Compact Camera News

This would appear to be a new golden age for rangefinder users. There are now three major systems (Leica, Voigtländer, and Zeiss) and two minor (Epson and Rollei). All use the same cross-compatible lens mount, for which an extensive and excellent range of lenses is available, and all compete with one another, albeit at different price points. Who could have imagined this...

“Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”—Walt Disney

It’s a photokina year and you know what that means; all of the camera manufacturers will be holding off their newest SLRs for launch at the big show in Germany this fall. While Canon was not at PMA, they officially launched the EOS-1D Mark IV...

Yesterday we told you about Polaroid's new Zip mobile printer and now here's another new  product from the venerable imaging brand. Polaroid’s new Socialmatic camera combines the nostalgic look of a vintage Polaroid instant camera with the ability to share your images via the camera’s built-in WiFi and Android interface.

It’s the age-old question that typically comes from non-photographers: does an expensive camera shoot better photos? As anyone who knows anything about photography will tell you: it’s the photographer, not the gear that’s the key to great photos!

Starting with the 2014 CES trade show, held at the turn of the year, and continuing through press time for this issue, we’ve seen a goodly number of new products come to the fore. All this is only the start—this being a photokina year we’ll see a whole new round of products, including CMOS-sensor medium formats, with prices to match, coming our way. I trust that this report will give you a good sense of what’s here and what’s coming down the pike. So, here are my quick picks of those products that caught my eye, plus a snapshot of some of the trends.

The WG-5 GPS (the newest "adventure-proof" camera from Ricoh Imaging) is the latest addition in the WG series. This waterproof camera is equipped with new features including a new Underwater mode and enhanced Interval Shooting settings (that allow multiple images to be taken over a pre-set time in both Still and Video modes), in an easy to hold, non-slip body.

Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation (Ricoh Imaging) has announced the newest camera in its GR series, the RICOH GR II, a premium compact camera with Wi-Fi and Near Field Communication (NFC) functionality. Ricoh claims the GR II, which uses an APS-C-sized 16.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, is “the smallest premium compact with DSLR image quality” on the market.