Canon has today announced a slather of new cameras geared at making your life a little easier and more fun.
We’ve got some video below, with all the juicy tidbits of news you’re going to want to read beneath that.
First up is an announcement for those of your looking to move to a digital SLR. Canon look set to upgrade their aging 500D with a new body, the Canon EOS 550D. Featuring an 18 megapixel CMOS sensor for high-resolution imagery, an ISO range from 100-6400 with an expanded 12800 setting, Full HD 1080p recording with 3 different frame modes (24, 25, 30), and 3.5mm external microphone jack, it’s going to feel as if Canon stuck their 7D inside a smaller frame.
We got to see this camera yesterday and one of the surprising thing about it is the screen. At 3 inches and with over one million dots, it’s one of the best camera displays you’re going to find out there.
It’s not just the bigger cameras that get updated though as Canon are bringing some new technologies into their more compact cameras.
Canon’s PowerShot cameras bring high-end features into a smaller shell and today’s announcement of the SX210 definitely points that out. Featuring one of the largest ranges on any digital compact, you won’t be left out of the action anywhere with 14x zoom (translated to 28-392mm) on a 14.1 megapixel sensor. HD movie mode at1280x720 is also provided and you’ll be using it all from behind a 3 inch LCD screen.
The IXUS cameras could probably be seen as lighter and slimmer versions of their PowerShot brothers so they’re changing too. Following a similar naming scheme, the IXUS 210IS offers more of that 14 megapixel goodness inside a compact body, but with 5x optical zoom instead of the 14x its big brother has. You do get a wider lens at 24mm and most of the control is handled by the big 3.5 inch touchscreen LCD on the back.
Canon’s IXUS 210 IS compact with its 3.5 inch touchscreen.
Both of these cameras offer two new scene modes including “Miniature Effect” and “Fish-eye Effect.” If you’ve ever seen a fish-eye photo, you can guess what the latter does. The former of those modes – miniature effect – emulates a tilt-shift lens by allowing you to select focus along horizontal planes. This in turn almost makes scenes feel smaller, as if everyone has become ants or toy soldiers.
If these two high-end PowerShot and IXUS cameras sound like they might be out of your budget, Canon is releasing a few more models in each category to keep you satisfied. The entry-level cameras announced today include the PowerShot A3100 IS, A3000 IS, A495, A490 cameras and IXUS 130 IS and 105 IS cameras that all include high-end technologies such as Intelligent Auto for automatic scene adjustments.
One new feature these all come with is Intelligent Flash, a lighting mode that can determine the right settings for your flash so that your photos don’t come out over-exposed.
Sadly, we weren’t given prices on any of the above cameras but we will keep you up to date as we find out more.
