Red Digital Cinema, the company that is giving traditional 35mm motion picture cameras a run for their money, may give Nikon and Canon some worthy competition in the DSLR market. Considering that Red currently has a 25 megapixel sensor in their cameras, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to branch of into manufacturing high end still cameras. Check out the following quote from Jim Jannard in the Red forum. “Mysterium “Monstro” is a sensor program that pushes the envelope past anything on the horizon. It will go into Epic, and another camera aimed squarely at the DSLR market.”

Chase Jarvis demos the new Nikon D90. Check out his blog post for a more in-depth opinion of the D90.

Buy:
Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) at Amazon.com

Anyone interested in film or video cameras ought to read the Wired article on Red Digital Cinema. I first heard about Red a year or so ago, and found it quite interesting that this company was trying to turn the film-making industry upside down by offering an incredibly inexpensive alternative to film cameras such as those by Panavision. By inexpensive, I mean that a Red camera can be purchased for less than it costs to rent a Panavision camera.

Former Oakley founder Jim Jannard founded Red Digital Cinema in 2006 with the goal of making the film-maker’s dream camera.

[via daringfireball]

Nikon officially announced today the release of the new D90 digital SLR. The D90 is based on Nikon’s D300 and has 12.3 effective megapixels. Also of note is that the D90 is the world’s first SLR with movie shooting functionality capable of recording in 320 x 216 pixels, 640 x 424 pixels or HD720p (1,280 x 720 pixels) at 24 frames per second in motion JPEG format. The D90 has ISO settings from ISO100 to ISO6400. Other features include Scene Recognition System integrated with Face Detection System, Live View mode, Picture Control System, Active D-Lighting for smooth tone reproduction in high-contrast lighting, 11-point AF system, and Advanced Scene Modes. (#)

Check out these samples of the Nikon D90’s D-Movie mode. Very impressive.
Buy:
Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) at Amazon.com

Nikon just released their new COOLPIX P6000 compact digital camera, and the specs are quite impressive. First and foremost is the 13.5 megapixel image sensor, and the built-in GPS unit for geotagging photos. The body is a magnesium alloy for durability while remaining lightweight.

Once a photo is geotagged with the COOLPIX P6000, it can be uploaded to Nikon’s “my Picturetown” and mapped to its location. Photos can also be uploaded to “my Picturetown” via the P6000’s built-in ethernet cable without the need for a computer.

The P6000 offers Programmed Auto [P], Shutter-priority Auto [S], Aperture-priority Auto [A] and Manual [M] modes so that anyone from an amateur to a professional can take advantage of the camera’s functions.

The P6000 also offers a pop-up flash and an optical viewfinder, as well as a hotshoe that supports Nikon’s i-TTL flash control, and Nikon’s Speedlight flash units.

The COOLPIX P6000 supports SDHC cards to allow for greater storage capacity.

The P6000 will ship in September 2008 but is already available for pre-order.

Buy the Nikon Coolpix P6000 13.5MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom at Amazon.com

Buy the Nikon Coolpix P6000 13.5MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom at Amazon.co.uk

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Sony is touting the HDR-TG1 as “the world’s smallest full HD camcorder”. Regarding the “small”, the HDR-TG1 weighs in at 10 ounces and sports a compact 1.3 x 4.7 x 2.5-inch titanium chassis. The HDR-TG1 records at 1920×1080 to its included 4GB PRO Duo Mark2 media card. Audio is recorded in Dollby Digital 5.1 surround with the built-in “zoom microphone”.

The Sony HDR-TG1 will begin shipping in late May.You can buy the Sony HDR-TG1 from the following vendors’ links:

Sony HDR-TG1 at Amazon.com

Sony HDR-TG1 at Dell

Sony HDR-TG1 at MacMall

Sony HDR-TG1 at J&R

In the market for a new digital camera? Check out the pages of best-selling Digital SLRs and Digital Point & Shoot Cameras. There are some great deals on these pages.

Digital SLRs

Digital Point & Shoot Cameras

A few days ago, I posted about three entry-level digital cameras for anyone considering getting their first digital camera or just wanting lots of bang for little buck. If that’s not you, and you are looking for more serious hardware, you can find some good deals on the Canon Digital Rebel XT.

Canon 8.0MP Digital Rebel XT SLR Camera - black from Amazon

Canon 8.0MP Digital Rebel XT SLR Camera - silver from Amazon

Canon Digital Rebel XT Silver 8.0 MP Digital Camera w/EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Kit from Newegg

Are you looking for an entry level digital camera for yourself or someone else this Christmas? Here are my recommendations — Kodak EasyShare C613, Canon PowerShot A560, and Nikon Coolpix L11. The three cameras are all at least 6 megapixels, with the Canon leading the pack with 7.1 megapixels of resolution. The Canon also leads the way with 4x of optical zoom versus 3x of optical zoom for the Kodak and the Nikon. By the way, if you ever see “digital zoom” specs advertised, just ignore them. You will get your best photos by using only the optical zoom.

One reason I picked these three cameras is that they use both the readily available and economical AA batteries and SD memory cards. Other cameras use proprietary battery formats that you will have to go back to the manufacturer to find, and when you do find them, will pay up to 10x what the AA batteries cost you. The same goes for the SD memory card. You can find one almost anywhere and for very little money. The going rate for a 1GB SD card is about $9 right now. Compare that to what a 1GB memory stick would cost you if you bought a Sony brand camera — anywhere from $25 to $35.

In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with any of these three cameras.

	Kodak EasyShare C613 6.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Buy from Amazon | Circuit City | Newegg
	Canon PowerShot A560 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom Buy from Amazon | Circuit City | Newegg
	Nikon Coolpix L11 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Buy from Amazon | Circuit City | Newegg

Update: Due to the age of this article, please visit the Digital Point & Shoot Cameras page for more up-to-date camera listings.