Earlier today, we shared a couple of leaked photographs of the soon-to-arrive Fujifilm X20, which replaces the X10 but looks virtually identical in appearance (except for the fact that it comes in silver in addition to black).

Not to be outdone, the X100s has gotten itself leaked as well. Photos and specs for that camera have emerged, and reveal that, like the X20, the camera is nearly identical in form to its predecessor.
Read more…

Yesterday we wrote that multiple sources were confirming that Fujifilm will be launching an X10 successor called the X20 at CES 2013 next week. Now, less than 24 hours later, we now know what it looks like.
Read more…

The mirrorless camera market has been bustling with activity as of late. Rumors have already begun circulating that Canon will be releasing a viewfinder-equipped EOS-M sometime in 2013, Polaroid is working on a Nikon J2 lookalike, and CES is just around the corner, which means many camera makers will be taking the wraps off upgrades to their mirrorless lines.

The latest word from the world of Nikon is still a bit surprising, though: Nikon Rumors is reporting that the camera giant is going to add not one, but two new mirrorless cameras to its Nikon 1 line at CES 2013.
Read more…

Fujifilm announced back in January at CES that it was working on an M-mount adapter for the X-Pro1, a camera that looks strikingly similar to Leica’s digital rangefinders. The company is now showing off the adapter at the CP+ trade show in Japan. Leica film aficionados who want to play around with digital in style can now choose between paying $1700 for the X-Pro1 or $6000-$7000 for the Leica M8 or Leica M9.

(via Fujifilm via Leica Rumors)

Canon’s latest compact cameras at CES this year have some fancy new facial recognition features that assist in portrait shots. Up to 12 people can be stored in the camera. Simply snap a photo of your friends face, provide the friend’s name (and birthday if you wish), and the camera will recognize your friend from that point forward. In group shots, the camera will give your friends’ faces preferential treatment, making sure that they’re properly in focus and exposed.
Read more…

Casio is showing off a crazy 2D to 3D conversion service at CES that turns ordinary photographs into three-dimensional sculptures. The service takes a photograph, calculates depth using some fancy technology, and then prints out the result using a proprietary 3D printer. The examples they’re showing off aren’t too flattering though — the dog and cat sample photos were turned into sculptures that look like transdimensional taxidermy.

(via Gizmodo)

Image credits: Photographs by Andrew Liszewski/Gizmodo

Smartphones are constantly getting better at imitating compact cameras, but so far we haven’t seen many cameras that attempt to mimic smartphones. That changes today with the Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera, a 16-megapixel compact camera unveiled at CES. It’s a point-and-shoot camera that’s pretty much a smartphone without the phone. Powered by Android, the camera features a 3x (36-108mmm) optical zoom lens, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity, 720p video recording, and geotagging. The Android OS means that users can install and use Android Market apps on the camera (e.g. Instagram once it becomes available). It’ll be available starting in April for $300.

With camera-equipped phones eating up more and more of the compact camera market, manufacturers are turning to gimmicky features in order to lure consumers. Canon’s new line of ELPH cameras have a Sleeping Face Recognition mode that’ll make your camera creepy stealthy (i.e. turn off flash, assist beam, and sounds) when it detects someone sleeping in the frame. Olympus’ new VR-340 has a Beauty Make-Up Mode that offers 18 in-camera enhancements (e.g. whiten teeth, lift cheek bones) — something that Panasonic is also dabbling in. Too bad these features can easily be offered as an app on smartphones. Someone should tell camera makers to focus on ease of use and image quality — areas they might still be competitive in.

Image credit: Illustration by Disney

Pretty much everything we wanted to know about the Fujifilm X-Pro1 was leaked over the weekend, but now the camera finally transitioned from the world of rumors into official reality. Fujifilm unveiled the X-Pro1 at CES today, and confirmed the leaked specs. They also announced plans to release 9 additional lenses within the next three years. Sadly, the usefulness of the official announcement ends there — there was no word on how much things will cost when they become available late February (the price will be announced later this month).

Update: The price of the camera, based on a briefly-online Amazon product listing, is rumored to be $1,700 for the body only.

If you’re in the market for a new digital camera this year, buying it in January or February might get you the best deal. Lifehacker has published a comprehensive list of when to buy things based on when you’re most likely to see low prices:

January: After the big trade shows like CES come around in mid-January, you’ll see that older model cameras drop in price to prepare for the newly-announced ones.

February: Since the newest cameras will have just come out post-CES, you can grab last year’s models for less.

The Best Time to Buy Anything in 2012 [Lifehacker]

Image credit: February Already!?! by ohdarling