What's New - April 2008
April 25
Accessory Review posted for 
Datacolor Spyder3 Elite!
The newest Spyder fits a large sensor in a smaller package and can recalibrate twice as fast as it can calibrate. The well-balanced monitor does not come out of a box. It takes some adjustment to get it right. Some people flatter themselves that they can do this by eye. And then never do. Others have been reading us for years and believe what we tell them: you need a little gadget to get this reliably right enough to do as frequently as it needs doing. A monitor calibrator. Enter the Spyder3. Smaller than the Spyder2 (with a much more flexible USB cord, incidentally), it seems to have learned a few tricks from the Pantone huey. Like the huey, it comes with a stand (something the Spyder2 didn't have) and it can monitor ambient light (as did the Spyder2). It's also a good deal faster than the Spyder2, requiring 5 instead of 7 minutes for your first calibration and just 2.5 minutes to recalibrate. We never complained about our older Spyders but we never reviewed them either. Each one had some issue that seemed to require duct tape to resolve. But not the Spyder3. Datacolor seems to have gotten it right this time. Read our review for the full story.
April 23
Review posted for 
Pentax Optio Z10!
The Pentax Optio Z10 shoehorns a 7x optical zoom into a pocket digital camera that remains fairly light, despite the thick profile. A sliding door protects the lens from damage; though because it's a folded optic, the Pentax PZ10's lens stays inside the camera regardless of the focal length. A 2.5-inch LCD, an 8-megapixel sensor, and a high ISO of 3,200 round out the Pentax PZ10's basics. Face Detection and Digital Wide angle function pique the interest a little more. Come read our review of the Pentax Optio Z10 digital camera for more.
April 18
Review posted for 
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130!
A thin, compact and feature-laden digital camera, the 8.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot W130 handles a range of situations quite well. With unique bonus features like smile detection, creative post-capture filters and an Easy shooting mode for beginners the Sony W130 gives you plenty of ways to both capture and play with your photos. Its 4x zoom lens gives the Cyber-shot
DSC-W130 a little more flexibility than the traditional 3x on most digital cameras, and its 2.5-inch LCD is bright and useful in direct sunlight. A good selection of Scene modes, Face Detection, and Super SteadyShot make the Cyber-shot
DSC-W130 a resourceful companion just about anywhere. Click here to read our review of the Cyber-shot
DSC-W130 for more.
April 17
Review posted for 
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170!
With a big lens and a stack of features, the Sony W170 is a digital camera that's made to please. Its relatively large lens opening stands out, as does the optical viewfinder window, rare on such a small digital camera. The Sony W170's big 5x zoom is image stabilized, and starts at a nice, wide 28mm equivalent setting, essential for real travel photography. What's more, the Sony W170 automatically enters Macro mode when its subject is close, something so obvious it should be on all digital cameras. Dynamic Range Optimization has been brought over from the Alpha digital SLR line to improve the Sony W170's highlight and shadow retention, and Sony's Face Detection is smarter, able to find smiles and differentiate between children and adults. More importantly, its 10.1-megapixel sensor is capable of producing prints that look great at 13x19 inches. Click here to find out more about the Sony Cyber-shot W170!
April 11
Full Review posted for 
Sony A350 SLR!
Only the 14-megapixel sensor, an articulating LCD screen, and Sony's new Live View mode differentiate the Sony A350 from the already reviewed Sony A200 digital SLR camera. All three have an impact on the utility of the Sony A350, but overall image quality is surprisingly similar to the A200. The simplicity of the Sony A350's design belies its inner sophistication, which includes Dynamic Range Optimization, Super SteadyShot, and Eye-start autofocus, all of which work together to make getting good images a little easier. The new Function menu and overall navigation continue the "easy and powerful" theme, making Sony's consumer digital SLR line quite approachable to beginners. Most of what was good about the A200 remains in the Sony A350; you just get a little more resolution and you can autofocus in Live View at a greater speed than you could with most any other digital SLR camera. Click here for our full Sony Alpha A350 review for more on this compelling digital camera.
UPDATE, 6/02/08: Imatest results for the Sony A350 have finally been posted. (Thanks for your patience!) Click on over to our Sony Alpha A350 review to view the Imatest results and analysis!
April 2
Vast & Fast: 
Western Digital MyBook Studio II Hard Drive
Like any other "stuff," image and movie files always seem to expand to fill all available hard drive space. Western Digital may have an answer though: They've updated their popular MyBook line of hard drives with the new MyBook Studio II models. With maximum capacities of 1 and 2 Terabytes (that's a million megabytes) and an option for RAID 1 mirroring for increased reliability, these huge drives could be the just the ticket for space-constrained photographers. We took a look at one of the new drives, found it fast, quiet, cool-running, and able to connect to just about any (Mac or Windows) computer system. Check out our Western Digital MyBook Studio II review for all the details!
April 1
Review posted for 
Nikon Coolpix L15!
With a sleek look and a load of features, you'd expect the Nikon Coolpix L15 to have a high price tag, but this 8-megapixel digital camera retails for under $150. The Nikon L15 has a 230,000-pixel, 2.8-inch LCD screen works well in sunlight, which makes framing images easy indoors and out. And the L15 also has both Face Detection and Vibration Reduction built in, quite rare among digital cameras at this price range. Built with the point-and-shooter in mind, the Nikon L15's interface is very simple, with a full auto and an Easy Auto mode, plus 15 Scene modes for difficult situations. But even at the bargain level, we're more focused on image quality than anything. How did the Nikon L15 fare? Click here to read our review of the Nikon Coolpix L15.
First Shots posted from 
Olympus E-420!
We've posted First Shots for the Olympus E-420 digital SLR camera, an updated version of the company's compact E-410 model. Click here for our Olympus E-420 preview page, and then click on the Samples tab for all the images we've shot so far with the Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens. Stay tuned for more Olympus E-420 test images in the coming days!
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