camera

Sony DSC-T20 cameras: sometimes they don't take pictures

Although it only applies to a small percentage of units on our shores, today Sony announced that "A certain number of DSC-T20 cameras (in pink and silver only) will vibrate when the power is switched on and will not be able to shoot pictures" due to a "mechanical failure that affected the lenses." Ouch. Since there haven't been that many incidents thus far in the U.S., this isn't a recall; Sony will simply repair any faulty units for free, from July 10, 2008 to July 9, 2011. It seems that overseas there's … Read more

The 404 142: Where we KILL the Batman

This is the show where we KILL the Batman. And by kill, we mean praise...maybe obsess. We scored a few free tickets to attend an exclusive Dark Knight IMAX screening and after getting stood up by three contest winners, we finally get in touch with Cesar Marty, who came to enjoy the movie with us. And man...did we enjoy it. So much so that we spend the first half of today's show gushing over its superiority over all other superhero flicks. Don't worry, we keep Wilson "The Spoiler" Tang on a short leash. The … Read more

Samsung introduces SL series of budget ultracompacts

Samsung just introduced two new budget models under a new "SL" series moniker. As seems to be rapidly becoming a trend, the SL310W incorporates a relatively wide-angle, optically-stabilized 28-100mm 3.6x zoom lens, and a probably unlucky 13-megapixel resolution (high resolution sensors rarely make sense in snapshot cameras).

Its bargain-priced sibling, the SL201, has a more typical feature set: 10-megapixel sensor and 3X zoom lens. It can charge the battery via the USB connector, which is a nice, and has a metal chassis. Both cameras have 2.7-inch LCDs.

Slated to ship in September, the SL310W will cost $… Read more

Samsung's new flagship snapshooters are cool, but no longer NV-ious

Personally, I thought "NV" worked as well as anything for the branding of Samsung's top-of-the-line ultracompact point-and-shoot cameras; nevertheless, for Fall 2008 the new leaders of Samsung's snapshot pack will be dubbed "TL". The two models announced today may have less interesting names, but do offer some novel attributes.

The flagship model, the TL34HD, introduces a 14.7-megapixel sensor--until the camera ships, one can only imagine how ungodly noisy those photos must be--and a fairly cool, if somewhat iPhone-envious, 3-inch hybrid touch screen with a gesture-based interface. As is beginning to look like a … Read more

iPhone 3G camera slide show

While testing the iPhone 3G's GPS feature yesterday, we also took a few pictures with its camera. As we said in our iPhone 3G review, image quality is improved over the original iPhone, but it's far from being a top-notch camera phone. On the whole, interior shots and photos under blue or partly cloudy skies fared better than shots taken in bright, overcast conditions. Detail shots were decent, even if the iPhone 3G two-megapixel shooter lacks a zoom or any editing features. For full details check out our iPhone 3G camera slide show. Or to compare how the … Read more

Casio's thin Z150 offers a wide view

Though I've yet to see one of these ultraslim ultracompact cameras produce great photos, the specifications on Casio's new Exilim EX-Z150 have me crossing my fingers.

The 8-megapixel camera incorporates an f/2.6-5.9 28-112mm-equivalent 4x zoom lens, which offers the widest angle of view we've seen at that size, and is one of the few ultracompacts in general to provide it. Since people usually use cameras like this for group and travel snapshots, the wide angle is a nice feature to have. It also offers sensor-shift image stabilization; while most of its competitors do too, … Read more

Indecent Exposure 13: Inferior exchanges

Why you might want to use filters on digital cameras and how well digital equipment retains value. Plus more pink thinking.

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EPISODE 13

Waterproof tech: Gadgets that like to swim

Summer's in full swing here in the Northern Hemisphere. People have warmed up the grills, busted out the bug spray, and taken the covers off the pools. Swimming is the ultimate summer luxury in my book, but what to do about all those tech toys with water phobia? Most of them should stay far from the pool, unless of course one happens to be an iPod, which has a variety of waterproof cases made just for it. There's even one with a speaker built right in. And while I don't suggest trading in all your gadgets based … Read more

Kodak announces two cameras for fall

Kodak updates its camera line this fall with two models. The first, a 15x megazoom, as many models are doing, wisely trades some of its telephoto reach for the wider angle--it starts at 28mm-equivalent--and incorporates a 3-inch LCD. Though previous models used an optical image stabilizer, the 10-megapixel Z1015 IS instead uses mechanical (sensor shift) stabilization. Kodak also claims a sub-0.22 second shot lag ("click to capture"). The Z1015 IS will ship in September for $349.95.

As for the other model, the M1093 IS is a 10-megapixel, 3x zoom compact with a 3-inch LCD. Like most … Read more