At last the Russians deliver a truly affordable digital SLR
UPDATED! - click
here
Reliable sources in the Russian Federation have provided
dpnow with exclusive details of an exciting new affordable digital camera that could rock the industry. It's a 2 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera that offers interchabgeable lenses and it's priced below $300, including a lens.
Many of us became much more serious about our photography when we bought our first single lens reflex camera. I can remember, back in the mid-70s, friends getting their hands on second hand Prakticas, Exaktas and Zenits, all from the Eastern BLoc. Cheap and cheerful they may have been, but they took great pictures and you had the freedom to change lenses. These were REAL cameras.
Although Canon brought the digital SLR to under a grand (UK pounds) for the first time last summer, with the introduction of the EOS-300D, the possibility of owning a digital SLR remains beyond the reach of most. But that looks set to change with the revelation that the Russian camera maker, Zenit, is readying a digital version of its KM film SLR, called the KM-D1.
The Zenit KM-D1, we are told, will sell for $299 (about £167 or €250). For that you get a fairly modern-looking SLR, with integrated hand grip, using a Pentax K-series compatible bayonet lens mount. You even get a 28mm f/3.5 fixed focal length Helios lens (48mm equivalence) into the bargain.
So what are the catches?
Surely there must be a catch for such a cheap price? Well, there are some limits to the specification compared to contemporary DSLRs. The sensor is of Russian origin and is only 2 megapixels in resolution. It's not full frame and the focal length 'shift' factor is 1.7 compared to a full frame camera.
Auto exposure is available but only in aperture priority mode. There is no programmed fully auto mode and the ISO range is limited to 100, 200 and 400. The camera only produces RAW mode images and software is provided for converting these into TIFF or JPEG format.
There is no autofocus feature as the camera is only fully compatible with first-generation K-mount lenses.
Simple but innovative live preview viewscreen
Another oddity is that the camera doesn't have a colour LCD viewscreen, instead it makes do with a black and white one, but it is a good size with a 2.3 inch diagonal and has a resolution of 150,000 pixels. It also tilts for waist-level style composing. However, Zenith claim a first with the KM-D1 in providing a live preview mode that works with the reflex mirror up, though of course this mode stops you from using the through the lens (TTL) optical finder.
Apart from that the specification looks fairly normal, with compatibility with CFI and II type cards (but not, we're told Microdrives), electronic metal bladed focal plane shutter, 16 seconds to 1/2000th settings, plus B mode, etc. The KM-D1 can be distinguished from its KM film sibling by a gold 'Zenit' logo.
The Zenit KM-D1 should be on sale in the UK in July.
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