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Today Olympus announced the E-420, a refresh of their "world's smallest" DSLR: the E-410. The E-420 retains about the same weight and dimensions, which makes it roughly 20% smaller by volume and lighter than the entry-level models from Canon, Nikon, and Pentax.
But the real news is a new 25mm f/2.8 pancake lens, only 23.5mm (0.9 inches) long. Pentax already offers an even smaller 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens, but the larger size of the Pentax mount means the new Olympus ends up significantly shallower (25% shallower than the smallest Canon or Nikon setup). Olympus seems to finally be delivering on the promise of Four-Thirds: DSLR quality in a smaller package.
More choice is always welcome, and combined with the soon-to-be-available Sigma DP1, we are now starting to bridge the gulf between DSLR and non-DSLR digital cameras.
At the bottom end of the digital camera marketplace we have cameraphones, which essentially take no space and cost nothing, since you were buying and carrying your phone around anyway, right?
Next are the ultra-compacts, or "pants pocket" cameras. Here you'll find the camera I just bought, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35, as well as its slightly larger competitors, the Canon Powershot SD870 IS and Fujifilm FinePix F100fd. The Panasonic weighs about 50% more than my Motorola KRZR K1m, and is correspondingly larger, but still fits in my pants pocket. As a rough indicator of image quality, these ultra-compact sensors range from about 2.5x to 5x the size of a typical cameraphone's sensor. That's a big difference, and it's obvious in the pictures.
Until recently (with one exception), the only cameras with sensors larger than Fuji's were DSLRs. The smallest DSLR sensor - the Four-Thirds sensor used in Olympus and Panasonic DSLRs - was almost 5x larger than the Fuji F100fd's 1/1.6" sensor. Still larger were "full-frame" sensors used in higher-end Canon (and now Nikon) DSLRs. By my rough calculations, full-frame sensors are about 3.6x the area of Four-Thirds sensors, 17x that of the Fuji 1/1.6", 35x that of the 1/2.5" sensor most commonly used in ultra-compacts, and a whopping 89x the area of a cameraphone's sensor. The overall situation was that there was a smooth progression of compact camera sensor sizes from 1/4" through 1/1.6", and a spectrum of choices among DSLR sensors from 4/3" to full-frame, but a massive no man's land in between.
The exception was Sony's groundbreaking DSC-R1. For a number of reasons that particular model didn't set the world on fire, but it did point the way to a better future. The concept was simple: put a DSLR-sized sensor in a non-removable-lens compact camera. The actual product was a tough sell though: Sony needed to provide a wide zoom range, since this is what people expected in this category, but since lens size is directly proportional to sensor size, the camera ended up significantly bigger, heavier, and more expensive than an entry-level DSLR. It didn't matter that they included one hell of a lens for your $999; the rest of the camera just couldn't compete with cheaper DSLRs, and, in my experience, most people don't factor the cost of the lens into their camera-buying decisions.
Sony didn't follow up - soon afterwards, it entered the DSLR market. For the next year, there were no new products for those who wanted a compact but weren't satisfied with typical compact sensors.
Then came Leica digital. The Leica M8 sported the same relatively compact (albeit dense) dimensions of its film predecessors, but with an APS-H-sized (1.3x-crop) sensor. Although it was longer and weighed more than an entry-level DSLR, it was much shorter and shallower, and more importantly, rangefinder lenses were much smaller than equivalent SLR lenses. Assuming your stitches didn't burst under the strain of all that metal, a Leica could fit in your jacket pocket. And the image quality was at least on par with most DSLRs. There was only one catch: it cost $5500, with lens prices to match.
Fast forward another year-plus, and we're about to have two more mainstream options in the larger-sensor compact camera market. As I've already mentioned, there's Olympus' E-420 and its pancake lens. Then there is the truly groundbreaking Sigma DP1.
While the Olympus pancake kit is impressively compact, it's still almost as deep as it is tall. By contrast, the Sigma DP1 is only slightly larger and heavier than the impressively compact Panasonic DMC-TZ series of superzoom digicams, and is within the same "jacket pocket" class. The Olympus kit is 50% deeper, longer, much taller, and weighs almost twice as much. There is a catch, though, and again it is price. Probably like most people who owned a 35mm compact, my main reason for doing so was not compactness, but price. The Sigma DP1 has a street price of $800, which is $100 more than the Olympus pancake kit and 2-3x the price of a typical compact digicam.
So the current choices for a large-sensor compact camera are:
Leica: biggish, heavy, $7100 w/ 28mm f/2.8 lens
Olympus: big, fairly heavy, $700 w/ 25mm f/2.8 lens
Sigma: small, light, $800 w/ 16.6mm f/4 lens
As you can see, none of the three are direct competitors, even if they're all trying to fill the same need. My opinion is:
Leica: ludicrous price; not compact by my standards
Olympus: not small enough to make a difference in use
Sigma: the right choice, for the right price - which is under $500
You already know my actual choice: a conventional ultra-compact, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35. Price was the primary consideration. As I am generally happy with my DSLR, a compact is a second camera. Accordingly, I am not willing to pay as much as I did for my DSLR, and I want its features to complement, not duplicate, my DSLR's. Unlike the other choices, the Panny goes wider than my DSLR standard zoom, can go with me places I can't take a bag or jacket, and takes 720p movies. Yes, I am going to pay the price in image quality - but from what I can tell from sample photos, Panasonic doesn't give up much at small display sizes. I'll just have to adjust my expectations and only print small - isn't that how we were supposed to use miniature cameras before the rise of the megapixel?
As for Leica: you have to admit that a big chunk of the price is brand premium. But what is that brand worth when it's slapped on the front of every plastic wonder that comes out of the Panasonic factory?
Just in case you would like to know the spelling of CMS in different languages... ;-)
As seen on the wall of the "caverne" after meeting HAL at the CERN....
Very rare Schuco bear that is also a ladies compact with face powder, a mirror and a section under the head that once would have held lipstick, a small trace of which can be seen.
St Thomas, Nevada is a ghost town that was inundated when Lake Mead first filled up in the 1930’s. It was founded in 1865 by Mormon settlers who mistakenly thought they were still in Utah/Arizona Territories. They settled here until it was discovered that they actually settled in Nevada. Nevada officials demanded five years back taxes which the Mormons refused to pay. So after a vote they decided to abandon the town, save for one family, the Bonelli’s. The Mormons burned down their homes and abandoned their crops and moved to Salt Lake City
Today, remnants of the town can now be seen thanks to the lowering water levels of Lake Mead, which is due to severe drought conditions. Once the town was flooded higher than 60 feet above the tallest structure, now visitors can roam the ghost remains of a true western town.
-NPS.gov
Porst Compact Reflex SP with the Vivitar f/3.8 20mm wide angle lens on Arista EDU 400 35mm film (rebranded Czech Fomapan).
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blended in paint.net. please go all sizes and look at the blending on the stock as a lot of my time went into that area and i also included the crosshairs for the scope.
An anaesthetic is used to temporarily reduce or take away sensation, usually so that otherwise painful procedures or surgery can be performed. @ docturs.com/dd/pg/groups/2386/anaesthetic/
Various pictures of Big Iron's containerization yard in Jacksonville, FL as well as Dynapac Rollers being dismantled and containerized.
You will find pictures of 40 foot HQ containers, Big Iron's loading dock, various equipment located at Big Iron's yard.
Visit us at www.bigiron4sale.com
I can't find any info about this camera at all so any information would be greatly appreciated.
The lens seems to be fixed focus 50mm f4.5.
It takes 2 x AA batteries.
The timer makes a continous then interment beep ( not music!).
The flash is auto and can't be turned off.
The whole camera seems cheap and not Canon quality at all.
The rewind only works with film in the camera.
The styling is similiar to a goldline or kyushu compact camera.
Takes 35mm film.
it rained so hard yesterday its not even funny. what better time to set up a mini studio = )
i used a large sheet protector with different color back grounds for a bright, clean reflection. the lamps are cheap clamp on lamps availiable at any walmart for about $5 each. 20 watt compact flour. bulbs (equavalent to 75 std bulb) keep everything nice and cool. i stretched some white womans trouser stockings over the lamps for a nice diffused light.