One of the biggest advantages of owning a digital SLR system is the vast variety of interchangeable lenses. With a point-and-shoot camera, you’re locked in to a jack-of-all-trades lens that may not be the best solution in every photographic situation. A digital SLR owner is able to specialize his system much more, buying lenses with different apertures, focal lengths and technologies based on his needs.

But the days of smug, SLR superiority might be limited. Olympus and Panasonic plan an expansion of their Four Thirds System into the realm of the point-and-shooter. The newly-dubbedMicro Four Thirds System will bridge the gap between the two systems as never before, and give the SLR a run for its money in terms of functionality.

Here are some highlights of the Micro Four Thirds System:

- Existing Four Thirds lenses can be used on both digital SLRs and the micro cameras (with an adapter.)
- Micro Four Thirds cameras will be lighter and more mobile than their full counterparts
- Micro Four Thirds cameras will make use of the LCD screen instead of a viewfinder like on full SLRs

It sounds like an interesting idea, and I’ll be curious to see the first models. The one issue I see is this: larger lenses are able to admit more light onto the sensor. Will these smaller Four Thirds lenses be able to operate at f/2.8 or smaller or will they max out at f/4 or f/5.6? Remains to be seen, but if they can’t operate at wider apertures, it will be a serious disadvantage for the budding pro.

Full article.

A new survey out today by JD Power and Associates seeks to figure out what exactly consumers want out of their digital cameras. The answers, at least to me, were a bit surprising.

According to the survey, the most desired feature in a digital camera is weatherproofing, cited by 67 percent of point-and-shoot users and 63 percent of digital SLR shooters. More memory beat out weatherproofing slightly in the survey’s poll of ultra-slim camera users, but it still came in near the top of the list.

Weatherproofing - particularly for those with digital SLRs - can be anexpensive proposition, and many camera manufacturers haven’t done a whole lot to incorporate a whole lot of weatherproofing features into their lines of digital cameras. Consumer-class SLRs like the Canon 40D are listed as “weather resistant”, but I certainly would never put that to the test in a rainstorm. And point-and-shoot digital cameras typically don’t have a whole lot of weather resistance either, although the Olympus stylus line is a notable exception.

Some other interesting facts from the survey:

– DSLR owners take the most photos in one month, averaging 454 images, followed by premium point and shoot owners (159), ultra slim owners (96), and point and shoot owners (83).

– Customers who purchased an extended warranty report significantly higher overall satisfaction scores (768, on average) with their cameras, compared with owners who did not purchase a warranty (732, on average). In 2008, 23 percent of DSLR, 17 percent of premium point and shoot, 16 percent of ultra slim and 13 percent of point and shoot owners purchased an extended warranty for their digital camera.

Full report is available here.

What are your thoughts on the survey? What features do you look for in your purchase? Is weatherproofing the next big thing?

Sometimes bigger is better…

Check out this story about the world’s biggest digital camera, which will be used to scan the skies looking for asteroids that pose a threat to earth. The resolution? 1.4 billion pixels - or 1400 megapixels.

“This is a truly giant instrument,” says John Tonry of the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) at the University of Hawaii, who led the team that developed the camera. “It allows us to measure the brightness of the sky in 1.4 billion places simultaneously.”

Read the full story here. (Via NewScientistSpace)

Thanks to Pedro Pinheiro for the tip.

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