May 31, 2003

Sony is working their "U" line for more "fun and fashion" with two new models: There is up-to-date info on the Canon G5: Nikon's new 5400 has a wider 4X lens and Ricoh has a "Pro" Caplio G3 with a network card slot: There is a "new" MP from Leica:

The PR people at Sony seem to be avoiding the image of digital cameras as products only for geeks with a new kind of gesture: The only quantitative description in the press release for their new DSC-U60 and -U30 cameras has to do with one of them being submersible. (There's also some fine print about video resolution.) There is no mention of megapixels, let alone specs for the lens or exposure capabilities. In the market area for casual-use cameras, these are probably meant for people (and retailers) that might choose one of them over a 35mm camera, where the comparison might only be digital advantages over price. There is a good market for 35's where "whatever" specs are good enough; could be that the same is now true for digital cameras, if there is something like "Sony" written on them. The U60 and U30 are 2 MPxls for about $250 and $200, respectively. The U60 is waterproof to 5 feet and the U30 will be available in silver, grey and blue. They'll ship in July.

Canon has officially announced their G5 after a little rumor-milling. This is a 5 MPxl update on their G3, which has been a consistent recommendation for people that want full capability in something less than a pro SLR digital camera. There is full info on the Canon.co.jp Bebit pages, in English and some opinion to go along with the specs on the Imaging-Resource site. Canon has software with this camera that makes it possible to work the camera exposures directly from the desktop of a Windows XP computer. This is something that we have had many queries about over the past few years, and other than a discontinued Kodak/Digita system, it may be unique among non-SLR handheld cameras. If there is a nice big "preview" image involved, this may be worth the bother of setting up a notebook computer for some shooting.

Nikon's update in their 5000 series has a lens that is as wide as a 28 on a 35mm camera and zooms to a 116mm equivalent (4X) The 5.1 MPxl Coolpix 5400 has new navigation on its "Mode" and "Command" dials and in-camera noise reduction and saturation control. Full info and specs at Nikon-Image.com.

Ricoh has been providing an elaborate camera with the capability for moving images directly from the camera onto all kinds of networks for a few years. They have recently added this capability to their more conventional 3 MPxl Caplio cameras. The Caplio Pro G3, which will be available soon in Japan, has a CompactFlash-type slot that is dedicated to network connectivity cards in that form, along with its MMC/SD card slot for storage.

Further proof that the current future respects the past (or willingly panders to people who don't like change): Leica Camera AG (formerly E. Leitz, Wetzlar) has taken their retro-rangefinder-35 program to the most conservative level by introducing a camera that is almost identical to their earliest (1954) M3 model. Unlike the M3 that this writer would like to shoot with more than he does, the new Leica MP has a built-in meter. The camera is otherwise entirely mechanical (a dead battery only effects the meter) and even has the same inconvenient rewind knob as the M3, rather than the improved crank on all later models. The MP lists for $2600 (!) and is said to be heavier than Leica's other recent retro rangefinders, with its body milled from a solid billet of brass. It's likely that this is all about keeping their unique claim to endurance along with precision. They even promise to stock replacement parts for 30 years. Full info at Leica-Camera.com. (When a viable 35mm-cartridge digital system arrives... )