Canon PowerShot SX220 HS review

The Canon PowerShot SX220 HS is a 14x zoom camera, the follow on from the neat PowerShot SX210 IS of last year. The travel zoom category is more competitive than ever, with all the major manufacturers having their take with some great models to choose from. Thanks to increasingly compact designs, the travel zoom category sees long zoom lenses packed into a body that in many cases is only fractionally larger than regular compact dimensions.

So is the case with the Canon PowerShot SX220 HS. It measures 105.7 x 59.3 x 33.2mm and weighs 215g including the battery (good for around 210 shots). It’s still pocketable and light enough to port around with you but still manages to pack plenty of features and controls into its frame. Inevitably this means there is no real grip for your right hand - you’ll end up with your thumb lying over the controls, resting on the shooting mode dial. The left hand is equally foxed by the pop-up flash, which sits on the left shoulder of the camera, so pretty much where your left index finger will be sitting.
This is something we complained about on the SX210 as well, although the camera doesn’t complain if you resist the flash opening, it just accepts that it can’t deploy - the flash can be thereafter flicked open and closed as needed, with the on-screen icon telling you that the flash has moved from http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifcancelled auto.

Otherwise the design is fetching, the concave silver waistband contrasting nicely with the dark grey of the body of our review model. As mentioned the controls lie to the right-hand side of the 3-inch 16:9 widescreen display, with only the shutter and encircling zoom control sitting on the top.

The power button finds its way onto the back slope which we found to be conveniently placed to hit when needed and avoid when not. The mode dial on the rear instantly grabs your attention, set slightly to an angle and offering up a knobbly grip to make changing modes quick and easy. Below sits the instant video capture button above a dial incorporating a four-way controller with a central function/set button and finally you get display and menu buttons. It’s certainly busy, but the abundance of controls lets you know that this is a little more than just a point and shoot camera.

Samsung Multi-Proof W200 Pocket Cam gets us wet

Having just announced its new ST93 compact camera, Samsung is to launch something a little bit tougher in the shape of the Samsung Multi-Proof W200 Pocket Cam.

The rugged W200 is designed to be taken into the toughest conditions and features a 5-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor along with a F2.2 Bright lens.

Although shockproof from 2 metres, the emphasis is firmly on its underwater capabilities, as the W200 pocket Cam can be submerged up to 3 metres in depth and has features such as an anti-water drop and anti-fog coatings. An Aqua Mode setting automatically sets the ideal parameters for the bright and clear underwater video.

The camcorder delivers Full HD video and has, what sounds like, a handy Record Pause feature which means after pausing you can resume at the same moment bundling the footage on the same file after filming - removing the hassle of merging footage from different files. Fish eye and vignetting features are also included.

The Samsung Multi-proof W200 Pocket Cam will be available in May for $159.

Nikon Coolpix P300 review

The Nikon Coolpix P300 looks to fill a gap towards the top end of the compact camera market that hasn’t been occupied with a worthy Coolpix model to date. Enter the Nikon Coolpix P300: a small, 12.2-megapixel compact with a 24-100mm F/1.8-4.9 image stabilised lens.

For a long time the high-end compact market has been dominated by Canon’s hold - with models such as the recent PowerShot S95. At a glance, the Nikon P300 is almost a visual carbon copy: it’s roughly the same size, shape and of a similar layout. Although this is seemingly the “inspiration” of the P300’s birth, it would be wrong to assume the two models as direct competitors. Alike though they may appear, but on the inside the P300 doesn’t quite match up to its competitive Canon model. Why? It’s all down to sensor size: the Nikon P300 has a 1/2.33 inch sensor, smaller than the 1/1.7 inch one found in the Canon S95.
A series of other features may also find those seeking truly high-end control looking elsewhere: there’s no manual focus capability, no hotshoe for an external viewfinder and no RAW capture option either. However, step down a notch in product positioning and the P300 is a tough cookie in the enthusiast sector. Look for the likes of the Samsung WB2000 and there’s a more immediate comparison in terms of control and layout as well as price sensibility.

When the P300 gets it right it really delivers. The top mode dial means immediate selection of shooting modes is a breeze and the twin thumbwheel-like controls (thumbwheel on top; rotational d-pad on the rear) make setting up manual shooting equally as simple. Aperture and Shutter Priority meet Program Auto and full Manual modes, plus Auto, Easy Panorama and Scene settings, in addition to both Backlighting and Night Landscape on the mode dial itself.

There are few controls on the rear and, although there’s a one-touch movie button, there’s no Function (Fn) button to be found anywhere on http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifthe body for quick adjustment of settings. As few settings show on the camera’s screen itself this feels like a drawback - even more standard compacts have on-screen quick menus to dash between ISO, metering setup and the like (including other Nikon Coolpix cameras). While those physical mode dials and thumbwheels are certainly on point, the P300 could really do with that extra user-assignable button for yet more control.
Design-wise the camera may look a tad “boxy”, though its small, trim size will easily slip into a bag or pocket to be carried anywhere - and that’s one of the prime features of a camera such as this. On the rear is a 3-inch, 920K-dot LCD screen that’s of a good resolution, though no viewfinder is built in or available for the camera. This may pose an issue in bright sunlight where the screen’s visibility may be reduced due to reflections or fingerprinting on the screen itself. This is a common feature for any compact, however, not just the P300.

Nikon intros the Coolpix P80, encourages you to zoom

Not been zooming in on "things" enough lately? Well maybe Nikon can help. The company is introducing the new Coolpix P80 18x zoom camera, which covers focal lengths from 27mm to 486mm -- which is a ton of millimeters. The P80 also sports the camera-maker's fancy pants NIKKOR optics, burst modes in four, six, and 13 FPS, ISO to 6400, and a 2.7-inch, anti-reflective LCD display. The camera has a slew of onboard tweaks that make capturing your family get-togethers or drunken escapades easier (provided the two events are separate), like auto redeye reduction and face detection (Face Priority AF). The Coolpix P80 will be available this month for the astonishing MSRP of $399.99. Check the gallery below for a number of revealing angles.


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/10/nikon-intros-the-coolpix-p80-encourages-you-to-zoom/

Treat Your Mobile Phone Camera with an 8x Zoom

It may not shock anyone but... YES, embedded camera modules on mobile phones… suck… To make things worse Green-House just released a telephoto kit to turn any mobile phone into an 8x zoom camera… yeah… right!

Please note that the combo includes a tripod and a universal mobile phone holder.


Source: http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-15759-Treat+Your+Mobile+Phone+Camera+with+an+8x+Zoom.html

Panasonic's DMC-TZ50: a TZ5 with WiFi and Picasa photo sharing, maybe

Take Panasonic's 9.1 megapixel TZ5 with 10x optical zoom and 3-inch LCD, slap in some 802.11b/g WiFi and what do you get? This, the Lumix DMC-TZ50. As with most WiFi cameras, the TZ50 can upload your pictures from any WiFi hotspot but is then locked into specific image sharing sites; in this case, Panny's own Lumix Club. There is hope for a more open model, however, when the TZ50 goes global. After all, the Panasonic / T-Mobile WiFi demo we saw at CES tied images to Google's Picasa. Ok, it's not Flickr but it's a start. Available May 16th in Japan for ¥49,800 or about $500.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/19/panasonics-dmc-tz50-a-tz5-with-wifi-and-picasa-photo-sharing/

PENTAX to present its entry-level 10.2M DSLR 'K200D' in Korea

PENTAX presented its entry-level 10.2M DSLR 'K200D' in Korea market, which is equipped with a high-performance 23.5mm x 15.7mm CCD image sensor.

Adopting a 2.7-inch 230,000 pixel LCD monitor, the K200D supports new Dust Alert function to pinpoint the exact location of dust particles, Shake Reduction(SR) system to reduce camera shake, and ISO 1600.

It is expected to be available on March 1st for 898,000(KRW)

Source: http://aving.net/usa/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=74584&C_Code=01&SP_Num=0

Cameras combine to create super HD TV

Japan's Mitsubishi Electric has come up with an unusual technique for boosting the resolution of high-definition video by combining shots from multiple ordinary cameras into one super HD stream.

The unnamed technology [Subscription link] is currently being tested at the company's labs in Tokyo using five video cameras capable of shooting high-quality images. It links these to computers with 3D graphics processors that can get to work on the raw data.

4x high-def

Input from the various cameras is analysed for differences, which are mashed together to form a composite video including everything at a much higher resolution.

With the current set-up of five cameras and five PCs the resulting video clocks in at quadruple the resolution of normal HD TV and is pumped out the other end just 0.15 seconds after the shooting begins.

Mitsubishi claims the quality is on a par with commercial digital cinema and says it hopes to use the technology in surveillance systems and possibly even in live TV broadcasts.

Source: http://www.tech.co.uk/home-entertainment/high-definition/news/cameras-combine-to-create-super-hd-tv?articleid=1870667248