Photography

Capturing, handling and printing photographs

PowerShot S80 Announced By Canon
Canon has announced its new PowerShot S80 consumer camera, an eight megapixel compact camera with a wide range of auto and manual controls.
Smaller and lighter than the PowerShot S70 it replaces, the S80 sports a much larger (2.5″) wide viewing angle LCD monitor, a wide-angle 28-100 mm f/2.8-5.3 (3.6x) optical zoom lens which uses the same DIGIC II processor found in Canon’s professional series digital SLRs
The prosumer-targeted camera offers an EOS-style Multi Control Dial for quickly setting menu and shooting functions and nippily scrolling through images during playback.
The camera packs in some advanced features including real-time histogram display, FlexiZone AF/AE with a freely movable focus point and manual focus override with 21 shooting modes taking care of most lighting conditions.
The new large 2.5″ LCD is adjustable to one of 15 brightness levels and features a “Quick-bright” function for shooting in sunny conditions (sadly, a feature of little benefit to most UK users).
There’s also a handy selectable grid line display to help with composition and keeping wobbly horizons level.
As is the norm for a compact camera, the optical viewfinder can best be described as ‘basic’ with all the shooting image being presented in the LCD screen.
The little fella (104 x 57 x 39 mm) can also record quality video clips up to 1 GB in size, from 320 x 240 at 30/15 fps right up to 1024 x 768 at 15 fps.
Surprisingly, RAW capture has been left off the spec list, although there’s USB 2.0 compatibility to help speedily transfer images to a PC speedily.
“The PowerShot S80 provides those serious about photography with uncompromising specifications,” gushed Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. “Its futuristic and compact design symbolises Canon’s commitment to pushing the limits of what is possible in this important segment.”
The camera’s 8.0 Megapixel sensor produces images for detailed A3+ size prints, with auto focus speeds claimed to 20% faster.
The S80 is expected to retail for around $549 (£322, €475) when it hits the stores in October 2005.
PowerShot S80
24 August, 2005
Dixons: Digital Kills The 35mm Star
It’s farewell to film at Dixons, as the company announced that it would no longer stock 35mm film-based cameras.
Britain’s biggest electrical retailer blamed “weak demand” for the decision, pointing out that digital cameras are now expected to outsell 35mm cameras by 15 to one in its stores.
After reaching a peak in the UK of 2.9 million cameras sold in 1989, 35mm camera sales have been steadily falling, with the public being wooed by the convenience, improving quality and falling costs of consumer digital cameras.
“Last year, we pulled the plug on video recorders, but today’s announcement is in many ways a more sentimental event,” said Bryan Magrath, marketing director at Dixons in an interview with Reuters.
Although photo experts will argue that a cheap 35mm camera will still produce higher quality images than its digital equivalent, a quick survey of 100 Dixons customers found that 93 percent could not tell the difference between digital and 35mm prints.
“This tells us that there is no real difference in quality between digital and film,” said Magrath. ‘The digital camera…delivers huge benefits due to its memory, speed, image quality and transferability of images.’
“Time and technology move on … digital cameras are now the rule, rather than the exception. We have decided that the time is now right to take 35mm cameras out of the frame,” Magrath added.
The company said it would knock out its limited range of 35mm cameras until stocks ran out, with a few specialist 35mm cameras still being sold at the company’s tax-free airport stores.
Dixons
9 August, 2005
EasyShare P880, P850: Kodak Announcement
Kodak has announced a new class of ‘advanced digital cameras’ aimed at grabbing a slice of the burgeoning dSLR market.
They won’t be winning any hearts on looks though, with their flagship EasyShare P880 model looking like this “a cross between Bender from Futurama and an ugly tank”.
Despite looking like it’s fallen off the Ugly Tree, the EasyShare P880 serves up an attractive feature set, offering an 8 megapixel sensor, a slew of enthusiast features and an unusually wide angle 24-140mm (35mm equiv) wide-angle f/2.8 – f/4.1 zoom lens made by Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon (try saying that after a few beers).
Multiple shooting modes are provided, including auto, program, aperture and shutter priorities with fully manual and custom modes available and a handy feature letting users dial-in multiple pre-set scene modes.
Reflecting its enthusiast ambitions, the camera offers RAW file support, 16 – 1/4000 second shutter speeds, a live histogram, a 237,000 pixel electronic viewfinder, custom white balance and digital red-eye reduction.
“While serious photographers demand advanced photographic controls, they’re also craving easier-to-use cameras and systems – an area in which Kodak excels,” enthused Greg Westbrook, general manager of digital capture products at Kodak.
“The P-Series breaks new ground by deftly combining high performance and simplicity. Its flagship, the EASYSHARE P880 camera, introduces a new, highly compelling alternative to pricier, bulkier dSLRs.”
The one big advantage that compact digital cameras have over their dSLR counterparts is the ability to capture video footage, and Kodak have been keen to trumpet the camera’s movie making functions.
The P880 can capture VGA video at 30 frames per second (Motion JPEG compression) with zooming and lets users trim, cut, splice and merge clips on the camera and extract individual video frames as 640 x 480 JPEGs at 640 x 480 resolution.
Powered by a high-capacity lithium ion battery, the camera weighs in at 19.6 oz. (556 g) and comes in a reasonably compact package (4.6W x 3.8H x 3.6D in.)
The EasyShare P880 will be available beginning this September priced US$599 (~€486, ~£336).
Looking down the range, Kodak have also announced their 5.3 megapixel EasyShare P850 camera, featuring a 12X, 36 – 432mm (35mm equiv.), f2.8 – f/3.7, Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens with optical image stabilisation.
Sharing the same video capabilities as its upmarket brother, the 850 offers an advanced, hybrid AF system with 25 selectable points and shutter speeds from 1/2 – 1/1000.
There’s also a hotshoe for extended lighting control, the usual selection of preset scene modes with a live histogram, RAW/TIFF/JPEG support and a lithium ion battery.
The EasyShare P850 will knock out for around US$499 (~€405, ~£280).
Kodak
3 August, 2005
DSC-T5: Sony Cyber-Shot Ultra-Slim Camera Announced
Sony has today announced the latest update to its range of ultra-slim DSC-T digital cameras, the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T5.
Thinner than Kate Moss on a diet, the DSC-T5 features an internal folded-optics 3x optical zoom lens, a five megapixel CCD sensor, a 2.5″ anti-reflective Hybrid LCD monitor and 32 MB of internal memory, with extra storage provided by a Memory Stick Duo slot.
Available from September, the DSC-T5 sports the familiar sliding cover/power switch inherited from the DSC-T1 and comes in a black and silver finish with red, black and champagne gold options becoming available in October.
Sony claims that the camera’s new InfoLithium T series battery will offer an increased battery life of up to 240 shots per charge, with the camera being ready to shoot images in less than a second.
“This is the perfect ‘next’ camera for anyone who doesn’t want to miss a moment, whether out on the town or at family gatherings,” enthused James Neal, director of digital imaging products at Sony Electronics “It’s the most affordable model in our T series and a great value given its enhanced performance.”
There are a slew of pre-set picture-taking modes onboard to help point’n’shooters get the best from the camera, with a “Magnifying Glass” feature allowing macro shooting up to 1cm from an object and a “High Speed Shutter” to catch fast-moving action.
Using an optional Memory Stick PRO Duo card, users can shoot MPEG-VX video with 640×480 pixel resolution at 30 frames per second, with a 1-gigabyte Sony Memory Stick card capable of holding up to 12 minutes of VGA-quality 640 x 480 MPEG video and over 380, 5-megapixel JPEG Fine images.
The Cyber-shot T5 will be available in September for about $350 (~£198~€286).
The announcement comes after Sony has been forced to slash its earnings forecast following a disastrous first quarter, with The Times reporting first quarter net losses of around ¥7.3 billion (~$69.4m ~£39.3m ~€56.8m).
This has resulted in the company dramatically cutting its forecast earnings from ¥80 billion (~$712m ~£403m ~€582m) to ¥10 billion (~$89m ~£50.3m ~€72.8m).
It’s widely reported that the problems were down to a poor performance in Sony’s TV division and falling retail prices of digital cameras.
Sony T5
1 August, 2005
FinePix S9000; S5200; E900 – Three 9mpx Cameras From Fujifilm
FinePix S9000 Zoom
Fujifilm has rolled out three shiny new cameras, all offering an impressive 9 million megapixel resolution.
Sitting at the top of the pile is the FinePix S9000 Zoom, a fully featured enthusiast camera offering a 10.7x optical zoom (28-300mm equivalent), 80 to 1600 ISO, twist-barrel zoom control, a tilting 1.8-inch LCD but no image stabilisation.
Fujifilm are hoping that the camera’s blend of SLR-like features coupled with the compact-style ease of use may grab the company a slice of the fast-growing entry level DSLR market.
The compact-based design means that – unlike dSLRs – the camera can offer 30-frames-per-second movie mode (with a manual zoom capability) – something that may prove tempting to punters after a high quality ‘do it all’ camera.
The camera boasts some pretty impressive specs, with an 0.8 second start-up time, and just 0.01 second shutter lag.
Storage is taken care of with xD-Picture Card, CompactFlash and Microdrive support with the facility to save images in the higher quality RAW format.
With dSLR prices plummeting, keen pricing will play a crucial part in the success of this camera, but as yet no prices have been announced.
The camera will be available in the UK from August.
Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Zoom
Second up is the Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Zoom, the third incarnation of Fujifilm’s S series cameras.
The mini-SLR style camera offers 5.1 megapixel resolution, a 10x optical zoom (38 – 380 mm) and an Anti Blur mode which Fujifilm reckons is better than image stabilization.
There’s the usual slew of point and shoot/preset/enthusiast modes available, an ISO range going up to 1600, VGA movie mode and RAW image capture.
The FinePix S5200 will be available in the UK in September.
Fujifilm FinePix E900 Zoom
Finally, we come to the Fujifilm FinePix E900 Zoom, a new E series “pocket friendly” compact managing to pack 9 million effective pixels into its lithe proportions.
The camera offers a 4x optical zoom (32 – 128mm), ISO 80 – 800, auto/manual control, RAW capture and a 2-inch LCD.
Start up is a little less impressive at 1.3 seconds although Fujifilm claims a “near instantaneous shutter response”.
Pricing and availability have yet to be announced.
FujiFilm
DPreview Fujifilm FinePix S9000 Zoom
DPreview Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Zoom
DPreview Fujifilm FinePix E900 Zoom
28 July, 2005
Konica Minolta And Sony To Make Digital SLR (dSLR) Cameras
Konica Minolta and Sony Corporation have reached an agreement to jointly develop digital Single Lens Reflex (dSLR) cameras.
The move strikes us as a logical one – Konica Minolta has a long record of producing high quality professional and semi-professional SLR cameras, while Sony has excelled in the digital camera consumer market.
Konica Minolta have already acquired a fine reputation through the autofocus and auto-exposure technologies developed in their Maxxum/Dynax series of film and digital dSLR and, like Sony, are keen to incorporate new technologies in their products (or “push the envelope” in marketing wallah-speak).
As we reported yesterday, Konica Minolta’s are already applying innovation to the burgeoning dSLR market with their new Maxxum/Dynax 5D camera being the first sub $1,000 dSLR to incorporate onboard Anti-Shake technology.
With Sony bringing their award-winning design expertise to the party – and their image sensor, image processing and battery technologies – we can expect some smarty-pants new product design to emerge from the partnership.
The new SLR cameras will see Sony/Minolta shoving a highly competitive oar inbetween the market leaders Canon and Nikon and marks Sony’s first foray into the high end digital dSLR camera market.
Previously, Sony had concentrated on the consumer/enthusiast segment, producing cheap and cheerful cameras for the masses and innovative, upmarket fixed-lens cameras like the well received F717 and F828 Cybershot models.
As prices of dSLR’s plummeted, the writing was on the wall for high-end fixed-lens models, so Sony’s move into the dSLR market was not unexpected.
Acording to IDC, the worldwide digital SLR market totaled 2.5 million units in 2004, and Sony and Konica Minolta have predicted that they expect this to grow to 3.6 million units this year.
And now kindly stand back while the execs get backslappy on the love mat:
“Sony has powerful devices and technologies essential for digital cameras,” praised Tsuyoshi Miyachi, President and CEO of Konica Minolta Photo Imaging. “I am extremely excited to work with Sony. Together with Sony, we will endeavour to create new value in the field of imaging through increasing attractiveness of digital SLR cameras where we are strongly focused.”
“We are excited to co-develop new products with Konica Minolta’s advanced camera technologies represented by its “Maxxum/Dynax series” and our digital audio visual technologies,” smooched Yutaka Nakagawa, Sony’s Executive VP and Personal Audio Visual Network Company NC President. “Sony will further strengthen its digital imaging business through creating new market opportunities with the digital SLR camera field.”
Both companies will immediately begin joint development of the “advanced and feature-rich digital SLR cameras” although there’s no date set for when we may view the fruit of their corporate loins.
We can tell you, however, that the new cameras will use the Konica Minolta lens mount system, which will no doubt please current Minolta owners.
19 July, 2005
Dynax/Maxxum 5D dSLR From Konica Minolta Adds Anti-Shake
It wasn’t that long ago that digital dSLRs were the sole preserve of well-heeled enthusiasts and the pestering paparazzi, but with prices continuing to fall, digital dSLRs are coming within the reach of the mainstream.
Canon started the revolution, slapping down a hefty gauntlet in the face of their competitors when they introduced their 6.3 megapixel Canon EOS 300D (aka Digital Rebel) in 2003 for around US$1,000 (~£572, ~€828).
The camera immediately found favour with amateur snappers, semi-pros and some newspaper reporters, who wanted the immediacy and flexibility of a single lens reflex camera without the eye-watering price of a pro camera.
Nikon took some time to respond, but hit back hard with the Nikon D70, a well-specified camera that offered the same resolution as the Canon, but with a more comprehensive feature set – and a lightning fast start up time (often the bane of digital cameras).
Pentax, Olympus and Minolta also weighed in with affordable dSLRS and consumers got happier as prices kept on falling.
In February this year, Canon returned with its cheaper-faster-more featured next generation 8 megapixel camera, the EOS350D (Digital Rebel XT) retailing for US$880 (~£503, ~€728) while Nikon’s similarly priced D50 was introduced in April.
Trying to wedge their elbow into the highly competitive and lucrative affordable dSLR market is Konica Minolta’s new Dynax/Maxxum 5D digital SLR, announced last Friday
Aimed more at the beginner market, it’s a smaller and lighter version of their Maxxum 7D camera, with fewer external controls, a bright 2.5″ display, “easy and intuitive” operation and a shedload of exposure presets on hand.
The highlight of the camera is Konica Minolta’s unique in-camera Anti-Shake system, which works by stabilising the sensor instead of the lens element.
This can be of real benefit when shooting in low light and gives the Dynax/Maxxum 5D digital SLR a real edge over their rivals, and it’s the first time this system-wide feature has been seen on a sub US$1,000 dSLR.
The rest of the specs of the camera are impressive but not cutting edge: 6.1 megapixel sensor, JPEG and RAW image capture (RAW: 3 fps, up to 5 frames), white-balance bracketing, 100-3200 ISO, built-in pop flash and USB 2.0.
With its bigger name rivals winning plaudits for their new budget dSLRS, it may be hard for new punters to be won over to Konica Minolta’s new offering, although it looks like a winner for those already using Minolta bayonet mount lenses.
Maxxum 5D will be available in early August, with pricing yet to be announced.
Konica Minolta
18 July, 2005
Camera Phones Used For London Bombing Coverage
The growth of photo and video-capable phones has resulted in news agencies sourcing more and more content from members of the public who have used their mobiles to record disaster scenes.
As the story of yesterday’s terrible bomb outrages in London unfurled, news agencies told their reporters on the scene to ask witnesses if they’d taken any images with their camera phones, with the main UK TV networks also running notices instructing viewers to send in any videos they had taken.
Elsewhere, Websites, bulletin boards and blogs also formed a valuable source for news agencies hungry for stories, with Sky tracking down and then interviewing a tube blast victim whose photo had been posted up on a Web site.
Mobile video footage also played a major part in news bulletins, with shaky mobile video footage taken from inside a blackened tube train leading some news updates.
Footage of the destroyed bus was also shown extensively on TV with Sandy MacIntyre, director of news for Associated Press Television News, paying US$250 (~£144~€209) for the amateur video clip.
Mobile-sourced footage was used by several US networks with some TV executives commenting that it was the first time that video taken from a mobile phone had been used during the coverage of a major story.
Jonathan Klein, CNN’s U.S. chief believes this “citizen journalism” will become a more important part of coverage in major news events. “No question about it,” he said. “There’s been a lot of talk in terms of the increased democratization of the news media relating to blogs and the like. This is another example of the citizen journalist.”
Still images taken by mobiles were also extensively reproduced in newspapers all over the world, with a photo by commuter Alexander Chadwick appearing on the front pages of both The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as other international and domestic publications.
News organisations are increasingly relying on amateur photography and video to help tell major stories, with NBC News President Neal Shapiro describing yesterday’s coverage as “a portent of things to come.”
Jonathan Klein, CNN’s U.S. chief, also predicted that mobile phone footage will play a more important part in major news events coverage, bringing about what he describes as an “increased democratisation of the news media relating to blogs and the like.”
AP News
AP story
11 July, 2005
DSC-H1 Quick Review: Sony Cyber-shot 5 Megapixel Camera First Impressions
Barging its way into the crowded 5 megapixel “super zoom” market is Sony’s new Cyber-shot DSC-H1 camera.
Unlike some of its more esoteric, all-swivelling zoom monsters like the F828 and F717, this one looks like a conventional SLR camera, with a flip-up flash on the top, traditional camera lines and a substantial handgrip.
It’s certainly quite a beefy fella compared to its direct competitors like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5, Konica Minolta Z5 and the Canon PowerShot S2 IS, but is still small and light enough to carry around all day.
The camera is powered by two AA batteries, which should be good for up to 300 shots.
The DSC-H1 sports a fairly small but bright 115,200 pixels electronic viewfinder (EVF) that mirrors the information displayed on the main screen.
The main LCD screen is indeed a whopper, sporting a 2.5″ bright, crisp and lag-free display using Sony’s nifty hybrid technology, which features a reflective screen making it possible to see the screen in bright sunlight
The shutter release is exactly where it should be, with a clickable ‘jog dial’ below allowing mustard-keen photographers to tweak manual exposure, program shift and AE-compensation to their heart’s delight. Very SLR-like.
The main mode dial nearby provides access to a wide selection of preset, auto and manual exposure modes with further adjustments enabled through Sony’s tried and trusted main LCD interface.
Unlike many of Sony’s previous upmarket cameras, there’s no Carl Zeiss branded lens aboard, but the compact zoom covers a very useful 36-432mm range (12x optical) with a reasonably nippy F2.8 to F3.7 maximum aperture.
Shutter speeds range from 30 to 1/1000 second, and the camera comes with optical image stabilisation built in (although Sony likes to call it Super Steady Shot’).
Motion video can be recorded in the MPEG-VX Fine mode, capable of capturing full screen VGA (640 x 480) resolution at 30fps or 16fps with audio.
Sticking firmly to their guns, the camera uses Sony’s Memory Stick as the only expansion option, although there’s 32 meg of internal memory provided.
In our quick hands-on test, the camera seemed responsive and comfortable in the hand, with punchy, crisp images straight out of the camera. Keen photographers may be disappointed by the lack of RAW/TIFF support and the lack of zoom function while in movie mode is irritating.
There’s enough manual controls to ensure that adventurous photographers can stay in control of their exposures, with a wide selection of scene modes covering most eventualities.
With a wealth of features served up in a near idiot-proof package, this is a great camera for both blundering amateurs and keen amateurs looking to capture high quality images with ease. Recommended.
Sony site
DP Review DSC-H1 review
Steve’s Digicams review
8 July, 2005
Yahoo 360 To Import Content From Non-Yahoo Services
Yahoo has announced plans to ramp up the feature set of its Yahoo 360 social networking and blogging service, currently in beta.
According to Paul Brody, director of community products at Yahoo, the company intends to let users import content, such as photos and music, from non-Yahoo applications.
“Some of the things that people very much want to do is to share content from other sources outside of Yahoo,” observed Brody, “[Yahoo] 360 right now does a great job of allowing you to share the content you might have already on Yahoo.”
The Yahoo 360 service entered an invite-only limited beta period in late March allowing participating users to publish blogs, share content and post pictures with control over who they shared their content with.
The service currently only allows users to include content from other Yahoo services such as Yahoo Photos and Yahoo Music, but now Yahoo are to offer the inclusion of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds from other sources.
Brody stated that he wanted the Yahoo 360 service to be an “open” product, adding, “If you have content anywhere on the Internet, you should be able to share it with friends and family through Yahoo 360.”
The beta period has given Yahoo some useful feedback about their users’ needs – with the company now working with bloggers to give them greater flexibility in customising their blogs and adding features such “trackback.” Trackbacks create a links between related information on different blogs, further explained in a link below.
“Yahoo 360 should be made available to the public in the next few weeks, by which time the capability to share non-Yahoo content will also be included.” Brody commented.
Localised versions of Yahoo 360 will be launched soon in some countries in Asia and Europe, according to Brody. The Yahoo blog service is already available in some countries like Japan and Korea.
Yahoo’s My Web Upgrades Personal Search Tools
Google Introduces Local Search To UK
Yahoo 360 Service Blends Blogging And Social Networking Tools
TrackBack description from sixapart
3 May, 2005