Smaller and lighter. That seems to be the ‘mantra’ for in-coming new cameras. For those who may not be aware, in 1972, Olympus was the first to stun the world with its legendary OM-1 SLR, designed by one of the greatest designers the world has ever known – Yoshihisa Maitani (1933-2009). Maitani was also responsible for the original half-frame Pen, the Pen F halfframe SLR, … [Read more...]

ILCC cameras from the likes of Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung have taken an increasing share of the market in Asia and Europe. Only recently, Pentax entered the ILCC market with its diminutive Q series. D-SLR leaders like Nikon were, therefore, left with no choice but to respond. The end result is the Nikon 1 system which has been launched in the market with two … [Read more...]

Technology improves every day. So do compact cameras. I distinctly remember a time, some few years ago when I had to review a 5 or 6 megapixel compact. It was so poor in its image quality that I wanted to mention that no one should touch that camera even with a 10-foot pole! Of course, being a good soul that I am (ahem!), I refrained from being that harsh.New features are … [Read more...]

‘Smaller is better’ seems to be the message from Panasonic. Continuing with their line of ILCCs, they claim to have produced the world’s smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera with a built-in flash. The Panasonic Lumix GF3 was introduced worldwide (along with the Lumix G3 and the Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 Aspherical lens), in June 2011. The GF3 is sold … [Read more...]

Panasonic’s TZ series has seen remarkable success in the market place and has also won several awards. A newcomer in the TZ series is therefore, always welcome. Panasonic recently launched the TZ18 and TZ20, the difference being the lack of GPS, full HD video and 3D capture in the TZ18.DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITYThe Panasonic Lumix TZ18 (also known as ZS9/ZS8) has an outer … [Read more...]