Update: Camera Makers Flex Their Muscles for the Holidays

Camera announcements have been coming fast and furious lately, which means two things: shiny new cameras to read about, and falling prices on last year's top performers.

Yes, it's only August. But here in camera-coverage land, holiday-shopping options are already slowly coming into focus.

Over the past few weeks, several big-name vendors have unveiled new cameras just in time for fall (and after that, of course, the holiday season). Among the big announcements are Samsung's dual-LCD and wireless-enabled cameras, Nikon's camera/projector hybrid and new DSLRs, the second wave of Fujifilm Super CCD EXR sensor cameras, fashionable and high-end point-and-shoots from Sony, wide-angle Lumix cameras from Panasonic, an ultrathin HD-shooting camera from Pentax, an HD pocket camcorder and a pocket megazoom from Kodak, a slew of new Canon PowerShot point-and-shoots, and four compact camera models from Olympus.

That's already enough to get excited about, but here's the kicker: When manufacturers unleash a barrage of new offerings as they've done lately, it also means that prices on the last generation of cameras are sure to drop. Take a look at our coverage of all the late-2009 camera announcements by clicking the links above and to the right, and make sure to visit our ranked charts of the top point-and-shoot cameras, top advanced cameras, and top DSLRs. If you see a top-ranked model that interests you, it may soon be a bargain, as prices fall in the weeks and months to come.

We've also rounded up some of the more interesting announcements in our slide show of Fall's Most Promising Cameras. We haven't got our hands on any of these new models just yet, but be sure to check these pages in the coming months for full reviews and updated top-rated camera charts.