This week we've had the fun of tooling around town with a Nikon D4 strapped around our neck. Needless to say that we could probably cancel our gym memberships if this was a daily habit.
The good news is that the D4 has impressed well in our early tests, both judging from the lab results and our real world tests.
Elsewhere, we've been speaking to Sony and Panasonic to get updates on what they've been up to and we've had our eye on a camera gun that shoots images, not deer.
Catch up with all the week's happenings right here, each with links to the full story included:
Nikon news
Of course the headline news is that our Nikon D4 review is underway, you can already see the results from our lab data, which showed that it beats several other competitor cameras, including the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.We also found out that the D4 comes bundled with an XQD card and reader, at least for a limited time anyway.
Sony news
Sony told us that it believes the Nikon D800 is 'pushing boundaries', but didn't view it as competition for its own Sony Alpha A900.Rumours are still circulating that a new full-frame SLT camera from the company will be released soon, take a look at out our Sony a99 rumours page for more information.
Speaking of new SLT releases, Sony dropped the Sony Alpha a57 on us this week. Featuring 12fps shooting and a 16.1 million pixel sensor, we'll be keen to get the new camera in for review as soon as possible.
Sony also got talking about the Nokia 41 million pixel smart phone, pointing out that the tech inside it is nothing new - it's just a variation on what Sony has been using in its cameras.
Canon is currently the only major manufacturer without a CSC on the market, with many predicting that this will finally be the year that it decides to join the race. Sony says that Canon would be welcome, telling us that it only helps to raise the credibility of the format.
Finally this week, Sony also told us that the predictions for compact system camera growth are conservative, especially now its NEX-7 is finally available in the shops.
Panasonic news
Back in the mists of, er, January - the world got a little bit excited about the Polaroid smart camera, which is a compact camera featuring the Android operating system.Panasonic has told us that it is an 'option for the future' - so we'll be keeping an eye out for how that develops.
Meanwhile, we've also been thinking to the future and looking at all the Panasonic GF5 rumours that are currently circulating.
Panasonic is also watching the 'advanced' CSC market very closely, as competition heats up from the likes of Olympus, Sony and Fujifilm. Could we be about to see an even more serious G series camera?
Samsung news
Samsung has been a little bit quiet of late, last announcing big back in August 2011. Rumours are circulating that a Samsung NX20 could be about to make an appearance in the next few weeks.This seems to have been all but confirmed if the leaked pictures that appeared online are anything to go by. Samsung has somewhat struggled to compete with its rivals, so it will be interesting to see what it comes up with next.
Oddball news
Finally this week, we bring you the story of two American brothers who had a simple dream... to make a camera gun.That's right, the pair wants to get to market a gun that doesn't hurt any cute animals, but instead "shoots" images of them.
How kind of them. The project doesn't actually exist yet, but if you think this is something that is up your street you can send them some funds to get it started.
That's it for this week, we're off to watch some rugby and put the D4 through its paces even further, stay tuned over the next week for more updates as and when they come.
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