The Verge is live at CP+ 2012, Japan's giant "camera and photo imaging show." We're digging up all the latest and greatest shooters, DSLRs, and more. Catch all of what's new in photography right here.
The cameras, lenses, and tech of CP+ photo and imaging 2012
Sigma DP2 Merrill hands-on impressions, photos
A big draw at CP+ this year has been Sigma's DP2 Merrill 30mm (45mm equivalent) f/2.8 fixed focal length compact. As we noted in our announcement post, the DP2 features a three layer, 15.3-megapixel Foveon X3 sensor. It produces 4,704 x 3,136 x 3 (the number of layers) RAW images at its highest setting, generating file sizes of about 45MB — or roughly 10MB larger than the 14-bit uncompressed RAW images coming off Nikon's new professional D4 DSLR. Sigma had a couple of (very) pre-production...
Kenko Tokina 400mm f/8 mirror lens for Sony NEX and Micro Four Thirds hands-on (samples)
Kenko Tokina is showing off its 400mm f/8 mirror lens for Micro Four Thirds and Sony NEX here at CP+. Both versions of the lens are identical in size, though they have different finishes: silver for Micro Four Thirds, and a shinier chrome for NEX. As expected, handheld shooting a super-telephoto lens with a fixed, small aperture inside a dimly-lit convention center proved to be quite the challenge, but we did manage to get some sample shots off. The first shot below was taken with a NEX-5N...
Canon ELPH CameraWindow iOS Wi-Fi app hands-on (video)
Canon's ELPH 530, announced earlier this week, is an ultracompact with two interesting features: its tiny, 90s-retro form factor, and its accompanying app for iOS. CameraWindow works with the ELPH 530 and 320, and lets you wirelessly transfer photos between the camera and iPhone or iPad in either direction. It uses Wi-Fi, either in an ad-hoc connection or through the same connected network. We found getting the devices to talk to each other was pretty straightforward — after a few seconds...
Sony 500mm f/4 G SSM lens hands-on (video)
There's only so much you can tell from a prototype lens mounted to a tripod at a trade show, but Sony's 500mm f/4 G SSM isn't just any lens. It's as huge as the $16,000+ hole it'll make in your bank balance, and even in the unfinished form shown off at CP+ looks to be quite the performer. The autofocus was impressively fast when mounted to an A77, and the lens should make an even better partner for the full-frame A900 successor that Sony confirmed today.
Ricoh's 24-85mm APS-C zoom module for GXR (hands-on)
Back in 2009, Ricoh had the bright idea to release a body with not only interchangeable lenses, but entire interchangeable camera modules — sensor, electronics, and all (as seen below with the A12 50mm F2.5 macro module). While the company's already released some modules with APS-C-sized sensors and fixed focal lengths, as well as zoom modules with smaller sensors, today we got a first look at its new A16 24-85-millimeter APS-C zoom module.
The lens features 11 elements in 9 groups, with a...
Pentax Q: silver limited edition, new lenses, and K mount adapter at CP+
The tiny Pentax Q is getting a limited run of 1,600 silver units in Japan next month, and, never to pass up a photo opportunity, we got our hands on one of them right here at CP+. There aren't any differences beyond the new lick of paint, but if you're buying a Pentax Q in the first place, you're unlikely to be concerned with the specs. Pentax was also showing two new lenses for the Q: a medium telephoto prime, and a "mount cap lens" that effectively turns your Q into a digital pinhole...
Pentax Optio WG-2 GPS ruggedized camera (hands-on)
Ruggedized cameras have been around for a while, and there are a lot of models on the market, but Pentax thinks its new Optio WG-2 GPS is the ideal partner for your next mountain climbing or cave diving trip. In addition to improvements in still resolution (16 versus 14 megapixels) and video quality (1080p versus 720p), the new model's LCD features double the resolution of last year's — 4.6 compared to 2.3 million dots — and its screen has grown as well, from 2.7 to 3.0 inches. Autofocus...
Olympus TG-820 hands-on pictures
Olympus announced its TG-820 iHS rugged compact camera just yesterday, and brought it along to show off at CP+ in Yokohama. The main reason we wanted to check it out was for its super-high resolution 1,030,000-pixel LCD, and indeed it was pretty amazingly sharp in person... as long as you were looking at a photo or viewfinder image. Unfortunately, the company doesn't seem to have optimized text and other UI elements for the screen, with icons looking quite blurry and poorly-scaled. So, this...
Sony pencils in eight new NEX lenses for 2012-13
We love Sony's NEX cameras, but it's hard to deny that the E-mount lens lineup is a little lacking next to Olympus and Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds offerings. Sony promises it's on the case, though, and has used the CP+ show as an opportunity to give some hints as to what's in store — while we don't have detailed specifications, we now know the quantity, variety and (roughly) quality of lenses in development. 2012 is mostly going to be about zoom, with wide angle, standard and...
Pentax K-01 video hands-on
We just got our first look at the Pentax K-01 in person, here at CP+ 2012 in Yokohama, Japan. The company has taken a pretty different approach with its first "serious" mirrorless camera — it's decided to leverage its extensive K-mount lens line-up that already works well with APS-C sensors. The result is a camera that doesn't save much in thickness over a DSLR, due to having the same flange focal distance between sensor and lens, and it looks decidedly bulky when placed next to a Sony...
Olympus OM-D E-M5 hands-on preview (video)
Olympus went back to its roots today with the OM-D E-M5, a brand-new Micro Four Thirds camera that you'd probably guess was about 40 years old if it weren't so shiny. The E-M5 is the first in the company's new OM-D line, and even the name harkens back to the cameras of yore: the OM-1 was released in 1972, and was at the time one of the slimmest SLRs on the market. The new camera sits at the top of Olympus' Micro Four Thirds offerings, more expensive than the PEN models — the E-M5 will cost...
Olympus OM-D E-M5 made official: film SLR-inspired Micro Four Thirds camera for $999.99
Olympus has finally pulled the curtain back on what has been possibly the most leaked camera in recent memory: the OM-D E-M5. Just as the PEN cameras were inspired by the company's half-frame shooters of the '50s and '60s, the first camera in the OM-D line harkens back to OM-series film SLRs first sold in the '70s. So, the pentaprism bump now houses a 1.44-megapixel electronic viewfinder, two programmable dials provide manual control, and the camera comes in black or the classic chrome finish...
Nikon D800 full-frame DSLR official: 36.3 megapixels, video-friendly features for $2,999.95 in March
After months of rumors and years of waiting, Nikon has finally announced the D800, the latest addition to the company's DSLR lineup. After some flood-induced delays, the new full-frame camera will be available in March for $2,999.95, and it's full of new features and upgrades. Rather than a lite version of the recently announced D4 like the D700 was to the D3, the D800 has a new angle: Nikon is aiming the new camera squarely at the Canon 5D Mark II, which has so far held something of a...
Nikon D800 hands-on preview (video)
For full-frame DSLR enthusiasts who can't quite afford the almighty D4, Nikon is introducing the 36-megapixel D800 and D800E. This all-new DSLR succeeds the D700 as the more affordable full-frame option for professional photographers, with its E-appended model adjusting its low-pass filter so as to let more light in at the expense of some color inaccuracy. If you want it put in simple terms, the D4 is the ultimate camera, a photographer's studio on the move, whereas the D800 is the perfect...
