The new, rugged Casio Exilim G1

Casio announced their first ever rugged camera (about time!) today. Their new Exilim G1 (not to be confused with the ancient Canon G1 or Micro Four Thirds Panasonic G1) is supposedly the slimmest rugged camera in the market yet doesn’t compromise build quality. In fact, the Exilim G1 is just as durable, or more durable, than competing cameras – it’s dustproof, waterproof to 3 meters/10 feet, shockproof to 2.13 meters/7 feet and freezeproof to 14 degrees/0 Celcius. Other than that, the camera’s feature set is the usual compact camera affair: 12 megapixels of resolution, a 3X internal lens that covers 38-114 mm (with a slow aperture range of f3.9 – f5.4), 2.5 inch LCD, point-and-shoot operation and WVGA movie mode with sound. The Casio Exilim G1 will start selling next month for $300, just in time for freezing cold temperatures in the Northern hemisphere, or summer downunder (depending on where you’re from).

In other news, Casio has also updated two of their super-high speed compact cameras announced earlier this year: the Exilim FH20 super-zoom and Exilim FC100 ultra-compact will be replaced by the Exilim FH25 and Exilim FC150 respectively. The only major change between the new models today and their predecessors announced earlier this year is the imaging sensor. Casio is popping in their latest 10 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor into the successors of both cameras; other features and the famous 40 FPS burst mode will remain the same.

That’s right folks, DPInterface will be covering yet another big event today, live from the floor as it happens. This time I’m waaay better prepared than the previous live coverage we did last month. There will be live updates (duh!) as the news breaks, and hopefully some pictures too. So stay tuned to DPInterface as we bring to you -the news-.

What’s going on right now?

• 1:00 am GMT – Preparing my live coverage gear. Event starts *soon*.
• 3:20 am GMT – Speeches, pictures, speeches, pictures and more speeches. Interesting stuff and very concise.
• 5:00 am GMT – Had a nice conversation with one of the guys from Japan
• 5:50 am GMT – Patience, people, patience!
• 6:00 am GMT – Olympus announces their PEN E-P2 camera along with two new Micro Four Thirds lenses. Click here for details. Preview and gallery to come…

BREAKING NEWS: Canon has just announced their new flagship sports digital SLR, the new EOS 1D Mark 4! The Canon EOS 1D Mark 4 is set to compete with the likes of other sports digital SLRs (the Nikon D3s announced last week comes to mind). Let’s check out the EOS 1D Mark 4’s mind blowing specifications now:

Our hands-on preview and sample photo gallery from the camera will come later today!
16.1 megapixel CMOS (1.3X crop factor)
Canon EF lens mount
10 FPS burst mode at full resolution (up to 85 pictures in a burst)
ISO range of ISO 100-12,800 (Expandable to 50-102,400)
45 point AF (39 cross type points)
3 inch high-resolution LCD (921,000 pixels)
Full manual controls with RAW mode and flash hotshoe
Full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080) movie mode with sound; frame rates (24, 25 or 30) and other resolutions available
Dual memory card slots (Compact Flash Type I/II and SD/SDHC)
Uses a lithium-ion battery
Available in November 2009

Nikon just announced an update to their sports/flagship camera today – the new D3S adds a new sensor (though the same resolution), movie mode and super high ISO. Makes me wonder if we’ll see a Nikon D3Xs in the near future… but for now, here’s the Nikon D3S. I can’t wait to see what *someone* is brewing in response to Nikon’s latest….

Nikon D3s
(Professional high-speed SLR)

• 12.1 effective megapixels (Full-frame CMOS, new sensor)
• Nikon F lens mount with no conversion factor; two new ‘crop’ modes allow 1.2X and 1.5X crop to 8.4 MP and 5.0 MP respectively
• NEW: Dust reduction
• Rugged, weather-sealed body
• 3 inch super-high resolution LCD (920,000 pixels); live view available
• 9 FPS burst in FX-mode, 11 FPS in DX-mode (crop)
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and hotshoe
• ISO range of 200-12800 (expandable to 102,000!!!)
• 51-point AF with 3D tracking
• NEW: 720p 24 FPS movie mode with mono sound; external microphone jack available
  New: Nikon has come up with solutions to reduce the ‘rolling shutter effect’ (an issue in most SLR movie modes) and allow high sensitivity recording for low-light
• Dual Compact Flash memory card slots
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in November for $5200 (body only)

On a side note, our review of the Panasonic Lumix ZS3 aka Lumix TZ7 will be posted later today, so stay tuned for that!

Pentax announced a new entry-level digital SLR today. The new Pentax K-x SLR succeeds their popular K2000 as an affordable, yet fairly feature-rich entry-level solution. The Pentax K-x is also the first digital SLR to come in your choice of four colors (besides the regular black and silver).

Pentax K-x
(Entry-level digital SLR camera)

• 12.4 megapixel CMOS sensor (1.5X crop factor)
• Pentax K-mount
• Sensor-shift image stabilization
• Dust reduction
• Pentax K lens mount
• Viewfinder with 0.80X magnification, 96% frame coverage
• New Pentax Prime 2 imaging processor
• 11 point AF; 9 cross-type points
• 2.7 inch LCD
• Live view with contrast detection AF and face detection
• Full manual controls with hotshoe, RAW and wireless flash
• ISO range 200 – 6400 (expandable to 100 – 12800)
• High Dynamic Range HDR feature
• 4.7 FPS burst mode (take up to 17 JPEG or 5 RAW photos)
• 720p (1280 x 720) at 24 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes SD/SDHC cards
• Uses 4 AA batteries
• Available in October for $650 (with 18-55 mm kit lens), $750 (dual lens kit: 18-55 mm and 55-200 mm) or $850 (dual lens kit: 18-55 mm with the new 55-300 mm)
• Comes in your choice of black, white, dark blue and bright read

Pentax also announced their new 55 – 300 mm, f4.0 – f5.8 DA L telephoto zoom lens today. The lens is fairly cheap and is currently available with the Pentax K-x $850 dual lens bundle only.

Have some spare change in these troubled economic times? Want a nice camera to go along with your sailboat? Leica unveiled two new cameras today that may just suit your needs. First off is the extremely anticipated (and expensive) successor to their M8 rangefinder and the second camera is a relatively compact camera that packs a large CMOS sensor and a fixed lens. Rangefinder/retro camera lovers will be drooling all right now; but for the average Joe, price vs feature set ratio… or even price alone, will make things like the Leica M9 one of those ‘unattainable’ items in life.

Anyway, here are their specifications. On a sidenote, you can buy a Canon EOS 1D Mark III or Nikon D3 or about four mid-range SLRs for the same price as the M9.

Leica M9
(Rangefinder camera)

• 18 megapixel Kodak CCD sensor (Full frame)
• Leica M lens mount
• 2.5 inch LCD (230k pixels)
• Built-in rangefinder with parallax correction
• Full manual controls with RAW/DNG modes and flash hotshoe
• No movie mode
• SD/SDHC memory card slot
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available now if you’re in the UK, 4850 pounds (body only) or for almost $8000

Leica X1
(Large-sensor compact camera)

• 12 megapixel CMOS sensor (APS-C)
• Leica Elmarit 24 mm fixed-lens (equivalent to 36 mm), f2.8 aperture
• 2.7 inch LCD
• Live view only; optional external viewfinder attaches to hotshoe
• Shutter speed and aperture value dials
• On-board flash; hotshoe available
• ISO range of 100 – 3200
• Full manual controls; point-and-shoot operation also available
• 11 point AF
• 3 FPS burst mode
• No movie mode (obviously, it’s a Leica!)
• SD/SDHC memory card slot
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in January 2010 for $2000

It’s the day that everyone’s been waiting for – Panasonic just officially announced their new Lumix GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera! The Panasonic GF1 is around the same size as Olympus’ E-P1 PEN camera but the GF1 packs a few extra features and will retail at a slightly higher price. Let’s cut to the chase, here are the main features of the Lumix GF1:

Panasonic Lumix GF1
(Micro Four Thirds camera)

• 12 megapixel Live MOS sensor (Micro Four Thirds, 2.0X crop factor)
• Micro Four Thirds lens mount (adapters available for normal Four Thirds and Leica lenses)
• Venus Engine HD image processor
• Dust reduction
• 3 inch high resolution LCD (460k pixels)
• Optional electronic viewfinder attaches via hotshoe
• My Color photo effects feature
• On-board flash
• ISO range of 100 – 3200
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and flash hotshoe
• 3 FPS burst mode (Unlimited JPEG or up to 7 RAW)
• 720p (1280 x 720 at 30 FPS) movie mode with sound
  Continuous autofocus, exposure adjustment and windfilter available while recording
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in October for $900 (with choice of 14-45 mm kit lens OR 20 mm pancake lens)

Panasonic also announced two new Micro Four Thirds lenses today: the 20 mm f1.7 pancake set to be available next month for $400 and the new Leica 45 mm f2.8 Macro, which will go for $900 next month