The websites of Amateur Photographer and Tech.co.uk are good places to find out what is happening in the world of digital cameras, which is just as well given the recent camera launching frenzy. It all seemed to start off with Canon’s EOS D40 and EOS 1Ds Mark III. The former seemed to be a case of playing catch up but I still think that Canon should have used the opportunity to pull ahead, at least in the megapixel stakes; Sony is working on a 12 megapixel offering and could be about cause of 12 megapixel sensors becoming the norm for consumer digital SLR’s like they did with the 10 megapixel level. I realise that megapixels aren’t everything but it has seemed to go like that thus far. Playing catch up doesn’t apply to the 1Ds Mk III with its having a monster sensor resolution of 21 megapixels and, needless to say, the improvements to the favoured DSLR of landscape photographers don’t stop there. Nikon were also in the fray with new 12 MP offerings: D300 for the enthusiast and D3 for the professional. The sensor in the latter interestingly features a sensor that sits between full frame and the more usual APS-C sizes. Panasonic have also announced a new DSLR but a number of manufacturers have new digital compacts on the market too. All of the previous makers have something as does Olympus. It was amazing to see this all happening at once but I suppose that’s how it goes. IFA has been on over the last week but some launches preceded this; it’s usually something big like Photokina that results in this sort of thing…

Update: I have discovered since the Nikon’s D3 has a sensor sized in the full frame domain. It might be 36mmx23.9mm rather than 36mmx24mm but the FX format comes extremely close and the advent of full frame DSLR’s being purveyed by a number of manufacturers may be upon us.

I don’t buy Amateur Photographer much these days but sight of a review of Olympus’ E-410 and E-510 SLR’s got a copy into my possession. Amateur Photographer review features are usually comprehensive and this was no exception; there was none of the vitriol directed towards the Live View feature by Practical Photography, a defining feature of what i consider a lop-sided and none too useful review. The verdict was a positive one in the main with the E-510 getting the nod over the E-410 because it fared better on the usability side of things. Image quality, my major concern, was said to be impressive with only dynamic range counting against the results. The Live View feature didn’t attract the harsh commentary devoted to it by Practical Photography. Following this review, I have to say that the E-510 does tempt me with its combination of good image quality, dust removal and image stabilisation.

I have two very different reviews of the newly launched Olympus E-410 DSLR in Which Digital Camera? and Practical Photography, respectively. The review in the former was a positive affair, though it was a first look at the camera, but impression formed by the latter reviewer was lukewarm in nature. The camera features a live electronic viewer on its back, a carry over from digital compacts and a feature that I may never use. While that might be the unique selling point for the camera, good image quality and the fact that it possesses a cleaning mechanism for its sensor are of more interest to me. Ironically, the Practical Photography review spent most of its time talking about the very feature of the camera that interests me the least with only a scant mention of quality; to be frank, I didn’t find it a very useful appraisal even if the electronic viewfinder may not be all that it’s cracked up to be and it’s picture quality and camera handling that ultimately matter to the photography enthusiast. In contrast, Which Digital Camera? seemed to give a more rounded view and proved to be of more interest and I’d be interested to see what the likes of Photography Monthly and Amateur Photographer might have to say. I also shall be awaiting the Which Digital Camera? appraisal of Ricoh’s Caplio GX100 in their next issue.