Panasonic

This is getting a bit surprising. Panasonic seems to be unable to ship Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 cameras. All other the world, only very limited quantities have been appearing.

Be very cautious in terms of prices, some companies seem to be charging horrendously high prices (sometimes more than $2000) with a high risk of not receiving the part in the short future. Be attentive and check regularly the available offers in the page for the GH1.

Major update to the photo SLR camera database: More than 30 new tests and reviews, in English, in French, for nearly all the photo cameras listed here.

All in all, you will find several hundred SLR camera tests, feature lists, prices and the special offers from our preferred partners.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 camera (the Lumix G1 + video features) is a bit late in arriving on the shelves. Initially expected at the end of March 2009, Panasonic officially announced that it will be available from the 24th of April, with an initial production rate of only 5000 per month.

Panasonic launches a new photo camera to follow in the tracks of the existing Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1. For the most part, the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 is a G1 that would have been upgraded to Mark II status by a video capture feature. This was clearly a relatively easy addition to a good camera. And it was needed to answer to the growing demand of customers more and more expecting this function whose playful side is promised to be the success of 2009.

• 1080p HD video capture at 24 fps
• 720p HD video capture at 60 fps

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1

But the most interesting part is still the announcement of two new lenses:

• Lumix G VARIO HD 14-140mm/f4.0-5.8 Asph
• Lumix G VARIO 7-14mm/f4.0 Asph

Lumix G VARIO HD 14-140mm/f4.0-5.8 Asph

Lumix G VARIO HD 7-14mm/f4.0 Asph

The PMA 2009 fair in Las Vegas is opening its doors and it is time to confirm or correct the rumours.

• Nikon is concentrating on existing SLR products: Nikon D700 is king.
• Sony is not introducing any new SLR camera.
• Panasonic is advertising strongly the existing Lumix DMC-G1

So, where are the news? Here are some of the notable items:

• Samsung offers new compact point-and-shoot cameras (NX series) with an APS-C imaging sensor. Direct competitors for the SLR cameras, in the “Image Quality” category.
• Olympus E-620
• 6 new lenses for the Sony SLR cameras (one undisclosed Sony G Super Telephoto, 28-75mm f/2.8, DT 30mm f/2.8 Macro, DT 50mm f/1.8, DT 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, DT 55-200mm f/4-5.6)
• A new Panasonic Lumix GH1 (improvement over the G1 in 12MP with 1080p video)
• 2 new lenses for the Lumix cameras (14-140mm & 7-14mm)

We will certainly conclude that this issue of the world photo event is going to be tagged as “consumer-oriented” or “entry-level sensitive”.

Wall Street: Early afternoon light (by mkrigsman)

According to Canon Rumours, there could be some concentration moves around the camera manufacturers. Up to this, it’s just in line with what I’ve been telling about some brands whose CEOs have heart burns from the intense current competition.

But they also give us names and combinations to think about.

• Panasonic could buy the photo division of Leica. Assuredly weirder than certain.
• Panasonic could buy Olympus. Here comes credibility. And it would be industrially much more tenable.
• Samsung could buy Hoya, the owner of Pentax. If Pentax is suffering financial pains, Samsung is nearly certain to come and help. But why buy Hoya? This would be bizarre.

What do you think about this? There are already several point-and-shoot compact cameras using LCD touchscreens for all or part of the user interface. But, to this day, none of the major SLR camera manufacturers did try this on a them while it would be relatively easy to push this into a design budget for an expensive camera like SLRs. Nothing at Nikon, nothing at Canon, nothing at Sony, …

Who will be the first to bring this innovation? And I really think it is inevitable that it will come soon on our reflex cameras. Even if only because it reduces the number of needed buttons and it brings a certain flavor of technical progress that should appeal to most of the camera enthusiasts buying SLR cameras (just think about the unrelenting success of video modes which should -as a matter of fact- only be considered as anecdotal on a photo camera).

I think that it’s possible to list the best candidates for this:

• Low- to mid-range camera at Sony, like a Sony Alpha 400
• Entry-level camera at Nikon, like a Nikon D65
• Lowest price cameras at Samsung and Pentax, Pentax K3000, Samsung GX-3000 (and maybe even a mid-range option for these brands are striving to distinguish themselves technically from the market leaders)
• A complement to Panasonic DMC-G1 under the name of DMC-G2 or DMC-G3

This is all mere observation of technolody presence among the compact models (such point-and-shoot cameras like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77, the Nikon S60 Coolpix, the Samsung NV34HD or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580). And there is more reality to these remarks than to most predictions about the launch of presumed major products at the next PMA fair in Las Vegas.

The PMA fair which will happen in Las Vegas between the 3rd and the 5th of March 2009 will bring us many news and a few surprises. All the signs are there, as confirmed by my informers. There is only a few weeks to be patient, but expect most important news to be revealed a few days before the opening.

If you want to go through the various brands with me, we will see what is coming.
(more…)

As you already know, I list the tests and reviews of recent photo cameras in the database that I use to describe them (in the menu on the left). These last days, this is a deluge of new reviews that we received and listed for:

• Nikon D3x
• Canon EOS 5D MkII
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

Canon lenses, which one is best?

It is often difficult but manageable to group lens reviews in order to compare/evaluate a little more than their mere physical characteristics (focal length, aperture/diaphragm, or even number of individual lenses). But how would you evaluate/review optical quality? When I see the difference really impressive between two lenses, I would be prepared to judge from their price, but a cheap wide-angle lens is not always worse than a slightly more expensive one (well… if the price difference is really large, it’s not only an accident and quality explains a lot).

So, where to?

I collected a few web sites appearing quite able to provide this kind of quality reviews/comparisons/evaluations/tests.

From here, I invite you to an orgy of lens reviews, lens tests, lens comparisons, lens evaluations. And remember to shoot some photos, too. It’s not only the lens which does the photo. Some are shot by telephones, if the photographer is an artist.