Fujifilm X100 Black Limited Edition shipping now for $1,699.95

News

  • March 9, 2012 at 7:17 am

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Fujifilm X100 Black limited edition in leather case

Let’s just say that the we respect the 12.3-megapixel APS-C sensor, 23mm f/2 lens Fujifilm X100 digital camera immensely; but for a more in-depth look better have a read at our lengthy review here. After almost a year since the original X100 was released, Fujifilm is following up with an all black edition of only 10,000 pieces worldwide.

The appropriately named X100 Black Limited Edition set includes a sweet black X100 digital camera, black leather case, adapter ring, lens hood and a 49mm filter. The package can be had for $1,699.95 over the $1,200 which would buy you the plain old two-tone X100. That’s a hefty premium considering you can get the leather case and the adapter ring and hood for less than $300.
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Fujifilm FinePix X100 digital camera real world review

FeaturedReviews

  • March 5, 2012 at 8:35 am

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Fujifilm X100 digital camera - top front

I have to foreword this review of the Fujifilm FinePix X100 by saying that I am not a professional photographer or a camera expert, nevertheless I think there is value on a review done from the viewpoint of the average user. Thus, this review will be very different from other technically focused reviews; instead I will tackle the camera from a real world perspective.

I’ve tried to balance the review with a healthy number of sample shots. To depict the camera’s image quality, rather than my Lighroom skills, the images in this review have not received any software treatment, except from the odd straightening/cropping. The shots are mostly out of the camera JPEGs. Rather than photographicw merit, I’ve tried to include shots that demonstrate the camera’s capabilities.

It’s also good to note that this review of the Fujifilm X100 comes late to the party; the camera has been out for almost a year now, though initially it was impossible to get hold of one. I’ve had my own unit since late last summer. I do consider however that despite more recent mirrorless camera launches, and even Fuji’s own X-Pro1, the X100 still is a very unique camera with a very unique offering.
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Canon EOS 5D Mark III full-frame DSLR unleashed: 22-megapixels, 61-point AF and 6fps burst for $3,500

News

  • March 2, 2012 at 1:15 pm

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Canon EOS 5D Mark III medley

While we’ve already brought you the full specs of the EOS 5D Mark III before it was announced, Canon officially revealed the new full-frame DSLR early this morning. The EOS 5D Mark II allowed photographers to get their hands on a relatively affordable and lightweight full-frame camera, but after three years since its release it’s been showing its age.

The hotly anticipated successor is now a reality and Canon has brought a pretty solid feature list to the new camera. It’s got a new 22.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with DIGIC 5+ processing technology. The new camera has actually adopted some of the features of the flagship EOS-1D X, like its 61-point autofocus system with up to 41 cross-type points and the rear 3.2-inch 1,040,000 dot display.
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Full Canon EOS 5D Mark III specs leaked ahead of official anouncement

News

  • March 1, 2012 at 5:57 pm

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Canon EOS 5D Mark III front

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is the proud successor to the popular full-frame 5D Mark II DSLR, and is going to be announced officially in a few hours. But as with most good things, it’s hard to keep it a secret, with photos and details of the new DSLR having leaked repeatedly (just check out timeline below).

Well the latest leak from CanonRumors now has a full list of specs for the Mark III along with some additional pictures of the camera.
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Nokia 808 PureView 41-megapixel sensor sized-up and explained (sample pictures)

News

  • February 29, 2012 at 1:18 pm

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Nokia 808 PureView phone back and front

One of the most interesting devices to come out of this year’s Mobile World Congress is the Nokia 808 PureView. The 808 runs Symbian Belle over the company’s current crop of smartphones running Windows Phone. What makes it special is the new 41-megapixel camera sensor — no that’s not a typo — paired with Carl Zeiss optics, which Nokia has aptly named PureView.

Nokia hasn’t gone completely crazy, jamming more pixels into a tiny sensor and letting you handle crappy 41-megapixel files. First of all the sensor size is 1/1.2 inch, about five times larger than the typical 1/3.2-inch sensor found in most mobile phones. Because the sensor is bigger, the pixel size is still 1.4µm, the same as most current phones. You can actually see the 808 PureView sensor below at the bottom right, compared to an 8-megapixel and a 5-megapixel sensor this thing looks enormous. When you combine the Carl Zeiss f/2.4 lens and a Xenon flash the entire camera array takes a substantial amount of real estate.
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Canon EOS 5D Mark III full-frame DSLR leaked again, to be announced March 2nd

News

  • February 28, 2012 at 6:07 pm

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Canon EOS 5D Mark III front leaked

It’s been more than three years since the Canon EOS 5D Mark II hit the streets and the, relatively, affordable and lightweight full-frame camera has met a lot of success. But three years is a long time in the ever-changing world of tech and Canon has long been rumored to be preparing a successor.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III was first spotted on an African safari, though at the time it was yet unconfirmed whether it was indeed Canon’s upcoming full-frame DSLR. A new leak over at the forums of Canonrumors has brought us a number of new pictures, confirming the Canon EOS 5D Mark III.
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PSA: Olympus OM-D E-M5 now up for pre-order from Amazon UK with free battery grip; shipping April 1st

News

  • February 24, 2012 at 6:50 pm

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Olympus OM-D E-M5 MFT digital camera - black - top

Amazon UK now has the newly announced Olympus OM-D E-M5 up for pre-order here. The 12-50mm lens kit goes for £1,150, while you can get the body only for £999 here.

Though British Micro Four Thirds friends will have to shell out more than their counterparts across the pond, Olympus is offering a nice sweetener to the deal. Anyone ordering the Olympus E-M5 in the UK before the 30th of April will get the HLD-6 battery holder and grip for free. The HLD-6 kit contains both the landscape grip and the portrait grip with extra battery holder. Considering that otherwise you would be looking at around £200-250 for the grip only, it’s not such a bad deal.
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Gadget lust: five new official videos on the Olympus OM-D E-M5

News

  • February 22, 2012 at 3:54 pm

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Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds digital camera front

Olympus Australia has posted five new videos covering every facet of the new Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera. The demo videos cover the 5-axis in-body image stabilization, the camera’s superfast autofocus with 3D object tracking, 9 frames per second burst shooting and the new electronic viewfinder.

We’ve especially noted how much Olympus has improved on the software for the camera. There are three different styles of information overlay in the EVF and some innovative creative controls, like an adjustable highlight and shadow curve. The latest info point to an early-April shipping date for the camera, which can be pre-ordered now in the US here and here, UK here and Germany here.
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Olympus E-M5 destroys the PEN E-P3 in high-ISO tests

News

  • February 20, 2012 at 10:09 am

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Olympus OM-D E-M5 MFT camera in black side with 12-50mm lens

We’ve been covering the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds (MFT) digital camera ever since it was initially rumored and following the official announcement two weeks ago, we now have a long wait until it finally ships this April. We’ve already done a spec comparison to other high-end mirrorless cameras and we’ve seen how it sizes-up against the competition, but of bigger importance is how it actually performs and especially in low-light — a sticking point for the otherwise excellent MFT format.

The first high-ISO test of the Olympus E-M5 showed some promise, with little noise or artifacts up to ISO 3,200. During the weekend, Four-Thirds User has posted a high-ISO comparison between the E-M5 and the previous generation Olympus PEN E-P3. As previously, the test was done with a pre-production version of the E-M5 but the results are impressive.
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Your Fujifilm X100 overexposes images? How to check for the sticky aperture blade issue (video)

Guides

  • February 19, 2012 at 9:51 am

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Fujifilm X100 sticky aperture blade issue, close-up of lens at F16 shutter button pressed

The Fujifilm X100 is an amazing camera (and you can read our extensive real world review here), but it is plagued by one well documented manufacturing defect — at least the early batches of this mirrorless camera. The ‘sticky aperture blade’ issue results in the lens diaphragm blades not closing down as they should and hence leaving the aperture wide-open even at increasing f-numbers f/8, f/11 and f/16.

The first indication that your X100 may be suffering from the sticky blade problem would be if it tends to overexpose images. Because the aperture doesn’t close as it should on high f-numbers, more light reaches the sensor and results in an overexposed image. The issue won’t be apparent at wide apertures, like f/2 for example.
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Fujifilm X-S1 26x superzoom bridge camera takes on a Canon DSLR (video)

News

  • February 18, 2012 at 1:07 pm

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Fujifilm X-S1 vs. Canon T3 (1100D) shootout

We’ll admit that we are generally pretty harsh when it comes to superzoom bridge cameras. These are cameras that look like DSLRs but have fixed zoom lenses and sensors much smaller than APS-C. This means that you can’t change lenses, e.g. use any fast and sharp prime lenses, and bridge camera have worse low-light performance than DSLRs.

When we first had a look at Fujifilm’s latest 12-megapixel 26x superzoom X-S1 bridge camera we weren’t too intrigued, especially because of the hefty $800 price point. For the price of the Fujifilm X-S1 you can get an entry DSLR, which has some undisputed benefits, like the bigger sensor and optical viewfinder.
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First high ISO test images from the Olympus OM-D E-M5 digital camera

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  • February 13, 2012 at 1:33 pm

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Olympus OM-D E-M5 wet - water drops dripping off

We can’t deny that the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds (MFT) digital camera stole our hearts. However the big question in our minds has been on how the camera would perform at low light and/or high ISO. Typically, Micro Four Thirds cameras have lagged other mirrorless cameras with larger sensors, like Sony’s NEX series, in this regard.

We’re still far off from the April ship date of the Olympus E-M5, so we can’t yet test the low light and high ISO performance on a production unit, however a number of high ISO shots taken with a pre-production model have been doing the rounds.
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Lytro light field camera passes by the FCC, shows us its tasty internals

News

  • February 11, 2012 at 1:13 pm

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Lytro light field camera FCC photo

The Lytro light field camera is an incredible feat of engineering. If you’ve never heard of this elongated boxy camera before, then know that it doesn’t just look different to every other camera out there, it functions very differently too.

The premise of the camera lies in its ability to capture the light field, that is besides the color and intensity it also captures the vector direction of all light rays hitting its sensor; traditional cameras only capture the color and intensity of light but not the direction. The huge advantage is that you don’t need to worry about focusing when taking an image, focusing happens later on the camera or on your computer.

You can quickly and easily focus on different subjects by simply clicking on a point in the image captured by Lytro. That’s amazing, because so far we were able to adjust every other aspect of a photograph (e.g. exposure, white balance etc.) after it was taken but you were stuck with the manner it was focused.
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