We’re at the IFA trade show in Berlin this week, checking out new tech aimed at photography enthusiasts. One stand-out is the latest flagship smartphone from Sony, the Xperia Z1 (which had the codename of ‘Honami’). Sony’s certainly put the focus on imaging here with an F2.0, 27mm equivalent lens and a 20.7 megapixel, 1/2.3″ BSI-CMOS sensor, as well as a new physical shutter button. Read about our first impressions of the device on connect.dpreview.com.
Sony has released the API for developing mobile apps to control a number of their Wi-Fi equipped digital cameras. Developers will now have access to camera control, and could create things like Photo Uploaders and Time Lapse Control, according to Sony. Currently supported cameras include the NEX-5R/T, NEX-6, and the recently announced QX twins. Learn more at connect.dpreview.com.
Fujifilm has announced the FUJINON XF23mm F1.4 R, a premium fast wideangle lens for its X system mirrorless cameras. It offers the same moderate wideangle view as the fixed-lens X100S, but with an extra stop of brightness. The overall design approach is similar to the company’s recent XF14mm F2.8 R, with distance and depth of field scales for manual focusing, and fully optical (rather than digital) correction of distortion. The 23mm F1.4 will be available in October 2013 with an SRP of $ 899.95 / £849.99. Click through for the full press release.
Nikon has announced an LED movie light for its Coolpix and 1 System cameras. We could swear the LD-1000 was already available, but maybe that’s because we’ve been seeing mockups of it attached to 1 System cameras at tradeshows for a couple of years. The lamp is fairly compact and uses LEDs behind a diffusion panel for soft, even light. Although it comes with a bracket to mount it onto compatible cameras, the LD-1000 can be hand-held for more control. It will be available next month at an MSRP of $ 99.95.
Nikon has taken the wraps off the Coolpix S02 – a tiny metal-bodied 13MP compact camera with a smartphone-sized CMOS sensor and 2.7-inch touch-sensitive LCD. The entire package, built around a 3x (30-90mm equiv) zoom lens is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. In possibly the most cringeworthy press release we’ve seen from a major manufacturer this year, Nikon describes the S02 variously as ‘stylish’, ‘hip’, and ‘fashionable’, and suggests that it would make an ideal gift for a ‘trendy individual’. If this is up your street, note that the S02 will be available later this month in no less than three colors, at an MSRP of $ 179.95.
Nikon has announced the Coolpix P7800, which sits at the top of its compact camera lineup, replacing last year’s P7700 as flagship zoom camera. The P7800 is extremely similar to its nominal predecessor, the most notable change being the addition of an electronic viewfinder. Other specifications are more or less unchanged. The camera is built around a 28-200mm (equivalent) F2-4 zoom lens, and features a fully-articulating rear LCD screen, and plenty of manual control and exposure options, at an expected MSRP of $ 549.99. Click through for pictures and Nikon’s press release.
Sony has updated its Action Cam with a new name, a lighter waterproof housing, and GPS. The Action Cam HDR-AS30V can capture an 11.9-megapixel still image on its back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor as well as Full HD footage. Its new waterproof housing is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, and also a little less rugged. Built-in Wi-Fi offers easy connectivity to a smartphone, as well as the new Live View Remote wristwatch. Click through for more details of this, and also the new ‘Music Video Recorder’ announced at the same time.
Sony announced a consumer 4K camcorder, the FDR-AX1, which gives enthusiast videographers a way to capture four times the resolution of a Full HD camera. The AX1 is able to save the massive amounts of data gathered by a 4K, 60fps camera thanks to its XQD memory card. Its G lens covers a 20x zoom range equivalent to a 31.5 – 630mm, and includes Optical Steady Shot. Click through for more.
Adobe has added a new pricing tier to the Creative Cloud product, possibly in response to the negative response from the photography community when it announced that all Creative Suite products would require a monthly subscription. The Photoshop Photography Program gives users Photoshop CC, Lightroom 5, Bridge CC, Behance, and 20GB of storage for $ 9.99 per month. That’s not a promotional price, either, as long as you sign up by the end of this year. You must already own Photoshop CS3 or newer to be eligible for this offer.
Corel has announced Paintshop Pro X6 ‘Ultimate’, which improves on the previous version of PSP X6 with the addition of built-in automatic image correction by Athentech Imaging. The update to 64-bit architecture should result in better performance on modern operating systems, as well. Apparently, the new software was created after a research study indicated that ‘more power, more speed and improved usability were the changes users most wanted to see in X6’. Who knew? Click through for the press release.