So Panasonic has announced their Micro 4/3rds camera. It is a cute and tiny SLR-shaped camera, not the rangefinder some of us were hoping for....

With the colors and other such features, the word on the Internet is that it's aimed at the female audience. I don't think it'll really make sense until the 20mm f/1.7 lens comes out, assuming that it's a pancake lens. Also, it won't autofocus with standard 4/3rds lenses nor does it do video.

Okay, feeling digital camera lust for the first time in at least a year.

I'll write more about this later...

Kodak makes yet another new C-41 film

Apparently Ektar 100 is enough of a hit that now they're releasing it in 120 format as well as 35mm format.

Canon ups the number of megapixels and the maximum ISO on their two-digit digital SLR series and makes a 18-200 superzoom competitor to the Nikon superzoom. And still no 5D replacement?

Several years ago, I looked up how big the old APS film cameras were, under the assumption that, given that a dSLR is the same size as an old film SLR, it will eventually be possible to make an APS-C digital camera the same size as an old APS film cmaera. This turns out to be awfully small, especially with a prime lens. I also eventually read about the Olympus PEN series. And the Pentax Auto 110 SLR system.

The Online Photographer provides a size comparison for the E-P1.

I'm betting that I can pocket it, based on that.

This is, in my opinion, a very welcome change on the part of Fuji. The Super CCD EXR sensor has been normally reserved for big cameras, not compact cameras, even though the benefits, especially in terms of being able to shoot a reasonable-dynamic-range or a pixel-binned 6 megapixel image on a 12 megapixel sensor are great, even for small cameras.

This guy takes a Canon EOS D60 and mods it to accept the mount from a Canon AE-1p so he can use FD lenses on it.

I guess all of the Polaroid users who have been buying up the last of the Polaroid film have shown Fuji that there really is a market. The Fuji integral color film is pretty similar to the Polaroid stuff, just different sizes and shapes, so you need a new camera. But at least you can get a nice and instant film new in the stores again!

One of my co-workers just got herself a waterproof Olympus. The selling point was the lack of a silly plastic case that you'd have to put the camera in.

I suspect that inherently waterproof is the next thin.

The G10 was announced... and it's pretty much like the Pop Photo advance leak.

I'm surprised. The G10 is actually not half bad, even with tiny pixels on a tiny sensor. And TOP admits they were wrong about being so negative about it.

This is useful. The G1 looks like it might be reasonably able to fit in the pocket with the 20mm f/1.7 lens. I think that whenever they decide that American consumers can handle a smaller camera, the camera they produce will be the sort of thing I want.

I'm not incredibly worried about the "death of film". I'm not tied to the use of film to the point where I'll have lost my creative outlet if it disappears, it just happens to be the right tool for the job. I'll buy a fancy expensive high-resolution digital SLR and move on with life. But there are supply problems with film.