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24-70mm is a popular wide-tele zoom range giving shooters flexibility for most opportunities while walking around, and allowing manufacturers to make a compact fast lens. Micro Four Thirds has a great equivalent in the compact, weather sealed, Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 ASPH Power OIS Lumix G X Vario; now it has a great option in the Olympus made Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro M.Zuiko Digital ED. The Olympus variant is is a bit bigger but gives an extra push on the tele end (to 80mm equivalent), and does a bit better at controlling distortion and vignetting. The Panasonic model has in-built image stabilization the Olympus lacks, but at a premium in price.

Fujifilm has been steadily adding to its X-mount line. In less than two years, there is a respectable selection of high-quality lenses and camera bodies at each of an entry, mid, and high-end user. The first of these bodies to see a revised model is the mid-ranged X-E1 which is being replaced with…

Panasonic's new Lumix GM1 starts its line of ultra-small Micro-Four-Thirds cameras, replacing the Olympus PEN E-PM line as the smallest option in the interchangeable lens system. Obviously, such frills as a viewfinder will not fit in such a small body—the same size as many smart phones—but Pana…

Sony has been on a roll, pushing envelopes in not only sensors (e.g. the 36MP CMOS sensor found in the Nikon D800), but in bodies and systems. The recently released Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 and RX1R variants are closer to what many people expected from Leica in their Leica X2. (The new Alpha 7 series mi…

Sony is at the top of the camera game right now; it's making first-of-their kind cameras like the RX1 and A7, its NEX line is popular with consumers, and its best-in-class sensors are being used in other brands' flagship cameras (plus, unlike its competitors, it is also making mobile phone cameras and related technology). Sony has not been a slouch in the digital camera world, its R1 was one of the highest-resolution fixed-lens camera on the market for years after its release; and it received a well regarded pedigree with its purchase of Konica-Minolta. It is recently by and far getting the most press for its fixed-lens cameras of any brand. Its latest variant is in what used to be the widely regarded bridge-category, the large enthusiast camera for those that did not want to buy into an SLR system. The RX 10 uses a 1" sensor (the same size as the Nikon 1 systems) with a constant F2.8 aperture over the course of a 24-200mm equivalent range.

The latest entry-level camera from Pentax (K-500, $500) and its mid-range sibling (K-50, $700) are nearly identical in performance, with the latter adds non-photography related but nice features such as weather-resistance and lithium-ion batteries in place of standard AA. The Pentax K-500 remains very competitive in its segment, against entry-level cameras from Canon and Nikon; while the K-50 faces tougher imaging resistance against its slightly higher market.

While the two-digit Canon EOS line has made continuous progress, the Canon EOS 60D felt like it took a down-market turn for a few reasons. It switched from the ostensibly "more pro" Compact Flash format still used in both flagships by Canon and Nikon to increasingly more popular Secure Digital card…

The Pentax K-3 has a very sharp 24MP APS-C sized sensor, from which it can extract images at 8.3fps (for up to 23 raw captures). Among other high-end features offered in the $1,300 camera are dual SD card slots, and improved AF system, and an improved sensor-stabilizer that handles rotation as well…

Last year's NX210 was a minor update to the NX200 to add WiFi. The NX300 is a more meaningful update which, while bigger, is still quite portable and looks much nicer with its retro duo-tone styling. The camera's sensor has been replaced by an updated model that includes on-chip phase-detection which makes auto-focus much snappier and reliable.