Here’s the Panasonic Lumix GF1 Preview Gallery containing full-sized pictures taken by the camera. Be sure to check out the Panasonic Lumix GF1 preview for more about the camera as well.

View Panasonic GF1 sample photos

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.

Here’s my review of the Olympus FE3010, an entry-level 12 megapixel camera. Head on to the Olympus FE3010 photo gallery for full-size pictures too.

Read the review...

I’ve posted the Olympus FE3010 Photo Gallery which contains full-sized pictures taken by the camera. Be sure to check out the Olympus FE3010 review as well.

Enter gallery

I recently attended a media event with Panasonic… which turned out to be a surprise (to me, at least) event unveiling their Lumix GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera. Yes, in addition to press releases and speeches by important people, and the usual media affair – they had several live, real, working Panasonic Lumix GF1 models there (in addition to ‘people’ runway models). The camera itself will be available to the masses next month (October)… so meanwhile, here’s a teaser picture of how compact the camera is versus a conventional digital SLR.

On the right is a full-sized mid-range digital SLR with a nice lens slapped on, a 24-70 mm f2.8. On the left, is Panasonic’s Lumix GF1 which is really petite (that’s Panasonic’s new 20 mm pancake lens attached, by the way). Without a lens attached, the Panasonic Lumix GF1 is not much larger than the Lumix LX3 – so it’s understandably why people looking for an interchangeable lens camera that they can easily bring along anywhere are overly-excited about the Lumix GF1 (myself included).

More on the Panasonic Lumix GF1 later this week.

I recently had the opportunity to attend Panasonic’s Lumix Star Search event, which also turned out to be a surprise launch of their new Lumix camera.

Read the rest of this entry »

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