Digital SLRs

If you’ve heard lots about the two new digital SLR cameras from Canon and Nikon but have yet to see them for yourself then head down to our camera showroom in Norwich and check out the Canon EOS 500D and Nikon D5000.

Canon has released firmware updates for the Canon EOS 50D, 450D and 1000D digital SLRs. Firmware version 1.1.0 is for the Canon EOS 450D, version 1.0.6 for the 50D and 1.0.5 for the Canon 1000D.

Canon have released details of their latest digital SLR, the Canon EOS 500D. This powerhouse DSLR brings full HD video (1080p) to an attractive price point in the market.

If you’ve not yet got plans for this weekend – Sat 14th & Sun 15th March – then why not head down to our showroom in Norwich to check out our fun-packed Olympus weekend.

And all of a sudden it’s here. Today Nikon launched their hotly anticipated, new, fabulous, high-end professional digital SLR, the Nikon D3x. With twice the number of photosites on its sensor than that of the Nikon D3, the Nikon D3x features a 24.5 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, a broad ISO range, Live View and 50MB 14-bit NEF (RAW) files, amongst other things.

At undoubtedly one of the sexiest stands at Photokina, Leica announced a new, flagship professional DSLR. Although rumour broke a day before the announcement, Leica did a good job of keeping this camera a secret and its sudden appearance and high spec has caused ripples across the photography pond. In the Leica S2 press release, Leica describe it as “nothing less than a watershed event that sets an entirely new performance standard for professional DSLRs.”

The Panasonic Lumix G1 is a new 12.1 megapixel digital SLR which uses a 4/3rds ratio sensor. The Lumix G1 features a high-resolution electronic Live View Finder (LVF), 3 inch tilt-swivel LCD screen, integrated sensor cleaning and contrast autofocus. The contrast autofocus provides face detection whilst using the camera in intelligent auto (iA) mode, which is now a widespread feature in many compact digital cameras.

Designed for those new to the DSLR market who want the opportunity to take high quality images without having to spend hours studying the instruction manual, the Pentax K-m digital SLR offers a 10 megapixel sensor in a compact and lightweight body, and building on the Pentax-original Auto Picture Mode, the Pentax K-m uses further upgraded technology to set the optimal settings for a particular scene by automatically detecting its type or subject.

I have a theory: All digital SLRs are created by internet gossip reaching critical mass and *boom* suddenly a new camera materialises in a marketing department. Crazy theories aside, it’s more likely that Canon have been covertly labouring over the new EOS 5D Mark II for a while… lets have a look.

Industry insiders have long been speculating on the imminent arrival of a replacement or follow-up to the Canon EOS 5D. A few days ago Canon added a teaser to their American website showing the outline of a camera with the words “Destined Evolution”, and banners declaring “The EOS story continues” have appeared on Canon’s European sites. If these campaigns were designed to drum up anticipation, then no-one can deny they have worked!