Category: Cameras
Nikon D5000: HD video recording with swivel screen
Nikon’s thrown us all a little curve ball this morning with what is essentially an upgrade and re-shape of the excellent D90 we saw released last year. The carefully named Nikon D5000 is a slightly softer, more consumer friendly approach to high end amateur photography.
It has the same 12.3-megapixel CMOS sensor and EXPEED processor combination as the D90, the same 200-3200 ISO range (100-6400 with boost) and indeed the same 11-point auto-focus system too.
The difference is that the LCD has slimmed a touch to 2.7″ but in return you can swivel it about in the most interesting of angles to ensure that you can shoot high, low, left, right and just about any which way you can think of with our having to squash your body into all sorts of awkward positions. They’ve even added a subject-tracking mode to the AF to make video capture even easier.
The second difference, and perhaps the more telling one, is the 19 scene modes Nikon has added to one of their top end consumer DSLRs. What it looks like they’re trying to create with the D5000 is a camera that all the family will be able to use – from the compact shooting casual to the very keen enthusiast.
It’ll be out from 1st May for £799.99 with the 18-55mm VR lens kit or £719 for the body on its own.
More to come on D5000 this afternoon.
Nikon
SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: Olympus μ9000 – 10x zoom and real pretty too
I’ve worked with the fantastic Zara Rabinowiscz for over a year now and this is by far and away her best review ever. Zara’s a bit of compact camera fan, so if she’s giving the Olympus μ9000 her Shiny seal of approval, then it’s time to pay attention. Sit back, get out the popcorn and enjoy the show (featuring Lucy Hedges).
If, like Zara, you’re convinced, then you can pick yourself one up in blue or black just over here for £299.00.
Shiny Video Review: Nikon COOLPIX L100
I’ve never used an AA battery powered camera and I’m not quite sure if it’s supposed to be a plus point or not. Either way, that’s how the £239.99 Nikon Coolpix L100 works. It’s got plenty of good features from more powerful cameras without so much of the blink detection-type gimmicks but the question is, how does it actually stand up to use…
On the one hand, it’s quite fun to play with and I did get some good looking shots out of it in quite low dark conditions with the black and whites coming out particularly well. The trouble is that it’s things like the AF missing that might make you wonder why you didn’t go for an older Panasonic Lumix like the TZ5 for just £180.
In its favour, the L100 does have a lovely 3-inch screen with a nice, accurate display of the shots you’ve taken and you’d certainly be happier enough if someone bought one for you. However, if it’s your own cash and you’ve got the time, I’d recommend researching something else.
Olympus E450 – good value four-thirds camera
Meet the 380g Olympus E-450 four-thirds DSLR camera. Light, isn’t is? It’s an upgrade of the E420 and features a 10-megapixel MOS sensor, a new – and hopefully improved – TruePic III+ image processor and a nice, bright 2.7″ LCD with 176 degree viewing angle.
It has 28 shooting modes including the kind of fluff you’d expect from a compact camera but gives you one-touch white balance, bracketing functions and a modest ISO range of 100-1600 to play with. It will now also capture RAW footage in burst of eight.
It’s all pretty good value at £450 including the Zuiko 14-42mm kit lens but bear in mind that it’s not a hell of a lot different than the Olympus E420 and probably soon quite a lot more expensive than it too.
Available in May.
Panasonic Lumix G1 Review
£969.99 Canon EOS 500D – 1080p video recording & 15.1-megapixel sensor
Canon has snuck out a DSLR in the States today that combines the processing power of the EOS 50D with the HD video recording of the 5D Mark II.
The slightly differently named Canon Rebel EOS T1i will shoot 1080p footage…
BARGAIN OF THE WEEK: Flatpack tabletop photographic studio
If you sell quite a few bits and pieces on eBay or want to scare your pets, then get your card out now because the tabletop photo studio will pay for itself in a matter of weeks – unless you just use it for scaring your pets, of course.
It’s a 20″ L x 20″ W x 20″ H light box with diffusers built-in…
The HD video capturing Sony Cyber-shot HX1
We saw a hybrid from Samsung yesterday but the Sony Cyber-shot HX1 is the first bridge model I’ve seen for a while. Sitting pretty with a 3-inch tilt LCD, a 9.1-megapixel Exmor sensor and a hefty 20x zoom, it’s easy to see why frustrated compact users might look to it as the next step up.
It records full HD video footage at…
Kodak introduces the Easyshare Z915
Kodak's new Easyshare Z915 is defiantly average in every area but one – its zoom. Zoom is often overlooked in favour of megapixels when it comes to cameras, but Kodak has managed to cram in a 10X image stabilised optical zoom into this model.
Aside from the zoom, there's a 10-megapixel sensor, a 2.5" LCD, and an SD card slot. It takes AA batteries, strangely, unlike the onboard rechargable which is more standard these days. There's also some sort of light analysis system that'll auto-adjust camera settings to deliver the best picture.
It's available in red, blue, black and grey, costs £180, and will be available in May.
Samsung NX hybrid camera unveiled at PMA 2009
Samsung is on full camera takeover for 2009 as they come in with yet another wave of digital snappers in the shape of the NX hybrid series.
This latest concept range appears to be the tech leviathan’s take on the micro-four-thirds system and is designed to bring compact size to DSLRs, or DSLR usability to compacts, however you wish to look at it.
The NX comes with the same kind of APS-C image sensor…
Epson R-D1xG Rangefinder digital camera – the Leica light
To look at the Epson R-D1xG Rangefinder, you wouldn’t know it was a digital camera. That’s because it’s based on the beautiful Leica cameras that make all photographer’s knees turn to barely set jelly.
What Epson did four years ago was to offer their first crack at it, the R-D1, for considerably less than the second mortgage taking…
