pressrelease

Michael Zhang

Leaked Nikon Press Release Reveals New Program of Advanced DSLR Firmware Updates

Fuji has generated a great deal of customer loyalty and satisfaction with its "Kaizen" ("change good") policy of frequent and significant firmware updates that beef up existing cameras with exciting new features. Nikon may soon follow suit.

An apparently leaked press release suggests that Nikon will soon be launching a new program that gives Nikon DSLR owners the ability to download "advanced firmware updates" that add "new functionality" to their cameras.

DL Cade

AppCam Claims Leica Stole Its Software for the Leica T, Slams Them via Press Release

About a month ago, Leica debuted the touch-friendly, aluminum unibody Leica T: a hand-polished beauty that, despite the standard (read: REALLY!?) Leica price tag has been received pretty positively. Well, by some people at least.

There is one company that was less-than-thrilled when they saw the Leica T, however, and that company's name is AppCam. According to AppCam, the operating system on the Leica T is almost identical to the AppCam OS... the same OS that they tried to shop out to Leica two and a half years ago.

DL Cade

Hasselblad Quietly Announces the Stellar, an RX100 With an Expensive Makeover

About a week ago, the first images of Hasselblad's upcoming compact camera, the Stellar, leaked onto the Internet amongst rumors that it would essentially be a Sony RX100 with some very exotic housing materials and a much steeper price tag. Basically, people were thinking the RX100 would be to the Stellar what the NEX-7 was to the Lunar.

Michael Zhang

Nikon’s Articles of Incorporation May Be Updated to Include… Cosmetics?

Some strange news from Nikon today: the company published a press release detailing some decisions made at a meeting of the Board of Directors that was held today. The directors were discussing some proposed amendments to the company's Articles of Incorporation that will be discussed at the general shareholders meeting on June 28th. Under the section that spells out Nikon's business activities, they're proposing the following amendment:

Manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals, quasi-pharmaceutical products and cosmetics;

Unless we're reading this press release incorrectly, it seems to indicate that Nikon is planning to manufacture and sell pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

DL Cade

Canon Defends 5D Mark III, Claims “Light Leak” Doesn’t Affect the Captured Image

Over the last couple of weeks we've covered every aspect of the Canon 5D Mark III "light leak" issue. Starting initially as a rumor, Canon eventually confirmed that the camera's top LCD did, in fact, alter the exposure reading by 1/3 of a stop in dark environments. A week ago the company even put shipments on hold while they investigated the issue more extensively.

Michael Zhang

Nikon Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Online DSLR Buyers

A study conducted by market research firm J.D. Power and Associates has found that "Nikon Pro Series" DSLRs rank highest in customer satisfaction. The company surveyed 4,500 verified online DSLR buyers to find out their satisfaction across five factors: image quality, durability, features, ease of use, and responsiveness.

The Nikon Pro Series ranks highest in online buyer satisfaction with a score of 914. The Nikon Pro Series performs particularly well in shutter speed/lag time, durability and reliability and ease of operation. The Canon Mark-Series follows in the rankings with a score of 909, and performs particularly well in performance and picture quality. The Canon D-Series and Nikon D-Series rank third in a tie, each with a score of 889.

Overall, customers were most satisfied with image quality but least satisfied with durability and responsiveness.

Michael Zhang

Pentax Q is the World’s First “Point-and-Shoot” with Interchangeable Lenses

Pentax has just announced the Q, the world's smallest interchangeable lens camera (ILC). Unlike existing ILC cameras, which have large sensors despite their tiny bodies, the Q has a tiny 1/2.3-inch sensor that's more comparable to the sensors in point-and-shoot cameras. Thus, the Pentax Q can be considered the world's first interchangeable lens point-and-shoot camera, though it is packed with the features and manual controls found on ILCs and DSLRs.

The camera shoots 12.4MP JPEG or raw stills at up to 5fps, records 1080p video at 30fps, and offers the traditional shooting modes found on DSLRs (i.e. P, Av, Tv, M). ISO goes up to 6400, there's a 3-inch LCD on the back, and a funky onboard flash pops up in a strange way to help illuminate your photos.

Michael Zhang

Panasonic Unveils the GF3: Small, Light, and Minimalistic

After having images of it leaked onto the Interwebs last week, Panasonic's DMC GF3 Micro Four Thirds camera is now official. Like its predecessor, the GF2, the GF3 packs a 12-megapixel sensor, has a 3-inch LCD touchscreen, and shoots 1080p 1080/60i AVCHD video. In terms of differences, it has a faster processor that allows for faster autofocus times weighs 15% less, is 17% smaller, and is also even more simple than the GF2 -- it lacks a hot shoe and has a pop-up flash there instead.

Michael Zhang

Sony Announces the A35 Translucent Mirror Camera and the Tiny NEX-C3

After photographs of the cameras were leaked back in April 2011, Sony has now officially announced its A35 translucent mirror camera to replace the A33 and the NEX-C3. The A35 has the same resolution as the A55 -- 16.2 megapixels -- and can shoot 1080/60 video and 7 frames per second for stills (though resolution is reduced to 8.4MP at this rate. ISO goes up to 25600, and there's a large 3-inch touchscreen on the back. The A35 will be available in August for $600, or $700 if you want the standard 18-55mm kit lens included.

Michael Zhang

Word Clouds for Popular Cameras

How do camera makers describe their cameras? To answer this question, we took the press releases of some popular cameras and made word clouds with them that are based on the number of occurrences of non-common words. The above word cloud is for the Canon 5D Mark I.

Michael Zhang

Kodak Executive Russell Hunt Named a CRN Channel Chief for Second Consecutive Year

Editor's note: This is our first press release published in accordance with the terms of our acquisition by Eastman Kodak, which was announced earlier today.

Rochester, NY, March 28 -- Kodak’s Russell Hunt has earned recognition as a 2011 Channel Chief by Everything Channel’s CRN for the second consecutive year. Notably, Hunt has led the successful channel integration of two existing channel communities within Kodak. Through Hunt’s leadership efforts, Kodak expands its channel capabilities to provide customer-focused applications across a broad range of vertical industries.