The exterior design of the new DP2 is generally unchanged from the version released back in 2009, although the scroll wheel has been moved from the rear to the top of the body, taking the place of the mode selector dial. The playback zoom and focus point selector buttons have also disappeared, giving the Merrill edition a very streamlined appearance. While autofocus on the test unit was slow, the sigma鏡頭收購sigma rep was quick to point out that the software was far from finished, and that we could look forward to much better performance when the DP2 Merrill hits the market, likely in May or June.

Canon’s ELPH 530, announced earlier this week, is an ultracompact with two interesting features: its tiny, 90s-retro form factor, and its accompanying app for iOS. CameraWindow works with the ELPH 530 and 320, and lets you wirelessly transfer photos between the camera and iPhone or iPad in either direction. It uses Wi-Fi, either in an ad-hoc connection or through the same connected network. We found getting the devices to talk to each other was pretty straightforward — after a few seconds to establish a connection, transferring individual photos was almost instant. The app’s iPad interface is very similar to the stock Photos app, and you select, save, and delete images in much the same way. The iPad app works well, but the camera’s interface isn’t fantastic, with slightly convoluted menus and an unresponsive touch screen. Overall, though, we think the functionality has potential, and it’d be good to see more CameraWindow compatibility in future Canon cameras.

There’s only so much you can tell from a prototype lens mounted to a tripod at a trade show, but Sony’s 500mm f/4 G SSM isn’t just any lens. It’s as huge as the $16,000+ hole it’ll make in your bank balance, and even in the unfinished form shown off at CP+ looks to be quite the performer. The autofocus was impressively fast when mounted to an A77, and the lens should make an even better partner for the full-frame A900 successor that Sony confirmed today.

Back in 2009, Ricoh had the bright idea to release a body with not only interchangeable lenses, but entire interchangeable camera modules — sensor, electronics, and all (as seen below with the A12 50mm F2.5 macro module). While the company’s already released some modules with APS-C-sized sensors and fixed focal lengths, as well as zoom modules with smaller sensors, today we got a first look at its new A16 24-85-millimeter APS-C zoom module.

The lens features 11 elements in 9 groups, with a variable aperture of F3.5-5.5, and takes 16-megapixel images. The long, 114-millimeter barrel looks and feels a little odd without a manual zoom ring, but otherwise the unit is reassuringly weighty and solid. While the 25cm minimum focusing distance, poor 3fps continuous shooting speed, and substandard 720p video mode are unlikely to convert new users to Ricoh’s platform, longtime GXR users might want to take a look when the A16 launches in March.

The camera feels much lighter in the hand than it looks, and at 0.39 pounds it’s certainly not going to weigh you down on the trail. The body features a locking waterproof door covering its Mini HDMI and Mini USB ports, allowing the camera to be submerged up to 12 meters. And while the WG-2 is rated as being shockproof up to 1.5 meters, that measurement is given for wood, not the much harder concrete floor here at the Pacifico Yokohama, so we were only permitted to drop it from waist height. Not exactly four stories onto a bed of spikes, but rest assured that your WG-2 can stand up to the rigors of a Japanese convention center.

The other new addition is the GPS module, which records your location data, as well as your route information in KML format, allowing you to retrace your footsteps when you get home using services like Google Earth and Google Maps. Overall, we’d say the WG-2 has all the makings of a great companion for your next mountainboarding or cross country zorbing trip.

Olympus announced its TG-820 iHS rugged compact camera just yesterday, and brought it along to show off at CP+ in Yokohama. The main reason we wanted to check it out was for its super-high resolution 1,030,000-pixel LCD, and indeed it was pretty amazingly sharp in person… as long as you were looking at a photo or viewfinder image. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t seem to have optimized text and other UI elements for the screen, with icons looking quite blurry and poorly-scaled. So, this isn’t exactly the Retina Display of rugged cameras. Otherwise, there’s not a lot to report — it’s a pretty standard entry in its class, and as you’ll see from the photos Olympus didn’t seem to have any qualms about us dousing it in sand and blue goop. The camera is out next month for $299.99, which might give Olympus time to create some new UI graphics.

We love Sony’s NEX cameras, but it’s hard to deny that the E-mount lens lineup is a little lacking next to Olympus and Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds offerings. Sony promises it’s on the case, though, and has used the CP+ show as an opportunity to give some hints as to what’s in store — while we don’t have detailed specifications, we now know the quantity, variety and (roughly) quality of lenses in development.

2012 is mostly going to be about zoom, with wide angle, standard and high-magnification lenses all on the way, along with a fast standard prime. 2013 will see the release of a G-series high performance standard zoom, a mid-magnification zoom, a mid-telephoto prime, and an unspecified pancake. That’s eight new lenses in all, making for a lineup of 15 by the end of next year — along with offerings from third parties such as Kenko Tokina and Tamron.

We just got our first look at the Pentax K-01 in person, here at CP+ 2012 in Yokohama, Japan. The company has taken a pretty different approach with its first “serious” mirrorless camera — it’s decided to leverage its extensive K-mount lens line-up that already works well with APS-C sensors. The result is a camera that doesn’t save much in thickness over a DSLR, due to having the same flange focal distance between sensor and lens, and it looks decidedly bulky when placed next to a Sony NEX-5n. The loss of a full grip and mirror / pentaprism mechanism does offer space savings over a DSLR, though there’s still a slight hump for a non-existent viewfinder.

The camera feels great in the hand, with a chunky, solid design. The body is wrapped in ribbed rubber, and the physical controls are substantial and well-placed. It comes in three colors, and while the yellow model demonstrated in the video below might not be to everyone’s taste, we thought the black and white unit had something about it. It wasn’t the fastest camera we’ve ever tested, with sluggish contrast-detection autofocus and a fairly long time in between shooting RAW files, though it can shoot six JPEGs a second in continuous drive mode. Unfortunately we can’t speak to the image quality, as we weren’t able to take any samples away or view them on anything larger than the K-01’s 3-inch screen. We believe it’s using the same 16.1-megapixel sensor found in the Sony NEX-5n, Nikon D7000 and Pentax’s own K-5 DSLR, however, so we’d expect it to be a similarly strong performer.

Olympus went back to its roots today with the OM-D E-M5, a brand-new Micro Four Thirds camera that you’d probably guess was about 40 years old if it weren’t so shiny. The E-M5 is the first in the company’s new OM-D line, and even the name harkens back to the cameras of yore: the OM-1 was released in 1972, and was at the time one of the slimmest SLRs on the market. The new camera sits at the top of Olympus’ Micro Four Thirds offerings, more expensive than the PEN models — the E-M5 will cost $1,099.99 with a kit lens when it goes on sale in April.

The camera’s gotten a bit of an upgrade in specs and performance (it’s digital, for one), but it still looks every bit as good as it did 40 years ago. The magnesium alloy body comes in either black or chrome, though whichever option you pick will be wrapped in black synthetic leather. This is a mirrorless camera, with the pentaprism hump in the center now occupied by an electronic viewfinder — an EVF is nice, but we can’t help but wonder if form outweighed function in the decision to keep the hump in place. There aren’t a lot of physical, but the mode dial and scroll wheels move smoothly and easily. The camera felt a little delicate in my hand, but it’s apparently quite the contrary: the magnesium alloy body is also splashproof and dustproof, and Olympus reps assured me it’s ready to weather the elements. We also got to test out the new battery grip, which gives the E-M5 a very DSLR-like feel — it adds a vertical shutter button, a larger grip, and a second battery that should at least double the life of the camera.

Olympus has finally pulled the curtain back on what has been possibly the most leaked camera in recent memory: the OM-D E-M5. Just as the PEN cameras were inspired by the company’s half-frame shooters of the ’50s and ’60s, the first camera in the OM-D line harkens back to OM-series film SLRs first sold in the ’70s. So, the pentaprism bump now houses a 1.44-megapixel electronic viewfinder, two programmable dials provide manual control, and the camera comes in black or the classic chrome finish you see above. The body is actually quite a bit smaller than you might think, however, measuring 4.8 inches wide and 1.8 inches deep. There’s no room for a built-in flash, but the E-M5 comes bundled with a small accessory unit that slots into the hot shoe.

Inside, there’s a new Micro Four Thirds 16.1-megapixel sensor with 5-axis image stabilisation, an ISO range of 200-25,600, and support for 1080p video. Olympus is touting its new autofocus system in particular on the E-M5, said to beat the already-speedy EP-3. The E-M5 is the first Micro Four Thirds camera from Olympus to have support for a battery grip, which relocates both control dials and the shutter release for shooting in portrait orientation. This, together with its dust and splash proof magnesium alloy design, should make it a more enticing “professional” option than any PEN to date. The E-M5 will be out in April for a body-only price of $999.99, with kit lens options including a $1,099.99 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R set, and a $1,299.99 bundle with the higher-end, weather-sealed 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ lens that launched in December.

After months of rumors and years of waiting, Nikon has finally announced the D800, the latest addition to the company’s DSLR lineup. After some flood-induced delays, the new full-frame camera will be available in March for $2,999.95, and it’s full of new features and upgrades. Rather than a lite version of the recently announced D4 like the D700 was to the D3, the D800 has a new angle: Nikon is aiming the new camera squarely at the Canon 5D Mark II, which has so far held something of a monopoly in the video world. Nikon thinks it can change that.

The D800’s most eye-popping feature is its whopping 36.3-megapixel FX-format (35.9 x 24mm) sensor, which apparently creates TIFF files as large as 212MB. Many of its other upgrades mirror those on the D4: it has the same 91,005-pixel RGB metering sensor, the same 3.2-inch, 921,000-dot LCD, the same Expeed 3 processor that makes startup time as fast as 0.12 seconds, and the same new 51-point autofocus system with 15 cross-type sensors. The D800’s ISO range goes up to 6400, expandable to 25,600 — not quite D4 territory, but solid nonetheless. To get the giant 36.3-megapixel shots off the camera, there’s a USB 3.0 port built in, a first for any Nikon camera; there’s also an SD card slot next to the CF slot, which the D700 didn’t have. Nikon gave the D800 slight ergonomic redesign as well — the company evidently feels it got things right with the D7000, since the D4 and D800 were both reorganized to more closely resemble the D7000’s controls and layout. One of the best changes, though, has to be the door that covers the ports: it’s sturdy, and opens and closes like, well, a door — unlike the shoddy pieces of rubber we’ve seen covering ports before.