Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Panasonic FH20 Quick Hands-On Review

By

Panasonic FH20

One of the many point and shoot cameras announced at CES 2010 was the Panasonic FH20.  I spent a little while at CES checking out the new camera and its siblings.

The FH20 is at the top end of the new cameras in the FH lineup.  The other new cameras, the FH3 and FH1, are essentially just lower-spec versions of the FH20.  Since all the models were preproduction and I couldn’t evaluate image quality at CES, the handling and performance comments on the FH20 pretty much match up with my impressions of the FH3 and FH1 as well. [Read more…]

 

Panasonic Introduces SDXC 64GB and 48GB Cards

By

Panasonic SDXC

Panasonic introduced new SDXC cards in 64GB and 48GB capacities at CES 2010.

SDXC cards are a new standard from the SD Association that allows for capacities ranging from 64GB to 2TB.  SDXC cards also have a speed advantage over the SDHC format.  The SDXC format has a theoretical speed of 104MB/s to potentially 300MB/s in the future.

It is important to note that SDXC cards are not compatible with camera models that are not specifically designed with the SDXC format in mind.

The Panasonic 64GB SDXC card carries an initial retail price of $599.95, while the 48GB SDXC card has an initial retail price of $449.95.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Panasonic FP1 and FP3

By

Panasonic FP3

Panasonic introduced the FP1 and FP3 at CES 2010. These two point and shoot cameras feature a sliding front panel and an internal 4x optical zoom.  Both cameras feature SDXC compatibility for use with the new SD card standard, allowing 64GB to 2TB in card size and theoretical speeds up to 300/MBs.  Additionally, both cameras feature Panasonic’s MEGA O.I.S. optical image stabilization technology.

The Panasonic FP3 features a 3-inch touchscreen LCD and 14.1MP sensor, while the FP1 offers a 230k dot, 2.7-inch LCD (not a touchscreen) and a 12.1MP sensor.

Check availability on Amazon.com:  Panasonic FP1 – Panasonic FP3.

Panasonic FP3 Reviews

Neutral Day

[Read more…]

Panasonic FH20, FH3 and FH1

By

Panasonic FH20

Panasonic introduced the FH20, FH3 and FH1 digital cameras at CES 2010.

The FH20 is the top end of the FH-Series cameras with a 14.1MP sensor, 8x optical zoom and 28mm field of view on the wide end.

Panasonic FH3

The FH3 features a 14.1MP sensor, 5x optical zoom and the same 28mm wide-angle.

Panasonic FH1

The FH1 rounds out the low-end of the the FH-series with 12.1MP sensor, 5x optical zoom at 28mm on the wide end.

All three cameras feature 72op video recording, MEGA O.I.S. image stabilization and SDXC compatibility for use with the new SD standard of 64GB to 2TB cards.

No word on pricing for any of these cameras at CES 2010.

Additional info about these new Panasonic cameras can be found in the press release below. [Read more…]

Panasonic GF1 Firmware Update Version 1.1

By

Panasonic has released a firmware update, version 1.1, for the GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera, along with 5 Panasonic lenses.  The firmware provides the GF1 with improved auto focus, auto white balance, noise performance and more.  The lens firmware upgrades offer improved auto focus in video recording modes, along with other improvements.

You can obtain instructions and download the firmware on Panasonic’s website.

Additional details on the firmware update in the press release below. [Read more…]

Point-and-Shoots to Suit Your Personality

By

Maria Sharapova and her Canon Powershot Diamond Collection

Camera manufacturers design point-and-shoot cameras for the specific needs and wants of consumers the same way that they target their DSLRs to different professional markets. While we as photographers will always sing the praises of how awesome our DSLRs are, the general population will opt for a “nice” point-and-shoot. We know many of these people and they make come to us asking camera questions. Here’s a round up of cameras for the different personalities in your life. If they’re a student, link them over to my post on Back-To-School digital cameras.

Author’s Note: The camera’s above are a special series of Canon Powershots that Maria Sharapova designed with Canon. They were available in a contest.

[Read more…]

Great Telephoto Zoom Lenses

By

Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8

Now that you’ve read about 50mm lenses, lenses to help you learn and how camera lenses are made, the time has come to check out what telephoto lenses are possibly best for your system. Every photographer should have at least one just in the case the situation arises where you need a longer piece of glass to get that shot. Of course, some systems do telephoto zooming better than others. If you want to switch from one system to another system you’ll learn that some systems may give you the actual results you want in a different package. As a paparazzo in training, I’m learning this first hand.

Here’s a list of those great lenses are your system. [Read more…]

Micro Four Thirds Cameras Can Now be an Entire System

By

olympus-ep1-thumb-500x358-89993

The Olympus EP-1 has become an exceedingly popular camera. Besides the mass amounts of media coverage that one sees/reads, they’re very hard to get your hands on as the units move very fast. But besides being able to take pictures, this camera and its relative the Panasonic GH1 shoot video: good quality video too. One of the criticisms of the system is not having lots of lenses available for the system. That criticism is very, very untrue. [Read more…]