Panasonic has officially announced the Lumix GF5, conveniently skipping over the GF4 from the GF3. The tiny Micro Four Thirds camera is geared towards beginners and offers some subtle changes from its predecessor. While the 12.1-megapixel sensor hasn’t changed, the new camera offers a new max ISO of 12,800, faster autofocus, a new 1080/30p HD view mode, a stereo microphone, a higher-res 3-inch touchscreen, a refined user interface, and an increase to 4fps (up from 3.8).
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Canon has officially taken the wraps off its new 5D Mark III DSLR, a followup to the 5D Mark II that offers a feature set that sits somewhere between its predecessor and the soon-to-arrive 1D X. The camera packs a 22.3MP full-frame sensor, the 61-point AF system found in the 1D X, 63-zone metering, an ISO range of 100-25600 (expandable to 50-102400), 6fps continuous shooting, a 3.2-inch LCD (1.04M dots), and 100% viewfinder coverage (up from 98%).
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Turns out that mysterious Leica camera spotted on British singer Seal was in fact a Leica that didn’t officially exist yet, but now it does: Leica has just announced the M9-P digital rangefinder. The new camera is basically the M9 with a few cosmetic changes — all the guts are identical. Like on the non-digital Leica MP, the traditional red dot is missing from the M9-P, which meant to give the camera an “understated appearance”.
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Samsung has announced the NX11, a mirrorless camera nearly identical to the NX10 (released earlier this year) except for a new grip design and support for the i-Function lens system introduced with the NX100. i-Function lenses allow photographers to change camera settings using the focus ring and a special button on the lens. The specs otherwise remain unchanged: 14.6 megapixels, 3-inch LCD screen, and HD video of 720p at 30fps. It’ll come bundled with a 18-55mm kit lens for $650 in February 2011.
With a select few companies currently dominating the digital camera scene, less popular brands are forced to come up with creative ways to capture market share. One possible way is to introduce esoteric features that most consumers would have absolutely no use for, and that’s exactly what Casio seems to be doing with its new EX-FC160S compact camera targeted towards golfers.
When playing back video recorded at 240fps on the camera, a special mode can overlay lines that help you check whether you’re swinging properly — in slow motion. If that’s not enough, the camera comes with commentary by professional golfer Chie Arimura.
The 10 megapixel camera will go available starting late August with an initial production volume of 5,000 cameras. To check out the announcement, visit the Casio Japan website (though you’ll probably need to translate it).
Coming soon: a compact camera that doubles as a metal detector.
(via 1001 Noisy Cameras)
