August 2001 news and reviews

IFA 2001: The IFA 2001 exhibition in Berlin falls as the only major trade show (in Europe at least) before Christmas this year (Photokina being biennial - every second year). Several manufacturers have announced new products and most of those are on show at IFA. In this part of the report we will cover Canon, Casio, Fujifilm, Grundig, Iomega and Kodak. (Part one of two)

 

IFA 2001: The IFA 2001 exhibition in Berlin falls as the only major trade show (in Europe at least) before Christmas this year (Photokina being biennial - every second year). Several manufacturers have announced new products and most of those are on show at IFA. In this part of the report we will cover Nikon, SanDisk, Sanyo, Sony and Toshiba. (Part two of two)

IFA 2001: 0800 EDT / 1300 GMT: Sony has today announced the portable DPP-MP1 dye-sub printer. Battery driven the printer can produce borderless card-size photos in less than two minutes. It can be connected to a computer via USB or print directly from Memory Stick. The printer is priced at $280, the battery pack an extra $70. Paper is sold in a pack of 24 with a print cartridge for about $20.

IFA 2001: 0800 EDT / 1300 GMT: Sony has today announced the successor to the popular DSC-F505V, the new DSC-F707. The DSC-F707 has a 5 megapixel CCD (4.92 megapixels effective) with a F2.0 - F2.4 5x optical zoom lens, the same design split lens / body as the 505V, longer life InfoLithium 'M' battery, an electronic viewfinder, jog-wheel, Multi-Segment metering, burst shooting, full manual exposure, NightShot and a new laser based 'hologram AF' low light focusing system. Unlike the misinformation leaked elsewhere on the net in the last 24 hours we can confirm that this beast of a digital camera will have a street price of $1,000. FULL REVIEW NOW AVAILABLE

IFA 2001: 0800 EDT / 1300 GMT: Sony today announces two new 'P' model digital cameras. The DSC-P5 has a 3.34 megapixel CCD (3.14 effective) and a 3x optical zoom lens, it's an evolution to last years DSC-P1 which adds manual focus, selectable ISO sensitivity an AF assist lamp, burst mode, MPEG EX and a new compact battery which makes the camera's case a third of an inch thinner. The DSC-P3, based on the DSC-P5 has a fixed focal length lens which crops the CCD producing a 2.8 megapixel image. The DSC-P5 has a street price of $600, the DSC-P3 around $500. FULL REVIEW OF DSC-P5 NOW AVAILABLE

IFA 2001: Fujifilm continue their assault on the entry level, low cost digital camera markets with the new Finepix A101, A201 and 2600Z. The A101 ($179) and A102 ($249) share the same body design, both have a fixed focal length lens and an extremely basic layout, the A101 has a 1.3 megapixel CCD and the A201 has a 2.0 megapixel CCD. The 2600Z ($299) has a 3x optical zoom lens which is shielded behind a sliding cover (which also acts as a power switch), it has a 2.0 megapixel CCD and a slightly more rectangular design than the A101 / A201.

IFA 2001: 0800 CET: Nikon today announces the Coolpix 885. A smaller, more attractive design and a full 3x optical zoom lens are just the beginning of the changes made to the 885. There are new scene modes, auto transfer, noise reduction and the exposure modes have been simplified, gone are P, A and M to be replaced by the CSM exposure mode in which you can select manual exposures. As you can see the cameras are available in silver and charcoal black, it's not yet been made clear whether this is different markets or whether both colours will be available everywhere. All this for a list price of $600!

A couple of the other digital camera sites have posted reviews in the last few days, as I've just returned from Berlin I'll fill you in on who's been doing the write-up on what. Steve Sanders has posted his 'user reviews' of the Kodak DX3900, Minolta DiMAGE S304 & 5 and Fujifilm A201. Dave Etchells (Imaging-Resource) gives us a review of the Toshiba PDR-M81 and Fujifilm FinePix 4800.

IFA 2001: 0100 GMT: 0000 GMT: Canon has today announced the PowerShot G2, a four megapixel sucessor to the popular PowerShot G1. The G2 features the same 3x optical zoom lens, flip-out and swivel LCD and Microdrive compatibility. Some new items are the four megapixel CCD, AF area selection, evaluative metering, AE program shift, RAW mode 10-bit, histogram and a 32 MB Compact Flash card. Best of all we've had one for the last two weeks in order to bring you a full in-depth review of a production camera! [FULL REVIEW ONLINE]

IFA 2001: The first of three digital cameras added to Kodak's "EasyShare" line today is the budget level DX3215, a 1.3 megapixel, 2x optical zoom digital camera with 8 MB of internal RAM and a SD/MMC slot for additional storage, price $199. Next comes the DX3700, a 3 megapixel, fixed optical lens digital camera with 8 MB of internal RAM and a SD/MMC slot for additional storage, price $399. Last comes the DX3900, a 3 megapixel, 2x optical zoom digital camera which comes with an 8 MB CompactFlash card, price $449.

IFA 2001: We don't normally talk about camcorders here, but this announcement is interesting because of the technology employed. The new tiny 'Network Handycam IP' DCR-IP7 'MICROMV' digital camcorder records digital video onto new MICROMV tapes (which are 30% the volume of a DV tape). The DCR-IP7 can also shoot 640 x 480 JPEG's or MPEG-1 clips onto Memory Stick, even more interesting is that the camcorder supports Bluetooth wireless transfer as well as USB and Firewire (IEEE 1394). This neat little camcorder can also send email and browse the web. Oh yes, and it's 2 x 4 x 3 inches and weighs in at 370 g (13 oz) with battery.

IFA 2001: 0800 CET: Nikon Europe has this morning confirmed that the Coolpix 775 will be released to the European market, they have also announced the new upgraded and improved Coolpix 885. "As compact as most film cameras, the Coolpix 775 is a natural choice for families and individuals who want to make the move to digital and to enjoy sharing their images on line and on print.", "Ready for anything, the Coolpix 885 takes compact digital photography to a new level of sophistication in a remarkable combination of quality, convenience and ease of use."

IFA 2001: SanDisk has today announced that it will be expanding its retail presence in Europe and will also be opening a large distribution center in Holland. "One of the new products going into Europe for the first time this summer is the SanDisk Secure Digital memory card, a new stamp-sized, removable flash card targeted mainly for use in mobile phones, Internet music players and small-size digital cameras."

Thanks to the photographer for letting me know that the full page image (of Gary Condit and wife) on the front of this weeks People magazine was shot with a Canon EOS-D30. In his words, "People magazine cover story will come out on Gary Condit. The entire story and the COVER was all shoot on the D-30. This was shot under a extreme deadline, hence their openess to using digital.", "I have been using the D30 about 9 months . All most ALL my magazine work in this year (2001) has been digital on the D30, some of this work has been used as large as 2 pages."

Not to be outdone by Sony and their DPP-SV88 multi-function printer Fujifilm has today announced the 'FinePix Memory Printer' NX-800M which provides the ability to archive and print. The NX-800M has both SmartMedia and PCMCIA slots for storage cards which can then be archived directly to CD-R/RW or printed on the internal 4 x 6 dye-sub printer. Prints can also then be made at a later date from the archived photos. The NX-800M also has a small LCD screen for preview / setup as well as connectivity to a TV/Monitor and/or PC/Mac via USB.

Sigma has today announced a new AF 20-40mm F2.8 EX DG lens. Again this lens appears to be aimed at owners of digital SLR's because it offers a relatively useable bottom end (wide end) to a normal mid point in a compact lens construction. For example, this lens on a Canon EOS-D30 would provide an equiv. range of 32-64 mm, on a Nikon D1x it provide an equiv. range of 30-60 mm. The lens has access at the back for filters.

The saga continues... Looks like Kodak have had a slight (sarcasm) change of heart over the Digital Photography features in Microsoft's new Windows XP Operating System. In a new official release they're now saying, "The changes made to Windows XP are a positive move. Kodak is pleased that our EasyShare digital cameras and software will work well with Windows XP," said Phil Gerskovich, chief operating officer, Digital and Applied Imaging, and vice president, Eastman Kodak Company. "We look forward to working with Microsoft to continue to improve the digital photography experience in Windows XP."

LuraTech, the creators of the LuraWave image compression format (which we've covered previously) has release a JPEG2000 plug-in for Adobe Photoshop. You can download a 30 day trial copy TODAY for a glimpse into the future of JPEG compression. The full version of the plugin is priced at $79.95, an SDK is also available. JPEG2000 files (at least as loaded/saved by this plug-in have the .JP2 extension). We've done some side-by-side analysis of JPEG vs. JPEG2000 using a 4 megapixel TIFF from Sony's DSC-S85, the results are impressive. JPEG2000 also features a highly compressed lossless 'sub format' which we've calculated equates to approximately 1 MB per megapixel (very impressive).

We've finally posted our updated Nikon Coolpix 995 review. The review now reflects results based on a full production Coolpix 995 with firmware 1.6. We've re-shot resolution charts, colour test patches, ISO sensitivity, night shots, flash. All timings have been re-confirmed as have dynamic range results. Changes? There's less noise at ISO 100 and 200 on this full production unit and Microdrive timings have changed (subtley). Otherwise most of our original conclusions and results stand. NEW: Animated 990/995 Kodak Q60 target. Plus 31 new sample images!

Kodak has just sent me a press release on their official position on Windows XP and its new Digital Photography integration. Looks like things are not at all well between Kodak and Microsoft, in this press release Kodak accuse Microsoft of limiting consumer choice as to what the users default photo application should be, they also state that Microsoft is attempting to 'Tax the Internet' by having a list of Microsoft-Preferred photo finishing sites... Trouble brewing.

The Japan Camera Industry Association (JCIA) has today published a report on the shipment of digital still cameras for the first half of the year 2001 (Jan - June). It tells us that between January and June this year Japan exported 3.9 million digital still cameras (up 34% on the same period last year) with a total value of 143 Billion YEN / US$ 1.14 Billion (up 18% on the same period last year). Japan produced 2.1 million digital still cameras for its domestic market (up 86% on the same period last year) with a total value of 78 Billion Yen / US$ 624 Million (up 53% on the same period last year).

The Japan Camera Industry Association (JCIA) has today officially announced new guidelines for the measurement and marketing of digital camera 'megapixels'. The guidelines recommend the use of effective pixel count (the actual number of pixels captured). We've known about this for some time, but this is the first time JCIA have made it official. What these new guidelines mean is that from September 1st, 2001 all new Japanese digital cameras must carry a label which states the effective pixel count, not the total CCD pixel count. This is a more accurate, fairer and less confusing method of labelling and should make it easier for the consumer to know what they are buying.

Sony US has today confirmed new retail pricing for Memory Stick storage cards. "Effective today, Memory Stick media in 8MB, 16MB, 32MB, 64MB and 128MB capacities are available for around $25, $35, $50, $80 and $150, respectively at retailers nationwide and at www.sonystyle.com." This means that a 128 MB Memory Stick has a cost per MB of $1.17, compared to Compact Flash at approximately $0.78/MB and SmartMedia at approximately $0.93/MB.

Peak Development Ltd, a UK company has today announced its new 'Digital Image Recovery Service' named ImageRecall. This service aims to recover images lost on corrupt, deleted or damaged CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, MMC/SD, Microdrive or PC Card storage devices. "We aim to provide a fast efficient service to all our image recovery customers and have historically been able to recover 80% of lost images" stated Kevin Bordley, Technical Supervisor. "Every week we have professional photographers asking for our service"

It looks as though Kodak have made it up with Microsoft after their problems earlier this month. They were involved in today's Windows XP event in which more than 20 key industry leaders showcased their hardware and software solutions for digital photography on the Microsoft Windows XP platform. These companies demonstrated everything from digital cameras to photo-processing services, all designed to provide consumers with the ability to easily manage their digital photography using Windows XP.

Canon USA has today confirmed a lens which has been rumoured (and seen elsewhere) for some time. The new white bodied EF 70-200mm f/2.8L has a new improved IS (Image Stablisation) function as well as dust and moisture resistance which you would expect of an 'L' lens. On the EOS-D30 this lens would provide the equivelent focal length range of 112 - 320 mm. This beast of a lens weighs in at 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) and will have a street price of US$ 3,000 when it reaches the shops in September.