We usually try to avoid a full-time vacation in Negative Town, but sometimes things beg for exposure. One popular website for photography beginners, Digital Photography School has started churning publishing mediocre (to put it very politely) mini-reviews (again being very polite) of digital cameras. Today they have posted a review of the Panasonic FZ38 (FZ35) which is an epic disaster. Direct quote from the review:

"Panasonic has not indulged in a longish zoom camera before, unlike Canon, Nikon and Olympus, and its first such camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35"

Priceless... It looks like they need to take some classes at the Camera Review School :)

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Now that things got quiet, it is time to add some of the hot new cameras to the Review Organizer. We will be updating this post as each new review cluster is created. If you have any favorite cameras you would like to see added, please add them in the comments or send an email. You can check which cameras already have review-lists at the DSLR + iLC and the Compact/FixedLens review organizers.

New Review Clusters created
+ Nikon Coolpix S1000pj reviews - the one with the built-in projector [NEW]
+ Sony WX1 reviews - it has the Exmor (backlit) CMOS sensor
+ update in progress - more coming up
+ in the meantime, we have a fun topic and poll...

What do you think of iPhone Photography?
iPhone photography has been generating a lot of excitement, from photography apps to Chase Jarvis and his Best Camera project, which includes an online community and a book adding fuel to the fire.

So we have a poll for you. What do you think of iPhone photography? This is a multiple-answer poll, so please feel free to vote for all that apply, and write-in any "Other" options. Or use the comments section below.

And if you like polls, you can check our blog posts that have polls in them and see what our readers think about different topics. We don't close most of the polls, so you can vote at any time!

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We continue with the video mini-theme. Through Ryan Brenizer's blog, we learn of a new in-depth article at Wired looking at the impact DSLR-Video is having in the world of moving pictures, and cite specific examples.

It is interesting to note that a few years ago, hybridization/convergence was perhaps seen by some as more likely to go the other direction - advanced video cameras "eating" away at still cameras, but it looks like the tide is now perhaps heading in the opposite direction. Perhaps it was the pretty diagrams and loud barking of RED that got the DSLR world to take video very seriously and make it a priority. And the DSLR world managed to deliver actual products a whole lot faster than RED. We'd love to see RED succeed and make the market more diverse and competitive, but you can't take actual pictures using just the exciting new diagrams they publish every few months.

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For the speed readers out there, the headline says Panavision, not Panasonic :) Hot Rod Cameras says that according to their sources the adapters that let hybridographers use Panavision lenses on Canon Video-DSLRs and other video-friendly cameras (eg Panasonic GH1) will no longer be available from Panavision.

But fear not, Hot Rod Cameras is planning to build those adapters on their own!

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B&H Photo only accepts orders, they don't accept pre-orders. When they start accepting orders, it usually means that the release of a camera is getting closer. Today they have began taking orders for the black Leica M9, and the steel gray. The camera is not shipping yet, but orders are accepted.

The price is of course Leica-high at $7000. But in the grand scheme of things, a Leica M9 is still cheaper than a brand new car :-) In-fact one could sell their current car, get a reliable used Honda/Toyota for about the price of the M9, get the M9 and a couple of primes, and still have money left :)

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Time for a new installment in the on-going soap-opera that is the Top Selling DSLR Charts at Amazon. As usual, we start with a screenshot teaser, and then observe trends and patterns. This has been a recurring feature on the noisy blogs for years, but if this is your first visit, be sure to read the introduction first so you can make the most of this.

K for early Kommercial success?
The second Pentax K-x two-lens kit (18-55/55-300mm) is back in the Top 20, partially thanks to another $30 discount, bringing its price down to $721. This remains in pre-order status by Amazon itself, but considering the buzz the camera has generated [reviews], and the early analysis of its noise performance, it is not a surprise.

Canon and Nikon offer temptations
Both Canon and Nikon are heating things up in the market, as the $200 instant rebate for Canon is securing the top two spots for the T1i (500D) and XSi (450D), while continuing discounts for the two main D90 kits keep them going.

Micro Stock-Status Blues
Micro Four Thirds has lost its momentum as the GF1 kits continue to go in-and-out of stock, the E-P1 is back at $800, and the E-P2 is in pre-order mode. The GH1 does have a $50 discount, but it's a 3.33% discount, so it's not big enough to "force" decisions.

Price downticks continue
It is quite interesting how the upticks-vs-downticks score changed so dramatically the last couple of updates. Prices are going down across the board! There are only fake price-increases, when the profiteers spike prices to crazy-high levels to capitalize on limited availability.

Top 20 Vitals
+ Canon vs Nikon: 9-8
+ total 35mmFF: 2
+ total non-CaNiKoN: 3
+ total M43rds: 2
+ total over $1000: 7
+ total under $500: 3
+ price upticks vs downticks: 0-7 (profiteers don't count)

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Alpha Mount World has posted some initial ISO test pictures taken with the Alpha A500 and the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8. The AMW review will be under-way so stay tuned for more! The A500 as you may recall uses a 12mp CMOS sensor versus the 14.6mp sensor of the A550. Does it also have the "magic" found in the K-x?

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The ALC has a new blog post revisiting the sensor-size, resolution and noise discussion, and creates a digital camera "food chain".

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Not only are these imaging editors FREE, we also get a free group review of them! A double-free :) You can read this at Trusted Reviews, where they check out GIMP, Antweaver, Photoscape and Paint.net.

Needless to say there are a lot more free imaging editors, some of them stand-alone applications, some of them web-based.

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