GearBits

Music Player Snaps Pictures

iRiver has announced a new combination digicam music player, the iRiver Prism Eye. Coming in two models, the iFP-1090 and iFP-1095 devices combine digital audio with FM tuner capability with a digital camera.

While similar in size and specs, the iFP-1090 and iFP-1095 have storage capacities of 256-MB and 512-MB. The devices do not as yet support any expansion memory, and connect to PCs by USB1.1. Form factor is 3.5x 1.5 inches.

Prism Eye devices use a 0.3-MP CMOS sensor to capture images at 640x480 resolution, with an available 3x digital zoom. The 256-MB device can hold approximately 300 shots.

Audio formats supported include MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis and ASF. FM tuning is within the 87.5-108 MHz band. A Li-ion battery can handle about 35 hours of playback.

The Prism Eye is expected to ship this summer.

Olympus Ultra-Compact Digicam

Olympus Japan today announced the CAMEDIA AZ-1, a 3.2-megapixel ultra-compact camera measuring just 3.7 x 2.6 in x 0.8 in.

The AZ-1 uses a 'folded optics' lens design similar to the Minolta DiMAGE X series and the Sony DSC-T1, T11, to achieve its compact size. It features a 3x optical zoom.

A cradle is also provided for charging the camera, and provide for USB and video out connectivity.

The CAMEDIA AZ-1 also boasts a large 2.5-inch, 210,000-pixel view display - with high contrast and a wide viewing angle - and album and slideshow functions that makes it suitable for use as a photo viewer and portable photo album.

Bill's Treo 600 Photo Tips

If you've viewed Live from Mundania, you've noticed that the photos I've been taking with the Treo 600's camera are...well...total crap. I'm really not that bad a photographer...honest.

Well, it seems that Bill Koslosky, a.k.a. Wireless Doc, has posted the start of a rather nice-looking Treo 600 Camera Primer. While there's not a whole lot there yet, Bill emailed me today to tell me that he's working on some new material that should be posted soon.

What impressed me the most was the quality of the photos he's getting out of the Treo 600's camera. For example, the photo shown below is just one of several that are pretty amazing especially when compared to the garbage that mine seems to produce. I'm willing to accept some blame for bad pics, but I'm still not 100% convinced that my phone is acting the way it should. I guess I just need Bill to teach me the Zen of Treo 600 photography.

Foveon-Based Polaroid Digicam

Foveon and Polaroid today announced a new digital camera integrating the 4.5 megapixel Foveon X3 sensor. The Polaroid x530 is the world’s first X3 point-and-shoot digital camera.

Foveon X3 image sensors capture color in three semiconductor layers, similar to color film. The result of this pixel multiplexing is richer colors, warmer tones, and sharper images compared to traditional digital image sensors.

Other cameras incorporating X3 technology are the Sigma SD-9 and SD-10 professional-class digital cameras.

The introduction of the Polaroid x530 brings this capability to mainstream consumers in an affordable point-and-shoot digicam.

Polaroid expects shipping in June 2004, at a suggested retail price of $399.

FISH Memory Card Standard Debuts

The Universal Transportable Memory Association (UTMA) has introduced a flash memory card standard requiring no adapters, cables or card readers, called a Flash Internal Semiconductor Harddrive, or FISH. Cards based on the standard plug into any USB port, allowing transfer of information between PCs, PDAs, cameras or other devices.

FISH Memory cards are smaller than SD cards and have transfer rates of 10 Mbps. FISH cards are fast enough to capture streaming video from DVRs and videocams. Standard FISH cards are 1.3" long with width and thickness the size of a USB port. Miniature versions exist, 25% smaller. Current FISH technology allows for 2-GB, with 16-GB expected in 2005.

47 independent industry experts were involved in the development of the UTMA standard. Inputs to the standard came from 34 different companies. This industry consensus is expected to lead to a broad range of devices.

Nikon-D70 (Nikon Breaks New Ground Again)

If you have been reading my columns in photography, you know that I'm a Nikon owner. It's not that I have anything against Canon since my first SLR camera was the Canon A1 more than 25 years ago. However, I have grown accustomed to the Nikon "feel," and I can't seem to go back to Canon.

Anyway, when Canon broke the $1000 barrier with the introduction of its 300D (Digital Rebel), I was curious to see what Nikon's repsonse will be. Now we know. It's the Nikon D70. Unlike the Canon 300D, which is really a diluted or cheaper version of the Canon 10D. The Nikon 70D is not really a cheaper version of the 100D since it add several new features that the D100 lacks.

For instance, the shutter speed now maxes out at 1/8000 sec instead of 1/4000, the LCD panel has been upgraded (higher resolution), and the flash sync speed is now up to 1/500 second instead of 1/180 for the D100. You can also take pictures in compressed JPEG + NEF combination (not available in the D100) and it can shoot 12 images continuously in the high JPEG quality mode (compared to 6 images in the D100). The D70 also comes with USB 2.0 rather than USB 1.1 for the D100.

So, as you can see, the D70 can stand on its own. Of course, it's not the D100 in a sense that there are a number of features that are not available in the D70 (such as metal body).

The price for the D70 is $999 (body only), which is $100 more expensive than the Canon 300D, but with all the upgrades, it's definitely worth it. All in all, it's going to be a great entry-level digital SLR. Check it out at Nikon.

Olympus Enters Camphone Market

Olympus has announced its entry into the market of mobile phone camera modules.

The new camera module, pictured here with a Japanese 100-yen coin for a size comparison, realizes its thin size by employing free-shaped prisms for aligning light rays.

The free-shaped prism technology was previously employed by Olympus in a head-mount display, called Eye-Trek. The experience carried over in the design of the miniature camera module.

Compared to conventional camera modules for mobile phones that require several lenses vertically stacked on one another, the resin free-prism model is much thinner, at 8.5-mm. Olympus' camera module has an F value of 2.8, is designed for a 1/4-in optical instrument, and supports a 1.3-million-pixel image sensor.

Olympus is expecting to ship camera modules by spring of 2004, and mass-production in fall 2004, with an estimated production run of 500,000 units per month.

Canon Debuts 8.2-MP, 8.5-FPS EOS-1D Mark II

Canon has announced the EOS-1D Mark II, an amazing addition to the EOS series. The camera features an 8.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, and has the ability to capture over eight frames per second.

The EOS 1D Mark II uses a new generation DIGIC II processor for the processing power needed to maintain the resolution and speed, and boasts a 40 frame JPEG image buffer (20 frames in RAW mode). The combination of CMOS sensor, DIGIC II processor and new buffer system allows the EOS 1D Mark II to shoot and process over 69 megapixels of data per second (or 100 MB/sec).

The EOS-1D Mark II is the successor to the Canon EOS-1D which was introduced at the end of 2001. The new model offers double the resolution of its predecessor, double the size of the continuous shooting buffer and increases continuous shooting speed slightly.

Other modifications to the $4500 model include a new USB port, and a new SD expansion slot in addition to the existing CF slot.

Nikon's Coolwalker Mobile Photo Album

Nikon has just announced the Coolwalker MSV-01, a 30-GB portable image storage device. The Coolwalker is, in effect, a mobile photo album.

The Coolwalker has a 30-GB capacity - tens of thousands of images can be stored on its hard disk. Images downloaded from a PC or compatible digital camera are displayed on a 2.5-in TFT monitor. Additional storage is available via a Compact Flash (CF) slot; adapters are available for SD, MMC, SM and MS media formats.

Beyond storage, the Coolwalker makes organization of image files into a mobile photo album easy and convenient. Options include thumbnail browsing, image playback, rotate, zoom, delete, move, copy, and rename.

After a mobile photo album is organized, images are easy to share with family and friends by connecting the Coolwalker to a PC, TV or display projector. An included remote control makes slide show playback very convenient.

The Coolwalker also can be connected to any PictBridge-compatible printer for PC-free printing of photographs.

1-GB SanDisk SD Cards

SanDisk Corporation is now shipping the world's first production 1-GB secure digital (SD) card.

At $500, the 1-GB SD card has the capacity to store over 30 hours of digitally compressed music, 1,000 high-res digital images, and over five hours of MPEG-4 compressed video.

This new SD card uses a novel stacking technology, which enables SanDisk to double the previous memory capacity without increasing the size of the card.

SanDisk worked with Sharp's Integrated Circuits Group to devise a way to stack additional layers of NAND MLC die in ultra-thin packages without increasing the card size. In the 1-GB card, two ultra-thin packages are vertically mounted in the same height that currently houses a single package.

The new stacking process also has the potential for application to compact flash (CF) and Sony memory stick (MS) storage media.

Kodak Shutters 35mm, Focuses on Digital

In my predictions for 2004, my number 6 headline was ""Nikon Discontinues 35mm Photography Line, Concentrates on Digital."

I imagined this headline because of the tremendous gains in digital photography in 2003, and the apparent failure of film photography, including APS, to address market erosion, except at the low-end (but watch out for my headline 4, on camphones and the low-end digital market - as camphones become ubiquitous, the bell may toll for disposable film cameras).

Well, it's only two weeks into the New Year, and it's not Nikon, but - hot on the heels of my China moonshot headline - this prediction is now a reality.

Kodak has announced that it will stop selling traditional film cameras in Europe and North America, and concentrate instead on digital.

Kodak based the announcement on a need to focus on high-growth areas, and reflects the surging demand for digital cameras, which in 2003 outsold film-based cameras in the US for the first time. Last year, 12.5 million digital cameras were sold in the US, compared with 12.1 million film cameras. The balance is expected to tilt even further to the digital side in 2004.

In the meantime, Kodak will continue selling its disposable film cameras in Europe and North America, as well as film and other accessories .

New from Q: JB1 Digital Camera

So you couldn't quite afford the Aquada convertible that transforms into a speedboat? Well, at £70 ($100), here's a James Bond gadget you can finally afford.

The JB1 is a digital camera camouflaged as a Zippo-type lighter, and the first official, licensed 007 camera. Flip the cap, click to shoot, and close. Your nemesis is none the wiser.

With 8MB onboard memory, the JB1 is capable of holding over 300 images (at 320x240 resolution), using ST Micro technology to provide detailed images with small file sizes. LiteSync technology allows full depth-of-field images under fluorescent lighting, without a flash.

The JB1's surveillance mode enables time-elapsed photography at up to 90 minutes apart. Eavesdrop on suspects by capturing audio clips up to 12 minutes in duration, or capture audiovideo clips at up to 30 fps. Made by Digital Dream, the JB1 is USB-compatible, and powered by a single "AAA" battery.

About the only thing lacking in this ensemble - and possibly a fatal flaw, if you're ever approached by Miss Pussy Galore for a light - is a working cigarette lighter.

The Battle of Low-End Digital SLR Begins

Nikon just announced the D70, a new interchaneable-lens digital SLR camera. Nikon also plans to release a new DX Zoom lens (designed for digital cameras) to match the D70. The D70 is priced at $999, and both camera and lens are scheduled to go on sale in the spring of 2004.

Nikon has been feeling the heat since Canon released its low-end digital SLR, the EOS Rebel, selling at $899 this year.

Well competition is great for consumers, and looks like we will have a nice selection of low-end digital SLR's to choose from starting next year. Kudos to Nikon.

Neat Image Photo Processing

Mitch has been playing with a photo-editing utility called Neat Image. He likes it a lot.

"It uses camera-specific filter settings to remove much of the digital noise in a picture. If you zoom into the processed photo and compare it to the stock photo, you will see much less evidence of the red, blue and green noise that infests digital pictures. It works nicely."

123 of Digital Photography

Whether you are a novice or an expert to digital photography, there is one resource that should not be missed. It's called the 123 of digital imaging, and it's one of the most useful book (e-book) I have read or used on photography.

I have been using the earlier version (1.1) for a few months, and even though I dabbled in photography for more than 25 years, I have learned a great deal from reading the book. Also the book covers Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop Album extensively, and if you want to learn about how to use these programs in real life situations, then this book is a must. Version 2.0 has just been released yesterday, and the book has been updated to reflect new Adobe Photoshop CS and also a handful of other improvements.

I would recommend this book highly for anyone who is serious about digital photography.

Adobe Photoshop Album 2--Great Upgrade

Adobe is finally shipping the latest Adobe Photoshop CS (version 8) with a host of improvements, and my initial look at the product shows that it's a worthwhile upgrade. However, what might be lost in the hoopla over Photoshop might be a little gem called Adobe PhotoAlbum 2.0.

I had been disappointed with PhotoAlbum 1.x, and I initially decided not to upgrade to 2.0. However, given the low cost of the upgrade ($24.99) and the 30-day refund policy, I decided to try it out, and am I glad that I did.

Now PhotoAlbum supports camera's native RAW files, and that means I can open my NEF (Nikon's raw files) in the program, and using Adobe's one-click Auto Fix, I can fix hundreds of photos automatically. Of course, if you want more manual control, you can adjust highlights, shadows, colors, temperature (warmer--cooler), red-eye, and sharpness manually, but for web posting, I don't need that hassle. Beside, I can transfer the picture to Photoshop CS for any serious editing and output if I want.

On the bonus side, PhotoAlbum also automatically saves the edited photos into JPEG files so that I can post them to web pages without converting first (the program doesn't touch the original NEF files--and this is good in my book). Of course, if you want to create thumbnails with pictures, you can use the program to create the web pages for you. You can also transfer pictures to Video-CD so that you can watch your pictures in your DVD player.

If you need to process a lot of pictures for sharing, web posting, and printing, then this is a good program to have in your computer (MSRP $49.95).

Sigma SD-10

As hinted on the October 9 article, Sigma has now released the next generation digital camera SD10 featuring the modified and improved Foveon X3 chip (increased dynamic range, reduced noise, and better color accuracy). The new camera boast 10.2 million effective pixels(2,268×1,512×3 layers). This is somewhat of a controversy as to whether 3 layers of 3.4 mega pixels are truly equivalent to 10.2 mega pixels in the conventional sensor (such as CMOS and CCD), but field testing shows the previous SD9 to be as effective as the current 6 mega-pixel cameras.

Along with the new version of the camera, Sigma also released the new and improved RAW file converting software (SIGMA Photo Pro 2.0) and two additional lenses (18-50mm F3.5-5.6 DC & 55-200mm F4-5.6 4-5.6 telephoto zoom lenses).

The SD10 has ISO setting from 100 to 1600 (extended mode), and
±3EV (in 1/3steps) in exposure compensation, and shutter speeds of 1/6000sec. to 15sec. (ISO100,200), 1/6000sec. to 4sec (ISO400,800), Bulb (ISO100,200 up to 15 sec). The camera can continously take up to 6 frames in high resolution RAW mode. The SD10 can use CF Type I and II or IBM Microdrive.

It looks like Sigma has corrected a number of issues that the earlier SD9 camera suffered, and this could be a winner (depending on how much it costs)

Sigma 12-24mm wide-angle zoom lens

If you transition to a digital SLR from a regular 35mm SLR, you realize that the lenses you used in your old SLR camera is no longer the same lenses in your new digital SLR camera. Of course, you could buy an expensive 35mm full sensor digital SLR, but for most of us it's out of our reach in terms of price. So, the wide-angle lens we used to have (anywhere around 20 to 24mm) typically becomes a borderline wide-angle (30 to 36mm) lens after applying the typical magnification factor of 1.5 or 1.6. By the way, there is an interesting article about magnification factor in the latest Outdoor Photographer magazine.

So, the lens manufacturers are rushing out to market an ultra wide-angle zoom (typically 12 or 15mm to 24 or 30mm range). That translates into roughly 18 or 22.5 to 36 or 45mm in 35mm equivalent. Unfortunately, ones from the major camera manufacturer (typically Nikon. Canon, Olympus) tend to be ultra expensive (>$1000). Hopefully, this will change with the introduction of the new 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG Aspherical lens from Sigma.

According to Sigma, the lens offers a large angle of view (122 degrees super wide angle of view at 12mm along the diagonal axis) and a variable angle of view from 122 degrees at 84.1 degrees. Four Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass elements are provided for effective compensation of color aberration, and two pieces of Glass Mold and one-piece hybrid aspherical lenses offer excellent correction for distortion as well as all types of aberration. The lens is pretty compact at 3.9 inches full-length, and 3.4 inches maximum diameter.

The lens is equipped with Inner focusing system that will keep the length of the lens unchanged while controlling aberration. The lens is equipped with HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor, available for Sigma, Canon and Nikon camera mount lens) system but still offers Full Time Manual Focusing. It has a minimum focusing distance of 11 inches (28cm) at all focal lengths. The lens also comes with an integral Petal-type hood to block out extraneous light.

The price for the US market is not set yet, but it should be less then $1200 Nikon charges for its 12-24mm lens.

Price Drop on Sigma SD-9

Talk about serendipity! GearBits ran an article about the Foveon chip only a few days ago, and now I notice the Sigma DS9, the only camera that incorporates the chip, is selling far below the MSRP.

You can buy it from Ritz Camera for $1099, and less than $900 if you shop around the Internet. That's a huge drop in price from the $1800 going price as far as I remember. Perhaps Sigma is going to release the 2nd generation Foveon camera and is trying to clean out the stock.

Anyway, given the lower costs of Sigma lenses. This might be a great deal for those who want to purchase their first digital SLR.

Megapixels Multiplied

In its early days, start-up Foveon focussed on high-end digital camera technology based on color-separating prisms. The Eureka moment came they realized that silicon can make for a simpler and much more manufacturable - and therefore inexpensive - color separator.

Conventional digital imaging sensors utilize one layer of silicon photodetectors. Every third pixel senses red, blue or green, and the camera interpolates between those pixels.

Foveon's X3 technology, in contrast, makes use of the fact that red, blue and geeen light penetrate silicon to different depths.

By embedding three layers of photodetectors in the silicon, X3 image sensors capture all three colors at each "pixel", rendering interpolation unnecessary, and resulting in increased sharpness, better color detail and resistance to color artifacts. A 3.4-MP X3 sensor supplies the equivalent of 10-MP of data.

A further aspect of X3 technology is that it enables recording of both video and still images without compromising the image quality for either.

Popular Science notes that the 3.5-MP Sigma SD9 SLR (which debuted the Foveon) bests the 6-MP Canon D60 and Nikon D100 in sharpness and other characteristics, at half the cost. This month's Consumer Reports notes that the SD9 produced images better than those from 5-MP cameras it tested, adding that the "Foveon sensor shows promise for the mainstream."

Is there an X3-based camera in your future? Stay tuned.

Your next Digital Camera?

Panasonic has just released the DMC-FZ10K, a 4-megapixel digital camera with 12x optical zoom (yes you heard me right, 12x). That's equivalent to 35 to 450mm conventional 35mm zoom lens. Unlike a few other 10x digital zoom cameras that have been released recently, it also comes with Panasonic's advanced MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer). This stabilizer uses motion sensors that detect even slight hand movement and attempts to reduce vibration. The Leica DC Vario-Elmarit Lens features F2.8 throughout the zoom range.

Photo enthusiasts will also appreciate the DMC-FZ10's new histogram feature function (that are normally available in digital SLR cameras), and a faster display and write speed (capturing 8 frames at 4 frames per second using Panasonic's Mega Burst feature).

The DMC-FZ10 features a shutter speed range of 8 - 1/2,000 sec and ISO selection ranges from 50 to 400. It also uses a SD slot for memory card (good news for Palm owners).

The retail price is $599, and that should make it affordable to most consumers who are interested in a digital camera with a superb zoom and pro-like controls.

Dichotomization of the Digital Camera Space?

I'm sensing that digital photography is slowly splitting into two groups with very different needs and equipment.

The first group is the serious consumer, prosumer, and professional photographer. These folks really care about the quality of the photograph and are concerned with (if not educated on) the specs of the camera beyond mere pixel counts (the importance of which I think is overrated anyway). This group cares about printability (where megapixels do matter) as much as anything. Digital SLRs and full-featured, dedicated digital cameras are the type of kit that this group goes for.

The second group is the snapshooter and whim photographer -- the folks who just want a quick image of some people or things and the most likely use is emailing the image to a family member or friend. For these folks, 2 megapixels is too much (that won't easily fit in an email or on a webpage) and even the mention of aperture settings is enough to induce instant boredom. This group loves the concept of the integrated digital camera -- phones and PDAs with cameras in them are the new hot must-have devices.

So where does that leave the middle-of-the-road digital camera? You know, that 3-megapixel, 3X zoom unit about the size of a hamster. It's too big to easily fit in your pocket (so you never have it when you need it) and it's too limited to let you take really nice photos. My prediction is that this segment of the market will slowly shrink and we'll see fewer and fewer of these rather mediocre standalone digital cameras. What we may see is this portion of the market start being dominated by cheap imports.

Most folks who can afford to get what they want, however, will settle either for the camera integrated into their phone or PDA (.3-1.5 megapixels) or will go out and buy a "real" (standalone) digital camera (5 megapixels and up) with more controls than the Apollo lunar lander.

So, which group do you live in...the serious photographers or the fun snapshotters? Or, am I all wet and you think there's more than enough room for the whole range of products and price points?

CF 6GB Card

Pretec, a leading CF manufacturer, has just announced that they will be shipping 6GB CF cards starting next month. 12GB CF cards are scheduled for release sometime late next year. According to Pretec, their new CF cards are 3 times stronger than regular plastic CF cards, and they have the sustained read speed of 8MB/sec and write speed of 7MB/sec. Now hold onto your hats! The cost of 6GB cards will be $7499.

Q loves Canon PowerShot SD10

Canon announced a new ultra thin compact digital camera. The PowerShot SD10 comes with a 4.0 Megapixel resolution with Canon's exclusive DIGIC (Digital Image Core) and ISAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis Photographic Space) technology. The SD10 features a single focus 39mm (35 mm equivalent) lens with a 5.7X digital zoom.

This of course is nothing special except that the SD10 measures mere 3.5 x 1.9 x .7 inches and weighs 3.5 oz. For those of you who are more visually inclined, think of a typical business card, and you got the size just about right. The camera has a built-in flash, and a few photographer friendly goodies such as AF assist beam, 3 different metering system including spot metering, exposure compensation, ISO range from 50 to 400, and the shutter speed between 15 to 1/1500 seconds. The camera can also make video clips of 320 x 240 at 15 fps. The camera uses a SD slot and comes with one 32MB SD card.

The camera retails for $349 and should be available around mid-October.

Gateway goes Digital--that is in photography

Gateway has just instroduced four new digital cameras. The top of the line DC-T50 Digital Camera offers 5 megapixel CCD, 3X optical zoom, compact, elegant design with metal housing, and extremely competitive pricing at $399.99.

The DC-T50 is joined by three other cameras labeled as fun and stylish 2MP (DC-T20), easy and affordable 4MP (DC-M40) and reliable and value 5MP (DC-M50) for $129.99, $199.99, and $299.99 respectively.

Check out the Gateway site for more information about these cameras.

Sandisk releases CF and SD cards

SanDisk recently introduced the SanDisk Extreme™ CompactFlash® and SD line of high performance, high durability CF cards designed for use under extreme conditions. The SanDisk Extreme cards deliver a minimum write speed of 9 megabytes per second (MB/sec.) and a minimum read speed of 10MB/sec.

The SanDisk Extreme CF cards are available now in capacities of 256 and 512MB and 1 gigabyte, with suggested retail prices of $109.99, $229.99 and $439.99 respectively.

The 256MB SanDisk Extreme SD card is expected to ship in October with a suggested retail price of $134.99. The 512MB is expected to ship in November with a price of $299.99.

SanDisk has also announced updated versions of its SanDisk Ultra(TM) II line of high-performance CompactFlash and SD cards as well as updated versions of its SanDisk Extreme(TM) line of high-performance CompactFlash and SD cards. The Ultra II cards now deliver a minimum write speed of 9 megabytes per second (MB/sec.) and a minimum read speed of 10MB/sec.

The new SanDisk Ultra II CF card will initially be available in three capacities – 256MB, 512MB and 1 gigabyte (GB). The 256 and 512MB SanDisk Ultra II CF cards started shipping this month while the 1GB cards will be in the next thirty days. SanDisk Ultra II SD cards will be available in 256MB and 512MB capacities in October and November, respectively.

Suggested retail prices for the three SanDisk Ultra II CF cards capacities—256MB, 512MB and 1GB—are $104.99, $209.99, and $429.99.

Suggested retail prices for the SanDisk Ultra II SD cards are $129.99 and $289.99 for the 256 and 512MB cards.

Origami Yields Better Phonecams

According to New Scientist, origami techniques are providing cameras in cellphones with a much better focusing mechanism.

"Thanks to a novel and ultra-cheap micromotor technology, cellphone cameras should soon be able to zoom and focus with the same precision as the autofocusing lenses used in expensive stills cameras.

1 Limited of Cambridge, UK, has found a novel way to make a thin sheet of a piezoelectric ceramic material work like a motor. It can move whatever is placed on top of it, or it can be rolled into a cylinder to grasp and move a miniature camera lens."

Moving from fixed-focus to variable focus should provide a large improvement in picture quality. Of course, I'm not sure I'd put picture quality as my #1 concern when it comes to cellphones, but maybe that's just me.

Digital Galore

Well, what do you know? I was gone for 2 weeks on my vacation to LA and Maui, and when I returned both Canon and Kodak have introduced two new digital cameras for the proconsumer market. The Canon Digital Rebel is a feature reduced Canon 10D in the EOS Rebel body. It will be (now are you ready for this?) about $899 in the US. This is the first digital SLR that breaks the $1000 mark. It has a 6.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor. I'm sure this camera will generate a lot of interests in avid photogrpahers who have shied away from digital SLR's due to its higher price.

Kodak has announced the super zoom camera featuring 10x optical zoom (38 to 380mm equivalent), 4 megapixel. The DX6490 is priced at $499 and also comes with a professional quality Schneider-Kreuznach lens. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer any stablization for the lens. It does however comes with a new Kodak Color Science Imaging chip for the richer, accurate colors. The camera offers fully manual controls, but this camera is a great combination for folks who want a point-and-shoot camera most of the time, but may want manual controls when needed.

By the way, I'll be busy this week recuperating from my trip, and also processing my photos from my new Nikon D100 camera, and polishing up on my MemoWare Features article on the Alphasmart Dana. Also, this is my first week of school (Yeek!)

Minolta's New Offerings--Have You Been Busy Lately?

Looks like Minolta has been busy. They have just announced a bunch of new digital cameras. The most exciting ones among the bunch are the DiMAGE A1 and DiMAGE Z1.

The DiMAGE A1 is probably the most exciting new release. It features a 5.0 megapixel progressive scan CCD, faster write speed (1.5x than the previous model 7Hi), 7x optical zoom (28 to 200mm equivalent), and fast shutter speed (30 to 1/16,000 seconds), and RAW image mode.

However, the best feature is the new image stabilization feature (Minolta calls it "Anti-Shake"). Rather than stabilizing the lens elements, this system stabilizes the CCD. We will have to wait and see how effective this new system will be though.

The DiMAGE Z1 offers a 3.2 megapixel CCD and a 10x zoom (38 to 380mm). It has a unique LCD monitor called the Real Motion Monitor that operates at 60 fps. The viewfinder has Minolta's unique Switch Finder that lets you see live view at all times as well. The Z1 stores its images on SD/MMC cards. Unfortunately, the Z1 doesn't come with any image stabilization system.

Looks like the A1 is a winner given a wide-view lens (28mm) and a decent zoom (200mm) with the Anti-Shake system. Check out the Minolta page.

Dynamism.com: A Tech Lover's Dream Store

I've found perhaps the coolest online store for North Americans. Dynamism.com features some of the hottest new technology from Japan ready to be purchased by and shipped to us over here on the wrong side of the Pacific. A short list of goodies available from Dynamism today include the Sony U101 ultralight micro-notebook, the Samsung Nexio S160 multi-mode PDA, the new Sharp Zaurus SL-C760, and the Sony Qualia 016 high-end digital camera. You know, it's nice having a single URL I can use for my entire birthday list. ;-)

Time for Upgrade--Fuji Finepix Cameras?

Fujifilm has announced today the FinePix S7000 Zoom (top) and S5000 Zoom (bottom) cameras. The S7000 has the 6x optical zoom (35 to 210mm) and 6M pixel SuperCCD HR sensor, which can produce 12M pixel images. The S5000 has the 10x optical zoom (37 to 370mm) and 3M pixel SuperCCD HR sensor, which can produce 6M pixel images. Both cameras allow you to save your images in the RAW format (Great news for photographers). The S7000 has the shutter speed range of 15 sec. – 1/10,000 sec (wow!) and the S5000 has 2 sec. — 1/2000 sec (Both cameras will be great for sports or fast-action photography). Both cameras come loaded with the features that enthusiastic photographers want: electronic viewfinder, multiple metering systems, ISO800, exposure compensation and bracketing, white balance control, etc.

Both cameras use the new xD slot instead of SmartMedia (the S7000 still has a CF slot), and USB 2.0 connections. The S7000 is priced at $799 and S5000 at $499.

Check out both cameras at the official Fuji page.

PS. Perhpas it's time for our colleague Craig to upgrade his Olympus C2100???

Nikon's New Flagship

Nikon has just announced the successor to its successful D1H digital camera. The D2H (talk about originality in naming) is a logical successor to the D1H, and it features 4.1 Effective Megapixel CCD -- Nikon original JFET imaging sensor LBCAST for high-resolution images (2,464 x 1,632 pixels). This is the new sensor recently developed and announced by Nikon.

The most amazing feature is the continous shooting speed. The D2H will shoot up to 8 frames per second for up to 40 consecutive JPEG or 25 RAW (NEF) full-resolution (2,464 x 1,632 pixels) images. Now, we are talking about a lot of pictures here. Not only that the Nikon D2H also features instant on and a mere 37ms Shutter Time Lag

The D2H also features new Auto White Balance and a new auto focus scheme using 11 sensors (the previous D1H used only 5 sensors). Furthermore, it also features an updated TTL flash control.

Best of all, the D2H is a Wireless SLR. It transfers your files via 802.11b Wi-Fi Technology. The camera also supports FTP.

If you are an outdoor action or sports photographer, this might be the ultimate digital camera you've been looking for.

New Kid on the Block--Challenger to Canon and Nikon Digital SLR

Well, it has to happen. Olympus jumped into the portable digital SLR fray by introducing its E1 (some would call this the proconsumer market to indicate it's high-end consumer/low-end professional=meaning somewhere in between).

The E-1 has a five megapixel 4/3 type CCD sensor from Kodak. Those of you are not familiar with photography, 4/3 type comes out of the joint project by Kodak and Olympus to create a new standard for digital photography in sensor size and lens mount. By the way, 4/3 comes from the actual size ratio of the CCD sensor (18 x 13.5mm).

The E-1 is priced at $2199 which is pricier than both Canon and Nikon, but if the model gets popular, I hope the street price will hover around the $1500 to 1600 range. Unfortunately, since the camera also has a new lens mount, you would have to incorporate the cost of the lens into the purchase equation. If you buy a good multi-purpose zoom (let's say 24 to 80 or 105 mm) and a decent telephoto zoom (70 or 80 to 200 or 300mm), then figure another $700 to 1000 to its price. So, this might not be a good option for even previous Olympus owners.

However, if you are new to the market, and need to purchase the whole starter kit, the Olympus E-1 might make your decision even more difficult.

We will have to wait and see . . .

Ultimate Portable Digital SLR Camera

The battle of the ultimate portable digital SLR camera is heating up since Canon released the new 10D digital SLR camera this year to replace their previous D60. Now I say portable since both Nikon and Canon make more expensive professional camera body, but they weigh a brick (more than 2 lbs w/o battery or lens). Those aren't really portable in my book. To make thing even more interesting, Canon decided to price the camera aggressively at $1999 (MSRP). That's $200 lower than the previous D60. Since Canon is usually discounted more than Nikon in camera shops, you can grab a 10D for cool $1499 (You can get it cheaper if you get the gray market unit, but you don't get the US warranty from Canon). Nikon immediately lowered its price on the D100 to try to match. Now the Nikon D100 will cost you around $1699 from authorized Nikon dealers.

So, which camera would you get? If you have previous Canon or Nikon lenses costing $$$, then the choice is obvious. It would be extremely silly to get rid of your Nikon lenses that costed you more than $1000 just to save $200 on Canon. However, if you don't have any previous brand loyalty, the choice is really difficult.

One thing is clear--that the digital SLR age is finally here, and the days of 35mm SLR are numbered!

So, tell me what's your preference?

New Photos Posted

I've posted new photos in the Photography area of my website at http://craigfroehle.com/photography. Specifically, some select shots from our trips to Alaska and Hawaii (in 2002) were posted, and I added some sections about my camera equipment and some links related to digital photography. Enjoy.