Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Digital Camera Info has posted a review of the Nikon D300.
The autofocus system is straight off the pro Nikon D3 and is amazing. It has 51 points and is the fastest we’ve seen. The Nikon D300 is well suited for sports shooting with its 6 to 8 fps Burst mode (depending on whether the battery grip is attached), and quick predictive autofocus tracking.
Click here for more Nikon D300 reviews and news.
Ricoh has announced a new 10 megapixel, rugged point and shoot camera, the G600. The G600 is a small and light point and shoot camera that is ruggedized to easily withstand a 1.5 m fall, which is tough enough for the US Department of Defense. The G600 features a 5x optical wide-angle zoom lens (equivalent to 28-140 mm for a 35 mm camera). The G600 also has a 1 cm macro function and a ?ash range of 10 m. It operates at ISOs up to 3200 and features a 2.7″ LCD display. Finally, the G600 is weatherproof and can even shoot underwater up to 1m.
The rumor mill is in full swing across a variety of camera brands right now. While I’m happy to pass them along, remember folks, these are still rumors. I do my best to point you to the sources when I can find them. Additionally, there are a ton of rumors that I simply pass over because they are so obviously false.
Looking back at some of the comments made by Photography Bay readers on the Canon 5D Mark II rumor regarding a purported screenshot of a Canon.de webpage (see here), I was almost certain that it’s a fake. Additionally, I’m inclined to disregard the information that appeared with it.
However, I want to point out one additional observation. A commenter going by the name “Phil” found what appears to be the source of the screen shot over at PBase (here’s the link). Phil actually didn’t link to the 5D Mark II screenshot. He linked to a screenshot of a Canon EOS 3D from Canon.it (Canon Italy). When I saw it, I figured I would post something a little later tonight; however, it’s gone now and the following message appears in it’s place:
The images have been removed. We simply had to remove them. Why?
Well, a very well-known lawyer sent us a long letter on behalf of an extremely irritated marketing department of a dreadfully famous company.
Guess what happened?
Well it seems we slightly messed up the plans they had for the launch of a product . . . sorry but it was not our fault.
Peace & be happy.
You can take it for what it’s worth. Frankly, I don’t know if PBase’s message isn’t a worse marketing headache for Canon than the screenshot. I was ready to write off the screenshot as a dummied up page by someone trying to stir the pot. Now, I’m scratching my head a bit. Also, the presence of this message on the Canon 3D screenshot page makes me wonder even more. I’m still trying to dig up a cached image of the Canon.it screenshot, but haven’t had any luck yet.
For now, you can keep up with the rumors on the Canon 5D Mark II Rumors page or the Canon 3D Rumors page.
Steve’s Digicams has posted a review of the Nikon D60.
The new Nikon D60 is quite impressive for an entry-level dSLR, offering superb performance, great image quality, and multiple exposure options. The 3fps continuous drive mode (or 3.5fps in our testing), Sensor Cleaning system and onboard HELP Menu are distinct improvements for this soon to be popular camera.
For the latest news and reviews on the D60, check out Photography Bay’s Nikon D60 Reviews and Resources page.
Trusted Reviews has posted a review of the Pentax K20D.
With the launch of the K20D Pentax is taking on the top players in the semi-pro DSLR market. It has a class-leading specification, with build quality, handling and performance to match, and has exactly the sort of features that will appeal to advanced amateurs and semi-professionals.
Click here for the latest Pentax K20D news and reviews.
The rumors surrounding the Nikon D3X have been stirring quite a bit over the last few days. See here and here for examples. Thom Hogan has stepped out with some more solid dates based on supposedly more solid rumors.
Current rumors out of Japan have Nikon introducing the D90, D3x, plus lenses, in the second week of June. I’m tightening my D90 (or whatever they decide to call it) prediction date to between May 12th and June 16th.
(via ByThom)
Stay current on these upcoming cameras via Photography Bay’s Nikon D90 Rumors page and Nikon D3X Rumors page.
Amidst the recent discussions of the rumored Nikon D3X, insights on a cheaper full frame DSLR from Nikon surfaced again. The exchange between a couple of forum posters occurred on DPReview’s forums; however, one of the forum posters was Thom Hogan. The original poster noted that a cheaper full frame Nikon DSLR was in the rumor mill. Thom replied with:
Yep. But I still hear this as being further out than the D3x.
(via)
As you may know, Thom seems to have his ear keenly to the ground regarding Nikon news, rumors and equipment developments. I’m sure Nikon users would love to see a mid-range FF DSLR that’s in the same price range as the current Canon 5D. We’ll keep you posted with the latest on this rumor and the Nikon D3X.
Reports are surfacing that the Sony A700 is destined to be discontinued in April. Most of this info arises out of notations in Best Buy’s inventory system, which indicates a discontinuance date of April 27, 2008 for the Sony A700. Here are a few of the quotes from readers who have posted this news in forums:
I just called my local BB in Maryland. There is a discontinue date of 4/27/08 for this cam. They are selling at origial price until at least after the discontinue date.
The clerk said she had heard of the new replacement coming out but didn’t have much info.
The discontinue is widespread. Something is going on. Many other electronics sellers are dropping the price on the a700.
My BB has a decent amount of Aplpha gear. The A100, A200, A350, A700, 18-200, 11-18 and 75-300. Some filters too. They also have a discontinued date of 4/27. This all happened very quickly as I was in there about a week ago trying to monitor the price of the 36 flash and the A700 was full list price of $1,399. They are not getting rid of all Alpha items, just A700.
(via)
Whether this means Sony is discontinuing the A700 or whether it’s just that Best Buy is no longer carrying the A700 remains to be seen. The A700 does, however, seem to be a bit of an odd duck right now, due to the introduction of the A300 and A350. I could certainly see Sony dropping the A700 from the current lineup in order to incorporate the awesome Live View featured on the A300 and A350 into a true prosumer DSLR.
Canon 5D Mark II (body only) – Amazon.com
Canon 5D Mark II w/ 24-105mm L lens – Amazon.com
Canon 5D Mark II (body only) – Adorama
Canon 5D Mark II w/ 24-105mm L lens – Adorama
Canon 5D Mark II (body only) – Ritz Camera
Stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Canon 5D Mark II Reviews and Resources for the latest.
This screenshot has popped up on web, which shows the Canon EOS 5D Mark II on the German version of Canon’s website. The story goes that the camera appeared on the page for a little while and was then taken down. There has been a number of debates in various forums regarding the authenticity of this screenshot. I’m inclined to think that there may have been some Photoshopping done on it as well. Below, I’ve zoomed in and cut out the portion which references the 5D Mark II.
If you have any thoughts or insights on this screen capture, feel free to fire away in the comments below.
If you’d like to know more about rumors and speculations of the 5D Mk II, you can read up on it via Photography Bay’s Canon EOS 5D Mark II Rumor page.
DP Review has finally posted a full review of the Nikon D3. It received a “Highly Recommended” badged and earned significant praise for it’s high quality and level of performance.
From the almost twitchy responsiveness (brush the shutter and before you know it you’ve taken half a dozen shots) to the astounding image pipeline that can pull huge amounts of data off the sensor and process, buffer and write it to the card at up to 9 frames per second, to the fast, accurate focus, the D3 always seems to be one step ahead of you.
For more reviews and news on the D3, visit Photography Bay’s Nikon D3 Reviews and Resources page.