Compact Camera News

Almost lost midst the buzz over this week’s unveiling of Panasonic’s new flagship Lumix GH5 mirrorless camera is the introduction of the company’s Lumix FZ80, a remarkably affordable superzoom camera with an effective range of 20-1200mm and 4K capability.

The Pentax MX was a 35mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera produced from 1976 to 1985 and, for a time, was the company’s flagship SLR. It was solidly built featuring all-mechanical construction, including the shutter, and only the metering system was battery dependent. The new all-digital, all-electronic Pentax MX-1 couldn’t be more different. For openers, the MX-1 is not an SLR but an advanced digital compact camera with the kind of retro styling that’s all the rage these days with camera designers and, apparently, camera buyers, too. So, how does the MX-1 stack up?

“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.”—Jack Kerouac

Photokina 2014 in Germany has been covered widely on the Internet already—including our own extensive reporting on the show on Shutterbug.com—so there’s no need for me to rehash the major announcements from the event, such as the latest full-frame cameras from Canon and Nikon and the like. My photo report here is aimed at sharing some wider ranging thoughts and perspectives on this important biennial show and what it told us about photography today and where it might be heading tomorrow.

This would appear to be a new golden age for rangefinder users. There are now three major systems (Leica, Voigtländer, and Zeiss) and two minor (Epson and Rollei). All use the same cross-compatible lens mount, for which an extensive and excellent range of lenses is available, and all compete with one another, albeit at different price points. Who could have imagined this...

“Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”—Walt Disney

It’s a photokina year and you know what that means; all of the camera manufacturers will be holding off their newest SLRs for launch at the big show in Germany this fall. While Canon was not at PMA, they officially launched the EOS-1D Mark IV...

Yesterday we told you about Polaroid's new Zip mobile printer and now here's another new  product from the venerable imaging brand. Polaroid’s new Socialmatic camera combines the nostalgic look of a vintage Polaroid instant camera with the ability to share your images via the camera’s built-in WiFi and Android interface.