Digital Camera and Photography: Tips, Information and News | Neocamera Blog

Canon just launched their second DSLR that can record video. This time, the new Canon EOS Rebel T1i is a part of the entry-level Rebel range, making HD movie-recording much more affordable. Compared to the $3000 USD full-frame Canon EOS 5D Mark II, the Rebel T1i has an introductory price around $800 and still records HD movies at 1080p resolution, although a little slower at 20 FPS vs the 5D’s 30 FPS.

The Canon Rebel T1i can also record 15 megapixels still images with a base ISO range of 100 to 3200, expandable up to ISO 12800, and shoot continuously at 3.4 FPS. This DSLR retains the capabilities of the excellent 12 megapixels Canon Rebel XSi. Given the performance of its mid-range sibling, the Canon EOS 50D, the T1i is expected to produce high-quality images. Even though this new model is part of the lower-cost range, it sits above the minimalist Canon Rebel XS. This shows in its quite complete feature set: 9-point autofocus, 4 metering modes including spot, WB fine-tuning, WB bracketing, 2 second self-timer with mirror-lockup, 920K pixels 3″ LCD and exposure-correct live-view.

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It’s over already and it certainly appears to have been slower than during past years. While being on vacations during the conference itself, it turns out that most concrete announcements have been made in the preceding two months. A large number of small cameras, mostly minor upgrades to previous models have appeared, as well as quite a few ultra-zooms.

Kodak and Pentax have 24X optical zoom 12 megapixels cameras with 720p HD video recording and full-manual controls. Sony launched its 20X CMOS-bases ultra-zoom. Nikon has a mid-size ultra-zoom with a 15X optical-zoom lens in the form of the Coolpix L100. The compact ultra-zoom category, pioneered by the Panasonc TZ1 some years ago, is growing faster than ever and is bound to produce highly-sought-after cameras. This year’s new additions include: the 12 megapixels wide-angle 12X optical-zoom 720p HD capable with full manual-controls Canon Powershot SX200 IS, the 10 megapixels 10X optical zoom with full manual-controls Kodak Easyshare Z915, the 10 megapixels ultra-wide 12X optical zoom Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 and its 720p HD capable near-twin, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3.

Underwater and tough digital cameras are increasing with Canon having joined the club last month with their Powershot D10 and now Panasonic and Fuji with their TS1 and Z33 WP, respectfully. Both the Canon and Panasonic offering are both tough cameras with resistance to drops and freezing temperatures.

The realm of mirror-less interchangeable lens cameras is increasing concretely with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1, an HD-video capable version of their G1. Olympus and Samsung both declared their support for the idea by showing concept models to be launched between this and next year. This, of course, is to be continued…

Several lenses, the ultimate interchangeable lens camera accessory, have been announced during the PMA week. Micro Four Third cameras are getting a 7-14mm F4 and a rather dark but HD-friendly 14-140mm F4-5.8. Pentax expanded their Limited series with the DA 15mm F4 lens which sadly does not add any range to their relatively limited lens line-up, since the excellent DA 12-24mm F4 already covers the same focal lens and aperture. Still no word on when the DA* 60-250mm F4 will finally make its appearance, nor on my dream Pentax DA* 8-16mm F2.8 lens. Sigma introduced several reworked lenses. Of particular interest to wide-angle fans is the 10-20mm F3.5 which hopefully will be much better than the horrible F4-5.6 version it replaced. For the curious, the 10-20mm suffers from extreme vignetting, over 1 full-stop at the corners throughout its entire zoom range. Nikon launched their first DX prime, the Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm F1.8 G, in the February. Finally, Sony announced that they will announce 6 new lenses later this year, including 2 cropped-sensor prime lenses, a 50mm F1.8 and 30mm F2.8, and a full-frame 28-75mm F2.8 which I probably already own but with the Konica-Minolta branding.

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Sony has just announced the Cybershot HX1
, an ultra-zoom fixed-lens digital camera with a 9 megapixels CMOS sensor and a stabilized 20X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 28-560mm. The special thing about CMOS sensors is that they are capable of much higher read-out speeds than CCD sensors which are used in most fixed-lens digital cameras. In the case of the HX1, it can shoot continuously at 10 FPS at its highest resolution. This also has an advantage for recording video, which the HX1 can record at 1440×1080 @ 30 FPS. This is not a true HD resolution but represents a 4:3 aspect ratio video with 1080 lines of vertical definition.

Not being content with simply making a faster version of previous ultra-zooms, Sony added some innovative features which take advantage of the Cybershot HX1’s high-speed CMOS sensor. One such feature is an image combine feature to improve low-light photography by taking bursts of 6 images and combining them into one. Another cool feature for low-resolution panoramas produces one while the photographer moves the camera in a sweeping motion. In theory, the advantage here is that the camera does not need to match features between separate shots but instead accumulate rows or columns of pixels while the camera is in motion.

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