Digital Cameras

In 1998, Fuji launched the smallest, lightest digital compact camera, which sported an at-the-time fabulous 1 megapixel. Ten years on and FinePix are launching a new tag-line: “FinePix – more than you imagine”. According to Fuji, the tenth anniversary and the tag-line combine to commence a new chapter in digital imaging. In the exciting times that are ahead for Fuji, the following four series’ (S, F, J and Z) are jostling to take the limelight.

The D-Lux 4 and C-Lux 3 are two new compact digital cameras launched by Leica at Photokina 2008. The ethos of both cameras is to provide artistic freedom with outstanding quality, in an alluring and elegant form. The D-Lux 4 and C-Lux 3 would feel instinctive and natural to all photographers, but Leica has tailored each camera to two distinct types of user.

The two latest cameras in the Canon IXUS range look exactly as you expect them to. Cool, sophisticated… and actually quite exciting. The classic silver model is ever-present, but Canon have upped the stakes in the style-ometer, offering a sexy, glossy black and a glittering gold in the Canon IXUS 980 IS and Canon IXUS 870 IS respectively.

As the joint replacement to the PowerShot S5 IS, the Canon PowerShot SX1 and Canon PowerShot SX10 take to the stage as supercharged digital compact cameras raising the bar for compact technology.
Both cameras feature 10 megapixels and an enormous 20x wide-angle (28mm) optical zoom, with USM (Ultrasonic Motor) and VCM (Voice Coil Motor) for fast, silent zooming.

The replacement to the good old G9 has arrived in the shape Canon PowerShot G10, the new flagship camera of the PowerShot series. The first G-series Canon digital compact to offer a 5x wide-angle zoom (28mm) with optical Image Stabiliser, the Canon G10 also offers a massive 14.7 megapixels and Canon’s new DiG!C 4 image processor. According to Canon, the PowerShot G10 gives you “the power to excel”.

Sleek, stylish and dare we say… sexy? Samsung have done it again with their new digital compact cameras, the NV100HD, introducing a model that looks good, feels good and shoots good. Featuring a considerable amount of megapixels for a compact (14.7 to be precise), a 28mm wide-angle focal length with 3.6x optical zoom and capable of recording video in 720p high definition resolution at 30fps, the Samsung NV100HD is the most advanced point-and-shoot digital camera in Samsung’s history.

As the reported favoured manufacturer of all 007 wannabees and under-cover agents for the past 75 years, Minox intend to continue that trend with the Minox DSC (Digital Spy Camera) at Photokina later this month. Relying on the belief that ‘all good things come in small packages’, Minox have produced a super-small, 8×11 camera that contains state-of-the-art technology.