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

Well, Samsung did announce two ‘compact’ super-zoom cameras earlier this year, the HZ10W/WB500 and HZ15W/WB550 cameras but today, they finally took the wraps off their first ultra-zoom camera. The new Samsung WB5000 packs a 24X zoom lens, a RAW mode, HD movie recording and more.

Samsung WB5000
(Super-zoom camera)

• 12.5 effective megapixels
• 26 – 624 mm (f2.8 – f5.0) 24X optical zoom lens
• Optical image stabilization
• 3 inch LCD with EVF
• Smart Album and Smart Auto modes
• Face and smile detection
• Full manual controls with RAW mode
• 720p 30 FPS movie mode with stereo sound
• Takes SD/SDHC memory cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in later this month for $400

Canon just announced their new mid-range digital SLR today, the fabled EOS 7D. As it turns out, the camera isn’t really a “full frame 5D Mark II Lite” as many had hoped for, but instead sits between the EOS 50D and EOS 1D Mark III models (which are APS-C and APS-H crop models respectively).

The new EOS 7D actually sits closer to its 1D-cousin in terms of ‘main features’ (ie burst mode, viewfinder, dual processors). So, you could look at it as a “mini EOS 1D Mark III” or “big step-up from the EOS 50D”.

Canon EOS 7D
(Mid-range SLR camera)

• 18 megapixel CMOS sensor (APS-C, 1.6X crop factor)
• Canon EF/EF-S lens mount
• Dual DIGIC IV processors
• Dust reduction
• 3 inch super-high resolution LCD (920k pixels)
• 100% viewfinder coverage with 1.0X magnification (wow, that’s huge)
• Shutter life rated at 150,000 actuations
• 19 point AF; 8 are dual cross-type sensors
• Live view with contrast detection autofocus
• Electronic level indicator (so you can take straight landscape photos)
• On-board flash; covers as wide as 24 mm and with built-in wireless control
• ISO range of 100 – 6400 (expandable to ISO 50 – 25600)
• Auto Lighting optimizer (brightens pictures) and vignetting correction
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and flash hotshoe
• 8 FPS burst mode up to 94 JPEG or 15 RAW photos
• 1080p (1920 x 1080) movie mode with sound; optional external microphone and seletable frame rate (24, 25 or 30 FPS)
• Compact Flash (Type I/II) memory card slot; UDMA enabled
• Uses a lithium-ion battery (LP-E6, same as 5D Mark II)
• Available in late September for $1700 (body only) or $1900 (with EF 28-135 mm IS lens)

Canon also revealed the successor to their 5-year old EF-S 17-85 mm, f3.5-f5.6 IS ‘walkaround lens’ today. It’s the new EF-S 15-85 mm, f3.5-f5.6 IS lens! This new lens covers a versatile 24-136 mm in 35 mm terms, has optical image stabilization and will be available in October for $700.

Next up is another walkaround EF-S lens, the EF-S 18-135 mm, f3.5-f5.6 IS – which would equal to 29-216 mm (35 mm equivalent). This lens will retail for $500 in September.

The third new lens for today is the EF 100 mm f2.8L IS Macro. This new 100 mm macro lens can take 1:1 lifesize photos, fits all EOS cameras (unlike EF-S lenses) and has a 9-blade aperture diagram and Canon’s new Hybrid image stabilizer (which compensates for more ’shake’ motions). Like its non-L counterpart, it also features internal focusing, full-time manual focus and a USM drive for quick and silent focusing. The EF 100 mm f2.8L IS Macro will sell alongside (not replace) the existing EF 100 mm f2.8 Macro and will be available in September for $1050.

Olympus discretely announced their new entry-level E600 digital SLR today. The E600 is a whole lot like the E620 we reviewed earlier this year, minus three Art Filters, Multiple Exposure, multi aspect ratios and backlit controls. Naturally, the E600 also has a lower price tag tacked onto it. Personally, I think there’s a lot going for this camera – it’s essentially the E620 with a lower price tag and missing three firmware features (which you can essentially perform using computer software like Photoshop). But if you’re stuck between this and the E620, you can check out our Olympus E620 review to see if you really need those four extra things on the E620.

Olympus E600
(Entry-level digital SLR)

• 12.3 effective megapixels (LiveMOS sensor)
• Four Thirds system lens mount (2x crop factor)
• Sensor shift image stabilization
• SuperSonic Wave Filter dust removal
• 2.7 inch rotating LCD
• TruePic III PLUS imaging processor
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and hotshoe
• Built-in wireless flash control
• 7 point AF
• NO backlit controls
• Three Art Filters: Pop Art, Soft Focus and Pinhole (the E620 has six Art Filters)
• Optical viewfinder with 95% coverage and 0.96X magnification
• Live view; with contrast detect AF, Perfect Shot Preview and face detection
• 4 FPS burst mode
• NO movie mode
• Dual memory card slots: Compact Flash card (Type I and II) and xD-Picture card
  Camera can take advantage of high-speed UDMA-enabled CF cards
• Uses BLS-1 lithium-ion battery
• Available in November for $600 with 14-42 mm kit lens

I’ve just posted my review of the Canon PowerShot SX200; a compact super-zoom camera with full manual controls. Check out sample pictures in the Canon PowerShot SX200 photo gallery as well. Hit the link and check out the full review of the camera now!

Continue reading the review...

Sony’s response to their new digital SLR announcements ‘lacking video’ is just in. According to Mark Weir from Sony Electronic’s Digital Imaging group, they want to concentrate more on ’still image quality’ and are still working on perfecting HD video technology for SLRs (they mention continuous AF and exposure control while recording video). And there you have it folks… in a way, this is a good thing – digital SLRs aren’t exactly video cameras and are better off taking high quality still pictures.

On another note: It seems that the A500, A550 and A850 cameras are the last announcements from Sony’s Alpha SLR division for the year 2009 (camera makers usually can’t/don’t pump out a lot of SLR models in a year, and Sony have already announced a total of six Alpha cameras this year)… maybe we’ll see movie modes on Sony Alpha models of 2010 or something.

Sony finally unveiled their new Alpha A850 today. The Sony Alpha A850 is the latest ‘affordable’ full-frame digital SLR in the market. Apparently Sony wants more recruits joining their Alpha SLR system and so the price tag of the camera is EVEN lower than anticipated. Yup, this full-frame camera can be had for just $2000, new.

Besides a slower burst mode (3 FPS) and slightly less viewfinder coverage (down 2% from the A900), the Alpha A850 is otherwise the same as the A900 and a good chunk cheaper. It also turns out that Sony chose to retain the dual image processors of the A900 on the new Alpha A850 (as opposed to the ’single processor’ speculation before the camera became official today)

Sony Alpha A850
(Full frame digital SLR)

• 24.6 effective megapixels (CMOS, Full frame sensor)
• Sony lens mount (compatible with Minolta ones too, DT lenses are subjected to 1.5X crop factor to 11 MP)
• Dust reduction
• In-body sensor-shift image stabilization
• Dual Bionz imaging processors
• 3 inch super-high resolution LCD (920,000 pixels)
• 98% viewfinder with 0.74X magnification (A900 had same magnification but 100% coverage)
• No on-board flash
• No live view; camera can take a ’sampling shot’ instead to preview various exposure, dynamic range and white balance effects
• 3 FPS burst mode (versus 5 FPS on Alpha A900)
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and hotshoe
• 9 point AF with 10 extra assist sensors (center is dual cross type)
• No movie mode
• About the same size and weight as the Alpha 900
• Dual memory card slots for Compact Flash (supports Type I/II and UDMA enabled cards) and Memory Stick Duo
• Uses a lithium-ion battery (NP-FM500H, same as Alpha 700 and Alpha 900)
• Available in September for $2000 (body only)

Next up are two new almost-midrange digital SLR cameras. The Sony Alpha 500 and Alpha 550 are step ups from the A3xx series. Both of them retain the ‘2nd sensor in viewfinder chamber’ for live view autofocus/preview, tilt-able LCD and 9 point AF from the A3xx series but feature new CMOS sensors, better viewfinder specifications, more external controls (buttons), faster burst modes and a new auto HDR mode over their A3xx counterparts. Sony also claims an improvement in image quality in these two cameras as they feature new image sensors and better noise reduction.

Sony Alpha A500/Alpha A550
(Mid-range digital SLRs)

• Alpha A500: 12.3 effective megapixels (APS-C CMOS sensor, 1.5X crop)
  Alpha A550: 14.2 effective megapixels (APS-C CMOS sensor, 1.5X crop)
• Sony/Minolta lens mount (1.5X crop factor))
• Dust reduction
• In-body sensor-shift image stabilization
• 3 inch tiltable LCD with two separate hinges for tilting
  Alpha A500: LCD has 230,000 pixels
  Alpha A550: LCD has 921,600 pixels
• 95% viewfinder with 0.80X magnification
• ISO speed range of 200 – 12800
• Live view uses secondary CCD sensor inside viewfinder chamber
• Auto HDR (High dynamic range) takes two pictures and combines them into one
• 5 FPS (optical viewfinder) or 4 FPS (live view) burst mode
  Alpha A550 only: Speed burst goes up to 7 FPS
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and hotshoe
• 9 point AF
• No movie mode
• About the same size and weight as the Alpha 900
• Dual memory card slots for SD/SDHC and Memory Stick Duo
• Uses a lithium-ion battery (NP-FM500H)
• Alpha A500: Available in October for $750 (body only) or $850 (18-55 mm lens kit)
  Alpha A550: Available in October for $950 (body only) or $1050 (18-55 mm lens kit)

In addition to the three new digital SLR cameras today, Sony also announced two new lenses. The new Sony full-frame 28 – 75 mm, f2.8 SAM lens will be available for $800 in November while the crop sensor-oriented Sony DT 30 mm, f2.8 SAM lens will go for a more affordable $200.