CES saw a slew of new camera, new camera technology and accessories announced this year. I highlight some of the more interesting below.

The megapixel race has slowed and dare I say plateaued (this is a good thing) with camera manufacturers focusing on new features and better low light performance. Sure a good number of the models announced feature 14MP but we have been there for over a year now and some models announced are still at 10MP. Don’t get starry eyed about these 14MP cameras. Personally I would take a quality 10MP sensor, or even 8MP sensor over 14MP any day.

Features that we can look forward to:

• Face tagging in camera, iPhoto and Picasa has been able to do this on your computer for sometime now but this is the first I have seen the technology actually in the camera. These cameras will recognize faces, allow in camera tagging and easy uploading to Flickr, Facebook etc.
• Related to the above – one touch sharing to popular photo sites like Facebook, Flickr, etc.
• Sony added a model that does GPS tagging, automatically geo-locating your pictures for display on a map.  Including a Compass function that shows which direction you were pointing when the picture was taken.
• Not a feature but certainly worth noting, Sony and Olympus finally bowed to pressure and their newly announced cameras all support SD cards or provide adapters for SD cards.  Previously they used their more expensive and proprietary memory Stick and xD cards respectively.
• Related to the above, a few manufactures are now actually including enough in camera memory to use.   Kodak’s Slice has 2gb of internal memory and accepts MicroSD cards (just like your phone)
• More cameras with HDvideo including 1080i and more cameras adopting either H.264 or AVCHD video formats, both are far more efficient than the typical Motion JPEG
• More cameras with built in Wifi or the newer Jet Transfer technology which allows fast wireless transfers at very short distances.

Refinements to existing technology:

• Bigger/Faster SD Cards, the new format is SDXC for your SD cards and is currently very expensive with huge capacities – 32 & 64gbs
• Better low light performance, especially at the lower MP range.  Canon started this with their excellent S90 and G11 cameras, now a few other manufactures have opted to stay at the lower MP mark of 10MP and introduce technologies that increase low light performance- backlit sensors, increased stabilization/anti-shake, smarter noise reduction algorithms.
• Face recognition for focusing and exposure- this continues to improve, reducing the chance that you will get flashed out faces with your people shots
• Intelligent Sweep Panorama- Sony here againg and they released this feature in a few models last year, now refined you hold the shutter button down and spin left/right or move the camera up.  The camera takes up to 120 pics and stiches it all together into a panorama.
• More zoom in your pocket- Over a 1/3 of the models announced have 7x zoom or higher.  And a  large majority have 5x or higher.
• Touch screen and screen resolution- More cameras with the bright and more efficient AMOLED screens and several cameras with touch screen controls

Interesting Products:

• Kodak PlaySport HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera due out on Apr 5, 2010 – Kodak’s Zi8 has gotten excellent reviews, better quality than Flip and the Zx3 looks to continue that with a rugged, waterproof and smaller version that actually costs less!

What  have I missed? there was certainly loads of information coming out of CES- share your thoughts below or find me on twitter @camerarec

Happy Shooting!

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