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November 1999
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December 1999 news and reviews
December 31
December 29
BERLIN - The International Standards Organization's JPEG2000
committee has finalized specs for a new algorithm that compresses images
up to 200 times with no appreciable degradation in quality. The JPEG2000
spec, which will become ISO 15444 when it's officially approved in 2001,
uses wavelet transformations instead of Fourier transforms to achieve the
performance gain. UPDATED
December 27
Ok, good news Nikontech USA have also posted the 1.3 firmware,
so it's now available for all 950's (PAL or NTSC).
UPDATED
Just found this interesting article over on DigitalDarkroom
which is a comparitive look at the quality of "photo inkjet" printers
vs. dye-sub printers.. These comparisons were done by "Nai-Chi Li":
"For a long time, I wanted to see for myself how well does the best (consumer-grade)
inkjet printer stack up against a dye-sub printer. I finally got the opportunity
to do so. I have printed a high-resolution test image (3360x2240x24 bits)
from these three photo printers: Epson 700, Epson 750, and the Alps MD-5000
dye-sub. Please come take a look at my comparison scans, and see if you
agree with my observations"
Yet another interesting EETimes article: A new approach
to CMOS image sensor design offers unprecedented image quality by eliminating
fixed pattern noise from the equation, according to Photon Vision Systems
LLC.
December 24
December 23
Here's an interesting story: Nearly 19% of high-end cameras
sold in October were digital cameras, according to leading marketing information
provider NPD INTELECT. 'High-end' refers to cameras sold for more than $50.
Sales for the burgeoning category were up significantly over the same period
last year, when only 7% of all cameras sold (above $50) were digital.
December 22
Just
read this interesting article over at EETimes on Flash cards and how common
place they're becoming, an interesting read... Stamp-sized
flash storage cards are in position to become a universal media for off-line
digital content while enabling the exchange of data or entertainment content
among various digital consumer electronics products. Several proposed formats
now vying to become the de facto storage media for consumer products will
be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) early next month in
Las Vegas.
December 20
Just
got a message from my good friend Tham Kok Leong over at Digital Darkroom,
it's not often that we mention printers on this site but being the proud
owner of an Epson Stylus Photo 750 I feel that I should mention Epson's
latest printer the 870 with the promise of longer lasting prints (claimed
10 years), edge-to-edge printing and "photo rolls" the ability
to produce 35mm-like prints at home with a good quality digital camera and
printer is already here.
(Actually
this is more of an Iomega press release...) Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM),
a leader in smart, portable storage solutions, and Agfa Corporation's Desktop
Products Group (USA-DTP), a leading provider of award-winning digital cameras
and desktop scanners, today announced that Agfa is shipping the first ever
digital camera with a built-in Iomega Clik!(TM) drive, called the ePhoto
CL30 Clik! digital camera. This ePhoto CL30 Clik! digital camera will allow
consumers to save approximately 60 megapixel, or near 35 millimeter quality,
images on one removable 40MB Clik! disk that is about as affordable as purchasing
and developing a roll of film, but has the added bonus of being reusable.
December 19
"So,
that's another million then", he says casually. I never dreamt that
DPR could ever become as popular as it has done, back in August we broke
the 1,000,000 visitor barrier, I predicted at the time that we'd just
make it through 2,000,000 by the year 2000. Well, we broke through that
at the end of October and here now up to 500,000+ unique visitors per
month I'm beginning to loose count!
December 16
Impress
Digital Camera magazine is published in Japanese, they always setup a website
for their readers to view images discussed in the printed magazine. Issue
fourteen has just been released along with sample images from many new cameras
including the Oly C2020Z, Minolta RD3000, Kodak DCS330, Epson CP800S, Ricoh
RDC5300 and others. There are also three pages of image comparisons of the
same scene shot with different cameras. Plus a Nikon D1 vs. F5 report.
[EXCELLENT STUFF]
December 15
And
again they came to a similar conclusion I did "With the DSC-F505s unique
rotating lens and its movie recording capabilities, you get a fun camera
that takes great pictures too. The sharpness of the Carl Zeiss optics show
in the final images, and we really like the "real camera" manual-focus option.
The full 5x optical zoom is a big plus that we wish more manufacturers would
adopt."
After reading the "rumor" on Steves-Digicams about
the Canon S20 I contacted one of my industry contacts who confirmed:
Canon S20 (name may change), Same form factor as S10, 3.3 Megapixels,
2x zoom, USB, CF I & II, shipped with 16MB CF card.
December 14
December 13
After
releasing v3.0.8 for the DCS520 / 560 last week Kodak have just posted v3.0.9
firmware for the DCS 620 / 660. The companion "acquire" software
is also updated to v5.8.1. This update brings in-camera JPEG mode, support
for dual storage cards and more... see inside. (Thanks to Rob Galbraith
for this one)
If
you own/use a Kodak Pro DCS or Sony DSC-D7x0 digital camera then this story
may interest you. You can now get 0.5GB capacity on an ATA card! Kingston�
Technology Company today announced the expansion of its Flash memory product
line with the introduction of high-capacity ATA Flash cards ranging up to
512MB. The new cards set a new low price point at approximately $2.73/MB
for a 512MB ATA Flash card.
Ofoto
Offers $50 Million in Free Photos to First Million Members: Ofoto Jump-Starts
Online Photo-Finishing With Free Prints for the Millennium. Ofoto Inc.
today announced that beginning immediately it will give away $50 million
in free prints through January 15, 2000. Ofoto (www.ofoto.com) makes it
easy for people to upload the digital photos they take and then purchase
high quality photographic prints at very affordable prices. Ofoto will reward
its first one million members with 100 free 4``x 6'' prints to be used any
time in the year 2000. Consumers that take advantage of this offer will
also receive free shipping for their first order.
December 10
Uh Oh.. I've had to pull the article I wrote on
the D1 vs. DCS620 noise. It turns out the images Kristian Linnemann for
sent me for the D1 were shot at ISO200 not at ISO1600 as he'd claimed...
I don't know who to believe right now so I'm waiting to peform these tests
FOR MYSELF... If you want something doing properly... sigh.
The
guys over at Imaging Resource have just posted a Canon S10 review, looks
like they came to a very similar conclusion as me "Canon's remarkable
little 2.1 megapixel digicam, the PowerShot S10. We say "remarkable", because
it's not only the smallest digicam currently on the market, but it takes
pictures of exceptional quality: Color, detail, and tonal range are all
excellent, comfortably in the top tier of the current two megapixel marketplace."
December 9
After numerous requests from many visitors we've initiated
a weekly newsletter which will contain a summary of all that's new in the
Digital Photography world from the previous week. To receive this newsletter
once a week simply enter your email address in the box provided (right side
of this news column) and click 'Go'.
Plucked out this interesting article from EETimes: "Digital
still cameras could rival the image quality of 35-mm film photography within
a couple of years due to a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor with
over six million pixels developed by Philips Semiconductors (Eindhoven,
Netherlands). "
December 8
Rob Galbraith over at his excellent Digital photojournalism
site has noted that one of his readers reported a potential incompatibility
between the new v3.0.8 firmware (for Kodak Professional DCS cameras 520
& 560) and Lexar Media cards.
Last year at this time most, if not all, of the popular digital cameras were sold out for Christmas. Anyone trying to get their hands on a Nikon Coolpix 900s or Olympus D-320, among others were sadly disappointed.
This year we are starting to see similar shortages all over again. The combination of an overseas earthquake about six weeks ago, and strong consumer demand, are making it tough for manufacturers to keep up, thus leaving many retailers without enough product.
Imaging Resource post a review of the Kodak DC215, Dave
says "With its simplified controls and focus-free lens, the Kodak DC215
camera is clearly intended to meet the needs of the point & shoot user,
and succeeds well in that goal. First-time users will appreciate its simplicity
and ease of use. At just exactly a megapixel, the DC215's resolution is
adequate for ~4x6 prints, but will look noticeably soft if enlarged much
beyond that size. "
December 7
December 6
Thanks to poster Furrukh who posted these links to the Nikon
Europe manuals for the Nikon D1. He posted on our new Pro Digital Forum
which has proved to be very popular since its creation a few days ago. Included
is the D1 fast track, D1 reference, Nikon View DX for D1 and Nikon Control
for D1 manuals. Thanks Furrukh.
December 2
Just received a note from Max Lyons to let me know that
version 3.1 of Thumber has been released with a few interesting new features:
"Thumber 3.1 has just been released. Version 3.1 adds many new features,
including an image editor, ability to save JPG files (and retain EXIF data),
insert EXIF data into edited files, whitebalance and program mode data,
improved image quality, 24 hour time format, support for new cameras and
much more."
December 1
Rob posts two articles arguing against the noise comparisons
between Nikon's new D1 and Kodak's DCS 620 posted on the website www.pressphoto.dk,
I had to admit I had the same problems with this supposed comparison, having
come under some criticism for being too pro Nikon I kept out of it but hearing
it from a long term Pro like Rob kinda puts my mind at ease.
There has been much debate about the Nikon D1 recently,
and this has stirred interest in other Pro digital cameras, this discussion
as mostly taken place on the Nikon Talk discussion forum and so to help
both Nikon consumer readers and give Professional photographers their own
space I've created the Pro Digital Talk forum. Please try to use this as
an area to talk about any brand of Pro Digital camera.
Thanks to Rob Galbraith for this pointer, Nikon Europe have
posted an early D1 FAQ and Hints & Tips page, I'm sure this will be
of interest to owners or prospective owners.
In
one part of an interesting article posted by the Japanese webzine PC Watch
on the Olympus technology fair 80 they have a picture of C2020Z which has
been cross-sectioned at the lens. This gives an interesting insight into
the internal works of the lens/CCD capture system of a modern digital camera.