New Camera----Tech Info

Fujifilm's new Instax camera is half digital, half instant Selena： Fujifilm’s Instax series of instant cameras is super popular, having sold more than 25 million units around the world, and the company just announced the biggest shakeup to the line yet: Instax Square. Apart from the shift to an Instagram-friendly square film format, the first Instax Square camera works in an entirely different way to the rest of the Instax line. For starters, it’s digital. Yes, the Instax Square SQ10 uses a 3.7-megapixel digital sensor, and you can frame shots by using a 3-inch LCD on the back of the camera. There’s a 28.5mm-equivalent f/2.4 autofocus lens. The camera has ten different filters that can be applied to photos before printing, as well as vignette control and brightness adjustment. Images can be saved to internal memory or a microSD card. Instax Square film is 86mm x 72mm, with the actual photo taking up 62mm x 62mm; for comparison, standard Instax photos are 46mm x 62mm. April： The thought of a film camera that applies digital filters may be somewhat horrifying to film purists, and the ability to preview and print multiple copies would seem to undermine the ephemeral, only-one-print-ever appeal of Instax. But in other ways, this could be the best Instax camera yet. Fujifilm says it’ll be much better in low light, which is totally believable, and the lens’ autofocus and close-up capabilities should also be helpful. If your criteria for good Instax performance is the number of keepers you get from a pack of film, the SQ10 should make you happy. FujiRumors previously reported on the existence of a film-only Instax Square camera called the Instax SQ, but Fujifilm isn’t announcing that today. If all you want is a traditional Instax camera that shoots square photos, it’s probably best to wait and see if that becomes official. The Instax SQ10 will be available next month for $279.95, which is pretty expensive for an Instax camera — even Leica’s Sofort sells for $299. But the SQ10 is, of course, more technically advanced, though it’s hard to tell just how well it’ll work without using it. 10-packs of Instax Square film, meanwhile, will cost $16.99. Zoey： Panasonic's latest super-zoom camera also shoots selfies Point-and-shoot cameras have had a bad rep lately, since they're neither as convenient as a smartphone nor as powerful as a mirrorless cam or DSLR. However, there are a few areas where they still excel: they can include ridiculously long-zoom lenses in small bodies, and take selfies that would be difficult or impossible to manage on your phone. And Panasonic, at least, is determined to make the most of those advantages. The company has just introduced the Lumix ZS70, a successor to the ZS60 that crams more into its compact frame. It now has a 20.3-megapixel sensor (up from 18MP), an even longer-ranged 24-720mm equivalent lens, and -- most importantly -- a flip-out 3-inch touchscreen. If you've ever wanted to take a high-quality selfie (including a new 4K mode) without sacrificing your ability to shoot far-off subjects, you might want to consider this model. continued contents Otherwise, you're looking at some fairly familiar hardware... not that this is entirely a bad thing. It can still shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second, and take 8MP photos at a similar speed. You'll also find RAW capture, a very fast autofocus that promises a lock-on in about 0.1 seconds, and a slew of modern camera tricks such as after-shot focus selection, a beauty mode and creative filters. WiFi helps you share photos to your phone for those all-important Instagram posts. As is often the case with super-zoom cameras, you'll be paying a fair amount. Panasonic will ask $450 when the ZS70 arrives at the end of May. That's competitive for the class, but consider this: Canon's upcoming PowerShot SX730 HS will offer a similarly sharp sensor, 40x zoom and a swiveling LCD for $50 less. And if you're more interested in image quality than distance, you could spring for either the PowerShot G9 X Mark II or an older camera like Sony's original RX100. You might be happy with the ZS70 -- just know that it's not the only game in town. Selena： Lomography's super-cheap film cameras look like disposables Thanks to the smartphones in our pockets, we all have a basic understanding of digital photography, even if we don't own a fancy DSLR. But this casual familiarity can make delving into analog, film shooting a bit daunting, at least initially. Champion of film Lomography has made exploring the 35mm format that much more accessible today, though, launching a trio of super-cheap cameras, preloaded with its dreamy films, that even the most inexperienced of photographers can easily get to grips with. continued contents Lomography is known for its trippy 35mm rolls and stocking a wide array of inexpensive, plastic cameras that celebrate the creative (and imperfect) side of film photography. Its new range of "simple use" point-and-shooters are extra cheap, costing $16.90/£15.90 for the 36-shot color negative and black-and-white models, or $21.90/£19.90 for the camera that includes the kooky LomoChrome Purple film. You can also get them cheaper if you buy in bulk, or pick up one of each. April： The models preloaded with color films also feature gel flash filters you can mix and match to give photos different tints. And it might be worth grabbing one of those if you're at all interested, because even though the cameras are modeled after the kind of disposable you can pick up at your local grocery store, each one if fully reusable with any brand of 35mm film. While opening the thing to remove the included film once you've burnt through it voids the warranty, there's nothing stopping you from loading another roll and continuing to snap away. The AA battery that powers the flash is replaceable, too. Other than turning the flash on and off, though, you have no way to change any of the other settings. This means the aperture is fixed at f/9 and the shutter speed at 1/120, so whatever replacement film you use needs to be 400 ISO or thereabouts -- otherwise you risk wasting a whole roll on under/overexposed pictures. But if you like the sound of point-and-shoot simplicity, then remember to get digital copies alongside physical prints when it comes to getting your rolls developed. Because Instagram is life, yeah?