Nikon has announced the new Nikon D5000 DSLR today:

• Nikon D5000 Key Features
• 12.3 megapixels
• ISO 100-6400
• HD video capture (1280 x 720 at a cinematic 24 fps)
• 11-point autofocus
• 100,000-cycle shutter

The D5000 and AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens kit, will be available beginning in late April 2009 at an estimated selling price of $849.95. the D5000 will also be offered as a body only for an estimated selling price of $729.95. For more information, please visit www.nikonusa.com

Nikon D5000 Press Release:

Pentax have released firmware update Version 1.0.3 for its K20D DSLR. The new firmware is supposed to improve the accuracy of K20D's sensor based image stabilization system (Shake Reduction - SR).

Download Firmware Udpate 1.0.3 for Pentax K20D

Olympus have released a firmware update for its E-3 DSLR. The version 1.4 is claimed to improve the auto-focus performance of the camera.

Download Firmware Udpate Version 1.4 for Olympus E-3

Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i DSLR is the latest entyr-level camera in Canon's DSLR series. The new Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i DSLRis a feature-rich DSLR with its a 15.1 MP APS-C CMOS sensor with 1080p HD video recording at 20fps, a 3.0 inch LCD with 920,000 dot resolution, Digic 4 processor, EOS integrated cleaning system, Auto Lighting Optimiser, Creative Auto Mode and Live View and continuous shooting speeds of 3.4 fps. The Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i provides ISO speeds from ISO 100 up to ISO 3200 in whole stop increments, along with two additional high-speed ISO settings – H1: 6400 and H2: 12800.

Features at a glance:

15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
Full HD movie recording with HDMI connection for viewing and playback on an HDTV
ISO 100-3200 (expandable to 12800)
3.4 frames per second continuous shooting
Max. 170 large JPEG images in a single burst
3.0” ClearView LCD with Live View mode
9-point wide area AF with cross type centre point
High speed DIGIC 4 performance and superb image quality
EOS Integrated Cleaning System
Full compatibility with Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites, including new Speedlite 270EX, TS-E 17mm f/4L and TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II

Press Release:

Nikon Rumors managed to pick the screen shot below from official Nikon Germany website, but it’s no longer on the site.

The screenshot shows a Nikon D400 in the lineup with the following feature set:

- 15.3 MP CMOS sensor
- 6 fps max
- 200-6400 ISO Range
- Full HD video capture

Nikon has posted a firmware update for its Coolpix P6000 digital camera. Firmware v1.2 resolves an occasional file corruption problem when shooting in RAW+JPEG with distortion correction enabled, and promises to lower the power consumption of the camera, besides a few other minor issues.

Download the firmware update Version 1.2 (Mac)

Download the firmware update Version 1.2 (Windows)

Leica sent letters to its dealers, stating that they are discontinuing its R-Series manual focus SLRs. It is sad to hear that R9 and R-series SLRs and lenses will no longer be produced. Even though I have never used any of them, I really liked the rather strange shape of these cameras. Leica also said that insights gained during the development of the S2 (its first autofocus camera), will feed into the development of a future generation of the R-system.

Pretec has unveiled the world's first SDXC card with a capacity of 32 GB and read/write speed of 50MB/s. SDXC (eXtended Capacity) is a next-generation SD card, with capacities up to 2 TB (2048GB), and read/write speed up to 50MB/s initially and up to 104MB/s in the future, with a possible 300MB/s as a long term roadmap. Currently there are no SDXC compliant host systems compatible with these memory cards.

Press Release:

Pretec has introduced the world's first 666x Compact Flash cards, reaching read/write speeds up to 100MB/s. According to Pretec, this is approaching the theoretical maximum speed of CF specification, which is 133MB/s. Thanks to its rugged body and shock and impact resistance, Pretec promise to be ten times more durable that other CF cards. Pretec 666x CF cards will start shipping from April, with capacities ranging from 4GB to 64GB.

Press Release:

Canon Rumors received an email, claiming that the Canon EOS 500D / Rebel Xri -replacement to EOS 450D/ Xsi- will be announced June 23, 2009. The writer of the e-mail also claims that an EF-S 30mm f/2 lens will be released alongside it. Here you can read the original post on Canon Rumors.

Canon 450D /Xsi and 1000D/ Xs are already selling very well and I am not sure that Canon will likely want to introduce a new body until a better and more competitive body from other manufacturers come in to market. On the other hand, video recording seems likely to become a game changer soon, so Canon would like to give an answer to Nikon D90 on the entry level and attract more Point and Shooters who are looking for an upgrade. Lets wait and see!