Tech Confused Dad

Not to be outdone, Nikon has just announced its own ultra-zoom digital camera - the Coolpix P100. This 10-megapixel model boasts a 26x optical zoom lens (26mm-678mm) lens and a 3-inch LCD. Like Fujifilm's HS10, Nikon's P100 boasts impressive Full HD video recording at 1920 x 1080 as well as the ability to shoot still images at bursts up to 10fps. There's a slow motion mode as well, which snaps 1.1-megapixel photos at 100fps. Among its other in-camera goodies, you can merge multiple exposures into a single shoot to improve the dynamic range.  Look for it in March for $399.

They say size doesn't matter. But they lie. At least when it comes to optical zoom lenses, the longer the better. And now both Fujifilm and Olympus have announced digicams with huge 30x optical zooms. It's decadent, really.

Olympus' monster optical package comes courtesy of the SP-800UZ. You'll find a 28mm-840mm zoom, 3-inch LCD, AF tracking, art filters, face detection and 720p HD video recording. It will set you back $349.

Fujifilm's HS10 also brings the HD recording but at a higher 1920 x 1080p resolution. This 10-megapixel camera has a 3-inch tilting LCD, a new CMOS sensor for improved low light performance and a 10fps shooting mode. On paper at least, it looks like d-SLR style specs without the interchangeable lenses. It's not cheap either, at $499.

It's true what they say, you learn something new every day. For instance, today I learned that Philips (the European electronics maker) isselling a digital camera. It's true. Kinda stylish, but the specs are pretty meager: a 5-megapixel sensor, 2-inch LCD, only an 8x digital zoom. There's no price given on the Philips site, but by the looks of it, I'd say "cheap."  Still, the more the merrier I say.

Pentax has unveiled three new Optio point-and-shoot digital cameras. The headliner is the Optio I-10 ($299), which borrows its style from SLR film cameras. You're looking at a 12-megapixel sensor, 5x optical zoom, HD video recording (720p) and a 2.7-inch LCD. Then there's the H90 with the same core specs but different styling and a slightly lower cost of $179. The E90, for just $99, with a 10-megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom and a 2.7-inch LCD.

Full release below:

PENTAX Imaging Company announced three new digital cameras with designs so unique that not one can be labeled as “just another silver digital camera.” 

       Most unique is the slim and stylish PENTAX Optio I-10 with a design inspired by the classic look of  film SLR cameras.  This head-turning first model in the new Optio I line features a flash unit and speaker in the upper mid-section of the SLR-shaped body while the camera’s front panel is embellished with high quality leatherette texture and the classic PENTAX logo placed front and center. The Optio I-10 features a wide angle, 5X optical zoom lens (28mm-140mm equivalent), a 12.1 megapixel  high resolution CCD sensor, a 2.7 inch widescreen LCD, and HD video capture at 720p and 30 FPS.  For optimal image capture, the camera features a mechanical sensor shift Shake Reduction system and improved Pixel Track Shake Reduction technology for blur-free images as well as Smile Capture, Blink Detection and improved Face Detection that spots up to 32 faces including dogs and cats.  The Optio I-10 is remote control compatible (sold separately) and will ship in February 2010 in a choice of Classic Black and Pearl White for $299.95 USD. 

PENTAX also announced the Optio H90 digital camera with a clean, contemporary design that is as in style in a museum of modern art as at a concert or sporting event.  Developed with the concept of “functional beauty” in mind, the fashionable and affordable Optio H90 offers a full assortment of features to capture a variety of subjects and scenes.  This first model in the new Optio H line features a wide angle 5X optical zoom lens (28mm-140mm equivalent), a 12.1 megapixel high resolution CCD sensor,  and widescreen HD video capture at 720p and 30 FPS.  Improved Pixel Track Shake Reduction technology captures blur-free images and the Face Detection, Smile Capture, and Blink Detection functions help users create better portraits.  The Optio H90 will ship in February 2010 in a choice of Orange-Silver, Matte Black and Ceramic White for $179.95.

Both the PENTAX Optio I-10 and Optio H90 offer Eye-Fi connectivity capability for use with Eye-Fi wireless memory cards.
                The latest model in the easy-to-operate, affordable Optio E series is the PENTAX Optio E90.  Priced at just $99.95 USD, the Optio E90 features a 10 megapixel CCD, a 3X wide angle zoom (32mm-96mm equivalent) and a large 2.7 inch LCD housed in a luxurious rubber coated body for a sure grip.   The Optio E90’s features a travel-friendly design with AA battery compatibility.  Auto Picture mode selects the best shooting settings for the scene, and a high 1600 ISO that freezes subject movement in Digital SR (Shake Reduction) mode.  The Optio E90 features an intelligent ergonomic design with a sure grip and an easy menu that makes the E series a popular choice.  Available in Black and Wine Red, the Optio E90 will ship in February 2010. 

Adobe has announced an updated app for iPhone: Photoshop Mobile 1.1.  It's a free app and the update adds video playback if you host your videos on the company's Photoshop.com site.  On the editing side there's a new sharpen tool which lets you increase or decrease sharpness by dragging your finger across a photo. You'll also get eight new borders to frame your photos.

Face detection - the ability of cameras to locate and focus on faces in a frame - is a pretty widespread feature in cameras these days. Now, Adam Rose at Time reports that some people are complaining that it's - wait for it - racist. That's because certain products with face detection capabilities have reportedly had trouble identifying non-white faces.

Now as Rose makes clear there doesn't appear to be any deliberate racism at work. It's more of a case that the algorithms that enable face detection have an easier time with white faces than they do with everyone else (which is odd, given the large number of Asian manufacturers in the camera business...). Still, it seems that work is underway to further refine the technology so that everyone's smile can be captured irrespective of ethnicity.

Lens-maker Tamron has launched a new website to help photographers of varying skill levels share their snapshots and get feedback on how to take better shots. The site - www.ShareItWithTamron.com - is live now. Check it out.

It's well known in photography circles that megapixels don't really matter. At least, they don't matter nearly as much as many manufacturers say they do (as they race to add more and more pixels to their image sensors). David Pogue at the New York Times has beaten this drum and now a new blog Petavoxel takes up the banner.

The long and short of it is that when it comes to megapixels, more isn't necessarily better. In fact, in small point-and-shoot cameras, more megapixels is actually worse. Petavoxel explains:

Most point-and-shoots are based on extremely tiny sensor chips—smaller than your pinky nail, typically. Jamming in more pixels can only be done by making each pixel smaller—thus intercepting less light for a given exposure setting. You can crank up the volume on the fainter signal, but the result is ugly speckles across the image.

Many of last year’s cameras already topped 40 megapixels per square cm; these new ones may hit 50. So we can expect atrocious noise at anything higher than base ISO; or else weird smudgy artifacts from the camera’s desperate noise-reduction processing.

One of the reasons digital SLRs take such great images is that they have large image sensors, allowing the pixels to be larger and thus capture more light. It's probably too much to ask for camera makers to dial back the megapixel war, but you the consumer don't need to fall for it. The amount of pixels on the sensor of the camera is almost literally the least important specification you could concern yourself with.

 

Samsung isn't the first company to offer built-in GPS into an imaging device (Sony has it in their camcorders) but it's nice to see the technology proliferate. The new, 12-megapixel HZ35W is going to use GPS to geo-tag images (i.e. to embed location data into the image file, which you can use to view pics on applications like Google Earth). It will also display in real time your location on the camera's 3-inch AMOLED screen. I've tried similar functionality on the Sony XR520V camcorder and these current location maps aren't super-detailed (although Samsung's could be). It wasn't street level, but more like town level.

 

Additional features include  a 15x optical zoom lens (24mm wide angle, no less), shutter and aperture priority, optical image stabilization and 720p video recording. It's going to be joined by a similar product - the HZ30W, that has the same 12-megapixel sensor and 15x zoom, but it uses a 3-inch LCD display (not the better AMOLED technology) and it loses the GPS.  Both are pretty well spec'd, but pricing wasn't announced. Look for them in March.

There were no shortage of cool camcorders at CES, but CrunchGear has some behind-the-scenes footage of something that wasn't made public: a camcorder with a built-in video projector that projects what it films. We've already seenNikon do some cool stuff with a projector and the possibilites here seem endless.