Nikon D700

The introduction of Nikon's new D700 may have been one of the worst kept secrets in an industry with more leaks than the Titanic, but it was still something of a surprise coming so hot on the heels of the D3 and D300. Essentially a D3 shrunk down and squeezed into a body roughly the same size as a D300, the D700 is Nikon's first 'compact' professional SLR, and in its segment of the market will compete with the recently announced Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Sony DSLR-A900.

Canon PowerShot G10

The G10 is the third incarnation of Canon’s flagship ‘prosumer’ compact since the G series was reinvented with the G7 in 2006. Announced two years after the G6, the G7 caused quite a buzz; partly because everyone had presumed the budget SLR had killed off this sector of the market, partly because it lacked several of what had become G series trademarks (fast lens, tilting screen, raw mode, secondary LCD panel), and it would be fair to say the response was ‘mixed’. The G9 went some way towards placating the critics, reintroducing raw mode and improving handling, but it still suffered from the fundamental problem that the sensor inside couldn’t deliver on what the fantastic camera promised on the outside.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A900

the cut-throat digital camera market it's increasingly unusual for products to be shown in prototype form or announced more than a matter of weeks before they hit the stores. There's several reasons for the manufacturers' habit of playing their cards so close to their chests, not least that they can't afford to harm sales of the models they've already released. Sony, the newest 'new kid' on the DLSR block, has no such worries, this being its first proper 'high end' DSLR. In fact, if anything the pressure was on the company to show it was committed to becoming a major SLR system player and that it wasn't going to squander Minolta's long legacy in this market after picking up the assets Konica Minolta shed when it pulled out of the photography market. Thus we saw the first prototype of the Alpha 900 - Sony's flagship full frame digital SLR - back in early 2007 (it appeared behind glass at trade shows such as PMA in March 07), and information has been trickling out ever since; most significantly with the announcement in January of this year of a 35mm full frame CMOS sensor.

Olympus E-420 Review

The Olympus E-420 is the most 'junior' member in Olympus line of digital SLRs. It was announced on the 5th March 2008, exactly one year after the launch of its predecessor, the E-410. Like the E-410 it comes with a 10 megapixel resolution, live-view and the SSWF dust reduction system; and like its predecessor at the time it is also the currently lightest and smallest digital SLR on the market, especially if you combine it with the Olympus Zuiko 25mm pancake lens that has been launched at the same time. All in all the E-420 is only a relatively minor update but it does also incorporate a number of new features.

Kodak bolsters camera range with six new models

Kodak has today announced six new digital cameras to be made available between now and September, four of them marking the debut of its new 'M-Series'. The M753 and M853 are 3x zoom models with 7 and 8 megapixels respectively. The M873 and M883 meanwhile both sport 8 megapixels, a large 3-inch LCD and all-metal construction with the M883 adding face-detection to the specs list. Also on the way are the Z1275 - a 12MP 5X zoom with 'photographically-advanced features' and the 7-megapixel ZD710 superzoom with 10X lens.

Kodak adds to EasyShare range

Pre-PMA 2007: In amongst a raft of PMA announcements Kodak has added four new models to its EasyShare range of digital cameras. The new cameras include the Z712, with 12x zoom, ISO 8000 (!) and optical image stabilization, the Z885 (also sporting an astonishing ISO 8000 setting) and two entry-level models (the C763 and C613).