September 2000 news and reviews

Our friend Rob Galbraith has posted all four parts of his Photokina 2000 report. It was good to meet Rob at Photokina, although there weren't that many new pro products there. "With few all-new products to chase down, I spent the bulk of my time on the show floor speaking to vendors, listening in on product demonstrations, and sleuthing out hitherto-unknown digital hardware and software. "

Dave over at Imaging-Resource is churning them out, he's got a review of Kodak's rugged DC5000 which is based on the older DC280 "Images shot with the DC5000 should look fine printed on photo-quality output devices at sizes up to 8x10 inches. " and the Olympus/Polaroid C-211 Camera/Printer "Because it's fully digital, the C-211 Zoom allows you to shoot and select only the images you want to keep, and since the initial exposure is not made directly on the Polaroid film, as it is in traditional Polaroid models, you have the option of printing only the photographs you want."

Lurking in our review queue for some time now, we've finally posted our review of Sony's innovative CD1000, the only digital camera to use mini CD-R's for storage. This was certainly an interesting camera to review, though it hardly set me on fire. "A few other reviewers have been as brave as to say that mini CD-R will be the future of storage in digital cameras. I'd have to place myself on the other side of that fence. Don't get me wrong, there's a place for it and I'm sure the CD1000 will sell well..."

Toshiba, in a Japanese press release today announced 128MB SmartMedia will go on sale at the "end of September". The big "gotcha" of course is that because SmartMedia is really "Dumb" (it doesn't have a controller in the card like CF) almost none of todays SmartMedia digital cameras will be able to use the new 128MB cards.. No manufacturers have yet announced updates for their cameras to be able to use it.

Any manufacturers who'd like to confirm their cameras work with the upcoming 128MB SmartMedia please send me an email.

Steve Sanders has just posted a first look at a beta Fujifilm Finepix 4900Z. He says "I've just posted the first review on the Internet of Fujifilm's FinePix 4900 Zoom. This first look report includes all the usual detailed camera photos, 360-degree QTVR virtual tour, controls, menus and sample photos. The FinePix 4900 Zoom we reviewed is a pre-production unit but was still most impressive in both features and image quality."

Somehow (!) Yamada Kumio managed to persuade Olympus to loan him an E-10 while at the Photokina show, he's posted four sample images for us all to criticise... I was told that all the E-10's at the show were still prototype and still had early firmware so I'd personally not read too much into any problems you see in these images.

Steve Sanders has just posted a first look of the Pentax EI-200 (AKA. HP C-618), "The lightweight EI-200 looks and operates like a conventional 35mm camera except the two-inch color LCD monitor allows for instant review and/or deletion of stored images. Image data can be transmitted using a high-speed USB cable, CompactFlash (Type I or II) card, or IrDA-compliant wireless infrared link. Digita allows custom functions and easy transfer of photos to computer, directly to HP JetSend compatible printers, or to other Digita-compatible cameras."

Photokina 2000: A few weeks ago Kodak announced a range of new sensors including a 4096 x 4096 16 megapixel beast. Well, now they've implemented it. Presenting the all new Kodak DCS Pro Back, a 16 megapixel medium-format camera back which can be used untethered (or tethered), dual PC Card slots, has a flip-out multi-angle LCD, Zoom and Pan image inspection (up to 1:1), FireWire (IEEE1394) connectivity and compatible with Hasselblad 555 ELD and Mamiya RZ film cameras. One additional big feature of the DCS Pro Back is Kodak's all new DCS Capture Studio 1.5 for acquisition and editting. No price yet announced.

Pre-Photokina 2000: Today Canon unveil their latest digital camera, the G1. Aimed squarely at the "prosumer" marketplace the G1 enters the arena as a direct competitor to the Coolpix 990, Sony F505V and Olympus C-3030Z. Canon have listened, the G1 supports CF Type II (for IBM Microdrive) has a flash hotshoe and (Pro 70 users will love this) and flip out and twist LCD screen for viewing at any angle, and there's RAW mode images too.. There's lots more goodies in store, so come on in for the full story. (We have exclusive images, menus and other details). UPDATE: Sample Images online.

Vitals: 3.14 megapixels effective (2048 x 1536), 3 x optical zoom lens (F2.0 - F2.5), flip-out and twist coated LCD screen, flash hot-shoe, Compact Flash Type II, ISO 50 - 400, JPEG / RAW image format, InfraRed remote control. Front-on just a little bigger than a S10/S20.

Thanks to William Chang from photography.com.hk for sending a note over that he has posted the first "hands-on article" of Olympus's Digital SLR the E10. He also has a couple of original sample images (the first full originals posted on the web as far as we're aware). So get over there and read his great preview and check out those samples...

Sony today announced their tiny DSC-P1. Althought not as small as their prototype "spy camera" it's still small, about the same height as Canon's Digital IXUS (S100) and a little bit longer, the big deal here is that the P1 has the same 3 megapixel CCD seen in the S70 & F505V AND a 3x optical zoom lens with an automatic lens cover (how did they ever fit it in there??). Other improvements seem to have been made, auto focus is said to be much faster as is zoom speed, and start up times of just 3 seconds. We have exclusive images of the camera, full specifications and a press release.

According to a study by InfoTrends wireless imaging is "an emerging frontier" in the digital photography and wireless telecom services markets. It's interesting to note the timing of this announcement just as Ricoh are releasing details of their RDC-i700 which indeed supports wireless communications cards and Internet protocols. "Hardware vendors are creating new types of image capture devices - from wireless Internet-connected digital cameras to lens attachments for mobile Internet appliances. Software vendors and online photo services are optimizing their solutions for handheld platforms. Perhaps most importantly, a host of companies are attempting to solve the problem of how to optimize and deliver images for viewing on multiple platforms. "

Thanks to Huu Phuc, a forum contributor, for noticing a small detail on the Nikon-Image website, Nikon will be releasing firmware version 1.1 for download on September 18th. There aren't any specific details about what will be included in the new firmware other than support for some of the new accessories (MC-EU1 USB remote control, WC-E63 wide angle converter, ES-E28 slide copy converter). Obviously we're expecting some bug fixes and potentially new features but we haven't got any further details, yet.

Jeff Keller over at DC Resource has just posted a review of Kodak's familiar looking DC3400, here's what he had to say "The Kodak DC3400 is an updated version of the DC280 that we reviewed earlier this year. (Actually, I'm not clear on what's changed between the two models...It's a good camera, but not the best for the money. I compared the DC3400 to the Olympus D-490Z at the beginning of the review, and I'd say the D-490Z wins the battle hands down. If the Olympus had USB, it would be the perfect $500 camera."

Dave over at Imaging-Resource has compiled a set of Ofoto Albums containing their standard test samples from no less than 30 digital cameras, via links on the Imaging-Resource page you can select and order prints of these test images. If you've not joined Ofoto before (or you still have some left) you can use the 50 free 4 x 6 prints for some of these samples. Kudos to Dave for a great idea.

Thanks to Herb Hou over on the Taiwan based dcview.com for putting me on the trail of Ricoh's next 3 megapixel digital camera. Based on the RDC-7 the new RDC-i700 will have extended functionality, not least of which (a first in digital cameras) a 3.5" touch sensitive LCD display (to be used with supplied scribe) and supports Internet connectivity (another digital camera first). It will be possible to upload images and email images directly from the camera. This camera will go on the market in Japan on September 20th at 158,000 YEN (US$1,480). (Oh and you can browse the web, yeah ok so now you want one)

UPDATE: More information from Impress PC Watch.

Just had a note from Eric Hyman that he's now made the first official release of MacBibble v1.0 for OS8.5/OS9. Bibble is a tool for accessing, converting and manipulating Nikon D1 .NEF (RAW files) as well as JPEGs. "This release represents all the features of MacBibble being online. All of the power of the original Bibble are now yours to use in MacBibble, as well as some unique macintosh features (preview icons)"

The UK company Chase recently released the CARDport Swift Syncro USB card reader. This handy card reader can accept SmartMedia, PCMCIA Type II, CF Type I/II (by adapter), MemoryStick (by adapter) and many other media into its dual slots. Small, light, functional and well priced the Swift Syncro is one of those accessories that will pay for itself in your saved time. We've had one in-house and have posted a review of it...

Delayed, but now online Olympus's Camedia Gallery is currently showing images by three different photographers using the E-10 and E-100RS... And very nice they are too, unfortunately (and a bit of a let down after the wait) no full resolution samples are available.. And although there's an "Original Photo" area in the "Download" section of the website there's just a message saying they are "being prepared"... Oh, and the English pages aren't ready yet.. so it's all in Japanese at the moment.

Ever wanted to go for a swim with your S100/IXUS? Now you can, Canon's AW-PS 200 waterproof case will allow you to go down to three metres, it also protects the camera from the odd knock and is also dust proof. It's available now (in Europe at least) for 225 EUR (£ 140, US$ 200). Thanks to Digitalkamera.de for this article.