As we reported yesterday (thanks to a slip by TWICE.COM) Sony have today announced the MVC-CD1000, a 2.1 megapixel digital camera based on the FD-95, this camera is unique in so much as it writes images not to flash memory or floppy disks but directly to 3.5" 156MB CD-R discs. Sony, as ever breaking with convention (nothing wrong with that) but also interestingly coming to the market with yet another storage format (which incedently they'll profit from). Each CD-R is hoped to be priced around $4 which makes each (non erasable) image shot cost approximately $0.03. Camera price? $1300, shipping August.
The advantage? Cheap, large storage, can be read by standard CD-ROM drives, big 10x zoom lens. Disadvantages I see.. (a) Yet another storage standard, (b) Camera size, (c) Availability and pricing of mini CD-R's, (d) Non-rewritable nature (surely a 64MB buffer wouldn't have been out of the question) (e) Price...
I also think it's a pity that Sony decided to use the FD-95 as the base for this camera, I'm sure a lot of owners / buyers would have been keener to see such a device based on the D770 with a 3 megapixel CCD...
Click here for Imaging-Resource's first look of the MVC-CD1000
Here's the official Sony press release:
Sony Introduces World's First CD-R Based Digital Still Camera
Expands Mavica Digital Camera's Legacy of Universality
NEW YORK, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics today announced the first ever CD Recordable (CD-R) based digital still camera, the Mavica® MVC-CD1000. The new Mavica camera uses a high-capacity 156MB 3 1/2-inch CD-R in an easy-to-use camera for Americans who use the 260 million CD or CD-R drives with their PCs, and even those who don't.
Each CD-R for Sony's new CD-R Mavica camera can hold up to 160 1600x1200 (2.1 mega-pixel) images at a price that encourages archiving and sharing. That's the equivalent of more than four rolls of 36-exposure film. And at around $4 a disc and no processing required, the camera provides instant gratification at a fraction of the cost.
High Resolution -- 10x Optical Zoom -- Advanced Features
Above and beyond the innovative use of CD-R technology, the Mavica MVC-CD1000 offers advanced picture quality, including 2.1 mega-pixel resolution and the ability to shoot in TIFF and high quality MPEG (MPEG HQ) modes. Sony's implementation of the CD-R format enables faster image processing, dramatically decreasing image recording time. Images captured with the MVC-CD1000 can be recorded in several modes, including JPEG compression or TIFF in UXGA, SXGA, XGA or VGA image sizes.
The MVC-CD1000's powerful combination of high resolution and 10x optical zoom -- equivalent to a 35mm camera 400mm lens -- enables the MVC-CD1000 to fill the frame with subjects from a greater distance and capture them with greater clarity. Working with the powerful zoom, Sony has also added a feature rarely seen in the digital camera marketplace: a through-the-lens viewfinder using a bright, crisp color LCD to ensure that what you see is what you shoot.
This high performance Mavica MVC-CD1000 also includes:
- Manual adjustments -- shutter priority, aperture priority functions
and a manual focus ring
- Super SteadyShot® optical image stabilization -- removes unwanted
user camera shake for a clearer image, a feature found on many camcorders,
but only on Sony's digital still cameras
- MPEG HQ Mode -- allows for MPEG full frame playback on a standard
TV rather than 1/4 frame playback that had been previously available
and an increased frame rate of 16 frames per second that results in
smoother movement
- Built-in intelligent flash and added external flash terminal (for
use with the HVL-F1000 optional flash) -- range of over 30 feet allows
the camera to capture images at longer distances under adverse lighting
and the MVC-CD1000 communicates mode and exposure intelligence directly
with the flash. The optional Sony HVL-F1000 flash is available now for
about $120
- Rechargeable InfoLithium® battery with AccuPower(TM) meter with
battery life approximately 100 minutes or 1,100 images in still image
standard mode with the LCD on;
- 3:2 picture size ratio option -- creating a digital image that is
the same size ratio as a standard 4x6 film print
- 12 bit A/D Conversion -- allows a wider dynamic range from highlight
to shadow
- Precision digital zoom -- with newly developed interpolation technology users can capture a smoother and more natural image
- In-camera zoom/trim and image re-sizing capability.
The Mavica MVC-CD1000 ships with five one-time writeable CD-Rs and will be available in August for about $1,300.
Thanks to Imaging-Resource for pictures of the camera
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