Sony have announced two new, slim and stylish digital compact cameras, the Cyber-shot W180 and the Cyber-shot W190. These easy-to-use snappers feature a 3x zoom lens, a 2.7” LCD screen, Face Detection, Smile Shutter and SteadyShot image stabilisation, and come in silver, black and red colours. The Sony Cyber-shot W180 is a 10-megapixel model, while the W190 boasts 12.1 million pixels. Both models will become available from July.

Jessops has announced the new exclusive to Jessops camera - the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290 available in both black or blue. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290 is a 12.1-megapixel digital camera with a metal body and a Carl Zeiss branded 5x zoom lens, featuring face detection, Smile Shutter and anti-blink technologies, Dynamic Range Optimisation and HD movie recording. In the UK, the black and blue versions of the camera are available exclusively at Jessops for £239.

BenQ has announced the BenQ C1020 and the BenQ C1220 digital compact cameras. The BenQ C1020 is a ten-megapixel model with a 3x zoom lens, a 2.5” screen, Smile Catch mode and 720x400-pixel video recording with optical zoom.The camera weighs 130 grams, has 15MB of internal memory plus an SD card slot, and is PictBridge compliant. The BenQ C1220 is essentially the same thing fitted with a twelve-megapixel sensor and a different exterior design.

Sigma has just announced that the much-anticipated Sigma DP2 is now available in the UK. The Sigma DP2, whose first prototype was demoed to us at photokina, is a compact camera with a fixed 41mm equivalent f/2.8 lens and a nearly APS-C sized Foveon sensor boasting 3 x 4.7 million pixels. While the sensor is the same as the one in the Sigma DP1, the lens is new, as is the faster TRUE II processor and the QS (Quick Set) button that gives users quick access to the eight most commonly used options in the camera. The Sigma DP2 is available now for £599.99 (SRP). Two new dedicated accessories for the DP2 are also available. These are the VF-21 Viewfinder that carries a suggested retail price of £114.99, and the HA-21 Hood adapter with a SRP of £19.99.

Panasonic has just unveiled a limited edition of its Lumix DMC-TZ7 model, which sports an eye-catching red finish. Red was a favoured choice for a compact camera according to Panasonic’s recent international research. In line with this, the limited edition TZ7 boasts a vivid, vibrant red. Panasonic’s new DMC-TZ7 red is available now, for a limited period only.

Review: Read our in-depth review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7

The first batch of Polaroid PoGo instant digital cameras is expected to land in the warehouses of Firebox.com on the 12th, the UK dealer says. Firebox is already taking pre-orders for the Polaroid PoGo, which is an all-in-one five-megapixel digital camera and printer that allows you to take a picture with the Polaroid PoGo, then print it in less than 60 seconds as a full-colour, 2x3-inch print. You can crop photos before printing them, add borders, remove red-eye and print dates. Obviously, your shots are also stored on a memory card, so you can have much bigger prints made later if you so wish. The retail price of the Polaroid PoGo is £229.95.

Website: Firebox

Ricoh has issued a new firmware upgrade for the Ricoh CX1 digital compact camera. Version 1.19 addresses the following issue: when the battery is low, camera may power down without retracting the lens.

Website: Ricoh CX1 Firmware Update

Olympus has released a firmware update for the Olympus mju 7000 digital compact camera. Version 1.1 improves the reliability of camera operation while viewing images taken in a vertical position and pressing the DISP button.

Website: Olympus Firmware Updates

Canon USA have issued a service notice for the PowerShot G10 camera. Lines may appear in images captured by some units of the Canon G10. This phenomenon does not occur in all images, is not caused by the camera settings, and the length of lines that appear in images differs depending on the subject. Images that exhibit this phenomenon cannot be fixed. Products whose fourth and fifth digits from the left indicate the following numbers may be affected:

***50*****, ***51*****, ***52*****,
***53*****, ***80*****, ***81*****,
***82*****, ***83*****

Free repairs will be provided by Canon USA for affected products.

Website: Service Notice: PowerShot G10: Lines Appear in Captured Images

Panasonic has released new firmware updates for three cameras - the DMC-FT1 / DMC-TS1, DMC-TZ6 / DMC-ZS1 and DMC-TZ7 / DMC-ZS3. Version 1.1 adds AVCHD playback support for the FT1 / TS1 and TZ7 / ZS3, reduces the auto-focus noise in Quick AF mode for the TZ7 / ZS3 and TZ6 / ZS1, and improves the playback quality of still images for the FT1 / TS1 and TZ6 / ZS1.

Website: Panasonic DMC-FT1/DMC-TS1 Firmware Update 1.1
Website: Panasonic DMC-TZ6/DMC-ZS1 Firmware Update 1.1
Website: Panasonic DMC-TZ7/DMC-ZS3 Firmware Update 1.1

Panasonic has announced the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42 digital camera. Like the FS12, the FS42 features a Lumix branded 4x zoom lens, but unusually, the lens on the FS42 comes without image stabilisation. Another point of difference is the pixel count: while the FS12 is a 12-megapixel model, the FS42 has “only” 10 million photosites on its sensor. The LCD is somewhat more modest too, measuring just 2.5” diagonally, although its resolution is the same at 230,000 dots. Finally, the choice of camera colours is limited to silver, black and pink.

Panasonic has announced the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS12 digital camera. The DMC-FS12 is a compact, 12-megapixel model featuring a Lumix branded 4x zoom lens with optical image stabilisation, plus features like Intelligent ISO Control, Intelligent Scene Selector and Face Detection. The new Panasonic camera will be available in a choice of silver, black, blue, pink, and green colours, depending on market.

Panasonic has updated the firmware of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15 compact digital camera. Version 1.2 promises “improved image quality”.

Website: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15 Firmware Update Service

Ricoh has released a function-enhancing firmware update for the Ricoh GR Digital II professional digital compact camera. Version 2.30 gives the GR Digital II a number of fairly significant functional enhancements, including the following:

(1)  It is now possible to manually set the flash amount
(2)  It is now possible to set the flash timing
(3)  It is now possible to register white balance compensation in My Settings
(4)  The TODAY’S SHOTS display function has been added

Click through / read on to read about these functions in detail.

Website: Firmware Download Page
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Ricoh GR Digital II

Olympus has issued a firmware update for the Olympus FE-45 digital compact camera. Version 1.2 of the FE-45 firmware improves compatibility with nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. As usual with Olympus cameras, you can update your camera’s firmware through Olympus Master or Olympus Studio.

Website: Firmware Update Instructions

Panasonic has just announced the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS62 digital camera. The 10.1-megapixel compact features Panasonic’s Mega O.I.S image stabilisation system, Intelligent ISO control, Face Detector and Intelligent Scene Selector. The image stabiliser offers Mode 1, Mode 2 and a new Auto mode; while the Face Detector can recognise up to 15 faces and allows continuous AF/AE adjustment even if a face turns sideways. The camera, which boasts a 4x Leica DC Vario-Elmarit zoom lens, will be available from May, in a choice of silver, black, blue, red or pink.

Casio have released a firmware update for the Casio EX-Z100 and the Casio EX-Z200 digital cameras. Version 1.02 of both models’ firmware fixes a problem that causes the wrong month to appear initially when the calendar screen is displayed.

Website: Casio EX-Z100 Firmware Update Page
Website: Casio EX-Z200 Firmware Update Page
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Casio EX-Z200

Olympus has issued a firmware update for the Olympus µ TOUGH 6000 digital camera. Version 1.1 improves colour when taking pictures in underwater modes: UNDERWATER WIDE 1, UNDERWATER WIDE 2, and UNDERWATER MACRO, and increases the sound volume during playback.

Website: Olympus µ [mju] TOUGH 6000 Firmware Updates

DxOMark have released new data for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150, the Fujifilm Finepix S100fs and the Olympus SP-565UZ digital cameras.

Website: DxOMark