cameras

Zoom Zoom Zoom Rumors of a Samsung digital SLR have been exaggerated. But they do have a new 8MP high-end EVF called the Digimax Pro 815 ($849 list). You can't remove its 15X optical zoom (28-420mm equiv.), f/2.2-4.6 Schneider-Kreuznach lens, but rings on the barrel let you zoom and focus manually. The camera back is home to a 3.5-inch, 235,000-pixel LCD-the largest on any digital camera yet. Like to shoot from the hip? On top, there's a 1.4-inch, 115,000-pixel color LCD that displays status information, and doubles as a preview monitor to frame pictures.

As promised in our February 2005 issue, here is a sneak peek at our lab test results for the Nikon F6. For our full test coverage, see our upcoming March 2005 issue.

The Nikon D70 was precisely the camera that the photography world needed this year.
A revolution began in 2003 with the Canon EOS Digital Rebel -- its $899 sticker, its 6.3-megapixel sensor, and its attitude of "Everybody into the digital SLR pool; the water's fine!"
The question for '04 was how quickly a camera maker would seize on this revolutionary fervor, and add some sophistication, features, fine-tuning, and, well, "maturity" to what the D Rebel had wrought…without pushing the price to a pro-caliber level.

Film Lives!
In these digital days, when a camera company decides to add a new 35mm camera to its fleet, you might expect a low-priced, bottom-of-the-feature-barrel camera. Other SLR makers are doing just that. But not Canon.
Maybe this will be Canon's last film Rebel (gasp) and maybe it won't (depending on how film SLR Canons sell), but the T2 is strictly top-of-the-Rebel line, replacing the Rebel T1. The existing K2 and GII Rebels will continue to soldier on.