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It's sad but unsurprising that Kodak appears headed for bankruptcy protection. And that should be a cautionary tale for camera industry powers that might think themselves better off.

Kodak, a technology titan from an earlier industrial age, has been struggling financially for years as digital photography killed Kodak's former cash cow, film. Bankruptcy protection, as reported yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, could open the door to some otherwise difficult options such as evading its pension obligations.

But fundamentally, it's hard to see Kodak surviving except as a shadow of its former self. Some technology bright spots--digital … Read more

It's the end of the year show! And we celebrate that, and Hanukkah, with a very special Rumor Has It today.

Instead of rounding up the week's hottest rumors, we've rounded up the year's hottest rumors. Bam! And we bet you can guess what's on our list.

We cover the ones that did come true, the ones that didn't, and the ones that were so annoying, we wanted to scream. Why won't some of these rumors ever die? At least they keep us in business.

What was your top rumor that did come true, didn't come true, or annoyed you to death? Let us know in the comments.

We don't have a show next week, but tune back in January 3, 2012 (!), for the first Humiliation Day of the year. Augh! … Read more

It's crazy just how many cameras were released in 2011 from the major manufacturers. According to camera site 1001 Noisy Cameras, the count stands at 203; the majority of those are point-and-shoots.

For us, a point-and-shoot is a fixed-lens camera (i.e. not interchangeable) that uses a 1/2.3-inch-size sensor. So, before you get all "Where's the Canon S100!" on me, we consider that and similar models enthusiast compacts because of their larger sensor sizes and target user.… Read more

The successor to the full-frame Nikon D700 and Canon's follow-on to the EOS 5D Mark II were widely expected to put in an appearance of some sort during 2011. They didn't.

It appears as if the D800 will be a 36-megapixel camera that will launch in early 2012. What Canon's prosumer follow-on (5D Mark III?) will look like and when it will debut is anyone's guess. The combination of the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and Thailand flood tragedies contributed to significant delays throughout the photographic industry.

Other cameras were announced but are still not widely available, apparently … Read more

Social networking and a bit of amateur sleuthing have reunited a Canadian firefighter with the camera he accidentally dropped to the bottom of the sea during a family vacation more than a year ago.

Stephen Wood was sure he'd said a final goodbye to his Canon EOS Rebel when it slipped from his hands into the Deep Bay off the east coast of Vancouver Island last summer.

"We figured the camera and the pictures were gone. We didn't even bother trying to retrieve it," Wood told CNET today. "It was on when it went in the water, and [it was] salt water, and at high tide, I think it's roughly about 60 feet deep there. It was also like 9 o'clock at night so it was dark." Not to mention that Wood and his wife had a baby in tow.

Conditions, in other words, were hardly ideal for a gadget-retrieval operation, so Wood accepted that he'd seen the last of the cam he'd received as a wedding gift from his firefighter pals. … Read more

With cameras, as with many things in life, you get what you pay for. In the world of point-and-shoots, that generally means you get few features, poorer-quality lenses, slower performance, and more than likely mediocre photo quality. However, there are a few exceptions.

These models were selected because they offer more than you'd typically get for the money. In some cases that means extra shooting options or an optical viewfinder, in others it's a longer lens or good low-light photos. So, whether you're just looking for an inexpensive camera for the occasional snapshot, something with the optical zoom that your smartphone camera doesn't have, or want an ultracompact with a little wow factor, these are worth checking out.… Read more

Those of you hoping that Canon's latest announcement, long-rumored to be a camera with extraspecial video capabilities, would be a 5D Mark III can now officially be disappointed. At about $20,000, this one ain't for the hobbyists or the still-images-firsters.

The new series of cameras, dubbed Cinema EOS, consists of two models based around a new 4K Super35 CMOS sensor and incorporating the most current version of its Digic DV III image processor. The two models differ only by mount: the C300 PL uses a PL mount (developed by Arri for film cameras) and the C300 uses a Canon EF mount.

There had been speculation that the camera would either be a 4K or a 2K (HD) model, and it's oddly both and neither.… Read more

Canonical wants to get its Ubuntu Linux operating system onto tablets and smartphones.

The company plans to make an announcement to that effect at the Ubuntu Developer Summit taking place this week, according to Stephen J. Vaughan-Nichols, a blogger for CNET sister site ZDNet. The platforms beyond the desktop that Canonical is targeting include not only those mobile devices but also smart TVs.

"It's important for us to reach out to our community on these platforms," Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth told Vaughan-Nichols. "So, we'll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets, … Read more

I'm not sure why, but it feels like it's been far longer than two years since Canon released its previous desktop medium-format printer, the Pixma Pro9500 Mark II. Maybe that's because the Mark II was a minor update (some would say fix) to its predecessor, the Pro9500, which debuted more than five years ago. That model, and its even older sibling the Pro9000 Mark II--a printer that's fundamentally a redesigned version of the i9900--will remain in Canon's product line, to be joined by the Pixma Pro-1.… Read more