Consumer Electronics Show Show New Toys for Photographers

The annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas demonstrates that humble camera is not yeilding to the rise of cameraphone photography with a whole host of new products set to hit the stores.

Amongst the offerings is a mock up of a new DSLR from Pentax that is rumoured to be set for release during this spring as a replacement for the K-50.  Ricoh also showed two mock ups of a new ' high maginifcation super telephoto' and a 'large diameter' telephoto lens.

Nikon unvieled the new D5500.  This 'exceptionally portable' DSLR boasts a 24.2 mega pixel sensor with a vari-angle touchscreen.  Nikon claim that they have improved the contrast detection aouto focus in live view mode so it is 20% faster than the D5300.  The camera also has built in wi-fi and allows smart phone control.  The D5500 will be hitting the shops shortly and is expected to be sold at £639.99 for the body.

Camera makers are also throwing their weight behind the compact market.  Panasonic unvieled the Lumix SZ10 that comes complete with 'slimming mode'.  No longer do you need to use your generic photo-editing package, join a local gym or fat fighters to look slim!  The SZ10 will take pounds off you.  So now you can have your pies and still look good in a selfie!  Despite this little gimmick the SZ10 appears to be quite an impressive little camera with a 24mm wide angle lens, 12x optical zoom flip out monitor and wi-fi again with smartphone control.  All this for £139.99. 

For those looking for something a little more rugged there is also the Lumix FT30 with its 16 megapixel sensor, shock resistance and water resitant to 1.5m.  It also boasts 4x optical zoom and an intelliget underwater photography mode.

The last offering from Panasonic is the very nice looking Lumix TZ70.  Aimed at the high end compact market this camera has a 12 megapixel sensor with 24mm Leica lens and 30x optical zoom.  It has a lens mounted control ring as we have come to expect from high end compacts, geotagging, wi-fi and RAW file recording.  This camera is expected to cost £349.99 and will be available in the UK from March.