Casio ups the Exilim ante to 10.1 megapixel 
Ever pushing the envelope, Casio extended the range of its stylish line of Exilim cameras with the 10.1 megapixel EX-Z1000 that also has a unique wide-format and high-res 2.8-inch CCD. Despite the massive resolution, the EX-Z1000 retains the trademark Exilim compact dimensions, slender profile, and ease of use while offering plenty of features. There's also plenty of technology, such as a terrific antishake feature. -- Posted Wednesday, April 26, 2006 by chb
Passing of an era
Australian IT reported on the shocking casualties of the rapid move from film to digital. Minolta, Nikon, and Fuji, for example, have been photography pioneers and leaders for many decades, yet they are now abandoning the film camera business, yielding to electronically more savvy companies such as Sony, Samsung or Panasonic. German's Agfa, too, was a huge name in photography. Now the company is bankrupt. Kodak remains among the world's top digicam makers, but its outlook is anything but bright. And some of the big digicam names -- such as Olympus, Nikon, and Kodak -- are outsourcing their digicams to Taiwanese and Chinese makers. One shining examples of a company that was both a film pioneer and leader, and is now the digital leader is Canon, thanks o its massive investment in new technology. -- Posted Tuesday, April 18, 2006 by chb
Yet more digital camera sales forecasts
U.S.-based market research and consulting firm InfoTrends reports that over three quarters of all camera sales are now digital, with the number of digital camera sales projected at almost 89 million in 2006, up 15% from 2005. And that is not only in the consumer space. 70% of all professionally taken pictures are digital also, and by 2010 nine out of ten professional pictures will be digital. No one can blame professional photographers to be Luddites, that's for sure. -- Posted Friday, April 14, 2006 by chb
Sony releases another sleek, sexy T Series camera 
Sony announced yet another addition to its ultra-slender T series of cameras. What makes those Sonys even more remarkable is that despite their impossible thinness, they have internal zoom mechanism. The new T30 is clearly based on the existing T9, but it comes in black as well as silver, and you'll have to fork over nearly $500 for one. It is a 7.2 megapixel affair with a huge 3-inch high-res LCD. Battery life has also beefed up; we're talking a massive 420 shots. ISO 800 and 1000 allow shooting in dimly lit areas. The one thing we're not crazy about is the big, silly slider upfront that mars the otherwise nearly perfect design. -- Posted Thursday, April 6, 2006 by chb
Leica releases world's smallest 28mm lens camera 
Leica remains an imposing name that resonates with photography aficionados, and so the 6-megapixel Leica C-Lux 1 with its nice 3.6X optical zoom will likely be well received. It's a tiny thing, measuring just 3.7 x 2 x 0.95 inches and weighing next to nothing. Yet, it has a large 2.5-inch LCD. The C-Lux 1 also comes with all the tricks and features you'd expect from a modern digital camera. The only problem is that it's really just a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01. That one doesn't come in fancy black, but costs a bunch less. -- Posted Monday, April 3, 2006 by chb