Category: Digital Camera

HYPE CHECK Leica M9 Digital Rangefinder Camera What it is: The cult of Leica originated in the '40s, when Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Magnum photographers first brought the so-called "decisive moment" into the cultural consciousness. Their startlingly immediate images of street life, war, and people are as fresh today as they were the day they were snapped. The weapon of choice for this ...

Leica M9 Digital Rangefinder Camera (Gadget Head, Cost No Object) The Leica brand has represented the ne plus ultra of photographic excellence for nearly a century, and continues to burnish its impeccable rep with its new M9 ($7,000). As beautiful a piece of gadgetry as any we've come across, the M9 is somewhat of an oddity in the digital realm: it's a rangefinder camera (meaning you don't ...

What it is: The Olympus PEN E-P1 is the company's first Micro Four Thirds (MFT) camera -- a miniaturized alternative to a digital SLR (DSLR) based on a tech standard developed in cooperation with Panasonic. The physical design and name are throwbacks to the half-frame film cameras Olympus produced from the '50s through the '80s. The E-P1, priced at $799, includes a 14-42-millimeter, f3.5-5.6 ...

Question: I see more and more people carrying digital SLRs these days. And when I look at the great photos, I understand why. I'd like to upgrade from my point-and-shoot, but the choices are overwhelming. What's a good beginner SLR that can also grow with me if I want to get more serious? Advice: Our current favorite among beginner models is the Nikon D5000. It's not the cheapest -- even from ...

Question: I need a new digital camera. But since money is tight these days, I can't spend much over $100. Is there a camera around that price that's worth any money at all? Our Advice: Yes. These days, most camera makers sell surprisingly capable point-and-shoots for just over $100. At that price, you won't get the latest and greatest photo technology. But you will get an inexpensive ...

Most point-and-shoot camera makers are marching in lock step -- all introducing features such as fancier face detection, higher light sensitivity, and larger LCD screens. Casio is playing along, but it's also adding more-powerful image processing -- allowing its cameras to capture photos in high-speed bursts, shoot slow-motion video, or track fast-moving subjects. What it is: Casio's EX-S12 (and ...

In a pro photography world virtually owned by Canon and Nikon, Pentax's scrappy determination is admirable. Although it rarely grabs the headlines, this company consistently turns out well-built cameras at good prices. We're hoping that applies to the company's latest SLR, the Pentax K-7, which we got a hands-on look at earlier this month. Priced at $1300, it's priced against semi-pro cameras ...

Question: I'm planning a vacation with my wife and kids this summer, and I want one camera to cover it all. Something small enough to take around with us wherever we go, and most importantly, super durable and waterproof so we can take it to the beach without giving daddy a heart attack. Any suggestions? Hey reader: "Tough" cameras have definitely been the rage lately, with several of the ...

The micro-blogging site Twitter, along with its 140-character-or-less messages known as "tweets," is continuing to earn daily references from media outlets, but to the uninitiated it can seem confusing, narcissistic and creepily voyeuristic. In reality, it serves as an instant and simple method of keeping in contact with family and friends, or for reading the latest news from favored ...

Who needs the Hubble? Not Gerard Marull Paretas, Sergi Saballs Vila, Marta­ Gasull Morcillo and Jaume Puigmiquel Casamort, that's for sure. The four Spanish teenagers, working with their teacher Jordi Fanals Oriol as the Meteotek team at the IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia, started with a fairly lofty goal: They wanted to launch a balloon with a digital camera and some custom-built ...

At this point, it's tough to say the Memoir wasn't official with a straight face, but Samsung and T-Mobile have jointly disclosed all (er, most) of the remaining details that were so sorely missing here at Mobile World Congress. The 8 megapixel handset will boast a Xenon flash, CMOS auto focus and 16x digital zoom, not to mention a full touchscreen and a sophisticated camera menu that enables ...

Lots of compact camera news today. Nikon announced eight new COOLPIX digicams, ranging from several pocket-friendly compact point-and-shoot cams to larger shooters featuring optical zooms up to 24x. We've got 4 new ones from the S-series, 3 from the L-series, and one P-series. Highlights? Colors are big this year, and you'll see many of the models available in multiple colors, ranging from ...

With the economy in free-fall and Congress struggling to keep their own house in order, you would think that cell phone security would be the last thing on a Representative's mind. New York Republican Rep. Peter King sees it differently. King has introduced a bill that would require cell phone cameras to make some sort of sound when taking a picture. It is called the Camera Phone Predator ...

Panasonic refreshed its Lumix line of digital cameras today with six brand new models and a range of colors. For the most part, you'll see 5x optical zooms and 12.1 megapixel sensors, but specs vary by model. We were hoping for some announcements along the lines of a sexy new micro four thirds camera like the DMC-G1, but it's nice to see a move away from 3x optical zooms, which have been ...

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/President_Obama_s_official_portrait_the_first_ever_taken_wi'; You're now gazing at President Barack Obama's just-released official portrait -- the first of a U.S. president ever taken with a digital camera. That means we can peek at the EXIF data -- this fine specimen of portraiture was snapped with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II on January 13th, 2009 at 5:38 pm with ...