| Samsung Digimax GX-10 Digital SLR Camera
Can changing the name on a camera save you money? Yes, when you take thePentax K10Dand call it the Samsung GX-10 Digital SLR Camera. The former, with a 27-83mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens sells for $800, more or less, while the latter--virtually identical camera body and same lens--sells for $750. Given the GX-10's features, it's a bargain. .
Camera makers vie for SLR buyers' attention
Camera manufacturers including Canon, Pentax, and Fujifilm will show new digital SLRs for professional photographers at the PMA07 show in Las Vegas next month. The new models balance traditional and advanced features to retain existing customers and tempt new ones. Canon will show the EOS-1D Mark III Digital SLR, an upgrade of its classic 1D model that shoots 10.1 megapixel images at up to 10 frames per second. Canon developed a more sensitive image sensor for the camera that can be pushed to ISO 6400, it said Thursday. Fujifilm, meanwhile, will show the FinePix S5 Pro, which begins shipping this month. The digital SLR has a 12.34 megapixel image sensor: half the pixels respond best to low light levels, the other half to stronger light, a system that captures images with a wider dynamic range, the company said.
Samsung unwraps GX-20 DSLR, new compacts
Samsung today became the latest in a series of camera makers to update their lines for the PMA photography show next week. At the top of the line, the GX-20 digital SLR is a close cousin to the similarly new Pentax K20D but with key differences; while it shares the same 14.6-megapixel, low-noise CMOS camera sensor as the K20D, the GX-20 includes a different on-camera interface and generates JPEG images differently than its Pentax sibling. The Samsung unit's physical design is also different and sports a dedicated RAW shooting button that produces an uncompressed shot even when the camera is normally set to JPEG mode. The GX-20 also boasts optical image stabilization and a dust removal system that works both actively through a shaking system and passively through a dust-repellant coating.
Pentax unveils K20D, K200D digital SLRs
Pentax joined in the slew of updates for the PMA photo expo this afternoon with updates to its K-series digital SLRs. Looking to earn the same reputation as its larger rivals, the company's flagship K20D jumps from 10.1 to 14.6 megapixels compared to the older K10D but also switches to a new CMOS sensor; this eliminates much of the noise that appears with conventional CCD sensors at mid-to-high ISO sensitivity levels used for shooting in low light, the camera maker explains. It also extends that ISO range to 6400 and supplies hardware image stabilization through the body rather than the lens. The K20D also allows beginners or those caught in unusual shooting positions to compose a shot with a live preview on the 2.7-inch LCD rather than having to use the optical viewfinder, as with most digital SLRs.
Sound Advice: Pentax K20D to supplant less expensive K10D camera
Q: I have been pretty happy with my Olympus E-10. The price was right and my old Pentax cameras were starting to really show their age (my favorite one is well over 40 years old.) Now it seems that my Olympus is developing problems, and the company says it can no longer repair it. I have read that Pentax digital SLRs would work with any Pentax lens, which intrigued me as I have about eight different screw mount lenses I would love to be able to use again. I'm tempted by the newer models for the speed, as my E-10 is just not up to catching action shots. Would you recommend I buy a Pentax K10D and a screw mount lens adapter? Or would I be better off just buying a kit with two new lenses and giving my old equipment to a museum?
JEFF PORT
State College A: Nikon digital SLRs as well as Pentax digital SLRs work with older manual focus lenses, so this advice applies to both Nikon and Pentax lens owners.
Photo finish as Kodak unloads stake in film
Eastman Kodak Co has transferred its entire stake in Lucky Film Co Ltd, China's largest maker of photographic film, to end the two companies' four-year partnership.
Guangzhou Chengxin Venture and Investment Co took over the 20-percent stake, or 68.4 million shares, for US$37 million and then transferred a five-percent stake in Lucky to an investment company named Hongyu for 67 million yuan (US$9.3 million), Lucky said in a statement to Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.
Lucky's parent held a 43.16-percent stake after the transfer, the statement said.
The company's share price plunged 4.98 percent to 14.68 yuan yesterday while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.43 percent to 4,320.77.
Kodak invested US$100 million in Lucky in October 2003 believing that big potential existed in the film market in China.
The Drama Principle
Which makes the White House failure to close the door on a veto all the more suspicious. ... P.S.: I'd say the weak response from the White House itself outweighs the earlier response from Patrick Ruffini of the RNC, which contains the magic sentence but appears to be relying on the ambiguous, weasely Bush CNN interview. But you make the call. ... P.P.S.: It seems clear, though, that the 10-day pocket veto clock hasn't started ticking yet. ... P.P.P.S.: See Captain Ed, who's convinced Bush is going to sign. ... Update: I realize I'm using the same methodology--'Why don't they just come out and say it clearly?'--that many experts used to conclude that Saddam had nuclear weapons. But Saddam had reasons for maintaining strategic ambiguity! Bush doesn't. ... 5:28 P.M. link Sunday, October 8, 2006 Is Bush going to sign the 700-mile border fence bill (the Secure Fence Act), passed with great fanfare by Congress a little over a week ago? According to an AP story from Friday: President Bush has not yet signed the Secure Fence Act That signing ceremony he held last Wednesday in Arizona, it turns out, was only for a Homeland Security appropriations bill that included "$1.2 billion for border fencing." It wasn't the Secure Fence Act.
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