Focoro beta

With sub-$1,000 SLR kits available from several players, the once thriving bridge-market has been searching to maintain competitiveness. Fixed-lens bridge cameras offer a single convenient package and avoid the problems with sensor dust that plague interchangeable-lens cameras. The trade-offs have…

Samsung's entry into the bridge market comes with the 8MP 15x super-zoom (28mm-420mm equivalent) at $795. The camera supports Adobe's Digital Negative format (DNG), and auto-ISO between 50-400. It shoots at up-to 2.5 fps but lacks image stabilization support which can reduce the effectiveness of its longest range.

Top Studio Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II
Top Safari/Sport Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark II N
Top Enthusiast SLR: Nikon D200…

The Canon EOS 1-Ds has been the only full-frame 35mm digital camera since the failed Contax N Digital introduction and the resignation of Kodak. While Nikon is still struggling to develop a full-frame camera, Canon has already released a mid-level full-frame camera, priced at $3,300, below the crop…

The Kodak EasyShare One, released earlier this year, was the first compact camera to support WiFi for transferring images. Now Canon (SD430 Wireless) and Nikon (Coolpix P1 and Coolpix P2) are available. The Kodak camera added WiFi through an optional add-on card, and had an expensive $700 pricetag…

The Olympus E-500 EVOLT is functionally an E-300 in traditional SLR form. Even with the traditional viewfinder hump, rather than the flatter form of the E-300, the camera is exceptionally small (just bigger than Canon's EOS 350D) and a light 435g.…

Canon's EOS 1Ds launched with best-in-class resolution, and the 1Ds Mark II keeps it there. The recent revision adds support for Canon's new WT-1 802.11g wireless transmitter and an orientation sensor, and continues to provide very low noise, instant start-up, and full 35mm sensor.…

Hasselblad recently bought Imacon, a maker of digital backs. The H2 is physically the same as the H1, but is now an all Hasselblad device with tighter integration with its Imacon back.

Nikon has released its new flagship D2X, and with it signals two things: 1) it's still feeling out digital technology, and 2) when it finds the right combination it'll be remarkable kit. Just after Nikon switched from CCD to its custom JFET technology for the well received D2H, it's moved on to a S…

The EOS 20Da is a modified EOS 20D designed for astrophotography. Its low-pass filter has been modified to improve light transmission at the "Hydrogen Alpha line" (Hα) and enables live view similar to the Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro when in low-light situations (such as shooting the sky at night.

A little rain never hurt anyone, you may have said to yourself without springing for one of the environmentally sealed compact digital cameras on the market, but certainly you'd never think of going scuba diving with your camera. Unless you happened to have one of the new 5MP Pentax Optio WP cameras, that is. The Pentax Optio WP is JIS8 certified, meaning it can be submerged to a depth of 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) for thirty minutes. The camera is compact—easy to store in a pocket—with a 3x (38mm-114mm equivalent) lens, a responsive shutter release, and a large 2" LCD on the back with live histogram. Otherwise it's quite mediocre, with fully automatic controls and JPEG only recording.

Fuji's latest F-mount flagship, the FinePix S3 Pro, does away with much of the awkwardness still present in the FinePix S2 Pro resulting from the wedding of a film body do a digital back. While still based on a Nikon F80 body, the integration is much tighter, and now operates on one common set of (…

Mamiya has entered the first-party digital game with their $14,200 ZD camera and back. The back has a 36x48mm 22MP CCD that records 12-bits per channel at 1.5fps. ISO equivalents of 50-400, but best used at either 50 or 100 in a studio set-up, with strobes and a tripod.…

The recently merged Konica Minolta has entered the digital SLR market with the $1,600 Maxxum 7D (or Dynax 7D in some markets, and the Alpha 7D in Japan). It has a 6MP CCD that shoots three frames-per-second with a fastest 1/4000s shutter speed; similar to the much cheaper Nikon D70. The Maxxum 7D s…

The latest of Olympus Four-Thirds cameras, the E-300 is priced to compete with the current $1,000 entry kits, the Canon EOS 300D and Nikon D70. By spec, it's a smaller EOS 300D with an 8MP Four Thirds CCD and auto-ISO (up to 400 standard).…

The Kodak EasyShare One is the first WiFi-enabled compact camera (the Nikon D2X supports 802.11b via an adapter). If this sounds like enough to pull $700 ($600 for the camera, $100 for the WiFi card) out of your pocket, you're the target market.…