Photography

Capturing, handling and printing photographs

FinePix V10 Zoom With Added (ahem) ‘Fun’ Games
Fujifilm have rolled out their new 5.1 million pixel FinePix V10 Zoom, which they’re billing as a “next-generation digital compact camera with distinctive looks and an extra dose of fun.”
The “dose of fun” comes in the shape of some retro arcade-style games installed on the camera.
These include a shooting game, blockbuster and a maze puzzle, played via the camera’s controls which have been positioned like a console for extra playability.
In a rather nice touch, captured images can also be incorporated into the games, although we’ve no idea how sophisticated this process will be.
Although we’ve never felt the urge to play a shoot ’em up on our digital cameras, the rest of the camera seems to shape up pretty well, with the FinePix V10 Zoom sporting a large three inch, 230,000 pixels LCD screen in a pocketable design.
Like its well reviewed near-namesake, the Fujifilm F10, the FinePix V10 Zoom is speedy in operation, with a nippy 0.01 second shutter lag and a 1.5 second start-up time.
Optics come in the form of a reasonably fast (F2.8 – F5.5) 3.4x optical zoom, giving a zoom range comparable to 38 – 130mm on a 35mm camera, and there’s VGA movie capture mode capable of grabbing 30 frames per second with sound.
The camera boasts Fujifilm’s excellent Super CCD HR sensor, with their Real Photo Technology offering a huge range of sensitivity from ISO64 to ISO1600, making the camera suitable for low light, ‘natural’ photography.
A novel ‘Natural Light & with Flash’ mode captures two images in quick succession, with and without flash, letting the user decide which one looks best. We like that idea.
Sadly, Fujifilm are sticking with their rather obscure xD-Picture Card, which means that most photographers switching brands will have to invest in a new memory card format.
Overall, this looks to be an interesting and fun point’n’shoot snapper with the Super CCD HR sensor offering a compelling advantage over many of its rivals.
We’re not so convinced of the wisdom of bolting on arcade games on to a camera though – not only does it seem an unconvincing example of digital convergence, it’s also likely to result in a dead camera battery.
The FinePix V10 Zoom will be available from UK retailers in March 2006, with pricing to be announced nearer to the launch date.
Fujifilm.
6 January, 2006
Kodak Photo Voice: Skype For Photo Service
Eastman Kodak and Skype have announced the “latest innovation in digital storytelling”, Kodak Photo Voice, a new free online service that combines live voice and online photo sharing.
The Kodak Photo Voice service lets Internet viewers simultaneously view a customised slideshow online and chat away to each other at the same time – making it harder for people trying to avoid sitting through their friend’s awful holiday snaps.
“Today’s families and social networks are scattered around the globe. Staying connected through photo sharing remains an important element in maintaining closer personal relationships,” said Sandra Morris, general manager of Consumer Imaging Services at Kodak.
Morris noted that traditional social gatherings that used to take place around the radio, television or telephone are now taking place around the computer, mobile phone or camera.
Once a user has downloaded Kodak Photo Voice and Skype, they can select photos from a Kodak Easyshare Gallery album or from their computer, compile them into a Kodak Photo Voice presentation and “call” a friend over Skype to watch the slideshow live.
If their friend likes some of the photos, the host can order prints and other merchandise via the Kodak Gallery and have them mailed directly to their friend’s home.
Currently in live beta, the KODAK Photo Voice is the first Skype certified “online photo sharing experience” (we’re currently enjoying a “live coffee drinking experience”, btw) and is available as a free download at kodakgallery.com/photovoice.
As the curious talking octopus on the homepage explains, the service is absolutely free.
5 January, 2006
Best Cameras of 2005: Our Round Up
Best compact:
Fujifilm F10
You’d be hard pressed to describe this box-like beast as a looker, but it consistently impressed us with its speed of operation, pin-sharp pictures and awesome low light performance.
Featuring a class-leading sensor, the Fuji can keep on delivering usable images right up to 1600 ISO – perfect for candid/low light photography.
Look out for the F11 which adds aperture and shutter priority to the feature set.
More info
Best dSLR
Nikon D50
A tough call this one with so many notable new cameras entering the increasingly competitive consumer end of the digital SLR market, but the Nikon D50 just pipped the Canon EOS 350D on account of its excellent image quality, low noise, excellent handing and, of course, incredible value for money.
This is a perfect first-time camera for amateur photographers keen to move up to a SLR system, and with hundreds of Nikon-fit lenses available, the D50 can handle just about every task you can throw at it.
Nikon D50
Best prosumer camera
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1
Just nudging ahead of the Fujifilm FinePix S9500, the Sony DSC-R1 impressed us with its innovation, build quality and fabulous images.
Dominated by a 24-120mm lens of truly outstanding quality, the DSC-R1 offers a unique viewfinder which can flip and twist through 270 degrees and offer medium format ‘waist level’ shooting.
Although it’s priced hard against more flexible dSLRS, you won’t find a more capable, all in one package than the Sony DSC-R1.
More info
Biggest disappointment:
The Panasonic Lumix LX1
It promised so much, looked fantastic, entranced us with its advanced feature set, high end manual controls, widescreen aspect ratio, image stabilisation, razor sharp Leica lens and fantastic, crystal clear daytime images, but as soon as the sun went down and the ISO ratings went up – disaster!
A horrendously noisy sensor meant that noise crept in to even low ISO images, with pictures at 400 ISO bordering on unusable – not what you expect for £450.
Bring on the LX2 and Panasonic will have a killer camera on their hands!
More info
21 December, 2005
Targus 14 in 1 USB Card Reader Review (78%)
Summary
Works without a problem, doing all you’d expect – 78%
US Street Price $25
Review
As your collection of digital devices grows, you’ll probably find it near-impossible to stick with just the one memory card format as the pesky things keep on changing.
Looking around our office workspace we can see a depressingly long list of electronic gizmos all using different cards, including SD cards ( Pure DMX-50 DAB/CD system and iMate JAM smartphone), Sony Memory sticks (Sony V3 camera and Sony PDA), XD picture card (Fuji F10 camera) and compact flash (Nikon D70).
Getting data off these various cards usually means a trip to the back of the PC to install the various cables that came with all your camera/smartphone etc (when will they standardise all the ruddy USB connecters?!).
Things get more complicated away from home when filling your holiday bag with a lasso’s worth of different cables isn’t an attractive option.
So here’s where a USB Multi-card reader comes in handy.
With most memory card readers offering support for a huge variety of memory cards, all you need to take on the road is a single USB lead to connect the card reader to your laptop and you’re sorted!
Moreover, if you forget your camera’s battery charger while you’re away, you’ll be able to save precious battery life by using the card reader, instead of having to turn the camera on to transfer pics.
We were sadly guilty of leaving the charger for our Nikon N70 back in Blighty during out recent jaunt to NYC, and after seeing the battery levels accelerating downwards as we transferred zillions of images to our laptop, we shelled out for a cheap’n’cheerful Targus card reader, the TG-CRD14 ($25 street price).
As its name suggests, this compact little feller (9.4cm x 5.5cm x 1.9cm) can read and write to 14 different formats, including CF I&II, IBM Micro Drive, SM, SD, MMC, MS, XD and MS Pro.
Installation was a breeze – just plug in and go, with no drivers or power sources needed. Simple. And there’s even a pretty flashing LED to look at when the reader is being accessed!
The USB 2.0 interface guaranteed that files flew across to our desktop, and the reader’s multi card support, backwards USB 1.1 compatibility and Windows XP & Mac OSXM support should see us in good stead for the future.
Summary
Works without a problem, doing all you’d expect – 78%
US Street Price $25
Targus
16 December, 2005
Mamiya ZD Medium Format Digital Camera Arrives
The long, long, long awaited Mamiya ZD medium format digital SLR is now available on pre-order in Japan, with UK delivery promised in January.
With the kind of specifications that would turn your average digital snapper into a gibbering wreck of envy and lust, the Mamiya ZD notches up a whopping 22 megapixels (21.50 effective), with images registering a screen-stretching 4008 x 5344 pixels.
Thanks to its Dalsa 36 x 48mm image sensor, the camera still manages to resemble a beefed-up standard 35mm D-SLR, making it a tempting prospect for both studio and travelling professional photographers.
Inside the pixel-guzzling beast lies Mamiya’s exclusive 14bit A/D (analogue to digital) converter, enabling photographers to rattle off 12bit images at a nippy 1.5fps (up to 11 images).
That may not sound fast compared to sporty Nikons and Canons, but in the world of medium format cameras, we’re talking Speedy Gonzales – and you won’t find anything faster in its class.
The Mamiya sports an eye-level Prism Viewfinder (fixed) with a field of view of 98%, with auto-focus using TTL Phase Difference Detection, with photographers able to choose between Average, Centre-weighted, Variable Shot and Spot.
On the back of the camera, a 1.8in LCD offers image previews with a LCD window below displaying ISO and exposure information.
File storage comes in the shape of CF and SD storage cards.
Images can be whizzed across to your PC/Mac by FireWire with the bundled Mamiya Digital Photo Studio software offering what the company describes as a “complete image capture, processing and editing solution in both MAC and PC based computers.”
The price is going to hover around an eye-watering €9200 – enormous wonga for some, but it’s the kind of figure that may finally tempt die-hard professional film photographers into the digital fold.
Specifications:
Sensor: Full Frame RGB square-structured 48 x 36 mm CCD, 22 million pixels total
Exposure controls: A (Aperture), S (Shutter) priority, Programmed AE, Manual and B, shutter speed: B+30sec – 1/4000 second, x-sync at 1/125 sec.
Capture: RAW and JPEG format, Large, Medium and Small files
White balance settings: Auto, Daylight, Overcast, Shade, Fluorescent, Tungsten, Preset 1, Preset 2, Fine Adjustment, Color temperature setting
ISO 50 – 400 (1/3 steps)
Other: Video out (NTSC/PAL), IEEE1394 interface
6 December, 2005
Fujifilm F10 Review: An Astonishing Achievement (90%)
Summary
Despite a few minor complaints, the F10 represents an astonishing achievement. Highly recommended.
UK Street Price £225.00
UK Online Price
US Online Price
Full Review
It may have won the accolade of European Camera of the Year, but it has to be said that the first impressions of Fujifilm’s compact F10 camera are distinctly underwhelming.
With a clunky, chunky form factor suggesting that the product designer was off sick for the day coupled with a limited set of exposure controls, the F10 looks unlikely to impress holidaying snappers or the tripod-touting cognoscenti.
But lurking inside its bland, all-metal exterior is an astonishing point’n’shoot camera with unique features capable of producing incredible results.
The camera is the first of a new generation of Fuji cameras sporting the new Super CCD HR sensor which – unlike previous models – doesn’t rely on interpolation jiggerypokery to deliver its 6.3 megapixel output.
A newly developed ‘Real Photo Processor’ serves up an impressively wide ISO sensitivity range, starting from 80 ISO all the way up to 1600 ISO, allowing flash-free, low light shots and less chance of camera blur.
It’s a snappy performer too, with an ultra nippy start-up time backed up by a claimed 0.01 second shutter lag.
We can’t count as fast as that, but it certainly proved to be one of the fastest compacts we’ve tested to date, with no perceivable delay after pressing the shutter button.
The camera comes with a 3x optical zoom lens (f2.8 – f5.0 36mm – 108mm, 35mm equiv.) and a large and bright 2.5-inch 115k LCD.
In tests, we found the LCD easy to read in all but the brightest of sunlight although an optical viewfinder would have been a useful addition.
A handy LCD brightness boost switch helped compose shots in dim light, although we found it prudent to turn off the dazzling, kryptonite-like green focus beam which was so bright that you’d end up with pictures of people covering their eyes and screaming.
The battery life was hugely impressive. Fuji claim a class-leading 500 shot-per-charge and we certainly had lots of juice left after taking – and enthusiastically previewing – 200+ shots taken around New York.
Essentially a ‘point-and-shoot’ camera, the F10 offers little in the way of real manual control, with just four main modes on offer: scene mode, full auto, manual (auto with limited exposure overrides) and movie mode (VGA, 30 fps, .avi format).
Out on the streets, the camera proved fast to start up, responsive, quick to focus and produced some excellent quality images, capturing impressively high levels of detail.
Where the camera really excelled was in low light, with the extended ISO sensitivity allowing natural images to be taken without the use of flash.
Compact cameras generally produce horrendously noisy images when the ISO racks up beyond 200, but Fuji’s Super CCD HR sensor is capable of producing very smooth, detailed images with little noise all the way up to 800.
At 1600 ISO there’s notable evidence of noise and some ‘smoothing’ by the built in noise reduction, but the images are still eminently usable for smaller prints and are leagues above anything the competition can muster – this really is an incredible low-light performer!
We remained impressed with the camera throughout the testing period, although some gripes surfaced: we found the lack of any real manual control frustrating at times and the less-than-intuitive menu system made some tasks unnecessarily fiddly.
We would have killed for a manual focus mode because without the green beam’o’death, focussing could struggle a bit in low light.
There was also a little more “purple fringing” than we would have liked (thin purple lines around objects in high contrast scenes) and the camera sometimes seemed far too keen to needlessly jump to high ISO sensitivities (but this could be easily fixed by manually setting the ISO rating).
But what we really, really, didn’t like was the plug-in ‘terminal adaptor’ that had to be lugged about to charge the battery or transfer images. Sure, it’s not particularly large, but it’s just another annoyance that could end up being lost or forgotten on a trip.
CONCLUSION
Despite minor complaints, the F10 represents an astonishing achievement; it may not have the slick looks of its rivals or a shed load of fancy-pants, advanced features, but when it comes down to sheer image quality, low light performance, battery life and speed of operation it leaves most – if not all – of the competition standing.
Currently available for around £225 ($385, €330), the Fuji F10 represents excellent value for money. We highly recommend it.
Photographers put off by the lack of manual controls should note that the a new version featuring aperture and shutter-priority modes, the F11, is about to hit the streets.
Features: 65%
Ease of Use: 83%
Image Quality: 87%
Overall: 90%
Fujifilm F10
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2 December, 2005
DSC-T9 Cyber-shot Announced By Sony
Sony continues to build on the success of its ultra-slim DSC-T digital still camera range with the release of the six megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-T9 model.
Following in the footsteps of the T3, T5 and T7 models, Sony’s new mini-snapper manages to add optical image stabilisation and high light sensitivity, with the company claiming pictures with “significantly less blur and graininess than typical point-and-shoot cameras.”
The camera shoehorns a smarty-pants lens-shift optical image stabiliser that does it stuff courtesy of two gyro-sensors which detect hand movement and automatically calculate the necessary compensation for a crisp image.
The increased high light sensitivity (64 up to IS0 640) allows punters to grab flash-free, atmospheric shots in low light, although we’ve yet to see how effective Sony have been in keeping the inevitable noise down at high ISO ratings.
“Our T Series set the standard for slim, stylish, point-and-shoot cameras with fine image quality,” said James Neal, director of digital imaging products at Sony Electronics.
“Now the use of this category of cameras is pervasive. With the DSC-T9, we are taking this category a step further by incorporating advanced imaging technologies that ensure that you get the shot, even in unfavourable light conditions, like nightclubs and restaurants,” he added.
As with previous DSC-T models, there’s a whopping great 2.5-inch 230k LCD dominating the rear of the camera, with four playback ‘themes’ letting users display their photos with dynamic transitions shuffling along to user-selected music clips.
The Lilliputian shooter comes with a 3x (38-114mm ) Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar folded-path optical zoom so there’s no whirring lens thrusting out of the camera on start up.
The DSC-T9 offers shutter speeds from 30 to 1/1000 second, Multi-pattern, Centre-weighted, or Spot metering, five white balance presets and 10 scene modes.
There’s also VGA (30 fps) MPEG movie recording onboard, with 58 MB of internal memory and a slot for an optional Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo media card.
Turning the camera on and off is a matter of sliding the camera lens cover, with Sony claiming a battery life of up to 240 shots per charge – an improvement on the fairly dire performance of its predecessor.
The Cyber-shot DSC-T9 camera will be available in January for about $450 (~£254~€374) online at SonyStyle.com
Sony T9
1 November, 2005
EX-600: Casio Wafer Thin Digital Camera Announced
CASIO have announced their new, wafer-thin EXILIM CARD EX-S600 digital camera.
Small enough to slip in your pocket without inviting Mae West quotes, the 16mm thin camera sports a 3X optical zoom (38 – 114mm, F 2.7 – 5.2), with a nippy start up time and super fast 0.007 second release time lag.
Offering a healthy six megapixels resolution, this card-sized diminutive snapper comes with “Anti Shake DSP” which Casio claims can reduce or eliminate blur caused by shaking mitts or moving subjects.
Compared to its predecessor, the EX-500, the camera offers an updated CCD imager, 50% improved battery life, a slightly closer macro focusing distance of 15 centimetres and a new “Revive Shot” feature which attends to the rather obscure needs of people taking digital pictures of old album photos.
According to Casio’s announcement, Revive Shot mode “adjusts for obliquity as well as brightly refreshes faded colours.”
Our dictionary says that obliquity means, “the presentation during labour of the head of the foetus at an abnormal angle” and “the quality of being deceptive,” so we’re not entirely sure what they’re on about, but we figure that it just sprinkles a bit of fairy dust over old images and boosts up the colours.
Unlike Pansonic LX1’s mechanical Optical Image Stabilisation, the Casio achieves the effect with digital bodgery, automatically bumping up the ISO and thus making faster shutter speeds available (at the expense of more noise.)
The camera offers quick picture playback of approx 0.1 seconds interval on the large 2.2 inch LCD, which Casio claims is “twice as bright as previous models” (good job too as there’s no optical viewfinder onboard.)
As is de rigeur on consumer compacts, there’s a built in movie mode with the Casio capturing MPEG-4, VGA (640×480 pixels) at 30 frames/second.
Battery life is a beefy 300 still pictures or 1 hour and 50 minutes of movie recording per battery charge, with the EX-S600 connecting to a TV or PC via the multi cradle, which also doubles as the battery charger.
As ever, there are enough scene modes (34) on offer to ensure that even an Icelandic daytripper to the Amazon should be able to capture every atmospheric eventuality on the way, although we imagine most people will just go along with the ‘auto’ option.
Currently only available in Japan and other Asian markets, the EX-S600 comes in a selection of colours, sparkle silver, fiesta orange, mistral blue and luminous gold.
Casio
25 October, 2005
SD430: Canon PowerShot Adds Wi-Fi
Canon are trumpeting that they are “bringing IXUS style and performance to the wireless age” with the release of their PowerShot camera.
Essentially a Powershot SD450 with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) bolted on, the compact camera comes with a 5.0 Megapixel CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom, 2.0″ LCD display and 14 shooting modes for creative experimentation.
The addition of the Wi-Fi gubbins means the SD430 offers direct printing to any to any Canon PictBridge compatible printer courtesy of the supplied Wireless Printer Adapter (WA-1E).
An Auto Transfer mode automatically transfers images to a nearby PC (with Canon’s software installed) while the Wireless Remote Capture lets users fire off snaps from their PC – great fun for candid party shots and capturing scampering squirrels in the garden. If that’s your bag, of course.
The camera can be registered with up to 8 target devices including wireless access points via a secure communication system to prevent eavesdropping or interception of your photographic masterpieces.
As well as industry standard WEP, the SD430 employs WPA-PSK with TKIP/AES encryption for enhanced data security.
“With wireless technology extending beyond the office to personal home networks, Canon expects Wi-Fi support to be the next big trend in the digital photography market,” insisted Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe.
“The Digital IXUS WIRELESS delivers freedom and ease-of-use that consumers expect from wireless devices,” he continued.
Although we naturally warm to the convenience and sheer ‘techiness’ of Wi-Fi enabled digital cameras, we remain to be convinced that the technology has reached maturity yet.
After all, firing off images wirelessly is no quicker than using a standard USB dock, there’s no built in browser or infrastructure for shifting images when you’re away from home (or at a photo printing lab, for example) and, of course, all that WiFi-ing is going to give your camera’s batteries a slapdown.
We speak from some experience here too, after foolishly being seduced by Sony’s innovative – but frankly pointless – Bluetooth feature on its 20002 DSC FX77 camera.
After an eternity of fiddling about with Bluetooth settings only to see images crawling onto our PCs, the novelty soon wore off and the thing was dumped straight back on to its USB cradle.
Mind you, it was fun taking photos from a PC in the next room until the Bluetooth connection went tits up.
Back to the SD430, we can also add that it comes with an all-important cool blue light, offers manual and auto shooting modes with stitch assist, and weighs in at 130 g (4.6 oz) in a pocketable 99 x 54 x 22 mm (3.9 x 2.1 x 0.9 in) case.
Pricing to be announced.
Canon
25 October, 2005
Samsung Partners Pentax to Make Digital SLRs
With the corporate might and phenomonal R&D budgets of Nikon and Canon continuing to create cameras that dominate the dSLR (digital Single Lens Reflex) market, smaller brands are discovering the benefits of pooling their resources to produce rival products.
Way back in July, we reported on dSLR makers Minolta teaming up with digital compact kings Sony to jointly develop digital dSLR cameras, and today Samsung have announced a similar deal with Pentax.
Both companies are hoping to share their respective competencies to “enhance competitiveness in the burgeoning digital SLR market,” read, Blimey, this markets getting a bit hot, we need scale.
The partnership will draw on Samsung’s digital image processing technologies, brand recognition and digital convergence technologies while Pentax can offer an established dSLR brand with a huge range of interchangeable lenses. It can’t hurt that Samsung currently are one of the biggest players in LCD screens production.
Pentax already have four well regarded digital SLRs under their belts, while Samsung – who announced their intention to become a “top-class Digital Camera manufacturer” in May 2005 – have enjoyed rapid sales growth with attractive products backed by strong marketing.
Samsung’s recent Pro815, an advanced prosumer compact digital camera, attracted praise for its innovation while Pentax’s *ist dSLR range has won many friends, although failing to match the popularity of rival Nikon and Canon products,
Samsung has the No. 1 market share in Korea with a share of around 30% and is one of the fastest growing brands in digital cameras on the planet, with market share doubling in the last year.
Continued growth is predicted for the world-wide digital camera market, with pundits expecting the tally for 2005 to be around 82 million unit sales, soaring to 89 million in 2006.
Falling prices have contributed to the digital SLR market growth rate exceeding the overall digital camera growth rate, with 2005’s expected 4 million unit sales to be surpassed by a predicted 5 million unit sales in 2006.
Samsung
12 October, 2005

UK Street Price	£225.00
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