November 2002 news and reviews

Thanks to Danny Brenner for noting a new 'USB-CF' Compact Flash card from a Chinese manufacturer called 'Netac'. Their card works in the same way as any other 128 MB Compact Flash card but additionally has a Mini-USB port on the rear left corner for direct connection to a PC / Mac. We have seen something similar to this in the past with Lexar's JumpShot cable, however it's interesting to see the solution implemented with an industry standard Mini-USB port.

The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) has approved a new RS-MMC (Reduced Size MultiMediaCard) standard. This new flash storage format has the same width but almost half the length of existing MMC cards, RS-MMC cards will be 24 x 18 x 1.4 mm. Hitachi are the first manufacturer to announced RS-MMC cards up to 64 MB in capacity. It's clear that this new reduced size format is aimed primarily at the mobile phone / PDA market but I'm sure it would also offer digital camera manufacturers the opportunity to build even smaller digital cameras.

COMDEX 2002: Pretec Electronics Corp. has announced three new high capacity Compact Flash cards. Previously their largest capacity had been 640 MB, these new cards widen their range considerably. The 1.5 GB and 3.0 GB are CF Type II, the 2.0 GB is CF Type I. These new cards are all larger than anything else on the market, the 3.0 GB card will no doubt be of special interest to digital SLR photographers whose cameras continue to create larger and larger files as the manufacturers increase resolution year on year.

Nikon US has today announced an additional $50 saving on the four megapixel Coolpix 4500, this in addition to the $50 mail-in rebate already available (valid until 31st December). This should bring the effective list price of the Coolpix 4500 down to an attractive $599. We reviewed the Coolpix 4500 back in August and were very impressed with this evolution on the unique Nikon split-body design.

Epson has today announced the availability of a PRINT Image Matching II plug-in for Adobe Photoshop 6.0, 7.0 and Elements 1.0, 2.0 for Windows and Macintosh. The plug-in is designed to allow you to import PIM II or ExifPrint (EXIF 2.2) JPEG's and print them accurately on a PIM II (Epson) printer. "The availability of the P.I.M. II plug-in furthers Epson's pursuit to provide the ultimate photo printing solutions for consumers looking to print the best prints possible from their photo printer."

Minolta US has today announced an underwater ("Marine") case for the DiMAGE X or DiMAGE Xi digital camera. We actually covered this new accessory when it was announced by Minolta Japan back in May and also in our Photokina 2002 show report, today Minolta made it official and announced a list price of $249. "This new durable housing allows users involved in virtually any outdoor activity to bring their DiMAGE X or DiMAGE Xi camera with them anywhere they go to document their day-to-day activities or special adventures," said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president of marketing.

Dave Etchells over at Imaging Resource has today posted his review of Sigma's SD9 digital SLR which is the first digital camera to use the revolutionary Foveon X3 sensor. "The Foveon technology is impressive but not perfect, and I fully expect a holy war to erupt on the 'net over the issues of color purity and image noise with the SD9. Supporters will point to the SD9's excellent capabilities, good resolution, and affordable price, while detractors will call attention to its substantially higher than average image noise in the red portion of the spectrum and maximum shutter time limitation. Mixed into the fray will be arguments over subtle aspects of the "look" of images derived from a sensor with full-color pixels." The SD9 is currently second in our queue of cameras to review (out of six here awaiting review). UPDATE: Some comparison shots posted.

During Photokina Phase One announced that they would be producing a version of their sophisticated Capture One software for DSLR's. Named 'Capture One DSLR' this new application provides workflow management, RAW conversion and sophisticated image manipulation initially for Canon RAW files (including the EOS-1Ds). In the future this package will also support Nikon, Fujifilm and Kodak D-SLR's. We have an exclusive preview of a beta version of this new application, a more detailed look will be included in our EOS-1Ds review.

Environmental activist Ken Adelman with his Nikon D1X, Robinson R-44 Helicopter and an Apple PowerBook is taking thousands of photographs of the California coastline. His images are being used to identify illegal seawalls and for other environmental uses. So far he's taken 7,000 images, and expects this to rise to 10,000 when he's completed the entire coastline. All of the images are available on his website californiacoastline.org. "The camera is linked with a cable to the helicopter's global positioning system, and to an Apple Power Book laptop. Every three seconds, he snaps a picture, and the exact longitude, latitude and altitude are recorded."