Yamaha is bringing a special offer to those buying one of their ATVs, giving away free GoPro 2s. Through the unique promotion, anyone who buys a 400cc and above Yamaha ATV by the end of May will receive a free GoPro HD Hero 2 (a $299 value) from Yamaha. The GoPro Hero camera line, is quite popular within the motor sports industry, and the company is hoping to increase excitement for their product with this promotion.

Full press release

Video captured by your Dropcam HD camera is available to you anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Dropcam HD ($149) is now available for preorder on www.dropcam.com and will begin shipping later this month.

Front View of the K-5

The Pentax K-5 is not a new camera but by no means an old camera as it still attracts new camera buyers and camera fanatics that know a lot about digital SLR’s.

Let’s start off with some key features of the Pentax K-5.

• 16.3 Mega Pixel CMOS Sensor
• ISO Sensitivity span of 51,200
• 1080p HD Movie capture that’s shoots at 25 fps and a
• Basic in build video editor
• External microphone input
• News 11+ saphox system
• 11 focus point with a wider array than the K-7
• 100% view finder coverage
• 3inch 921000 digital LCD Screen

The technicality of the product is amazing for its price and still matches most of the cameras out on the market at that price today. The K-5 is no means the same as the K-7 but if we compare most of the key aspects from both cameras there are a lot of the features that are the same.

Design

The design of the camera (body) is almost exactly the same as the K-7 and to the naked eye you can barely tell the two cameras apart. The shape, quality and construction quality are practically the same on both cameras with their sturdy and solidity of the magnesium alloy body.

Despite the smallish size it has a excelling build quality. The feel of the camera while holding it is quite light and makes it feel like a more professional product. While holding the camera it feel comfortable in one or two hands and the ergonomics of the product where obviously thought out well. The quality compared to the size of the viewfinder is remarkable and clear so you can see every detail on the product with ease. Also the eye piece is great since you get 100% coverage in the view of what you are shooting. It also offers 0.92 magnification.

The viewfinder is also compared to having warm color rendition this is far from unpleasant and can go without being noticed in normal shooting conditions. The button layout and functions of the camera where well thought out and it is easy to master where the controls are on the camera and what they do. Beneath the rear control dial is a green button which has two purposes one to instantly set aperture and shutting speed for the correct metered exposure in manual mode and the other thing it does is to set the camera back to the normal programme mode in hyper program mode. I’m not going to go into detail of what all the buttons do but here are a few more that I thought would be at interest for you Pentax followers.

There are some standard AF pattern selection switches this has a down side that the switch is not stiff enough and can be flicked by an accidental nudge. The Af button is in the middle of the camera and can be used to toggle auto focusing supposed to half holding the shutter down. Below the af switch are a range of buttons which provide access to the self-timer, while balance, flash and colour contrast and sharpness settings.

There is a standard LV button which turns it into live view mode. There is no Lv switch from photo to video mode you have to rotate the dial and select it.Up above the Raw/FX button there is the flash button which activates the in built pop up flash. For the SD card there is a single right hand side slide to lock door a standard mechanism for cameras today.

That’s really it for the viewing and look specifications that’s remarkable to the camera to finish off on the view it’s a well presented camera which suits any buyer male or female the camera also works with previous Pentax lenses.

Below is a table listing the full technical specification off of the Pentax website  it tells you all the nitty grits and bits that I’m sure you’ll agree it’s one impressive piece of kit when you compare it to the price Pentax are selling the camera for.

What’s new in the camera compared to older products and the K-7?

The K-5 From the Back

The most noticeable and new feature to the k-5 is the 16.3 megapixel Cemos censor. The iso sensitivity can be extended up to a full 51,200 at top end. The camera also has an 11+ saphox system with 11 focus points that have a wider array that the k-7 this means they have a better reach of what they can focus on. This is one of the best yet on the Pentax market. Other things that are new include an electronic level that detect vertical and horizontal tilt it can be toggled in the RAW/FX button. The K-5 camera offers a full 1080P recording that shoots at 25fps.custon image modes and digital filters can be applied to the footage. An external mic can be inserted but it costs and is sold separately. There are many more effects most of them appear in similar cameras but not to the quality and working satisfactory of the K-5.The camera offers 18 digital images modes/filters,9 new ones to the camera.

In terms of operation and controls it is basically the same as the K-7.Despite the size of the pleasing 3 inch digital lcd screen the Pentax designers and producers made a lot of room and good space for a considerable amount of buttons on the camera. The buttons are hard to operate with cold fingers when we went into the field shooting and also with gloves on are hard to control and set with gloves on but this is not a setback. The buttons have a great feel and press to them and can be operated simply and happily.

As with previous Pentax cameras, the K-7 has an amazing selection of external. It also has an exposure mode dial that plays host to the conventional PASM options. There are three Pentax only shooting modes – Sensitivity Priority Aperture Priority. You can also select the custom user mode in which you can create up to 5 different profiles.

There is no direct movie shooting button on the K-5 body, you must unlock the exposure mode dial and rotate it to the movie shooting position before you can record video. I suppose you may get used to it in the future.

On the top right of the camera there is a front dial which by default, adjusts shutter speed in TV and manual exposure modes. Just Behind this is the shutter release button and next to which is the main power switch.

I won’t go into much about the menus as it is practically the same as the other Pentax cameras. They are great menus and easy to navigate. At a first glance at the menu you would probably think what is this and how am I going to use this. This is only a first impression and as you get to know the menus and the ways they work they become easier to control. The menu is split into four main segments the custom menu, the shoot menu, the review menu and the settings menu. Otherwise known as the record, playback, setup and custom functions

The playback menu doesn’t offer as many options as the record menu but who would expect it to. It has the basic functions such as auto images rotation which is surprisingly sharp and does it almost instantly along with the slide show option which allows you to change the interval and transition mode. There not really a lot to be said about the view menu as it is pretty much the same as any other SLR on the market out there. No one really expect the review menu to change as nothing can really be done about it.

The settings menu is rather like the shoot menu with multi options and tools that makes the camera so easy to work with and use.

In a nutshell the menus are easy to navigate and change the options usually with the tap of two buttons to move across and select. There are several smaller menu buttons while shooting photos or videos that you can press to adjust the mode or features in the particular mode.

While in the Programme automatic mode which is probably the easiest mode to take high quality pictures in without having to adjust too many settings, to get the crisp clear look you expert from the camera. You can press the up arrow to take you to the shoot mode menu which allows you to change the shoot type to options like self-timer and multi shot mode. Each of the directions give you a different menu. The down arrow flash and the left and white arrows previous picture editing. These are all helpful and handy tips to make you pictures look better even when there still on the camera.

Overall Handling

The overall handling is superb and the feel of the camera when holding it is superb you basically get a more high end camera in the body of the K-5.This is in terms of the picture quality and the performance and what the Pentax is capable of. Despite the size of the camera being fairly small it lives up to the standard it should. The camera is quite like the K-7 with a few more features and improvements on the K-7 .The aspects that weren’t so good on the K-7 have been touched on and bought back up to standard with the K-5.The grip of the camera gives a comfortable handle on the camera and is easy to grip even for people with large hands or in the opposite direction of small hands. The menus maybe be scary and complex at first but as you get used to them you become more fluid with the operating. Another excellent thing is the button placement how easy it is to change the mode and settings from a few presses on the front of the camera without flicking through the menus. The video shooting expectations were high and we expected the films to be at a high quality which they were but we felt that they could have been a bit sharper and some of the cheaper video camera on the market did a better job. This doesn’t let the camera down as the videos are still at a 1080p HD and produce excellent videos just not the best.

Performance

The performance is excellent and what you expect from a modern DSLR. Shutter lag is minimal and the 7fps is fast and smooth producing the same quality pictures everytime.When the camera is not in the mulit shot mode the camera can still take several pictures while continuous clicking the capture button. The review time on auto review is about a second which isn’t really much of a delay at all while waiting for your picture to show on the LCD screen. Some things that did let the camera down was that in bright light the camera did overexpose a little under bright light and underexpose a little in dull and cloudy situations. In normal light the camera is at its best and work to the standard Pentax says it does. The ISO automatic functions are one of the best on the market. In its default mode, it aims to deliver a shutter speed adequate to prevent camera shake using the 1/equivalent focal length so a minimum of 1/40sec at 18mm, 1/200sec at 135mm, and so on. But there are two other options, labelled fast and slow. The instruction manual cover everything in detail so after reading that or just browsing through it you can master the camera in no time at all.

When we tested the fps we found the camera does shoot at a promising 7fps but can averagely range between around 6.4 and 7fps.Pentax says that the camera has a faster and more accurate autofocusing system than the K-7 which is does and to a much high standard as well. The camera has the safox IX+ the plus meaning that the sensor is also sensitive to light as well as colour. The camera shoots well in under most lighting conditions whether dull light or a mid-tone. When the camera is running low in battery you can really tell as the performance drops and the 1 second view time changes to about a 3 second view time. Also we feel that the changing in the menus slows down as well.

The Bottom Line

Overall the performance is fast and very responsive. The camera takes stunning pictures if you have it in the right setting and it offers personal user settings to personalize to your own unique style. Although the video is not as good as it could be the camera still offers 1080P HD.We have tested the camera in multiple environments and it works up to scratch. The camera offers a comfortable design and the ergonomics have been thought of well. Overall I would give the K-5 9 out of 10.With its amazing technical specifications it beats most of the new DSLR’s on the market out there. It is a promising camera and is worth buying if you are into photography or just want to take awesome photographs then the camera is worth having a look into.

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MT 4G Slide on bottom right

If you are an Android fanboy on T-Mobile, or just want an Android phone with an amazing camera and nice full QWERTY keyboard, the new myTouch 4G Slide may be the phone for you.

The myTouch line started with the MT 3G, which was followed by the MT 3G slide. Then, the MT4G was introduced, soon to be followed with the MT 4G Slide. The specs on this phone are pretty darn good, so I’ll point out the highs. It will come running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense 3.0 running on top of 3.0, will have a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, and an out of this world camera.

So, I’ve been talking about this great camera… lets take a look at what makes it so good. T-Mobile has been saying that the myTouch has the most “advanced camera of any smartphone with zero shutter lag, backside illuminated sensor and additional premium digital camera features that offer consumers a viable replacement for their digital point-and-shoot cameras.”

“It has a feature called SweepShot: for capturing panoramic shots by sweeping across an entire scene in a single motion, ClearShot HDR: for capturing objects in bright settings so your photos are not affected by high-contrast lighting, and BurstShot: for capturing multiple photos in a quick burst so you don’t miss the perfect photo.”                       – TechnoBuffalo.com

So, if you think this sounds like something you’d like, you can go pick it up at a T-Mobile store on July 27th!

Those of you that are into photography may have heard of the Leica brand and there very high standard of equipment. Only 500 special edition Titanium M9s cameras have been produced, which makes theme a very rare collectors item but at a price of 32,000 or £20,000 not may collectors can afford such a brilliant camera. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on one of the new M9′s what you get in the box is a Summilux-M 35mm ƒ1.4 lens (also full titanium) and a threaded lens hood specific for all M style lenses. For the price of this camera you would expect a full frame sensor and that’s exactly what you get, a full frame 18 megapixel CCD sensor. Personally for me being a photographer and knowing the quality of Leica I would love to get my hands on one of these just to try it out, it really sparks my interest.

Nikon D5000 Specs:

12.3-megapixel DX-format CMOS image sensor
D-Movie Mode with sound
Vari-angle color LCD monitor
19 Auto-exposure Scene Modes
One-button Live View
Continuous shooting as fast as 4 frames per second
Built-in image sensor cleaning
11-point Autofocus System with 3D Focus Tracking
GPS Geo-tagging

Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00267S7TQ?ie=UTF8&tag=omni0fe-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00267S7TQ

We saw a TON of leaked pics of this thing from Best Buy over the past week. Now, the Flip Slide HD is official and it’s already available for purchase. Essentially how the camera works is that you have it folded up when you record so it pretty much looks just like a Flip Mino HD. Then for playback you just pop open the bigger screen. There are stereo speakers, a headphone jack, and HDMI out. Like the Mino, shoots 720p HD video with no stabilization. However, the Slide has 16GB of storage for 4 hours of video recording and 12 hours of compressed video recording. The actual slider on the playback screen is for navigating through your videos which is actually pretty cool. The price-tag is set at $279 which we think is a little high. There are quite a few 1080p video camcorders that you can buy for less.

The macro lens on this thing is really useful! 8/10
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/clarifi

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Just as expected, Canon has announced a new pro-level DSLR. The EOS 1D Mark IV has a 16.1 megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor, an ISO range of 100 up to 102,400, a 45-point AF system, two Digic 4 processors, 1080p video, and a cool feature that allows you to wirelessly transfer your photos from the DSLR to your computer via 802.11a/b/g or ethernet. The camera will be released sometime in December for about $5000 (body only).

Is Canon going to launch an EOS 1D Mark IV tomorrow? That’s what everyone seems to think. The new Canon DSLR is rumored to have a 16-megapixel sensor, a 19-point AF system, and the same 1080p video functions as the 7D. This new pro-level DSLR is priced at $5,000 which seems a little bit costly to me.