Photo news - 16. july 2008

Samsung has announced the L201, a 10.2 megapixel compact camera. It has Samsung's Auto Contrast Balance feature to brighten dark areas in high-contrast and back-lit scenes. It also has the potentially handy ability to charge batteries, in-camera. Photography purists will be able to buy the camera in black or silver, while more adventurous purchasers can splash out on the pink, turquoise or lime green versions.

As part of Samsung's new mode onslaught, it has released the S1070. The S1070 is a compact camera with a 3x optical zoom and what the company describes as a "premium quality" 10.2 megapixel sensor. A large 2.7" LCD screen, face-detection mode and 10 scene modes are provided to help capture and review the best possible images.

Samsung has announced the L310W, a 13.6 megapixel camera with a 28mm equivalent wide angle lens. The camera includes all sorts of features to help take photographs of friends and family, and an Auto Contrast Balance feature to boost dark area of back-lit scenes.

Samsung's distinctive NV range gets another member with the announcement of the NV9. It's got a 5x optical zoom, 10.2 megapixel sensor and the ability to play MP3 music files. It also contains all sorts of metering and image processing cleverness to help optimise photographs of social situations, with tricks and tweaks to help ensure well-exposed, smiley faces with smooth skin and open eyes. There are even fuel-gauge-style indicators for battery life and memory card space on the top of the camera that we think will polarize opinion into either 'cool' or 'ludicrous'.

Samsung has announced the NV100HD, which it describes as "The World's highest 14.7 megapixel 28mm Wide angle lens digital camera." Which is a bit of a mouthful and also implies that it comes mounted on a stepladder, or something. It certainly doesn't look terribly tall in the pictures, so we're going to assume they mean that it's got a lot of pixels. It can record 720p HD video and incorporates a high-resolution, 460K dot, touch screen. It also features optical image stabilisation alongside Samsung's digital stabilisation system and many of its other image processing features.

The last Samsung cameras I want to mention are two entry level models:

Next, we have the TL9, which has a totally wacky "fuel gauge" on the top of it, displaying both memory card and battery capacity. Check it out:

Samsung released four new cameras today, featuring things such as a 14.7 Megapixel CCD and dual "fuel gauges" showing battery life and memory card capacity. I don't have as many specs as I'd like, but if I get them, I'll update these news items. Let's start with the top end model, the TL34HD:

Casio yesterday introduced a new ultra-compact camera, the Exilim EX-Z150. Here are the specs on this slim, stylish, and relatively inexpensive camera: