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› archive for September, 2011

Nikon Announces 1 Nikkor Lenses

And just what would a new system be without some lenses to go with it? To go with its new Nikon 1 system, Nikon is introducing 4 new 1 Nikkor lenses, built for the new CX mount. The CX mount has a 2,7x crop factor, just as a reminder. The lenses are:

  • 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 – this is the standard kit zoom, with an effective focal range of 27-81mm. Notice the inclusion of VR, as well. This lens will come in colors coordinated to your chosen body. This lens is so far only available in a kit.
  • 1 NIKKOR VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 - 81-297mm equiv. This is the expected telephoto brother to the standard kit zoom. It looks like if you buy this in a 2 lens kit it’ll also be color coordinated. If you want to pick one up separate later, it’ll set you back $249.95, and we’ll maybe carry it in either black or white. We’re still looking into that.
  • 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8 pancake lens - No mirrorless system is complete with a small pancake prime for the street photography crowd, and for the Nikon 1 system that’s this 27mm equivalent prime right here. It’s available in some 2-lens kits with the bodies where it’ll be, you guessed it, color-coordinated. You can add it separate for $249.95, same as the other lens, and also probably in black or white.
  • 1 NIKKOR VR 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 - aimed at people wanting to shoot movies more, the 27-270mm equiv all-in-one zoom also features a powered zoom mechanism (ie, you don’t have to twist a zoom ring by hand, more like the rocker switch on point-and-shoots). The rocker switch can be seen towards the bottom of the lens, where you’d normally expect to see the AF/MF switch. This lens adheres to the Henry Ford policy and only comes in black, and so far as I can see can only be bought separately for $749.95


Nikon Announces Nikon 1 V1

Up second for today’s announcement-palooza from Nikon for its new 1 system is the V1 body, which is the higher-end body for this new interchangeable compact mirrorless system. It’s got the same 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor with that 2.7x crop “CX” format of the whole 1 system. It’s also got the 73 AF points using the hybrid contrast/phase detect system to achieve what Nikon is claiming to be the world’s AF system. You also get the 100-3200 ISO range with the 6400 push, and the 10fps/60fps with AF lock shooting speeds.

New to the V1 over the lower-level J1 are things like a 921,000 pixel LCD instead of the more pedestrian 421,000 pixel one, an all metal body build, an integrated EVF with 1.44 million dots of resolution, a flash hotshoe (though not on-axis, boooo), a mechanical shutter in addition to the electronic one (giving you a shutter speed range of  30 – 1/4000 with the mechanical), and stereo mic input.

Thanks to the advanced port and hotshoe, the V1 can take an external flash unit (the SB-N5) or a GPS unit (the GN-100), both custom-made for just the V1.

Following the Jody Factor, the Nikon 1 V1 comes in Henry Ford’s favorite color, black. Presumably only with matched black lens for the kits. As I understand, there’ll be several kits for the V1, including one with the standard 10-30mm VR (27-81mm equiv), one with the 10-30mm VR and a 10mm f2.8 pancake prime, and one with the 10-30mm VR and a 30-110mm VR (81-297mm equiv). Prices start at $899.95 for the one lens kit and go up to $1,149.95 for either two lens kit.

Press release after the jump (same as the J1):

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Nikon Announces New “Nikon 1″ System, Starting with the J1

Nikon today has finally come clean with its long-rumored mirrorless system, dubbed the “Nikon 1″ system. The system so far consists of 2 bodies and 4 lenses, with an additional flash unit and GPS module available for the higher end body.

Getting us started is the Nikon 1 J1. Snazzy name, I know. The J1 is the more “entry-level” of the two bodies, and features a 10.1 megapixel sensor with a 2.7x crop. Yup, 2.7x, or what Nikon is calling the new “CX” format. Like their FX and DX systems, any image stabilization to be had will be in-lens and not in-body. You see the picture around back on a 3″ LCD with a low-end 461,000 dots of resolution. The body is mixed metal chassis with composite parts, so, it’s a bit more rugged that your average entry-level DSLR, more on par with Nikon’s D7000 for build.

It seems that the thing to do for any new entry into this interchangeable lens compact market is to brag about having the world’s fastest AF, and Nikon doesn’t drop the ball. The Nikon 1 system is launching with a 73-point AF system that uses a hybrid process of switching between contrast-detect and phase-detect methods as needed to back up this newest claim to the world’s fastest.

The dial on the back only shows P&S style scene modes, but the specs table says there’s PASM up in here, so, we’ll have to get further clarification on that. It may or may not have proper manual modes. If it does, you’ll be diving through menus for them, though.

On the plus side, the J1 can pull off 10fps at full rez with AF every frame, if you lock AF at the onset you can get 60FPS (!). Additionally, there’s a Smart Photo Selector mode that’s shoot 20 photos at 30fps, discard everything with notable “bad” qualities, then look through the remainder for photos with “good” aspects and keep the best five for you.

The ISO range is 100-3200 native, and pushes to 6,400. Probably a reasonable stopping point giving the uniquely small size of this sensor for Nikon. The J1 includes a small built-in flash with a guide number of 5, and has no accessory port to expand upon this.

And, of course, the system does shoot 1080 HD video, and records to the now standard SD/SDHC/SDXC format.

The Nikon 1 J1 will come as a kit with a VR 10-30mm f3.5-5.6 (27-81mm equiv) lens in black, silver, white, red, or pink for $649 or so. And, as a bonus, the 10-30mm will be color matched to the body, for you fashion-conscious folks. (Or, if you and your buddy plan this, you can get two colored kits and swap lenses to rock that svelte two-tone look.)

Read more in the press release after the break:

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Canon Also Announces PowerShot SX40 HS

In addition to that S100, Canon announced an update to the SX30 IS today as well, coming in the form of the SX40 HS (HS indicating that in addition to the IS, it now has the low-light optimized CMOS sensor and imaging system inside). This model is the last remnant of their stoop-shouldered bridge camera line, which was once much more popular when the price gap between point-and-shoots and DSLRs was much greater than it now is.

No longer needing to so clearly mimic DSLRs in shape, these ultra-zoom bodies still sort that pseudo-DSLR shape but have gotten much, much tinier in recent years. At the same time, their zoom range has gotten much, much larger, and the SX40 HS packs, by modern standards, a paltry 35x zoom covering a mere 24-840mm equivalent range. Mere.

So, what’s new? Let’s see!

Feature SX30 IS SX40 HS
 Sensor  1/2.3? CCD  1/2.3? CMOS
 Megapixels  14.1  12.1
 ISO  80-1600  100-3200
 Display  2.7″ LCD  2.7″ LCD
 Zoom  35x  35x
 Focal Range (equiv)  24-840mm  24-840mm
Aperture  f2.7 – 5.8  f2.7 – 5.8
 Technology  IS  HS, IS
 Colors  Black  Black

Looks like the addition of the HS system is really the only thing to see here. Which megapixel count was better will depend on your needs, for day-light shooting, the extra 2 megapixels were nice. For low-light, the new 12 count will yield larger and less noisy pixels. It’s marked as it is in the table on a pure number basis, since there’s no hard and fast way to say whether resolution or sensitivity are better, and each person will need them differently.

Press release and additional image after the jump.

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Canon Announces PowerShot S100 High-End Compact

Another day, another camera announcement. This one’s a good one, though: the successor to Canon’s popular S95 compact. For those catching up, the high end S90/95/100 series compacts were introduced to provide an alternative to the G series pro cameras for people who need enhanced imaging quality but not necessarily the bulk and dials of the G series. The result is the very slim, unassuming looking camera you see, with a clever control ring around the lens and an f2 maximum aperture.

New this year is a DIGIC V processor bound to a new CMOS sensor (making it built on their new HS platform despite the lack of indication of this in the name). The lens is up from 3.3x zoom to 5x, but keeps that characteristic f2 maximum aperture. It’ll also be available in silver as well as black now The comparison table looks like this:

 

Feature S95 S100
 Sensor  1/1.7″ CCD  1/1.7″ CMOS
 Megapixels  10.4  12.1
 ISO  80-3200  80-6400
 Display  3″ LCD  3″ LCD
 Zoom  3.3x  5x
 Focal Range (equiv)  28-105mm  24-120mm
Aperture  f2.0 – 4.9  f2.0 – 5.9
 GPS  No  Yes
 Colors  Black  Black, Silver

We’re working on a preorder page for this right now, and it’ll be on our site within the next hour or so. Expected retail price, per the press release, will be $429.99. Speak of a press release, hit the jump for that and to see this baby in silver.

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Sets Forth American Photographer’s Rights

If you own a camera, live in America, and take pictures of more than your friends and family smiling in front of tourist spots, you’re probably already aware of a lingering environment of hostility towards professional photography gear in public in our post-9-11 society. And, while there have been many useful guides to what your rights still are, none have been from an organization with the history and clout of the ACLU. Until now, anyway. So, stop wasting time here when you could be hitting the link below and reading over their write-up. Print out a copy. Keep it in your camera bag. And take to heart the parts where they remind you to be polite, nothing makes photographer’s look worse in the eyes of nervous law enforcement than behaving like entitled, belligerent sacks. Know your rights, stick to them, but do it with manners, composure, and respect. It’ll keep you out of a great deal of trouble, usually.



Extending the Hot

Due to some staff shortages around here this week, our judge for the contest is buried and won’t have time to review last month’s entrants until next week. Sooooo…. we’re just going to extend the August contest through to midnight September 11th. You’ve now got an extra few days to get us those pictures of “Hot,” don’t waste them.




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