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Olympus Posts Slew of E-PL1 Videos

Olympus, maker of tough, waterproof point-and-shoots and DSLR’s that I’ve been famously known to run under a sink and stand-on at parties, only to then photograph the onlookers, and co-pioneers of the mirror-less compact interchangeable lens camera frontier, sent us an email today telling us about their new YouTube video spots about their E-PL1.

These 11 short videos are aimed to help you all through the various highlights of the E-PL1, and to help explain what it offers over regular compacts (‘point and shoots”), or the full-blown DSLR boat anchors like I carry. So, if you’ve got a few minutes and an interest in one of the hottest new camera types in decades, why not hop over and watch a few?



Nikon Coolpix Flowchart: January 2010 Edition

So, one of the biggest things I do here at Roberts is try and find new and better ways to merge our in-store expertise and helpful guidance with the cold, spec-oriented world of the internet. Every year manufacturer’s release dozens of point-and-shoots—each—and even if you’re in the business it can be hard to keep them all straight. For a casual consumer who just needs pictures of their family and friends? it’s an impossible chore, and a lot of people still like going into stores—many times with limited, poor selection— just because it’s easier to find out which camera they need.

So, my most recent solution is a visual flowchart, so we’re going to try this out. Here’s the current Nikon Coolpix lineup in an easy-to-read, non-technical flowchart where simple answers will help you find the exact model you want based on what matters these days. In a world where all cameras can take perfectly acceptable pictures, and the old measurements of lens zoom and megapixel matter less (Nikon announced 5 models with the same megapixels and zoom range. 5!), we need better ways to find you what you need.

If this seems like a good plan, and if you’d like to see us do these for everyone’s lineup, hit us up in the comments and let us know. We need your feedback to make this happen.

(Click the thumbnail to the left to see it rather large)



Black Friday Hits Roberts, Is Better Online


black-friday-09

It’s that time of the year again. Can you hear the gnashing of teeth, the snapping of bones, the cries of anguish, terror, and pain? You got it, it’s Black Friday once more. So, while everyone else is out fighting for their lives in crowds of increasingly miserable shoppers, why don’t you, the internet-savvy consumer with enough time to be reading this post, take a skip over to our homepage and check out some of our same hot Black Friday deals without leaving your home. It’s easier to enjoy a cup of coffee this way, I promise.

What’s on highlight? Well, among other things:

black-friday-shippingFirst off, from now until December 18th we’re happy to say we’ve dropped the minimum order to qualify for FREE UPS ground shipping. Now, any order over $200 will get it shipped UPS Ground to the contiguous 48 states for no charge. And, if that wasn’t hot enough, any camera bag $49 or over will ship free as well.

Now, these free shipping offers still only apply to order placed on our online cart system. If you place it with a sales representative, either in store or over the phone, we can’t offer you the free shipping. It’s just one of those things, weird, we know. But, yeah.

Need more? How about a Coolpix S210 for $69.97? That’s 8.1 megapixels and 3x optical zoom in a stylish, slim brushed metal body. If you’ve been sold on the megapixel wars by the marketing people, don’t hesitate because of the lower megapixel number. On small-sensor cameras, 7-10 megapixels will lead to better noise and dynamic range, and if you only ever show your pictures online or don’t ever print larger than 5×7 or even 8×10, you don’t need more than 6 megapixels to make sharp, excellent pictures anyway. This’ll be a good choice for anyone who wants a no-fuss camera for taking snapshots of their life, wherever that might be.

More? How about the very popular, high-performance Sandisk Extreme III series cards (CompactFlash or SD), in a very convenient 4GB size for only $19.97, your choice? These high speed cards will make your camera sing when put to the test at your kids sporting events, or when you need to machine-gun that DSLR catching birds-in-flight.

And that’s just a couple. Check out our homepage for even more, and remember that our everyday lowest prices of the season are already in place on all the most popular DSLRs, lenses, high-end point-and-shoots, and even more! So, why fight for your life in the surging masses, when you could do all your imaging shopping online with us?



Nikon Coolpix S70: That’s a Good Lens

So, we heard the occasional murmur that Nikon’s last series of Coolpix may or may not have had sharp lenses. Well, we know for certain that’s not the case with the shared 28mm 5x zoom on their new series. We were testing the S1000pj and the S70 today and woah, those suckers have good little lenses for point-and-shoots. Really good. Don’t believe us? We shot the pic below from a magazine in the classroom, with the S70 in macro mode. Check out the detail in that crop, it got the printing ink and the irregularities in the newsprint. Very impressive show, Nikon. Very impressive.



MIT Sends Canon Powershot A470 Into Space: For $150

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I love the dudes at MIT. You basically have to. While I spend weekends replaying Half-Life 2 (the relation to MIT not escaping me), they’re doing crazy things like sending Canon point-and-shoots into shallow space for less than a good iPod. Seriously. That gorgeous photo there? That’s space. That’s earth. That only cost them $150.

For full details on it (involving the use of a beer-cooler, a prepaid cellphone, a hot-air balloon, and the hack firmware for their Canon), check out the post at Wired (where I found this), or go straight to their project page.



Sony DSC-W170 Gets Serviced

w170So, it appears of Sony’s DSC-W170, one of their popular ultra-slim point-and-shoots, may sometimes experience an issue with the plating on the bezel around the lens peeling off and splintering. Details on the recall can be found over at Sony, so if you’re thinking your camera is among those affected you might want to check it out so they can get you fixed up.



The Elusive Point-And-Shoot Viewfinder

The PNS Viewfinder: Going the Way of the Dodo

The PNS Viewfinder: Going the Way of the Dodo

So, time was a tiny, teeny little hole in most point-and-shoots served as a viewfinder. These days, that little feature is getting pretty hard to find, to much mumbling and grumbling from the forum-dwellers. And, while there are cons to losing the sorry excuse for a viewfinder that was the plastic hole on many of these cameras, I don’t think it’s quite worth all the gnashing of teeth I see. Here’s why:

Why People Want a Viewfinder

Let’s start with what the viewfinder’s purpose is and was. Back in the bad old days of digital cameras (like, three years ago), LCDs weren’t exactly on the top of their game. They had resolution issues, viewing angle oddities, and were basically incapable of being used in light brighter than an overcast day. The tiny little viewfinder was a cheap and effective way to let people frame their shots when the sun overwhelmed the LCD.

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Zoomity-Zoom

Zoom is the stuff. At least as far as convenience goes. When I hired in, it was Nikon’s 18-200mm VR. We just could not keep that sucker in stock. That’s an 11x zoom (welllllll…. 11.111111 yadda yadda, rounding is our friend here.) Last year Canon jumped onto that game itself with the EF-S 18-200. 11x, that’s not too darn shabby there. The average point-and-shoot for years has been 3x.

We should really stop to talk about how unuseful “zoom” is as a measurement. The x zoom of a lens is found by dividing the longest length by the shortest. So, it tells you how much there is, but now where it exists between. Is the widest point 36mm, or 28mm? How long is that telephoto? 100mm? 200mm? Who knows? Zoom is a handy quick measurement, but it’s useless if you don’t also check to see where the limits are at.

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Go Wide. No, Wider!

Wide Angle Chart
There was a time once  when the most common lens going was the, dare I say, stalwart 50mm. 50mm lenses are famous for matching roughly the same way human eyes see (OK, they don’t have as much peripheral vision, but that’s more a film/sensor thing, the perspective is right.)

These days, most “standard” zooms, especially those on point-and-shoots, go wider, typically around 36mm. Which is nice, but nicer still is the new trend of going all the way out to 28mm.If you look at the diagram I made there, you can see the difference in field of view between these lengths. As you can see, a 28mm lens will let you capture considerably more of a scene than 36mm will. So, if wide is your thing, this is one of the digital camera comparisons you’ll be wanting to make and keep you eye out for the new wave of point and shoots with these magical 28mm lenses. They come in a variety of types, including Nikon Coolpix cameras like the S610 and S710, Canon PowerShot digital cameras like the SX10 IS and SD880 IS, and the Panasonic DMC-FX150.

28mm just not wide enough for you? Check out the Panasonic LX3, it packs an even wider 24mm lens. And we’re throwing in a free bag and SD memory card with it right now, too.



Consumer Report: Digital Zoom

Roberts 2008 Holiday Consumer Guide

I remember hearing a saying for people in Hollywood: the gross is a dream, ask for a cut of net. In cameras, the idea is “the digital zoom is a lie, ask for the optical.” The amount of zoom is one of the most important digital camera comparisons, and most point-and-shoots will list 2 different zoom values for their cameras, like “3x Optical 5x Digital.” Some of them will tell you this gives the camera a full 15x of zoom, which sounds great. But, there’s a but.

Full Optical Zoom

Here’s a picture. Let’s assume it was shot at the full end of a camera’s “optical zoom” this is as close as we can get, but we want to zoom in more so we get ready to kick in our digital zoom. There’s a reason you should hesitate at this point, though.

Optical zoom uses the lens to change how much of a scene is hitting your sensor. This means that whether wide or tele, you’re using all of your camera’s megapixels. What digital does is reduce the number of pixels from the edge the camera uses, making it look like you’ve zoomed in farther. So, let’s kick our digital zoom in on that picture, and we’ll get something like below. Digital Zoom CropsThe yellow represents the area of the sensor not being used, and you can see that what’s left does, indeed, look zoomed in on.

This is actually a process called ‘cropping,’ and you can do it just as easily using the software that comes with your camera. What’s the problem with using less pixels? After using digital zoom, or cropping, you’ll have a much smaller picture, as you can see below.

Smaller Images

If you try printing the picture on the right, it’ll have to be sized up to be as big as the one on the left, and this’ll make is look fuzzier, less sharp, and less detailed.

If you don’t want to make that sacrifice, but still need more zoom than your optical zoom can give you, some Nikon Coolpix cameras and Canon PowerShot digital cameras (among a few others), have available point and shoot lens adaptors, which will add more zoom to your optical zoom.

So, when you’re deciding what camera to buy this Christmas season, decide how much zoom you need and look for ones that have it stated as “optical.”




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