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Fuji Announces Availability and Pricing for Finepix X-S1

Fuji today, in addition to 19 new products, announced the pricing and availability for its X-S1, the third member of their increasingly popular X series (X10 and X100, anyone?).

The X-S1 is a sort of superzoom, except the built-in lens uses a knurled zoom ring for manual zoom, a la DSLRs. This type of camera used to be more common, notably in Olympus’ old Camedia UZ series cameras. The X100 used a fixed lens and APS-C sensor, the X10 switch to a 2/3″ sensor and moved up to 4x zoom. The X-S1 is the superzoom pal to the X10 in that regard, it also uses the 2/3″ sensor, but pushes the zoom factor up to 26x with a 24-624mm f2.8-5.6 lens.

You look at things through a high-rez EVF with 1.4 million dots, or on the 3″ tilting LCD with 460,000 dots. To help justify its high price tag, the shutter lag is reported to be a mere 0.01 seconds, and you’ll get image stabilization, PASM, raw, and SD, SDHC, and SDXC support too.

The X-S1 will be available around this month-ish, and cost right around $800 to add to your own kit.



Fuji Refreshes Entire Line-Up In One Day

Fuji today announced approximately a bizillion (or 19) new additions to its point-and-shoot line-up, making a strong show of its presence in that end of the market. Among the announced cameras, there are 3 rugged waterproof models, 2 refreshes for it’s deck-of-card style super-elegant Z series, two entry level JX cameras with plastic bodies, 2 JZ models with metal ones, 2 entry-level superzooms, two mid-grade superzooms, a super-zoom with a CMOS sensor and RAW capability, a compact travel zoom model, and three entries in its high-end F series compacts. Five of those models feature the company’s advanced EXR sensor technology (the F770EXR, F750EXR, F660EXR, HS30EXR, and Z1000 EXR models.)

That’s a lot of announcements, so, let me just talk about a couple highlights from the crop:

First up, the top of the compact line, the Finepix F770EXR. This is the top model in a line-up of three closely related siblings, and it features a 16 megapixel 1/2″ EXR sensor, 25-500mm 20x optical zoom lens, 3″ 460,000 dot LCD, built-in GPS, and raw. Also on board is sensor-shift image stabilization and 1080 HD video.

It’s got a metal body in black and red, and will run somewhere around $380.

Up next we have the HS30EXR, the top model in Fuji’s new superzoom line-up. This particular series of superzooms stick to the older “bridge” camera aesthetic that more closely resembles a DSLR than the expectations of a point and shoot. As suggested by the category name, the HS30EXR has a massive zoom, a 24-720mm equivalent 30x monster strapped to a 16 megapixel 1/2″ EXR sensor (just like the F770EXR). The HS30EXR has a .26″ electronic viewfinder with 920,000 dots of resolution, a 3″ LCD with 460,000 dots resolution, and it can record raw. It’s got a smaller brother that’s similarly spec’ed but lowers the viewfinder quality and uses AAs. Both bodies record 1080 HD at 30fps and have sensor-shift image stabilization.

The HS30EXR will run right around $500 when it hits the market.

Next up is the Z1000EXR, which is the update to a line I’ve always been a bit fond of, if for no other reason than their style. While the looks are no longer as unique and striking as they were back in the first and second generations, the Z series remains a well-spec’ed line of  deck-of-cards style compacts.

If you hadn’t guessed form the name, that 16 megapixel EXR sensor is found here, too, this time married to a 5x optical zoom. There’s a 3.5″ touchscreen LCD running the show around back, and it’s got some wifi capabilities that can share photos to any Android or iOS phone or tablet running their free transfer software.

No word on price here yet, but there’ll be four colors: pink, green, white, and tan.

Last up on the highlight-o-rama is Finepix FP150, top of the waterproof, rugged trio. The XP150 is dustproof, waterproof to 16.5′, shockproof to 5′, and freeze proof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. all that protects a 14 megapixel CMOS sensor and a 28-140mm 5x optical zoom with dual image-shift stabilization. There’s a redesigned double lock door protecting your card and batteries (and, presumably, all the other guts too). The XP150 ups all that by adding GPS and an electronic compass into the mess, and you’ll be able to pick it up for around $280 in black or “holy crap where did I lose that?” orange.



Canon Also Announces PowerShot SX40 HS

In addition to that S100, Canon announced an update to the SX30 IS today as well, coming in the form of the SX40 HS (HS indicating that in addition to the IS, it now has the low-light optimized CMOS sensor and imaging system inside). This model is the last remnant of their stoop-shouldered bridge camera line, which was once much more popular when the price gap between point-and-shoots and DSLRs was much greater than it now is.

No longer needing to so clearly mimic DSLRs in shape, these ultra-zoom bodies still sort that pseudo-DSLR shape but have gotten much, much tinier in recent years. At the same time, their zoom range has gotten much, much larger, and the SX40 HS packs, by modern standards, a paltry 35x zoom covering a mere 24-840mm equivalent range. Mere.

So, what’s new? Let’s see!

Feature SX30 IS SX40 HS
 Sensor  1/2.3? CCD  1/2.3? CMOS
 Megapixels  14.1  12.1
 ISO  80-1600  100-3200
 Display  2.7″ LCD  2.7″ LCD
 Zoom  35x  35x
 Focal Range (equiv)  24-840mm  24-840mm
Aperture  f2.7 – 5.8  f2.7 – 5.8
 Technology  IS  HS, IS
 Colors  Black  Black

Looks like the addition of the HS system is really the only thing to see here. Which megapixel count was better will depend on your needs, for day-light shooting, the extra 2 megapixels were nice. For low-light, the new 12 count will yield larger and less noisy pixels. It’s marked as it is in the table on a pure number basis, since there’s no hard and fast way to say whether resolution or sensitivity are better, and each person will need them differently.

Press release and additional image after the jump.

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Canon Announces PowerShot S100 High-End Compact

Another day, another camera announcement. This one’s a good one, though: the successor to Canon’s popular S95 compact. For those catching up, the high end S90/95/100 series compacts were introduced to provide an alternative to the G series pro cameras for people who need enhanced imaging quality but not necessarily the bulk and dials of the G series. The result is the very slim, unassuming looking camera you see, with a clever control ring around the lens and an f2 maximum aperture.

New this year is a DIGIC V processor bound to a new CMOS sensor (making it built on their new HS platform despite the lack of indication of this in the name). The lens is up from 3.3x zoom to 5x, but keeps that characteristic f2 maximum aperture. It’ll also be available in silver as well as black now The comparison table looks like this:

 

Feature S95 S100
 Sensor  1/1.7″ CCD  1/1.7″ CMOS
 Megapixels  10.4  12.1
 ISO  80-3200  80-6400
 Display  3″ LCD  3″ LCD
 Zoom  3.3x  5x
 Focal Range (equiv)  28-105mm  24-120mm
Aperture  f2.0 – 4.9  f2.0 – 5.9
 GPS  No  Yes
 Colors  Black  Black, Silver

We’re working on a preorder page for this right now, and it’ll be on our site within the next hour or so. Expected retail price, per the press release, will be $429.99. Speak of a press release, hit the jump for that and to see this baby in silver.

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Six new Coolpix cameras announced today! Hot Dog! Part 3-in-1

Before we get to the P7100, let’s rub a peeper over the S6200, S8200, and S100.

The S100 is a touch-screen compact packing a 16MP CMOS sensor, lens specs that look similar to the AW100 (28-140 equiv, f/3.9-4.8), optical image stabilization, and MPO format 3d images. That touch-control screen is a 3.5″ 820,000 dot OLED. Shiny.

The S6200 is a compact sporting a 10x optical zoom (25-250 equivalent, f/3.2-5.8) in a 1″ x 2.3″ x 3.7″ frame. The LCD screen is 2.7″ diagonal and holds 230,000 dots.

The S8200 is a compact SuperZoom -and by Super I mean 14x Optical Zoom (because digital zooming is still kinda baloney) – which makes for a 25-350mm f/3.3-5.9  equivalent lens.  Shooting modes like HDR, Easy Panorama, and 1080p HD video all make an appearance.  Pictures after the break.

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Six new Coolpix cameras announced today! Hot Dog! Part 2

And now we’ll take a look at their newest Coolpix with an integrated projector. Those of you with dull lives and long memories may remember the first Nikon with projector and the video Derek and I generated for it .

Ah, the sweetness of things past.

The S1200pj has a lot more going for it than the initial offering. For one it’ll take video input from an assortment of Apple iProducts – the iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch®, iPod nano®, and iPod® photo. Pretty much any flat surface can become a 5′ diagonal display for your comicbook reader or any video not streaming via Flash.

Pictures after the break.

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Canon Announces New PowerShot External Flash. Everyone Ignores It In Favor of Camera Announcements.

Canon announced some stuff today, and most blogs have so far focused on the incremental upgrades to the Canon line in the forms of the ELPH 310, ELPH 510, and SX150. WHat isn’t getting mentioned quite as much is the quiet little note that Canon has curiously decided to bring back the HF-DC external flash unit for their PowerShot cameras, the number at the end incrementing up to a final model number of HF-DC2. Some poking on the internet suggests that the first of these was announced way back in 2005, people.

The Predecessor, the HF-DC1

The Predecessor, the HF-DC1

The basic idea is it’s a small zoom flash that sits either on a bracket next to your camera, or in your hand, or on a tripod, and extends your flash coverage for your point-and-shoot to about 30 feet. The new 2 revision also adds support for focal lengths down to 28mm with an attachment.

OK, now, those cameras. Not a lot to say, other than some help for you to understand Canon’s confusing avant-garde “creativity enabled” upgrade scheme.

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Olympus SP-810UZ Joins Superzoom Party, Brings Lots of Zoom

Olympus, who for ages and ages owned the super and later the “ultra” zoom market, have announced a new entry to that legacy in the form of the SP-810UZ. If you didn’t guess, the main attraction here is the lens, which in this case has 36x of zoom ranging from 24-864mm f3.3-5.7 in equivalent 35mm terms. 864mm f.57 is going to be prone to blurring while wielded by your shaky, not-propped-against-my-face-as-I-chimp-this-LCD hands. So lucky for you Olympus has included Dual Image Stabilization which combines real shift-based IS with the marketing lie of auto-ISO to keep your images blur-free, if not noise free.

The rest of the specs look a bit less exciting next to the lens, but, it’s backed up by a 3″ LCD, 14 megapixels, 720p video, Eye-Fi compatibility, and Olympus’ trademark Beauty Mode and Magic Filters (which actually aren’t nearly so bad as that name would make you think,someone spent a lot of time on these filters.)

Price will be $329.99 or thereabouts… sometime.



Sony Announces TX55 Touchscreen Compact

Sony today has announced a new addition to its high-end stylish compact line, the TX series. The new guy is called the TX55 (Cybershot DSC-TX55 if you’re being all formal). The basic specs are a 16.2 megapixel Exmor R Backlit CMOS sensor (if you’re unsure why backlit technology is important, check out Camera Technica’s excellent explanation of it), a 5x optical zoom (26-130mm equiv, f3.5-4.8), and a 3.3″ OLED touchscreen. This is solidly a casual snapshooter, and Smart Auto is going to mostly run the show for you, switching between scene modes as it sees fit and defaulting to auto when it can’t decide. It records Full HD and has Sony’s pretty competent Sweep Panorama, and can also take 3D still images using the first one to gauge depths and what not and then shooting a couple more in quick succession to make this possible.

Also, it features some new ‘Clear Image Zoom’ feature that uses ‘By Pixel Super Resolution’ processing to give you 2x digital zoom while claiming to not lose any megapixels or performance. We’re curious to see how that works, as it will represent a major break in our understanding of how digital zoom works if it’s as claimed.

The slim, metal shooter will be thinner than a AA and will come out at an expected MSRP of around $350 next month(ish).




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