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Panasonic Announces Cameras, Since It Was a Sunday We Slept Through It

Panasonic DMC-G2

Panasonic DMC-G2

So, not having any apparent consideration for us 9-5 types, Panasonic announced its new products this past Sunday. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m something of a tech junkie, so while I was still clearing the sleep from my eyes I read about them in my feed reader. But, then, see, I slept again after that. So, I just remembered them again this morning, just in time for them to be old news, but better late than never, I suppose.

So, first up let’s tackle the G2. The G2 is clearly positioned as the replacement to Panasonic’s first m4/3 shooter, the G1. The nitty-gritty? Well, it’s mostly the same, same form factor (mini-DSLR-style with an electronic viewfinder of some repute), 12 megapixels, 3″ swivel LCD. New? Well, that swiveling LCD screen is now a 3″ swiveling LCD touchscreen. So, that pushes this to the first interchangeable lens device I’ve ever heard of with a touch interface (and for all you nay-sayers, there’re still buttons too), so it’ll be interesting to see what that adds to the experience.

Oh, and they added video, in the form of 720p MPEG. Not their fanciest showing for HD recording, but I reckon they don’t want to step on their GH1‘s toes, especially since it’s so well-designed for video anyway.

Panasonic DMC-G10

Panasonic DMC-G10

Up second is the G10, which maybe we should call by it’s full name of DMC-G10 to help decrease confusion between it and Canon’s infamous PowerShot G10. The DMC-G10 is kinda like the G2, but without the swively touchy screen. It instead opts for the more pedestrian fixed LCD. It will also be available in red, black, and blue, making it the new go-to kid at the bottom of Panasonic’s m4/3 line-up.

Panasonic 14 - 42 mm f3.5-5.6 Lumix G Vario

Panasonic 14 - 42 mm f3.5-5.6 Lumix G Vario

What? Not enough news you say? OK, fine. How about an update to the standard kit lens? Will that do? Good, ’cause Panasonic also announced a new 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens with Mega OIS, which is pictured on both of the new bodies. Previously Panasonic had debuted a 14-45mm, and 14-42mm is a classic focal length for Olympus, who’s offering shares the same mount, so I will admit to a little confusion as to this lens ‘existence, but, when it comes to lens line-ups the more the merrier, I say.



Canon Days: S90 Comparisons

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Carel sent us this as a supplement to his last post.]

[UPDATED: Now better laid out for comparisons]

As mentioned in the review, all images were shot without noise reduction or sharpening. For the Canon 350D I only shot 400, 800 and 1600ISO

-Carel Struycken

PowerShot S90 Crops:

ISO 100

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 3200

PowerShot G10 Crops:

ISO 100

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 1600

EOS 350D Crops:

ISO 400

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 1600


Canon Days: Hands On Review: PowerShot S90

carel struyckenDuring the ’70s, a producer/director friend of mine used to roam the LA punk scene with an amazing little 35mm camera, the Minox 35 GL. It was the smallest 35mm camera ever produced. Its sharp Minotar lens shot beautiful pictures and thanks to the high ISO films that were being perfected in those days, one could shoot in very low light. There has never been any digital equivalent in size and low light capabilities until now, with Canon’s introduction of the S90. With the G11 and S90 cameras, Canon has finally reversed the maddening pixel race. Pixel density on the G11 has been reduced from its predecessor’s 34MP/cm² down to 23MP/cm² and low light performance has greatly improved. The S90 uses the same sensor and its f-2 maximum aperture helps to make this the best p&s for available light shooting.

The Canon S90 is slightly larger than Canon’s Elph (3.5 x 2.2 x 0.8″ for the Canon SD940IS vs. 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.2″ for the Canon S90), but it still easily slips into the average pocket. A bit too slippery sometimes and it almost fell out of my hands before I made it a rule to use the wrist strap. Much has been made of the programmable function control ring around the lens and it is indeed wonderful…

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Hit the jump to read the rest of Carel's review and to view his large gallery of sample shots]

[UPDATED]

read more



Canon Days Kicks Off At Roberts

Canon Days has started here at Roberts, and the first specials up on the site are for the Rebel XSi with an 18-55 IS and 55-250mm IS lens, the 7D finds itself shipping with a free Canon 200DG Gadget Bag, PowerShot G10s make a brief reappearance, and the PowerShot A480 is at a very friendly new low price. I think next up we have some more camcorders…

Oh, and tomorrow we’ll have a nice little bonus for Canon week: A hands-on review of the new PowerShot S90 by none other than Carel Struycken. So, keep your eyes tuned here, and to our home page. This’ll be a nice week for stocking up on Canon gear…



Canon’s PowerShot G11 Bows Out Of Megapixel War

g11Canon’s PowerShot G11, the long-awaited and much desired replacement to the no-longer available G10, appears to have politely taken a step back and removed itself from the megapixel wars. Down to 10 megapixels now, versus the 14.7 of its immediate predecessor, the G11 is a self-proclaimed effort on Canon’s behalf to appease the G series fans and to get back to the series’ roots. So, they’ve traded more pixels for better. Good for them, I say. There’s a lot of market pressure these days (especially from Sony, who hand out megapixels like a digital Santa in a beneficent mood), and I’ve never quite seen a new model go backwards in the megapixel count like this. Good show.

Also back is the tilt-swivel LCD of yesteryear, a feature which I’ve weighed in repeatedly in favor of. Admittedly, 99% of the time I never use it. But, it’s nice to know it’s there for when I do need it. The E-P1 would’ve benefited from one, for example.

So, cease any mumblings about people not listening, ye disheartened fans, the G11 seems to be a pretty solid show of faith and effort to accommodate the actual market and not the imaginary one that drives marketing departments sometimes. It is, in short, a camera for photographers, and we all love that.



Canon Announces Powershot G11, Powershot S90, Powershot SX20 IS, Powershot SX120 IS, SD890 IS, SD940

g11So, finally appearing on Canon’s site today is the long-awaited Powershot G11, the top-of-the-line digital camera replacing the long-hard-to-find G10. It trots out with a 10 megapixel sensor, DIGIC IV processor, 2.8″ tilt-swivel LCD (man I love those things), and a 28-140mm f2.8-4.5 equivalency zoom lens. Of course it also does RAW, and has a small optical viewfinder, as well you’d expect from the G range.

The S range is also back with the S90, the two SX series get upgrades, and there are two new ELPHs. More details to come, right now Nick and I are off to frantically get those up for you to read in full over on the site.



Canon G10 Gets a Service Notice

We have discovered that in rare instances, lines may appear in images captured by some units of the PowerShot G10 digital camera. Accordingly, we would like to convey the details and our service policy concerning this phenomenon.

So reads the opening of a Canon-issued service notice regarding the popular G10 compact camera. It continues:

Products with the following serial numbers are affected. Please check the serial number on the bottom of the camera to see if your camera is affected.

Serial Numbers

Products whose fourth and fifth digits from the left indicate the following numbers may be affected.Example:

  • ***50*****
  • ***51*****
  • ***52*****
  • ***53*****
  • ***80*****
  • ***81*****
  • ***82*****
  • ***83*****

Full information and what to do if your camera falls under those numbers via Canon here



Spring Expo

It’s that time of year again!  Today is the big start to the week of the Spring Expo here at Roberts Imaging, culminating in the big Manufacture Representative demo on Friday, April 24 and Saturday April 25.

Got an old camera you want to sell?  Bring it in on Friday and we will buy it from you.  This is at our downtown store only.  We will have folks on hand in the store to buy your gear.

We have several deals going on this week from all the brands, but there are a few standouts.  How about a Nikon Coolpix camera S520 for only $89.97?  It wasn’t too long ago it was selling for $200.  Hurry.  We have a limited stock of them.  A Sony A350 SLR with two Sony lenses and the vertical grip for the camera, all for $799.99!!  And many, many more deals!

There was a misprint in the Indianapolis Star ad that I should mention too.  It shows a Canon G10 for $129.97.  Obviously, to those that know the camera, that was a big mistake.  It should read $449.97.  Sorry about the mistake.  Sometimes that happens.



Bullet-Point Updates

Sorry I’m so quiet right now, I’m busy back here getting the help department ready to go and filled with all tose useful shopping tips and technical tidbits I’m famous for wasting your time with.

So, here’s the ultra-super-quick update of things I’m behind on mentioning:

1. My beloved E-3 Olympus digital camera had a recent firmware (which DPReview has so far failed to mention), which improved some focus situations and in a rare move for Oly, added a feature: I can now switch my af point with the 4-way controller, mostly just like you wonderful Nikon digital SLR camera users out there.

2. Speaka Nikon, I’m sure you’ve all heard about the AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G, which for all you DX users will be as close as it’s going to get to the 50mm f1.8′s of ye olden days. That price point is pretty sweet, two, color me envious this time.

3. The Panasonic G1 updated its firmware

4. Canon updated firmware for the G10, and of course there’s the 5D Mk II firmware update that’s been out for a bit.

5. Fuji’s new EXR technology looks poised to change the game if it works as well as they claim (and in general their past tech has, although there usually seems to be one minor niggle that people hang it for, I’m hoping EXR overcomes this because it stands to revolutionize low-light shooting.) I’ll talk about my thoughts on this once I can get a moment to breathe this week.



Raw Footage

Alright, it’s Friday once again and this week we have not one but TWO installments of our Raw Footage video blog to share with you. In the first one I myself (regrowing my beard and with recently blond hair and all) walk you through the highlights of the newest and neatest of the Canon PowerShot digital cameras, the G10. The G10 is a 14.7 MP metal-clad beast of a compact designed to compliment Canon digital SLR cameras and includes RAW shooting, making it a great sidekick for you pros. But you all knew that, didn’t'cha?

The second clip is from our new guy, Nick, who wanted to briefly talk about what he’s come to like about the Sony digital camera, the Alpha 300 (A300) DSLR, he’s been using this week.

I’ve embedded the clips below for convenience, but you can also always find them on our YouTube channel here or on our Podcasts page in our Learning Center.




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