Tag: Camera

Lets meet today in photo area with compact mirror-less photo-camera Olympus PEN E-PM1 with Micro Four Thirds mount for interchangeable lenses. 4/3″ MOS sensor with 12.3 MP effective resolution is built into it, image stabilization is performed via this sensor shifting, image is processed by TruePic VI graphical processor. Camera makes photos with 4032 x 3024 pixels maximal resolution and saves them in JPEG, RAW ( with 12 bits per channel precision and lossless compression ), RAW + JPEG and MPO; it records video in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60i, HD 1280 x 720 60i and VGA 640 x 480 30 modes, saving it in AVCHD and AVI Motion JPEG formats with Dolby Digital and stereo РСМ 16 bits and 48 kHz sound formats, accordingly. Microphone records stereo sound and there is ability to attach external one via special Olympus SEMA-1 adapter ( however in this case it is better to buy separate sound recording device with higher-quality microphones and lossless audio formats ). ISO sensitivity levels are in 200 – 12800 range, color space is only sRGB. There is ability to attach external flash to camera ( it is bundled in package ), it has no built-in internal one, has no built-in viewfinder and has 3″ LCD screen with 460 K dots resolution.

Olympus PEN E-PM1 supports automatic and manual focus, exposition and diaphragm settings, it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves photos and videos on SD, SDHC and SDXC ( UHS-I ) flash memory cards; has no Wi-Fi connections support for remote data transfers and control, but has Eye-Fi and Bluetooth connections for this purpose. From connectors there are USB 2.0 for data transferring and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI Micro Type D, AV output, Hot Shoe and Accessory Port 2; 1 charge of its battery is enough for 330 photos making.

Camera sizes are 109.5 ( width ) x 63.7 ( height ) x 34 ( depth ) mm and mass is 265 g ( without lens and with memory card and battery ); its body is made from metal. It can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range and relative air humidity levels 30 – 90 %. Package contains : Olympus PEN E-PM1 camera itself, external flash, USB cable, audio-video cable, Li-ion battery, recharger, optical disk with software ( Olympus Viewer 2 ), shoulder strap, warranty card and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled lenses. Camera gives great photos and videos, lenses are interchangeable and it records stereo sound ( basing on my experience of use of other Olympus camera, I can say, that sound is good with basses, which are not present in sound of many large mirrored cameras, and with good stereo channels separation; the most likely, this model has similar microphones ). Its minuses are : small amount of specialized controls, very small sizes, lack of protruding parts for hands grip and high slipperiness of surface, but this is mainly a consequence of its compact sizes.

Lets review today compact mirror-less photo-camera Olympus PEN E-P3 with interchangeable lenses for Micro Four Thirds mount and 4/3″ High speed Live MOS sensor with 12.3 MP effective resolution. Camera can shoot photos with 4032 x 3024 pixels maximal resolution ( with ISO 200 – 12800 sensitivity levels ) and save them in JPEG, RAW ( with 12 bits per channel precision and lossless compression ), RAW+JPEG and MPO formats in sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. It records videos in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60i, HD 1280 x 720 60p and SD 640 x 480 30 modes and saves them in AVCHD or AVI Motion JPEG formats with Dolby Digital or Stereo PCM 16 bits and 48 kHz sound recording formats, accordingly. Image is processed by Dual-core TruePic VI processor. Camera has sensor-shifting image stabilization, built-in flash, 3″ OLED screen with 614 K dots resolution; and have no built-in viewfinder.

It supports automatic and manual focus, exposure and diaphragm settings, so, it can be used for astronomical photos making; its noise reduction system can be switched off or camera can control it in automatic mode. There is ability to control it via wired remote control; it has no Wi-Fi connections support for remote data transfers and control of camera; and saves photo and video on SD, SDHC, SDXC ( UHS-I compatible ) and Eye-Fi flash memory cards. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for photos and videos transferring and Li-ion battery charging, AV output, Mini HDMI type-C, Hot Shoe and Accessory Port ( AP2 ); one charge of its battery is enough for 330 photos making. Its body is made from metal, frontal plastic panel can be removed, if needed; its sizes are 122 ( width ) x 69 ( height ) x 36 ( depth ) mm and mass is 321 g ( only camera body without lens, memory card and battery ). It can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range and 30 – 90 % relative air humidity range.

Package contains : Olympus PEN E-P3 camera itself, Li-ion battery, its charger, USB/Video multi cable, optical disk with OLYMPUS Viewer 2/ib software, warranty card and user’s guide; there are kits with 1 – 2 included lenses. This is a great compact mirror-less photo-camera with very good photos quality and good video quality and large amount of specialized controls. Its weak side is only sometimes wrong light temperature determination under artificial lighting; this can be solved by its manual setting in such situations.

Lets meet today with compact mirror-less camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 with Live MOS sensor Micro Four Thirds ( with 12.1 MP effective resolution ) and the same mount for interchangeable lenses. It can save photos in JPEG ( in this format it has higher amount of compression artifacts, than competitors have ) and RAW formats; it can record videos in Full HD 1920 × 1080 60i/50i and HD 1280 x 720 60p/50p modes and save them in AVCHD format with MPEG-4/H.264 image encoding and stereo sound recording. Image is processed by Venus Engine FHD; camera supports optical image stabilization with lenses, which can perform it. Its ISO sensitivity levels range is 100 – 6400; during videos recording camera does not let to control optical parameters manually and controls them in automatic mode. It has built-in flash, has no viewfinder and its 3″ touch LCD screen has 460 K dots resolution.

During photos making camera lets to control focus, diaphragm and exposure automatically and manually and it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves photo and video on SD, SDHC and SDXC flash memory cards; and does not support Wi-Fi connections for remote data transfers and control of camera. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for data transfers and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI C Mini, AV output and Hot Shoe interface. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for 300 photos making; its sizes are 113 ( width ) x 68 ( height ) x 33 ( depth ) mm and mass is 265 g ( only camera body without lens, battery and memory card ).

Package contains : Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 camera itself, USB cable, strap on hand, optical disks with software ( PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.0 HD Edition, SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.1 SE and Super LoiloScope trial version ) and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled interchangeable lenses. All in all, this is a very good compact mirror-less camera with interchangeable lenses, its weak sides are relatively big amount of compression artifacts during JPEG photos saving and only automatic optical parameters control during videos recording; in all other aspects this camera is very good. So, when camera of such type is being chosen, there is need to look on its price and on the fact, whether its characteristics and weaknesses are acceptable.

Lets meet today with compact mirror-less photo-camera Sony Alpha NEX-3N with APS-C sensor with 16.1 MP effective resolution and Sony E mount for interchangeable lenses. It can make photos with 4912 x 3264 pixels maximal resolution and save them in JPEG, MPO and RAW formats; and video in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60, 1440 x 1080 30 and VGA 640 x 480 30 modes and save it in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and MPEG-4 AVCHD formats with AAC stereo sound. Wherein ISO sensitivity levels are in 200 – 12800 range. Camera has no built-in viewfinder and has 3″ tiltable LCD display with 460.8 K dots resolution and built-in flash.

Camera supports automatic and manual focus change, exposure and diaphragm settings; it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves data on Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick PRO HG-Duo, SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards; and does not support Wi-Fi connections for data transfers and remote control. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for data transfers and Li-ion battery charging, HDMI D Micro and DC input for powering from electric line and battery charging. Its sizes are 112 ( width ) x 64 ( height ) x 36 ( depth ) mm and mass is 210 g ( only camera body without lens, battery and memory card ).

Package contains : Sony Alpha NEX-3N camera itself, Micro-USB cable, power adapter, strap on hand, 1-year warranty card and user’s guide; there are also kits with bundled lenses. It is very functional compact mirror-less camera : it has APS-C sensor ( larger sensors are usually built into heavy mirror cameras ) and it can record Full HD video; so, if there are enough money for purchasing of this camera, then it is the best choice. But if APS-C sensors of Sony are too pricey ( this company never set low prices on its products, but usually have very good quality ), then there is ability to look on Olympus and Panasonic cameras of such type with Micro Four Thirds sensors.

Lets review compact mirror-less camera Olympus PEN E-PL3 with interchangeable lenses for Micro Four Thirds mount. It has High speed Live MOS Sensor with 4/3″ size and 12.3 MP effective resolution; it can make photos with 4032 x 3024 pixels maximal resolution ( with ISO 200 – 12800 sensitivity levels ) and save them in JPEG, RAW ( with 12 bits per channel precision and lossless compression ), RAW+JPEG and MPO formats in sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. Camera can record video in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60i, HD 1280 x 720 60p and SD 640 x 480 30 modes ( wherein picture data from sensor comes with 30 fps, it seems that, 60 fps are received via software interpolation ) and save them in AVCHD ( with Dolby Digital sound encoding ) and AVI Motion JPEG ( Stereo PCM, 16 bits and 48 kHz ) formats. Camera has no built-in viewfinder and flash, they can be attached via Hot Shoe interface. Its tilting 3″ LCD display has 460 K dots resolution; sensor-shifting image stabilization is built into it.

Camera supports automatic and manual focusing, exposure control and diaphragm settings, it has remote control support via special cable; it can be used for astronomical photos making. It saves photos and video on SD, SDHC, SDXC ( UHS-I compatible ) and Eye-Fi flash memory cards and does not support Wi-Fi connections for data transmitting and remote control. Following connectors are built into it : USB 2.0 for data transferring and Li-ion battery charging, Mini HDMI type-C, VIDEO-OUT, Accessory Port ( AP2 ) and Hot Shoe. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for 300 photos making, its body is made from metal, its sizes are 109 ( width ) x 64 ( height ) x 37 ( depth ) mm, and mass is 312 g ( including battery and memory card and without lens ). Camera can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range and relative air humidity range 30 – 90 %.

Package contains : Olympus PEN E-PL3 camera itself, Olympus FL-LM1 flash, Li-ion battery, charger, USB/Video multi-cable, strap on hand, optical disk with OLYMPUS Viewer 2/ib software, warranty card and user’s guide. There also are kits with bundled photo-lenses. This camera is one of the cheapest cameras with interchangeable lenses, wherein it has relatively big sensor ( of the same size as top-level Olympus cameras have ) and can record Full HD video; it has no mirrors, its body is made from metal and it has compact sizes and small mass, so, it is useful in travels and shooting from hands ( especially with optical image stabilization ). Weak side of camera is small amount of dedicated controls, but this is a consequence of its compact size and design for novice photographers. So, this camera can be surely recommended for purchase, when there is need in camera with big sensor and interchangeable lenses and there is no wish to pay for Sony NEX and Canon EOS M cameras with their APS-C sensors.

Lets meet with new compact photo camera Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1RM2, which will be available in shops from 25th November of this year. Its ZEISS Sonnar T* lens is mounted and have fixed focus, this is compensated with 35 mm full-frame Exmor R CMOS optical sensor with 42.4 MP effective resolution : there is ability to take parts of photo with big enough resolution or use digital zoom. Camera can shoot photos with 7952 x 5304 pixels maximal resolution in sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces with ISO 50 – 102400 levels and save them in JPEG and RAW ( with 14 bits precision ) formats. It can record videos in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60/50/30/25/24 and HD 1280 x 720 120 modes ( with ISO 100 – 25600 levels ) and save them in XAVC S ( with LPCM 2ch sound encoding ), AVCHD format Ver.2.0 compatible ( Dolby Digital (AC-3) 2ch ( Dolby Digital Stereo Creator ) ) and MP4 ( MPEG-4 AAC-LC 2ch ) formats. It supports automatic and manual focusing, digital image stabilization and variable low-pass filter. It has digital OLED viewfinder with 0.39″ size and 2.36 M dots resolution; its main tilt-able TFT LCD display has 3″ size and 1.23 M dots resolution.

Camera can save photos and videos on SD, SDHC, SDXC, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo ( High Speed ) and Memory Stick PRO HG-Duo flash memory cards; it has : USB port for data transmitting and Li-ion battery recharging, Micro HDMI connector, microphone 3.5 mm mini-jack stereo input and Multi Interface Shoe connector; it supports NFC and Wi-Fi connections for data transmitting and remote control. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for 220 photos. Its lens apperture can be set in f/2 – f/22 range with use of 9 diaphragm blades; it can focus on 0.24 m – infinity distances in normal mode and on 0.19 – 0.29 m in macro mode; 49 mm optical filters can be attached to it. 8 glasses in 7 groups are built into lens, 3 of them are aspherical; they all are covered with protective and anti-reflective multicoating. Camera sizes are 113.3 ( width ) x 65.4 ( height ) x 72 ( depth ) mm, and mass is 507 g ( with battery and memory card ). Package contains : Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1RM2 camera itself, USB cable, power adapter for battery recharging, optical disks with software and user’s guide. It is very specialized camera, that is mainly designed for macro-photos making with very big resolution;, because its lens is mounted and fixed; wherein it costs 3.3 thousands USD; so, if there is no need in its specialized functions, then it is better to buy semi-professional camera with interchangeable lenses for much smaller price and receive high-quality photos and videos.

Lets review new flying bot EHANG GHOST DRONE 2.0 for photos and videos recording, which will be available in shops from 31st December of this year. It will be supplied in 4 variants : Ghost Drone 2.0, Aerial, Aerial+ and VR; first one have no camera and gimbal, second one has gimbal, compatible with GoPro Hero cameras, third one adds 4K camera and fourth one has virtual reality goggles, which allow to control it and see via its “eyes”. Bot can be controlled from Android or iOS smartphone with use of special device G-Box ( which is included in package ), it connects with smartphone via Bluetooth connection and allows to control it via special application. Transmitter range is 1000 m, in case of connection lost or low battery charge it will return to starting point. One battery charge is enough for 30 minutes of flying, it fully recharges in 60 minutes; it supports following flight modes : Waypoint Mode, Companion Mode, Avatar Mode and Fly Planning. Mainly bot is designed for minimal flight control experience of operator and performs stabilization in air in automatic mode. This is interesting drone model for photos and videos recording from air, but its price is too big, in comparison with competitors, which for the same money offer bots with similar or better flight characteristics and camera in package. So, for this price this model is not recommended for purchasing, maybe, after some time after release, manufacturer will lower its price under competitors pressure and for lower price this bot can be quite competitive.