HP has today made an announcement that they are to reveal a new range of imaging products including four digital cameras and six printers . The announcement includes some detail about a new camera, the R967 which features a ten megapixel CCD sensor and a three inch LCD monitor. It joins the new R827 which both feature high sensitivity modes which can be enabled to avoid camera shake.
Fujifilm has today announced the FinePix Z3 Zoom camera sporting 5.1 million pixels, ISO up to 1600 and a 36-108mm lens. A marginal update to the Z2, the Z3 adds Intelligent-Flash mode and a higher resolution 2.5-inch screen. The Z3 will be available in silver, metallic blue and light pink. Must be why it’s marketed at us ladies…after all, we can’t use anything but a pink camera now, can we?
Microsoft has announced a new still image format called Windows Media Photo (with a WDP file extension). According to their white paper this new format offers compression ratios close to JPEG-2000 but with the computational requirements of JPEG (smaller files with the same image quality). The use of new algorithms are also claimed to reduce the visibility of ‘objectionable spatial artifacts’ (those mosquito JPEG artifacts). Windows Media Photo supports a wide range of image formats including both fixed and floating point numerical representations (think wide dynamic range), various color spaces, metadata (including EXIF) and even transparency. This new format will be supported in Windows Vista when it arrives and will be made available for Windows XP, there has been no word yet of support for the format in any hardware devices.
What a difference a word can make, in this case it’s the word “considers”. An earlier Reuters UK news article stated “Canon to halt film camera development”, shortly afterwards Reuters were forced to correct this and replace the word ‘to’ with ‘considers’, hence “Canon considers halt to film camera development”. With this subtle change (and some edits in the article itself) the news is, well, nothing definite. A Canon spokesman has essentially stated that they are currently trying to decide if there is a need to keep developing compact and SLR film cameras because of the shrinking market.
Today sees the announcement of two new 6.1 million pixel DSLRs from Pentax, the K100D and the K110D. Both cameras offer high precision 11-point wide frame AF, ISO sensitivity up to 3200, a large 2.5-inch screen and a top shutter speed of 1/4000 sec as well as being compatible with existing Pentax lenses. The K100D is also Pentax’s first DSLR to feature a CCD-shift Shake Reduction system.
Ricoh has announced a 6 megapixel compact digicam with a 28-160mm lens packed into a slim 26mm thick black finish body. The Caplio R40 is a more affordable version of the Caplio R4 camera (announced in February) and sports a 5.7x zoom, 2.5-inch LCD and a skew correction function.
Just posted! Our concise review of the Kodak EasyShare Z650. the Z650 replaces the Z740 at the top of the Kodak’s affordable super zoom range. The changes over the previous model are fairly modest; the pixel count increases from 5 to 6MP and the lens is now a Schneider Variogon (as opposed to the Z740’s Kodak Retinar). The new model also gets a bigger (though lower resolution) LCD screen, a few new scene modes and a live histogram. Find out what we thought after the link…
Proof - if it were needed - that the megapixel war is far from over comes today in the shape of the first (and we’re sure it won’t be the last) 10.1 megapixel compact, the Casio Exilim EX-Z1000, which joins the EX-Z850 at the top of the range. Built around a new 1/1.8 inch, 10.1 MP CCD, the EX-Z1000 boasts a large, bright 2.8-inch LCD screen, 3x zoom and 37 Best Shot modes. It also features Casio’s ‘Anti Shake’ DSP (digital stabilization) and an ISO 3200 High Sensitivity mode. We’ve got a few exclusive hands-on images after the link too.
Kodak’s EasyShare digital camera and docking system is celebrating its fifth birthday this month. So along with the announcement of Kodak’s new EasyShare V610 dual lens camera comes version 6.0 of its EasyShare software. Version 6.0 comes with a new user interface and a photo card printing feature. Available in May to download for free.
Kodak has today announced the EasyShare V610 dual lens camera. The 6.1 MP compact has the same sleek styling - and dual lens system - as the V570, announced in January. This time Kodak are using two Schneider-Kreuznach C-Variogon all-glass prism zooms (and two CCDs) to cover a much wider 10x range (equivalent of 38-380mm). The V610 also features a large 2.8-inch LCD, Bluetooth wireless technology and sensitivity up to ISO 800. Looks like an interesting (and much slimmer) alternative to the Panasonic TZ1 - though without the benefit of optical image stabilization.
Mamiya-OP is to sell its Optical Equipment Division, it was announced yesterday to Cosmos Scientific Systems Inc. Mamiya, which has been producing cameras since the late 1940’s, failed to capitalize on its success in the medium format market when the digital revolution swept through professional photography. After first being announced at Photokina 2004, the innovative Mamiya ZD ‘medium format’ digital SLR and back didn’t hit the shelves until last month, by which time many professionals had switched to digital SLRs based on 35mm bodies. At this time it doesn’t look like the end of the line for Mamiya as a camera brand, and we hope the new owners can make a viable business from this venerable name in professional photography.
Just posted! Our concise review of the Casio Exilim EX-Z850.The EX-Z850 is Casio’s latest ultra-compact flagship model, offering a huge feature set in a very slim, all-metal body. The EX-Z850 doesn’t change the basic formula of the EX-Z750 much, but does offer a raft of small improvements; there’s an extra megapixel, a couple new Best Shot modes, improved screen brightness, a more powerful flash (with some extra modes), a movie light and a ‘high sensitivity’ mode, with up to ISO 1600 on offer.Find out what we thought after the link…
Sony has today announced the brand for its digital SLR system and it’s hardly a big surprise. The new system will be known as the Sony ? (Alpha) mount, the same name as Minolta has used for its SLR / D-SLR cameras in the Japanese market for over twenty years. This choice of name will perhaps be designed to provide some sense of continuation from the Konica-Minolta photo buy-out. Sony has confirmed that the new system is based on the existing Alpha / Maxxum / Dynax mount and will continue to be compatible. The other hint in the press release is the plural in ‘cameras that will be launched worldwide this summer.’
Doesn’t time fly…The 2006 annual TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) awards has taken place, with Nikon scooping up three awards - for best entry level DSLR with the D50, best expert DSLR with the D200 and best pro lens with the 105mm f2.8G IF-ED. Canon’s EOS 5D was voted best professional DSLR with the PowerShot SD630 (Digital Ixus 65) picking up best ultra compact. Panasonic was awarded best superzoom while Fujifilm got best compact award for the F30. Other winners included Samsung, Ricoh, Epson and Lexar and Olympus snapping up an award for best imaging innovation with the Live View system.
Phase One has updated its Capture One RAW workflow software to support more cameras and more RAW file formats. Capture One version 3.7.4 is now also designed to run natively on both Intel and PowerPC based Mac computers, with speed increases of up to 40 per cent for Intel Macs. Capture One 3.7.4 also offers speed enhancements for Windows and PowerPC Mac users and is a free update for existing users.
Just posted! Our concise review of the latest addition to the popular affordable PowerShot A series range from Canon; the A700. As well as a larger 6x (35-210mm equivalent) zoom, the A700 is smaller than its predecessors and sports a large screen, ISO 800 mode and the usual array of manual controls and add-on lens options. Find out what we thought after the link…
Bibble Labs has today announced an update to its professional RAW workflow and conversion software with version 4.7. Bibble 4.7 fully integrates Athentech’s award winning Perfectly Clear(R) automatic image correction technology into the raw workflow. Bibble 4.7 also includes new camera support for the Canon 30D, Olympus Evolt E330 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 and a new Vibrancy control for selective enhancement of image saturation.
Sony has announced the new 7.2 million pixel Cyber-shot DSC-T30 camera. Featuring Sony’s Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization, a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 3x zoom lens, up to ISO 1000, large 3-inch LCD screen and a whopping 58MB internal memory capacity. This is Sony’s first T-series model to feature selectable color modes.
Just posted! Our full in-depth review of the eight megapixel EOS 30D, Canon’s latest digital SLR. The 30D is effectively an evolution of the EOS 20D and shares much of that cameras internals (including the image sensor and image processing), however there have been a range of design and operational changes as well as the introduction of new features such as PictureStyles, Spot metering (at last), two speed continuous shooting and third stop ISO steps. See how the EOS 30D performed and how it compares to the competition in our review.
Leica has announced the new C-LUX 1, its rebadged version of the 6-megapixel Panasonic DMC-FX01. The ultra compact C-LUX 1 features a 28mm wide angle Leica DC zoom lens and a high sensitivity setting of up ISO 1600. It also incorporates built-in optical image stabiliser and is available in black and silver finish. Aside from minor styling and bundle differences it is exactly the same camera as the Panasonic model. Updated
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