm (f3.0 – f5.8) 4X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• No manual controls
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• VGA (640 x 480) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Single memory card slot takes either SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in March for $150
• Comes in your choice of silver, black or pink

Sony Cyber-shot W330
(Compact camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 26 – 104 mm (f2.7 – f5.7) 4X optical zoom lens
• 3.0 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• No manual controls
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• VGA (640 x 480) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Single memory card slot takes either SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $170
• Comes in your choice of silver, gray, blue or pink

Sony Cyber-shot W350
(Compact camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 26 – 104 mm (f2.7 – f5.7) 4X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• No manual controls
• Standard Sweep Panorama mode
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound and optical zoom
• Single memory card slot takes either SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $200
• Comes in your choice of silver, gray, blue or pink

Sony Cyber-shot W370
(Compact camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 34 – 238 mm (f3.6 – f5.6) 7X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 3.0 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• No manual controls
• Standard Sweep Panorama mode
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound and optical zoom
• Single memory card slot takes either SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in March for $230
• Comes in your choice of silver, gray, red or green

And finally we have a pair of budget cameras from Sony…

Sony Cyber-shot S2000 and S2100
(Entry-level cameras)

• 12 effective megapixels
• 35 – 105 mm (f3.1 – f5.6) 3X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• S2000 has a 2.7 inch LCD, S2100 has a 3.0 inch LCD
• No manual controls
• VGA (640 x 380) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Single memory card slot takes either SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo cards
• Uses 2 AA batteries
• Available in February for $120
• Comes in your choice of silver, black or orange

CES 2010 has begun, and Panasonic has just taken the wraps off a whopping SIX new compact digital cameras today. The biggest news from Panasonic is the fact that today’s newly launched cameras are already prepared for the new SDXC memory cards. As SDHC brought higher capacities and faster read/write speeds compared to traditional SD cards, SDXC will bring even higher capacities (theoratically up to 2 TB) and even speedier read/write performance versus SDHC. Don’t start ringing alarms and panicking yet though, all of today’s cameras are still compatible with traditional SD/SDHC memory cards which you may be using at this very moment in your computer or camera.

Panasonic also announced two new SDXC cards today: their new 48 GB and 64 GB SDXC cards will start selling next month for $450 and $600 respectively (you heard that right, they cost more than the cameras themselves!

Enough chit-chat about memory cards, let’s look at the cameras themselves! I have a small rant here, again, about Panasonic’s recent habit of giving the same camera two different names: makes things a little confusing for consumers, no?

Kicking off with Panasonic’s “upper tier” compact Lumix models, we have the Lumix FH1 and FH3 (AKA FS10 and FS11) which pack fairly big 5X lenses into their pocketable little form factors

Panasonic Lumix FH1 and Lumix FH3
also known as Lumix FS10 and FS11 in some places
(Ultra-compact cameras)

• FH1: 12 effective megapixels
  FH3: 14 effective megapixels
• 28 – 140 mm (f2.8 – f6.9) 5X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 3 inch LCD
• No manual controls: point-and-shoot functionality with scene modes
• 720p (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards (SDXC compatible)
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Availability and price to be announced
• Comes in your choice of silver or black

The Lumix FP1 and Lumix FP3 are another two twins from Panasonic. Besides the differences in megapixels and display, they’re closely related. The FP1 and FP3 cameras are even more affordable versions of the existing Lumix FP8. The FP1 and FP3 are also Panasonic’s first cameras in recent memory NOT to have “wide-angle” zoom lenses. I guess something has to go if you want to have both the “style” and “low price” boxes ticked on your camera shopping list. There’s also a Lumix FP2 which is the middle child between the FP1 and FP3; this model will be available everywhere else except the US.

Panasonic Lumix FP1, Lumix FP2 and Lumix FP3
(Ultra-compact cameras)

• FP1: 12 effective megapixels
  FP2 and FP3: 14 effective megapixels
• 35 – 140 mm (f2.8 – f4.5) 4X internal optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• FP1 and FP2: 2.7 inch non-touch LCD
  FP3: 3.0 inch touchscreen LCD
• No manual controls: point-and-shoot functionality with scene modes
• 720p (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards (SDXC compatible)
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Availability and price to be announced
• Lumix FP1 and FP2 comes in your choice of 8 colors!
  Lumix FP3 comes in your choice of a whopping 12 different colors!

The Panasonic Lumix FH20 (not to be confused with Casio’s FH20) AKA FS30 is a relatively affordable, compact super-zoom camera. It takes most of the guts of today’s cameras, puts them into a different body and throws in the big 8X optical zoom lens we first saw in Panasonic’s own ZR1/ZX1 cameras. Panasonic is also making a Lumix FH22 AKA FS33 available, which is essentially the same thing as below but it replaces the small 2.7 inch screen with a larger 3 inch touchscreen.

Panasonic Lumix FH20
also known as Lumix FS30 in some places
(Compact super-zoom camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 25 – 200 mm (f3.3 – f5.9) 8X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD
• No manual controls: point-and-shoot functionality with scene modes
• 720p (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards (SDXC compatible too)
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Availability and price to be announced
• Comes in your choice of silver, black, red or purple

And finally, Panasonic has the budget Lumix F3 to introduce. While it lacks optical image stabilization, the Lumix F3 is also the first entry-level/budget camera I’ve seen to feature HD movie recording capabilities (Guess High-Def is really going mainstream in 2010, huh?).

Panasonic Lumix F3
(Compact camera)

• 12 effective megapixels
• 28 – 112 mm (f2.8 – f6.2) 4X optical zoom lens
• NO image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD
• No manual controls: point-and-shoot functionality with scene modes
• 720p (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards (SDXC compatible too)
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Availability and price to be announced
• Comes in your choice of silver or black

After releasing their NX10 the other day, Samsung is back for more with a string of six new compact cameras. Unlike the entry-level cameras we’ve been seeing lately, Samsung has four upper-tier, premium compact cameras to announce. First off are their TL240 and CL80 cameras which have massive touchscreens; the latter even has WiFi and Bluetooth… followed by their unique Dual View TL205 and TL210 cameras; both have dual LCD displays – one for conventional shooting and a front-facing display for self-portraits. The last two cameras are lower end offerings.

One thing that really baffles me is why two similar cameras can have two completely different names, plus another two names for use in some parts of the world.

Samsung TL240 and CL80
also known as ST5000 and ST5500
(Premium compact cameras)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 31 – 217 mm (f3.3 – f5.5) 7X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 3.5 inch LCD touchscreen for TL240; 3.7 inch AMOLED touchscreen for CL80
• No manual controls (just point-and-shoot operation with scene modes)
• Face, smile and blink detection; Smart Auto 2 with auto scene selection
• Smart Album organizer in playback
• CL80/ST5500 only: Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February; price to be announced

Samsung TL205 and TL210 Dual View
also known as PL100 and PL150
(Premium cameras)

• 12 effective megapixels
• TL205/PL100: 35 – 105 mm (f3.0 – f5.6) 3X optical zoom lens
  TL210/PL150: 27 – 135 mm (f3.5 – f5.9) 5X optical zoom lens
• TL210/PL150: optical image stabilization
• TL205 has 2.5 inch LCD; TL210 has 3.0 inch LCD
• Second, front-fracing 1.5 inch LCD
• Face, smile and blink detection; Smart Auto with auto scene selection
• Smart Album organizer in playback
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in March; price to be announced

Samsung SL50 and SL600
(Entry-level cameras)

• SL50: 10 effective megapixels
  SL600: 12 effective megapixels
• 27 – 135 mm (f3.5 – f5.9) 5X optical zoom lens
• 2.5 inch LCD
• Face, smile and blink detection; Smart Auto with auto scene selection
• VGA (640 x 480) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February; price to be announced

Casio just announced four new cameras: two compact super-zoom cameras and two basic ones. The most interesting of them all is their new Exilim FH100 which combines a big 10X zoom lens with a backlit CMOS sensor (promises better image quality and high speed shooting).

Casio Exilim FH100
(Compact super-zoom camera)

• 10 effective megapixels
• Backlit CMOS sensor promises improved high ISO shooting (up to 3200)
• 24 – 240 mm (f3.2 – f5.7) 10X optical zoom lens
• Sensor-shift image stabilization
• 3.0 inch LCD
• High-speed burst shoots at up to 40 frames per second (at low resolution)
• Pre-capture mode and new Lag Correction rewinds time to bring back buffered frames before photo was taken
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• High Speed Lighting takes three photos, combines them into single high-dynamic range HDR photo
• High Speed Anti-shake, High Speed Portrait and High Speed Night Scene: they take and combine several shots into one to reduce blur
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with stereo sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Price and availability to be announced
• Comes in your choice of silver or black

Casio Exilim FH100
(Compact super-zoom camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 24 – 240 mm (f3.2 – f5.7) 10X optical zoom lens
• Sensor-shift image stabilization
• Special beauty and landscape modes (!!)
• 3.0 inch LCD
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with stereo sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery; 1,000 shot battery life rating
• Price and availability to be announced

Casio Exilim Z2000
(Entry-level camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 26 – 130 mm (f2.8 – f6.5) 5X optical zoom lens
• 3.0 inch LCD
• No manual controls
• Special beauty and landscape modes (!!)
• Face detection
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Price and availability to be announced
• Comes in your choice of black, pale pink or purple

Casio Exilim Z550
(Entry-level camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 26 – 114 mm (f2.6 – f5.9) 4X optical zoom lens
• 2.7 inch LCD
• No manual controls
• Face detection
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Price and availability to be announced
• Comes in your choice of black, blue, violet or pink

It’s been a long time since Kodak released a camera, and even longer since they released a camera that last caught my attention. It appears they’re making a comeback this year by launching five new digital cameras today. The first camera is pretty interesting – it’s a digital camera with a big touchscreen so the camera can also serve as a pocket photo album. The Kodak Slice is the camera maker’s second touchscreen camera since their EasyShare One made its debut several years ago.  The other four models announced are, well, not so exciting – they’re just ordinary entry-level compact cameras with rather different angular exterior designs.

Kodak Slice
(Compact touchscreen camera)

• 14 effective megapixels
• 28 – 140 mm (f4.8 – f5.2) 5X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 3.5 inch wide touchscreen display
• Camera doubles as a portable photo album
• No manual controls (just point-and-shoot operation with scene modes)
• Share button tags photos so you can upload them to photo/social networking places
• Face detection and Smart Capture (Scene mode selection)
• 720p HD (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Internal memory stores 5000 photos (most likely low-res versions) for ‘album mode’
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in April for $350
• Comes in your choice of black, silver or maroon

Kodak EasyShare M530 and M550
(Entry-level cameras)

• 12 effective megapixels
• EasyShare M530 has 3X optical zoom; EasyShare M550 has 5X optical zoom
• NO image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD
• No manual controls (just point-and-shoot operation with scene modes)
• Face detection and Smart Capture (Scene mode selection)
• VGA movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $130 (M530) and in March for $150 (M550)
• Both come in a variety of colors

Kodak EasyShare M575 and M580
(Entry-level cameras)

• 14 effective megapixels
• EasyShare M575 has 5X optical zoom; EasyShare M580 has 8X optical zoom
• 3 inch LCD
• No manual controls (just point-and-shoot operation with scene modes)
• Face detection and Smart Capture (Scene mode selection)
• HD movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in April for $180 (M575) and $200 (M580)
• Both come in a variety of colors

Canon unveiled four new compact cameras today, and all four are entry-level, sub-$200 models. The breaking news here is that Canon is the first (of many) camera makers this year that will support the upcoming SDXC standard in their latest cameras. Like what SDHC did to SD, SDXC will bring even higher maximum capacities (someone’s been dropping hints of a 64 GB SDXC around the corner!) and faster read/write operation speeds compared to SDHC.

The first two cameras Canon has in store for today are the PowerShot A3000 and A3100 twins. These two cameras will replace last year’s A2000 and A2100 models respectively. From their features list, it appears that these cameras are ‘refresh’ models – the only noticeable changes are in terms of camera design (they look even sleeker and more stylish) and the use of lithium-ion batteries (versus AA batteries), and of course SDXC support.

Canon PowerShot A3000 and A3100
(Entry-level cameras)

• A3000: 10 effective megapixels
  A3100: 12 effective megapixels
• 35 – 140 mm (f2.7 – f5.6) 4X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD (230,000 pixels)
• No manual controls (just point-and-shoot operation with scene modes)
• Face detection, software redeye removal
• VGA (640 x 480) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards (SDXC ready)
• Uses a lithium-ion battery (both A3000 and A3100 share the same NB-8L)
• Available in February for $150 (A3000) and $180 (A3100)
• A3000 comes in a two-toned silver/black body only
  A3100 comes in your choice of silver, blue or red

Canon decided to come up with two budget/super basic cameras this year (instead of one each year). These two cameras appear to be rehashes of last year’s PowerShot A480 with some minor changes.

Canon PowerShot A490 and A495
(Entry-level cameras)

• 10 effective megapixels
• 37 – 122 mm (f3.7 – f5.6) 4X optical zoom lens
• NO image stabilization
• 2.5 inch LCD (115,000 pixels)
• No manual controls (just point-and-shoot operation with scene modes)
  A490: 5 point autofocus, A495: 9 point autofocus
• Face detection, software redeye removal
  A495 only: Face self-timer mode and two additional scene modes (Super Vivid and Poster Effect)
• VGA (640 x 480) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards (SDXC ready)
• Uses 2 AA batteries
• Available in February for $110 (A490) and $130 (A495)
• A490 comes in one color only (silver)
  A495 comes in your choice of silver, blue or red