Posts by: Phil Ryan, CNET.com

Superzoom Kodak

Phil Ryan, CNET.com | Sep 03, 2007

If you're a fan of Kodak, or a cryptologist, you shouldn't have any trouble figuring out that the company's new superzoom, called the Z812 IS, is an 8-megapixels camera with a 12x optical zoom lens and optical image stabilization. The name won't tell you that the camera has a 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD screen, or that the camera can capture MPEG-4 video, with stereo sound at up to 1,024x720 pixels and 30 frames per second.

Kodak seizes on this last fact to say in its product literature that the Z812 IS can capture 720p video. The only problem is that the last time I checked, the generally accepted standard for 720p video is 1,280 x 720-pixels.
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A new Pentax pairing

Phil Ryan, CNET.com | Sep 03, 2007

Pentax very quietly announced two new cameras. The first, an 8-megapixel model called the Optio Z10, marks new territory for Pentax with a sliding lens cover that moves sideways and, like the sliding covers on Sony cameras, turns the camera on and off. Sony often gets credit for the sliding lens cover design in digital cameras, but many compact film cameras incorporated sliding lens covers years before Sony started using them in its digital cameras.

While those film cameras often had mechanical issues due to their extending zoom lenses, this Pentax has an internally zooming refraction lens. The Z10's 7x optical, 38-266mm-equivalent f/3.5-5.4 zoom lens should provide plenty of reach, especially for such a compact camera, for capturing far-away subjects. The Z10 also sports a 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD screen, sensitivity of up to ISO 3,200, a Digital Wide function that can convert two images into an approximate equivalent of a 28mm wide-angle shot, and Pentax's Face Recognition system, which can detect up to 15 faces and uses them to set autofocus and exposure.
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The DX dynamo, the Nikon D300

Phil Ryan, CNET.com | Aug 23, 2007

Just in case the announcement of the pro-level D3 isn't enough for you, Nikon has also announced a big brother for its D200 called the D300. The D300 will sport a 12.3-megapixel DX format (24 x 16mm) CMOS sensor, 3-inch 920,000-pixel LCD, and sensitivity of ISO 200 to ISO 3,200 with a Hi-1 mode that extends that to an equivalent to ISO 6,400 and a Lo-1 mode that extends down to ISO 100. Many of the D300's features are the same as the ones found in the D3.

For example the D300 has the same pair of Live View modes for framing with the LCD instead of the optical viewfinder, Nikon's new Expeed image processor, the same 51-point AF system that works with the cameras 1,005-pixel metering system for Scene Recognition and AF tracking, a Virtual Horizon indicator, and selectable 12- or 14-bit output.
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The full-frame Nikon D3 announced

Phil Ryan, CNET.com | Aug 23, 2007

The rumors have been fierce, and some of them have been true, and now Nikon has made it official. Its new weather-sealed top-of-the-line dSLR, the 12.2-megapixel D3 will have a full-frame CMOS image sensor, which Nikon has dubbed the FX format. Well... ok, it's almost a full-frame sensor. It measures 36 x 23.9mm; just 0.1mm vertically shy (does that make it vertically challenged?) of the technical full-frame spec, but we'll let that slide.

We know that any Nikon owner with DX lenses must be reeling right about now, so it pays to mention that the D3 will include a special DX mode that crops the sensor down to DX size, results in 5.1-megapixels images, and can be set to engage automatically whenever you put a DX lens on the camera. Plus, as you might expect from the high-speed crop days of the D2Xs, the DX crop mode allows a slightly faster burst rate, which is said to let the D3 edge past the current dSLR speed king, Canon's 10fps EOS 1D Mark III.
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Samsung introduces a rush of 8MP cameras

Phil Ryan, CNET.com | Jul 13, 2007

Hours after it unleashed three new models on Europe, the L830, L83T and L730, Samsung has officially announced three new 8 megapixel still cameras for the US market--the L83T, L830, and the S85. All three will include Samsung's new Successive Recording mode, which lets you pause and then resume while recording video. Most still cameras only let you start and stop while recording video, so you end up with many short clips if you want to stop the action for a short period of time.

Editors' note:

Samsung Asia has confirmed that all four cameras will be entering the Asia market by end August. However, stocks may vary in each country.

The ultracompact L83T sports a 3x optical, 38mm-to-114mm (equivalent) zoom lens, 2.5-inch LCD, face detection, 14 scene modes, MPEG-4 video capture at up to 800 x 592 pixel resolution. The camera boasts sensitivity up to ISO 1,600 and includes what the company calls a Wise Shot mode which captures consecutive shots, one with flash and one with Samsung's Advanced Shake Reduction system (which boosts the ISO to combat shake) and then asks the user which one to keep. It also has a macro mode that focus down to 1cm away from a subject and has a maximum shutter speed of 1/2,000sec, which can come in handy when shooting so close.

The L830 also includes a 3x optical zoom lens and 2.5-inch LCD but tops out at a shutter speed of 1/1,500sec. It has nine scene modes and can also capture MPEG-4 video at up to 800 x 592 pixels. The S85 tops out at 640 x 480 video, but pairs a 5x optical, 38mm-to-190mm (equivalent) zoom lens with its 2.5-inch LCD. It also includes the Wise Shot, 1/2,000sec shutter speed, 14 scene modes, and face detection found in the L83T. Compare all four here

See more of the latest cameras for this fall

More images of new Samsung cameras:

Via CNET Crave