Casio’s EXILIM EX-Z150 point and shoot camera raises the bar with its stunning 3.0″ LCD screen. Additionally, the EX-Z150 sports CCD-shift image stablization, a 28-mm wide angle lens, 4x optical zoom, a 8.1 megapixel 1/2.5 inch CCD, face detection, and You-Tube video capture mode (640×480 at 30fps for up to ten minutes). There’s no launch date or price known yet, but I’ll keep you updated! For more information, click here!

Nikon’s D700 is a new, high-powered DSLR geared towards the prosumer market (especially with its $2,999 pricetag). Serious photographers will drool over this camera: it comes with a 12.1 megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor with Nikon’s EXPEED image processing technology, ISO sensitivity of up to 6400, continuous 5fps shooting, a 3 inch VGA colour monitor with 170 degree viewing capabilities, a tough magnesium body, two living shooting modes, Dynamic Integrated Dust Reduction System, Nikon’s Scene Recognition System, and built-in flash. To see the D700’s product page, click here!

This is probably too good to be true, but Nikon Rumors claims they have leaked pictures of what they believe will be Nikon’s D90- the successor to the wildly popular D80 camera.  Personally, the above camera looks like a hastily photoshopped Nikon D80 (notice the shabby D90 indicator), but only time will tell.

Casio’s 8.1 Megapixel EXILIM Zoom Ex-Z9 boasts a 2.6 inch LCD screen, face detection technology, anti-shake DSP, 3x optical zoom, 18.6 mb of internal memory, video mode (at 848 x 480 pixels), an SD/SDHC/MMC expansion slot, and a rechargable Li-on battery. Marketed as a beginner’s phone, the Casio Ex-Z9 also comes with 23 “Best Shot” Modes for photo taking. And as an added bonus, the Casio Ex-Z9 is available in four fantastic colours! The Casio Ex-Z9 will be available at the end of March for approximately $160. For more information, click here.

Although the Olympus FE-300 hoped to lure consumers with snazzy features like smile-detection, high ISO functionality (up to ISO 6400), and a 12 megapixel sensor, the Photography Blog found the Olympus FE-300 a little lacking in actual practice. “Around £200 (less, with Internet deals) for a good looking, stylishly designed 12 megapixel zoom compact from a well-known brand looks like a great deal on paper – almost too good to be true. And so it proves in practice. Though the Olympus FE-300 is commendably easy to use – with that now familiar ‘guide’ function on the mode wheel offering novice users reference to what is, in effect, an in-camera manual that automatically makes function selections for you – and it’s reasonably swift in operation, if not a class leader, the resultant images are what lets it down. The real bugbear here is camera shake, an inherent problem with slender camera designs that the Olympus FE-300 fails to effectively address. Bumping up the ISO simply results in detail loss and images that are unusable anyway. If you want a camera for any more than pointing and shooting – and the FE-300 doesn’t offer much more functionality than just that – you’ll be disappointed. That’s unless you really are a first time digital camera user with nothing to compare its performance to. You get what you pay for and if having a good looking compact to win the envy of your mates is more important than the resulting images, then the FE-300 is for you. But for most of us picture quality is all that matters, which means that we can only award the distinctly average Olympus FE-300 a distinctly average score.”

Furthermore, Digital Camera Review writes that “The Olympus FE-300 provides a whopping 12 megapixels of resolution, but don’t let the thought that “more is better” enter your mind when deciding about whether to buy this camera. With this camera, all that 12 megapixels gets you is large files and the ability to do a ton of cropping. Now, if you are looking for a quality built, slim, entry level, easy to use camera, then consider this camera, but realize that you’ll get average image quality.”

CNET adds that “The Olympus FE-300 distinguishes itself as one of the lightest, least-expensive 12-megapixel cameras currently available. Unfortunately, its pictures pale in comparison to those from some higher-end, lower-resolution cameras.”

Sanyo’s Xacti DMX-HD700 is officially the world’s smallest and lightest 720p camcorder. This petite high definition camcorder records MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video video and 7 megapixel pictures to SD and SDHC memory cards. Other features include face tracking (up to 12 faces), a 2.7 inch LCD screen, and up to ISO 3200 sensitivity. Available October 19th, the Sanyo Xacti HD700 will set you back ¥70,000 (609 USD).

Nikon is releasing the D300 DSLR- a 12 megapixel camera with 14 bit A/D conversion, EXPEED image processor, up to ISO 6400, CAM 3500DX AF Sensor (51 point), HDMI video output, UDMA CF support, and a 3 inch 922,000 Pixel LCD screen. The D300 will be available in November for about $1,800.

On buying the D300, Ken Rockwell states recommends the following: “The Nikon D300 has some new tricks, a negligible few more pixels, a faster frame rate (6 or 8 FPS vs 5 FPS in the D200) and a magnificent high-resolution LCD.

The D300 also costs more than the D200. The D200 runs about $1,500 – $1,650, while the D300 will be $1,800.

If you already own a D200 and are on a budget, I wouldn’t run out to exchange cameras unless you’re doing sports and get the MB-D10 grip for 8 FPS.

If you’re getting a new camera, I’d pay extra to get the D300 instead of the D200. This is because the genius is in the details, like color interpretation and highlight overload handing, which are never specified or measured well. Nikon learns a lot every year, and most of the genius of the D300 goes into things far more subtle than its megapixel count.”