Yesterday Nikon announced their latest entry-level digital SLR, and the latest SLR to feature a HD movie mode. It seems to be aimed squarely at the likes of Canon’s EOS 500D/Rebel T1i, Olympus’ E450 and Panasonic’s GH1 cameras. Here’s a quick rundown of its specifications:

Nikon D5000 digital SLR
(Entry-level digital SLR camera)

• 12 megapixel CMOS sensor (1.5X crop factor)
• Dust reduction
• No screw drive; autofocus available with AF-S/AI-S lenses only
• 11 point AF
• 2.7 inch tilt down and rotate LCD
• Live view with contrast detect autofocus and face detection
• Quiet Release (silent) shutter mode
• Full manual controls
• Base ISO range 200 – 3200 (expandable to 100 – 6400)
• Auto Active D-Lighting and many playback editing features
• 4 FPS burst mode
• 720p (1280 x 720 at 24 FPS) movie mode with sound; no continuous autofocus
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in April for $730 (body only) or $850 (18-55 VR kit lens)

Nikon also announced a new AF-S lens, the ultra-wide angle 10 – 24 mm, f3.5 – f4.5 SWM lens. It will go for around $900 in May.

Olympus announced their new E450 digital SLR today which is a very minor upgrade to last year’s E420. The improvements are three Art Filters, a new processor (TruePic III Plus) and a new LCD panel. Everything else remains the same as its predecessor, including its relatively compact (For an SLR) design.

Olympus E450
(Entry-level digital SLR camera)

• 10 megapixel Live MOS sensor (2X crop factor)
• Dust reduction
• TruePic III Plus imaging processor
• 2.7 inch HyperCrystal II LCD
• Live view with contrast detect autofocus and face detection
• Full manual controls with hotshoe and RAW
• Three new Art Filters (Soft focus, pin hole, pop art)
• Wireless flash mode
• 3.5 FPS burst mode
• Takes Compact Flash and xD Picture memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in May; body only, with single kit lens (14-42 mm lens) or dual kit lenses(14-42 mm and 40-150 mm)

Canon announced their new EOS Rebel T1i aka EOS 500D today, which is mainly a 450D with more megapixels, a higher resolution LCD and movie mode (With a few other things like Creative Auto thrown in).

Canon EOS Rebel T1i aka EOS 500D
(Entry-level digital SLR camera)

• 15 megapixel CMOS sensor
• Dust reduction
• DIGIC 4 imaging processor
• Same old 9 point AF (1 center cross-type point)
• 3 inch super-high resolution LCD (same as the 50D and 5D Mark II?)
• Live view with contrast detect autofocus
• Full manual controls and Creative Auto mode (just like the 50D)
• 3.4 FPS burst mode up to 170 JPEG or 9 RAW photos
• 1080p (1920 x 1080 at 20 FPS) movie mode with sound; no continuous autofocus
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in May for $800 (body only) or $900 (18-55 IS kit lens)

Canon also announced an entry-level Speedlite external flash, called the 270EX. This new flash is more powerful than the old 220EX it replaces and has a upward-rotating head that can be tilted up to 90 degrees for bounce flash.

Panasonic introduced a new interchangeable lens; Micro Four Thirds camera today. It’s essentially the G1 with a HD movie mode and new sensor which can take pictures at 12 megapixels, no matter what aspect ratio you choose (instead of cropping downwards from a fixed resolution). Practically, everything else remains the same as the old Lumix G1. For now, there also seems to be just one color – black – available for the Lumix GH1.

Panasonic Lumix GH1
(Interchangeable lens camera)

• 14 megapixel LiveMOS sensor
  12 effective megapixels – pictures at any aspect ratio are taken at 12 megapixels
• Dust reduction
• 3 inch rotating LCD; super high resolution EVF
• Full manual controls and Intelligent Auto Mode
• 1080p (1920 x 1080 at 24 FPS) movie mode with stereo sound and continuous autofocus
  H.264 AVCHD codec, wind filter and external microphone available
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Availability and price to be decided

Panasonic also announced two new Micro Four Thirds lenses today. The 14 – 140 mm, f4.0 – f5.8 OIS lens is a super-zoom lens which will supposedly come as a kit option with the Lumix GH1. Next is the 7 – 14 mm, f4.0 ultra wide-angle zoom lens for Micro Four Thirds. Finally, an option for landscape and wide-angle lovers.

The best part is that both the new lenses are native Micro Four Thirds lenses… meaning you can use autofocus when attached to the Lumix G1 or GH1.

Yet another entry-level camera… this one’s from Casio and it’s a pocket camera that’s very affordable.

Casio Exilim Z29
(Entry-level camera)

• 10 effective megapixels
• 38 – 113 mm (f2.8 – f5.2) 3X optical zoom lens
• 2.7 inch LCD
• No manual controls
• WVGA movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in April for $150
• Comes in your choice of silver, black, blue, purple or pink

Kodak announced a new entry-level super-zoom camera today, which looks to be quite basic and affordable.

Kodak EasyShare Z915
(Compact ultra-zoom)

• 10 effective megapixels
• 36 – 360 mm (f2.7 – f4.3) 10X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 2.5 inch LCD
• Smart Capture (automatic scene mode selection)
• VGA movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses 2 AA batteries
• Available in April for $200
• Comes in your choice of silver, black, blue or red

Sony announced their latest ultra-zoom camera which succeeds the H50 I reviewed a while back. The new Cyber-shot HX1 features Sony’s Exmor sensor and a “Sony G” lens, which is supposedly of better quality than traditional Sony and Zeiss lenses that has been in past Cyber-shot cameras. I hope to get my hands on this one for review… and I really hope it’s better than the H50.

Sony Cyber-shot HX1
(Ultra-zoom camera)

• 9 effective megapixels (Sony Exmor CMOS)
• 28 – 560 mm (f2.8 – f5.2) 20X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 3 inch tilting LCD
• Intelligent Scene Recognition (automatic scene mode selection)
• Face detection and recognition remembers faces; blink and smile detection
• Sweep Panorama creates a large wide-angle photo by just panning the camera (is it just me or does this make fun of the “2 shot stitch” of the Pentax X70 launched earlier today?)
• Full manual controls
• 10 FPS full-res, brief burst mode (up to 10 photos)
• Non-wide, unconventional “1080p” movie mode (1440 x 1080) with stereo sound
• Takes Memory Stick Duo memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in April for $500