Pentax Optio SVi

Pentax Optio SViA friend of mine swears by Pentax, eventhough Nikon dragged him into the Digital SLR world. When I saw the release of the Pentax Optio SVi, I had to write about it for him, as I am sure he will be excited.

This small, five megapixel number packs a feature you do not expect from many cameras its size, a 5x optical zoom. For all of you that turn off the digital zoom right when you turn on the camera, Pentax listened and gave you a compact digital camera that has 2x more optical zoom than most midrange cameras in the market.

The Optio SVi offers the ample range of Program, Picture, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, USER and M (manual selection of Aperture-priority AE and Shutter-priority AE settings) shooting modes, all of which can be selected with just a turn of the mode dial.

Unfortunately, like every camera there are flaws, and the Pentax Optio SVi is no exception, the flash is underpowered and thus leaves a lot to be desired in low light situations, and the autofocus is terribly slow which makes the user have to go through a pretty steep learning curve to shoot certain shots.

The Pentax Optio SVi is currently running for around $360 USD.

August 31st, 2005 Posted by David in Pentax at 4:26 pm 1 Comment »

Olympus SP-350

Olympus SP-350Seems like only yesterday that one megapixel digital cameras were a big deal, and now you can find better than that in PDA’s and cell phones, and now Olympus is releasing the SP-350, an 8 megapixel digital camera with an amazing battery life, and a well rounded set of features.

Paired up with some average features like a 3x optical zoom, there is a hot-shoe connector, 2.5″ LCD, and a very long battery life of up to 510 shots using the included CR-V3 battery pack. The SP-350 can use 2x AA batteries, though the shooting life of the camera will be dimished.

The camera plays on the need of experiences photographers need to have manual controls and has automatic shooting modes as well as full manual control. All results can be recorded in both JPEG and RAW formats.

The SP-350 uses xD memory to record the pictures and has 32mb of internal memory for that extra little helping hand. The SP-350 will be available in October and be priced at $399.99 USD.

August 31st, 2005 Posted by David in Olympus at 1:44 pm Comment Now! »

Nikon D50 Digital SLR

Nikon D50 DSLRA new Nikon is in town and it is a 6 megapixel Digital SLR. Making entry into the Digital SLR world as easy as possible Nikon uses their great experiences to create a strong performing camera with a slim yet strong body. With seven easy to use modes for shooting, the camera screams simplicity without be so simple as to turn away professionals.

Improved image-processing algorithms over the D70 give the newer and cheaper Nikon SLR better noise characteristics and offer a better treatment of highlights.

The Nikon D50 uses Secure Digital Memory, unlike the Compact flash cards that the D70 uses, which means having to buy another type of memory if you already have the D70, and are wanting to use the D50 for a family shared Digital Camera.

One of the negatives about this camera is that its simplified controls are sometimes clumsy to use and the viewfinder is a little smaller than most, but at a sub-$900 price, those small compensations are worth it for most photographers looking to enter the Digital SLR realm.

August 30th, 2005 Posted by David in Nikon at 12:50 pm 1 Comment »

Olympus SP-500 Ultra-Zoom

Olympus SP-500uzA new six megapixel camera has been launched by Olympus. The Olympus SP-500 Ultra-Zoom (SP-500uz) with its 10x optical zoom, its full manual control, RAW capture, electronic viewfinder and a 2.5 inch LCD it sits itself between the average consumer and the prosumer in features. With its 10x optical zoom it covers a 38-380mm focal range which is a 35mm camera equivalent.

One of the features that set this camera apart is its ability to predict the location of a moving subject as the shutter closes. The predictive auto-focus function was also found on the C-7070 WZ. For extreme close-ups photographers can shoot in Super Macro mode from as little as 3cm away.

The SP-500 Ultra-Zoom will be available from October priced $399.99 USD.

August 30th, 2005 Posted by David in Olympus at 8:59 am Comment Now! »

 |