Photography at CES 2015
CES 2015 officially opened today January 6, 2015 but most of the key product announcements were made yesterday. Here is a quick roundup of photography related products. Some WOW and Some (I don't know what to say). My big question once again is - What's up with Canon and Nikon.Sadly Canon announced not much. A camcorder update to three of its consumer targeted models. A round of PowerShots, 2 ultra compact cameras and 3 mega-zooms - Oh well so much for Canon and innovation. One more, a Connect Station that is 1TB media gizmo for offloading content from cameras. “Canon Connect Station CS100, a photo and video storage device that has the capability to connect to multiple compatible imaging devices allowing users to easily store, view and share images and videos” from the Adorama web site. Was this gizmo so important? Particularly since there are not many Canon Cameras that can take advantage of the NFC feature.Nikon too, lackluster, announced a D5500 3.2 inch touch screen and not much more with this model as the update to the D5300 - coming into the real world finally. In addition Nikon introduced a light 300mm f/4 lens the AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4D IF-ED. This is an image stabilized lens and uses technology that is similar to Canon’s DO (diffractive optic-element) lenses. Nikon also announced a slow collapsible 55-200mm f4-5.6 consumer lens.Fuji film announced their 16-55mm f/2.8 lens as per their lens introduction schedule. The lens is optimized for the XT-1 and is weather sealed. Unfortunately it is not image stabilized.Panasonic introduces the Lumix ZS50 with 30X zoom and follows Sony with downsizing megapixels from 18 to 12 for better low light performance. Also introducing a few camcorders and a few full featured 4K/UHD versions. Anther great introduction but shown in Beta is a 4K capable Blu-Ray player. Best of all the Panasonic Lumix CM-1 Smart Camera (A Camera Phone or a Phone Camera) introduced last year at Photokina will be released in the US this summer - more here.Sony blasted its own flurry of 4K video products. A prosumer 4K/UHD handy cam the FDR-AX33 that breaks the $1000 barrier. A new Action Cam the FDR-X1000V with 4K video and enhanced image stabilization.Though not a camera or camcorder but photography related, Wacom announced a few new models of its Windows 8 tablet/secondary desktop display along with a couple of larger desktop Cintiq displays.My picks for whatever it may be worth are the Panasonic CM-1 and the Wacom Cintiqs.