Digital Photography Interface

Samsung announced two pretty basic point-and-snap digital cameras today:

Samsung SL502 and SL720
(Point-and-shoot cameras)

12 effective megapixels
35 – 175 mm (f3.5 – f5.5) 5X optical zoom lens for SL502
28 – 140 mm (f3.5 – f5.6) 5X optical zoom lens for SL720
Optical image stabilization (SL720 only)
2.7 inch LCD
Smart Auto Mode (aka automatic scene mode selection)
Face, smile and blink detection; face recognition
Smart Album plays back photos by all sorts of categories
No manual controls
VGA (SL502)/HD 720p (SL720) 30 FPS movie mode with sound
Takes SD/SDHC memory [...]

July 4th is this weekend! Have you gotten your camera ready? If you’re planning to dart out there today or tomorrow and get a new camera, take it easy and do some reading up first (so you don’t regret your purchase decision). Here are four cameras you may want to consider:

Pentax announced their first rugged camera today (the previous Pentax W-series were merely waterproof) and here it is – the Optio W80.

Pentax Optio W80
(Rugged camera)

12 effective megapixels
28 – 140 mm (f3.3 – f5.5) 5X optical zoom lens
Digital ‘pixel tracking’ image stabilization [slaps self on forehead]
2.5 inch LCD
Auto Picture Mode (aka automatic scene mode selection)
Face, smile and blink detection
Digital wide combines two pictures into a single 21 mm wide photo
Dynamic range adjustment
No manual controls
HD 720p 30 FPS movie mode with sound
Takes [...]

Olympus officially announced their first Micro Four Thirds camera today. The new E-P1 ‘PEN’ camera is an interchangeable lens camera features the controls and flexibility you’ll find in a typical digital SLR, but it’s a lot smaller… it’s even more compact than Panasonic’s GH1 camera. Oh, and as a Micro Four Thirds camera, the E-P1 PEN is strictly live view only – it has neither a mirror box nor a built-in optical viewfinder (Though an [optional] external viewfinder is available, [...]