News tagged with "kodak"

Kodak has today filed a suit against Sony alleging that they infringed 10 of Kodak's patents related to digital photography. Kodak spokesman Gerard Meuchner said the lawsuit follows the failure of talks between the companies that Kodak hoped would produce a licensing pact. "We have attempted to resolve the matter with Sony for almost three years, and the discussion between us have not led to a suitable licensing agreement," he said. A Sony spokesman said he had just become aware of the suit and had no comment. (Reuters)

PMA 2004: Kodak Professional today announced the new DCS Pro SLR/n. This digital SLR is based on the 14n but has numerous improvements including a redesigned sensor, a new type of filter over the sensor surface, new analog and digital boards and new software features. The DCS Pro SLR/n has a 35 mm (full frame, 36 x 24 mm) fourteen megapixel CMOS sensor, 512 MB of RAM for a buffer depth of around 19 RAW images and is based around the N80 (F80) camera internals and top. Existing 14n owners will be offered a return-to-Kodak upgrade path to have various components changed to turn their 14n's into a '14nx' (essentially the same as the SLR/n). Exclusive: hands-on and small samples gallery.

Pre-PMA 2004: Kodak today announced the DX7630, this new sub-$500 digital camera is based around a six megapixel image sensor and has a three times optical zoom lens. The DX7630 also has a large 2.2" indoor/outdoor LCD monitor, 32 MB of internal flash memory, an SD/MMC slot, supports streaming movie recording (320 x 240, 24 fps) and is powered by a supplied Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery. The DX7630 will be available in April 2004 with a suggested retail price of $499.

Pre-PMA 2004: Kodak today announced a trio of new 'entry level' EasyShare digital cameras. The EasyShare CX7220 ($149) has a two megapixel sensor and two times optical zoom lens, the CX7300 ($129) has a three megapixel sensor and a fixed lens and the CX7430 ($279) has a four megapixel sensor and three times optical zoom lens. All three cameras feature 16 MB of built-in flash storage as well as support for SD/MMC cards, are powered by two AA batteries and are compatible with the optional Kodak EasyShare printer or camera docks.

Kodak has today said it would cut as many as 15,000 jobs and take charges of up to $1.7 billion over the next three years as it works through a painful shift toward digital products and away from the waning film market. Kodak has shed some 22,000 jobs in the last five years, cutting its work force to about 64,000 in 2003 from 86,000 in 1998. Another story from Kodak today is that that are buying the remaining 41% of Chinon Industries to take full control. Chinon Industries, established in 1948, is engaged in research, development, and manufacturing of digital cameras.

In a major announcement today Kodak has stated that it will stop selling its APS and reloadable 35 mm film cameras in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. It will continue to make disposable 'single use' film cameras for all markets and will continue to sell reloadable 35 mm film cameras into 'emerging markets' such as China, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America. This effectively means the end of all APS cameras from Kodak, worldwide. Kodak is shifting more of its efforts towards the ever more popular digital camera products.

CES 2004: Kodak has today announced two additions to its EASYSHARE digital photography system, the KODAK EASYSHARE LS743 and LS753 zoom digital cameras. Both the LS743 and LS753 cameras feature a new SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH C-VARIOGON 2.8X compact optical zoom lens and the new KODAK Color Science image processing chip. The LS743 camera boasts 4 megapixel resolution and 16 megabytes of internal memory. The LS753 camera goes one step further with 5 MP resolution and 32 MB of internal memory. The LS743 camera (US$349 MSRP) will be available worldwide beginning in April 2004 and the LS753 camera (pricing to be determined) will be available beginning in June 2004.

Kodak has recently posted a firmware update for the DCS 14n. This firmware upgrade, version 4.4.3, resolves a fixed focal length being reported when using some zoom lenses, adjusted automatic lens type selection for some lenses, a minor issue with selecting Job Tracker files from memory, an SD/MMC card formatting issue and changed in camera Digital Exposure Correction range limit on JPEG images to +/– 1EV. New features also include a longer exposure feature, camera mirror Prerelease feature, Wedding and Event "Looks" and Korean language support.

Kodak has introduced the new DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In, which optimizes contrast and exposure to reveal hidden details in highlight and shadow areas of digital images. It was developed and launched by KODAK’s Austin Development Center, formerly Applied Science Fiction, which is a leader in automatic image correction and photo restoration applications. A free trial version is available for download now. This fully functional trial version applies digital watermarks to images. To disable the watermark, users may purchase a software key via a secure, e-commerce site for $99.95.

Kodak will present to investors today a broader strategy for growth that will harness the power of digital technology to expand into a range of commercial businesses, resulting in a more diversified business portfolio with the potential to generate $16 billion in revenue by 2006—and $20 billion by 2010. "We are acting with the knowledge that demand for traditional products is declining, especially in developed markets," Carp said. "Given this reality, we are moving fast—as digital markets demand—to transform our business portfolio, with an emphasis on digital commercial markets. The digital world is full of opportunity for Kodak, and we intend to lead it, as we have led innovation in the imaging industry for more than a century."

Kodak has today introduced an updated version of the DCS Pro 14n Digital Camera in a 512MB RAM version that delivers a greater burst depth (approx. 20 RAW files compared to approx. 7). Also in late September they will post firmware v4.4 for the Pro 14n camera, which includes improved long exposure mode, in-camera selection of "Looks", improved lens settings, automatic image review and LCD brightness slider, as well as the updated Kodak Professional DCS Photo Desk v3.2 software for all Kodak Professional DCS digital cameras which allows for finer image control and also an undo feature.

Kodak has today announced the 10x optical zoom, 4 megapixel DX6490. This camera is Kodak's first foray into the big zoom SLR-like prosumer category, priced at $499 it's certainly competitive. The 'Schneider-Kreuznach' lens provides an equivelant focal length range of 38 to 380 mm with a maximum aperture of F2.8 to F3.7, interestingly it also has a dual speed zoom mechanism which should be useful for quickly zooming and then applying subtle adjustment.

Kodak has today announced its highest resolution EasyShare digital camera. The EasyShare DX4530 has a five megapixel sensor and three times optical zoom, and comes with 32 MB of internal memory, plus a MultiMediaCard/SD Card memory expansion slot. "The DX4530 is one of the most affordable 5 megapixel cameras on the market - an ideal camera for those who desire high resolution pictures without sacrificing point-and-shoot simplicity." said James McConnell, Regional Business General Manager EAMER, of Kodak's Digital & Applied Imaging operation.

Kodak today issued its Q2 2003 earnings statement, in that the company states that overall sales declined by 6% and that earnings were down to $112 million in Q2 2003 compared to $284 million in Q2 2002. Sales for Q2 2003 totalled $3.3 billion, virtually unchanged compared to the same quarter last year. "Kodak expects to reduce employment by a range of 4,500 to 6,000, beginning later this year." This on top of the 7,000 jobs lost last year. Chairman and CEO Daniel A. Carp said "We are evolving from a historical film company into one that is aggressively pursuing the vast potential of digital imaging across all of our operations. We are extending the Kodak brand into the digital age so that we become known as the world's leading imaging company, building on our proud heritage as the world's leading picture company"

Kodak has today introduced three new digital cameras with 2, 3 and 4 megapixel resolution respectively. The two megapixel CX6200 has a fixed focal length lens, it is priced at $129. The three megapixel CX6330 has a three times optical zoom lens, it is priced at $279. Finally the four megapixel DX6440 has a four times optical zoom lens and is priced at $399. "These new EasyShare cameras clearly demonstrate how Kodak is applying innovative technology to develop products that deliver superb image quality, performance, and ease of use," said Rowan Lawson, director of worldwide product marketing for Kodak's Digital & Applied Imaging division.

Phew! Perhaps one of the most exhaustive (and exhausting) reviews I've ever produced, our review of the fourteen megapixel DCS-14n spans no less than 24 pages, five of which are dedicated to comparing this camera to Canon's eleven megapixel EOS-1Ds. We've had our DCS-14n for some time now so I've had a good chance to evaluate the camera, and the various firmware versions which have flowed our way. And that's part of the problem, is the 14n actual finished yet? Dive into our review and see how Kodak's latest digital SLR stacks up.

Kodak has today announced an agreement to acquire Applied Science Fiction's film processing technology, Digital PIC™. Digital PIC is a non-chemical process for developing standard color negative film. It produces a digital image file that can be used to print photographs and be written to a CD. As a result, Kodak's will have the only kiosks capable of taking any input, including film, and giving the consumer the prints they want, in minutes.

Kodak has recently posted a firmware update for the DCS 14n. This firmware upgrade, version 4.2.2, fixes a problem with the display of the card capacity under the Japanese and Chinese languages plus the focus area can now be changed whenever soft pressing the shutter button. New features also include a card write speed measurement feature, support for SD/MMC cards, faster startup and shutdown, plus much more.

Rob Galbraith has today posted his review of Kodak's DSC-14n digital SLR. The 14n certainly caused quite a stir at Photokina last September when it stepped up to the start line with a fourteen megapixel CMOS sensor. Since then has been fraught by delays which have left people wondering if the camera would ever make it into buyers hands. About the 14n Rob has this to say, "...until the 14n can produce vibrant, pleasing, printable colour in a variety of shooting situations, and until noise processing is less harmful to detail in low contrast areas, this is not a camera we would be prepared to shoot with to get our work done. Even at the low ISO settings this camera will be best used at."

Dave Etchells from Imaging-Resource has just dropped me a note to let me know he's posted his lengthy review of Kodak's fourteen megapixel digital SLR, the DCS-14n. Note that his review is based on a pre-production camera. About this camera Dave says "It delivers excellent color, and an unusually flexible post-exposure workflow, thanks to the capabilities of Kodak's DCR "raw" file format. Unfortunately, it also has a number of limitations, many of which appear to stem from overly high noise levels in the sensor itself. No matter how much tweaking Kodak may do with their image processing algorithms, they're really at the mercy of their sensor supplier to deliver chips with better noise performance.".