Compact Camera News

Due to its wonderfully quirky nature, photographers love experimenting with Lomo film-based toy cameras. Unlike the images produced by its more high tech digital and film cousins, a quirky Lomo produces shots with a certain style and character.

Canon announced today it is commemorating the 80th anniversary of its very first camera: the Kwanon. Initially produced in prototype form in 1934, the Kwanon was Japan’s first 35mm focal-plane-shutter camera.

FUJIFILM just introduced their new X30 premium compact, fixed lens camera. Designed with enthusiast and professional photographers in mind, the X30 offers a wide variety of new features and the award-winning image quality that the FUJIFILM X series is best known for. The stylish body is crafted from durable, lightweight die cast magnesium alloy with a tilting 3” premium clear LCD monitor (920K-dot), an EXR Processor II (for high speed and low noise) and a 12MP 2/3” X-Trans CMOS II sensor. The X30 offers increased battery performance, a Real Time Viewfinder (with a magnification of 0.65x) and a display lag time of 0.005seconds.

Canon took the wraps off two new compact, superzoom cameras this morning: the PowerShot SX520 HS and the PowerShot SX400 IS digital cameras. The new PowerShot SX520 HS features a whopping 42x Optical Zoom lens (equivalent to 24-1008mm) and the PowerShot SX400 IS has a 30x Optical Zoom (equivalent to 24-720mm).

Building on its foundation of unique DSLR cameras, RICOH IMAGING is pleased to introduce the PENTAX XG-1 digital camera. This versatile, all-in-one camera showcases an impressive 52x optical zoom lens, 16 megapixel sensor, and Pentax technology; bridging the gap between DSLR flexibility and point and shoot convenience.

Nikon COOLPIX L830
The COOLPIX L830 is an ergonomically designed high-ratio zoom camera with a 3” high-resolution tilt LCD monitor. It features a 34x optical zoom range plus a 68x Dynamic Fine Zoom (an enhanced type of digital zoom) range and a 16MP backside illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor. It records Full HD (1080p) video, even in low light, and reduces the danger of camera shake with the aid of the Lens-shift Vibration Reduction (VR) system. The L830 model’s intelligent features include Easy Auto mode and Smart Portrait System as well as 18 Scene modes and a selection of special effects. The model is available in black and red and has a retail price of $299.95.

The Pentax MX was a 35mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera produced from 1976 to 1985 and, for a time, was the company’s flagship SLR. It was solidly built featuring all-mechanical construction, including the shutter, and only the metering system was battery dependent. The new all-digital, all-electronic Pentax MX-1 couldn’t be more different. For openers, the MX-1 is not an SLR but an advanced digital compact camera with the kind of retro styling that’s all the rage these days with camera designers and, apparently, camera buyers, too. So, how does the MX-1 stack up?