Digital Camera Blog – News, Reviews and Deals

The new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 digital camera is stock and shipping from Amazon.com and is listed at $499.00. Click here to order the Panasonic LX5.

The Panasonic Lumix LX5 is a unique compact digital camera offering photo enthusiasts the ideal way for capturing professional-quality photos and High Definition (HD) video. With an ultra-bright F2.0 ultra-wide-angle 24mm Leica DC Vario-Summicron lens, the Lumix LX5 minimizes image distortion, resulting in stunning, true-to-life images with outstanding resolution and detail. The 24mm wide angle lens offers extraordinarily large viewing space and now the optical zoom is extended to 3.8x (90mm) making the LX5 even more versatile.

The F2.0 lens is twice as bright as a F2.8 lens, making it easy to produce beautiful photos with a soft-focused background thanks to the shallow depth of field provided by the extra light. In addition to the newly-designed lens, the Lumix LX5 features an image processing engine that combines technologies resulting in professional-quality photos, especially in low-light situations. Like its predecessor, the Lumix LX5 features the highly-acclaimed 10.1-megapixel CCD, but it has an expanded dynamic range by increasing the sensitivity and the saturation.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
$399

The new Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G VR Lens is now in stock and shipping from Amazon.com, click here to order it now.

For more info on this lens and the other new lenses Nikon announced, click here.

Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G VR
$1049

The new Nikon 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G DX VR AF-S ED Lens is now in stock and shipping from Amazon.com, click here to order it now.

For more info on this lens and the other new lenses Nikon announced, click here.

Nikon 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G DX VR AF-S ED
$399

The new Nikon 85mm f1.4G AF-S Lens is now in stock and shipping from Amazon.com, click here to order it now.

For more info on this lens and the other new lenses Nikon announced, click here.

Nikon 85mm f1.4G AF-S Lens
$1649

Olympus announces a new Special Edition E-P2 micro four thirds camera available with two exclusive lens kits and featuring a mouth-watering selection of matching accessories, all in elegant black.

In addition to the sleek black version of the E-P2 camera, both kits offer a black edition of the super-slender M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens. Available in black exclusively with these kits, this exquisite lens looks destined for must-have status. Both kits also include one of two additional, high-grade accessories.

The Olympus E-P2 Special Black EVF Edition features the sharp lines and flexibility of the detachable V-F2 electronic viewfinder while the E-P2 Special Black Flash Edition offers the slim retro chic of the compact FL-14 external flash, also available in black only in this limited edition kit.

The E-P2 Special Black EVF Edition will be available for €1,079 and the E-P2 Special Black Flash Edition for €1,049 from October 2010.

The E-P2 Special Black EVF Edition contents

• E-P2 camera in black
• M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens exclusively in black
• VF-2 electronic viewfinder in black
• Historic lens cap with F logo

The E-P2 Special Black Flash Edition contents

• E-P2 camera in black
• M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens exclusively in black
• FL-14 external flash exclusively in black
• Historic lens cap with F logo

The new lenses include the M.Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm lens which Olympus calls the world’s smallest and lightest 600mm equivalent telephoto lens. Weighing 430 grams, the Micro Four Thirds system lens’ 18 element, 13 group design utilizes two Extraordinary Dispersion (ED) and 3 High Refractive (HR) glass elements to reduce chromatic aberration. It promises fast and silent focusing for recording movies. The lens will be available in black and silver from December 2010 for €899.

The second lens is the M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm 1:4.0-5.6 zoom lens to its Micro Four Thirds lens series. Similar to the 75-300mm lens announced today, the lens promises fast and quieter focusing optimized for video shooting. It will come supplied along with the 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 in the Pen Double Zoom Kit. The lens will be available in black and silver for €329 from end of October 2010.

All three new products are not available for pre-order yet but will be soon.

The Cosina brand may not be known to average/casual photographers but Cosina is a juggernaut in the camera industry, responsible for rebranded versions of numerous cameras and lenses in addition to their excellent Voigtländer brand. Normally they just focus on regular SLRs, but now Cosina’s entering a new market: the realm of Micro Four Thirds lenses for mirrorless cameras by the likes of Olympus and Panasonic.

For the micro four-thirds system and its owners this is excellent news, who have found the growth of their lens collection limited by lack of available options. Cosina’s entry into the market not only means they’ll have more options to choose from but they won’t have to wrestle with SLR lens adapters as often.

Cosina’s first Micro Four Thirds lens is an amazing Nokton 25mm with a super bright ƒ0.95 prime aperture. A prime lens that bright isn’t going to be cheap, when the Nokton ships in October, you can expect to pay up to $1,100 for it, but it’ll be worth it… pictures from your Lumix are about to get whole worlds better.

It’s also possible that we could see a Voigtländer camera-body in the near future, too. Given that Voigtländer is a name closely associated with rangefinder cameras, which are the spiritual ancestor of the Micro Four Thirds cameras, this is pretty exciting stuff.

For the rumored Olympus E-5 there has been two different camera specs speculated for this Four Thirds camera. Both of the specifications came from “old” good sources. The first source that claimed to have seen and tested the E-5 with the 12 Megapixel sensor was sure that it was the final version of the camera. The second source saw a prototype called E-P3 which has the new 15 Megapixel Panasonic camera sensor. The first source is likely to have seen the final version of the E5 while the second source has likely seen a prototype of a future Four Thirds camera that could potentially be announced in early 2011.

From the source:

“Oh, will like to let you know that I have seen the new Olympus pro dSLR, the E-5, already. It’s a solid, wicked piece of camera that’s weather sealed just like the Olympus E-3. And, it will be announced prior to Photokina. I don’t have other specs on it, except i have tried it and the focusing is really fast. It still uses a 4/3 lens mount. From what i know, it will support HD video recording as well. The top control panel remains largely the same, and it will also have a flip and swivel screen like the E-3. Oh, the sensor resolution is still 12 megapixels, and it will compete against the 7D. Not sure if the megapixels will play a major role here as well. But olympus is hoping that it’s Zuiko lens can outdo Nikon and Canon. Early samples of photos taken with the E-5 shows that the picture quality is almost on par with the D300s and 7D.”

(Picture above is just a fake mock-up someone made, not the real thing, link goes to the current Olympus E-3)

For more info on the rumored new Olympus E-5 please see the previous posts:

• Olympus E-5 (and four thirds) Rumors and Speculation
• Rumor: Olympus E-5 (E-D1) coming on September 14

Canon today backed up the newly launch of the EOS 60D with a slew of new L series lenses, including one it sees as a record-setter. The 8-15mm f4L Fisheye has what’s believed to be the widest fisheye angle in the world, providing a 180 degree diagonal or (for full frame) 180 degree circular view. Canon likewise gives it and the other new lenses tonight a new fluorine coating that cuts back on smearing over the glass.

The lens is relatively affordable in the L series and costs $1,400.

Other lenses joining the group are all telephotos and start with the 70-300mm f4-5.6L, a low-dispersion zoomable telephoto for $1,500. New generations of the 300mm f2.8L and 400mm f2.8L add new fluorite lens elements to improve quality and reduce purple fringing or other chromatic effects. Both fixed-zoom lenses are tougher than before and should autofocus faster, though their specialized designs give them high prices of $7,000 for the 300mm lens and $11,000 for the 400mm lens.

Two lens extenders, the 1.4X III and 2X III, should focus faster than their ancestors and reduce the visual drawbacks of magnifying the zoom.

Only the 70-300mm lens will arrive relatively soon with an October ship date. The 70-300mm, 300mm and 400mm lenses won’t ship until December. Canon’s extenders are similarly delayed, and the 8-15mm Fisheye won’t be ready until January. None of the lenses are available to pre-order yet on Amazon, stay tuned.

Canon today announced the new EOS 60D to replace Canon’s popular mid-range digital SLR camera, the EOS 50D which has been due for an update after two years on the market. The 6-D represents a pretty decent upgrade with some major changes in new features, specifications and design. The Canon 60D repositions Canon’s mid-range line to be more of a high-end consumer DSLR than a low-end pro’s camera.

The most obvious changes from the 50D are the 60D’s lighter-weight more compact body design, the new 3-inch articulated LCD, and the 1080p HD video recording capability. Like the Canon EOS Rebel T2i and the rest of the consumer-oriented Rebel line, the new 60D uses SD memory cards rather than CompactFlash. Resolution has been bumped up to 18 megapixels and the sensitivity range has been pushed up to ISO 6400 (12,800 expanded) as well, catching up to the T2i and the higher-end EOS 7D on both fronts. The 60D also offers the T2i and 7D’s improved metering system, though its improved autofocus system is not quite up to par with the 7D’s. The 60D does add some higher-end features borrowed from the 7D, such as a built-in wireless flash control, but also includes some more consumer-oriented features like the Creative Image Filters borrowed from the PowerShot point-and-shoot line, as well as in-camera reduced resolution image copies (there’s also in-camera raw image processing).

The HD video recording capabilities are clearly a priority for this camera: Not only does the 60D match the impressive specs of the T2i and 7D (1920×1080 at 30-, 25-, and 24fps; 1280×720 at 60- and 50fps; 640×480 at 60- and 50fps), but it also improves upon its predecessors’ shooting experience with the higher-resolution (1,040,000 dots) 3-inch, articulated LCD. Budding video graphers will also appreciate the external stereo mic jack.

The Canon EOS 60D will be priced at about $1,100 for the body only or $1,400 with an 18-135mm kit lens, and should hit the market in late September.

Update: The Canon EOS 60D is now available for pre-order on Amazon, $1,099.00 for the body only or with the 18-135mm lens kit for $1,399.00. Click here to pre-order the 60D.

The new Panasonic AG-AF100 Micro Four Thirds HD camcorder website has been launched, from the website:

“The AVCHD recording format used by the AG-AF100 series includes a professional PH mode with maximum AVCHD bit rate for stunning image quality. Two SD card slots allow continuous recording for up to 12 hours* in PH mode and up to 48 hours* in HE mode with two SD (SD/SDHC/SDXC) cards on board.”

“The AG-AF100 series records in 1080:59.94i/50i/29.97p/25p/23.98p or 720:29.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/23.98p with its multi HD format.
You can render movie-like images. The Dynamic Range Stretcher, Gamma Select and other image features have also been inherited from previous Panasonic professional camera recorders.”

“The AG-AF100 series features HD-SDI output, XLR audio 2-channel input, and other interfaces that are typically found on professional camera recorders. Time code recording also supports precise video production. In addition to its compact, lightweight body, the AG-AF100 series’s professional camera recorder design with grip, handle and large viewfinder firmly support reliable camera work.”

For more info and to check out the official website, click here.