Fuji announce new cameras: Finepix 2900Z and 1500

Fuji surprise us all and announce two new and very interesting digital cameras. The 2900Z (top) sports a 2.3Megapixel CCD @ 1800 x 1200 whilst the 1500 (bottom) is a 1.5Megapixel CCD available in a variety of colours. These cameras will probably be named Fuji MX2900 and MX1500 when they reach the worldwide market.

Fuji Finepix 2900Z (AKA Fuji MX2900)

• 1/2" 2.3 Megapixel CCD (1800 x 1200, 1280 x 1024, 640 x 480)
• 3:2 image aspect ratio (same as 35mm film)
• ISO 125 rating
• Large diameter low distortion "fast" lens
• 3x zoom (35-105mm equivalent on a 35mm camera)
• 2.5x digital zoom
• Full manual control: Aperture and Shutter priority and full manual mode
• Auto and manual focus
• Whitebalance: seven modes plus manual presetting
• Shutter speeds: 3s - 1/1000s in manual, 1/4s - 1/2000s in auto
• Exposure compensation: -0.9EV/+1.5EV (0.3EV steps)
• Optical viewfinder
• 64 area matrix metering
• TIFF uncompressed mode (4.3MB @ 1800 x 1200, 610KB @ 640 x 480)
• Three JPEG (EXIF 2.1) compression modes
• Burst mode of up to 3fps at VGA for up to 9 images
• Built in and hot-shoe flash socket
• SmartMedia storage (up to 32MB card supported)
• Supplied with 8MB SmartMedia
• RISC CPU for high speed image processing
• 2" TFT LCD
• Lithium-Ion battery pack, charger and AC adapter included
• Magnesium alloy body (corrosion and impact proof)
• Built-in map viewing software which allows the user to pin-point the exact location of image being taken (more info on this soon...)
• "Best of framing" feature (not sure on this, may be similar to Nikons BSS...)
• RS232C/RS422 connection
• Video out
• 130mm x 69mm x 60mm @ 385g
• Expected 99,800 YEN (US$811)
• Optional: wide angle adapter, lens thread adapter & soft case

Fuji Finepix 1500 (AKA Fuji MX1500)

Essential (brief) specifications:

• 1/2" 1.5 Megapixel CCD (1280 x 1024)
• Fixed lens (38mm equivalent on a 35mm camera)
• Light aluminium alloy body available in three colours (see below)
• ISO 125 rating
• Shutter speeds: 1/4s - 1/2000s
• Exposure compensation: -0.9EV/+1.5EV (0.3EV steps)
• Whitebalance: seven modes
• Optical viewfinder
• 10cm macro mode
• Three JPEG (EXIF 2.1) compression modes
• Map viewing function (see above)
• SmartMedia storage (up to 32MB card supported)
• Supplied with 4MB SmartMedia
• RISC CPU for high speed image processing
• 1.8" TFT LCD
• 2 x AA NiMH batteries and charger included
• RS232C/RS422 connection
• Video out
• 104mm x 69mm x 31mm @ 250g
• Expected 62,800 YEN (US$508) - for all colours ;)