Blue Heron - 676.4mm, 1/250s, F5.0, ISO 64

Birds, rabbits, raccoons, even ducks are best photographed from a distance, in their natural habitat and indulging in their typical behavior. Many of these animals do not really want you to get too close, shying away, flying off or even biting to keep you at a safe distance. There was a time when you needed a 35mm film SLR and an expensive long telephoto lens to take this kind of nature photography from far.

Fortunately, digital technology has made possible cameras that are compact and light, and costing a fraction of what you would have had to spend in 35mm equivalent equipment, opening up a whole new world of photography to budget conscious photographers. These long zoom (or ultra zoom) digital cameras typically feature 10x, 12x, or even 20x optical zoom. For our needs, what we are interested in is not so much the zoom power, but the telephoto focal length.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1

DCRP (dcresource) has posted their review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 [Specs], now with HD Movie 1920×1080 @ 24fps (or 1280×720 @ 60fps), stereo sound, 12.1MP resolution (on a 17.3 x 13.0 mm Live MOS Sensor), 3.0-in. high resolution (460,000 dots) Free-angle LCD, “Super-fast contrast detect autofocus” Live View, high resolution (480,000 dots for a 1,440,000 dots equivalent) EVF at 60fps refresh, eye sensor, Dust Reduction, Scene Modes and full exposure flexibility. The GH1 comes with the new 10x optical zoom LUMIX G VARIO HD 14-140mm / F4.0-5.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) lens.

Olympus PenD

Here is the 3rd installment of the teaser for the new Olympus micro G digital camera on the Olympus Asia site. They are basically following the history of the Pen camera. The next teaser is next Tuesday, June 9, 2009 [and then it looks like there's space for one more camera after that]. Check out the Olympus Pen history, celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

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Fujifilm FinePix S1500

PhotographyBLOG has posted their review of the Fujifilm FinePix S1500 [Specs], "a lot of camera for the money" with its 10MP resolution (1/2.3-in. CCD), 12x optical zoom (33-396mm equiv.), Sensor-shift Image Stabilization, 2.7-in. LCD (230K dots), Movie (640×480) @ 30fps, PASM modes, Scene Recognition Auto mode, Face Detection, Tracking Auto Focus, and Red-Eye Removal.

Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS

DigitalCameraReview has posted their review of the Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS [Specs], an ultra compact digital camera that "packs much of the versatility of a larger camera" with its 10MP resolution (1/2.3-in. CCD), 3x optical zoom (35-105mm equiv.), optical image stabilization, an optical viewfinder, 2.5-in. LCD (230K dots), Movie (640×480) @ 30fps, Smart AUTO, Face Detection, Face Detection Self-timer and Intelligent Contrast Correction.

[ Read the Canon SD1200 IS Review at: DigitalCameraReview ]

Casio EXILIM EX-FC100

Steve’s Digicams has published their review of the Casio EXILIM EX-FC100, "an impressive ultra-compact digicam" that can take high speed burst shots at up to a blazing 30fps, and features 9.1M resolution (on a 1/2.3-inch high-speed CMOS), 5x optical zoom (37-185mm equiv.), 2.7-in. LCD (230K dots), and high speed videos at up to 1000fps, allowing the capture of some amazing slow-motion videos.

There’s an interesting post on Trusted Reviews where Sony Ericsson Global Marketing Director Fortuné Alexander reveals that they are moving away from using Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick Micro (M2) cards in favour of MicroSD in its handsets.

Proprietary memory cards are slowly going the way of the Dodo, what with Fujifilm switching to Secure Digital (SD) instead of staying with xD-Picture Card only and even Olympus offering the microSD option in its digital cameras.

01/06/2009 08:00

Sony World Photography Awards 2010

The 2010 Sony World Photography Awards are open for entries from today, Monday 1 June 2009.

With categories for both professional and amateur photographers, the Sony World Photography Awards is one of the world’s largest photographic events. The awards are a platform for both established and emerging photographers and in 2009 the competition attracted over 60,000 entrants from 139 different countries.

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