Samsung's tiny HMX-R10 Full HD camcorder lands in Korea, US next month

Samsung's tiny HMX-R10 Full HD camcorder lands in Korea, US next month

Samsung's impressively small HMX-R10 HD camcorder has finally been set free to dance upon Korean retail shelves. The mini cam is just 12.5-cm long and 4-cm wide (4.9 x 1.5-inches) and records 9 megapixel stills or 1,920 x 1,080 pixel video (courtesy of its 1/2.33-inch CMOS sensor) to SDHC memory cards up to 32GB in capacity. The cam also brings a 5x optical, electronically stabilized zoom lens angled at a unique 25-degrees which, according to Samsung, makes for a more natural shooting angle. The 2.7-inch touch-screen LCD features Samsung's Magic Touch UI that automatically focuses on any point that you touch. Sounds sweet but in practice this type of tech is a novelty requiring two handed operation that will just slow you down in the field. It'll also shoot super-slow-motion at 60, 300, or 600 fps at decreasing resolutions most assuredly (Sammy doesn't say). Fortunately, Amazon has this shooter listed at $500 for a May 15th release Stateside and beyond.

(Via Engadget.)

Olympus SP-590UZ (and its 26x zoomer) gets reviewed

Olympus SP-590UZ (and its 26x zoomer) gets reviewed

We're beginning to think there really is no number too high for the megazoom focal length. Back in the day, just boasting a 10x zoomer was enough to fall into said category; today, you best top 20x if you even want into the discussion. Olympus' 26x SP-590UZ is definitely amongst the craziest out there, sporting a 12 megapixel sensor, 2.7-inch LCD and a launch price of just under $450. Reviewers over at PhotographyBLOG were duly impressed across the board, with a certain critic noting that 'the ability to go from capturing wide-angle landscapes to distant details in a four second zoom of the lens cannot be underestimated, especially as there's little distortion to worry about at either end and excellent sharpness across its entire range.' Not surprisingly, the cam notched a 'Highly Recommended' badge along with 4.5 out of 5 overall stars -- that said, are you really willing to buy in knowing a 58.983x successor is just around the bend?

(Via Engadget.)

Olympus E-450 DSLR

Olympus E-450 DSLR

Olympus has announced a new entry-level camera to their E-System line of digital SLRs. The Olympus E-450 digital SLR has a 10-megapixel Four Thirds sensor, a 2.7-inch HyperCrystal II LCD with Live View and it includes three Art Filters - Pop Art, Pin Hole and Soft Focus.



The E-450 digital SLR is an entry-level follow-up to last year’s E-420, the world’s smallest digital SLR. It shares the same 10-megapixel sensor as the E-420 and the Art Filters from the E-30 and E-620. Like the E-420, the E-450 sacrifices the excellent built-in image stabilization that other Olympus E-System DSLRs offer. It’s designed to be comfortable and familiar to photographers stepping up from compact digital cameras so Live View behavior is the same as a point-and-shoot - turn Live View on and you can focus and compose in the LCD just like with a point-and-shoot camera. Auto focus works in Live View mode and Face Detection makes taking pictures of people even easier. Even if your subject is moving, the E-450’s Face Detection system will track the faces to keep them in focus and ensure proper exposure.



Turn the E-450’s mode dial to ART/SCN and you can choose from the 3 Art Filters or 18 scene modes. The Art Filters were introduced with the E-30. They offer sophisticated in-camera effects and I was surprised how much I liked them when I first tried the E-30. They’re a lot easier than trying to achieve the same results with Photoshop or other software. The E-450 offers 3 of the 6 Art Filters that the E-620 and E-30 have. I think they’re the most useful of the 6 and include my favorites, Pin Hole and Soft Focus. For more on the Art Filters, see my Olympus E-30 intro article.

Olympus Art Filter Sample Photos (left to right): Pop Art, Soft Focus, and Pin Hole. Click thumbnails to view photos. (samples taken with the Olympus E-30)

'
The E-450 also includes Shadow Adjustment Technology, TruePic III+ image processing, the Olympus Dust Reduction System and wireless flash control (with Olympus FL-50R and FL-36R flash units).

At $699 for a kit that includes the ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital and ED 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Zuiko Digital zoom lenses, the Olympus E-450 is a great value for photographers buying their first digital SLR. With the 2x digital crop factor of the Four Thirds sensor, those two lenses offer a range of 28mm to 300mm (35mm / full frame equivalent). That’s as much as most casual photographers will ever need. The E-450 should be on store shelves in July of 2009.

(Via Photography Review Blog.)