After Nikon’s D90, it felt like the crown of video would go to that firm. But, surprisingly, it was Canon that swooped in, and hoovered up the newly established video-from-SLR market. The D90 was never able to produce video sufficient for professional use, but with the original 5D, Canon made incredible progress.

Movies and TV shows are frequently shot, at least in part, on Canon SLRs. Their use is common in certain areas - the TV series 24 made use of multiple SLRs mounted to cars. Footage from this is used for special effects shots, and dubbed on later via a green screen setup. The series House famously shot one season finale on a 5D II. The episode featured a lot of footage in cramped locations where a full-size camera just wouldn’t have been practical. So, it’s fair to say that Canon has made SLR-based video its own.

So, with this, most recent addition to the family – the 5D II remains a current model, at least for now – Canon has played it safe. There’s no ground-up redesign here, and that’s fine, because unlike Nikon, Canon already has video licked.

It's worthwhile mentioning that this is not at 5D vs D800 piece. Obviously though, comparisons between the two are inevitable, so you'll find quite a few in this review.

Design

In the timeless, and some might argue, tedious debate between Nikon and Canon, the layout is king. There are, for sure, some things that Canon does very well. We like, for example, the LCD info screen on the top right of the camera. There’s more room here than on Nikon’s D800, and it seems easier to read too.

Surrounding the LCD are buttons for adjusting some of the most common features. Canon, more than Nikon seems to live in this area with most of the camera’s important controls resting here. Canon has opted for only a single rotary dial for adjusting the various settings. Here, a series of clearly marked buttons allows you to select the adjustment you’d like to make. By default the top dial will adjust the shutter speed, while the rear dial, allows you to adjust the aperture. On our camera, the "star" button was mapped to allow the top dial to adjust the iris too, which worked well for us. This system is, in our view, less simple than on the D800. Nikon prefers to have dual dials, one of which adjusts the shutter, the other aperture. While we prefer the Nikon setup, the Canon method works fine, and it’s quite simple to train yourself to switch.

One of Canon's trademarks though, is the large dial wheel on the back of the camera. This is a brilliant way of navigating through photos and to some extent menus. We did find that when selecting things in the Canon's well-designed menu system it's not that logical. You can scroll through items in one menu, but you need to use the little clicker button next to it in order to move around.

One of the areas that Canon’s video emphasis comes through is via the large, widescreen LCD on the rear of the camera. A wide aspect ratio on a full-frame SLR is odd, but it works fine and we never really struggled with it, even for stills. Of course, it is better for video, but honestly, stills are better shot through the 5D’s beautiful, bright viewfinder, which boasts 100 per cent coverage.

Like Nikon, Canon has refused to provide an articulated screen on the 5D. This is frustrating, because for video work – and stills, in some circumstances – it’s useful to be able to move the screen. Pros don’t like articulated screens though, and are prepared to pay extra for HD monitors or electronic viewfinders. If you’re a low budget filmmaker, might find this annoying, but at least there’s HDMI out, which you can connect to a lot of external monitors.

We also lament the lack of built-in flash. A Canon spokesperson tells us that flash units make it harder to weather seal an SLR. We totally understand that, and we also understand that most professionals will never use a built-in flash. Our problem is, these things are incredibly helpful when you're out and about. Take a photo in bright sunlight, and the built-in flash can lift shadows out and make for a nice, balanced image. It can also help you get out of a tough position indoors, especially if you reduce the power and diffuse the light through a bit of paper or masking tape.

Low-light performance

There is no doubt in our mind on this one, the 5D III is the class leader in low light performance.

In high ISO photos at 3200 there is so little noise in images that it hardly needs to be mentioned. In our tests, we shot in a gloomy, underground garage and outside in the darkness of the south of France at midnight. Shots are superb, with plenty of detail, and dark regions are conspicuous for their lack of image noise. At no point were we able to confuse the camera into producing a bad low-light shot. In the Nikon D800, at times, we were able to produce photos that had overwhelming noise. This wasn't standard with that camera, but a couple of our shots were ruined by random noise.

Push the camera above ISO 3200 and you'll start to see some image noise, but the thing is, it's much nicer than the usual digital speckling. Here, there is a very film-esq grain to the photos shot at high ISO. This is very pleasing indeed, and sells us a lot more on this camera, if you're likely to use it a lot in low light.

Of course, this continues to be an emotive and long-running discussion. On the face of it, Canon has managed something remarkable here, but it has done so by not taking many sensor-related risks, but while enjoying the new faster image processor technology it is developing. That said, this is a new sensor, and it is clearly an?incredible?piece of technology.?

Image quality

First off, we have to say that the 5D is a superb camera, producing some utterly beautiful results.

We took a look at both raw and jpeg images, and compared how both perform. In our view, both have plenty of detail, accurate and powerful colour and pleasing contrast. Out of the camera, there were times when we felt that the processing on jpeg images wasn't perfect. Take, for example, this picture of a baby bird.

In the example above, you'll see that the image looks good, for the most part, but has had a lot of processing done to remove noise - which you can see in the raw version below - but in so doing, the camera has artificially sharpened the image, which has led to quite a bit of artifacting.

This isn't to say you'll see this on every photograph, as this demo shot was taken in quite a dark, shaded area, and so there's probably more noise creeping in than you'd expect for an outdoor shot. Even so, it's worth remembering this when you're choosing how to capture photographs.

Over the course of two weeks, we've shot more than 1000 photographs with the 5D, in a variety of locations and we honestly can't find any problems. Of course, we were supplied with some pretty high-end Canon lenses, so it's worth remembering the importance of good glass when you're setting aside money to buy this camera.?

Superb LCD screen

The 5D boasts one of the best LCD screen on any camera. It has well over 1 million pixels, and produces a good, bright image which is visible both indoors and out. It's interesting that, for video - where you are forced to use the screen - these extra pixels don't make a huge difference to focusing the camera manually. Auto focus, of course, works for both video and stills with the screen on, but in video mode it's too slow and hunts around too much.?

Continuous shooting, battery life and autofocus?

One of the striking things about the 5D is how responsive it feels. More so than almost any other SLR we've used, the combination of the six frames per second shooting speed, nippy auto focus and decent image buffer all make for a plesant shooting experience.?

As much as we loved using the D800, the write buffer was a bit of a bad joke. Those massive 36.6-megapixel images soon caused the camera to choke - when writing high-quality jpeg plus a raw file - and we spent a decent amount of time waiting for the camera to empty its buffer before we could do anything. The Canon needs to write less data, so it's faster. We never had a problem with it being so backed up that we couldn't carry on shooting. Something that happened a few times on the Nikon.

As you can imagine, focus speed is critical in a professional camera. Happily, the Canon is brilliant in this regard too. In fact, we'll stick our neck out and say in actual day-to-day use it beats pretty much every other SLR we've used. Getting the focus system to lock on happens incredibly quickly, and the 61-point system is more than enough for us

Battery life is also good, there's no real reason to worry about getting through a day's worth of photos, and some video. We used the camera loads over three weeks, but charged it quite?infrequently. Video will use more power, but it's still a pretty decent power supply. Intensive users will want to have a couple of spare batteries about, but these are hardly expensive in comparison with the camera.?

Video

Recording modes for video are fairly standard. If you need slow motion later, or want to record fast action, then you can put the camera in 720/50p (or 60p, if you’re shooting for a 60Hz country) and gain the ability to slow footage down by 50 per cent, to 25fps in post-production.

If you need full-on HD, then there are 1080p video modes of 24 and 25fps (or 30fps for 60Hz countries). While this will cover use for anything up to, and including, broadcast use, we do think it’s a shame that Canon hasn’t got some full HD at higher frame rates. A 1080/50p mode would really but the 5D over the D800.

Canon has radically changed its downscaling method too. Previously, this was accused of being a little rough around the edges, but in our tests we found video looked fantastic. Colour is perhaps the most impressive, because it's blessed with realistic tones. Detail is good too, although at times we felt that the image looked like it had been artificially sharped, this was noticeable on hard edges. Curiously, the overall image doesn't seem to be especially sharp.

It's also fair to say that based on purely subjective testing, we much preferred the quality of video out of the D800. That's not to say that that camera has problems, because it does, but in purely emotional terms, the video is slightly warmer from the D800, and has an overall sharpness that feels very natural.

And it is here, once again, that we accept that professional movie-makers may have very different feelings. And Canon has to be commended on consistency. As with low-light performance, there are times when the Nikon gets confused with colour balance in video. The Canon is far more consistent, and there for - presumably - far less work in post production to get a uniform colour grading.

We also need to take time to mention rolling shutter. This is the oft-mentioned problem, where vertical lines will appear to have a jelly-like constitution when you move the camera quickly from left to right.?

There are very few times when this will be a problem for most people. The biggest issue we've seen, is when shooting in strobe lighting, or with camera flashes en masse. If you shoot things that have flashing lights of this nature, then switch to a different camera - you'll get no joy from a CMOS-based SLR. For normal pans, rolling shutter is now a non-issue. In order to see it, you need to pan so rapidly, and generally back and forth, that you would never use that effect in any video. Here, it's really never noticeable unless you test the camera to see if it has rolling shutter. In those circumstances, you'll see it, of course. But with the limitations of 24 and 25fps progressive video, shooting things like that will give you unmanageable blur anyway, so rolling shutter is likely to be the least of your worries.

So, if you were worried about rolling shutter, stop. It's not a big deal.

What is a big deal, especially for TV and film production, is the lack of clean HDMI output from the 5D. This is used by professionals to bypass the camera's built in codec, and bitrate limitations, and feed video in to an external SSD or memory card. The D800 allows this - although you need to remove all the memory cards to get it to do 1080p - and it's therefore likely to be more suitable for TV production. This is because broadcasters like the BBC and Sky ask for 50MB/s data rates, and neither the 5D or D800 can capture at those rates internally. Mostly, they max-out at less than 30MB/s This is not a reflection on the Canon's codec though, which is very good, but rather a comment on using these cameras for as many and as diverse uses as possible.

Also helpful, is the inclusion of a microphone input and headphone jack. The headphone socket is perfect, and will help users ensure they are capturing the best sound. The microphone jack is fine, although for high-end use it would be preferable to have an XLR socket. Of course, on an SLR this is impossible because of size. Either way, these are two sockets you really want on a video-capable SLR, and here they both are.

Verdict:

As with the Nikon D800, there’s little bad to say about the latest 5D. This does feel like a camera aimed at the film-maker, but at no point does it ever feel that Canon has compromised on the quality of stills it produces. Indeed, our first instinct is to say that, for jpeg images, out of the camera, we prefer the Canon. There is, of course, more to the quality than just a first glance at the jpeg file though.

We think that the D800 produces nicer video out of the camera. Again though, professionals like the 5D. It has a quality that is very easy to work with in post production, and grade to the level of the rest of your material. Having said that, the 5D lacks a clean feed out of its HDMI socket. This is a bit of a problem, and Canon should really have addressed it by now. Of course, the firm now sells a video-only rig, the C300, which is more capable of producing video for pro markets.

We like the way the 5D handles, it's a well-built camera, and it's great to use. It's fast to shoot lots of frames in sequence, which puts it over the D800 with its more massive images. In terms of layout, and design, the only bit we really want to change is the lack of dedicated control for aperture control, two wheels would really have made our day here.

Tags: Cameras Canon Canon 5D mark III Canon 5D DSLR cameras

Canon EOS 5D MK III originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 25 May 2012 18:41:00 +0100

The Pentax Optio WG-2 is a waterproof compact camera that stands out from the crowd. It comes in two variants: here we're reviewing the model without the GPS.

The waterproof compact camera market is now well populated, providing plenty of choice for those who want a camera that will take the odd knock, go swimming with you, or just get plain messy.?

But does Pentax's take on a waterproof compact offer anything different, or does the quirky design get in the way of practical application?

Design

As soon as you look at the Pentax Optio WG-2 it stands out from the crowd. It's a distinct shape and style. Where most rugged compacts look like, well, slightly bloated compact cameras, the WG-2 looks more like something you'd find clipped to Batman's belt.?

There's a range of interesting colours available, we had the all black model to review. It's angular lines offer up a rubberised finish and although slightly whacky, there is plenty of grip on offer.

But in running with a quirky design, there come some slight oddities. The 16:9 display on the rear is slightly unconventional and you get the feeling that this is part of what dictates the 61.5 x 122.5 x 29.5mm frame.?Testing on a sunny day, we found that we couldn't make out much detail on the rear of the camera. Composing shots is generally fine, but once you've got sunscreen smeared on the rear and the sun reflecting off it, you really can't preview your photos very well.

However, the design also means that the lens sits in the centre of the front of the camera, rather than in a corner. This has some advantages, namely that it's easier to keep clear when gripping the camera with gloves, although that logic doesn't quite follow through to the controls, which are really too small, particularly for use with cold weather gloves.

The central location of the lens also means that lining up self-portraits seemed to take a little more effort - the point and hope principle returned less well-framed shots than we get from a regular compact, but this is probably something you can adjust to.

There is another oddity with the design and that's the location of the screw thread for a tripod or mount. This is located on the far right of the underside, meaning that the full weight of the camera is then working against you.?It weighs 194g loaded with card and battery.

For conventional tripod mounting this makes no difference, but when we came to mount put the camera on a handlebar mount, it meant more bouncing added to the equation. It's not a point that will effect everyone, but worth considering.

The body is well sealed, with catches to secure the battery/SD card slot on the bottom and to keep the HDMI port closed on the end of the camera. It lacks the double locking mechanism of something like the Panasonic Lumix FT4, but we gave the Pentax Optio WG-2 plenty of rough treatment and didn't have a problem with the arrangement.

And yes, this camera sinks, so if you're in deep water, clip it on or buy a float.

Controls and features

The top of the WG-2 offers the power and shutter button. Both are rubberised like the surrounding area and feel a little spongy, so need a firmer press than you might first expect to take the shot. Unlike many rivals, there isn't an instant video capture button.

However, the WG-2 does have a green customisable button that you can set to video mode, although this is video toggle, rather than instant capture. Still, that gives you video with two button presses, rather than having to use the mode selector.

As mentioned, the controls in general are a little small. The zoom lever and playback button feel a little crammed in because of the slightly unconventional shape of the body. Compare this to the larger controls of something like the Fujifilm Finepix XP150 and the Pentax seems to be at a slight disadvantage.

Control of the shooting functions is split between major controls on that four-way button on the back, allowing flash, self timer and macro toggles, with face detection options cycling through on it's own button.

The shooting modes covers everything from auto shooting through program to bespoke scene modes for underwater use, including video. Additional settings can then be accessed through the menu button, for example if you want to tweak conventional photo features like ISO, white balance or saturation.?

It sounds slightly more confusing than it actually is, because in reality, the modes work pretty well and switching modes (particularly for underwater use) is fast enough not to present a problem. The settings menu offers you enough freedom to make a range of changes too, like limiting the auto ISO range, for example, but doesn't extend to proper manual control.?

Performance

There is a 16-megapixel sensor at the heart of the camera, with the 5x lens offering 28-140mm (in 35mm terms). As with other waterproof models, the lens is housed internally. The zoom is fast enough, although as we mentioned, the small controls meant we had a tendency not to use it and it isn't available during video.

We found that focusing was usually accurate, with various focusing mode controls available if you can't get it to snap on to exactly what you want. In general we didn't have a problem with it, although it's not fantastic with moving subjects, a little too slow to focus and shoot, so isn't so great for real action shots. It means the camera feels a little slow, that spongy shutter button exacerbated by the delay in capture.

One area we were impressed with focusing was in the underwater modes, which returned some very impressive results. We took the Pentax Optio WG-2 to Hampton Open Air pool (thanks guys!) to see how it performed in the water and the results speak for themselves.

It's worth noting that the underwater modes change the colour balance of shots, so things will appear over-saturated at the red end out of the water - something to bear in mind when you climb out.?

And out of the water the Pentax Optio WG-2 performs well too, offering up some great, typical, holiday snaps. It performs well in bright conditions, although like most compacts, you'll find fringing on high contrast scenes: a roof edge against the sky for example.

As the light drops and the ISO rises, you'll find that shots get softer and noisier, which could be a problem for anyone wanting to print larger images, but isn't uncommon for this type of camera. The same applies to video, with the Full HD mode offering great results in good light and becoming less impressive when things get gloomy.?

You also get only digital stabilisation, which doesn't help in lower light conditions and the lack of any real controls (like aperture) for example, means you're at the mercy of whatever the camera wants to do, up to a point.

The battery gives you about 260 shots, which isn't a huge number, so you'll need to keep a charger handy or find a spare on long days out.

Verdict:

If you're looking for top-notch photos, with the option of getting wet too, then you'll find that buying a cover for a better compact camera will garner you the best results.

However, there is still a lot going for the Pentax Optio WG-2. With the exception of the somewhat slow capture, some of the results we've achieved have been impressive and the underwater results are really good, perfect for those looking for holiday snaps without the hassle.?

The design may instantly turn people off, however. To some extent it is practical, like the central lens, but in others awkward, like the small controls. Like so many things, considering how you are likely to use the WG-2 will aid you in your decision. For us, we found that we prefer a more regular design, like that from Fuji or Panasonic.

Overall, if you're in the market for a waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, crushproof camera, it's certainly worth considering, but you might want something slightly less quirky and with slightly faster capture.

Thanks to Hampton Pool?for letting us shoot in its open air pool, if you're in the area, it's well worth a visit.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Pentax Pentax Optio WG-2 18 megapixels

Pentax Optio WG-2 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 24 May 2012 09:55:00 +0100

Fujifilm’s bombardment of the travel zoom market continues with its fourth F-series release in a12-month period, the FinePix F770EXR.

Unlike its recent predecessors, it’s not a small update: this latest model cranks up the specification by squeezing a 20x optical zoom lens into the small-bodied design.

But with so many releases in such a short period of time, and in a highly competitive market space, has the Fujifilm FinePix F770EXR finally cracked not only Fuji’s formula, but the travel zoom formula as a whole?

Powerful zoom

Among the F770EXR’s biggest draws is its formidable 20x optical zoom lens. This brings the Fujifilm brand up to speed with the likes of the Panasonic TZ30, Sony HX20V and Canon SX260 HS, and offers a considerably longer focal length than its 15x zoom F660EXR predecessor.

The F770EXR’s 25-500mm equivalent means wide-angle group shots or far-and-away subjects are right at your fingertips. The f/3.5-5.3 maximum aperture - that’s the most light the lens can let in at its respective widest and longest focal lengths - may sound standard, but is slightly brighter at the 500mm setting than its nearest competitors.

As per its predecessors, and despite being a new lens, the F770EXR still has some issues with lens flare. It depends on the shooting conditions, but prominent light sources can generate large flare that tends to show as transparent "shapes" within an image.

Irrespective of its pros and cons, the lens does have size on its side. This camera is truly pocketable, and the lens itself disappears inside the body when the camera is switched off. Ideal for on-the-go portability.

Familiar design

The F770EXR’s design is familiar fare, though an angled mode dial on the rear of the camera gives it a bit of added personality.

It’s possible to select from variety of shooting options: there is an auto mode as well as the usual array of manual modes, but it’s EXR mode that will be of most interest to most – we’ll cover that in more detail later.

Rather than lens-based image stabilisation technology to help counteract handshake, the F770EXR opts for a sensor-based version. While it is a capable enough system it means a far more juddery experience in preview, compared to its lens-based competitors, which can be a particular issue at the longest focal lengths. Better to have than nothing at all, but with a 20x zoom lens this really ought to be a better technology.

When light isn’t as plentiful the camera also offers an AF assist lamp which sends out a near-daylight coloured beam. And, if you need it, there’s a pop-up flash to light up dark scenes.

EXR extras

Like the F660EXR, the F770EXR has a 1/2-inch EXR CMOS II sensor. The important part of that is the “II” element in the title: this sensor is more advanced compared to its first generation and is said to deliver a 30 per cent improvement when it comes to low-light performance and overall image noise.

But image quality isn’t all that. Even though the sensor is ever so slightly larger than most of its competitors, the full-resolution 16-megapixel shots can be a little soft, lacking in detail and over-processed into painterly-like scenes on some occasions.

This is where EXR can come to the rescue. The setting, which is marked as "EXR" on the mode dial, will auto select a between wide dynamic range or high sensitivity, low noise (SN) modes. The half-resolution (8-megapixel) output is down to the sensor using two sensor-level pixels for one on-screen pixel, but this gives the camera double the data to work with for an improved picture. It does really work too, though it can improve results only by a limited amount.

If we’re talking ISO sensitivity then the F770EXR offers ISO 100-3200 as standard and reduced resolution ISO 6400-12,800 settings. The lower resolution files don’t cut it in terms of detail, colour or resolution, so it’s down to the standard ISO range to rule in our book.

ISO 100-200 produce decent enough results, though processing can make shots a little soft. ISO 400 already shows considerable detail breakdown, particularly in fine detail areas. ISO 800 is further smeared, while ISO 1600-3200 lose yet more detail and colour wanes into a more washed-out palette.

That may not sound like a sparkling review of its abilities, but it’s pretty standard stuff for a compact camera. We were hoping for more.?

However the F770EXR does have an added trick up its sleeve. The ability to shoot raw is a powerful tool that most other compact cameras fail to include, and something that gives this model a different angle of appeal.

Performance

When it comes to autofocus we have few qualms about the F770EXR’s performance. Whether in close-up macro mode or focusing on a far-away subjects the system performs well.

It also comes in a variety of flavours: centre, multi, continuous and tracking. The centre and the auto-selecting multi are both quick off the mark, while tracking is fast to recognise the selected (central) subject, but the lag to then focus and fire the shutter might not get the shot you were hoping for. The tracking system is more sensitive and better at keeping up with subjects than many other compacts though.

However, and just like its other Fujifilm cousins, there’s a "cut out" issue whereby the image preview ceases to show in real time while the autofocus is acquired at longer focal lengths. This "pause" in motion is long enough of a lag for the subject to wander off and leave you with an empty frame. It’s been present in generations of Fujifilm cameras now, and could really do with a fix.

Other features come aplenty and make the features list look appealing. There’s GPS (global positioning satellite) technology to track and tag where shots are taken; a 360-degree panorama mode; a 1080p HD movie mode where the lens and full time autofocus can be used to their full; and a speedy eight frames per second (8fps) bust mode.?

If anything does lack by today’s standards then it’s a touchscreen and the aforementioned lens-based stabilisation system.?

Verdict:

Even though the Fujifilm FinePix F770EXR is a more budget travel zoom camera than much of the recent competition it has a load of features on offer. Really decent features too: GPS, raw shooting, EXR modes, and we could go on.

But we’d really like to see a lens-based image stabilisation system in the next incarnation and, despite "sensor improvements" the overall image quality won’t cut it when it comes to fine detail work. The EXR output modes go some way to delivering better quality, but it has its limits - also take into account the overall exposure, occasionally problematic lens flare, live preview "pause" when focusing at longer focal lengths and there are some issues to be had.?

There have been a lot of F-series cameras in the past year, and although each has added subtle improvements it's taken the F770EXR to amp up the lens capability. But without lens-based stabilisation and some higher spec features, it's difficult for this compact to truly shine.?

The F770EXR is small, pocketable and affordable - although it's not that much cheaper than the competition. This is a travel zoom with some audible fizz, but it just doesn't quite have that explosive bang.

Tags: Cameras Fujifilm FinePix F770EXR FinePix Compact cameras

Fujifilm FinePix F770EXR originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 23 May 2012 17:05:00 +0100

With compact cameras slimming down, folding optics becoming more sophisticated and prices dropping, more and more waterproof models are appearing. Nikon's first waterproof Coolpix is the AW100.

But facing tough competition from stalwarts Olympus and Panasonic, as well as just about everyone else these days, should you be looking to the Nikon Coolpix AW100 when snapping on your adventures??

Design and control

The Nikon Coolpix AW100 looks tough. We reviewed the matte black version which, when set alongside some of the bright colours of rivals, looks serious but rather more normal at the same time. But Nikon still gives you exposed screwheads and a chunky side lock, leaving you in no doubt that this is a camera that can take some abuse.

The layout of controls is all rather conventional for a Nikon compact camera, with the shutter button on the top and the rest of the controls sitting to the right of the 3-inch 460k-dot display on the rear. These controls are all pretty small, so if you're looking to take your AW100 on the slopes, you might have to peel off a glove to make any substantial changes.?

There is, however, a side button offering instant access to either the GPS map or "action controls" - as determined by the menu selection. Engage the action controls and you'll be able to cycle through various shooting options. It takes some practice and it works after a fashion, but unless you're in extenuating circumstances, taking your glove off will probably be preferable.?

Keeping things watertight there is a clever push-and-rotate lock on the end of the camera, sealing the battery and SD card away from damage.

Shooting on the move

As we mentioned, the AW100 has an integrated GPS. This will let you geotag your position, writing this information into the EXIF data, as well as offering a range of other functions.?As a result, you'll be able to pull up a map and trace your route when not taking photos and you get the option of a digital compass, so you can see which way you are pointing.

This of course, all has an impact on battery life, so you're probably best to use the GPS sparingly if you're not carrying a spare battery or near a charger. The GPS settings options are also available only from the GPS map view accessed via the action button, which can mean a bit of fiddling around to get to them to turn the GPS on or off.

There is a wide range of scene modes on offer, with those pertinent to outdoors activities (underwater, snow, etc) easily accessible if you are using the action button motion control. Otherwise you have the normal combination of auto and "easy auto" modes, as well as face detection and a couple of photo effects, but nothing too wild.

This is, first and foremost, a camera designed to be used as a full auto snapper, although you can make a number of useful adjustments, such as limiting the range of the auto ISO, tweaking the focusing modes and so on. There are a range of continuous shooting modes too.

Movie capture is offered instantly via the button on the back, with capture at up to 1920 x 1080/30p, via just about every option, including iFrame and slow motion, and the option to swap from 240fps slow-mo to regular 30fps in the same movie (accepting a low resolution), useful for capturing those perfect action moments.

Performance

Focusing is pretty fast, but will slow down as the light drops and it isn’t so keen on focusing when there is a lot of movement, resulting in several blurred action shots. Shooting in auto modes, the AW100 copes well with fairly close shots.

Although the specs give a 50cm minimum distance, we found it worked down to about 20cm without complaint and there is a macro mode if you want to get closer.

The 5x Nikkor zoom lens (28-140mm in 35mm terms) is smooth enough to zoom from one end to the other and is mostly distortion free, although there is some edge softness evident in shots at the wider angle. However it offers a max aperture of only f/3.9 limiting low-light and creative potential to some degree.?

The ISO range runs from 100-3200, but at the top end, noise destroys the pictures so it's difficult to recommend using, unless the shot is desperately critical. Noise appears even at low ISOs, although it's probably acceptable until you reach ISO 800, where it's difficult to ignore.?

Overexposed shots with washed-out highlights were relatively common, as the AW100 struggles to cope with high contrast or bright conditions, leading to purple fringing around edges.

The result is that the final image quality isn't so good, most likely because of the compact lens and high number of pixels on the sensor. Of course, some compromises have to be accepted when it comes to creating a rugged compact, but we'd be on the verge of wanting a "normal" camera to get better shots.

Video performance is pretty good, but it's worth bearing in mind that if it's a dedicated "action cam" you're after for video, then something like the GoPro will be a better option for you. Straight video capture is detailed enough however, but we couldn't resist strapping the camera to the front of a bike to see how it coped.

The design doesn't completely help here either, on a practical level. The surface of the lens isn't as large as on some models, so if you find yourself having to wipe it clean with the corner of your T-shirt, it's pretty tricky. Sure, it might be better protected, but wiping mud away takes more effort than on some other tough cameras.

Verdict:

The Nikon AW100 offers a tough build that will keep shooting in all conditions. It will survive water down to a depth 10m, drops from 1.5m and temperatures down to -10 degrees celcius, meaning you're well protected whether on the beach or from that pint glass of wine that always gets knocked over.?

But the image quality and the results we've achieved don't really speak volumes for the Coolpix AW100. It's managed to get the shots, but along the way, we've had to delete a large number of over-exposed pictures as it struggles with bright conditions.?

However, there are a huge range of features on offer in the AW100, from the GPS to the additional accessory filters you can attach to the front using an adapter. Perhaps not the most exciting tough camera on the market and it is priced towards the top end. But if you can get it at a good price, it will survive the vigour of the outdoors life.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Nikon Nikon AW100 16 megapixels

Nikon Coolpix AW100 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 22 May 2012 13:30:00 +0100

Pentax is expanding its line-up of DSLR cameras, with the introduction of the mid-level Pentax K-30.

The Pentax K-30 will offer photographers a compact and lightweight DSLR with the benefit of weather proofing, as seen on the existing K-5 and K-7 models. Featuring 81 seals, the K-30 promises to be dust and cold proof, happy down to temperatures of -10C.?

It features a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor (23.7 x 15.7mm, so APS-C format) which features Pentax's sensor shift type Shake Reduction.

Not only does this give you assistance in lower light or at long zooms, but the SR mechanism also allows for features such as horizon correction and an Astrotracer mode to aid you when shooting stars with the accessory O-GPS1 unit.

Boosting the Pentax K-30's credentials are a glass prism finder, offering near 100 per cent FOV, 11-point (9 cross-type) autofocusing, as well as, Pentax claim, a new AF algorithm with a select-area function which will track a moving object as it moves out of a pre-selected focus area.

You'll be able to shoot JPEG images at up to six frames a second, with a max shutter speed of 1/6000 sec. The Prime M imaging engine will offer a normal ISO shooting range of ISO 100 to ISO 12800, expandable up to 25600, with Pentax claiming low noise imaging, something we'll have to test when we review this new camera.

Full-HD video capture is offered, at 30fps, along with a range of auto and scene modes to help you get the shot you want, as well as a range of digital filters for several quirky shooting options.?Live view is offered via the 3-inch 921k-dot display around the rear.

The Pentax K-30 will be available in three colours, Crystal White, Crystal Blue and the traditional Classic Black. We've got to say, the black model looks a little bland alongside the blue and white models.?

Hitting stores from the end of June 2012, pricing is yet to be announced, but we'll update as soon as we find out.

UPDATE: Pentax has now confirmed the pricing on the K-30. The body-only price is ?599.99 (all colours) and there will be various kit deals available, the standard DA L 18-55mm kit at ?649.99 with various options thereafter.

Tags: Cameras DSLR cameras Pentax Pentax K-30 16 megapixels

Pentax K-30: 16-megapixel weather-proofed mid-level DSLR originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 21 May 2012 23:00:00 +0100

The Pentax Optio LS465 continues the trend of offering owners the chance to customise their compact camera.

Like last year's Pentax Optio RS1500, the Optio LS465 features a clear removable front cover, so you can change the front design of the camera to suit your mood. Ten designs come in the box to get you started.?

The LS465 is very compact, measuring 102 x 46 x 18mm and weighing only 104g, so will slip into any pocket or bag with ease. It comes in black, pink and purple base colours.?

On the technical side, the Pentax Optio LS465 packs in a 5x optical zoom (28-140mm in 35mm terms) lens into that frame, with a 16-megapixel sensor.

This is every inch a point-and-shoot camera, offering a range of auto picture modes and creative filters for those essential retro and miniature effects. You also get normal features such as face detection and smile capture.?

On the movie front, the Optio LS465 doesn't quite hit the full-HD highs, offering 1280 x 720 capture at 30fps, although there is an instant capture button on the back of the camera, so you'll be shooting movies in a flash.?

Around the back of the camera is a 2.7-inch a 230k-dot resolution display, the low resolution reflected in the very affordable ?89.99 price tag.

It can be yours from mid-June 2012. We say go purple.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Pentax Pentax Optio LS465

Pentax Optio LS465 camera offers compact customisability, at little cost originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 21 May 2012 23:00:00 +0100

As compact system cameras become more plentiful, there are splinter product groups forming. Panasonic’s latest compact system camera, the Lumix GF5, is all about being small and easy to use.

Those after a pocketable system, but one that will deliver on the image quality front, ought to find the GF5’s form and features an attractive prospect.

It doesn’t have the extensive hands-on controls, optional viewfinder, nor the great expansion possibilities of a higher-spec model, such as the Lumix GX1 – but that’s not what this latest micro system is all about.

Can the small-bodied GF5 deliver big in the image quality and performance departments to set this Micro Four Thirds model apart from its competitors?

Small, but not too small

The GF5 is small, really small. But not so small that it becomes a nuisance to use. With the 14-42mm power zoom lens attached the camera’s not significantly larger than many of the current 20x travel zoom compact cameras such as the Panasonic Lumix TZ30. In part this is based on the 14-42mm power zoom lens’s ability to collapse within itself when switched off.

The overall design is a near carbon copy of the previous GF3 model, but with one notable difference: a chunkier, better designed grip. This makes the camera adhere better to the hand, which will be of particular use if attaching a longer lens.

There’s also a new "display" button on the rear to toggle between different screen views and overlays. A small addition, but an improvement nonetheless.

The lack of a main mode dial may distress some, but the combination of a Q.Menu button and rear d-pad-cum-rotational-dial make chopping through different options simple.

Furthermore the 3-inch, 921k-dot LCD screen is touch-sensitive, so it’s possible to select options from the quick menu with a literal touch of a finger. It’s responsive too, not smartphone responsive mind, but not a million miles off the mark.

The GF5's lack of a viewfinder or any provision to add one at a later date is something any prospective purchaser will need to know about from the offset. After Sony’s announcement of the latest NEX-F3 compact system camera with its smart accessory terminal and optional viewfinder, however, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Panasonic follow a similar approach with the next GF-series model. For now users will have to deal with just the screen which, despite its decent resolution and touch-responsiveness, can be tricky to view in bright sunlight.

To infinity and beyond

Recent Panasonic G-series releases have had impressive autofocus performance and the GF5 is no exception. The claim of "the world’s fastest" is thrown around left, right and centre these days, but with this Lumix it’s quite believable. And even if it’s a microsecond slower than the competition, it’s not something that will register to any normal person's brain.

As well as a 23-area auto mode, autofocus is broken down into face detection, AF tracking, 1-area and pinpoint modes. With 1-area and pinpoint it’s possible to press anywhere on the screen to acquire a specific focus point. The pinpoint option zooms in to a 100 per cent image-sized view to show where the exact focus has been acquired. There’s plenty of control here, or you can let the camera take control instead - the choice is yours.

For more experienced users all the usual manual control modes are available from within the menus, or those inexperienced users can simply press the "iA" (intelligent Auto) button on the top of the camera for point and shoot simplicity where the camera takes control. The iA button lights up blue to show it’s kicked the auto mode in, a useful feature should it be accidentally pressed.

The camera's new power zoom lens that came with this test kit isn’t controlled like a usual twist-ring lens. Instead the inclusion of a compact-like zoom toggle on the lens itself moves through the wideangle to mid zoom setting. The idea’s a good one, and it’s great for steady zooming during the 1080p movie mode, but we’re not totally sold on it. It’s one of those "Marmite moments" really - you either love it or hate it, or, who knows, you may be impartial. If it’s not for you then there’s a cheaper 14-42mm kit lens option available amid the bags of other Micro Four Thirds lenses that are out there. That's one thing the Micro Four Thirds standard certainly isn't short of.

Speaking of movie mode, the GF5’s full HD 1080p capture now includes stereo sound (something the GF3 lacked), full-time autofocus and can output MP4 files for immediate use. There’s also AVCHD capture for more demanding users, but this requires processing before it can be used on most off-camera devices.

Image quality

The GF5’s sensor may have the same 12.1-megapixel resolution of its GF3 predecessor, but Panasonic tells us it’s a newly designed one paired up with an advanced noise reduction system.

Marketing bumph? It would appear not. We already thought that the GF3 delivered decent shots considering its image sensor size, but the GF5 steps overall quality up a notch.

The ISO 160-6400 range is expandable to an ISO 12,800 (equivalent), though there’s still no sign of that lower ISO 100 sensitivity that we’d really like.

The Micro Four Thirds sensor size may make it harder to achieve as dramatic shallow depth of field – that pro-looking "blurred background" look - as some of the APS-C sensor compact system camera competition, but it’s really not as far off. The upside is a smaller and proportional camera system.

At the lower sensitivities from ISO 160-400 the GF5’s images are crisp and clean and pack in plenty of detail. The difference in detail is fairly negligible between these settings.

Amp things up a little and results are still good, though ISO 800-1600 become a little softer - yet image noise still isn’t a distinct issue. That it’s possible to shoot with a Micro Four Thirds sensor at ISO 1600 and still get detailed, sharp shots is impressive. It would seem that the advanced noise reduction really is doing its thing. Work it.

ISO 3200-6400 are softer and show some colour noise but, as you can see from our sample images gallery, there’s no reason such sensitivities can’t be used for smaller-scale work such as online shots.

However, the newly added ISO 12,800 equivalent setting isn’t any good. We’d rather it had been omitted as it doesn’t bring anything fresh to the party. Just noisy, over-processed shots. We'll just pretend it's not there, then.

On that back of overall good performance, one of our only qualms is the auto white balance. It occasionally wandered off into some strange territory from time to time. We're not talking a million miles out, but when a scene has a "peach wash" or other minor colour cast it just looks a little bit like an out of date film stock or something from decades gone by.

The GF5 includes a creative control mode with a variety of filters, including six new ones. There’s dynamic monochrome, star filter, cross process and many more to make up the total 14 options.

Ignoring the occasional colour balance glitch, the GF5 holds its weight in the imaging department. It’s the perfect step up from a compact and, daresay, a giant leap forward for the GF-series.

Verdict:

The GF5’s ultra-small size doesn’t limit its overall performance. This is one fast camera that delivers where it counts on the image quality front too.

Although the power zoom lens keeps the package’s size down, we’re not totally sold on either its price implication or toggle zoom - opt for the standard (larger) 14-42mm lens and you won’t lose out on image quality, but will save yourself a hundred notes. Though, granted, it’s all a matter of personal preference.

The lack of a hotshoe and viewfinder can’t be held against this camera as Panasonic has the higher-end GX1 for those kinds of snappers. Instead the GF5 is designed to be as small and user-friendly as possible and, with that in mind, it’s bang on the money. It’ll tick most of the right boxes for the point-and-shoot yet image conscious market that it’s aimed at. Good to see Micro Four Thirds continuing to push its own envelope. The GF5 may be small, but it's certainly powerful.

Tags: Cameras Panasonic Lumix GF5 Lumix Panasonic Compact system cameras

Panasonic Lumix GF5 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 21 May 2012 12:08:20 +0100

The latest addition to Panasonic's Lumix G X Vario lens range is the H-HS12035, a 12-35mm constant f/2.8.?

The new Micro Four Thirds lens is pitched at the high end, sitting above the regular G Series lenses, and joins the two X lenses launched in 2011.

Unlike the existing lenses, however, the 12-35mm isn't a power lens. But it is solidly built, featuring a premium construction with metal barrel, and nano surface coating to reduce flare and ghosting.

We had our hands on a pre-production sample before the announcement and found that the zoom action was incredibly smooth, with the rubber grip making it feel nice and precise.

But perhaps the most interesting detail about the new lens is that it is water and dust resistant, Panasonic's first "weather-proofed" lens for the G Series compact system cameras.

It's interesting because none of the existing camera bodies are weather proofed, suggesting that Panasonic will be lining up a new model in the near future to rival the Olympus OM-D, also weather proofed.

This tallies with rumours that have been circulating for some time and with the Lumix GH2 now getting rather long in the tooth, this adds weight to the suggestion that we'll soon see the GH3 featuring a sealed body.

Of course, the latter is currently speculation, but the new lens can be yours from the end of June at just shy of ?1000.

Tags: Cameras Compact system cameras Panasonic Micro Four Thirds Lenses

Panasonic H-HS12035 Lumix G X lens announced, hints at weather-proofed GH3 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 21 May 2012 06:00:00 +0100

Canon has been rather tardy with the release of its 2012 mid-level DSLR, the EOS 650D (Rebel T4i in the US and other regions). Its predecessors, the Canon EOS 600D and EOS 550D, were released in March 2011 and April 2010 respectively, but this year's spring has passed and there's still no sign of the new model.

It is believed, however, that Canon-ites won't need to wait much longer: sources claim its launch will be next month. As dedicated website Canon Rumours states: "An announcement is slated for June."

The same site has also heard some leaked specifications for the 650D, including the adoption of an 18-megapixel CMOS sensor that may or may not be the same as in last year's 600D. Also listed is a 9-point AF (again, the same as found on the 600D) and the very welcome continuous auto focus in live view and video recording modes.

Perhaps the most tantalising rumour is that the EOS 650D will come with a touchscreen LCD screen. After the superbly large one on the 550D and swivel version on the 600D, this comes as the next evolutionary step.

That's about all that's come out for now, but if the June announcement is correct, Pocket-lint fully expects the speculation to ramp up in volume over the next couple of weeks.

Read

Tags: Canon Cameras DSLRs Canon EOS 650D

Canon EOS 650D coming in June - specs leaked originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 15:29:00 +0100

There's something about Leica cameras; it's hard to quite put a finger on it. So when Pocket-Lint had the chance to play with a brand new Leica X2 we rushed at the opportunity.

Announced last week, the Leica X2, which will replace 2009's X1, adds a new 16.2-megapixel APS-C sensor, among some other more subtle changes.

The fixed-lens compact has a Leica Elmarit 24mm f/2.8 ASPH lens, which equates to a 36mm lens in full-frame (or 35mm) equivalent. This medium-to-wide focal length is often touted as the perfect match for street photographers and the near-silent function makes it a discreet snapper.

From the outside, the X2 looks to be much the same camera as its predecessor. The body shape is one and the same, yet the leather-style grip has a different texture than before. The pop up flash is now activated from a switch to the rear, unlike the push-down and pop-up cylindrical flash found in the X1. A crucial change, which isn't apparent from just looking at the camera, is that the rotational aperture and shutter dials are now much stiffer - no accidental knocks will send your settings down the pan, a known complaint from existing X1 users.

Flip the camera around and the inclusion of a rear port means it's possible to accommodate a new electronic viewfinder in combination with the hotshoe. The 1,440k-dot resolution EVF2 will be sold separately for ?360 at launch, and ought to tick a box with those looking for a finder that can relay camera settings and autofocus confirmation right back to the eye. But, if you're the more traditional type, then the 36mm optical viewfinder, priced at ?269, may be more up your street - and ideally matched to a fixed lens camera such as this.

Despite apparent similarities to its predecessor, the X2 is the superior camera. An upgraded autofocus system is notably faster, now able to zip into action and identify a subject in a fraction of the previous time. However, the same optical construction - however grand - isn't capable when it comes to close-up focusing.

So how much will this slice of compact elegance set you back? A hefty ?1,575 will buy either the all-black or mock-silver camera. Should you choose to add the optional grip (?92), leather hand strap (?25), brown ever-ready case (?135) and one of the aforementioned viewfinders then it'll quickly rack up to a yet pricier piece. It's enough to make any wallet ache.

Tags: Cameras Leica Leica X2

Leica X2 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 17 May 2012 08:58:00 +0100

Sony's refresh of its Alpha range continues with the brand new Sony Alpha A37. The replacement for last year's A35 model, the A37 further strengthens Sony's SLT (Single Lens Translucent) lineup and shows the company's ongoing investment in the technology.

The Alpha A37 is the entry-level SLT model, its main focus is on fast shooting but at an affordable price.

It looks and feels much the same as its predecessor, though the screen size has shrunk from 3-inches to 2.7-inches, and drops from a 921k-dot to 230k-dot resolution, but it gains the benefit of being mounted on a tilt-angle bracket to move the screen up or down for more unusual shooting positions.

The 16.2-megapixel sensor is now able to shoot from ISO 100-16,000 - increasing half a stop of sensitivity at the top end compared to its predecessor.

As per the recently announced Sony A57 camera, the A37 takes advantage of Auto Portrait Framing - a mode designed to auto-crop your shots. It works well sometimes, but can crop in at undesirable places. More gimmick than great.

Elsewhere it's very much business as usual. The 5.5fps burst shooting mode can snap away at an improved 7fps when in the Tele-zoom Continuous Advance Priority AE mode, making it extremely fast for the money. There's sensor-based image stabilisation, 1080p HD movie capture and a 15-point (three cross type sensors) autofocus system.

The main reason for the camera's fast burst speed is the SLT design - as the mirror is translucent it needn't move out of the way to expose the sensor. The result? Light can simultaneously reach both the sensor and phase detection autofocus system for non-stop focusing. It's impressive stuff for both stills and movie capture.?

However because of the design the camera inherits an electronic viewfinder, not a traditional optical one. Some will love it, some won't - it's down to personal taste. We think it's rather cool, and the "what you see is what you get" 100 per cent field of view makes it stand out above other entry-level DSLR cameras. The 1440k-dot resolution also trumps its predecessor and makes for detailed viewing. But it does seem to be a case of pinching resolution from the rear LCD and squeezing it into the viewfinder however. But you can't win at everything, right?

Anticipated to launch for around ?500-530, the A37 is a tempting prospect on the value front. We'll be reviewing a final sample model in due course. Keep your eyes peeled.

Tags: Cameras Sony Alpha Sony A37 DSLR cameras

Sony Alpha A37 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:00 +0100

In addition to the Sony A37 also announced today, the company has refreshed its entry-level NEX-series compact system camera. The NEX-F3, the camera to replace the NEX-C3, continues down the alphabet soup name-change line - but is a refresh with some subtle yet important changes.

The camera comes loaded with a 16.1-megapixel APS HD CMOS sensor, able to capture images from ISO 200-16,000. That's half a stop more sensitivity than its predecessor, but there's still no ISO 100 setting, which is a shame - the Sony Alpha SLT models are capable of this, so we see no reason why the NEX-series continues to omit a lower sensitivity.

As well as easy USB charging where the camera can be plugged into a laptop or other device to charge up, the F3 has an improved battery life compared to its predecessor. Now able to capture 470 shots per charge, that's an extra 70 shots per charge compared to its predecessor - although we haven't been able to test this thoroughly, if it proves true it will be most welcome. Most, if not all, compact system cameras suffer from poor battery life, so for Sony to take charge in changing this gets a thumbs up from us.

It's out with the old and in with the new too: the NEX-F3 includes a built-in pop-up flash, not the fiddly screw-on flash of its predecessor. Now this we like.

Movie mode also takes a step forward to a higher resolution. The full-HD 1080p mode captures at 25 frames per second, up from the C3's 720p capture.

As per the recently announced Sony A57 camera, the NEX-F3 takes advantage of both Auto Portrait Framing and Clear Image Zoom. The former is designed to auto-crop your shots for optimum framing, while the latter is akin to a digital zoom, except the image output size remains at 16-megapixels, despite the additional 2x magnification. The preview doubles the lens's focal length, which not only makes framing easy but is an extra trick that effectively doubles focal length when desired.

New picture effect modes open up a variety of in-camera adjustments. There are 11 types and 15 variations that range from posterisation to retro and black and white to toy camera. It's all the rage.

The bulk of the NEX-C3's features carry over to the latest F3 model. The same 3-inch, 921k-dot, tilt-angle LCD remains, and there's still no viewfinder - but it is possible to attach the FDA-EV1S electronic viewfinder (sold separately) to the smart accessory terminal - meaning it's possible to have both flash and viewfinder, unlike previous entry-level NEX models. 5.5fps burst shooting in speed priority mode also remains.

We like the way Sony's tinkered with the NEX-series. The NEX-F3 looks like a batch of little changes that will combine to make a big difference. And we anticipate it to launch at close to the ?500 mark. Affordable stuff.

Tags: Cameras Sony NEX-F3 NEX-C3 Compact system cameras

Sony NEX-F3 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:00 +0100

As well as the Leica M9 Monochrom, Pocket-Lint was also lucky enough to get a hands-on, well a "gloves-on", with the latest Leica M9-P Edition Herm?s.

Limited to just 300 products, each etched with its own unique number code, boxed with a book and a 50mm f/1.4 ASPH lens, the M9-P is, clearly, a snip at just ?18,000.

Those with fatter wallets may opt for one of the 100 products to come boxed with three silver-anodised lenses - the 28mm f/2 ASPH and 50mm f/0.95 and 90mm f/2 ASPH - priced at a mere ?36,000. Fortunately VAT is included.

Unlike the standard M9, the Herm?s?edition has been designed by Walter de'Silva. As such it comes without a hotshoe, though with that uber-bright f/0.95 lens it's quite possible you'll never need - nor want - a flash.

The shutter dial and multi-function dial have also been completely designed to give this special edition that extra special feel. The obvious tie-in with Herm?s, the camera is also dressed in Herm?s?Veau Swift calfskin leather. Very chic.

We're suckers for pricey kit. Rich fashionistas and Arabian princes pay attention - this is the hot ticket right here.

Tags: Cameras Leica Leica M9 Hermes Hermes Leica M9-P

Leica M9 Hermes pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:43:00 +0100

A flurry of Leica launches last week caught our attention, not least thanks to the addition of the Leica M9-M Monochrom - the first rangefinder camera with a dedicated, full-frame black and white sensor. Heck, from what we can recall it's the first non-medium-format camera with a dedicated black and white sensor.

The Monochrom - that's right, drop the "e" and say it in a very German accent for extra coolness - shoots files in black and white. That means its Raw files are true black and white renders.

Specialist? For sure. But it's clever stuff. Based on the same sensor as the original M9, at least in terms of its full-frame size, the M9 Monochrom doesn't need the usual colour array found in most, if not all, digital cameras. This means no interpolation - the process of the camera "educatedly guessing" accurate colours at each pixel site - is required, instead a super-accurate greyscale reading is taken for precision tonality.

The print we saw on fibre paper in the Leica studio - printed by Whitewall in Germany, a company offering an exclusive digital-meets-wet process for Leica M users - looked like a stand-out example of how classic black and white photography should look.

Lovely though all this may sound, its ?6,120 price tag will leave many jaws on the floor. Oh, and that's without the 50mm Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH lens that you can see in our hands-on pictures - that'll set you back a further ?5,400.

Tags: Cameras Leica Leica M9 Monochrom leica m9 Photos

Leica M9 Monochrom pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 16 May 2012 13:15:00 +0100

GoPro has announced a Dive Housing for its HD Hero line of action cameras. The new accessory will enable you to get the best possible results at depths down to 60m.

If that depth sounds familiar, that's because it's the existing rating of the GoPro waterproof housing that comes with the camera.

The new accessory is really an enhancement on the existing housing, offering a large flat-glass lens, rather than the domed lens on the regular waterproof housing, designed to offer you the best-quality results from your camera.?

The new accessory is compatible with all models of the HD Hero, as well as existing mounts and accessories.

It will set you back ?49.99 and you get the Dive Housing, lens cap (with string) and mounting accessories in the pack.

It is available now.

UPDATE: GoPro has released a video of the Dive Housing in action, complete with Bond girl in bikini and a shark!

Tags: Cameras Camcorders GoPro GoPro HD Hero

GoPro Dive Housing will maximise your HD Hero performance underwater (Video) originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 15 May 2012 15:45:00 +0100

Sony is set to officially unveil the a37 and NEX-F3 cameras later this week, though details of what kind of specs we can expect have already emerged on the internet.?

The cameras are to be announced officially on 17 May, with Sony also using the platform to showcase a new 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM lens that will be available for around $500.

The Sony a37 has a 16.1-megapixel sensor and ISO range of between 100 and 16,000. There is 15-points autofocus with three cross sensors and 2.5-4 stops of image stabilization.?

The a37’s LCD can be tilted while Sony has also equipped the camera with 1080 24p HD video recording, complete with face detection.?

Weighing in at 448g, the Sony a37 will begin shipping in June with an 18-55mm lens for $599. However, for $799, Sony’s new f/3.5-5.6 SAM lens will also be included with the a37.

The Sony NEX-F3 mirrorless camera again has a 16.1-megapixel sensor, an ISO of 100-16,000 and 1080 24p HD video. It also has the latest Bionz processor, 180 degree LCD, making it easier for self-portraits and a built-in flash.

Available in three colours, silver, black and white, the Sony NEX-F3 will again start shipping in June with an expected retail price of $599.

Read

Tags: Cameras Photography Sony Photos

Sony a37 and NEX-F3 camera specs leaked originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 14 May 2012 09:49:00 +0100

This week’s Leica event in Berlin launched so many products it was easy to miss one if you blinked. The most affordable item, the Leica V-Lux 40, was brushed over so quickly that even the keenest of Leica watchers may have missed it.

This is a shame, because it’s a handsome compact with a lot going for it. Pocket-lint had rare hands-on time, while everyone else was distracted by the big guns.

The Leica V-Lux 40 is the latest compact to continue the relationship with Panasonic, a company which Leica Chairman Dr Andreas Kaufmann described as "our respected partner".

So it’s similar to the Panasonic Lumix TZ30, an impressively capable machine, as you can read in our review. This model, however, costs over ?200 more. Of course, Leica cameras aren’t known for being bargain basement, but what do you get for your ?550?

Well, to start with, the look is pretty special. The metal body feels coolly solid under the finger, with the curvy form of the Panasonic straightened and moderated to give a gorgeous result. The iconic red logo stands out as ever in the top left corner and will make Leica lovers drool a little.

High-end design stands or falls on detail. Here, there are plenty, from the lens cover which is now black (on last year’s V-Lux 30 it was silver) which adds to the demure, authoritative, look of the camera, to the Leica logo which briefly appears on the LCD screen as you turn the snapper off.

That LCD is a 3-inch touchscreen, making it easy to pick where you want to focus. This is Leica’s first touchscreen, though it was made clear to us that it may not be the last. Bigger Leicas, it was hinted, may make use of the technology in coming seasons.

The sensor’s resolution is unchanged from last year’s model, with 15.3 megapixels (14.1 effective). There are extra features such as GPS built in so you can easily geotag your snaps. The V-Lux 40 comes with a DVD of maps for major cities which can be uploaded to the camera and used to guide you if you’re in unfamiliar surroundings. Perhaps it’s cool to struggle your way around squinting at the screen on your camera, but be warned it’ll be a juice-sapper.

But as always with Leica, it’s all about the lens. The spectacular glass now comes with a whopping 20x zoom, 24-480mm in 35mm terms. Combine that focal length with the improved low light capabilities of the sensor and this suddenly becomes the perfect gig camera, for once offering images of your favourite band where you can actually recognise who’s on stage.

In fact, the powerful zoom has a lot of uses, so a casual glance at a distant block of flats, let’s say, may surprisingly reveal that it’s always worth getting dressed properly before watering window boxes. I mean, maybe not shirt and tie, but would a T-shirt really have been beyond this Berlin balcony gardener?

Of course, accidental voyeurism may not be your thing. Whatever, the zoom is fast, butter-smooth and appealing. We've included the wide angle of this shot below so you can judge the extent of the range. Naturally, we’ll be testing it comprehensively in our Leica V-Lux 40 review when we have a sample in the office.

There’s a copy of Photoshop Elements 10 and Premiere Elements 10 bundled with the camera which adds to the value, and the 2-year warranty is boosted by the Leica UK Passport – an accidental damage cover policy which lasts for 1 year. And Leica is known for spectacular customer service from a complimentary demo or training session to technical support by telephone.

Add these together and this doesn’t seem like bad value compared to the Panasonic. Plus, how can we put this? It’s a Leica.

Actually, ?550 seems great value to have an iconic camera brand in your mitts.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Leica Leica V-Lux 40 Panasonic Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 Photos

Leica V-Lux 40 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Sat, 12 May 2012 10:39:00 +0100

The Nikon D3200 set tongues wagging when announced last month. Its headline-grabbing 24-megapixel sensor promised to be unlike anything the entry-level DSLR market had seen before.

But in a world where the megapixel isn’t always king, can the D3200 deliver across the board, and, more importantly, is it what beginners truly need?

The might of megapixels

There’s no denying it, high megapixel counts have been used to sell cameras for years now. But most users don’t have the need for such resolution, in particular at the beginner or "entry-level" end of the market.

Arguably the D3200 isn’t just aimed at those newcomers. It is, after all, the highest-resolution DSLR in its class, and certainly the most affordable 24-megapixel camera on the market today. That resolution may speak volumes to landscape or portrait photographers that want a budget option capable of outputting huge file sizes for optimum quality prints - but these are people that, most likely, already know what they’re doing.

For the beginner, the megapixel count may be almost inconsequential to their work, yet it does present the option to crop into shots without overall quality loss. This is an appealing prospect, bettered by the camera’s in-camera crop function.

But Nikon has missed a trick here, one that Sony has had in its Alpha line for some time now: the ability to magnify the preview and, therefore, final image, by using less of the sensor’s real estate. A 2x magnifier, for example, would double a lens’s telephoto reach and, in the case of the D3200, still output images at 12-megapixels without quality loss - but that beginner-friendly approach hasn’t made it into the Nikon model.

Guide-ing light

Ease of use is at the forefront of the D3200. Its guide mode, as adapted from the D3100, is an illustrated walkthrough guide that helps to achieve certain types of shots. For example, "capture red in sunsets" will adjust the camera’s white balance. Text and an accompanying image show that "color temperatures 5000K or more bring out reds most effectively". Change the settings within the guide mode and the corresponding image shows how the final result will differ. So it’s a learning process that’s well suited to newcomers that might know the desired result, but not know the camera mode or settings to use.

It’s not infallible though and there are always other settings that can have knock-on effects, or conditions might not suit the desired shot. For example an auto?ISO sensitivity is available, but is switched off by default - a little menu digging will find the option, but newcomers may not know to head here, nor understand its relevance.?The auto modes also have a tendency to pop the flash up at the drop of a hat and, while it is possible to turn this off from within guide mode, it can become a nuisance.

More advanced users will use Nikon's longstanding i-button to jump into a quick menu that displays on the rear LCD. Although the "info" name may not make perfect sense to newcomers, this Nikon staple is an essential to the camera's design and a key way to access the important settings. To further speed things up there's also a programmable function (Fn) button towards the front left side of the camera, which is well placed to adjust in use in combination with the rear thumb dial.?

Performance

It’s possible to shoot using either the D3200’s viewfinder or the rear LCD screen set in live view mode.

The 3-inch, 921k-dot LCD screen may sound like it delivers on paper, but its playback is too cold/cyan which makes accurate colour balance tricky. This isn’t isolated to our review sample either, as we checked multiple camera bodies.

Live view uses a user-positioned focus point that can be placed anywhere around the screen from edge to edge and, although not as fast as autofocus when using the viewfinder, is standard for this level. Just don’t expect to use it for action shots - it's more one for still life shots and can be useful for unusual framing when it's not possible to have the viewfinder to your eye.?

Burst speed comes in at four frames per second. Paired with the Expeed 3 processor the camera can crunch through images at pace. Although 4fps may not sound fast, consider that the 6016x4000px JPEG files can exceed 12MB each and the Raw files are around 25MB and it’s an impressive statistic. With a Class 10 SD card loaded up in the camera it was possible to shoot eight consecutive raw and JPEG files, or 23 JPEG "fine" shots in one burst. Good show.

It's worth mentioning there's also a wireless transmitter unit available, priced at ?55. The WU-1a?is only compatible with the D3200 (to date) and is a fun way of transmitting images or controlling the camera using your Android phone.?

The camera’s autofocus system is the same 11-point multi-CAM 1000 system that’s been used for many years by some Nikon product lines. It works well in good light and there’s an AF-assist lamp for when things get a bit too dim, yet the overall speed isn’t lightning fast. It’s an entry-level performance, though the camera’s price tag might suggest it would have stepped things up a gear or two in this department –?a potential oversight when considering what else is available on the market.?

Price wars

So, is the D3200 worth it?

The ?649 launch price is more than the (mostly) better-specified Nikon D5100 - the model which is supposed to sit above the D3200 in Nikon’s DSLR range.

While the D3200 adds the high-resolution sensor to its features arsenal, it doesn’t add any extras in the autofocus performance department.

Then there’s the Sony Alpha A65. This mid-level SLT uses the very same 24-megapixel sensor, but has a more advanced feature set which includes a faster autofocus system. But it also have a heftier price tag, at around ?755 with a kit lens.

Megapixels to marvel at?

But then the D3200’s images are great.

Despite the 24-megapixel resolution the entirety of the ISO 100-6400 sensitivity range is usable to some degree. A feat even more impressive when considering just how high resolution this camera is.

Critical detail is more visible at the lower ISO settings, though processing does render JPEGs softer than their raw counterparts. ISO 100-200 hold the most detail, while ISO 400-800 show more evidence of processing - these middle sensitivity settings look slightly softer yet grainier but are still of good quality.

At the higher settings ISO 1600 is where colour noise becomes noticeable and there’s a steeper turn to softness, while ISO 3200 is yet softer, colour is more muted, and although detail isn’t as prominent as at lower ISO settings there’s room to get a decent shot. ISO 6400 lacks detail but will be useful for some scenarios, and the inclusion of a Hi1 (ISO 12,800) setting pushes the limits of usability, yet isn’t awful.

Hyper-critical eyes will see some evidence of colour noise in gradient areas at any ISO setting upwards of ISO 100. This is negligible until ISO 400 where it has some presence, though won’t be to the detriment of most images.

Overall exposure is accurate, as is auto white balance - even if, in the case of the latter, the camera’s rear LCD screen isn’t the best at displaying the true colour balance.

Resolution hounds, take note, the D3200 has got this one in the bag.

Movie maestro

It was only a matter of time before an entry-level model went out all guns blazing in the moving image department. The D3200 is exactly that model: it includes a 1080p movie mode with 30, 25 or 24 frames per second capture using the H.264 codec to output MOV files.

As well as an onboard mono microphone there’s also a 3.5mm microphone input. This is particularly useful as Nikon AF-S lenses will, in general, create autofocus motor sounds that will be picked up in recordings. But that’s little to no problem when a third-party microphone is attached.

Continuous or single autofocus are both available, as is manual focus. Metering, however, is automatic - there's no manual control to be found here.

Verdict:

There are two ways to think about the D3200: as a souped-up D3100 with ultra high resolution, great quality images; or as a camera that’s purporting to be entry-level when it’s straddling the mid-level DSLR market.

The latter is a view to take seriously, as the Sony Alpha A65 - which shares the same sensor as this camera - is roughly ?100 more, yet offers both faster autofocus and burst modes and similar, if not the very same, 24-megapixel image quality. In fact the D3200 is pricier than either Nikon’s higher spec D5100 model or the Canon EOS 600D.

But when every penny counts, the D3200 does pull out the image quality stops. This already proven sensor produces fantastic images and ushers in a new era of quality to the entry-level end of the market.

Guide mode is a great tool, as proven by the D3100, that will help first timers to develop their understanding of photography. But then the budget D3100 has the same mode (bar a couple of changes) and costs far less.

In summary it’s all about your imaging needs: If great quality images at high resolution and a decent movie mode to match are a must, or if you’re a newbie, then the D3200 is excellent and outperforms middleweight DSLRs on those fronts.

Tags: Cameras Nikon Nikon D3200 DSLR cameras

Nikon D3200 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 11 May 2012 20:24:00 +0100

An iPhone accessory that enables you to capture both 360-degree stills and video before sharing them online will soon be available.

Pocket-lint saw the BubbleScope camera accessory in person at the Digital Summer event in London and - after years in the making - it's arrival in July was confirmed by?BubblePix,?the company behind the kit

We say years in the making, as way back in July 2011, BubbleScope creator Tom Lawton spoke in depth about the technology used in the accessory. Then it was simply a device that could capture 360-degree photographs, but Pocket-lint can now confirm that the gadget will also be capable of recording video too.

The BubbleScope accessory is small enough to fit in your pocket and, rather than clip on to the case (included with the camera lens) that encompasses your iPhone, it screws on giving it a tighter grip – particularly useful should you be filming while in a moving vehicle, for example..

The lens itself rises out of the tube-like container before being stowed away once you’ve finished snapping, which should help avoid any accidental scratches to the lens while in your pocket or bag.

The device can be turned to any position, which not only enables you to capture snaps at any angle, but also doubles as a useful desk stand.

Because of the poor lighting in the showroom, it was difficult to get a true feel for how well the BubbleScope captured imagery, but we were treated to a sample shot taken outside earlier which looked great, albeit a tad unusual.

To capture your 360-degree stills and video you only have to press the camera key once, but just be wary of how you’re holding the phone to avoid a sudden close-up of your face.

Once you’re happy with your snaps (or “Bubbles” as they’re known) you can share them online via bubblepix.com (you need to download the free BubblePix app) to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram et al.

Though the BubbleScope accessory will initially be compatible only with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, BubblePix says it is working on other leading smartphones and platforms.

The BubblePix app is available now free from the Apple App Store (it will be updated once the device lands) while BubbleScope itself will be available for ?69.99 from the BubbleScope website as well as other major retailers from July.

Tags: Phones iPhone 4 iPhone 4S iPhone accessories Cameras Bubblescope

Hands-on: BubbleScope 360-degree iPhone camera accessory originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 11 May 2012 17:21:00 +0100

Leica has announced its latest compact camera, the Leica V-Lux 40. As previously, the new compact model is based on its existing partnership with Panasonic.

The Leica V-Lux 40 features a 20x optically stabilised zoom lens, offering a range of 24-480mm (in 35mm terms) and a 1/2.33 CMOS sensor with 14.1 megapixels (15.3MP total). ?

This lens is set into the typically black Leica body measuring 105 x 59 x 28mm and weighing 210g, with a 3-inch 460k-dot display around the back, which is touch enabled.?

GPS is integrated into the body of the camera, so you'll be able to geotag your snaps from the back of your yacht. You can also look up local points of interest and view your photos as thumbnails on the supplied maps.?

A full range of shooting options is included, from manual controls through to a range of scene modes and creative options, such as miniature effect and HDR.

Essentially this is a Panasonic camera wrapped in Leica livery, however you get a copy of Adobe Photoshop and Premier Elements 10 bundled in the package, worth ?119. The camera will cost you ?550 compared to ?329 for the Panasonic version.

To keep your Leica V-Lux 40 safe, you'll be able to opt for the tan leather case and strap at ?80, or the soft leather pouch at ?63.?

The Leica V-Lux 40 will be available from Leica dealers from May 2012. If you can't wait to see how it performs, why not check out our Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 review for an idea.

Read

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Leica Leica V-Lux 40 14 megapixels

Leica V-Lux 40 brings 20x zoom to the discerning traveller originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 10 May 2012 21:21:00 +0100

Leica has unveiled the world's first digital monochrome rangefinder, a camera ?designed specifically?for black and white photography and known as the Leica M Monochrom.

Built on the beautiful Leica M design, the diecast magnesium alloy body is finished with a matte black chrome top plate and leather accessories.?

The Leica M Monochrom camera is based around a new 23.9 x 35.8mm full frame 18-megapixel CCD sensor specifically designed for this model. It has no colour filter (Bayer Pattern filter) so there is no splitting of the light and no subsequent processing needed to interpolate the image.

The result, says Leica, is that the Leica M Monochrom produces black and white images that are significantly sharper than those from a traditional digital camera.

You'll get access to an ISO range up to 10000 and the camera is, of course, compatible with Leica's excellent M-Lenses.

There is a RAW histogram display available on the rear 2.5-inch display so you can see the unmodified data results to tweak your levels. You'll also be able to output JPEGs with traditional effects, such as sepia, in addition to RAW.

The Leica M Monochrom doesn't come cheap however. Priced at ?6,120 (body only), you need to be serious about your black and white photography to even consider it.?The camera measures 139 x 37 x 80mm and weighs 600g with the battery.

It will be available from Leica dealers in the UK from the end of July.

Read

Tags: Cameras Rangefinder cameras Leica Leica M Monochom 18 megapixels

Leica M Monochrom: Full-frame digital black and white snapping rangefinder originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 10 May 2012 20:50:00 +0100

Canon has announced that two of its digital SLR cameras were used in the filming of blockbuster Avengers Assemble.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 7D Digital SLR cameras were used for point-of-view shots (ie, those shots seen from a character’s viewpoint) before being intercut with 35mm footage.?

It appears the Canon 5D Mark II and EOS 7D digital SLR cameras also proved handy when shooting the numerous fighting scenes, enabling the team to capture tighter angled shots on account of the cameras compact size.?

"The 5D Mark II and the 7D digital SLR cameras produce excellent, cinema-worthy images," said?the film’s cinematographer, Seamus McGarvey.

"They are great for shooting additional angles that give film editors more options for creating powerfully immersive and kaleidoscopic views of action scenes.”?

Avengers Assemble broke the US box office record for an opening weekend, taking in $200.3 million, a record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.

Tags: Cameras Canon Films Video Photography

Canon digital SLR cameras used in Avengers Assemble originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 10 May 2012 13:05:00 +0100

Billed as the ideal point-and-shoot camera for travellers, the Olympus SH-21 is designed for versatility: it’s just about small enough to fit into your jacket or trouser pocket, features a 12.5x optical zoom equivalent to a 24-300mm lens, can record 1080p HD video and comes with a touchscreen that (theoretically, at least) boosts user-friendliness. It even charges via USB.

We’ve always been a little wary of touchscreens on cameras – there’s the potential for changing settings by mistake – but the SH-21 pulls it off well. First, the screen isn’t over-sensitive, and it takes a fairly firm touch to register. Second, the touch function is only used to tweak camera settings in iAuto mode, and then only if you open up the “live guide” option. The rest of the time, it fulfils a “touch to focus” role. Tap something on the screen, and the camera focuses on it, or focuses and automatically takes a shot if “touch shooting” is turned on.

A nice touch

The focus setting is useful, particularly if you want to lock on to a subject that isn’t in the centre of the frame. It also combines with AF tracking so if you tap on a subject, which then moves, the camera will attempt to keep it in focus as long as it’s in the frame.

Live Guide is a newbie-friendly way to change the brightness, colour saturation and colour tone of a shot using touch-controlled sliders. You get to watch the shot change through the screen’s live view, which gives you a preview of the final photo. It’s a valuable feature.

Aside from the touchy stuff, the SH-21 features a range of other shooting modes, including program for those who want control over settings, and “handheld starlight” for taking sharper photos in dim conditions. And, naturally, there’s a full range of scene modes that optimise settings for shooting fireworks, sunsets, sporting events and other situations.

Picture quality

So on to image quality. While there’s nothing awful about the 16-megapixel shots the SH-21 turns out, there’s nothing particularly wow-worthy about them either.

Look closely at photos, even those at lower ISO settings, and there’s greater visible noise compared to some rival cameras. This graininess isn’t especially noticeable when photos are viewed on Facebook or similar – but if you’re planning on blowing them up for large prints it’s worth noting. You can also take automatic HDR shots, with the camera combining several exposures to show detail in both light and dark areas of an image - but these come off looking quite flat and unrealistic.

HD video quality is clear and sharp, and you can use the 12.5x zoom while filming, but despite the built-in anti-shake it doesn’t look great when you pan quickly. A steady hand is an asset here.

Verdict:

The Olympus SH-21 is a versatile compact camera that combines a usefully large zoom range with a wide selection of shooting modes. The camera’s touchscreen doesn’t come off as a gimmick, and is genuinely useful at times.

However, if you’re looking for a point-and-shoot that delivers squeaky clean shots, this isn’t the camera for you: while snaps are acceptable at smaller sizes, there’s too much grainy noise when compared to similarly priced cameras from the likes of Canon.

Tags: Cameras Olympus Olympus SH-21

Olympus SH-21 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 10 May 2012 11:00:00 +0100

The Sony Cyber-shot HX20V is part of Sony’s summer refresh of its compact camera range. The update to the excellent HX9V, the HX20V’s title digits may have jumped by a margin of 11, but can this latest model crank up the performance dial by similar proportions?

Big zoom, little body

There was a time when compact cameras wouldn’t offer much in the lens department. The Sony HX20V, along with other models such as the Panasonic Lumix TZ30, has changed this: the small-bodied Sony crams in a 20x optical zoom lens. Such a zoom used to be the stuff of far larger superzoom cameras, but the travel zoom market is catching up to the consumer demand for far-reaching lenses.

With a 25mm (equivalent) wide-angle setting the HX20V is great for capturing wide-angle landscapes or group portrait shots, yet the 20x zoom’s maximum 500mm equivalent can pick off far-away subjects too. Although versatile, the compromise can, at times, be the more critical quality. For example purple fringing – purple edges that "bleed" or "shadow" subject edges – is noticeable at the wider-angle zoom settings, as is some softness towards the edge of the frame.

Still, as with all such cameras, there’s a weigh-up between overall quality, product price, and what’s technically possible within the confines of the design. The Sony’s lens is all about its formidable range, whereas its f/3.2-5.8 aperture – which controls the maximum amount of light that can enter the lens at wide-angle through to telephoto focal lengths – is straightforward "bread and butter" stuff, rather than anything special. Again, this is a consideration of both scale and cost: anything more impressive would require the whole camera design to bloat to undesirable proportions. As it stands the HX20V is a mere 34mm wide when switched off. Impressive stuff.

But there are equal highs: the lens-based image stabilisation system works a treat, steadying images in preview and ensuring sharp shots after pressing the shutter.?

Features galore

If there’s one thing the HX20V isn’t short of, it’s an abundance of features.

There’s global positioning satellite (GPS) technology to geo-tag images or a new log record setting to trace a journey in real time. Like with other recent Sony models these logged routes can then be played back via Google Earth and will also display any images shot on the route.?

Although there’s a small pause after taking a photo, which makes shot-to-shot time a teeny bit slow, the HX20V counters this with its fast 10 frames per second burst mode. The camera whirrs through all 10 shots in less than a second, then shows a two by five grid of each image as they render to the SD card.

But it’s the overall autofocus performance that demands the most praise. Compact cameras have got faster and faster in the past couple of years and this Sony is up there with the best of ‘em.

Not only will the camera acquire focus in next to no time irrelevant of the focal length, but it’s the range of focus types that also impresses. If you’re a straightforward point-and-shoot kind of person then the camera will take care of all your needs using multi AF and face detection. There’s even a smile shutter that will recognise when your subject is smiling sufficiently before the camera will take a shot.

More advanced modes come in the form of centre AF, flexible spot AF and two manual modes: semi manual and full manual focus. Although the manual focus “jolts” between focus depths, rather than smoothly transitioning with total accuracy, it’s a desirable feature that will only be found in other high-end compacts.

Picture Perfect?

Like the recent – and, we might add, similar-named – Sony HX200V superzoom camera, the HX20V has updated from its predecessor’s 16.1-megapixel sensor to new 18.2-megapixel 1/2.3in CMOS sensor.

It seems that camera manufacturers are still playing "the megapixel race" by squeezing more pixels on to the same, small sensor sizes. It’s a risky strategy as the theory goes that more megapixels means less light, a weaker signal and, therefore, lower image quality.

However the HX20V manages to impress. Shots are colourful, well exposed and, for the most part, auto white balance is on the money too.

The ISO 100-12,800 sensitivity range may sound broad but, like so many other compacts, the upper echelons of this range aren’t of much use. Avoid ISO 3200-12,800, however, and the Sony does a cracking job for this target market.

In part this is down to the back-lit sensor dealing well with low-light situations, but there’s also an impressive superior auto mode that can (though doesn’t always) snap multiple frames and process each differently to generate a single image that’s both sharper and lower-noise than a standard shot. And it really works.

Although the lowest ISO settings are clear, processing gets incrementally more aggressive to the detriment of images from about ISO 400 and above. Hardened image-makers may find the resulting "smoothed-out" appearance lacking ultra-fine detail, though we think shots are well matched for the point-and-shoot snapper or travelling holidaymaker.

Added value

Just like its HX200V cousin, the HX20V has controls for image brightness, colour and vividness - offering more user control than many other compacts offer. In addition there are picture effects that range from partial colour –?which isolates or "colour pops" –?in a choice of red, green, blue or yellow, among other more conventional in-camera options such as toy camera or black and white mode.

Once at the full extent of the camera’s zoom there’s another trick up Sony’s sleeve: "clear digital zoom" technology is a digital zoom that can magnify a further 2x (to a 1000mm equivalent maximum) but still outputs a full-size 18.2-megapixel file. The algorithm that Sony uses to do this is a bit like Photoshop’s resampling method, whereby surrounding pixels are examined to define what the new pixels should look like. There is a cut-off point where this mode is a bit out of its depth, but the results we obtained at the shallower end of the digital zoom were decent.

As well as the aforementioned superior auto mode, a variety of scene modes, iSweep Panorama, and a Manual setting also feature. However, there's no sign of either aperture or shutter priority settings, just manual or programme auto modes. A complaint we had of its HX9 predecessor.

Movie mode also features on the mode dial, or can be activated using the one-touch button to the rear of the camera. The 1080p files are captured at 50 frames per second and it’s possible to use the zoom while recording to get the utmost out of capture.?

Verdict:

The HX20V is a top travel zoom camera, but it’s just too expensive. Just shy of ?400 is about ?100 more than the Canon PowerShot SX260, and ?70 more than the Panasonic Lumix TZ30’s launch price.

If you’ve got deep pockets then there’s plenty of goodness to be had: that big zoom range, a small and well designed body, great autofocus ability, stacks of features including GPS, 10fps burst and great auto modes.

Overall we’re definitely a fan, but with so many manufacturers clamouring for a place at the top of the travel zoom compact podium, the Sony is let down by that hefty price tag.

Tags: Cameras Sony Cyber-shot HX20V Sony Cyber-shot HX20V

Sony Cyber-shot HX20V originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 09 May 2012 09:30:00 +0100

The Nikon D3200, with its huge 24-megapixel resolution CMOS sensor, was announced to the world in the middle of April.?

It's turned a lot of heads and raised just as many questions: what is the image quality like; and is it a true entry-level DSLR?

Pocket-lint had a final Nikon D3200 sample product delivered to its doors today, final firmware rollout and all. We were itching to fire off some shots the second the camera battery finished charging up.?

In the gallery below are images in their original compositional form and 1000-pixel crops at a 100 per cent scale to help provide a true representation of what the files are like from this camera. We've shot up and down the ISO scale too, just to see how the camera performs at those all important high sensitivities.?

Initial thoughts? Rather impressive. The camera's sensor is the same as that found in the Sony Alpha SLT-A65 and image quality between the two is certainly very similar. Not bad for ?649 with an 18-55mm kit lens or ?599 body only.

These are just initial snaps. We'll be testing the D3200 at length throughout this week and, rest assured, a full and final review will be available before the week is out.?

Until then, get glancing over these initial shots. You never know, time permitting, we might squeeze a few extra shots in there over the coming days too...

Tags: Cameras Nikon Nikon D3200 24 megapixels DLSR cameras

Nikon D3200: The first sample images originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 08 May 2012 21:34:00 +0100

The Lomographic Society has unveiled a few colourful and retro-designed cameras to sit alongside its recently unveiled denim design. Just don’t expect the features to boot.

The cameras themselves range from monochrome pastel and denim coloured designs to more bold colours such as blue and red.

The Monochrome edition is available in Diana F+ Neptune Green (?89), Diana Mini Coral Fusion ?99) and Fisheye 2 Faded Denim (?79), with square, half format and fisheye effects.

The La Sardina Beach edition has a striped fabric finish – no camera is the same - while the body itself is white. The La Sardina St. Tropez is available for ?59 while those wanting a flash can opt for the La Sardina Capri for ?99.

The Fisheye Candy edition is available in a pink or yellow variant and uses a 35 mm film. It’s the cheapest of Lomography’s new range costing ?45.

All of the new cameras are available now.

Tags: Lomography Cameras Photography Photographs

Lomography cameras put style before substance with colourful designs originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 08 May 2012 15:43:00 +0100

The Panasonic Lumix SZ7 is the first in a new line of "stylish zoom" compacts. Its combination of a small body yet significant 10x optical zoom (25-250mm equivalent) lens sounds promising. Does the SZ7 balance up both style and substance?

What’s new?

What separates the SZ7 from its similar Lumix FX and FS models is the inclusion of a 10x optical zoom lens. This describes the amount that the camera can zoom in. At its widest angle - 25mm equivalent - it’s possible to fit in a group shot easily when in a tight space. Flick the zoom toggle to extend the lens to its 250mm equivalent, however, and it’s possible to pick off subjects from further away and make them fill far more of the frame. It’s a broad zoom that’s ideal for all manner of shots, without adding distinct bulk to the camera’s body size.

The zoom is reasonably responsive, though not lightning fast to travel through its full range.

Close-focusing is limited to 50cm at the wide-angle end of the zoom, increasing to 1.5m at the top end. However, the macro, otherwise known as the "close-up" mode, will automatically activate when the camera is set to its intelligent auto (iA) mode. This makes it possible to focus just 50mm from the subject, though in our tests it was possible to get the end of the lens itself a little closer than this, at around 30mm from subject.

Point-and-shoot simplicity

If you’re in the market for a straightforward point-and-shoot compact camera then the SZ7 has plenty going for it. No complex manual modes to be found here. There are a host of scene modes, a panorama option, as well as auto modes. We found it best to leave the camera in intelligent auto (iA) as all the best possible settings are automatically activated depending on what the cameras "sees" - such as subject distance, scene type and so forth.

Autofocus is of a decent speed and there are plenty of focus area options to thumb through - 23 area auto, 1-area, spot, face detection, and AF tracking ensure every angle's covered. The camera dictates the focus point location, however, thus there are limits to precision control.

However the "0.1 sec Light Speed AF" as quoted on the Panasonic website just isn’t as nippy as the same-name focus system found in the likes of the Lumix GF3. The SZ7’s fast, but will often need to "think" for a brief moment before focus is found.

Svelte design

The SZ7’s design is small - indeed, at a shade over 2cm in width, it’s the perfect pocket companion. Available in black, brown or silver options, there should be a finish to suit most tastes.

But the small size means an equally slender - and low-power - battery. We’re unimpressed with its total life, which doesn’t last for many hours between charges. If this is a casual point-and-shoot camera then make sure it’s switched off in between snaps to get the most out of it.

Furthermore the 3-inch, 460k-dot LCD may sound decent on paper but it has a poor viewing angle in use. This means that when the screen isn’t facing direct to your line of sight it looks washed out, almost overexposed - even though firing off a shot won’t represent this.

Image Quality

The SZ7’s auto modes will auto-select the relevant ISO setting, opting for between ISO 100-3200 as standard, or ISO 1600-6400 if the high-sensitivity scene mode is selected.

If all this talk of "ISO" sounds like mumbo jumbo to you then don’t worry too much. A camera needs enough light to make a blur-free exposure, and one way this can be achieved is by amplifying the signal, ie, using a higher ISO sensitivity. However, the higher the ISO setting the lower quality the image will be on account of what’s known as image noise – white and/or multi-coloured flecks throughout an image.

In the case of the SZ7 the lower ISO shots are smooth and clear, though a little too "smooth" in some cases because of processing. For day-to-day snaps this is no problem at all, and the 14.3-megapixels of resolution is more than you’ll need for online use, A4 or even A3 prints.

Upwards of ISO 400 and shots take a sharp decline in quality, to the point where ISO 1600-3200 are of little use. For portraits in the dark and such like, however, the inclusion of the small built-in flash will permit use of lower ISO settings for the best possible shots.

Overall image quality is decent. Ideal for the audience it’s designed for, yet nothing to run home and shout about at the same time.

Verdict:

The SZ7 delivers on its "stylish zoom" promise - it looks decent, takes good pictures for the most part and the sizeable 10x optical zoom is a credit to have in such a small body size.

However the poor LCD viewing angle and limited battery life are issues that can’t be ignored.

If you’re in the market for a point-and-shoot compact camera then there are plenty of highs to be had here. The SZ7 is an attractive and easy to use compact.

Tags: Cameras Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ7 Panasonic Lumix SZ7

Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ7 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 08 May 2012 14:59:00 +0100

Olympus has officially unveiled a compact camera that the manufacturer promises will deliver expert shots to a depth of 12 metres underwater.

As part of the Olympus Tough range, the TG-1, which had been inadvertently leaked on the net, is kitted out with an extra-wide f2.0 aperture high-speed lens that helps counter the darker light found underwater.

With a 12-megapixel low-noise, high-sensitivity CMOS sensor, Olympus has also included a TruePic VI image processor. The camera’s “tough” credentials are not just reserved for its diving prowess: the TG-1 is crushproof and freezeproof with Olympus claiming the camera will remain intact in temperatures down to -10?C.

Video can also be recorded with the Olympus TG-1 with the option of switching to a low-light, or super macro mode for both still and moving images.

However, if you’re really serious about your underwater snaps, Olympus is also offering additional waterproof converters that can be attached to the TG-1.

The fisheye converter, for example, enables a wider shot, while the tele converter increases the optical zoom ratio by 6.8x. For an even closer photo, using the super-resolution zoom feature will provide a magnification of 13.6x.?

The Olympus TG-1 (in silver) is available for ?359.99, while both the fisheye and tele converter will cost an additional ?129.99 each. It’s worth noting that a converter adapter is also needed, and is available for ?19.99.

The TG-1’s underwater depth will soon be increased to 45 metres when Olympus releases the PT-053 underwater housing case in June.

As well as being able to withstand any underwater knocks and bumps there is an optical connection for an external underwater flash. Useful for the deepest and darkest parts of the sea.

Tags: Cameras Olympus Waterproof cameras Photography

Olympus TG-1, toughest ever compact camera? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 08 May 2012 09:12:00 +0100

Impressed by last year’s HX100V model, the arrival of the latest HX200V left team ‘Lint excited about what new surprises this Sony superzoom would have in store.

Touting the same 30x optical zoom – or 27-810mm equivalent – lens as its predecessor, the biggest change to this latest model comes in the form of the new 18.2-megapixel sensor that’s under the hood. But will this megapixel increase see a shift in image quality for better or worse?

What’s the angle?

Like buses, you wait ages for one and then three come along at once. The superzoom market seems to be following the same trend: the release of the Fujifim HS30EXR, Nikon P510 and now the Sony HX200V mean that there’s a lot of choice out there. And that’s not forgetting last year’s Canon SX40HS and Panasonic’s FZ150.

The HX200V houses a 30x optical zoom lens instead of the super-wide-angle 24mm of many competitors, it has an ever-so-slightly-longer 27mm equivalent as its widest-angle. It’s still good enough for group shots, and while that 3mm may not sound like much it does make a notable difference in how much the frame "opens up". But this also means that once zoomed in to its full potential the camera has an 810mm equivalent zoom. That’s some far-reaching stuff, ideal for picking off distant subjects so that they fill out the frame.

The Sony’s other standout feature is the inclusion of GPS – Global Positioning Satellite – technology. It’s not so much a rarity in many gadgets these days, but it’s found in only a handful of superzoom cameras.

Activate this feature and it’s possible to attribute shots with location data that can come in handy when cataloguing, uploading online or associating to some websites. The HX200V also goes the extra mile by offering log record – a feature able to trace your journey and then play back the route and any associated images in Google Earth.

At the controls

Although the HX200V is a near carbon copy of its HX100V predecessor – excluding a redesigned grip – we’re pleased as punch with overall layout.

On the back of the camera there’s a 3-inch, 920K-dot vari-angle LCD, complimented by a built-in 201k-dot electronic viewfinder. Although the small size can prove a frustration and the?viewfinder resolution isn’t especially high – indeed it’s the very same finder as its predecessor, or that found in the Nikon P510 – it’s still a welcome tool. However, the similarly priced Fujifilm HS30EXR does outperform every other consumer superzoom in the viewfinder department, so the Sony has some catching up to do.

Most compact cameras have a zoom toggle control around the shutter to control zoom. Now, while the HX200V has this control its lens also has a manual ring that can be instead. To make it more versatile the flick of a switch to the side of the lens barrel assigns it manual focus control instead. This means both zoom and manual focus are ideally placed to the hand, and controlling the camera feels more advanced than a standard compact. Whichever control you chose, there’s the benefit to different shooting styles - the zoom toggle is great for an extra steady hold in movie mode, or you may zoom with the toggle and manually focus with the lens ring. It’s a cracking design.

The lens itself also features Sony’s optical SteadyShot image stabilisation technology to counteract handshake. As the technology is lens-based it provides not only a steadier preview image when composing, but also helps keep shots all the sharper. With such long focal lengths available this is an essential to have – and it works a treat.

Another quirky new feature is the display level; a spirit-level-like digital gauge that can overlay the screen or viewfinder to assist with shooting that perfect, straight horizon.

Pro performer?

Just behind the shutter button the HX200V has a dedicated focus button that opens up the autofocus area controls: there’s multi, centre point, or flexible spot AF where the focus area can be user-defined on the LCD screen by using the rear d-pad. This last option adds that extra level of control that will be essential for certain shooting situations, though the auto modes are also reliable.

The autofocus system is quick and responsive, and although close-focus isn’t the camera’s strong point, it’s more than capable of acquiring subject focus throughout the full range of the zoom, right to its full extension that’s not something that can be said for all its competitors. A quick comparison between the Nikon P510 and Fujifilm HS30EXR sees the Sony come out on top - it’s quicker and more accurate.

Just next to the focus button is a custom button that, by default, controls exposure lock but can be also set up to quick-access white balance, ND filter, metering or smile shutter instead.

New sensor: triumph or too trying?

When we reviewed the HX100V in May 2011, we remarked that although image quality was good, the 16.2-megapixel sensor wasn’t able to pull off the “critical detail” that we’d hoped for.

So for Sony to squeeze in yet another two million pixels and up the resolution to 18.2-megapixels in the HX200V set alarm bells ringing. More megapixels spread across the same 1/2.3in sensor surface means light is spread more thinly, which can produce a poorer signal and, therefore, poorer image quality.

However the HX200V’s images are similar, if not better-processed, than the previous model, in spite of the resolution increase. At the preview launch of the HX200V we were told that this latest sensor is twice as sensitive at the sensor level compared to the HX100V, thanks to a new design. It seems this little nugget of information seems to go some way to explain our findings.

The HX200V’s images appear sharper compared to the HX100V’s shots, and any purple fringing – those "bleeding" purple edges around some subjects - are cleared up with greater attention.

ISO sensitivity begins at ISO 100 and ranges up to ISO 12,800. High ISO settings can be useful in low-light conditions, where the signal is amplified and processed to produce a bright, accurate exposure. However, such amplification produces image noise which shows as white and/or coloured flecks throughout an image. In-camera processing attempts to remove such nasties, but in so doing softens and blurs detail and mutes true colour presence.

The Sony’s ISO 100-200 settings are of good enough quality, while ISO 400-1600 progressively diminish in quality but still remain of use. ISO 3200 is significantly softer, ISO 6400 of little use and ISO 12,800 close to useless. We’d not recommend shooting above ISO 1600 in order to hold on to some of that all-important detail in your shots. Though, ideally it’s ISO 100 that’s the real winner.

Like its predecessor there’s also in-camera controls for sharpness, colour saturation, contrast and noise reduction to add that extra lick of detail. It’s only possible to see the results off-camera though, so you’ll need to tweak with the settings and view files in full before you know what suits. Not many consumer cameras have such detailed menu settings, so kudos to Sony. It’s just a shame that there’s no raw file capture available.

As with any superzoom camera, those looking for a DSLR-beater will need to consider the compromises of an all-in-one “big lens compact sensor” purchase. Casual users will be more than happy with the HX200V’s image quality, yet those looking to use full resolution files for critical detail prints might not get quite everything they want here.

But there’s more

As well as controls for brightness, colour and vividness, the HX200V also introduces a smattering of picture effects. These range from the casual, such as Toy or Pop, to the more extreme, including partial colour, that isolates red, green or blue within a scene and sets everything else to black and white (also known as colour popping).

And if that 30x optical zoom isn’t quite enough for you then the inclusion of Sony’s latest technology, dubbed “Clear Digital Zoom”, is able to digitally zoom from 30x up to 60x while upscaling the image so that the output size is still the same 18.2-megapixels in size. The algorithm that Sony uses to do this isn’t too crude either: a bit like Photoshop’s clever resampling and the HX200V’s shots retain enough detail. Not bad for what is, in essence, a digital zoom mode. There is a cut-off point where it’s a bit out of its depth, but this is digital zoom at its best and offers a quick and efficient way to gain a 1620mm equivalent.

The camera’s main mode dial is host to a variety of manual and auto modes, including the famed sweep panorama. Sony’s pioneering technology, which captures images in real time as the camera is rotated and stitches them together into a panoramic shot, is now available in its latest carnation: iSweep Panorama. This adds the ability to shoot a full 360? shot, or the usual 270? at a higher resolution than its predecessor.

Movie mode, too, is an eye-catching 1080p at 50 frames per second. Activated via a one-touch movie button on the rear of the camera, the settings and autofocus are automated, though it’s possible to use the 30x zoom in real time. It’s slow to progress through its zoom range, but this keeps the resulting footage smoother as a result. Autofocus can be a little slow to catch up compared to stills shooting, but it does a good job for the most part and the image stabilisation is excellent.

Verdict:

The HX200V takes Sony’s already decent superzoom formula and further improves the recipe.

Although we had anticipated that image quality would be a step down compared to its predecessor, the HX200V’s new 18.2-megapixel sensor delivers the goods. Sure the shots aren’t going to see off those from larger sensor cameras such as DSLRs, but they are sharp and well processed, even if no more standout compared to other compact cameras.

Its the 30x zoom lens with its manual zoom/focus ring and zoom toggle combination that makes the HX200V what it is. Autofocus is fast and image stabilisation is also a winner. There are few moans to be had, though at ?429 it is a pricey bit of kit – more expensive than its nearest competitors.

The HX200V may be up against some other tip-top 30x zoom cameras but it more than holds its weight. This is one feature-packed superzoom that delivers across the board.

Tags: Cameras Sony Cyber-shot HX200V HX200V Cyber-shot

Sony Cyber-shot HX200V originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 07 May 2012 09:54:00 +0100

Lomography’s La Sardinia range of cameras has undergone an unofficial makeover.

The material-clad design has been spliced with Lee Jeans denim – we’re presuming worn, just for extra effect – to create the Lomography La Sardinia Lee Jeans edition.

Available from Mr Shi’s Chinese website, we’re more than a little lost in translation, but the “plastic and cowboy mold feeling that is cool”, sounds just about bang on to us. Ride ‘em cowboy.

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Tags: Cameras Lomography Lomo

Denim-clad Lee Jeans Lomography camera originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 07 May 2012 09:27:00 +0100

Back in March of this year designer David Riesenberg put mind to machine and presented his CAD (computer-aided design) mock-up of a Canon compact system camera to the world. Compelling? Definitely. Real? Apparently not.

Although word has been quiet from the Canon camp regarding the possibility of an impending mirrorless release, PhotoRumors seems to think that there’s one just around the corner.

According to the site’s latest information the would-be Canon mirrorless compact system camera will follow in the footsteps of the Canon G1 X by utilising the very same sensor size. That’s long been an assumption since that compact camera’s launch.

What’s bigger news, however, is the expectation of not one, but two mirrorless models: a 14-megapixel version and a higher-resolution 24-megapixel option. Now that’s packing in the pixels if it’s true; in fact that’s higher resolution than any other current Canon DSLR so seems an unlikely move.

Three to five lenses are expected to be launched with the supposed pair, and while the new lens mount won’t be the standard Canon EF mount it is anticipated that EF-lens compatibility will be possibly. After all there’s no mirror to get in the way of the deep-mounted lenses, so it would make best sense to open the mirrorless system up to benefit from all Canon glass.

Canon still isn’t budging when it comes to information, but 2012 has to be the year it releases a mirrorless model to the world. Whether that will be the gorgeous, retro-looking mock-up crafted by Riesling or a wholly different design is yet to be seen. But with every other manufacturer worth its salt in on the action, Canon needs to make not just a move, but a big move if it's to have a significant impact in the category…

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Tags: Cameras Canon Compact system cameras

Canon compact system camera incoming originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:00 +0100

Olympus’s latest Micro Four Thirds release - the OM-D E-M5 - builds on the brand’s heritage. Like the digital PEN (E-P) series that came before it, the OM-D is a digital reimagining of the original Olympus OM series - a 35mm film camera series that was born 40 years ago, and continued to run in one form or another for the next 30 of those years.

So, a decade on from the last film-based OM model, what has the brand new OM-D E-M5 got to offer; and what makes it stand out amid a growing compact system camera market?

It’s Micro Four Thirds

Despite its historical links to the OM-series of old, the OM-D E-M5 uses the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) lens mount and, therefore, isn’t compatible with OM-mount lenses. Well, unless using the MF-2 adapter (sold separately).

This also raises an interesting point: the OM-D’s sensor size is the very same as other MFT cameras, including the Olympus PEN series. This latest release isn’t so much about “better” image quality based on larger sensor technology, and certainly doesn't mimic the original OM's frame size, but instead nestles itself in what's become the most successful of compact system cameras. A shrewd move considering the range and number of up-to-date lenses available.

In fact there are more MFT lenses than any other standalone manufacturer has in this category, plus the OM-D can make the most of Panasonic’s MFT glass too. Add to that that the relative size of lenses will not only be smaller than the competition but also proportionate to the camera’s body size too and there are plenty of advantages to be had.

King of retro

Just one glance at the E-M5 and we were already hooked. This is one good-looking, well-oiled machine. But then with a price tag upwards of a grand we’d expect no less.

Available in black or - our favourite - silver, the EM-5 really does pick out the best parts of the classic OM design, yet gracefully merges it with some DSLR-like modernity. It’s the most DSLR-like compact system camera we’ve ever seen, that’s for sure.

But it’s not all just for show, as the layout ensures ease of use too. A stacked front and rear set of command dials sit atop the camera to control the main settings such as aperture and shutter speed, and although arranged in a "designery" fashion, manages to remain both comfortable and functional. However, add the optional battery grip to the camera (sold separately) and we did find the rear command dial less comfortable to reach when in the landscape orientation.

As well as a main mode dial also on top of the camera there are two programmable function (Fn) buttons. Dig into the menus a little and there are bags of options that can be adjusted with fine detail: from the direction of the dial rotation down to whether the shutter can fire with or without autofocus confirmation – these are the kind of features that are associated with high-spec cameras.

Master of modern

It may not seem obvious to look at, but the EM-5’s entire body is splash-proof, as is the latest 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens. There’s no other compact system camera that can claim that, which certainly gives it an angle.

But there are plenty of other top spec features too. The rear screen is a 3-inch, 610k-dot, touchscreen OLED panel - the smoother, richer-looking technology that’s slowly beating LCD into its grave. The touchscreen means it’s possible to press on to the screen to focus, jump through images in playback, and other actions, although selecting options from the menus via touch isn’t possible.

Above the screen is a built-in electronic viewfinder. The 1.15x magnification equates to 0.58x in 35mm terms, so although not huge the 1,440k-dot resolution ensures a detailed view. Extra features such as a level gauge and accurate exposure & white balance preview are advantages compared to an optical viewfinder, although this is “the Marmite” of the camera world: you’ll either love it or hate it. We don’t warm to it as much as an optical equivalent, and it’s a shame a larger, higher-resolution technology hasn’t been implemented, such as that found in the Sony NEX-7. But hum ho, it’s still a decent standard nonetheless.

One E-M5 exclusive feature – at least for now – is the inclusion of a brand new five-axis image stabilisation system. The sensor can counter for pitch, yaw, vertical and horizontal motion, as well as rolling movements. How does it do this, we hear you cry? The boffins at Olympus have mounted the lens in a magnetic field, so it is “floating” in order to compensate for any direction of movement. Very Back To The Future. Not only is it clever but it also works brilliantly, in particular when using the 1080p30 movie mode. The only downside to the technology is an ongoing subtle “hissing” sound, irrelevant as to whether the stabilisation system is on or off.

Another cool mode that’s a little tucked away in the menus is Live Bulb mode. Anyone that’s made a long exposure using the usual Bulb mode will know it can be a bit of a shot in the dark. Not any more. Live Bulb updates in real time so you can see the ongoing exposure of your shot progress on the rear screen. When Olympus wants to innovate it really does it with style.

Add to that a burst rate of up to nine frames per second (9fps), or up to 4.2fps with continuous autofocus activated and this is one feature-packed bit of kit.

World’s fastest autofocus: OM-D, OMG?

Now here’s a claim we’ve heard many times of late. There are a few factors to consider when assessing the E-M5’s autofocus performance and speed.

First up is the camera’s design. This isn’t a DSLR as there’s no mirrorbox to reflect light onto either a phase-detection focus system or an optical viewfinder. Instead the mirrorless design entails that the light lands onto the sensor where contrast-detect autofocus takes place and the signal can also be sent to the rear screen and/or the electronic viewfinder.

Secondly the type of focus (single or continuous), lighting conditions and the lens used and at which focal length will all have an impact as to how responsive the autofocus system is.

We’re pleased to report that autofocus is darn quick for the most part. In "single" autofocus subjects nip into sharp focus in no time, though, arguably, the Nikon V1 and Panasonic G3 might give the Olympus a run for its money.

Things are less rosy when using continuous or tracking autofocus or trying to shoot in dim conditions. Although the tracking system is good at identifying, and locking on to subjects, fast-moving ones are a struggle to keep up with. There’s no doubt that the OM-D is a big improvement over the continuous and tracking autofocus in the recent PEN models - in part due to its 240 frames per second refresh rate being double that of the PEN E-P3 - but it’s still not quite there.

In dim light – though not that dim – the camera can also struggle to obtain any focus at all. There is an AF illuminator lamp to offer an extra injection of light, though it won't work for all given situations.

Compact system cameras and contrast-detection autofocus as a whole perform differently from DSLR systems, and it’s here that the OM-D’s hefty price tag may prove too much for certain snappers. In general the OM-D will better its compact system camera bredren, but the type of subjects you intend to shoot will determine whether the OM-D is the right camera for you.

Image Quality: Highest resolution Olympus yet

Despite all the fancy features and design, can the E-M5 take a decent picture? It’s the first Olympus camera (outside of compacts) to break the long-standing 12-megapixel barrier, offering the same 16-megapixel sensor as found in the Panasonic Lumix G3.

Of course Olympus has put its own stamp on the hardware: the latest TruPic VI engine can process images from ISO 200-25,600.

The increase in resolution compared to other Olympus cameras is no cause for alarm either - in fact, we’d say that the OM-D produces among the best quality images of any current Olympus camera. It’s impressive, though the lack of an ISO 100 sensitivity is a frustration.

Shots at ISO 200-400 are clean and clear and image noise isn’t an issue at ISO 800. Thereafter, noise is handled well and shots up to ISO 6400 are more than usable. The highest ISO 12,800-25,600 settings feel somewhat wasted, however, as image quality deteriorates to excess.

Considering the size of the sensor compared to its larger rivals, Olympus has performed some magic with this slice of Micro Four Thirds silicon.

As well as the usual auto and manual modes, Olympus has a range of art filters. Ranging from sepia to dramatic tone and soft focus to diorama, there are dozens of in-camera options. It's possible to art filter bracket and use the mode when using Raw + JPEG (though the raw file will remain unchanged). Some are quirky, others are fun, most are of genuine use rather than some of the gimmicky modes offered by other competitors' cameras.

Verdict:

Sleek, stylish and a classy performer – there’s not much to dislike about the Olympus OM-D E-M5.

It’s not problem-free though: the battery life is, as per all existing compact system cameras, poor. Continuous autofocus won’t beat a DSLR and in dim conditions will struggle or fail entirely; an electronic viewfinder won’t suit all tastes; there's no pop-up flash; and, let’s face it, the ?1149 price tag is serious money.

But you do get a lot for the cash: the innovative image stabilisation system is excellent, autofocus is fast, the body is rugged and splash-proof and image quality is decent considering the sensor size.

We like it, we like it a lot. But with a taller asking price than the Nikon D7000, and at just ?200 shy of a Canon EOS 7D kit, there’s a lot to consider.

Tags: Cameras Olympus OM-D E-M5 Olympus

Olympus OM-D E-M5 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 04 May 2012 17:02:00 +0100

Two lenses and two sensors, haven’t we seen this somewhere before? Panasonic’s first stereoscopic pocket camera in the Lumix DMC-3D1 is taking on the Fujifilm Finepix W3 (and W1) before it.

Capable of not only 3D stills like its rival, but also 3D video, the cunningly named 3D1 is currently the world’s most compact camera to offer such tri-dimensional dynamism. Official proportions are 108x58.5x24.1mm, so not much bigger than a single-lens, single-sensor combo. The Panasonic weighs 193g with card and 200-shot battery inserted, ensuring it will slip into a trouser pocket or purse.

Two lenses give double the options

There’s also plain old 2D stills and video accessible here too. Plus, since there are two lenses and two sensors – providing the 3D effect when otherwise in 3D mode – in 2D mode we’ve the option to shoot wide with one lens, and zoom in close with the other. Views via both lenses are presented side by side on the elongated 3.5-inch backplate LCD. By tapping between one image and the other, the user can determine whether to zoom with only left lens or only the right. It’s enough to make your brain ache.

Not doing anything to soothe the grey matter either is the Panasonic’s suggested price tag for the Lumix DMC-3D1: a wallet-battering ?450. This would otherwise buy an entry-level DSLR or a mid-range compact system camera. So the 3D facility does command a premium – at least ?200 by our reckoning – as in other respects, the camera is a regular Lumix point and shoot.

That in itself is a marvel of engineering of course, and the flat-fronted, outwardly minimalist metal build 3D1 is not without style, even if the slide-open-and-shoot faceplate owes inspiration to Sony Cyber-shots. Sony also offers 3D capture in the shape of its Sweep Panorama modes of course, but this is a software enhancement rather than the "true" stereoscopic capture offered by the Panasonic - not that Sony’s own realisation isn’t striking.

Photos and video in 2D and 3D

Though there is a dedicated power button on top of the 3D1, sliding down the lens barrier automatically wakes the camera from its slumbers and activates the back plate LCD. In the process you’re met by the twin lenses, here resembling the robot-like "eyes" of your very own Wall-E. Folded optics mean that at no time do the lenses actually protrude from the camera.

For 2D shots in standard 4:3 aspect ratio, a maximum resolution 12.1 effective megapixels are offered, while if opting for 3D instead – in widescreen format – resolution drops to 8 megapixels. Not that you’re going to notice any issue on a flatscreen telly, when Full HD clips themselves equate to only two million pixels. Speaking of video, here we’re indeed offered the Full HD 1920x1080 clips, outputting at 25fps, with the option of AVCHD or MPEG4 format video compression.

Photos and video are composed via the Panasonic’s bright and clear 3.5-inch, 460k-dot resolution LCD, the larger screen dimension coming in handy, because it also offers touch panel control, with touch shutter, touch focus and AF tracking into the bargain. With all this functionality controlled via the LCD it’s perhaps no surprise the only physical control at the rear of the 3D1 is a simple switch for flicking between 3D and 2D capture.

However, should you take a 3D photo, you can’t actually view it in stereoscopic fashion on the camera back, so in that respect Fuji’s lenticular-like display is still streets ahead. Instead, on the Panasonic, a 2D image is presented – you’ll just have to hook the camera up to a 3D TV with an optional HDMI lead to get the proper effect, 3D images saved as MPO files rather than JPEGs. It’s worth noting too that 3D images work best when the photographer composes a shot with something of interest in the foreground, middle and background of shot, thus providing depth. That's a little different to how you might compose a normal photo.

The majority of physical controls adorn the camera’s top plate. Though there are virtual versions offered via the screen as noted, we are still blessed with a conventional raised shutter release button ergonomically encircled by a lever for controlling the 4x optical zoom/s – which happily can be utilised for altering framing during video clips, though it’s slower to navigate any adjustments, as well as when composing stills.

Quality and performance?

The zoom range starts out wider than most too, with the complete focal range equivalent to 25-100mm on a 35mm film camera. However we did notice some loss of definition towards the edges of frame when shooting at maximum wideangle plus some slight barrel distortion, if we’re being picky.

In both 2D and 3D modes, the focus area is from 50cm to infinity at extreme wide angle and from 100cm to infinity at maximum telephoto. Additionally, when 2D shooting mode is selected, there’s the ability to focus as close as 5cm from your subject – but not in 3D mode. Likewise scene modes can only be accessed when shooting in 2D, as can video resolution and frame rates.

For 3D shooting, the maximum 1920x1080 pixels is the default and there’s no ability to adjust ISO manually – here running from ISO100 to ISO3200 in 2D mode, with a fully auto High Sensitivity mode stretching this to a maximum ISO6400 if the camera itself deems it necessary. For 3D, it really is pretty much just a case of point and shoot, which in truth is probably what you want. For low light shots, the camera performs best up to ISO800, whereupon noise starts to intrude in shadow areas of the image. At ISO1600 we’re starting to get a gritty appearance and this has extended across the image by ISO3200.

The High Sensitivity mode is only really worth bothering with at a push as processing softens the image generally and it starts to resemble a photograph less. In general terms, and under ideal daylight, colours are rich and vivid straight out of the camera, as they are with any ?200 Panasonic Lumix snapshot camera. So if you’re only going to occasionally shoot 3D snaps, you’re better off saving a couple of hundred quid on a non-3D model.

However it has to be said, if you’ve a young family there’s an emotional draw to be had from taking a 3D photograph of a child who is changing rapidly and preserving them in that moment. You then have a 3D image of them "frozen" as a cute toddler to sentimentally revisit when they’re a bolshy teenager. For some that will be worth the not inconsiderable price of the 3D1’s admission alone.

Verdict:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 is not cheap, but it is clever. But strip away the fancy 3D gubbins, and image quality - while up there with Panasonic’s best 2D snapshots - is not match for what you might achieve spending between ?400 and ?450 elsewhere on another camera.

Battery life is also pretty poor. While the blurb states that up to 200 shots can be taken, we struggled to get up to 100 before it was begging for a recharge.

Still, perhaps the 3D1 should be viewed first and foremost as a marvel of engineering; it’s far less bulky than its Fuji rival, but still manages to cram two lenses and two sensors into a chassis not a great deal wider than a single lens and sensor point and shoot. And if you can justify the extra expense of a 3D TV over a regular 2D one, and a 3D Blu-ray player to boot, perhaps your finances can also stretch to the 3D1. Panasonic will be hoping so, anyway.

Tags: Cameras Panasonic Lumix Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 3D Compact camera Compact cameras

Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 03 May 2012 13:43:00 +0100

Every so often a top-of -the-range DSLR rears its head with the promise of the ultimate in design, performance and image quality. The Nikon D4 – the DSLR that sits atop the company’s DSLR hierarchy – is one such camera.

Some four years back the Nikon D3 passed through our hands. And boy, were we impressed. Not to rest on already impressive laurels though, the D4 takes what the D3 was all about and refines, tweaks and improves upon it.

Is the Nikon D4 the ultimate professional DSLR?

Under the hood: Full-frame FX sensor

When it comes to DSLRs there's a variety of sensor sizes out there. The holy grail of these, so to speak, is the full-frame or "35mm" sensor – called such because of?its 24x36mm size, which roughly mimics a 35mm film frame. Nikon dubs this the FX sensor, which differentiates it from the smaller 1.5x crop DX sensor.

Under the D4’s hood is a 16.2-megapixel chip, that delivers a high – yet an ultimately "safe" – resolution for demanding users. We say safe as it is some 20-megapixels fewer than the Nikon D800’s sensor.

Why shy away from such resolution? In short the more sensor diodes, or pixels in final image terms, that are crammed on to a surface area the more the camera will "struggle" to obtain decent light to process into a clean signal. The cleaner a signal the better quality the shots - particularly at higher ISO settings - will be after the signal is amplified and cleaned up via in-camera noise reduction processing.

But then most people contemplating a D4 purchase will already know that. This isn't a camera with a consumer audience in mind. Its ?5289 body-only price is testament to that.

So whereas the D800 is a great low ISO, high-resolution landscape photographer's camera, the D4 is the machine that's ideal for high-ISO, fast performance sports and action shots. It's a true professional's tool. And with the London 2012 Olympics just around the corner, its launch is no coincidence.

The D4's sensor is backed up with the EXPEED 3 image processing engine that’s capable of capturing shots from ISO 100-12,800 natively and 50-204,800 extended, yep, that's two hundred and four thousand eight hundred! It's also able to burst-shoot up to 11 frames per second.

Image Quality

A lot of lower-spec cameras offer astronomically high ISO settings these days. The idea of ISO 12,800 being any good is often lost on many models. Here’s where the D4’s full-frame sensor and medium megapixel count come into great effect: not only are images mighty impressive – better than the D3, D3X and D3S models in one way or another – but the highest native ISO setting is of genuine use.

From ISO 100-12,800 the D4’s images are crisp and sharp despite an increase in subtle colour noise that starts to impact shots from ISO 3200 and above. That it’s possible to shoot at ISO 3200-6400 with little worry will be an essential to those shooting at concerts, events, fast-moving sports matches and the like.

At the other end of the spectrum shots at ISO 100 are very clean and clear, while the inclusion of an ISO 50 (equivalent) setting will be good news for those looking to get the most out of wider apertures in bright conditions. Many competitor cameras have begun using ISO 200 as the staple lowest standard – a sensitivity that is, to be frank, too high for a number of shooting situations – so Nikon's made the right move by implementing a new ultra-low ISO setting.

Overall the D4 offers great image quality. However, compared to the three-year-old D3S we’re not talking about a massive step forward in terms of image noise performance. What the D4 does offer is those extra four-megapixels of resolution, but side-by-side the results from both cameras are rather similar to one another. If you’re a D3S user and want better high ISO performance then the D4 may not necessarily be worth the upgrade. But if you’re looking for improvements in other areas then that’s where the camera comes to show additional promise.

Brand new design

That age-old saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Well, age-old from the point in time when such colloquialism became almost acceptable. The D3S’s design was - and still is - strong, but this is one area where the D4 makes subtle changes that make all the difference in use.

Among the biggest of those is the way the D4 mirrors most of the button layout for both portrait and landscape use. Flip the camera around by 90 degrees and the position of the AF-ON and mini-joystick controls feel much the same. An extra rear thumb grip for the portrait-orientation hold has also been added for extra comfort.

A number of design adjustments came in response to professional Nikon users’ feedback. The main shutter button, for example, is angled at a slightly steeper angle than the previous model to, again, make for more comfortable use when shooting for long periods.

A new AF switch design also means you'll never need to take your eye away from the viewfinder while switching between focus options. The old CSM arrangement of the D3S has gone, and in steps a D7000-style AF switch-and-button arrangement to toggle between autofocus and manual focus options, while the button controls the focus area/type in conjunction with the rear mode dial. The selected mode displays prominently in the viewfinder by lighting up the associated AF-points, or showing as "3D" when the tracking mode is selected. There’s no fiddly corner-of-viewfinder stuff here, it all happens right before your eyes.

The D4’s rear LCD screen in 3.2-inches in size, a whisker larger than the D3S’s 3-inch screen, yet both carry the same 921k-dot (or VGA) resolution. It’s a decent screen, but with other models out there including the Fujifilm X-Pro1’s 1.2 million dot 3-inch LCD, there is still room for improvement.

Many high-end photographers won't use a computer to review images before sending to the necessary picture desks or other locations, hence a higher-resolution screen would play a potential advantage for hyper-critical image review.

However, the D4 is set up well to cater for image distribution. The camera’s built-in Ethernet port can use Wired LAN with 10 BaseT and 100 Base TX support and comes with a wizard to simplify the setup process. Not only that but the IPTC core information can be pre-set prior to shooting. An optional GP-1 unit is capable of wireless transmission, though is an additional cost.

The D4 is also the first camera to use the latest XQD format. The Sony-designed card is capable of up to 125MB/s read and write speeds. In other words it’s bloomin’ fast. Using a USB 3 reader it was possible to copy a gigabyte of data in a matter of seconds. Literally, no more than 10 seconds in our tests. The drawback? The D4 body doesn’t have a mini USB 3 output like the D800; it’s USB 2 only. Which is just stupid.

Performance

Ignoring that minor glitch and the D4 is quite the performer. The Multi-CAM 3500 autofocus system has been improved to operate in conditions as dark as -2EV, while the 15 cross-type sensors nestled among the total 51-points are now sensitive to f/8. As Nikon pointed out at the D4’s introductory conference, this means greater sensitivity when using teleconverters. Ideal for pro use where it’s possible to get the very most out of kit.

As per the Nikon D800, even in low light the D4’s performance is one of the most impressive things we’ve seen. Set to single autofocus (AF-S) and focus is acquired so quickly that you’ll barely notice. The 16-35mm lens used for the bulk of this test is also a quiet piece of glass, far quieter than the satisfying shutter clatter that the camera itself makes.

A new factor to performance is that the D4’s advanced scene recognition system - which uses the new 91,000-pixel metering system to identify subject and scene types - can recognise how to focus and expose for a scene, dependent on what that scene is. A face, for example, can be identified and exposed for even if the light source is coming from behind the subject. Although the camera is never going to do all the work for you, it’s these subtle tools – that are more similar to entry-level camera models of late – that can help in some situations. But they’re not compulsory: the D4 offers oodles of control to ensure you’re always in charge. So much control that there's not even the space to cover it all here. But subtle controls such as how sensitive the AF is, whether shots need to be focused prior to the shutter releasing, focus point wrap-around, the severity of noise reduction, and so forth, are all embedded within the camera's menu system.

Switch to continuous autofocus (AF-S) and the focus system continues to show its strength. Whether using 3D focus tracking, 51-point auto, 21 or nine point selections, the camera is one step ahead at following and locking on to even fast moving subjects. It’s impressive stuff.

But it’s not just the focus that’s fast. The 11fps burst mode can clatter off a huge number of images – no less than 70 frames in raw & JPEG with no let-up in speed. However, the burst speed does dip to 10fps if continuous autofocus and exposure adjustment are required. Good though this is, it is a smidgen slower than the Canon 1D X.

Movie Master

Despite launching the Nikon D90 – the first DSLR with a movie mode – back in 2008, it wasn’t long before Canon was at the top of its game and producing excellent movie-capable cameras. The Canon EOS 5D Mk II, for example, is staggeringly good when it comes to movie-making. In fact even Hollywood movies and made-for-TV shows such as medical drama House got in on the action, the latter recorded a whole episode using nothing but 5D Mk II bodies.

The point being that it’s taken a long while to get up to speed again, but both the D4 and D800 are back on form when it comes to dealing with moving images.

The D4’s 1080p movie mode can capture at 30, 25 or 24fps (at true 29.97 and 23.976 rates) using H.264 compression, or there's the option of 720p files at 60 or 50fps (59.94) which is great for half-speed slow motion.

It's possible to use the full span of the full-frame sensor, or there’s a pixel-for-pixel 1920x1080 mode that provides a 2.7x magnification and doesn't need to bin any pixels in processing. Using just a 35mm lens, for example, it's possible to shoot a 1080p movie at 35mm and 95mm without quality loss just by adjusting the menu settings.

So far so good. But the inclusion of a microphone input with 20 adjustment levels, a headphone monitor output with 30 adjustment levels, and a clean HDMI output take things to the next level. These will really appeal to aspiring movie-makers.

Like other DSLR cameras the D4 does fall into the usual pitfalls though: "sensor wobble" from the CMOS sensor; so-so autofocus speed and ability; difficulty when using manual focus on lenses without adding third-party focus pulls; and no warning when using an excessive shutter speed that’s out of sync with the capture frame rate.

Use the camera in manual and some issues can be resolved, of course, or there are higher-end models, such as the Canon EOS C300, designed for an even more demanding pro market. If that’s beyond budget though then rest assured the D4 is among the best movie-capable DSLR cameras out there.

Verdict:

The D4 is a camera to get excited about. In fact it’s phenomenal and there’s no doubt some of the images that will be seen around the world from this camera will be stunning.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not without issues. The incredible image quality is, well, incredible, but it’s not a big step forward compared to the D3S. The extra resolution is there but, in truth, the extra quality isn’t. That does mean it's achieving a high level, but this may deter some prospective buyers from upgrading.

There is also the price to consider. Although announced at ?4800 in the UK, an adjustment hiked the body-only price to a whopping ?5289. It’s a lot of cash, though either price point make this very much a pro-only DSLR.

But where the D4 is right it’s exceptional. The autofocus system is among the best, if not the best, available in the world; the design is bang on the money; the burst mode and huge buffer make continuous shooting effortless; and the new movie capabilities are up there with the best too.

Make no bones about it: the Nikon D4 is an epic camera. But for your average consumer it’s the Ferrari of cameras: out of reach in both price and realistic use. For the pros out there it may be a priceless tool, and in this case what’s on offer is, without doubt, a new bar of excellence.

What we do wonder, however, is whether the forthcoming Canon EOS 1D X will be of a similar or significantly better ilk...

Tags: Cameras Nikon D4 Nikon D4 DSLR cameras DSLRs

Nikon D4 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 02 May 2012 15:34:00 +0100

A brand new touchcam from Olympus, the TG-1 iHS, has been leaked accidentally on to the Best Buy website. Details of the camera appeared on a now removed webpage and show what looks like a fairly formidable compact waterproof snapper.?

Specs-wise, the page detailed a 12 megapixel 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor with an 4.5-18 mm f2 lens slapped in front of it. The butter-fingered among you will enjoy the ability to drop the camera from a height of two metres and not have to worry about it breaking. If you should also happen to have a 12 metre deep bath, or more likely are into snorkelling, then you can also take the TG-1 iHS underwater with you.?

A burst shooting mode allows for 3fps and a continuous buffer of 200 shots, which is particularly impressive. There is also a panorama mode to compose large wide-angle shots in camera. Super macro settings allow you to snap objects up to 0.4-inches close.?

On the back is a 3-inch 610k dot OLED screen, which is useful given the camera's ability to record up to 1080p video. This is helped in part by the TruePic VI sensor which also gives the TG-1 iHS the ability to snap up to 6400 ISO.?

Selective scene modes, automatic white balance and a 4x optical with 4x digital zoom complete the package. Quite impressive specs for a tough cam, most of which normally sacrifice image quality and settings in order to keep themselves robust.?

Now we can't guarantee all these specifications are correct, but given Best Buy's skills at leaking products, it is very likely the TG-1 iHS materialises. Then again, the Apple iTV still hasn't appeared.?

As soon as Pocket-lint has more on the TG-1 iHS we will be dishing it up to you quicker than you can say Toughcam. Alright maybe not that quick, but speedy nonetheless.?

Read

Tags: Photography Cameras Digital cameras Olympus Olympus TG-1 iHS

Olympus TG-1 iHS toughcam details leaked on Best Buy website originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 01 May 2012 17:34:00 +0100

Superzooms are flying off the shelves of late. There have been plenty of new models in the past couple of years and, crucially, they’ve got a whole lot better than they used to be.

The Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR packs in a far-reaching 24-720mm f/2.8-5.6 (equivalent) lens, a 16-megapixel 1/2in CMOS sensor with image stabilisation and a brand new electronic viewfinder to complement the rear LCD screen.

Initial news reports portrayed the HS30EXR as a subtle reworking of last year’s HS20 model. But, as we’ve come to learn, there’s more to it than first meets the eye.

What’s new?

Try shooting at 720mm (or another long focal length) and it’ll quickly be apparent that it requires a steady hand. More-seasoned photographers will know the advantages of a viewfinder – not only does it offer a great way to compose images, but the added support from your own body will assist in steadying the frame.

So here’s the thing: electronic viewfinders in superzoom cameras have been quite awful. Last year’s HS20 had an EVF akin to an old TV at the end of a blackened hallway. Good job then that the HS30EXR really ups the ante here.

The 0.26-inch, 920k-dot LCD panel is more than four times more resolute and a little larger than its predecessor. It’s not perfect, and it’s still quite small, but there’s nothing else in this class that betters it. You’ll need to plump for the pricier Fujifilm X-S1 if that’s a potential issue.

While the HS20 relied on bog-standard AA batteries for power, the HS30EXR also includes a rechargeable Li-ion battery. A small change, but one that makes a big difference and is in line with what competitor cameras have on offer.

Feature packed

To complement the viewfinder there’s a 3-inch, 460k-dot LCD screen on the rear. It’s mounted on a tilt-angle bracket to enable vertical movement into positions to assist with overhead or low-level angles. Bright sunlight can make composition tricky - as with most compact cameras - but that’s why the viewfinder can prove to be such significant use.

Full manual controls are available on the main mode dial, as are panorama, custom and auto modes. A one-touch button on the rear of the camera quick-activates the 1080p30 HD movie mode – clips are processed into MOV files for immediate use, both on or off the camera, no processing required.

Elsewhere within the options it's possible to switch on burst shooting. An eight frames per second burst is possible, though this is limited to taking five frames in practice.

Not only can the lens nab far-off subjects, the super macro mode works up to 1cm away from the subject (at 24mm only) which is perfect for grabbing dramatic close-ups. The wide-angle nature may make such shots look rather distorted, however, but the usual Macro mode is still able to focus reasonably close to subjects at other focal lengths.

How does it perform?

The first thing that’s noticeable about the HS30 is that the zoom is controlled by twisting the lens barrel itself. It’s rather like using a DSLR lens, and unlike other superzoom cameras on the market. It’s a cool feature and is backed up by a secondary ring for manual focus adjustment. The lens’s exterior has a prominent rubberised texture that makes holding the camera extra secure in the hand and the deep, protruding grip to the right on the camera is ample.

Put the camera to work and its autofocus is responsive, though less so as the zoom extends. Continuous autofocus, too, isn’t up to scratch for subjects moving at a middling-to-fast pace, so don’t expect to be snapping racing cars or other speedy subjects. It just won’t happen. Single autofocus delivers when it counts, but is plagued by a "cut out" issue. At the longer focal lengths where the image preview is showing in real time, a half press of the shutter to activate autofocus will cause the preview to "pause" for a brief moment. In that period of time it’s likely your subject may have wandered out of frame. This was an ongoing issue with the HS20 and one that the HS30 hasn’t addressed.

The camera’s autofocus options are extensive, though. Select from a 49-area multi, single centre-point, select a particular focus area from around the screen. Or you can pick "tracking" to lock-on to a subject and update focus accordingly. The tracking mode works well in conjunction with face detection, whereby the camera identifies faces in a scene and signifies it’s done so with a small green box around the face(s).

Compared to the competition the HS30EXR is on par with what else is out there. It’s not as fast as the Panasonic FZ150, but then the Fujifilm offers a longer focal range and variety of different features that lean in its favour.

Image Quality

The 16-megapixel 1/2in-size CMOS sensor can capture images at ISO 100 through to ISO 3200. Although ISO 6400-12,800 are listed, these are only available at 8MP and 4MP respectively.

Shoot at ISO 100-200 and shots are decent, full of colour and detail. But when zooming in and making the most of the 720mm (equiv.) zoom it’s less likely that low ISO settings will be used. First of all a faster shutter speed will be required to keep the shot steady, but with an f/5.6 limitation at the top end of the zoom the only way to get the settings for a balanced, sharp exposure will require the ISO sensitivity to be cranked up, which is where the HS30EXR loses its footing a little.

Although ISO 400 is reasonable, the ISO 800-3200 settings aggressively counteract image noise to the point that shots lack the crisp, sharp detail that you’ll want.

That’s not to say shots are bad, they’re not, but – and this is "realistic expectations time" – a superzoom just isn’t going to replace a larger-sensor camera, such as a DSLR. To be fair to Fujifilm, this is an across-the-board issue and the whole point of superzoom cameras is to offer a lot of features and a big zoom in an affordable price. That last part, where money comes into play, is where compromises begin to happen.

All things considered the HS30EXR offers good image quality for the price. Its sensor is a little larger than those found in most 16MP compact cameras, and image quality is comparable for the most part.

However, the HS30EXR does have a bit of extra imaging magic: flip the mode dial to the EXR mode and the camera will automatically select between shooting at full resolution (16MP) or by "halving" the resolution to 8MP by using two sensor-level pixels to one image-level pixel. This can offer either low noise or high dynamic range capture – and the results are superior to their full resolution equivalents.

Plus there’s also raw file capture. A rare but desirable mode where compact cameras are concerned, Raw files are like a "digital negative" with bags more information than the equivalent JPEG. Load up the provided Silkypix software on a computer and it’s easy to manipulate exposure, white balance and all manner of other settings.

?

Verdict:

What at first may appear nothing more than a subtle upgrade of the Fujifilm HS20 is a far superior bit of kit. The HS30EXR’s new viewfinder is best in class, the addition of a rechargeable Li-ion battery is very welcome, and small (but important) performance tweaks over its predecessor make all the difference.

The camera’s well-designed, easy to use and, for the most part, responsive in use too. Those in the market for a superzoom will want to give this model serious consideration.

However it’s not without fault. Image quality is the very same as the previous HS20 model, which is good but not great for all scenarios. Mid-high ISO settings lack the biting detail that’s necessary when shooting at longer focal lengths or in dim light. Don’t be fooled, the HS30EXR isn’t a DSLR replacement, but then it’s not trying to be. Within the context of the superzoom family it does a decent job across the board, and it’s not overpriced either. Impressive, but just a few steps shy of "super".

Tags: Cameras Fujifilm Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR Compact cameras

Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 01 May 2012 13:43:00 +0100

Cameras are one of the main battlegrounds for modern smartphones, with each manufacturer looking to point out why theirs is better than the next rival.?

"With ImageSense, HTC One rivals traditional digital cameras with improvements to every part of the camera", says HTC; "iPhone 4S includes an all-new camera with the most advanced optics of any phone", says Apple; "leading Carl Zeiss optics" says Nokia. So, who do we believe, and, more importantly what difference does all the spec-talk about sensors and apertures make in real-world use?

To put it all through a realistic, real-world experience, Pocket-lint took five leading smartphones for a quick London stroll on a sunny afternoon to see what results we got.?We tested the HTC One X, iPhone 4S, Sony Xperia S, Samsung Galaxy SII and Nokia Lumia 800, taking the same shots at the same time in the same locations and here we line up the results for you.

We didn't tinker with settings, we just pulled out the phone and took the shot as most users will do most of the time. You'll note that the HTC One X was shooting in 16:9 (the default), but otherwise the aspect of the shots is the same. Likewise, we didn't edit the images, all of which you can find in the gallery below.

All the phones are equipped with an 8-megapixel sensor, except the Sony Xperia S, which offers 12 megapixels.?

The photos

First up, we hit a row of Boris Bikes on the Embankment. Perspective, colour and lots of detail to be had in this shot. You can see how the images compare in the merge we've done, above.

The contrast from the iPhone 4S is perhaps the best; richer colours are exhibited by the iPhone and the HTC One X, although the latter has a slightly pink tinge, obvious in the sky. Comparatively, the Nokia, Samsung and Sony shots are all slightly more yellow but, generally speaking, they all look good.

Around the corner is some great architecture at the back of the Savoy Hotel on Savoy Hill. You'll probably never see it because it's mostly where the staff hangout and smoke. The glossy, white-faced bricks look great against the dark windows.?

Again, a good set of results from our phones. The contrast of the iPhone comes to the fore and again we see that yellow tinge on the Nokia and pink tinge on the HTC. In this case the Samsung Galaxy SII picture is brighter, but in the process, there is very little colour to the sky. In this case, the extra megapixels of the Xperia S mean you can dive in and extract a little more detail.

The entrance to the Thomas Neal Centre combines lower light, mosaic floor detailing and access to loads of shops. We squatted in the doorway to grab this shot. In this case the Samsung Galaxy SII is a warmer photo, because of the slow shutter speed, although the speed isn't wildly difference across the devices.

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But that slower shutter speed means a softer photo with more handshake evident. When you crop in, you'll find that the Xperia S has introduced a lot of noise in the floor, which destroys the detail, but on a camera phone this probably doesn't matter as the rest of the shot looks natural.

Hunting out some colour in Neal's Yard, we find that the Lumia 800 is softer and lacks the vibrancy of the other shots we've taken, the Xperia S and the iPhone acquit themselves well, with painted facades of the buildings every bit as engaging as they are in the flesh.

The Union Jack hanging outside the Covent Garden Hotel on Monmouth Street sees more perspective and the evident pink tinge of the HTC One X. In this case the Nokia produces a colder, bluer, result.? We like the result from the Xperia S, which has a richness to the brickwork, although the SGSII performs well, giving a nice natural result.

Alfresco dining in Covent Garden presents a tricky shot. Plenty of shadow detail and the low sun on the right tests the cameras a little more. The Nokia stumbles, producing a shot that's too dark and dominated by the shadows; all struggle with the bright side-lit conditions. It's also easy to see that the iPhone has colour in the sky, something that's characteristic of its photos.

Finally we find a pansy in Soho Square. To see how well the phones will cope with a little closer detail, the problem here is getting them to focus. In the case of the Lumia 800, it struggles, so we had to back off a bit, and still failed.

The other phones perform better, with the iPhone and the SGSII both giving rich colour and the Xperia S and One X offering up some nice detail.

Conclusions

So what can we take from this? Importantly, one of the things that this quick test demonstrates is just how variable the results can be and how wide the difference is in colour. You probably wouldn't notice this until you compare shots directly.?Our test also doesn't cater for these devices offering a wide variety of settings, some of which are genuinely useful and some little more than a distraction. But, as far as the differences of the cameras go on these top smartphones, this is what we thought.

HTC One X

The HTC One X is fast to focus and capture, with an interface that's fuss free. Unfortunately the device we had was plagued with a pink tinge, so the results never really come out too well.

iPhone 4S

It's hard to deny that the iPhone produces great shots. The interface doesn't offer any options and it isn't very fast to capture those shots, which are obvious criticisms. But it is consistent in its performance, which is an important point.

Sony Xperia S

The Sony Xperia S offers a higher-resolution sensor than the other devices, although in practice this doesn't make a huge?noticeable?difference. What the Xperia S does offer though is a nice interface, easy to control and the benefit of a physical camera button. Although focusing isn't as fast as the HTC One X, it does feel like you get more control.

Samsung Galaxy SII

The Samsung Galaxy SII produces some great shots, although exposure is sometimes a little varied.

Nokia Lumia 800

The Nokia Lumia 800 doesn't perform especially well in our tests, with very varied results produced. Exposure seems to be a problem. It also lacks the speed of some of the other devices.

Tags: Phones Cameras Sony Xperia S Samsung Galaxy S II Nokia Lumia 800 iPhone 4S HTC One X Features

Camera phones on test: HTC One X, iPhone 4S, Xperia S, Galaxy SII, Lumia 800 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 01 May 2012 12:32:00 +0100

Nikon’s been a little late to the party with its line of superzoom cameras over the last couple of years. But its latest, the Coolpix P510, crams in a huge 24-1000mm (equivalent) lens - making it the longest zoom compact on the market. That’ll be enough to grab our attention, then. But is it all talk, or can the P510 truly keep up to speed with other superzooms in this bustling market area?

Mega-zoom

There’s no ignoring it: the P510’s 42x optical zoom is huge, though not so in the physical sense of the word. Despite the massive 24-1000mm zoom range this Coolpix is quite compact, at least smaller than all its main rivals.

The zoom can be controlled via two different zoom toggles. There’s one surrounding the shutter button on the top of the camera, and another to the side of the lens itself.

With such huge focal lengths at your fingertips it’s great to see Nikon has added lens-based vibration-reduction technology to the P510’s repertoire. This counteracts handshake by moving lens elements by microscopic amounts to produce not only a steadier preview, but also a sharper final image. The previous P500 model lacked such advanced image stabilisation, instead it depended on sensor-based and high ISO stabilisation that left it in the shade compared to the competition.

However, as with all superzoom cameras, there are limitations to what can be shot with success. The 24-1000mm range sounds impressive, but with a maximum aperture of f/3-5.9 – that’s what controls the amount of light able to enter the camera, ie, at 24mm the maximum aperture is f/3, while at 1000mm the maximum is a lesser f/5.9 – the longest focal length is going to need a whole lot of light to be of genuine use.

As a rule of thumb the shutter speed should at least match the focal length. The P510 doesn’t make that easy to achieve, even on an overcast day with the camera set at ISO 3200 the camera offered a shutter speed of around 1/500th - less than ideal and at an ISO setting too high for a decent quality image. In short, 1000mm may sound like a dream, but it’s a tainted one.

Key features

The sizable zoom isn’t the only thing on the P510’s features list. As well as a 3-inch, 921k-dot LCD screen, mounted on a tilt-angle bracket the camera also includes a 0.2in, 201k-dot electronic viewfinder.

However, the viewfinder is the same grade as that found in the previous P500 model. On the one hand it’s great to help add further stability when framing, or when sunlight is too bright to use the rear screen, but on the other hand the small size and so-so resolution aren’t too pleasing. The Fujifilm HS30EXR’s larger, finder walks all over this Nikon offering.

A main mode dial includes point-and-shoot auto, popular scene modes, effects for immediate in-camera adjustments, plus the full array of manual controls.

Not only can the P510 capture stills but 1080p30 HD movies can also be recorded. The rear d-pad controls AF activation and exposure lock, though the camera otherwise controls exposure and autofocus. Focus during zoom can become blurry as the camera seems to battle against itself to update the focus point in real time, but this isn’t unusual for compact cameras – at least the zoom can be used to its full potential while recording.

GPS – or Global Positioning Satellite technology – is also wrapped up within the design. When activated shots are tagged with location data that can come in handy when cataloguing or uploading your images to some websites or social media platforms. However, GPS is a known battery-drain, so use it with caution.

A true performer?

The P510’s autofocus system is, as per so many superzooms, good at wide-angle settings but less speedy and accurate at the longer focal lengths. This does, in part, depend on the content of the scene because of the way that contrast-detect autofocus works, but it’s not uncommon for over and under focus to occur before getting a full and final grasp of the shot. Dim conditions can be problematic, but that’s where an AF-illuminator lamp comes in handy.

No fewer than six focus types are available: face priority to target face, “subject tracking” locks on to a subject from the centre of the screen and updates focus as they move throughout the frame and “target finder” where the subject is found and revealed by a green box surround, including the specific area of focus within the main outline. It’s thorough, but the speed limitations to the full time autofocus mode mean that fast-moving subjects will be out of reach for the “tracking” mode.

The P510 performs much like a compact camera loaded with a massive zoom, so if you don’t anticipate a DSLR-rivaling device then it’s bang on the money. Speaking of which is the price tag. At ?330, it’s less than many of its competitors - none too shabby considering the overall feature set.

Image Quality

The P510’s new 16-megapixel, 1/2.3in-size, back-lit CMOS sensor is an upgrade over the previous P500’s 12.1-megapixel sensor. But where extra megapixels are crammed onto the same sensor surface it doesn’t necessarily mean better quality.

The camera can shoot from ISO 100-3200, and there’s a "Hi1" (ISO 6400 equivalent) setting also available. Select "auto (ISO)" and the P510 automatically caps the top ISO setting to 800 in order to preserve better, more detailed images. But even at ISO 800 shots reveal plenty of signs of noise reduction processing that ultimately make it hard to get a defined, crisp-looking shot.

Drop down to ISO 100 - though this is less likely to be of use at the longer focal lengths on account of the other settings required for exposure – and, again, shots don’t have that crisp "bite" that we’d like to see in fine detail areas. The highest ISO settings - which need to be individually selected from ISO 1600 and above - show considerably more image noise and breakdown of quality, hence their absence from the "auto (ISO)" option.

But that’s not to say shots are bad. As per the Fujifilm HS30EXR it’s more a case of having realistic expectations: a superzoom just isn’t going to replace a larger-sensor camera, such as a DSLR. The P510 will rival other compacts with similar (if not the same) sensor, and that’s how it should be considered, albeit with far more reach available from that sizeable zoom.

One other thing is, the Auto White Balance system can throw up inconsistent results. Although not a huge issue, some test shots were marred with slight blue or magenta casts or just looked a little washed out.

Verdict:

Nikon has upped its game when it comes to its superzoom range. Not only does the P510 have the longest focal length to be found in a compact camera, it’s also small in body when compared to the competition.

It’s a capable performer, and the vibration-reduction technology makes it far more capable than its P500 predecessor. However the supposed star of the show, yep that whopping-great lens, does have its downsides - shooting at a 1000mm equivalent is no walk in the park and the drawbacks of both the camera’s so-so image quality and the f/3-5.9 maximum aperture range will limit the results that can be obtained. DSLR this isn’t.

We’d like to see a lower-resolution, higher performing sensor, improved viewfinder and longer-lasting battery in the next release. When that happens the P500-series will be up there with the best of them. For now the P510 model represents a good all-rounder that’s affordable and packed out with features that challenge the competition. Oh, and it’s available in an optional smart-looking red colour, if that’s your kinda thang.

Tags: Cameras Nikon Nikon Coolpix p510 Compact cameras

Nikon Coolpix P510 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:02:00 +0100

The compact camera doesn't always need all the extra bells and whistles that many companies slap on top. They can be simple things, designed to capture the moment as quickly as possible and do little else. Grabbing hold of the Panasonic TZ25, we were treated to a refreshing simple compact.

Refining the shooting experience by eliminating most shutter lag, adding a wide angle lens and getting rid of most complex menu systems has made the camera particularly enjoyable to use. But it isn't the only compact that has tried to do this, so how does it hold up against the competition??

The hardware

As compacts go, the TZ25 is actually fairly bulky. Holding it can feel slightly like clasping a small plastic brick, albeit a reassuringly?sturdy?one. As is the case with most Panasonic cameras, build quality is top notch and nothing seems loose or like it might fall apart should you accidentally drop the snapper.?

It doesn't look?particularly?nice however, with a design approach more akin to compacts of several years ago. This is a shame, as behind the boring looks is a very good-quality camera. Just don't expect people to recognise it when you show it to them.?

It is nice to see the Leica logo flaunted on the front of the camera - not only does it reassure that you are going to be getting some decent lens glass but adds a bit of style to the snapper.?

On top is a rotating mode selection dial, zoom control, quick-record button and off on switch. The positioning of this does mean, however, that sticking the camera into your pocket can frequently turn it on, draining the battery. A control dial on the back and quick-select button complete the controls package. It's all fairly standard stuff, and works well, but does little to really innovate in the way compact cameras are used. Still though, this is no bad thing as it means anyone can pick up the TZ25 and use it without any explanation.?

The display on the back of the TZ25 is fairly impressive. It is nice and saturated, as well as being of a decent enough resolution to show off some of the data the 12-megapixel sensor has captured. The feed from the camera's sensor is slightly laggy though, and gets particularly blurry in low light making shooting a tad unpleasant.

Shooting

As we have already said, using the TZ25 makes a nice change from the conventional compact experience. When left on full auto, it's formidable. The 24mm ultra-wide lens with no shutter lag and 10fps burst mode makes this the ultimate point and shoot.?

We took the TZ25 on a rather lengthy cycle ride attached to our jersey. In this situation, snapping while cycling, you have no time to adjust settings or play with menus. Thankfully the camera just did as it was told and grabbed properly exposed and quick images whenever we tapped the shutter. The super-wide lens also makes shooting from the hip and general composition a lot easier.?

The Panasonic also keeps it simple when it comes to adjusting settings. The closest we can compare it to is a smartphone. An on-screen overlay allows you to switch everything, from flash to the amount of the sensor used.?

Full HD AVCHD video is fairly impressive looking. It's nicely saturated and doesn't suffer from any of the normal noise issues that compact video can generate. The inbuilt power OIS image stabilisation does a good job getting rid of wobble from the hand as well.?

A dedicated video button is a nice feature, as is a slider which send things from camera to image library. Bizarelly though, if you press the shutter it wont override the slider, which means should you forget to move it, you can easily miss capturing a moment.?

Not a lot else can be said about the Lumix's shooting other than its built in creative filters. A choice of ten Instagram-style offerings do a decent job of making things interesting in camera, but they aren't close to the effects you could achieve in post processing.?

Verdict:

A formidable compact from Panasonic, then, but also a fairly pricey one. At ?289 we can't help but think there is some other offerings which behave the same way and put less of a strain on the wallet.?

Those in the market for a high end compact however should definitely consider the TZ25. It is more than capable of delivering in any situation and should, thanks to the decent build, last you for a long time.?

Tags: Cameras Digital cameras Photography Panasonic Panasonic TZ25 Panasonic Lumix TZ25

Panasonic Lumix TZ25 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:14:00 +0100

The Pentax K-01 first fell into Pocket-Lint’s hands back in?February this year, where we were left more than a little perplexed about what this mirrorless camera was all about.

Acclaimed designer Marc Newson is at the helm of this latest design, though the result has set the internet alight with all manner of both love and hate. So who is the camera aimed at, is it a design success, and -preconceptions aside - how does it feel and function as a modern-day camera?

Ditch the viewfinder: Mirrorless DSL, anyone?

Imagine a DSLR without a viewfinder. That’s what the K-01 is. It’s not compact enough to be considered a "compact system camera", and as it chops the mirrorbox out of a DSLR design, it’s not one of those either. However the K-01 does use the K-mount as per Pentax DSLR cameras, so it’s more a mirrorless hybrid all of its own making.

On the one hand - at least on paper - the use of this lens mount is great for those with existing Pentax lenses, while on the other it introduces obvious design constraints: The 45.6mm flange-focal distance (the measure from the rear of the lens to the sensor) is more than double the 19.25mm of the Micro Four Thirds standard. We don’t want to get too bogged down in numbers, but this stuff is important. For the lens to focus this distance is crucial, but also impacts the body size – meaning there was never any possibility of the K-01 being any less than at least 5cm in width. That may not sound huge, but sit it side by side with a competitor camera or even a DSLR and the size difference (or lack of it) is immediately obvious. This is a big old beast.

Without the mirrorbox it’s also not possible to use phase-detection autofocus, instead the sensor-based, and slower, contrast-detection system is employed. Hence is calling it “weird” in our initial preview: the K-01 is a mirrorless camera with none of the benefits of a compact system camera. It’s almost the same size as a DSLR but less capable. Is Marc Newson’s design really enough to elevate it to a level unseen by other cameras?

Marc Newson design

Marc Newson’s dealings with Pentax extend only to the camera’s exterior design. He’s not the man who decided to use the K-mount, nor is he the man to blame for the lack of a viewfinder - or connection port for an optional one.

The design he’s come up with, given the confines of the brief, is a simplistic yet considered look. It’s bold and bright, particularly in its yellow finish. But, in saying that, it’s not a look we’re fond of. It’s too boxy, the over-sized mode dial and spaced-apart buttons look like something from a different era, and not in the cool, kitsch way other manufacturers such as Olympus are pulling off with success – just take a look at the OM-D E-M5 to see how it should be done.

Hats off to Pentax for going down a different avenue and selecting a prolific designer though. Breaking with convention is the way to make great products, but something doesn’t gel here. The K-01 looks like a head-on collision between Pentax execs and the famed Aussie designer. We just can’t see existing Pentax users - the ones most likely querying, "Why all this R&D spend," and,"Where’s our full-frame DSLR?" - being enthralled by the design in terms of both its exterior or overall concept.

Where’s a significant grip to provide an ample hold when attaching larger lenses? Where are the additional function buttons to make it a true photographers’ camera? Why the flimsy and fussy rubber-like flap to the side of the camera?

However, buttons and dials fall naturally to the hand in use and menus are easy to navigate. There’s nothing difficult about using this camera which does make it feel part and parcel of the Pentax family.

New kit lens: 40mm f/2.8 XS

As well as the new camera, Pentax has also released a 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. As the "XS" moniker in the name would suggest ,this is an extra small lens - in fact it’s the world’s thinnest, bar none. Great though that achievement may be, it’s positively dwarfed by the chunky body.

But the size becomes irrelevant when putting the lens to use. Oh, the autofocus motor is ever so noisy. And it’s not just restricted to the new lens - pop other glass on the front, such as the 18-55mm included in our review kit, and the whirring sound is far louder than many other cameras we’ve tested in recent years. Disappointing.

Performance

The fact the K-01 uses a contrast-detect autofocus system isn’t an immediate cause for concern. Just look at the super-fast focusing of the aforementioned Olympus OM-D E-M5 and there’s proof that the K-01’s screen-based only preview system can work well. But alas, again, this isn’t the case and Pentax has shot itself in the foot here. Although wide-angle settings aren’t a problem and the camera will slip into focus in good time, it’s still just not as quick as many of its near competitors. But it’s at longer focal lengths or when there’s a little less light that the camera can make a meal out of autofocus - often extending through the entire focal range before settling on a focus point.

Face detection, spot, single point selection and tracking are the four focus modes. Unlike a DSLR there’s no multi-area mode spread over a wide area. Focus points/areas don’t show on the screen in advance either. And as the focus system isn’t particularly fast, the modes that require continual updates (ie, continuous autofocus) in order to track subjects will often falter. It’s not a great result, particularly when considering the likes of the Panasonic GF5, Nikon J1 and Samsung NX200, or, indeed, the far superior system of the not-much-bigger Pentax K-5 DSLR.

Burst mode can snap five frames in a second if shooting JPEG only, but is slower if shooting Raw.

Movie mode is decent, offering good 1080p quality using H.264 compression at 24, 25 or 30fps (frames per second). There’s even a 3.5mm microphone jack for use with an external microphone to record stereo sound. Autofocus is possible during recording, and the Program, Aperture Priority and Manual exposure options add to the controls at your fingertips. It’s a good spread of options.

Image Quality

Where the K-01 really can shine is with its image quality. Taking the picture you want may be a little tricky in the first instance on account of the LCD-only and so-so autofocus system, but the likes of still lives, portraits and other stationary or slow-moving shots will sparkle with the right lens combination.

The sensor is the same 16-megapixel offering as found in the Pentax K-5, or neighbouring Sony NEX-5N model. It’s a cracking sensor that delivers decent amounts of detail and low noise.

The K-01 can shoot from ISO 100 all the way up to ISO 25,600. All bar the top three sensitivities provide competition-beating results, meaning shooting from ISO 100-3200 will yield excellent results. Pentax also offers some staggering lenses that can be popped on to the front of the camera - we’ve no doubt that the limited-edition wide-aperture primes will produce great results, if you can find any to buy. Raw files can be captured in the DNG format - Adobe’s universal format - for immediate use in editing software. The files hold that extra bit of detail and offer bags more room to process than the JPEG equivalents.

And it doesn’t stop there. Within the camera’s menus are detailed settings to adjust JPEG sharpness, contrast, saturation, hue and high/low key points. Bleach bypass, sepia, black & white and other useful in-camera settings also feature, as does a HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode on the main mode dial itself.

HDR, used to expose for shadow and highlight in a single frame, can be shot in JPEG only and will require a tripod for modes 1-3, but can be used handheld in good light if selecting the "Auto" mode. The results are subtle rather than some of the over-worked HDR that’s all too common.

Verdict:

Oh, Pentax. From the outset the K-01 looked like an oddity and, sadly, our “weird” view remains unchanged. Super-designer or not, the K-01 is boxy, big and has less - not more - than the competition to offer prospective buyers. It’s sandwiched somewhere between smaller compact system cameras and more advanced DSLR systems, albeit without the key benefits of either type.

Autofocus isn’t up to scratch in terms of speed or ability, plus it’s far too loud in use. The teeny grip won’t be deep enough for use with more serious lenses either - which seems a total mismatch to the K-mount’s presence.

Image quality is great though, and by far the camera’s strong point. Yet for just a little more cash - and the ?679 outlay that the K-01 demands is already pricey - the far superior K-5 would make a much keener purchase.

Pentax’s website proclaims that the K-01 is "the first K-mount mirror less camera". We can only hope it’s the last too.

Tags: Cameras Pentax Pentax K-01

Pentax K-01 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:52:00 +0100

How good is that idea you've got knocking about in the back of your mind? That's what Cisco wants to know, with the creation of the Cisco British Innovation Gateway Awards looking for the best ideas the UK has to offer.

The BIG Awards aims to recognise and support up-and-coming innovators, entrepreneurs and early-stage startup businesses.

Cisco is seeking submissions from small businesses and early stage startups, which have technology-based prototypes and proof of concepts in development.

If you win you'll get access to the full array of Cisco capabilities from technology to business development, plus potential investment and partnering opportunities in the future.

Wow.

To participate, all you have to do is simply?register?on the BIG Awards site and submit your BIG idea - it really is that easy.

There are?five categories?in which to submit your idea:?Big Data, Collaboration, Future Cities, Internet of Things,? Mobility. Ideas must be ?in by the end of the month (closing date is 1 May).

Once all the entries are received, Cisco will then start picking the best ones with the top 20 ideas will be picked for the Semi-finals, before the final six ideas will proceed to the finals.

Three ideas will receive grand prizes?valuing over $250,000.

Open to UK-registered organisations, companies and UK residents aged 18 years or older.

The winner will receive a range of support aimed at accelerating the potential of their idea, product or initiative. This will be in the form of financial assistance, expertise and mentoring.? The team will also win the following:

- $100,000 US in cash

- 12 months of technology and business mentoring from leading Cisco engineers and managers

- $30,000 US in 12 month Digital Marketing support from dnx which includes things like social media training.

Read

Tags: Phones Cameras Tablets Gaming Laptops Apps Cars iPad

Win $100,000 with Cisco British Innovation Gateway Awards originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:03:00 +0100

Imaging is at the forefront of modern smartphones. But with the main phone manufacturers fighting it out to claim they have the best camera on their handset, it's the third-party app developers that are really capturing the imagination.?

Just look at the likes of Hipstamatic or the recently acquired Instagram. These apps have nothing to do with the technical capabilities (or failings) of a phone's camera, but are hugely popular by being distinct and adding character. There are plenty of other fun options out there too and today we're looking at one such creative camera app.

After Focus

Format

Android

Price

Free

Where

Google Play

After Focus, as the name suggests, offers you the chance to apply effects after you've taken a shot. The approach is interesting because it gives you the ability to mask parts of your photo, so you make changes only to particular elements.

This is the derivative of the "focus" part of the name, as the main suggestion is creating a wide aperture effect, blurring background to emphasise the subject.?

It's easy to do too. You simply paint over the parts of the image, identifying whether you're working on the focused area or background, press the button and blur comes in.?

?

There are manual or smart options - we found that we liked the direct control that manual offers - to help you get the results you want. There is also the option to zoom, so you can really get into the detail for the best results.?

But that's not all. After Focus offers a great deal more. Once you're through the blurring phase (and you can mask the entire thing if you want no blur) you get access to a range of common effects.

You'll find you can change the strength of the blur effect, make it look like motion blur to give the illusion of movement, or add a vignette, sharpen the image or add a bokeh effect to background highlights.

You can also use your selected area as a colour mask, to strip all the colour out of the background for real emphasis, or apply more common cross process or antique effects to add that finishing touch.

There are plenty of photo apps out there, but we like some of the features that After Focus offers. Being able to mask the subject can allow for some dramatic results, so it's worth playing around with.

The basic app is free.

Tags: Apps Android apps Cameras After Focus

APP OF THE DAY: After Focus review (Android) originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:00:00 +0100

Opt for a truly pocket-friendly point-and-shoot camera and you’re often settling for a compromise: small size for zoom ability. But Nikon has successfully avoided this with the Coolpix S6300, which will slip into your jeans - even those of the pornographically skinny hipster variety - easily, yet packs an impressive 10x optical zoom lens.

Zoomy, but not the most zoomy

The zoom range, equivalent to 25-250mm on a 35mm camera, makes the S6300 more versatile than the average compact, although not to the extent you see on slightly bulkier models like the 18x Samsung WB150F or the 20x Canon PowerShot SX240 HS. Basically, the S6300’s lens means you can shoot wide-angle interiors or landscapes, then zoom in for a head-and-shoulders portrait. It also takes macro close up shots at its widest zoom, focusing on subjects as close as 100mm.

Simple to use, plenty of image options

The S6300 is an extremely simple camera to use. Nikon has streamlined the user interface, giving you a very straightforward set of shooting modes, each accessed by the "camera/scene" button on the rear. Press this and you can select an auto mode, one of 19 scene presets, special effects, smart portrait or autofocus subject tracking.

There’s no manual or even program mode, so photographers who like to tweak camera settings may find themselves a little disappointed. You can change a handful of settings in auto - such as exposure compensation - but that’s really it. You’ll have to make do with the scene presets - optimised for fireworks, snow, food, etc - or use the special effects such as monochrome, sepia, soft focus.

The smart portrait mode combines anti-redeye, skin smoothing and smile detection tech. As we say, it’s a simple selection, but the addition of a dial at the top would make changing between these modes a lot easier – or at least quicker.

Average in low-light

The camera rocks a back-illuminated CMOS sensor that Nikon claims delivers excellent low-light photos, but in reality the S6300 appears to be fairly average in this regard. There’s noise clearly visible in shots at 400 ISO, and above that things get grainier than a jar of mustard.

Colours are bright, though, and there’s a nice contrasty punch, so overall we’re pretty happy with the image quality.

And 1080p video

There’s 1080p HD video with stereo sound, and it’s sharp and clean, and far better than the equivalent video on a pricey smartphone, for instance. You can use the optical zoom while capturing video, but don’t expect the autofocus - very fast when shooting stills - to lock on quickly and accurately when you do so.

Verdict:

The Nikon Coolpix S6300 is a solid, dependable ultra-compact with an impressive zoom range, but lacks one killer feature to make it stand out over rivals.

Image quality is acceptable without ever really excelling, and while HD videos are sharp we were left hoping for a little something extra from the highly touted CMOS sensor. A decent all-round compact, then, but nothing to get too excited about.

Tags: Cameras Nikon Nikon Coolpix S6300

Nikon Coolpix S6300 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:14:00 +0100

The Samsung NX1000 could be seen by some as the runt of the new Samsung NX range?announced on Thursday, but that would be to do it a grave injustice.

Pocket-lint caught up with the new camera, and Samsung, ahead of it hitting the shops in June in time for the Olympics - but will it be a camera you should be packing to the Games?

Inside and the Samsung NX1000?features the same 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor as found in the considerably more feature packed Samsung NX210?and the Samsung NX20.

The NX1000, NX20 and NX210 similarities don't stop there. The NX1000 also features the same ISO 100 - 12800 range, the same 1080P HD video recording at 30fps, the same 8 frames per second shooting capability. Although the NX20 features a better shutter speed, the NX1000 matches the NX210's 1/4000 sec speed.

For the majority of photographers when it comes to the sensor, the lens options and the meat of the camera the three models are the same even though the NX100 is ?300 cheaper than the new flagship model.

Outside and you can immediately see where the corners have been cut. There is no electronic viewfinder, or AMOLED screen.

You'll also get the 20-50mm Samsung OIS II lens rather than the 18-55mm OIS III lens as found with the NX20.

That's all by the by in reality. In return you get a snazzy little compact system camera that comes in white, black or pink. Yes, pink (sadly Samsung didn't have one to photograph).

The camera features the same Wi-Fi technology now standard for the NX range and previously found on the company's compact camera range launched earlier this year.?

For those not familiar with the tech, the idea is that by connecting the NX100 to a Wi-Fi hotspot you can share your photos easily without the need to use a cable. The photos can be uploaded to Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud service, tweeted, Facebooked, or emailed, or if that "social stuff" doesn't bother you - to a nearby phone or TV.

Beyond that you'll also be able to control the camera with your Android smartphone and the accompanying app.

Sadly we weren't able to test the new Wi-Fi features properly in our quick play with the NX1000, but we have previously played with the company's compact range. The experience we had with the?Samsung WB150F?has been?mixed with some positives and some limitations.

It is clearly too early to tell what the quality of the shots is like, as we weren't able to take any away with us and the model we were playing with was a pre-production offering, to boot.

What we can say however is that the camera is well built, is study in the hand, and the white finish looked tidy. The material, which is like a faux leather pattern, comes with enough of a sheen that it looks unlikely to pick up dirt easily.

The NX1000 looks promising, but we will withhold our final verdict on the new compact system camera from Samsung until we've had one in the office for a full review.

The Samsung NX1000 is due out in June. It will cost ?699.

Tags: Cameras Digital cameras Compact system cameras Samsung Samsung NX1000

Samsung NX1000 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:01:00 +0100

The Samsung NX210 is the 2012 version of the Samsung NX200 and Pocket-lint managed to grab a play with the new camera ahead of it hitting the shops in May. Should you be interested?

What's new? Not much, according to Samsung. The model features the same 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor as found in the NX200, the same 3-inch AMOLED screen, and the same hardware shell.

So why should you bother? The big addition here to the NX210 is the inclusion of Samsung's Wi-Fi technology that allows users to share images from the camera to other devices such as your Samsung Galaxy S II or your Samsung TV.

It's not just about sharing to other devices near you, but also allowing you to share pictures via email, social networks and Microsoft's SkyDrive - sign up and you get 25GB of free storage, but you will need a PC to do so.

In our play with Samsung in a behind-closed-doors meeting we weren't able to test the Wi-Fi tech on the new NX210, but we have played with the system on the company's compact camera range.

The results there were mixed, although we love that you can view and control your camera via your phone. It will no doubt come in handy if you are trying to take a group photo and want to control the shot from your phone.

Back to the camera, and its new additions: you now get an external mic and flash controls, as well as the new "creative" shooting modes.

If you're not aware of the NX200 you get a decent sized slightly larger than bulky compact camera with a lot more power - interchangeable lenses, manual control, etc.?

First up you get a proper mode dial, which we always like to see, so switching into manual shooting modes takes only a twist of the dial. There are also two other dials, one encircling the four-way controller on the back, the other nestled on the top.

Using these two dials you can easily balance aperture and shutter speed to get the exposure you want. Outside of these controls, the immediate buttons are close to the sort of layout you’d expect on a compact camera.

Although the camera is small, there is a surprising amount of grip. The raised handgrip on the right-hand side is not only large enough to feel you have control of the camera, but is also finished in a sort of hard foam, so rather than feeling slightly slippery like a metal finish, it is tactile and sits securely in the hand.

There are a range of “magic” options which have been expanded. You can dive into the menu settings and come out with something a little different to your shot such as a vignette or miniature effect. Each mode or setting pops-up with a little description on the screen to help guide you through the options.

From our first exploratory plays with the camera, we found these either lingered on the display a little too long or vanished before we’d had a chance to read them, but generally speaking we found it easy enough to dive in and find what we wanted.

Those wondering where the viewfinder is, don't, there isn't one. But you do get a bolt-on flash in the box. Those who are after a more "traditional" looking camera should opt for the newly announced?Samsung NX20. It features the same sensor but in a more DSLR looking shell.

We haven’t had a chance to really get to grips with the camera’s features and we haven’t yet had the chance to gauge the quality of the images it produces, or the Full HD movies that it will capture, which we’ll have to judge when we do our Samsung NX210 full review.

The Samsung NX210 will be available from May and cost ?749. It will come with an 18-55 OIS III lens.

Tags: Cameras Compact system cameras Samsung Samsung NX210 Digital cameras

Samsung NX210 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:33:00 +0100

The Samsung NX20?is the new NX11, replacing the 2011 camera with a new sensor, new tricks and new features, Pocket-lint got an early look at a pre-production model before the camera hits the shops in May.

Designed to look like a DSLR to complete with cameras such as the Canon 550D and entry-level Nikon cameras, the Samsung NX20 is aimed at the enthusiast photographer looking for a DSLR experience without the negative elements of the DSLR experience.

With that in mind you get a considerably lighter and smaller device, although one that is still unlikely to fit in your pocket - that's more likely to be the NX1000, also due in May.

Aside from the interchangeable lens offering on the front, the big selling point here is the new swivel 3.0-inch clear AMOLED display with an improved screen over the NX11.

To reduce glare (something we weren't able to test because we saw the camera in a windowless room) Samsung has inserted a UV resin between the glass and the actual AMOLED screen. Called Clear AMOLED, the results in the flesh give you a bright vivid screen as good as the company's mobile phone range, although at 3-inches, it is still considerably smaller than its?Galaxy Nexus phone screen technology.

If you aren't fussed about the AMOLED screen there is the Electronic Viewfinder, and here you get a SVGA (800 x 600) resolution display.

Surprisingly there is still plenty of room on the rear of the camera for a plethora of buttons to control the cameras settings, including a dedicated video recording button. The top of the camera features a mode dial, similar to the Samsung NX11, with the added Wi-Fi mode on the dial.

That Wi-Fi mode button is one of the big new features on the camera. Previous available on the company's compact range announced at CES in January this year, the technology now comes to the Compact System Camera range, and ergo the NX20.

As with the compact camera range from Samsung, the new mode allows you to do a number of things with your images once you've taken them - as long as you have Wi-Fi connectivity either from your phone (tethered) or standard network.

Once you've got connected with your camera, you can either share it to your Android smartphone, share it to your TV, share it via email, share it to the social networks, or save it to Microsoft's Sky Drive cloud storage - you get 25GB free, by the way.

We weren't able to test the feature on the NX20 we had, but having played with Samsung's system at CES, and more recently on the Samsung WB150F?it's a feature that works, but has limitations.

Get past the outside technical features and the inside of the camera has been updated above and beyond the 2011 NX11.

Instead of a 14-megapixel sensor you get a 20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor and a wide-range ISO (100-12800) to let you shoot in those funky low-light clubs and restaurants you no doubt frequent.

In our quick play the camera seemed responsive to focus, and the pictures on screen looked good. We weren't able to take photos away with us or see them on a larger screen other than the cameras.

The NX20 boasts a shutter speed of 1/8000 sec to enable clear shots of action-filled settings, as well as, offering 1080p Full HD Stereo Movie Recording (H.264). As standard across the range, the NX20 is also compatible with Samsung’s i-Function 2.0 lens system.

You'll also get 8 frames per second burst shooting mode, although the prototype we had took a long time to save the images afterwards. Worryingly long, but Samsung informed us that that delay is likely to be fixed. We will make sure when we do our Samsung NX20 review on a final retail version of the camera to check to see if this is the case. Let's hope the delay disappears.

With an improved control interface that in our quick play seemed easy to use, comfortable controls and plenty in the box to keep you happy - you get an 18-55mm lens and a bolt of flash - the NX20 like the NX11, looks like it will impress many when it hits the stores in May.

The catch? It will cost ?899.

Tags: Cameras Samsung Samsung NX20 Digital cameras Compact system cameras Samsung NX11

Samsung NX20 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:01:00 +0100

The compact digital camera market offers buyers a brain-scrambling amount of choice, so when a point-and-shoot comes along and offers something unique, we sit up and take notice. That’s the case with the Samsung WB150F, which sports Wi-Fi for easy photo sharing - and quite a bit more.

Ruggedly elegant

Not to be confused with the Wi-Fi-less WB150 (that F is all important), it’s a ruggedly elegant and fairly bulky compact, thanks to the protruding grip and - even when concertinaed-down - lens. It’ll bulge out of a trouser pocket. But we can live with that: the lens offers a massive 18x optical zoom, allowing you to shoot a 24mm wide angle landscape one moment, then zoom in and snapping a squirrel’s nostrils the next.

There’s a standard 3-inch screen it's not particularly sharp or bright, but fine for most use, combination charging and AV out port at the side, and a dial at the top to switch between various modes and settings. Clued-up enthusiasts will welcome the inclusion of full manual controls as well as aperture, program and shutter priority modes. There's also the obligatory automatic Smart mode for hands-off photographers, but there isn’t an option to shoot in RAW.

Pretty pictures

Thankfully the WB150F’s 14.2-megapixel JPEGs are fine. They’re vibrant, with reds leaping out at you, detailed and, if you use the camera in the right way, you can achieve some fairly attractive bokeh in the background. There is a bit of noticeable grain and noise when you push the ISO towards its 3200 maximum, and we’d like a see a bit more contrast in shots, but for a compact point-and-shoot performance is good.

HD videos – which, again, are decent – are limited to 720p, but we like the way you can use the full 18x zoom while filming.

Wireless features

So on the WB150F’s killer app: Wi-Fi. Samsung could have settled for letting users transfer their photos and videos to a computer wirelessly, but went much further than that. You can use the feature to email files (automatically compressed) to friends, or share them directly via Facebook, Picasa, Photobucket and YouTube. You can also back up automatically to the cloud, but you’ll need a Microsoft SkyDrive account for this, or to your Windows PC. There’s no option to do so on a Mac, which is disappointing.

The Wi-Fi also works with Android and iOS smartphones. Install the MobileLink app and you can transfer shots easily from the camera to your phone, while the Remote Viewfinder app is more interesting still: it lets you use your phone screen to see through the camera lens, and you can zoom, change basic settings and take photos by touching icons.

This sounds cool, but our experiences with both apps weren’t encouraging. On iOS, while the viewfinder app was fine, the MobileLink app featured only Korean text, leaving us to press icons and hope. On Android the problems were more severe: neither app would link with the camera. We were using the ICS-powered HTC One S, so perhaps Samsung needs to update the app for the new OS.

Verdict:

When viewed purely as a higher-end compact, the Samsung WB150F is slightly above average: its photos and videos are decent and its big zoom is handy. It’s fairly idiot-proof on the usability front, and there are a handful of enthusiast-friendly modes for those that like to tweak.

The Wi-Fi features, which should make the camera more appealing, aren’t quite as compelling as they appear on paper. Yes, they let you share compressed versions of shots and do so fairly well, but the apps feel undercooked (or worse), as if Samsung made a vague stab at them and thought ‘that’ll do’. We reckon the inevitable update in a year’s time might eliminate these issues, but as it stands the WB150F is an intriguing, flawed enigma rather than a game-changer.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Samsung Samsung WB150F

Samsung WB150F originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:00:00 +0100

Samsung has unveiled three new additions to its NX range of cameras: the NX20, NX210 and NX1000. They each take the battle to smartphone users who always brag about how easy it is to share their photos.

The new models are the first compact system cameras to offer Samsung's "Wi-Fi Smart" tech.?

In English, that means that the new cameras enable photographers to post their images directly on to Facebook or via email without the need of connecting them to a computer. Users can also show their photos on a Samsung TV using TV Link, or their Samsung smartphone or tablet using Mobile Link..

?

In a further move to take on the smartphone, the camera will follow other manufacturers in adopting art filters.?

All the models in the range will let you adjust the look and feel of shots as you take them, in addition to letting you shoot in Panorama and 3D Panorama.?

It's not just about taking on the smartphone: the three new models each come with a 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor and a wide range ISO (100-12800) to let you shoot in low light conditions.?

The NX20 boasts a shutter speed of 1/8000 sec to enable clear shots of action-filled settings, as well as 1080p Full HD Stereo Movie Recording (H.264). As standard across the range, the NX20 is also compatible with Samsung’s innovative i-Function 2.0 lens system.

To allow for precision framing and focusing, the NX20 incorporates both a SVGA EVF and a 3-inch Clear AMOLED swivel display. Like its predecessor the NX200, the NX210 also offers a 3-inch VGA AMOLED display.

Rounding off the range, the NX1000 is available in stunning white, classic black and eye-catching pink.?

The Samsung NX20 will cost ?899 and come with a new 18-55mm OIS III lens. The NX210 will be ?749 with the same lens. And the NX1000 will weigh in at ?599 with a 20-50mm OIS II lens.

Tags: Cameras Samsung Samsung NX20 Samsung NX210 Samsung NX1000

Samsung NX20, NX210 and NX1000 cameras lead 2012 line-up originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:56:00 +0100

The launch of the new Nikon D3200 brings with it the chance to control your new DSLR camera using your Android smartphone.

To do so you'll have to opt for the WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter, a ?59.99 accessory that will connect to the port on the side of the camera.

Using a dedicated app, called the?Wireless Mobile Adapter Utility,?you'll be able to connect your phone and your camera, so you can transfer photos to your device and share them through social networks like Facebook, or email them out.

The aim is to make it easy to share high-quality photos from your DSLR, rather than snapping a lesser photo on your phone for sharing instantly. Although, technically, you could use Eye-Fi with similar results, the Nikon accessory is not dependent on an external Wi-Fi network. Power comes from the main camera battery.?

The other cool feature is being able to control your camera remotely, so you can see the live view screen and take the photo when everything looks right - ideal for shooting yourself. You'll be able to see things such as the battery level and whether it's connected to the power - something that might interest those who want to set-up the camera in a hide and retreat a safe distance.

Alternatively, if you've filled your SD card and want to make some more space, you can just transfer the content to your mobile device memory instead.

The app will be free from Google Play (although we haven't managed to find it yet) and will work with any Android 2.3 and above device.?Nikon announced the WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter along with its latest entry-level DSLR, the Nikon 3200, today.?

The WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter will cost ?54.99 and will be available mid-May.

Nikon said that iOS support would be coming in Autumn 2012.

Be sure to check out our hands-on preview of the Nikon D3200.

Tags: Cameras DSLR cameras Nikon Nikon D3200 Nikon WU-1a Android Phones

WU-1a: Nikon DSLR remote control via Android, iPhone coming originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:02:00 +0100

Joining Nikon's line-up of entry-level cameras is the Nikon D3200. The newcomer to the pack adds to the choices, rather than replacing an existing model.?

However, there are a number of key differences that the Nikon D3200 brings, both internally and in terms of design. Put against the D3100, this is a more sophisticated camera, but with a simpler design that seems less fussy.?

We got hands-on with the new model at Nikon's launch event in London, although it should be noted that these were preproduction samples, not final firmware and we didn't have the opportunity to keep any sample photos.

In the hand the Nikon D3200 is nice and compact. It's a small camera, as the D3100 is - perhaps a little too small for those with larger hands, feeling smaller than a rival like the Canon EOS 550D.

The red model has a glossy finish and we found that having passed through the hands of several enthusiastic journalists it needed a good polish to clean off all the fingerprints.

The layout of controls feels more logical than previous models, with easy access to main controls such as live view or instant video capture.

A large control dial sits on the top of the camera, offering access to the wide variety of features on offer, from manual controls through to presets. We like that the dial rotates all the way round, so you can shift to what you want nice and quickly.

Taking pride of place is the Guide Mode. This newly enhanced guide mode is designed to help newcomers use the camera to take the type of photos they want. But rather than just changing the settings, it details what has happened so you get the chance to learn something about the photography techniques being used.?

Nikon wants to appeal to families (for example) who want to get great photos and fancy the idea of a system camera, without their having to worry about how they are actually going to use it.

The Guide Mode is split into easy and advanced techniques, each with an example of the type of photo it will produce and a description of how it works. We like this arrangement because, in truth, if you know what you want to achieve it's often faster to select the relevant mode and change the settings via the normal menus.

Sitting inside the Nikon D3200 is another big differentiator: a 24.2-megapixel DX format CMOS sensor. This might seem like a dramatic move, but this is more oriented towards allowing cropping in to detail, rather than printing enormous pictures.

The sensor is backed by the new Expeed 3 processor, as seen in previous 2012 launches in Nikon's pro line of DSLR cameras. You'll get a wide ISO range and an impressive 11-point AF system. Focusing was fast enough in our quick tests, although we found that focusing in live view was slow, but this could be down to the early firmware.

The Nikon D3200 offers full-HD video capture, churning out an H.264 MOV file at the end, with up to 20 minutes of recording time. There is also an external mic socket hidden under a flap on the side, if you want to enhance the audio capture over the mono mic built in.

Mini-HDMI is also present, as is an accessory connection which will allow you to use the WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter (?59.99), to connect your camera up to your smartphone for sharing your photos instantly.

The display around the back is a reasonable 921k-dots and is bright and vibrant. At 3-inches the size is average, but it's sharp enough.

Coming in red and black colour options, the Nikon D3200 will be available from mid-May, priced at ?559.99 (body only) or ?649.99 with the 18-55mm VR kit lens.

Of course, we'll be bringing you our Nikon D3200 review as soon as we get our hands on a final version.?

Tags: Cameras DSLR cameras Nikon Nikon D3200 24 megapixels Photos

Nikon D3200 pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Nikon has announced the latest addition to its entry-level DSLR camera line-up, the Nikon D3200. Rather than replacing the existing D3100 model, which will still be available, it differs fairly considerably in terms of specification and design.?

Headlining the new features is a 24.2-megapixel DX format CMOS sensor. It's a new sensor for the camera, stepping up from the 14-megapixels of the D3100. One of the aims, explains Simon Iddon of Nikon UK, is to enable cropping beyond the focal range of the lens.?

Sitting at the core of the D3200 is the Expeed 3 processor, rolling down from the Nikon D4 professional camera. You get an ISO range that runs from 100-6400 in normal shooting, with and extended 12800 option.

There is an 11-point autofocus system and continuous shooting is offered at 4fps. Around the back you'll find a 3.0-inch 921k-dot LCD display.

With a dedicated instant video button, you'll also be able to capture Full HD movies and those wanting to boost the audio capture over the mono built-in mic will be able to attach an external mic via the socket.?

But aside from the new hardware, it’s the enhanced Guide Mode that Nikon is really pushing on the D3200. The aim is to allow newcomers to take the type of photos they want with a clever menu system.?

It steps beyond the "background defocus" option that is fairly common on cameras these days and will guide you in things like taking rich and vibrant sunsets or low key shots.?

But not only does it change those settings for you, it explains what has changed, ie, opened the aperture, shifted the white balance or dialled down the exposure compensation.

The Nikon D3200 will also offer wireless connectivity via the WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter. This optional accessory (?54.99, available mid-May) connects to the camera to give you a wireless connection to your Android smartphone using a dedicated app. Nikon says iOS compatibility is coming in Autumn 2012.

Using the WU-1a, you'll be able to transfer photos to your smartphone for instant sharing or use the remote control feature using your phone's display.

Available in black or red bodies, the Nikon D3200 will cost you ?559.99 (body only) or ?649.99 with the 18-55mm VR lens. The Nikon D3200 will be available from mid-May.

Of course, we've had the chance to play with Nikon's newest camera, so make sure you check out our hands-on pictures and first impressions.

Tags: Cameras DSLR cameras Nikon Nikon D3200 24 megapixels

Nikon D3200 guides you through the 24-megapixel DSLR jungle originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0100

With the world enjoying the "Instagram effect" at the moment, it's no surprise the companies and designers are looking at other ways of bringing back the retro nostalgia feeling for photographers.

This concept, dubbed the Retro Cinema EOS100, comes from Maxim Mezentsev and Aleksandr Suhih and is merely a disguise around modern innards.

Of course Canon has nothing to do with the concept, so don't get too excited. But it certainly brings back fond memories of messing around with Super 8 film.

If that's something that you fancy there are plenty of decent apps that will recreate the experience, including one called "Super 8" for the iPhone - it is like an Instagram or Hipstamatic for video.

Still, with Canon pushing hard into the 4K cinema space we can imagine just how cool something so retro would be to use knowing that what's inside is helping you make that next Oscar-winning movie.

Who says you can't be a hipster and be useful?

Tags: Cameras Camcorders Concepts

Canon Super 8 concept for those retro cinema filming moments originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:17:00 +0100

The 16.3 effective megapixel Fuji X-Pro1 camera has barely left our side for the past two weeks. And it’s not purely because, with its sturdy high-end enthusiast metal build, plus Leica M8/M9-alike rangefinder styling, it is the sort of camera once bought you certainly want to show off.

This Fuji, the fourth retro-cool X-series model, and the first on which the lens can be swapped, arrives in a market where its closest digital competitors, aside from Leica’s own fixed lens X1, are the new Olympus OM-D and Sony NEX-7. Both those strong rivals likewise feature a built-in viewfinder. Slightly cheaper still, and also with a viewfinder is Nikon’s V1 compact. The Fuji is arguably in a different class though.

Set against the Fuji at a wallet-busting ?1399 body only, such competitors also have price on their side, despite the Sony and Olympus being a not inconsiderable ?999 without a lens.

There are three Fuji lenses available on launch, offering compatibility with the X-Pro1’s new X-mount, and all are fixed focal length or "prime" lenses rather than zoom - prime lenses traditionally offer the better picture quality. Covering various applications the "Fujinon" branded optics are a jack-of-all-trades f/1.4 35mm lens, a wide-angle f/2.0 18mm and a f/2.4 60mm macro/close up lens.

Gorgeous as the X-Pro1 may outwardly be, the question is, of course, do enthusiast photographers really want to have to invest in yet another whole new system of camera body and lenses?

A rival for the DSLR

Apart from Olympus and Panasonic cameras sharing Micro Four Thirds sensors and lens mounts, every other manufacturer has offered its own spin on the interchangeable lens compact, or, if you prefer, Compact System Camera (CSC).

Fuji’s secret weapon, and point of difference, in this regard is its sensor. It features an APS-C-sized 23.6x15.6mm chip, so physically larger than the most others in its compact system class – save for the Sony NEX-7 and Samsung NX200 - and a match for most consumer-level digital SLRs in that respect. But while this would be enough in itself to whet the appetite of most well-heeled photo enthusiasts, Fuji has gone further with its claims. It is suggesting that its unique "X-Trans" CMOS sensor - when working in tandem with its new EXR Pro processor - provides image quality that is a match for pro-level full-frame sensor DSLRs. While this is a lofty claim, it does go some way to lessening the blow of that price tag, providing pros with an opportunity to leave that bulkier DSLR at home.

It has to be said that, in terms of improved portability over a DSLR, while more compact the Fuji X-Pro1 is no "pocket rocket". It’s a sizeable, reassuring chunk of metal, to be transported around the neck or slung over a shoulder. You could place the die-cast aluminium alloy body in a jacket pocket without the lens, but the weight feels uncomfortable. With dimensions of 139.5 x 81.8 x 42.5mm, it weighs in at 450g including battery and memory card. As with a Leica camera, the build quality and attention to detail feels very high indeed.

Controls and features

Pictures and Full HD video – the latter selected via the drive mode button rather than a dedicated record button – are composed via the standard 3-inch back screen LCD, which here offers an incredibly high and clear 1,230,000-dots resolution. The alternative is the built-in 0.47-inch viewfinder, which offers a high 1,440,000-dots resolution and is dual use. This hybrid offering gives users the option of a regular optical viewfinder or an electronic version within the same window, an adjacent "view mode" button allowing the user to swap between the differing views. Furthermore, Fuji has very helpfully provided an eye sensor, so the main LCD neatly deactivates, and the EVF activates, as the user brings an eyeball level with it. The advantage of the EVF option is of course that you can not only compose, but also review captured images without taking your eye away to glance at the LCD below. As with a DSLR or advanced bridge camera, still captures are JPEG, raw or a combination of both.

Also DSLR-like, the available light sensitivity range stretches from ISO100 to ISO25600, while continuous capture speed is set at 6fps. It might have been nice for Fuji to have provided an angle adjustable LCD screen here to better facilitate otherwise awkward low or high angle shots, but with a viewfinder as well as back screen, it feels churlish to complain.

Coming after the X10, X100 and X-S1 premium-end Fuji cameras, the X-Pro1 shares their chunky dials and stiff action, with plenty of manual control offered. Like a DSLR, and unlike some of the cheaper CSCs, this is a camera that feels made to be gripped and operated in both hands, whereby the thumb of the left hand hovers over the "drive" mode button and the right forefinger is poised over the shutter release button, itself ergonomically encircled by the on/off switch.

The most prominent top plate dials govern exposure compensation (+/- 2EV) and shutter speed, here ranging from a manually selectable 1/4 sec to 1/4000 sec. A flickable switch just below the lens mount at the front allows the user to swap between single and continuous auto focus and manual focusing.

With no internal memory offered, images are committed to all varieties of SD card. Removable media share a compartment at the base, next to the provided lithium ion rechargeable battery, here good for 300 shots. While that’s adequate, it’s hardly class leading, and falls below the 330 shots of the cheaper Olympus OM-D and 335 shot battery duration offered by the Sony NEX-7. The result was that we found ourselves recharging the camera after two or three days of casual shooting.

Image quality and performance

In terms of image quality we were shooting in the main with the bright 35mm lens and achieving bags of detail across the frame, in daylight at least, plus some lovely subtle colour tones that are biased towards the naturalistic. For interiors and despite the camera’s steadying bulk, we did get some image-softening instances of hand wobble, while busier scenes do tend to confuse the auto focus, which is a tad tardy in locking on to target. It’s not a deal breaker though, as this is a camera for those who enjoy a spot of consideration and reflection before firing the shutter.

Here, of course, we get video too, though it doesn’t appear to be outwardly a prominent feature of the camera. There’s no dedicated record button and instead filming commences and ends with a press and subsequent press of the shutter release button.

Nevertheless the ubiquitous 1920 x 1080 pixels clips are offered with a cinema-style frame rate of 24fps rather than 25 or 30fps, and has the benefit of built-in stereo microphones. When filming, while auto focusing is offered, it is a bit slow to catch up and find your subject if you alter framing mid-recording, so the image will blur for a few seconds before snapping back into focus.

Once again experimentation is encouraged and, even after handling plenty of DSLRs and compact system cameras, we feel the Fuji will require an extended spot of practice and familiarisation to get the best out of it.

Verdict:

For charm alone the luxurious, premium-feel Fuji X-Pro1 is the most exciting and interesting release in the Compact System Camera world since Olympus’ original E-P1 digital Pen of 2012.

Like that camera, the Fuji is not a mass-market product. The period of familiarisation required, the attention to detail that has been put into the build and the serious price tag all see to that.

What the Fuji X-Pro1 does offer, as well as an enticing alternative to anyone who has ever lusted after a Leica camera before. It's an opportunity to leave that bulky enthusiast digital SLR at home and still be able to achieve impressive image quality.

We found that, because of the X-Pro1’s size and features set, it worked well as a shoot-from-the-hip camera for street photography and reportage.

Tags: Cameras Fujifilm Fujifilm X-Pro1 Compact system cameras

Fujifilm X-Pro1 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:25:00 +0100

Last year, Canon?launched the C300, a digital cinema camera that furthered the amazing video capabilities of Canon's SLR range, but in a body designed to be more useful for film-makers.

Now the company has announced a new camera, the C500, which takes the CMOS-based system even further. Most significantly, this camera can now record 4K footage at 4096 x 2160, putting it in direct competition with RED's cameras and making it far more attractive to film-makers who want to produce footage of roughly the same quality as 35mm film.

There are also new frame rates, user-selectable from 1 to 60 frames per second. Drop the quality from 12-bit down to 10-bit YCrCb 4:2:2 and you can record video at 120fps. This has huge implications for cinematography, as it allows for significant slow-motion recording at high quality, which has so far been missing in this sort of camera. Canon also points out that the losless 10-bit output is ideal for films that require a lot of post-production work, such as effects-heavy action movies.

As before, there is a choice of two mounts, either EF, if you're a Canon still-camera user, or PL, if you're a 35mm motion-picture camera operator, with PL lenses. The two mounts aren't interchangeable though, so you'll need to pick the one that best suits you.

Video is recorded in-camera to CF card at a rate of 50Mbps. For those counting, that means it's a broadcast-ready data rate which will be of high enough quality for companies such as the BBC and Sky to accept for transmission. The other advantage, of course, is that this footage is easily accessible via computer and all modern editing packages. This makes it especially attractive to independent film-makers who don't have access to expensive professional editing suites.

Canon doesn't make clear in its initial press material about this camera what the maximum resolution is for recording to CF card, but it's reasonable to guess that 4K will be available only via the camera's 3G-SDI outputs. These outputs send RAW, uncompressed video to be captured on an external recording device.

Pricing and details have yet to be announced, but more information should leak out after NAB in Las Vegas over the next week or so. We don't imagine it will be all that cheap though.

Tags: Cameras Canon Canon 4K Canon C500

Canon introduces C500 digital cinema camera originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:10:00 +0100

Canon announced the EOS-1D C - a digital SLR camera targeting the motion picture, television and high-resolution production industries - at the NAB conference on Thursday.?

The new camera, the C stands for Cinema if you hadn't guessed, will take on compeitors such as the RED series and will sit above the C300 already announced.

The highlight? It supports in-camera 4K (4,096 x 2,160) video recording with 4:2:2 colour sampling.?

“The first SLR camera of its kind, the EOS-1D C offers a unique and highly portable package optimised for high-quality video recording,” says Canon of the new camera, that will set you back ?10,000.??

For those interested, the 4K video is recorded using 8-bit Motion JPEG compression at 24p, and Full HD (1920 x 1080) video capture is available at frame rates up to 1080/60p. The camera supports internal recording to CF cards at all resolutions up to and including 4K, offering enhanced mobility. Video can also be output to external recorders (excluding 4K video) via an integrated HDMI terminal using an uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 signal.?

Based on the core specifications of the?EOS-1D X, the EOS-1D C comes with an 18.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor that has been optimised for high quality video capture.

During 4K shooting, pixels are cropped to an area equivalent to an APS-H sensor, preventing the need to resize or scale the image, ensuring maximum image quality. Additionally, a Super 35mm crop in Full HD recording caters for cinematographers who typically work in the Super 35mm field of view.?

Support for 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60p frame rates in Full HD resolution shooting is also included, as is the ability to capture?12fps continuous stills shooting (14fps in Super High speed shooting mode) in bursts of up to 180 large JPEG images (38 RAW) and a?wide ISO range of 100 to 25600 for movies and 100-51200 for stills expandable up to ISO 204800.?

Other stats to brag about are the?61-point AF system, the?Dual “DIGIC 5+” processor and a?1,040k-dot 3.2inch Clear View II LCD screen.

The EOS-1D C ships with an exclusive software package, including a suite that allows 4K/Motion JPEG and Full HD/60p video shot on the camera to be output on an external monitor (Requires the use of a PC equipped with an SDI port) with no loss of image quality.?

The EOS-1D C will be available from October 2012.

Tags: Cameras DSLR cameras Canon Canon EOS 1D C Canon EOS 1D X

Canon EOS-1D C: 4K video capture cinema wooing camera debuts originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:23:00 +0100

If you aren’t too chuffed by the news that Facebook has just bought Instagram, or you are keen to make sure you keep a backup of the Instagram photos you’ve been snapping away for some time, there are several services that allow you to export your photos. We look at three backup apps for Instagram to make sure your photos are save, whoever owns the company.?

Instaport

Instaport is a simple way to export or backup all your Instagram photos by downloading a single zip file.?

To use the free service you simply visit the site, sign in with Instagram and then choose to where you want the zip file to be downloaded.

It does the rest and you go and make a cup of tea or grab a glass of water depending on how snappy happy you’ve been.?

The site says that it plans to add Flickr and RSS support soon, but that’s not possible as yet.?

instaport.me/

Copygram

Copygram offers more than just your photos on your desktop in a folder, but a complete way of storing photos in the Cloud - yes a second Cloud storage - as well as viewing other people’s public Instagram shots.?

All you have to do is sign in with your Instagram user name it. Once you’ve signed in and created your Copygram profile you can then press a button and have your Instagram images backed up to be viewed on this service.?

The service emails you once the zip is done so you can download it.?

Taking it one stage further, you can also use Copygram to order prints of pictures and even Fridge Magnets.?

If you aren’t in to printing you can still use the service for searching other users or simply keeping a track of what photos you’ve taken.?

copygr.am/

InstaBackup

If you are put off by a web app and want something to run from your desktop you could opt for InstaBackup, a Mac Up created by David Smith following the announcement that Facebook had bought Instragram.?

The simple-to-use Mac app requires you to log in before allowing you to select where on your Mac you want to save your Instagram files.?

How long you’ve been using Instagram will dictate how long the your download will take, but the app, which is incredibly basic, is speedy and works as you would expect.?

david-smith.org/

Tags: Online Social networks Cameras Instagram Features

Instagram backup: Three ways to export your photos originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:18:00 +0100

On paper there are two factors to the D800 that scream out at you: 1080p video and a 36 megapixel sensor. For some, these are enough already to warrant a purchase of Nikon’s new full-frame DSLR. Others, however, may be erring on the side of caution at the camera’s ?2599 price tag.

The predecessor to the D800, the D700, is a highly formidable camera and more than holds its weight in the stills department against the competition. But it lacks any sort of video whatsoever and has only a 12.1-megapixel sensor.?

Having said that, there are no problems with the resolution of the D700. It's a brilliant low-light camera and more than up to the task of being used as a professional piece of kit. So why buy a D800? Having lived with one for more than a week, we feel we have an answer.

How does it feel?

Build

The D700 is put together rather brilliantly. Its magnesium-alloy weather-sealed body is really tough and has withstood several years of press trips, being bashed about in our bag. The odd downpour hasn’t caused any issues and its 995g weight never really bothered us.

This was until we were handed the D800. Once you pick it up, its 900g weight makes it feel markedly lighter than the D700. There is also a significant difference in the way that every button and dial feels on the camera. Rather than the mushy buttons of the D700, the new Nikon uses a satisfying click for every keypress. Even things like the on/off switch have been beefed-up, presumably to withstand years of hard use. It is very noticeable and gives the D800 a highly premium feel, more along the lines of Nikon’s top-end, full-frame DSLRs.

One downside to this button redesign however is the way that Nikon has moved keys about on the camera. Take, for example, the AF-type selector tool on the back of the D700: this was something we used regularly to switch between full autofocus and manual focus point selection. No longer can you do this without going into a menu on the D800, the space being taken up instead by a switch to change between video and stills - something which could definitely have been put elsewhere.

A dedicated record button on the top of the camera is placed too near the shutter key, making switching accidentally?to video commonplace - although you can change its function using the camera’s options. All in all, we like how the controls feel on the D800; we just want them in the same place as on the D700.

Operation

Nikon has been careful to update the menu workings of the D800 without moving too far away from the core of how all its cameras operate. This means that when we picked up the camera for the first time, we were instantly able to navigate to all of our usual settings. The D700 suffered from a slightly 1970s-style menu, looking like one of those early computer programs you used to learn spelling at school. This has been updated for the D700 with higher resolution fonts and an all-round level of polish. Again, it just feels more premium.

The screen has also taken a rather significant jump, going from 3 inches to 3.2 inches. Not a major increase in size, we know, but it appears to be far brighter with better viewing angles and much more saturated colours. It still suffers from viewing problems in bright sunlight but nowhere near as badly as the D700.

The included connectivity options with the D800 blow the D700 out of the water. First up, being able to send video to an external display live using micro-HDMI is very cool. Second, we love that you can record to both SD card and Compact Flash, telling the camera to do things such as send video to SD and stills to CF. It just makes the process of managing images after shooting much easier to handle.

Once we had built up decent muscle memory of the new control layout, it felt just as easy to use as the D700, if not better, thanks to the improved screen and menus. Then again, going back to our older Nikon for a day didn't feel unpleasant, leaving us feeling that, on this basis alone, the design rethink for the D800 really doesn’t warrant a purchase. That is if you already own a full-frame Nikon DSLR. If you don’t it handles better than pretty much any other camera we have used.

How does it shoot?

So now on to the meat of the thing. Whatever anyone tells you, 1080p video or not, the D800 like the D700 before it, is at its core a stills camera. These are top of the range prosumer or even professional-grade cameras. You should be able to take a picture in virtually any situation and be pleased enough with the results that you could sell it to someone.

For us, the D700 has passed this test a long time ago. Its high ISO performance is stunning, full 16-bit RAW images look beautiful and the frame buffer is, most of the time, more than enough for the most kinds of photography. Not once have we found ourselves thinking: “We wish the D700 could do this.”

To impress then, the D800 has its work cut out. Most who will be thinking about buying this camera are the most demanding kind of photographers. They want to be able to shoot in virtually complete darkness with no noise, or blow up images big enough to cover the side of a bus, all the while keeping things wrapped up in a compact and lightweight package. A lot of them may also be considering the 5D MK III, which is a hugely powerful camera. As such in testing the D800 we really made sure we pushed it to its photographic limits.

In the light

Using a combination of lenses, an 85mm f1.4, 14-24mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4 and 35mm f2, we took the D800 with us everywhere. First up was a trip to the park with the Pocket-lint pooch in order to get some daytime shots and test out the autofocus on the dog running.

The full-frame sensors on the D800 and D700 are quite beautiful things. They create a much broader dynamic range while also letting you use a lens to its full capabilities. Take our 35mm f2 for example: it's wider on a full-frame sensor than a DX crop, giving us more room to play with at a lower f-stop. This is very useful indeed, as wide-angle lenses tend to have higher apertures. For video it also makes a big difference, particularly when using our 85mm, which is just too tight on a DX sensor but looks great at f2 on full-frame.

The first difference we noticed between the D700 and D800 when out shooting was when adjusting ISO. It starts at 100 on the D800 and 200 on the 700, but can be scaled down to "low one" and "low two" on the earlier Nikon. Not a major bugbear we know, but it does mean that in bright light you know you are gleaming the maximum amount of detail from the sensor on the D800.

With the 14-24mm stuck on, a very heavy lens indeed, the D800 felt significantly lighter, not causing us the usual backache we get from half an hour of carrying that glass beast around on a D700. We also noticed -particularly when attempting landscape shots - that the viewfinder was a lot brighter and colours appeared more saturated. It's also 100 per cent coverage as opposed to the D700's 95 per cent. This makes a big difference to those who like to compose everything in the finder, which is the majority of professional photographers.

The more shooting we did, the more we noticed how much of an improvement the viewfinder was. It began to annoy us when holding our eyes up to the D700, as images just appeared a bit dull when looking through it. The same could be said for the screen, which in this freakishly good weather we are having, just couldn’t hold up in sunlight compared to the D800.

We know that what you really want to know is the difference that 36-megapixel sensor makes. And that question needs to be attacked in two parts. First, in bright light and second in low light, as the latter situation could pose all sorts of issues for so many pixels. Looking back at snaps shot in the park with both the D700 and D800, the resolution jump really didn’t bother us unless we zoomed in. Some will say it’s useful, as you have more detail to play with should you mess up composition in camera, but most photographers considering buying this camera will likely get it right when they press the shutter. Still it’s nice to have it.

What isn’t so nice is the absurdly huge RAW files that the camera creates, enough to fill our 4GB CF cards in just a few clicks of the shutter. This became such an irritation in fact that we ditched shooting RAW altogether and switched to JPEG. Because of this, shooting to the full potential of the D800’s sensor feels to us like it is reserved for the studio environment, where you have ready access to lots of memory cards. That or you could just blow a ton of cash on 32GB SD and CF cards. So for street shooting, at least in the daytime, it felt like the D700 was more than enough. The cosmetic improvements were definitely nice, but ultimately our D700 did the core job of snapping absolutely fine.

In the dark

This is the part of the comparison we were most excited about. If the D700 could hold up again the D800 in this department, then for most we would think the purchase of the newer model wouldn't be worth it. In order to make things fair as possible, we opted to test the two cameras indoors. It meant we could control the lighting situation a lot better and in theory, push the sensors to their limits.

One of the problems the D800 could face in low light is its 36 megapixel sensor. The higher the resolution, the harder it is for a sensor to cope with high ISO. So if the D800 can match the D700, then that's an incredibly impressive feat. It would also make the camera one of the best-performing high-resolution sensors we have seen.?

So, D700 and D800 on a tripod, we proceeded to shoot the Pocket-lint pooch in various situations. The results were fairly incredible from both cameras. We wanted to make sure things were as sharp as possible, so the 50mm f1.4 was the best choice. Shot at F2, on both cameras maximum ISO settings, detail retained in every image was great.?

The extra resolution however on the D800, particularly when shot in RAW, just gave us that extra space to play with noise cleanup later on in Photoshop. The result was a win for the D800.?

Win aside, we still don't feel the difference between the 700 and 800's performance in this department is enough to warrant a purchase. Unless you are the sort of photographer who shoots everything about 6400 ISO, we just don't see it as a necessary. Then again, if you want the best possible image quality, at any ISO setting, then the D800 takes the win.?

This is quite frankly incredible, given the cameras 36-megapixel sensor size. Nothing can even come close to that kind of performance at that resolution. Then again we are yet to properly test the 22 megapixel Canon 5D MK III, which may find the perfect balance between resolution and ISO performance.?

Video

It wouldn't be fair talking about the D800 without at least giving its video capabilities some mention. The D700 has no means to record moving images whatsoever, so this isn't so much a straight versus, just more something to muse over should you be wanting to make a purchase.

In a word, the video on the D800 is stunning. Check out our full review if you want to find out more about its capabilities. We absolutely love being able to switch to video and just grab a minute or two of footage. Colours look incredible without any tweaking or editing and the ability to select which card video saves to is brilliant.?

Low-light performance is great and things like shutter wobble are kept to a minimum. If you are looking for a way to shoot video on your DSLR and already own a decent body of Nikon lenses, then the D800 is the best in the company's lineup.?

So which to buy?

The D700 we used in this versus is our own. We had been hanging on for many months until the D800 came out, anticipating the delights it would bring to our photographic world. Most Nikon fans have been put through quite a serious amount of gear jealousy as the Canon 5D MK II's video became so commonplace. So the D800 had to impress technically in order to keep Nikon fans happy.

And it most definitely does. The sensor is brilliant, video looks incredible, the finder and screen are a big improvement. The problem is, that if you already own a D700, none of it is so great that the ?2599 spend is worth it. Even if you were to flog your D700 and then use the cash to grab the new camera, unless you really, really needed video, we still wouldn't do it.

Which brings us on to our final part of the verdict. If you have an eye for shooting video and already own a few Nikon lenses, the D800 is easily our go to camera in the entire company's product line-up. In fact its so good, we would choose it over the more expensive D3s, simply because its more lightweight.?So should you buy one? Well yes and no. Its a yes if you want video and a no if you are stills focused and a D700 owner. If you're rich enough to have a spare ?2599, then without hesitation, our advice is: buy it and buy it now.?

Tags: Cameras Photography Nikon Nikon D800 Nikon D700

Nikon D700 vs. Nikon D800: Worth the upgrade? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:10:00 +0100

Facebook has put in an offer to buy Instagram, the popular photo-sharing site, for $1bn.

"I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, on the Facebook blog on the shock announcement on Easter Monday.

The deal, which is subject to the usual authority approvals in the US, shouldn't affect Instagram's independence, according to Zuckerberg:

"We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook."

It is a message mirrored by the founders of Instagram, with co-founder Kevin Systrom, writing on their own blog:?"The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love. You’ll still have all the same people you follow and that follow you.

"You’ll still be able to share to other social networks. And you’ll still have all the other features that make the app so fun and unique." ??

The deal will give Facebook a massive boost in the photo social stakes.

"For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests," said Zuckerberg.

"We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook."

The Facebook CEO was keen to lay praise on the 17-month-old company:

"We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure."

With Facebook's focus on photos, Timelines, and being part of your life whatever part of "social" that is, the move by the company before IPO in June makes a lot more sense. Facebook already captures some 250 million ?photos a day, and with the addition of Instagram's 27 million users that number is going to grow.?

What also makes sense is Zuckerberg's praise for the company. His social network paid double the market value for the photo-focused site with iPhone and Android app support.?Last week, Instagram took $50m of funding, valuing the company at $500m.

The move also no doubt helps Facebook justify its expected $1bn valuation. After all, if it paid $1bn for Instagram it has got to be worth 100 times that, hasn't it?

Read

Tags: Cameras Instagram Facebook Social networking Biz Mergers

Facebook buys Instagram originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:23:00 +0100

The travel zoom compact is still proving popular and Olympus is building a raft of small-bodied, big-zoom, low-cost cameras for 2012. Setting sail in the wake of the SP-620UZ ‘Ultra Zoom’ we reviewed a few weeks back (16 megapixels and 21x optical zoom) comes the more slender SZ-14 ‘Super Zoom’.

Resembling a flattened version of its bridge camera-like forebear, this latest digital compact fields a 24x optical zoom and 14-megapixel resolution, derived from a 14.5MP 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor. It costs an extra ?20, but the price tag remains a very affordable ?199.

Aimed at new photographers

Available in the silvery grey of our review sample, as well as black or red body colours, the SZ-14 measures 106.5x68.7x39.5mm and weighs 216g with SD card and rechargeable battery inserted. While it’s not the very slimmest travel zoom around it will still fit in a trouser pocket.

Given the budget price we also don’t get the built-in GPS facility that costlier travel zoom cameras like Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-TZ30, or indeed Olympus’s own SZ-30, additionally offer. But many may feel saving ?100-150 in the case of the Panasonic is worth the omission.

Design and styling

The Olympus purportedly boasts a metal chassis, though the glossy exterior makes it look and feel more plasticky when held in the palm. At the back there’s a three-inch, 460k-dot resolution LCD screen for composition and review.

One benefit of the slightly larger body size is that we are provided with a bigger handgrip on the SZ-14 than most pocket zooms can muster. Unfortunately, because of the glossy faceplate, this is rather slippery to the touch, and could have done with the addition of a rubber strip or pad to provide a firmer hold. As a minor concession there is a small rubber rest at the back for the thumb.

Zoom and effects

With the image stabilised zoom lens here providing the 35mm film equivalent of a wide angle 25-600mm, and the camera itself looking rather spare and minimalist in terms of buttons and controls - of which there are fewer than we might practically have liked - Olympus piles on the under-the-bonnet gimmicks.

Once again we get Magic Filters. There are 11 such digital effects here, including the Olympus regulars of pop art, miniature diorama mode and the fluorescent "punk" effect, all of which are implemented at the point of capture, rather than in playback mode.

The newest option is a "fragmented" filter, as also witnessed on the SP-620UZ, and which produces a montage-type "tiled" effect – looking as if you’d cut the shot into squares and roughly stuck it back together. As a bonus for amateur videographers, most filters, with the exception of the latter, can be implemented when shooting video clips as well as stills.

Video too

Movie mode records at 1280x720 pixels, along with stereo sound and HDMI output lurking under a plastic side flap.

Fortunately the optical zoom can also be used for recordings, and without the sound cutting out each time you zoom. Though there is a low mechanical buzz to the zoom when gliding through its range, it’s quiet enough not to distract.

Navigation and picture modes

With no shooting mode wheel or obvious means of summoning up a virtual version, initially use of the SZ-14 is somewhat puzzling. With the camera powering up from cold in two seconds as long as time and date have been set first, eventually a poke of the "OK" button at the centre of a backplate control pad/ scroll wheel illuminates the uppermost option on a side-of-screen toolbar.

Tabbing back and forth through the options presented here reveals the default intelligent auto (iAuto) mode which automatically recognises a host of common scenes and subjects. There's also a more user-controllable program mode, a brief selection of the usual scene modes (optimised for shots of pets, portraits, landscapes, night scenes, sunsets, fireworks), the aforementioned Magic Filters, plus a self-stitching panorama and 3D mode.

Incidentally we did prefer to tab, because the scroll wheel at the back is very slippery and it’s otherwise hard to arrive at the setting you want without much back and forth. Either a larger wheel or stiffer "action" would benefit.

The Olympus’s pictorial panoramas are generated from three shots taken in succession and composited together, with a choice of panning horizontally from left to right, right to left, or shooting vertically up or down. Between each successive image, rather than a ghostly overlay of the previous shot guiding your hand, a floating target appears on screen, the camera’s shutter automatically firing when the user reaches the sweet spot.

The 3D image option is likewise generated from two shots taken from slightly differing angles. The MPO format file this generates is viewable only on a proper 3D telly, though a flat 2D JPEG is created for reference on the back of the camera.

Speed and low-light performance

Otherwise take a regular shot in iAuto or program mode and the SZ-14 is refreshingly swift to determine focus and exposure, doing so in the time it takes the user to blink. Take a shot and there’s a wait of around 3-4 seconds while a maximum resolution image is committed to memory, which is par for the course at this price.

Use the zoom in stills mode and it will get from extreme wide-angle to maximum telephoto setting in three seconds, slowing by roughly twice that if alternatively you’re taking a video while zooming.

If you are shooting in low light there is a modest ISO range stretching from ISO80 to ISO1600 selectable manually, or the option to use the pop-up flash located directly above the lens, with a side lever provided for its manual activation.

Despite being a budget model, the user-friendly SZ-14 still comes with a rechargeable lithium ion battery. This is good for a slightly underwhelming 200 shots from a full charge, with a mains adapter unit that plugs into the camera via its USB port being its means of re-charging. This in-camera charging pits the SZ-14 is out of action, but it can be charged from a vacant port on your laptop if you happen not to be near mains electricity.

Image quality

As you’d expect of an inexpensive snapshot, when examining image quality we find the Olympus SZ-14 acquits itself best when there is plenty of sunlight available – as long as that sunlight isn’t so harsh that the camera struggles to reproduce highlight detail and familiar bugbears like pixel fringing creep into frame.

We were able to get reasonably sharp results shooting handheld at maximum telephoto in the spring sunshine, however, shots occasionally benefited from tweaking in Photoshop to provide a bit more contrast. At the extreme 28mm equivalent wide-angle setting, the camera’s performance didn’t suffer noticeably from barrel distortion or loss of focus towards the edges of the frame. If conditions are a little duller then there are always the Magic Filter effects to fall back on to provide a more visual dynamism.

In terms of low-light performance, though detail softens slightly at ISO800 and above, we’d be happy keeping the results of images at the top whack, if comparatively modest, setting of ISO1600. Altogether not a bad jack-of-all trades performance - said with the understanding that your images will resemble snapshots rather than professional photos.

?

Verdict:

The 14 megapixel, 24x optical zoom Olympus SZ-14 has the double whammy of a broad focal range yet a value-added price tag with which to sell itself, and it largely succeeds on both points.

It’s much the same as the previously reviewed SP-620UZ in terms of its feature set, but provides a slightly longer zoom in a more compact body for just ?20 more.

Perfect for beginners, it may not set the world alight but it does the job of offering plenty of picture-taking opportunities from the one "all-in" device, and at a very reasonable price.?It won’t turn you into an award-winning pro, but if it’s casual holiday snapping you’re after, equipped with the SZ-14 you can’t go far wrong.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Olympus Olympus SZ-14

Olympus SZ-14 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0100

The Panasonic Lumix TZ30 – or Lumix ZS20 as it’s known Stateside – is the latest high-spec, high-zoom compact to join the Lumix range.

It updates last year’s TZ20 with a host of brand new features – including a 20x zoom lens, new 14.1MP sensor and Light Speed autofocus - that ensure this latest release has plenty to keep up with the curve.

Superzoom: 20x optical zoom

Despite the TZ30’s small size it manages to squeeze in a 20x optical zoom lens. It equates to a 24mm wide-angle through to 480mm telephoto equivalent that’s good for all manner of shots, including extreme close-ups - thanks to the 3cm-from-subject wide-angle macro mode. The lens also retracts into the camera body when not in use, making the TZ30 very pocket-friendly. It is a bit larger than some lesser-lensed compacts, but not by a huge amount.

What makes the lens most outstanding is the inclusion of optical image stabilisation. Plenty of compact cameras use stabilisation systems these days, but the TZ30’s Power OIS system is exceptional, right into those longer focal lengths. It’s also optimised for movie mode to counteract the distinct jolty motion that occurs when walking or moving at pace.

Light Speed AF

Another headline feature: the TZ30 rips the "Light Speed AF" autofocus system from its bigger brother G-series models. If anyone’s used the latest Lumix GX1 or GF3 models then you’ll already know just how fast the autofocus is, and this translates well for the TZ30.

The camera can take care of assessing where to focus and does a good job of picking out subjects. But there’s plenty of user control too: the 3in, 460K-dot LCD screen is touch-sensitive and rather than always using the d-pad to position where it's possible to focus to, just plant a finger on the screen to activate Tracking AF. This identifies the subject and will fix the focus – even if the subject moves around the scene or goes away from the camera’s lens. It’s super simple to use and very effective.

It’s not only the autofocus that’s quick – the inclusion of a 10 frames per second burst mode makes it easy to fire off multiple images. However, autofocus and exposure won’t change after pressing down the shutter in this mode, unless you select the 5fps option that, although not as nippy, can continuously autofocus and adjust exposure between frames. There aren’t too many other compacts on the market with fast burst speeds, which makes the TZ30’s a very welcome addition.

New 14.1-megapixel sensor

When the we reviewed the TZ20 we noted that its 14.1MP sensor didn’t produce particularly astounding images. By that we mean they’re decent point-and-shoot snaps, but won’t compete with higher-spec, larger-sensor cameras such as Panasonic’s own LX5.

The TZ30 doesn’t add any resolution, but it does have a brand new sensor that Panasonic claims has improved performance. It’s a good thing to see no more pixels squeezed in, as 14-million of them is more than enough.

With an ISO sensitivity that ranges from ISO 100-3200 the TZ30 does produce decent images at the lower settings. For point-and-shoot work that means handheld shots in well-lit scenes won’t introduce any distinct issues, though fine details can suffer because of processing and there’s some visible correction for colour fringes - those (often) purple-coloured "shadows" that appear by high contrast areas, such as tree branches against a white sky.

It’s when shooting upwards of ISO 800 that less detail is resolved, though shots to ISO 1600 are still quite usable, despite a softer appearance.

Overall the TZ30 is a step up in the imaging department when compared to the TZ20 model, and although it’s not quite a giant leap forward, it’s yet another positive for a camera that already has an abundance of top features.

TZ30: crammed with tech

Also included is Global Positioning Satellite technology that can track where shots are taken. New to the TZ30 is the inclusion of mapping data (included on a disc in the box) that can be loaded on to the camera via SD card to provide maps and points of interest. GPS is a fun feature, but it doesn’t half suck the juice out of the battery. As it stands the TZ30 is capable of around 260 shots per charge, but it won’t reach this number if GPS is switched on in the menu. Use with caution!

Like its predecessor, the TZ30 also has a 3D mode that can record MPO files for playback on 3D-capable TVs or other devices. This works by moving the camera in real time for it to take multiple images - two then being assembled into the one file for a true 3D image. If you’re a 3D fan then it works well enough, though framing can be a little tricky because of the necessary camera movement.

In addition to Auto control there are also full Manual controls for those that know their apertures from their shutter speeds. Aperture control is fairly limited, ranging from f/3.3 at the 24mm wide-angle, extending to f/6.4 at the 480mm setting. This can be set to f/8.0 at its smallest, often meaning only two to three aperture options are available at any given focal length.

Creative Control mode also features on the top mode dial for in-camera effects such as Black & White and Sepia.

Improved movie mode

The AVCHD format has been updated in recent months. Now in its second generation the format can deal with what’s known as progressive capture - that being that every line is recorded and displayed simultaneously - at 50 frames per second. Fluid playback, the availability of zoom during recording and continuous autofocus make the movie mode a user-friendly option.

The only downside to the AVCHD container is that captured files need to be converted using a computer (via Windows Media Player or iMovie for example) before they’re of much use.

It’s fortunate that Panasonic has also introduced MP4 capture as a second option – this can be used straight from camera, though uses a 25fps frame rate and a little more compression.

Verdict:

What’s not to like? The TZ30 has taken everything that made the TZ20 good and made it one step better. As follow-ups go they don’t come much better. However, battery life could be longer and image quality could be improved further – though that’s common for most, if not all, compact cameras.

Listing the TZ30’s positives is easy: the massive zoom is an obvious attraction, but it also works extremely well and is backed up by impressive image stabilisation; the autofocus is among the fastest you’ll find in a compact camera; and the host of other technologies and a great 1080p movie mode make the TZ30 an immediate crowd pleaser.

It’s rare to find a compact camera that’s got so much going for it. The ?329 price tag isn’t small, but the TZ30 offers big things for the money.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Panasonic Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0100

The Lumix GF5, or Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 to use its formal title, is the latest G Series compact system camera from Panasonic. It replaces the Lumix GF3 and the similarity is instantly recognisable from the distinctive design.

Pocket-lint had the chance to get hands-on with Lumix GF5 when Panasonic introduced the new model at Chessington World of Adventures, where we took the camera for a little play time. Could this be the camera that tempts you away from your compact? Could this be the camera to replace your aging DLSR or first-gen Micro Four Thirds cameras? Read on for our first impressions after a day out with the camera and an excited family.

Design and build

The Lumix GF5 is every inch an evolution of the GF3. The distinctive bump to incorporate the round lens attachment sets this camera apart from the rest of the G Series Lumix models. It's cute, it's good looking, but it's not lacking in features.

The body itself is small, not too different from digital compact travel zoom cameras of the last few years. Attach a lens, of course, and the 107.7 x 66.6 x 36.8mm body becomes considerably larger. We tested the camera with the Lumix G X 14-42 power zoom lens.

With a compact body, grip becomes something of an issue. The GF3 offered a moulding on the right-hand side to give some purchase to your fingers. The GF5 now has a rubberised grip in this position, providing much more to hang on to under much wider conditions.

This is partnered with a rubber thumb grip on the back, which sits on the right-hand rear corner. Between these two you have more scope for gripping the camera securely, while still being able to press the shutter button with a finger, so one-handed shooting is possible.

The camera is light enough to do this, although the lens will make a huge difference to how the camera balances in the hands, and two-handed shooting will always be preferable for stability.

The flash is neatly hidden within the bump on the top of the camera, and deployed on the press of the button on the rear. The illuminator on the front left-hand corner aids low light focusing, but there is a risk you'll cover it with a stray finger when gripping two handed. Little details like this are inherent to small-bodied cameras, and acceptable in the trade-off for pocketability.?

And this camera is pocketable with the right lens. It easily fits into the pocket of a raincoat, in a way that DSLR models simply don't.?

The build of the GF5 feels good. It has an aluminium chassis, with the aluminium lens mount adding detail to the front. Although it doesn't feel as solid as the Lumix GX1, it's difficult to find fault. There is something of a toy-like and playful look to the GF5, but it's endearing rather than belittling. In the hand it looks and feels more serious than the GF3, despite their close relations.

This is helped by the inclusion of a new high-resolution display around the back. The 3-inch 921k-dot display is bright and vibrant and wonderfully sharp. It isn't the sharpest of all camera displays at this size, but it's a very welcome addition and something that makes the whole experience of using the GF5 a nicer one.

Controls: Push my buttons

Control of the Lumix GF5 is divided between physical buttons and virtual touchscreen controls. The buttons are now metal, rather than plastic, again adding to that slightly more mature feeling. In comparison to the GF3 there is one additional button and that's to add or remove information from the display.

Across the top plate you have the shutter, instant video capture and power switch, as well as the iA, (intelligent auto) button. On the rear of the camera you have a four-way controller encircled with a rotating dial and a central, important, Menu/Set button. The four positions of the controller give you immediate access to common controls, with the dial allowing you to change values in these areas, and others, such as changing the aperture or shutter speed.

That central button is used to confirm actions, as well as to open up the main menu system. There is also a quick menu system opened via the final button on the lower edge of the rear. This lets you change various shooting settings - such as ISO, aspect, quality or focus mode - and can be customised to your liking.

But that Q.Menu button also doubles as a programmable Fn (function) button, so if you don't want the quick menu, you can assign it to something else entirely. This makes sense, because you might find you don't regularly need many of the settings offered by the quick menu. It's nice to have this flexibility to change the camera to your method of working.

Controls: Touch me

But the buttons are only half of the control story, as the touchscreen display is where you'll be headed to change things like the shooting mode and explore some of the more exciting things the GF5 has on offer. You'll find two additional customisable Fn buttons on the screen, again giving you instant options.

The touch response is good and on-screen buttons are both large enough and logical enough to make it easy to get around. But there are about four different styles of interface, so if we're being critical, we could say that the user interface is somewhat inconsistent.

A press of the menu button, surprisingly, opens up the menu, which is rich and graphical and has been completely redesigned. There are nice personal features like being able to change the background image and the colour scheme. It's also here that you'll find the important virtual mode dial.?

We've seen various approaches to on-screen mode dials. Normally we'd say that direct control through a physical dial is always our preference, but the GF5's solution is capable enough. The modes are presented for you to press and that then either engages the relevant mode or, in the case of scenes or the art filters, takes you through to select the option you want.

There are 23 scene modes and they aren't just "landscape" or "portrait", oh no. Panasonic has gone for some really whacky names and, although funny, they do explain exactly what they should be used for - such as "sweet child" (sample below). This area of the menu system is also highly graphical, scrolling through the modes with high-resolution images.

Dive into the art filters and you'll find that, again, you can have a preview or a description, along with an accompanying image representing the mode Bst we're not entirely sure why the art filters and the scene modes present themselves in different styles in the menus: one scrolls horizontally, the other vertically, for example.?

The nice thing about the hybrid control arrangement is that Panasonic's dependable iA mode is always available on that top plate button. This means that no matter what you're doing, a press of a single button will hand control back to the camera so you can grab a shot in auto.

Aside from menu tinkering, when it actually comes to shooting, the arrangement of on-screen and physical buttons seems to work. You can have touch capture: simply touch the screen and you've taken a shot, although we found it far too easy to fire off shots when handling the camera, so we disabled it.

When shooting, you get a right-hand tab which pops-out on the screen to present your other options. If you have a powered lens from the X series attached, you'll get on-screen zoom controls here; if you're using an art filter, you'll find the options to control the intensity of the effect are in this side tab too.

Performance

Naturally, we weren't using the final firmware, so we can't judge the outright imaging quality of the Lumix GF5 and Panasonic has asked us to make that clear. However, the camera was stable in operation and slick to move through the menus and shooting options.

One of the headline claims of the Lumix GF5 is the 0.09-second autofocus time. It's certainly quick to focus and our initial impression is that it's clever enough to pick out what you want in focus. Manual focus is easy to use too, and the magnified focusing view used in conjunction with the manual rocker on the Lumix G X lens works very nicely.

Despite some niggles about the arrangement of the user interface, we never struggled to find what we were looking for. Changing shooting modes is quick and easy and, as we've mentioned, the omnipresence of that iA button means you can switch back and forth with ease.

The results are impressive too. iA is good for general shooting and dependable: it doesn't often seem to falter, giving good results for very little effort. For beginners who don't want to spend their time playing with settings, iA may well do everything they ever need.?

The manual deployment of the flash is also convenient, because it won't leap out and illuminate your shot when you don't want it, like many similarly priced DSLRs would. The ISO range provides a great deal of flexibility for capturing shots in lower light conditions without having to resort to longer exposures.

With this not being final firmware, we haven't tested the ISO results at all levels, but the shots we took at ISO 1600 are perfectly useable (sample below). Sure, noise is present, but not to a detrimental degree. We'll take a closer look at ISO results when we get the camera in for a final full review.?

Overall we're impressed with the results. The 4fps shooting isn't hugely fast, but it's quick enough to hold out for that perfect shot of an excited/scared child, or animals doing stupid things. We also found that the art filters returned some nice results, the tried and tested "miniature" mode letting you get that diorama effect easily, as well as turning into an easy time-lapse mode if you hit the video button from that mode.

We were testing the camera using a class 4 card, which may have had an impact on the video we captured, but we're still impressed with the results. Stereo audio capture is now offered from the built-in mics and focusing is pretty fast. Paired with the silent and smooth zooming of the Lumix G X lens, it makes for a nice combination. On a dark ride, the results are still acceptable, the camera finding focus in much more difficult situations.

Verdict:

Overall the Panasonic Lumix GF5 is not only a great successor to the GF3, but a genuine step forward. Panasonic hasn't stood still with its most compact model, but made real changes. The additional grip and the improvement to the rear display make this a much better model than previously.

Although we can't judge the outright quality from the new 12-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, we're impressed by the results we got during our test shoot and the ease of use. There are some minor niggles with consistency in the menus, but Panasonic should be applauded for moving the menu system forwards, as the combination of touch and regular controls is highly usable.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 will be available from June 2012. The test configuration used here with the Lumix G X 14-42 lens will cost you ?579, with the standard kits lens it will cost you ?449.

Tags: Cameras Compact system cameras Panasonic Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 12 megapixels Micro Four Thirds First look

First Look: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0100

The Panasonic Lumix GF5 is the latest Micro Four Thirds compact system camera from the Japanese company. It replaces 2011's GF3 and is the most compact G series camera in the range.

The new model doesn't just update the Lumix GF3, however, it incorporates a brand new 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor, with new silicone, which Panasonic told us offers an improved signal to noise ratio.

The result should be that the Lumix GF5 offers the same sort of performance as the Lumix G3, with its 16-megapixel sensor. The sensor is combined with the new Venus Engine VII HD2 imaging processor, which also brings shooting at an extended ISO 12800.

The compact body very much reflects the GF3 forebear, with that distinctive bump to incorporate the lens mount, which is now finished in aluminium to add a touch of the premium.

Also finding its way on to the body is a new rubberised handgrip, similar to the Lumix GX1, and metal buttons. In addition to the customisable Fn button on the rear, you now get two more on-screen Fn buttons to customise to your liking.

On the rear of the Panasonic Lumix GF5 is a 920k-dot touchscreen display, with an entirely new graphical user interface to aid control of the camera, with plenty of information for novices, or advanced controls for enthusiasts.

The Lumix GF5 boasts 0.09 second autofocus, instant full HD video capture as either AVCHD or MPEG4, everything from creative art filters to full manual controls and RAW shooting, giving you bags of potential.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 measures 107.7 x 66.6 x 36.8mm and weighs 267g (without the lens).

It is compatible with Micro Four Thirds lenses and will be available in two lens configurations. The Lumix GF5 with the Lumix G X 14-42 power zoom will set you back ?579; the Lumix GF with the Lumix G Vario 14-42 standard zoom will be ?449.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 will be available from June 2012. But of course, we've had our hands on one already, so head over to our First Look review, to read our first impressions, view sample shots and video and have a look all our glossy pictures.

Tags: Cameras Compact system cameras Panasonic Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 12 megapixels Micro Four Thirds

Panasonic Lumix GF5 updates GF3, brings new new sensor, handgrip, features originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0100

Hasselblad, the Swedish-based camera company that you've probably heard of but whose camera you are unlikely to have owned, announced in 2010 a partnership with Ferrari to create a limited-edition Hasselblad Ferrari H4D digital medium format camera.

Eighteen months later and Pocket-lint has finally tracked down the limited-edition version of the company's camera at the new Harrods Tech Store in Knightsbridge - persistent, we know.

Only 499 of them have been created and the Ferrari angle comes in via the carmaker's unique colour "rosso fuoco", and bears the legendary racing shield so people can clearly see your love for the car company.

In the hand, and the camera is svelte with a good balance. The model we played with had the 80mm lens on and - sadly, for the price - you don't get the 200 megapixel back.

To make sure you keep the Hasselblad Ferrari H4D safe and sound it is presented in an "exclusively designed and engineered box" that is sealed with a glass top equally labelled with the distinctive Ferrari Racing Shield as well. Hell, why not?

You want one don't you? Good, but you had better start saving, the camera costs a cool ?23,999, and no that isn't a typo.?

Tags: Cameras Ferrari Hasselblad Hasselblad Ferrari H4D

Hasselblad H4D Ferrari edition pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:07:00 +0100

Lightroom 4 is the latest version of Adobe's photo editing software and comes with a host of new features, to allow all that use it a chance to enhance and develop their pictures before showing others. But are the upgrades worth the bother - or, if you are thinking of going Lightroom for the first time, should you? We've been playing with the new version (including the beta) for the past couple of months to find out.

Who is Lightroom 4 for?

There are many types of photographers and on how you see yourself will depend on whether you need to invest. If you are a smartphone photographer, or one that snaps photos with a compact camera at a party or a night out with friends, then Lightroom 4 probably offers too much for you. It's not that you won't benefit, but if you are more than happy to press the "auto fix" button then Photoshop elements for the PC or iPhoto for the Mac will do a great job at cataloguing your photos and letting you do several tweaks at the press of a button.

Lightroom 4 aims to take photo editing one step further. Not by making it easy to insert a unicorn in every picture, or cut you out and place you atop Mount Everest, but to let you quickly and effectively improve your workflow from importing pictures, to developing those pictures, to exporting them again - be it for print, books, or the web - while letting you manage your collection of thousands of images.

If you deal with photos in your every day life then you need to have a serious think about investing.

Developing

There are stacks of new bits and bobs to discover in Lightroom 4, but the one you should care about most and will use the most is the Develop module.

For Lightroom 4 it has been completely overhauled, adding a lot more control over the effects and enhancements you can adjust and manage. In Lightroom 3 you can tweak exposure, recovery, fill light, and blacks. Sliding the relevant bars made a difference to your picture but in most cases it was arbitrary. What does Recovery mean, what does Fill Light mean exactly. Once you got the gist of it, it was fine, however a lot of elements of your picture would change at once and that's not great.

Lightroom 4 adds a new toolbar that takes recovery, fill light, and blacks and replaces them with highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks. Those settings now make more sense and have a greater, narrower control over how your picture looks. Slide the highlights bar all the way to the left, for example, and the software will do its best to introduce more detail into the image at the expense of light. White blown-out skies become blue, and it is a great way of fixing parts of your image, or your whole image that has been "blown-out".

Likewise the Shadows setting will allow you to get more or less light to the shadowed areas of the photo without your having to work it out. That again will allow you to fix areas of the photo that are perhaps a little too dark or a little bit too light, and with all the settings in Lightroom 4 you can choose to work locally with a brush or apply the affect to the whole image.

Playing with the sliders gives you different effects. It means that the near-perfect shot you took can be perfect. It doesn't mean that awful shot you shot will be amazing.

But the develop module isn't just about changing light sources within your photos, Lightroom 4 goes much further than that. You can mange the tonal curve of a photograph, spilt toning and detail by increasing the sharpness or reducing the noise and even manage lens correction.

For those that like to get creative, you can easily add a vignette, while the develop module also includes dozens of presets that can apply a certain look to your photo, be it black and white or something to make it look a bit more moody. You can also create and import your own presets.

What we especially like is that all the develop settings are applied to the images in your catalogue in a non-destructive way - so if you don't like them straight away or even a year later, you can remove them. The original stays untouched. That's handy if you go through a "vignette phase".

Video

Lightroom 3 was pretty poor at letting you do anything with video apart from store it in your photo collection next to your images, and while Lightroom 4 on the surface doesn't look that much better, there are benefits to be found, if you look.

Import a video, and head to the develop page and you get a big fat warning message saying you can't do anything - just like before - however when you're in the library mode, you can.

The first quick fix available to you is the ability to "top and tail"?your video, grabbing the bit you want in the middle. That's about if from the editing side of things and if you are looking for a video-editing package you are probably better off going for iMovie for the Mac, Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum for the PC, or something a lot more serious from Adobe.?

The second, and utterly brilliant, feature is the ability to fix a number of aspects of your video with the Quick Develop module, at the press of a button.

Here you can add a saved preset, fix the white balance, correct the tone, adjust the exposure, enhance the clarity, and fix the vibrancy with little effort.

It's very clever and works a treat. Videos can then be exported to be edited in another package or shared directly.

Mapping

If you're taking pictures with your phone, every time you do so you're adding the location data to the image. Lightroom 4 allows you to visualise that information on a map. For pictures you have taken but haven't got geo-tagged, data for the software allows you to add manually and the interface is great for seeing your travels around the globe quickly.

For those that need to track this data, the addition here will be very much welcomed. The interface is clean and you can zoom in if you have multiple shots taken around a specific location. You can then also search your catalogue via that location data by typing in a city, and then saving locations that you need to access quickly for future use.

Books

Also new to Lightroom is the ability to create photo books, so you can impress clients or your friends with your latest artwork in true coffee table format.

The Book module is incredibly easy to use, allowing you to drag and drop your images on to a choice of templates before exporting them either to services such as Blurb, or just as a pdf so you can do what you want with them.

Other features

There are plenty of other features that have been added for you to explore and find, Soft-proof printing is just one example that lets you see what your printer would print before you waste the ink (it even does its best to replicate the colours), while those who have already used Lightroom in the past will know that there is plenty in the catalogue element to make finding, storing, and managing your photos very easy.

Although not new to Lightroom 4 we've always been a fan of the ability to apply presets to importing images alongside specific metadata before you even start to analyse what images you want and what images you want to ditch.?

Verdict:

The Develop and Video elements are the main crux of the Lightroom 4 and the reason you will be investing or wanting to upgrade. The good news is that they won't disappoint. Adobe has managed to introduce a finer touch to developing in for this version and it is very much welcomed.

The other features of course are not to be sniffed at and we are sure if you are a wedding photographer the ability to create a book or a website for your clients to view at their own discretion will also be welcomed.

But where Adobe wins is that Lightroom 4 is now half the price it was of Lightroom 3. It's ?104 if you are buying it new, or ?60 if you are buying it as a upgrade from version 3 - well worth the cash.

And if proof of these words wasn't enough, lots of the Pocket-lint team have been making use of ?Lightroom 4 over the past few months, and we think it shows.

Tags: Software Adobe Adobe Lightroom 4 Cameras Photo editing software

Adobe Lightroom 4 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:55:00 +0100

Canon has unveiled a new version of its EOS 60D DSLR camera designed specifically for astrophotographers. The Canon EOS 60Da replaces the 20Da in the company's line-up and has a?modified low pass filter that makes the camera more sensitive to hydrogen-alpha wavelengths of light.

The usual 60D, like most DSLRs, features an infrared filter designed to limit the amount of hydrogen-alpha (H?) light that hits the sensor. This specific model offers three times more transparency for that specific band of light, so is potentially better suited for photographing?astronomical phenomena such as diffuse nebulae.

In all other specifications, the 60Da is identical to the conventional 60D. It features an 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, ISO speeds up to 6,400 (expandable to 12,800), and?14-bit DIGIC 4 processing.

On the rear there's a?3-inch Vari-angle wide LCD screen and Live View support, which features a?1,040k-dot resolution. And Time-Lapse shooting can be performed through EOS Utility or an optional?Timer Remote Controller (TC-80N3).

The Canon EOS 60Da will be available from June for ?1,174.99.

Tags: Canon Cameras Canon EOS 60Da Brian Cox DSLRs

Canon EOS 60Da: For the Brian Cox in all of us originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:27:00 +0100

Several years ago, Nikon announced the D90 - the first digital SLR that could record video. Clips were short, at under five minutes, and restricted to 720p, but it was the start of a revolution. And we’re not exaggerating, because SLR-based video has changed the world of TV and film production.

After the D90, Nikon should have gone from strength to strength, coming up with better and better SLRs that could produce video. But that didn’t happen. Instead the company fell asleep and let Canon swoop in and suck up lucrative video production customers with the likes of the 5D mark II, and now mark III. Nikon, it seemed, had either lost interest, or didn’t have the technology to keep up.

Now Nikon is back. Cameras such as the D7000 and, now, the D800 have put the firm back on the map for video and film production companies. To see how it performed photographically and filmically, we took it to New York city for three days. We photographed and videoed some of the most interesting things in the city, and got to know the camera inside and out.

Design

Following on from the D700, the D800 has logical controls, that, for the most part are located where you need them, and are easy to adjust. The top of the body has controls for the speed of shooting on a selection dial, with buttons on the top to adjust image quality, white balance, ISO and bracketing. On the right side there’s the LCD display, with status information that changes, depending on the mode. Unlike Nikon’s entry-level SLRs, there’s no dial here for selecting which shooting mode you want - instead this is handled by a push button, and a mode dial.

On the back is a bright, detailed LCD screen that provides a useful reference when you’re reviewing images. We found it excellent when checking work, and zooming in can reveal the truth about your photograph and how well focused it is. We found the screen less useful for video and, despite the D800’s strength in this area, the screen is a real weak point. It ideally needs to be articulated, so that videographers can get more use out of it. That will mortify some photographers, but this is a video-focused camera that doesn’t have enough flexibility built in to shoot video comfortably.

In New York, we also talked to some professional photographers about Nikon's decision to put a built-in flash on this camera. Some people seem to hate this decision. Mainly, it seems, because it doesn't perform like an external flash does. But this is nonsense, and we've used the built-in flash to great effect as a fill-in outdoors. This certainly saves on lugging an external gun around, and means that when you want a well-exposed background, and a well-exposed human in the foreground, you can get it.?

How you feel about the layout of the controls will quite likely depend on what cameras you've used before. For photos, we found everything was well located. In video, we had some minor grumbles. First, we don't think the setting for the shutter speed should remain on the rear rotary dial - that would be better used for the "gain" control (ISO). The default video recording button is also a massive pain, so we re-mapped it to be on the shutter release. This, however, would mean you wouldn't be able to drop out of video mode as easily to fire off a photo.

36.6-megapixel behemoth

One of the most controversial decisions Nikon has made with the D800 is to increase the sensor resolution to over 36-megapixels. If you read a lot of reviews here at Pocket-lint, you’ll know that higher-resolution sensors are a mixed blessing. While they can produce remarkable levels of detail, the pixel density can also mean that you’ll get extra noise in certain circumstances. The sensor used here is a Sony model, and from our tests, it produces pretty remarkable images.

There is one clear challenge with this camera’s images though. They’re massive. On the one hand, this is great, as it gives detail to professionals to use in projects where the output will eventually be printed on a large-scale medium. On the downside, it means that a lot of data is saved to your memory card – either SD or CF. Although modern cards are certainly fast, there’s still a significant wait to write an image once it’s taken. Shoot raw images with a large JPG and this can become a real issue when you’re trying to capture a fast-moving event in front of you. While testing our D800 on the Hudson river, there were several times when we had to wait for the camera to empty its write buffer on to the card. During this time, you will possibly lose the ability to take more photos – it depends on how full the buffer is – but changing modes and activating the liveview screen or switching to video is impossible.

Nikon’s decision to stick with CF and SD here is, no doubt, for cost reasons. The company’s top-of-the-range D4 has a new format XQD which has far higher write speeds and is far better set up for big files than the aging cards used here. Amusingly, the D4 doesn’t have a sensor this big, and therefore doesn’t need to write as much data as quickly. All of this means that the D800 can burst fewer images than the D700 that preceded it. That might bother some, and it might well be a reason to keep the older camera. But Nikon certainly gives us the impression it knows the market, and anticipates that the D800 user probably isn’t looking for a quick burst rate.

Aside from card write speeds, the other issue with large images is that they can be more of a challenge to work with. On a modest computer, raw images can be quite a handful. While most people will have a quick machine, it's well worth pointing out that our high-spec Dell laptop had a tough time when running on battery, in power saving mode.

With those reasonably minor concerns out of the way, there's one important thing that you need to remember when it comes to such huge images, and that's how much detail there is. For example, here's the US flag, there's plenty of detail and colour here, as you can see.

But zoom to 1:1, and you'll see just how much detail is captured by this remarkable sensor. Illustrated here by the fibres frayed at the edge of the flag.

On more than one occasion, during our test, we found that this high resolution could completely save a photograph that on a lower resolution camera just wouldn't have enough detail. It's fantastic to have this kind of flexibility.

FX and DX

Should you want to reduce image size, there’s always a DX mode to switch to. This produces 15-megapixel images, but will also introduce a crop to your photos. That might appeal to some, especially if you want to save card space, and get a “magnification” factor on your lenses. For most, this mode won’t have much appeal, but it has some uses when it comes to video.

Unless space is desperate though, there's not a huge use for DX photos on D800, as it's easier to just crop your photos later in Photoshop. On the plus side, the mode does allow you to use DX lenses, which might be popular with those upgrading from small sensor cameras.

Photos

It would take a hard heart indeed not to fall in love with the image quality from the D800.

We've shot hundreds of images over the past week and results have been impressive. The full-frame sensor is a fantastic asset for serious photographers and is essential to many people. The huge increase in resolution over the D700 remains a bone of contention. Some think it's a welcome boost while some argue that 12-megapixels is more than enough. Even so, we never felt that the 36.6-megapixel sensor was anything but a brilliant addition to the already brilliant D700.

Of course, it results in much larger images. For many, shooting a JPEG at high resolution will be more than enough - if you add RAW in to the mix at the same time, it can mean each photo, comprised of a .jpg and .nef can require 65MB of storage. In four days we shot 52GB of photos and videos.?

Mostly, we used manual,?choosing?to adjust the aperture and shutter speed manually. We used the camera's autofocus extensively though, and it has to be said that it's excellent. The camera locks on quickly and almost never makes mistakes. That's not to say never, as there were times when it would get things a little wrong, and we also noticed that its ability to lock-on was sometimes a slightly lacking, leaving the camera refocusing long after we thought it was locked.?

Switching to aperture priority results in well-exposed photos too. The D800 might need some exposure compensation to meet your preferences, but overall we liked it. Spot metering was sometimes a little tricky, but letting the camera assess the scene and change the shutter to expose usually resulted in a good results. We think metering on this camera is better than the D700 too.

High ISO images also work well. You can shoot at 1600 without any major noise issues. This is good, because with this increase of megapixels there could be issues with noise. Crank it up to the maximum of 25,600 in its boosted mode and you get an image with considerable noise. This isn't unexpected, and although it's not as graceful as film noise, it's not awful either.?

We're also big fans of where video meets stills in the timelapse feature. This is a dream of simplicity to set up. Tell the camera how long you want to shoot, how often you'd like images and it will tell you how long your finished clip will be. Then you press the shutter button, wait, and at the end you'll get a lovely quicktime movie, in 1080p, with your timelapse.

You might not have tried this feature before, but when you do it becomes so compelling, we'd be surprised if you don't use it a lot more. We're already planning to leave the camera pointed at the night sky for a bit, to see what results we can get.

Video

If you’re looking for some spectacular quality video, then this may very well be the camera for you. The output is some of the most amazing video we’ve seen from a device in this price range, and we can see certain groups getting very excited indeed about the potential here.

We shot video at 1080p using 24fps. You can chose 25p or 30p if those modes suit you better. On the whole, TV production will use 25p, while 30p is for countries where that is the prevailing broadcast system – notably the US and Japan. Drop down to 720p and you get 50/60fps options too, which technically gives you “overcrank” which you can use in post production to slow down footage by 50 per cent, without any resolution or motion problems.

Having used the movie mode on the D90, we're quite aware of how much Nikon needed to improve to attract professional users. And the D800 has managed to achieve everything we could have asked. For a start, this movie mode is fully manual. You have control over the shutter, aperture and ISO. This means that you can get an image balanced through the built-in screen before you start shooting and don't have to worry about anything changing once the action starts.

The big problem we had with video was nothing to do with quality though, it was more because the camera doesn't restrict the shutter speed you use with it. What that means is, you can end up compensating for a lot of light with a fast shutter speed. This is a big mistake. Really, we'd like to see the camera warn you of stepping outside the 180-degree shutter that's so important with video.

To get the best results, you should keep the shutter speed at twice the frame rate. So for 24 and 25p that means using a shutter speed of 50. You can get away with 100 at times, but that will have a very specific look that won't suit a lot of uses. It can be handy, but don't overuse it.

When you're shooting indoors too, you'll probably want to make use of the "ISO" setting. In video terms, the name ISO is a bit misleading. TV cameras have a "gain" instead, and remembering how the ISO number relates to gain is handy, and should prevent you introducing too much noise to video. In TV production, it's generally acceptable to add 6db of gain, before the image becomes to grainy - and video grain is nowhere near as artistic as film grain. That gives you up to ISO 800 on the D800.

We took the D800 beyond ISO 800 in our tests, and the footage did indeed become quite noisy further up the range, but we were amazed by how tolerant footage was to these boosts.

There is also the issue of CMOS sensor wobble to consider. All cameras that use these chips will suffer from this to some extent. The D800 has managed to avoid the worst of it. In Nikon's tests, it's much better than the Canon 5D mark III, but on very fast movement it's still quite noticeable.

But in all the time we spent filming actual events with the camera, we never once found it to be an issue. Our clips mostly show that whip pans are a relative rarity in normal shooting, and this is now the main area you'll see CMOS wobble. It is, however, also visible when there is a lot of flashing in-frame either from other flash guns or theatre strobe lights.

We also want to point out that the autofocus on the D800 is a little troublesome. In video mode, there is no automatic focus. There is, however, a button on the back that allows you to use the camera's autofocus to get a lock while you're recording. This isn't very good though, although it usually does get a lock after a little hunting. For the best results, you're going to have to use your eyes, which works well once you get used to it.

Microphone input and HDMI output

One hugely important aspect of the D800 is the microphone input - along with the headphone output - and the clean HDMI with uncompressed 1080p output.?

HDMI?output?is?essential?to anyone recording video for a broadcaster, as all major UK outlets need around 50mbps for the majority of delivered content. The camera records at quite a bit less than that, although it always looks stunning. Nikon's codec and processing seem to be very, very well designed. Using the HDMI allows you to hook up a Nanoflash or similar recorder, and grab a high-quality feed from the camera. It also allows you to use an external viewfinder for video, something that's very helpful.?

Do remember that in order to get 1080p out of the HDMI you need to have removed both SD and CF cards from the camera. This is a bit of a shortcoming, as it would be handy to record a backup in-camera too. If you do this, your output will be restricted to 1080i.?

The built-in microphone is a bit whispy and hollow-sounding, as you would expect. An external microphone - like Nikon's own ME-1 - will improve things. Even so, we found there was still a lot of handling noise, and this was especially?noticeable?when adjusting the aperture?and shutter speed. The 3.5-inch jack isn't ideal for professional audio equipment, although adaptors are a possibility to handle XLR jacks. Even so, audio recording in-camera can be used for a guide track, with an external recorder doing the heavy lifting. But the in-built system doesn't disgrace itself - just invest in a good microphone and?isolated?grip.?

The screen

We do need to mention the built-in LCD screen too. For photos, this panel is ideal. It's bright enough to be seen in sunlight, and sharp. The camera responds quickly when you're viewing images, and you can always see, by zooming in, if you've got the shot you wanted. There is more than enough detail here, and we think it's one of the best screens we've seen on a camera.?

Nikon also keeps the screen as a 4:3 ratio, unlike the Canon 5D MK II which has switched to a 3:2 panel. In use, this is great for proper photography - this is a stills camera first and foremost - and doesn't cause any huge problems when it comes to shooting video.?

Video, though, does present some problems for this screen. It's quite hard to use the screen to focus when shooting. With practice, things get better, but you'll still blow some shots because what you thought was focused, was not. Buying an external monitor or viewfinder is a must here, but the HDMI feed out makes it a less-expensive proposition than on some cameras.

Verdict:

There is little doubt that the D800 is a terrific camera. Photographically speaking, the 36.6-megapixels is an amazing leap forward, images have an awe-inspiring level of detail and this gives a lot of flexibility over using the camera. Shoot something that’s good, but a little poorly framed, and there’s room to tweak and improve. Likewise, the high resolution will give opportunities to photographers who want the option of printing their photos in large sizes.

Happily, the large, high-resolution sensor doesn’t suffer with excessive noise as a result of the pixel density. Indeed, the D800 image performance, even in low light, is one of the most impressive things we’ve seen. Images are usable right up to ISO 3600 and even in to the extended range they have some value, though there is significant noise. Having said that, despite the noise, image sharpness is incredible, which makes for very likeable shots with an interesting grain that could have some artistic merit.

Video too is mind-blowing. Broadcasters might not leap on this camera, as the bit-rate is too low – although you’d never know it to look at the video - and to reject footage because it doesn’t hit the magic number of 50mbps is little more than snobbery. But for low-budget filmmakers, or professionals in need of something cheap but flexible that has a wealth of very capable lenses, this really is a beautiful performer. Our test footage looked breathtaking at times. Use a good lens, keep the shutter to 50 and adjust the “ISO” and aperture to compensate for light, and you’ll turn in some remarkable video.

To use, like all high-end Nikons, the D800 is very good indeed. The biggest issue is that buffer writing 36-megapixel images to SD or CF, something that inevitably takes a long time. We found this hampered us when we were reacting to events over which we had no control. This means the D800 won't suit sports photographers especially well, but studio users will be unlikely to have any issues. Nikon continues to make cameras that are well-designed and exciting to use.

The D800 has served us well in the time we’ve used it, and we’re really not thrilled about giving it back, which is the greatest endorsement we could ever give a product.

Tags: Cameras DSLR cameras DSLRs Nikon Nikon D800

Nikon D800 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:09:43 +0100

Details of the Sony NEX-FS700E handheld camcorder have emerged, suggesting consumers will be able to enjoy a recording experience previously found only in specialist top-end devices. At least they will via a future upgrade. Initially we’re looking at full HD 1080p but the FS700E will eventually be able to capture 4K RAW footage via 3G-SDI.

Other highlights include the ability to record HD-quality video in up to 10x slow motion, or up to 40x in lower resolutions. Just think of the fun you can have with that. Your shooting prowess will be enhanced with easily interchangeable lenses thanks to the boxed-in E-mount, in addition to built-in HD filters - meaning your videos will give Hollywood a run for its money.

Save up to 99 different profile settings on to a memory card and you’ll have something for every occasion, come rain or shine. You can even share said 99 settings with your friends and colleagues: useful if you’re working on a collaborative project.

No official word on pricing or availability, though the internet is awash with rumours of a June arrival.

Read

Tags: Cameras Sony Camcorders Sony NEX FS700E

Sony NEX-FS700E pro 4K camcorder incoming originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:55:00 +0100

Buy a battery grip for your professional or semi pro digital SLR and it will come with a second set of essential controls to one side near the base, including an additional shutter-release button. That’s because grip and body make for a big and bulky bit of kit, so dual controls ease what would otherwise be an awkward stretch for the fingers if turning the pro DSLR on its side to shoot vertically, or "portrait fashion".

But why are we talking about pro DSLRs when we’re reviewing a Pentax point and shoot? Well because the 16-megapixel Optio VS20 is the first compact to our knowledge that also comes with two shutter-release buttons, both encircled by a lever for operating its 20x optical zoom, and with two screw threads for attaching a tripod, one located at the base and the other at one side.

While this makes sense on a chunky workhorse DSLR, as described above, on a camera that will slip into your trouser pocket the extra buttons feel a little superfluous. We can recognise Pentax’s intention to stand apart from the crowd, but could the VS20 prove more of a gimmick than a great idea?

Design and features

We had the black fascia-ed version in for review. Partly because of the extra buttons and the broader than average focal range delivered by its internally stacked zoom - which here is the equivalent of 28-560mm in 35mm terms - the VS20 resembles a bit of a brick next to your slender fashion-conscious snappers costing ?100 more. With dimensions of 60 x 108 x 34mm it weighs 191g and has a gentle curve to one side of the faceplate by way of a handgrip and rubber padding at the other end to provide a steadier two-handed hold.

Lens reach aside, another thing this Optio has in its favour is the price. At a suggested ?199 it is one of the cheapest travel zoom cameras around, though the identically priced 24x Olympus SZ-14 (14 megapixels) is another option for those on a budget.

Like that rival, one thing we might not necessarily expect on an entry model is a 3-inch backplate LCD providing a high-ish 460k-dot resolution rather than the standard 230k. In the absence of an optical viewfinder this is expectedly the only means of composing and reviewing shots.

However, the camera could be quicker in determining focus and exposure - the LCD visibly blurs with a half press of the shutter-release button - rendering the photographer blind for a second or so before the image presented drifts back into focus. Also the VS20 takes a leisurely four seconds to commit a full 16-megapixel resolution JPEG to memory, while maximum shooting speed is one frame per second, so this is not a camera for those in a hurry.?

On a more positive note, despite its point and shoot credentials and very few manual controls, we get a light-sensitivity range stretching up to ISO 6400. Stray above ISO 1600, however, and resolution drops to 5 megapixels to limit the appearance of image noise. Plus, while a grainy look is avoided, subject edge definition looks a little soft as a result.

Video and creative effects

A dedicated record button is provided top right of the backplate for filming video clips, a press of which commences capture no matter which alternative shooting mode might have been selected and otherwise in play at the same time; the 4:3 stills aspect ratio view on screen narrowing to present a 16:9 format.

Here we don’t get HDMI output however, just a joint standard definition AV output and USB 2.0 connection. And if you do try to zoom in during recording, you get a rather jerky digital cropping effect rather than access to the optical zoom, the action of which is smoother yet sound tracked by the low buzz of its mechanics.?

There is also a digital zoom accessible in stills mode that runs on from the end of the optical zoom if you continue to exert pressure on the zoom lever. This definition-losing crop provides the equivalent of a maximum 144x zoom, or an otherwise impractical 4032mm reach in 35mm terms that would be the envy of any paparazzi if it presented anything other than a pixelated blur.

For everyday snapping the VS20 offers a "smart" Auto Picture mode that compares the subject before the lens with 15 pre-optimised on-board settings and selects the most appropriate. The alternative is to tab to the next setting of Program mode, allowing access to a more expanded set of controls, such as the ability to adjust exposure between +/- 2EV and manually alter white balance.?

We also get the usual smattering of portrait, landscape and night shooting options, presented here with a press of the "mode" portion of the backplate control pad, plus a miniature effects filter, pencil sketch, fisheye and the aforementioned panorama mode that can produce effective results and a single elongated end image. That said, patience is required; it took us several attempts to avoid a stitched end result without obvious overlaps, and the miniature mode to us produced results that looked more like a lens fault than real life in miniature, due to just so much of the image being un-sharp.

Performance

And that’s rather the problem with the Pentax Optio VS20: its performance is inconsistent. We ended up with odd colour balances, odd exposures, the camera failing to find focus or merely focused on the wrong thing more times than we’d expect even with the caveat that this is a low cost budget model.

When the Pentax gets it right you can get crisp results at either end of the focal range, which stops us from dismissing it entirely however, and having such a focal range offered by a camera that will readily slip into any pocket is enough of a selling point on its own, without the need for the gimmick of extra buttons. Not once did we feel the need when turning the camera on its side to use the second set of controls – but when we tried them out purely for the purposes of completing our test, it was tricky to avoid the little finger of our right hand dangling in front of the extended lens. Also, the positioning of the integral flash top right of the faceplate means it’s too easy to also inadvertently obscure with a stray finger. The battery life is distinctly so-so too: 200 shots from a full charge.

Verdict:

The Pentax Optio VS20 is not quite the bargain it may initially seem. But set against a hit-and-miss performance is the fact that here we have a broad focal range that will in theory allow a wide variety of framing options without having to physically shuffle forward or back as we would with a fixed lens camera.

And then there’s the price. For ?199 in return for a 20x zoom and chassis that, while slightly chunky, will still fit in your pocket, you might feel able to put up with a bit of inconsistency and white balance wandering between successive frames if the camera is left to its default "auto everything" devises.

However we feel the 24x zoom SZ-14 from Olympus we were testing alongside this camera is a better bet in terms of shot-to-shot reliability for the same price. In summation then, you can get decent results from the VS20, but it takes a few shots and a bit of patience. You ultimately can’t avoid the conclusion that Pentax, now partnered with Ricoh, can do (and has done) better.

Tags: Cameras Compact cameras Pentax Pentax Optio VS20

Pentax Optio VS20 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:18:00 +0100