Almost every camera manufacturer is announcing and showing a slew of new compact cameras at this year's Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show (February 20-23, Orlando, FL).
The 4-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS1 offers a 3X optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization and the maker's Venus Engine Plus for quick, steady pictures, all for just $299 (list).
Nikon is focusing on improved battery life throughout its product line; its higher-end 5MP Nikon CoolPix 5900 ($350 street) and 7MP CoolPix 7900 ($450) are rated for 270 shots per lithium ion battery charge, according to the CIPA standard.
The big news in ultracompacts is size: These little cameras just keep getting smaller---except when it comes to LCDs and megapixels.
Its LCD is only 1.8 inches (diagonal), but this ultracompact is the size of a deck of cards and has a 7MP sensor---for $500 (street).
Most of the major players---including Konica Minolta, Olympus, and Pentax---now have D-SLRs on the shelves.
The one big piece of news came from Canon, which an-nounced the release of its new Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT.
The Rebel XT is light and small: Canon claims that it's the lightest D-SLR in the world (as of February 2005), at 17.1 ounces (without battery).
Sony is the newest player in the superzoom arena, and its Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 looks set to go head-to-head with Panasonic's long-lensed competitors.
Kodak will up-date its EasyShare DX7590 with the Kodak EasyShare Z7590, which has more manual controls, a real-time histogram, and an improved 311K-pixel electronic viewfinder, for $450 (dock not included).
Konica Minolta is updating its 4MP DiMage Z3 with the 5MP Konica Minolta DiMage Z5 ($500 street), another 12X optical zoom shooter that uses the same antishake system as the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D digital SLR.