White is the new black - especially when it comes to phones and cameras. Just 200 white Ricoh GR Digital IVs are coming to Australia (only 10,000 are being produced world-wide!).

Designed for those who want to be different, this serious photographer’s pocket camera is coming out in a limited edition white, soon. What it is with white cameras, we don’t know, but they are sought after, so it seems…

What else is new in the Ricoh GR Digital IV (other than a white body)? The high-res 3-inch LCD has been upped to an amazing 1.23 million dots, the sensor’s equipped with a new stabiliser to reduce blur, and, contrary to most things that get faster, the GR Digital IV’s waist has got fatter by 7mm to 32.5mm wide.

It’s also - how much faster? Twice as fast as the previous GR Digital III. The key to the fast focus speed is the hybrid AF; Ricoh claims that it’s as snappy as 0.2 seconds. It combines the info from Ricoh’s new external autofocus sensor with the internal one. They’ve also added a continuous AF mode that shoots 1.54 fps.

With a maximum aperture of f/1.9 and 28mm lens, the GR Digital IV also comes with a range of filters for different effects to images, including a multiple exposure mode, positive film, bleach bypass, cross process, high-contrast black and white and an interval composite mode.

Limited edition White Ricoh GR Digital IV RRP is $899, black body RRP is $799 - not a cheap camera, but one of the best around.

Find more digital compact cameras on Lasoo.

If you’re looking for a great blend of performance and portability, then you can’t go wrong with any one of our pick of the top 5 compact cameras.

Panasonic Lumix FT3 ($599.00) Copes with everything from beach sand to scaling the heights of Everest! Designed to be submerged in water to 12 metres, this camera will withstand blows and falls to 2 metres, is freeze-proof  to 10 C, and dust/sandproof. GPS receiver labels your shots with geotagging, you get a compass for navigation, plus an altimeter and barometer - all for the active photographer. Lens specifications are 28mm wide-angle and 4.6x optical zoom in an internal folding design. `Intelligent automatic’  is included, with motion deblur. 

Nikon Coolpix P100 ($370.00) A high-performance digital camera  (P = Performance Series - look out for S for Style /L for Life cameras with different features), centred around a high-speed 10-megapixel CMOS sensor married with a very long 26x zoom for a digital compact camera, - great if you’re into landscape photography. It’s a very compact, well-designed camera (black only) and capable of doing really interesting  things photographically. Like high-speed continuous photo shooting (at the max size of 10 megapixels at 10fps), plus very good video quality with 1080p HD movie recording and playback functions.

Samsung EX1  ($350.00) It’s their flagship advanced compact camera. An impressive 24mm ultra-wide angle lens with fast f/1.8 aperture and 3x optical zoom, perfect for landscapes or large groups of people. Wide aperture also offers shallow depth-of-field with blur the background, while still focusing on the subject - handy for shooting portraits. The high-performance 1/1.7″ CCD sensor, larger than a standard camera, produces better photos in low-light. 3″ swivelling AMOLED screen allows you to shoot from just about any angle you can imagine.

Olympus  XZ-1  ($699.00) Designed for those who doesn’t mind paying the price for very high performance, but wants the pocket fit of a compact!  The 10-megapixel resolution CCD sensor performs extremely well, and it comes with the fastest zoom lens of any camera in this category. The user interface flicks between PASM (Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Manual + Auto). There is also the very necessary (for novices) `intelligent auto’ mode, plus great art filters, scene modes and a low-light setting.

Canon PowerShot SX30 IS ($599.00) Image quality is very, very good - particularly for a sub-$600 price tag. Powerful and versatile, thanks to 14-megapixel resolution and 28mm-equivalent wide-angle lens with 14x zoom. This means you can get closer to whatever you’re shooting without a large professional lens - much better for portability. If you need the PowerShot SX210 IS to function as a fully automatic point-and-shoot camera, it has a smart auto mode. Full manual control has plenty of options - including control of shutter speed, apertures and focus.

Find more digital compact cameras on Lasoo.

The latest, flagship point-and-shoot compact camera from Olympus is getting really rave reactions from tech reviewers.

The Olympus XZ-1 has got the thumbs-up on many fronts: both design and style are slated as a big success with a black textured finish that’s easy to hold; it’s got a good weighty feeling in the hand, plus a well-designed user interface.

The ZX-1 is the first in a new series of cameras from Olympus, especially designed for the photographer who doesn’t mind paying the price for very high performance, but wants the pocket fit of a compact!

On the technical side, this camera is really classed as an ‘advanced compact camera’. Why? Because the 10-megapixel resolution CCD sensor performs extremely well, and the camera comes with an outstanding feature - a really fast lens (fastest zoom lens of any camera in this category!). The f/1.8 maximum aperture at wide-angle slows only slightly to f/2.5 at telephoto, exceptional performance for a compact camera.

The user interface gives you a dial on top to flick between PASM (Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Manual - these are the 4 primary shooting modes + Auto). There is the very necessary (for novices) `intelligent auto’ mode, plus great art filters, a good selection of scene modes and a dedicated, useful low-light setting.

The display is a 3-inch OLED screen with 610,000 dots, which means it’s easy to frame up your shots, and the hotshoe can house either an external flash or an electronic viewfinder.

HD video for the Olympus XZ-1 is 720p at 30fps and you can connect this camera via micro-HDMI. The XZ-1 also takes SDXC cards as well as regular SD and SDHC that slot into the base alongside the rechargeable battery. The Olympus ZX-1 is around $499.00.

Find more compact digital cameras on Lasoo.

The Nikon Coolpix P100 has just rated top of the lot (75/100) in CHOICE Magazine’s latest digital compact camera review, which tested over 70 models currently on sale.

Really a very good update of the Nikon P90, the Coolpix P100 is a high-performance digital camera  (P identifies it as a Nikon Performance Series camera - look out for S for Style /L for Life cameras which have different features), centred around a high-speed 10-megapixel CMOS sensor married with a 26x superzoom lens. This is a very long zoom for a digital compact camera, - great if you’re into landscape photography. The P100 is exceptionally fast for this category of compact camera, superzoom cameras are all notoriously slow when it comes to shooting performance.

It’s a very compact, well-designed camera (available in black only) and capable of doing really interesting  things photographically. Like high-speed continuous photo shooting (at the maximum size of 10 megapixels at 10fps), plus very good video quality with 1080p HD movie recording and playback functions. There are full manual and semi-manual options with shutter speeds from 8 seconds to 1/2000 second.  Of course, there are the `scene’ modes, auto scene recognition, autofocus tracking for taking shots of moving people like in sports games shooting, and there’s a single spot on the mode dial for a whole group of user-selected settings.

The downside of the Nikon P100 is that colour, resolution and sharpness aren’t so fabulous in the wide and tele mode. And it can over-expose in bright outdoor conditions.

Nikon Coolpix P100 is $369.85 at CrazySales.com.au

Find more digital compact cameras on Lasoo.

If you’re at all active on holiday - hike, dive, snorkel, surf, ski, snowboard, or even climb mountains - then  the last thing you need is to be precious about your camera.

Opt for the latest Lumix FT3  and you get a camera that’s already proven to be rough and tough - coping with everything from beach sand to scaling the heights of Everest! And now its refresh has made it look a whole lot sleeker.

Previous versions of the F3 - the F1 and F2 - have stood out as really rugged but received design-flak for their `Lego-brick’  look. Panasonic have revised the casing, taking the best bits and remodelling/refining. They’ve also worked on the camera’s response time (another criticism of the previous Lumix) - making this one faster. Autofocus and start-up times are better according to the reviewers who have played with the new 12.1 megalpixel Lumix FT3.

Designed to be submerged in water to 12 metres, this camera will withstand blows and falls to 2 metres, is freeze-proof  to 10 C, and dust/sandproof. Now this newest model also has GPS receiver which labels your shots with geotagging, a compass for navigation, plus an altimeter and barometer - all for the active photographer. 

The Panasonic Lumix FT3 makes 3D pictures by superimposing images from two closed angles, automatically selected from a collection of 20 photos achieved by burst (which can only be viewed on a compatible TV or photo frame).

Video is now in full 1080i HD AVCHD and the camera also comes equipped with Power OIS (optical image stabiliser) active mode, designed to decrease blur in videos, particularly in moving video.

Panasonic Lumix DMC F3 is $599 (rrp) and in store April 2011. 

Find more digital compact cameras on Lasoo.

If you’re unsure what a `media streamer’ is (also called media centre), it’s good to know that the new WD TV Live Hub is now a very advanced `media streamer’. It’s considered (by many tech reviewers) to be the best budget streamer on offer.

Californian company Western Digital is acknowledged as a leader in digital storage solutions - so it’s not surprising that late 2010 they bought out the enhanced WD TV Live Hub. The reason for this launch?

The internet has matured to give us many ways to consume media - from videos and pod-casts to web pages.  All these files arrive on your home computer, but not to your TV - which is the biggest (and most easy-to-watch) screen in your house.  Now most homes have at least two, if not three or four TVs - and the WD TV Live Hub is able to display to each and all of them.

We’re also all making much more of our own media - pocket camcorders, compact digital cameras and now smartphones let us grab shots on the go, upload pics from friends, videos from YouTube etc. What media streamers have done is jump onto the vast home entertainment bandwagon, and give us with an easy way to view online media, plus easy viewing of our own stuff - all in our own living room/bedroom/study/kitchen.

WD’s TV Live Hub is also a media server: HD video, music, photos can be streamed from it to any compatible TV or multimedia device - including Blu-ray disc players, Xbox and PlayStation consoles. You can also stream to your iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone using an app. Live Hub also links to platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.

While it’s budget-priced, the Live Hub is technically more advanced than other media streamers simply because it supports many more different file types and so is able to provide the broadest range of content. Its user-friendly interface lets you quickly browse your media which is now centralised in one place.

For those who want the photo performance of an digital SLR - but not the weight/size of this type of camera, the Micro Four Thirds format (developed in a joint venture by giants Panasonic/Olympus two years ago) has certainly met the mark.

This new breed of camera has really taken off (it’s the fastest growing category) - and it all began with the original Olympus PEN (E-PL1) released back in Feb 2009. Now, the latest release from Olympus - which they say is a step-up camera not a replacement for the E-PL1), the more stylish Olympus PEN E-PL2 (retails at around $600), has been given a physical makeover, with an ergonomic grip refresh.

This means a return to a more conventional button/dial rear control mechanism, an increase to a 3″ LCD screen (doubling the resolution to 460K dots for bright images). You also get a better LiveGuide to take the guesswork out of your shooting (both pics and videos) by previewing colour, brightness and sharpness, and then adding artistic `blur’ or a softer background by simply sliding through the numerous effects - and all before you capture your image.

Olympus has also upped the game with this PEN E-PL2 with a new Movie and Still Compatible lens kit (MSC ED m14-42mm f3.5/5.6 zoom) which has high-speed, silent auto focus during stills shooting and HD video capture (which means you don’t capture any unwanted noises). It also focuses in less time than the E-PL1 and it’s 25% lighter too. The camera’s mechanism has also been changed to just one extending barrel section rather than two, making it less wobbly which was a real criticism of the E-PL1.

This camera automatically makes a person’s eyes the focus point of your image. It recognizes up to eight faces and automatically focuses and optimizes the exposure for sharp portraits. If you want to get super-creative with your photography, there are also six different art filters (including a grainy film effect) to overlay your shots with.

The PEN E-PL2 shoots 720p HD video and playback is easy via an HDTV - you just use the TV remote to control playback functions and navigate the camera’s menu. Olympus also used the release of this camera to introduce PENPal - a communication hub that stores up to 2600 images, transferring them via Bluetooth to other enabled devices, such as your mobile phone. You can purchase this as an accessory. Currently PENpal supports Windows, Android and Blackberry phones, but doesn’t work with Apple iPhones.

See a wide range of Olympus cameras on Lasoo.

Tech reviewers are pretty impressed with the Galaxy Tab - the new Android tablet computer from Samsung that launched late 2010. The Tab has sold well over 1 million units and earned its name as a `formidable iPad foe’ - mostly because of the `media hub’ app which allows you to download a huge library of movies and even TV episodes the day after they’re shown (Samsung has ties with Universal Studios, MTV networks, NBC and Paramount). You can, of course, carry every book, magazine or newspaper you want to read with you as well.

Another big plus for the Galaxy Tab is its plastic frame which brings the tablet in weighing only 380g (half the weight of the Apple iPad). It also has a 7″ TFT LCD touch screen - not the AMOLED screen used by the rest of the Galaxy S phones. At first this was seen as a negative for the new tablet, but the general consensus seems to be that the screen is still pretty good looking. It has SWVGA resolution (1024×600 pixels) which looks crisp, and the colour, brightness and viewing angle are all excellent. This smaller 7″ screen also helped the Galaxy Tab to enter as a lightweight into the tablet market - but the screen is still perfectly OK for reading anything, composing emails, surfing the net and using most apps. Equally importantly, the touch screen is also very responsive.

The Galaxy Tab runs on the latest version of Google’s Android OS, which gives it yet another advantage over the iPad - you can use the tablet as a large mobile phone when you attached a Bluetooth earpiece (or you can use it without the earpiece and let everyone in on your conversation!).  The front facing 1.3 megapixel camera turns your voice call into a video-call - great for business meetings, plus there’s also a 3.2 megapixel rear camera for everyday family and friends photography, with an LED flash. The tablet is also compatible with Flash video and games which means you can easily access the vast majority of videos and animation online. 

Samsung Galaxy Tab $49.00 Data+ Cap Plan For 24 Months + MRO from Leading Telecoms on Lasoo.

A digital SLR (dSLR) has always been the `camera of choice’ for advanced photographers - but the new Nikon D3100 seems to be changing the landscape for everyone else - at last!

The big dollar difference between dSLRs and compact cameras has always put me off upgrading my pocket camera, but I have to confess that the number of manual controls you have to master in a dSLR may have had something to do with it too. None of the camera manufacturers have really produced an easy-to-use dSLR - that is until the Nikon D3100.

This camera has got the thumbs up by many reviewers simply because it is much easier to use - and for a dSLR it’s just about affordable at around $1,000. So if photographer’s jargon leaves you bewildered but you really want to capture much better photos than you’re currently getting with your digital compact, this camera is worth a second look. You can use it on automatic (it has six scene modes  - from sports to landscape -  to get you started) while you take your time to use the learn-and-grow mode to master the more complex things like changing the aperture and shutter speeds. Also, the D3100 only weighs 455 grams (body only) so it’s not too  much of a shock to carry around if you’ve been used to a feather-weight digital compact.

The LCD screen with Live View lets you compose your shots easily, rather than looking through the small viewfinder.  And what’s also great about this entry-level dSLR is that it comes with full HD movie recording for making clips of up to ten minutes long.

Of course, ease-of-use and movie features are great, but really for most amateur shooters, the whole point of upgrading to a dSLR is to take much better shots than you did with your digital compact. This is where the quality of the sensor really matters - basically, the larger it is the more light it sends to the camera’s processor (this dSLR has the new EXPEED 2 image processing engine). The D3100 has a high-resolution 14-mega-pixel CMOS DX sensor which captures lots of detail in all your shots - and when you get used to the camera, the end result should be very rich, colourful pictures - just like the pros take.

The basic camera kit comes with a 3x NIKKOR 18-55mm VR image stabilization zoom lens to get you started, plus you can attach many non-kit lenses including some older Nikon lenses.

Save $150 on a Nikon D3100 twin kit (also includes a 55-200mm stabiliser zoom lens too), $1,099.95 from Ted’s Cameras  - this offer ends Jan 16

The NX100 is Samsung’s latest interchangeable lens camera.

Like the NX10 before it, the Samsung NX100 is aimed at photographers who want a little more than what a compact digital camera has to offer, but don’t want the full expense and features of a larger dSLR camera. In fact, the NX100 is even more compact than the NX10, which will appeal to anyone who wants to take it travelling.

While the newer camera is smaller, there are some performance enhancements, including some improvements to the APS-C-sized sensor. In the NX100, the sensor’s maximum ISO rating has been doubled to 6400. The NX100 is also launching with Samsung’s new i-Function lens functionality - which basically allows you to press a single button to switch on controls such as white balance, ISO, shutter and so on. If you do have the older NX10 camera, you will be able to use the new i-Function lenses thanks to a firmware update.

Rounding out the camera features is 720p video recording.

The Samsung NX100 sells in Australia for $899.

Buy a cheap Samsung digital camera on sale in Australia