February 2003 news archive
Thursday, 27 February 2003
Pre-PMA
2003: Kodak has today announced that after a couple delays they will
be shipping their DCS Pro 14n this week. Featuring a 13.89-megapixel,
full-frame CMOS sensor and magnesium body. Madhav Mehra, General Manager,
Digital Cameras, Kodak Professional said "We're pleased to bring
the Kodak Professional DCS Pro 14n Digital Camera to market in time for
the imaging industry's largest gathering in the Western Hemisphere - PMA,". (22:35 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003: Just posted! Our detailed hands-on preview of the new Canon
EOS-10D. The article includes a full summary of new features and improvements,
design comparison, displays and menus, exploration of some of the new
features, image quality tests (noise, resolution, color) as well as a
head to head comparison with the EOS-D60 and a nineteen image samples
gallery. Eleven pages of preview, and it's all right here, right now.
Note that the camera used in this preview is considered pre-production. (14:00 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 14:00 GMT: Canon has today announced the new six megapixel EOS-10D
digital SLR. The EOS-10D is the direct successor to the popular EOS-D60
digital SLR, just like the D60 the 10D utilizes a six megapixel 22.7 x
15.1 mm CMOS sensor which is a development of the D60's sensor. Unlike
the D60 the 10D now has a magnesium body, orientation sensor, Adobe RGB
color space, Kelvin selectable WB, ISO 1600 and 3200, more flexible image
parameters and a new 7 area AF sensor (from the EOS-30). Other good news
comes with the price, the US list price will be $1,999 (expected street
$1,499), in Europe the 10D will have a €2,200 list price. (14:00 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 14:00 GMT: Canon has today announced a new 'L series' EF lens.
The 17 - 40 mm F4.0 L is designed to be a high quality, lightweight lens
for both film and D-SLR cameras. On the new EOS-10D this lens would produce
a field of view range equivelant to a 27 - 64 mm zoom lens. For film SLR
or EOS-1Ds users this lens provides ultra wide-angle zoom. Other features
include a constant F4.0 aperture and minimum focus distance of 28 cm across
the entire zoom range. (14:00 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 14:00 GMT: Canon has today announced the new PowerShot S400
Digital Elph / Digital IXUS 400. This new Digital Elph / IXUS has a four
megapixel sensor and a three times optical zoom lens. The design is overall
cleaner and smoother and uses a new 'Super Hard Cerabrite' (what a mouth
full) finish which is supposedly a mix of metal and ceramics. The S400
isn't just good looking there's a lot more packed inside than was available
on previous Digital Elph / IXUS models including nine point AiAF, a wide
ISO range and a 2.5 fps continuous shooting speed. List price: $599 /
€629. (14:00 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 14:00 GMT: Canon has today announced the new PowerShot S50,
the new head of their 'S' product range with a five megapixel sensor and
three times optical zoom lens. This camera is based on the S45 with which
it shares its lens, body and controls. The S50 also gets many of the features
enabled by the DiGiC processor, these include nine point AiAF, flexizone
focus selection, three minute movie clips and automatic image rotation
thanks to the orientation sensor. List price: $699 / €799. (Black
body in North America, Silver in the rest of the world). (14:00 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 14:00 GMT: Canon has today announced the new PowerShot A60 and
A70. These two models are the sucessors to the A30 and A40. Far from being
simply 'entry level' digital cameras the A60 and A70 are now fitted out
with a wide range of features including manual, aperture and shutter priority
exposure modes. Just like the new A300 the a60 and A70 get a DiGiC processor,
expanded sensitivity range (ISO 50 - 400), an orientation sensor and three
minute movie clips (with audio). These two new cameras comer closer to
the prosumer 'G' series. List prices, A60: $349 / €329, A70: $449
/ €429. (14:00 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 14:00 GMT: Canon has today announced the new PowerShot A300.
This new three megapixel fixed lens digital camera is the sucessor to
Canon's current entry level A100. The A300 introduces several new features
including five point AiAF, image voice memos, movie clips of up to 3 minutes
(including sound), an orientation sensor, the new DiGiC processor and
an expanded sensitivity range of ISO 50 to 400. An impressive specification
for Canon's entry level digital camera. List price: $299 / €279. (14:00 GMT)
Just
posted! Our full in-depth review of the latest incarnation of what has
to be one of the best image browsing / organizational packages available.
ACDSee has been my image browser of choice for many years, the latest
version marks a huge step forward in functionality and performance. The
new version has full support for EXIF Metadata as well as advanced searching
and categorisation features. Lossless JPEG rotation is back as well as
automatic rotation based on the orientation flag in the EXIF header (useful
for all those new Canon cameras with built-in orientation sensors!) (13:10 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003: As part of our ongoing coverage of new products announced at
PMA we have produced a quick preview of Sony's new five megapixel four
times optical zoom DSC-V1 digital camera. This compact digital camera
packs a lot into a space only a little bigger than Canon's PowerShot S330
(IXUS Digital 330). The V1 gets all of the new features introduced by
Sony in their latest wave of Cybershot cameras, this includes MPEG VX
(640 x 480, 16 fps, unlimited), USB 2.0, color saturation / tone adjustment
and more. Additionally the DSC-V1 has a flash hot-shoe and additional
manual features. (12:35 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003: Kodak has today announced the three megapixel, four times optical
zoom EasyShare DX6340 Zoom digital camera. The DX6340 is said to be the
smallest four times optical zoom digital camera on the market, it has
a Schneider zoom lens which provides an equivalent focal length range
of 36 to 144 mm and a maximum aperture of F2.2. The DX6340 should be available
in May at a suggested retail price of US$329. (09:20 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003: Kodak has today announced the EasyShare Printer Dock 6000. This
innvoative product is a dock and dye-sub 4 x 6" printer all in one.
You simply drop your EasyShare camera onto the dock on top of the device
and can execute prints immediately. The printer dock can also be used
for normal image transfer and battery charging. The dock is expected to
retail at US$199 with paper/ink packs costing US$14.99 for 20 prints,
US$24.99 for 40 prints and $39.99 for 80 prints. (09:10 GMT)Wednesday, 26 February 2003
Pre-PMA
2003: Pentax has today announced the world's smallest and lightest
digital SLR. The new *ist D is based on the *ist 35 mm film camera which
was announced this time last week. The *ist D measures just 129 x 95 x
60 mm (5.0 x 3.7 x 2.3 in) and weighs 510 g (18 oz). The camera has a
6.1 megapixel 23.5 x 15.7 mm sensor (identical size to the D100) which
equates to a 1.5x field of view crop. It's compatible with K, KA, KAF
and KAF2 mount lenses and 645 / 67 lenses with an adapter. It has a sixteen
segment metering system, eleven point AF sensor and continuous shooting
rate of 2.7 frames per second. Pentax has also announced a new 18 - 35
mm lens to complement the *ist D. UPDATED: New official
pictures added. (15:45 GMT)
Ricoh
Japan has today announced yet another variation of the RDC-i700, the RDC-i700
model G. This one supports the CFGPS2 Compact Flash GPS card from I-O
Data. When fitted fitted into the camera the GPS card enables it to record
the exact location at which each image is taken (recorded into the image
file header). It's not yet clear if this model is destined for worldwide
release or just for the domestic Japan market. The RDC-i700 which is the
basis for this camera is a three megapixel three times optical zoom digital
camera which has both Compact Flash Type II and PCMCIA slots. The RDC-i700
model G is priced at 208,000 YEN (approx. US$ 1800). (07:35 GMT)Tuesday, 25 February 2003
Today
we are introducing a new site feature, 'dpreview Mobile' provides access
to dpreview news on the go. The Mobile pages (basic HTML) contain a stripped
back, white background version of our latest news articles designed to
be used on mobile 'smart phones' and PDA's. Note that this new site feature
is still in Beta form and as such doesn't yet re-compress images within
news articles. We hope that you will find this feature useful during trade
shows such as the upcoming PMA 2003. Please note that these new pages
are not WAP phone compatible. (00:00 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003: Lexar Media has today announced new 40x professional Compact
Flash cards. Lexar claim a throughput of 6 MB per second (although they
don't specify which camera this was tested on) where 1x is 150 KB/sec.
The new 40X cards will be available in 256MB and 512MB capacities and
will feature the company's Write Acceleration technology (WA), which further
increases write speed in WA-enabled digital cameras. Lexar will also increase
the speed of its 1GB Type I CompactFlash card to 32X. (09:00 GMT)Monday, 24 February 2003
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 GMT: Sony has today announced its first foray into the
compact prosumer market since the excellent DSC-S85. The DSC-V1 is designed
to battle against Canon's hugely popular PowerShot G3, Nikon's Coolpix
4500 and Olympus's C-5050 Zoom. The DSC-V1 has a five megapixel sensor
and a four times 'Carl Zeiss' zoom lens. It has all the major manual controls
you would expect, as well as various shared enhancements including MPEG
VX (VGA, 16 fps), USB 2.0, color saturation / tone adjustment, Smart Zoom
and MS Pro support. All this plus a flash hot-shoe, metallic case and
it measures just 99 x 65 x 57 mm (3.9 x 2.6 x 2.2 in) - about the same
size (from the front) as Canon's PowerShot S330 (Digital IXUS 330). UPDATE:
Preview online. (21:20 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 GMT: Sony has today announced two new ultra-compact, pocketable
'P' series Cybershot digital cameras. The DSC-P8 has a three megapixel
sensor and three times optical zoom lens, the DSC-P10 has a five megapixel
sensor and three times optical zoom lens. Just like other cameras announced
today both cameras benefit from some new features such as support for
Memory Stick Pro, USB 2.0, MPEG VX (VGA, 16fps), color saturation / tone
adjustment, Smart Zoom and more. (21:20 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 GMT: As a part of no less than nine new digital cameras
Sony has introduced four new Cybershot 'P' cameras with a range of features.
The DSC-P32, P52 and P72 are all based on a three megapixel sensor and
incrementally a fixed, two times and three times optical zoom lens. The
DSC-P92 has a five megapixel sensor and a three times optical zoom lens.
All four cameras get some common improvements including support for Memory
Stick Pro, USB 2.0, MPEG VX (VGA, 16fps), Smart Zoom and more. What's
interesting is that Sony appear to have chosen three megapixel as their
new lowest, 'entry-level' resolution and abandoned two and four megapixel
resolution completely. (21:20 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 GMT: Sony has today announced two new CD Mavica digital
cameras. The first is the three megapixel, three times optical zoom CD350
which has a slim profile thanks to the location of the lens / sensor unit
to the side of the CD mechanism. Secondly is the black bodied five megapixel
CD500. Based on the CD400 the CD500 has a five megapixel sensor and 'Carl
Zeiss' three times optical zoom lens. Both cameras get the new MPEG VX
640 x 480, 16 fps movie recording mode (almost 6 minutes on a 156 MB disc).
The CD350 has three area multi-point AF, the CD500 features five area
multi-point AF. Other common enhancements include color saturation and
contrast adjustment (at long last). (21:20 GMT)Friday, 21 February 2003
Pre-PMA 2003: Our friends over at DC Resource have noticed a small
paragraph in one of the press releases from Fujifilm. This refers to the
development of a new medium format camera digital back utilizing a newly
developed 20.8 megapixel Super CCD sensor with the dimensions of 52 x
37 mm (2.05 x 1.46 in), this translates into an output file of 7,648 x
5,408 (41 million pixel) images. This is news to us, and we will be doing
all we can to find out more about this interesting new product. (22:20 GMT)
The
PCMCIA technology association has today announced the 'NEWCARD' format.
This new format makes use of PC Card, PCI Express and USB 2.0 technologies.
The NEWCARD format is also aimed at both Mobile and Desktop PCs. "By
drawing upon USB 2.0 and PCI Express, the NEWCARD specification will bring
serial bus technology to a smaller form factor that offers more performance
and improved ease of use. This new specification will revolutionize how
PC developers and OEMs utilize the expansion slot for next-generation
features such as wireless networking, storage and card readers." (13:50 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003: Due the popularity of this feature last year and knowing the
importance of the show I have posted the beginnings of our PMA 2003 show
report. The show report introduction page will enable you to stay informed
about all the latest product announcements as well as getting reports
and live updates from the show floor once the show commences. We are expecting
several more announcements next week which will be posted both on the
front page of the site and linked from the 'New Product Index' page in
the show report. The show starts next Sunday and we will of course be
there to bring you all the hottest news as it happens. (13:10 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003: Fujifilm has handed us a set of three comparison shots between
the Finepix F601 (third generation SuperCCD) and the new Finepix F700
(fourth generation SuperCCD SR). These comparisons clearly demonstrate
the additional dynamic range produced by Fujifilm's unique double photodiode
design. Note that these samples are not those posted on the Fujifilm US
site and are not available elsewhere. (08:55 GMT)Wednesday, 19 February 2003
Pre-PMA
2003,
Pre-PMA
2003, Tuesday, 18 February 2003
Pentax
has today announced the five megapixel Optio 550 and four megapixel Optio
450. Both cameras are based on the same modern and stylish aluminium alloy
case and both feature an impressive five times optical zoom lens, this
places the 550 in particular into a pretty special position of having
five megapixels and five times optical zoom in a compact case. Both cameras
are also fully featured with a wide range of manual control and features.
Storage is via SD/MMC card and the 550/450 are powered by a supplied Lithium-Ion
rechargeable battery. (14:25 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 00:00 TOKYO (19th): Pentax has today announced the new Optio
33L, this camera has a three megapixel sensor and a three times optical
zoom lens. It also has a new swivel LCD screen which can rotate in both
horizontal and vertical directions, unlike the Optio 330GS which could
only swivel horizontally. (14:25 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 00:00 TOKYO (19th): Pentax has today announced their new compact
35 mm film SLR, the '*ist' (yes, just asterisk-I-S-T). Wait, I hear you
cry, what has this to do with digital photography? Well, nothing at the
moment but you never know this could be quite an interesting body design.
Pentax claim that the new *ist is the world's smallest 35 mm autofocus
SLR camera. The *ist measures just 122 x 84 x 64 mm (4.8 x 3.3 x 2.5 in)
and weighs just 335 g (11.8 oz). (14:25 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 00:00 TOKYO (19th): Pentax has today announced two new SMC PENTAX-FA
J ZOOM lenses. The first is the big 75 - 300 mm F4.5 - F5.8 AL, the second
a 28 - 80 mm F3.5 - F5.6 AL. These lens announcements coincide with the
announcement of the new *ist 35 mm film SLR and have the same silver aluminium
look. The aperture range of these lenses clearly places them at the amateur
photographer end of the market. (14:50 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 TOKYO: Nikon today announced three new digital cameras,
the Coolpix 2100, 3100 and SQ. This article is a quick preview of the
new three megapixel, three times optical zoom Coolpix SQ. A radical design
and another new approach from Nikon, the SQ has a flat square profile
with their trademark twisting lens design. In forward shooting mode it's
wacky looking but oh-so Nikon. This preview is based on an early pre-production
model, as such I won't be presenting any image samples or a particularly
in-depth analysis of performance. (03:15 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 TOKYO: Nikon has today announced the radical new Coolpix
SQ. Once more Nikon has taken their trademark split body design and implemented
it into a different form factor. The SQ is a pocketable almost square
digital camera which has a twisting lens / flash portion which would typically
be orientated 90 degrees to the front in normal shooting situations. The
Coolpix SQ measures just 83 x 85 x 25 mm (3.3 x 3.3 x 1.0 in) and weighs
216 g (7.6 oz) fully loaded, slightly larger and heavier than Minolta's
DiMAGE X/Xi but still small and pocketable. And it has an AF assist lamp!!
Another first for a Nikon Coolpix digital camera. (03:15 GMT)
15:00
TOKYO: Nikon today announced three new digital cameras, the Coolpix
2100, 3100 and SQ. This article is a quick preview of the new three megapixel,
three times optical zoom Coolpix SQ. A totally radical design and another
new approach from Nikon, the SQ has a flat square profile with their trademark
twisting lens design. In forward shooting mode it's wacky looking but
oh-so Nikon. This preview is based on an early pre-production model, as
such I won't be presenting any image samples or a particularly in-depth
analysis of performance. (05:10 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 TOKYO: Nikon today announced three new digital cameras,
the Coolpix 2100, 3100 and SQ. This article is a quick preview of the
three megapixel, three times optical zoom replacement to the Coolpix 885,
the new Coolpix 3100. This preview is based on an early pre-production
model, as such I won't be presenting any image samples or a particularly
in-depth analysis of performance. (03:15 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 TOKYO: Nikon has today announced the Coolpix 2100 and
3100. Both cameras are based on the same body (with some subtle styling
differences), the Coolpix 2100 has a two megapixel 1/3.2" sensor,
the 3100 a three megapixel 1/2.7" sensor. These cameras can be seen
as the successors to the Coolpix 775 and 885, although these cameras offer
significant developments including RGB color filter array, a new menu
system and a smaller more stylish case. Storage is on Compact Flash card
and the cameras are powered by two AA batteries (NiMH rechargeables supplied). (03:15 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 TOKYO: Nikon has today announced a new Vibration Reduction
lens, the 24 - 120 mm AF-S VR F3.5 - F5.6G. This lens marks Nikon's further
expansion of their VR lens line and although not a DX lens this lens will
no doubt be of interest to Nikon mount D-SLR owners due to its wide 24
mm bottom end. When used with the D1x, D1H or D100 digital SLR's this
lens would offer the equivelant field of view of a 36 - 180 mm zoom lens. (03:15 GMT)
Pre-PMA
2003, 15:00 TOKYO: Nikon has today confirmed the details of their
first digital only lens, the Nikkor AF-S DX 12 - 24 mm F4.0. This lens
and the DX concept was first announced in December last year. The DX lens
line is designed to be used exclusively with digital SLR's with a sensor
size of 23.7 x 15.6 mm (a 1.5x FOV crop factor), thus this lens could
be used on the Nikon D1x, D1H or D100. On these cameras it would provide
an equivelant field of view range of 18 -36 mm. (01:50 GMT)Monday, 17 February 2003
Sony
has today updated its CCD datasheets to include some of the newer 1/2.7"
and 1/3.2" CCD sensors which are likely to be used in many new ultra-compact
digital cameras announced over the next month. Every year sensor manufacturers
increase pixel count and reduce sensor size to give us ever smaller, higher
resolution digital cameras. This year we have already seen five megapixels
in a 1/1.8" type CCD and three megapixels in a 1/2.7" type CCD. (08:45 GMT)Thursday, 13 February 2003
US
semiconductor manufacturer Atmel has announced a 35 mm eight megapixel
CCD sensor, although not specifically targeted at the digital camera market
it's clearly an indication that the development of large high pixel count
sensors is no longer the preserve of a select few manufacturers. "The
large format (35mm film compatible image format), high definition and
high dynamic range make the device suitable for any application requiring
high image accuracy. This full frame imager is designed for the Graphic
Arts marketplace such as digital minilabs, retouch/enhancement stations,
high resolution reprography, large format X-ray film scanning and high
resolution microscopy applications." (02:50 GMT)
Ricoh
has today announced the Caplio G3, a three megapixel, three times optical
zoom digital camera with SD/MMC storage (and 8 MB of internal storage).
The big selling point of the Caplio G3 is (Ricoh's claim) the fastest
focusing speed and shutter lag of any digital camera in this class. The
G3 will be available in three variations: the base G3 (black, plastic
body), G3 model M (black, magnesium body), G3 model S (silver, plastic
body, supplied voice software). Personally I think it's a little confusing
for Ricoh to choose a product name identical to Canon's well known PowerShot
G3. (02:10 GMT)Wednesday, 12 February 2003
Sanyo
Japan has today announced their new Xacti DSC-J1. This 3.2 megapixel camera
has a 37 - 104 mm zoom lens and is available in silver or misty pink.
The DSC-J1 is the first non-Minolta camera to use the prism / internal
lens design. Because of this the camera has a very fast startup time of
just 1.2 seconds. The DSC-J1 can also take full sized 640 x 480 videos
at 30 fps using the improved PhotoJPEG codec. (14:10 GMT)Tuesday, 11 February 2003
Monday, 10 February 2003
Minolta
have today announced the new DiMAGE S414 featuring a 4.1 megapixel CCD
(4.0 million effective), a Minolta GT 4x optical zoom lens. "The
new DiMAGE S414 combines high quality images and automatic features, allowing
users to obtain the best photographic results with easy camera operation,"
said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president of Marketing, Minolta Corporation's
Consumer Products Group. "It's the ideal digital camera for a variety
of applications and users -- personal or business, from novice to enthusiasts." (22:25 GMT)
Samsung
have announced their new DigiMax V4, it has a 4 megapixel CCD, a 3x zoom
Schneider lens (equiv. 38mm-113mm), and is capable of using an astonishing
9 power sources including AA alkaline, AA lithium, Mi-Nn,CR-V3, as well
as rechargeable NI-MH , Ni-Cd, I-pack batteries, and AC Adaptor as well
as the dedicated Li-on battery. (21:55 GMT)
Contax
has today confirmed the digital version of its TVS line of compact cameras.
The TVS Digital was first seen (and reported on here) during Photokina
last September. This new announcement by Contax confirms the specifications,
sale date in Japan and availiability of the camera in both silver and
black finishes. The TVS Digital has a five megapixel 1/1.8" CCD sensor
and a three times 'Carl Zeiss' optical zoom lens. Storage is to SD/MMC
cards and the camera is powered by a proprietary Lithium-Ion rechargeable
battery. (10:05 GMT)Sunday, 9 February 2003
Following
on from our story earlier in the week about the Nikon SQ teaser it appears
that sharp minded people "guessed" the URL of subsequent teasers,
therefore they have been removed. We can't say any more at this stage,
sufficient to say we will have a lot more information on the official
announcement date. (13:25 GMT)
Sony
Europe have announced their first range of cameras to use the new Memory
Stick PRO media, the Cyber-shot DSC-P32, P52 & P72. Akihiro Nishikawa,
Director Sony Digital Imaging Europe, commented: "Anyone who might
be nervous about making the step to digital photography should try the
new Cyber-Shot range. They are point and shoot cameras that
allow you to be spontaneous and take shots of real quality, whatever the
conditions and, when printing the quality is perfect."UPDATE: Product images added. (13:25 GMT)
Thursday, 6 February 2003
Monday, 3 February 2003
Nikon
has today posted a teaser on its 'nikon-coolpix.com' website, it reads
"Starting February 3, meet a fascinating stranger.", "Nikon
is getting ready to unveil an enigma", "And you won't believe
your eyes." there then follows a very subtle shadowing effect around
what appears to be a rounded square box. Nothing much to go on but we
expect Nikon to update this teaser over the next few weeks so keep it
on your bookmark list and keep going back for more information! (01:00 GMT)
SMaL
Camera Technologies have today announced their new Ultra-Pocket 1.3-Megapixel
digital camera, this builds upon the award-winning 6mm thin Ultra-Pocket®
VGA digital still camera. It has the same credit card size of its predecessor,
with only a slight increase in thickness due to higher resolution optics,
plus a strobe flash and an SD card for expanded memory storage.(13:00 GMT)
Saturday, 1 February 2003
(13:20 GMT)







