This week in the news:
- Sony announced the new RX 100 III, a powerful point-and-shoot that features a wider, faster lens, an impressive, retractable high-res EVF, and a flip-around LCD.
- Parrot unleashed its new smartphone-controlled Bebop Drone, which is capable of shooting and sharing stabilized aerial video, and epic selfies from 650 feet.
- Nikon extended its lineup of mirrorless cameras with the new Nikon 1 J4 and S2, as well as compatible underwater flash and housing accessories.
The new Sony Cyber-shot DSC RX-100 III
The Sony RX 100 series has been considered by many to be among the best point-and-shoot compact cameras ever made. Wisely, Sony has embraced the line, and offered tantalizing improvements to the pocket-friendly RX 100 cameras through the years. Today, Sony announced the third iteration, and it's by far the most intriguing yet: the new Cyber-shot DSC RX-100 III. The sensor of the latest RX 100 is unchanged from last year's RX-100 II, but the lens is wider, at 24mm (as opposed to 28mm) when zoomed out, and it's faster, with a minimum aperture of f/2.8 when fully zoomed in (as opposed to f/4.9). Even more impressive is the fully collapsible high-resolution Electronic View Finder found on the new RX-100 III. There's a lot to like on this small camera, and you can learn about it all and see a comparison chart with last year's model in this B&H Explora post.
The sky is yours with the new Parrot Bebop Drone
Shooting aerial photos and videos with small, unmanned drone aircraft is the biggest buzz these days (both literally and figuratively), and a company called Parrot upped the ante in this market with the announcement of its new Bebop Drone this week. The biggest hurdle to shooting aerial footage is stabilization. Whether it's a little gust of wind, or more often, the aircraft itself making a jerky adjustment via GPS to remain horizontal and not come crashing to the ground, it's really difficult, and often impossible, to shoot more than a few seconds of stable footage. The new Bebop has really neat features, such as responding to smartphone control, enabling you to rapidly share images and videos on social media, but it's the innovative built-in stabilization technology that really separates this bird from the rest of the noisy flock. It's pretty cool stuff, so be sure to read up on it in this B&H Explora post.
The ocean is yours with new Nikon 1 J4 and S2 mirrorless cameras
Nikon expanded its line of compact mirrorless cameras this week with the announcement of the new Nikon 1 J4 and Nikon 1 S2 mirrorless cameras. Both cameras are loaded with Nikon's EXPEED 4A image processor and a 1" CX-format image sensor. The resolution of the J4 clocks in at a formidable 18.4 megapixels, while the S2 trails close behind it at 14.2. Like every model in the Nikon 1 series, both of these new cameras have an appealing, clean modern industrial design. It's not all about surface looks here, however, as both cameras offer fast performance, both above and below the sea. Announced alongside the new Nikon 1 cameras are the WP-N3 underwater housing and SB-N10 underwater flash, so you can really bring out the dramatic colors that slither throughout the aquatic world. You can learn the full details on all of these new products from Nikon in this B&H Explora post.
More news:
- Sachtler announced new lightweight baseplate, follow focus, and mattebox products for movie making. Learn all about them in this B&H Explora post.
- Sachtler also announced a new gizmo called the SpeedLevel Clamp, which enables you to level a fluid head with ease. More info is available in this B&H Explora post.
... and that's your B&H gear nerd news for the week of May 12th, 2014.
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