Digital Trends

Wider Than Ever

We’re big fans of wide angle point-and-shoot digicams since they’re great for landscapes and group shots. At CES Samsung introduced the NV24 HD and it was on view again at PMA in a booth with an Elvis impersonator singing “Viva Las Vegas” as showgirls danced along (remember we’re in Vegas, folks). At PMA more wide-angle cameras were announced including a bunch from Panasonic. In fact the company prides itself on a huge lineup of wide-angle point-and-shoots including its first 25mm digicam, the 10.1MP 4x zoom DMC-FX35 ($349 USD, due March). We also got a chance to play with new 28mm 10x 9.1-megapixel DMC-TZ5, the replacement for the solid TZ3, also $349 USD. Both have an Intelligent Scene Selector that automatically adjusts to the scene in front of it along with Face Detection plus they take 720p HD video. The pair has a new processor and hopefully it’ll eliminate some of the digital noise that has plagued Panasonic point-and-shoots.

Panasonic TZ5

More D-SLRs

No surprise here. Canon and Nikon introduced new, affordable D-SLRs in the new 12.2MP Rebel XSi and the 10MP D60. The Canon XSi is the replacement for the 10-megapixel XTi so you should see some deals on that one when the XSi arrives in April. The new Canon also has a larger LCD screen (3 inches versus 2.5) and an improved processor. Of note is the fact it comes with an image stabilized 18-55mm kit lens ($899 USD) so it can compete with other affordable D-SLRs with built-in sensor-shake stabilization (think Sony, Olympus, Pentax and Samsung). The new 10.2-megapixel Nikon D60 also comes with an 18-55mm stabilized lens and costs $749 USD. It arrives later this month.

Canon Rebel XSi

Nikon D60