It's time once again for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which in terms of the world of photography means a glut of new point-and-shoot cameras. Olympus alone released
nine today, and Sony released
TWELVE.
Clearly, the point & shoot marketing teams don't really believe in the Paradox of Choice. The problem is compounded because, unlike the dSLR market, image quality hasn't improved all that much in the consumer range over the years. There is a universe of difference between, say, the Nikon D3s and Nikon D2x in low-light, but a lot of the new point&shoots can be WORSE in poor lighting conditions than older cameras. Honestly, guys, 14 megapixels in a tiny sensor?
But there have been some bright spots in this market in recent years, and it's good for we nitpicking photographers to remember that consumers have different needs -- a camera that takes mediocre photos but uploads them directly to Facebook is going to be handy for a lot of people. As another example, I recently field-tested the Canon SD780, and while its slim profile and recessed buttons makes it almost impossible to use in darkness, it also makes it look really sexy. So here we're going to focus on some items that may actually change the game a bit for consumers. For full write-ups of every model, you can see all the press releases at Amazon's own DPReview.
News of note:
Good-bye, alternate memory formats?: Sony and Olympus seem to finally be realizing that CF and SD cards are the industry standards, and that it can be deeply annoying to use alternates like Memory Sticks and xD cards. The new Olympus cameras support SDHC, and some models have large amounts of built-in memory so that owners of old Olympus cameras can trade up and not be upset that their xD cards are suddenly worthless. Sony is still providing legacy support to Memory Sticks, but also has launched a new line of their own SDHC cards. Good riddance.
And speaking of SD cards, if you ever wanted to have a memory card that was more valuable than your camera, or to be able to flip through the last 100,000 photos you've taken on the go, Panasonic has the cards for you! Introducing the new 48GB and 64GB SDXC cards, priced at $449.95 and $599.95, repectively. In the days when most cameras are inching toward 1080p video, these are looking more and more practical.
Samsung updates Dual-View models: Samsung has released the TL210 and TL205 cameras, an update to their dual-view line, which have a second LCD on front of the camera. This is exactly the sort of consumer-friendly feature I'm talking about. In the era of Facebook, a lot of people mostly use their cameras arms-length, pointed back at themselves. These cameras actually lets them see what they're doing. Let's call them "Paris Hilton-friendly." The TL210 is a bit more advanced, with a slightly larger LCD screen on the back and 720p HD video recording.
Sony releases the a450 DSLR: You don't often see DSLR releases at CES, but Sony did it, with a 14.2 megapixel camera that takes most of the ergonomics of the a550 without the articulating view screen. It seems like a perfectly good budget camera, but Sony seems to be treating its dSLR lineup like most companies treat point-and-shoots. They are now selling six current DSLR models aimed at advanced amateurs, which may cause more confusion than relief.
More to come.
Study in Sweden on January 14, 2010 at 02:21 PM
wo nice Panasonic has lauched 64GB stick...its really coool...I use to take alot of pictures and some time my 16GB gets fill...looking forward to buy this...thanks for sharing
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wholesale dropshippers on January 21, 2011 at 04:37 AM
Sony is king in the world of photography, now it's new model comes with superb 14.2 mega pixel lens which make pictures more live to see. Samsung's new model is also good but it's front screen doesn't make sense and not looking so good, however it's 14 mega pixel camera is good with 720p HD recording.