DSLR News

Canon held its once-every-five-years Canon Expo 2015 show in New York City last September where the Tokyo-based company pulled back the curtain on some potentially groundbreaking imaging technology. Part science lab and part marketing showcase, the event drew tens of thousands of buyers, dealers, and distributors of Canon products (along with a large group of journalists) eager to see what the company had up its sleeve.

Starting with the 2014 CES trade show, held at the turn of the year, and continuing through press time for this issue, we’ve seen a goodly number of new products come to the fore. All this is only the start—this being a photokina year we’ll see a whole new round of products, including CMOS-sensor medium formats, with prices to match, coming our way. I trust that this report will give you a good sense of what’s here and what’s coming down the pike. So, here are my quick picks of those products that caught my eye, plus a snapshot of some of the trends.

Ricoh Imaging Americas just announced the Pentax K-70, a compact, dustproof and weather-resistant DSLR. The Pentax K-70 uses a 24-megapixel APS-C image sensor and is designed for shooting in low light and at temperatures as low as 14-degrees F (-10°C).  It’s aimted at “hikers, climbers and snow sports enthusiasts, as well as for nature and landscape photographers,” Ricoh Imaging said in a news release today.

In an announcement that’s sure to create a buzz among those looking for a new full-frame DSLR, Ricoh Imaging, the parent company of Pentax, just unveiled the eagerly anticipated Pentax K-1 Mark II DSLR. The new camera retains all of the features that made the original Pentax K-1 camera so popular, and adds a host of powerful new features and capabilities.

Photographers loved the now-discontinued Pentax K-5 IIs DSLR for its rugged, magnesium body and it’s weatherproof/cold-resistant design. Brian Maneely is one such shooter whose Penax K-5 IIs recently survived being doused with fire retardant and then hosed off with water while shooting a California wildfire.

Serious photography can be seriously expensive, especially for those who update their cameras often and insist on carrying a bag loaded with premium glass. But here’s a secret for photographers on a budget: For the same money (or less), you can often achieve far better results with a high-quality vintage lens, than by “saving money” on a modern mid-level or kit lens.

Q. I have a Lightroom catalog that contains pictures I have accidentally erased. The items are not in the “Recycle Bin” nor do I have any other access to the JPEGs. Is there anything that can be done using Lightroom to retrieve the JPEGs?