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
They may look like something a WW2 pilot would have strapped on to their heads before going off for a dogfight, but the Grado SR60s are, quite simply, the best headphones in their price bracket – and higher.
Untroubled by the vagaries of fashion, Grado’s hand-made SR60s have a refreshing no-nonsense look about them.
The driver units are covered by black supra-aural foam ear pads, with an unusually thick cable coming from each earpiece, stethoscope-style.
Sonically, they’re a revelation. The sound is full-bodied, fast and articulate with a solid bass performance creating an impressively spacious soundstage.
The clarity and depth of these phones is unheard of at this price level – stick on a pair of trendy designer “DJ” headphones after a session on the Grados and it’ll sound like listening to a transistor radio.
Tying in nicely with Skype’s new video calling feature (Skype 2.0, now in public beta), Creative have announced a new WebCam certified by Skype.
“Our partnership with Creative is important in helping to make the consumer experience with Skype Video calling simple and effective,” he continued.
There’s also a ‘snapshot button’ for taking low res stills at 640×480 via interpolation (in other words, it’s a smaller image artificially blown up, so don’t expect anything near digicam quality).
Summary
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.
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.
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. 
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.
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.
Despite our catastrophic experiences with the 
Context-sensitive buttons either side of the display provide a simple user interface offering fast access to relevant features – it’s one of the best interfaces we’ve seen.
A unique feature to Pure is the ReVu function, which lets you pause and ‘rewind’ live DAB digital radio, courtesy of a constantly updating 20 minute buffer. 
The package is rounded off by two stylish Rosewood speakers with 5¼” woofers, and 19mm Mylar-dome tweeters, a simple remote control and aerial.
With a passion for creating new phones that is beginning to border on pathological, Samsung’s overworked designers have just revealed yet another new hi-tech handset, the SPH-V6800.
There’s also a 1.3MP digital camera onboard with MPEG-4 video recording and MP3/AAC audio playback.
With the Samsung packing in wireless connectivity into its tiny 96.8 x 47 x 24.5mm dimensions, we could well be seduced by SPH-V6800 (if it ever makes it to these shores, of course).
A Whole New Meaning To Retro
Ah ha! So that’s it: These “mobile phones” are actually weapons. Guess that means the end of taking my phone on the plane then! Still… The smiling Chinese man talking on his glorified, colour LCD display-equipped brick does look so innocent!
LG Electronics’ PR department clearly don’t believe in a day of rest because Sunday saw them busily announcing the impending release of their LG PM 80, a PDA capable of receiving T-DMB (terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting).
The actual device, presented here in the traditional manner by near-ecstatic Korean ladies (if only we got so much unbridled joy from our gadgets) follows the traditional PDA form factor, with the addition of an old-school pull out aerial for TV reception.
As ever, the Koreans will get to play with this device for ages before we even get a peek at it – if they don’t decide to keep it to themselves for ever, of course. 
The Next Revolution Is Here… Or Is It?
Market analyst Gartner reports that mobile phone sales have soared 22 percent compared to the same period last year.
In the Latin American segment, sales were up 46 per cent compared to last year, totalling 26.1 million phones units, while in Western Europe, big sales of 40 million phones were driven by customers upgrading their handsets.