Hands on Last week, Sony announced to the world that it had produced the smallest APS-C interchangeable lens Camera, the NEX-C3. The timing suggests the company might have got wind of something, as a couple of days earlier Panasonic had been busy showing off its latest micro four thirds (MFT) models in an exclusive press preview in Rome.
Big idea: Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-GF3
Here, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 made its debut, which has been hush-hush until now. This diminutive 12.1Mp model has fewer physical controls and lacks the viewfinder of the 16.1Mp Lumix DMC-G3 announced last month. With the catch-all phrase, ‘compact system Camera’ (CSC) now describing these lens swapping, mirrorless marvels – from the likes of Samsung, Sony and Olympus – Panasonic now lays claim to having the world’s smallest of this particular breed, albeit sporting the smaller MFT sensor to match. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Nikon’s endeavour to rein in Canon’s success in the compacts market has seen the Coolpix P7000 released as a direct competitor to the Canon PowerShot G12. By introducing the P300, Nikon’s first pocket-sized advanced compact, the company seems keen to cast a shadow over the Canon PowerShot S95.
Small wonder: Nikon’s Coolpix P300
Aimed at serious enthusiasts, the Nikon P300 showcases attractive features with its 12.2Mp, back-illuminated CMOS image sensor married to Nikon’s Expeed C2 image processor. This combination delivers a sensitivity up to ISO 3200, along with an impressive 8fps continuous shooting at full resolution, plus 1080p HD video recording.
The jewel in the crown is the fast f/1.8-f/4.9, 24-100mm (35mm equivalent), high refractive index zoom lens with optical stabilisation. It offers decent wide-angle shooting and useful, rather than spectacular, telephoto magnification. At at 920k dots, the 3in LCD screen – albeit the same size screen as the Canon PowerShot S95 – has almost twice the resolution, delivering very good viewing angles from this crisp, bright display. Read the rest of this entry »
Review While Panasonic further extends the range of its Micro Four Thirds cameras with the recently announced Lumix DMC-G3, this new arrival with its bulging bridge form factor won’t be for everyone. Keeping up with Olympus with its PEN models, the Lumix DMC-GF1 was Panasonic’s first compact MFT alternative and with the DMC-GF2, the company has gone to town on both size and ease of use. It even accommodates a 3D capture that gets tested in this review along with the 14mm pancake wide angle lens.
Touch and go: Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-GF2
The Camera is almost 20 per cent smaller and 20g lighter than its predecessor due mainly to the introduction of a new touchscreen interface that replaces almost all external physical controls with virtual ones that can be activated on screen. Some key features, including the 12.1Mp sensor with a 4:3 aspect ratio, are unchanged from the previous model but there are also a number of significant upgrades. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Let’s cut to the chase: JVC’s £1,600 GS-TD1 is the most sophisticated 3D camcorder you can buy. While Panasonic may have pioneered DIY 3D moviemaking with its bolt-on 3D accessory lens, this is the first stereoscopic shooter aimed squarely at the pro-sumer. It’s been unabashedly built for 3D from the ground up.
Visual feast: JVC’s Everio GS-TD1 3D camcorder
The GS-TD1 uses a pair of f1.2 lenses, each linked to a 3.32MP 1CMOS sensor. A proprietary imaging system, called Falconbrid, then processes the paired streams to produce 3D video. You have a choice of shooting your footage in a Side-by-Side AVCHD format, or in 1920 x 1080/50i Full HD MP4 MVC, a relation of the MultiView codec used by 3D Blu-ray. Read the rest of this entry »
Review The Fuji FinePix X100 is, of course, a Camera for those with more money than sense. Just look at it. Finished in wildly ostentatious silver magnesium alloy with splashes of leather on the grip, the retro viewfinder styling and chunky shutter speed dial evoke the rangefinders of the 1960s and 1970s.
Grand design: Fujifilm’s Finepix X100
Even the shutter release button has a screw-thread drilled into it to allow you to attach an old-style cable release. In these days of interchangeable lens, electronic viewfinder cameras, what possible appeal can a fixed-lens Camera like this hold? Read the rest of this entry »
