Contax's new Tvs digital at Photokina By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 23:17 EDT)
Regular readers may remember a brief news item we posted near the end of August, noting that Kyocera Germany had detailed plans to show a new digital camera under its Contax brand-name at Photokina.
Details at the time were (no doubt, deliberately) vague, but it was described as a "5 Megapixel [camera] for ... semiprofessional use". Our friends at LetsGoDigital.nl have now seen the camera in person, and posted a news item including views of the camera from several angles. Meanwhile, we now have specifications for the camera. The Tvs digital features a 1/1.8" 5.25 megapixel CCD imager coupled with a Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* 3x optical zoom lens, with a maximum image size of 2560 x 1920 pixels. There's also a 1.6" LCD display, USB and video out connectivity, movie recording capabilities and a range of manual features. Full specs courtesy of Contax follow: Contax Tvs Digital | | Type | Digital still camera with record, playback, and erase modes | Recording Media Image Format: | SD Memory Card, Multi-Media Card (MMC)/Complies with JPEG standard (Exif2.2), DCF Standard, supports DPOF | Effective Pixels: | 5.0 mega-pixels | Pickup Device: | 1/1.8”square-pixels interlace readout system CCD with 5.25 mega-pixels gross | Pixels (still image): | 2560 x 1920 / 1600 x 1200 / 1280 x 960 / 640 x 480 | Pixels (movie): | 320 x 240 / 160 x 120 | Quality: | FINE, NORMAL | Lens: | Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* 7.3 mm – 21.9 mm F 2.8-4.8 6 elements in 6 groups (35 mm camera equivalent about 35mm – 105 mm) | Aperture: | WIDE F2.8 / F3.3 / F4.0 / F4.7 / F5.6 / F6.7 | TELE F4.8 / F5.6 / 6.7 | | Digital Zoom: | x1.3 / x1.6 / x2 / x3 / x4 | Focusing Control: | Video feedback auto-focusing and manual focusing | Focusing Range: | AF: 0.6m - infinity; MF: 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 1, 1.5, 2,5m, infinity | Macro (wide): 0.15–0.6m; Macrowide | | Exposure Control: | Program AE, aperture-priority AE, LT (Long Time) mode | Metering modes: | CCD multi-area evaluation metering, center-weighted metering, and spot metering. | Automatic exposure range: | LV 3 - LV 16.5 | Exposure compensation: | +2.0 EV - –2.0 EV (1/3EV step ,can be set to1/2 EV step in C.) ABC (Automatic Bracketing Control | ±0.3 EV / ±0.5 EV / ±1.0 EV | | Shutter: | CCD electronic shutter and programmed electronic shutter with independent aperture control, 1 - 1/2000 sec | LT mode 1 sec / 2 sec / 4 sec / 8 sec | | White Balance: | Auto, Day light, Tungsten lamp, Cloudy weather, Fluorescent light, Preset | Color mode: | Color, B/W, Sepia | Sharpness: | +3 to -1 (5 steps) | Chroma: | +, 0, - (3 steps) | Exposure sensitivity: | Auto and Manual setting | Finder: | Real-image zoom view finder | Optical Finder: | Field of view approx. 83 %, magnification 0.35–0.99, diopter adjust -3 to +1 diopter | LCD monitor: | 1.6”, 84960 pixels TFT Color LCD monitor (354 x 240 dots) | Flash: | Built-in Flash, Light-compensation –1 to +1 | Flash modes: | auto-flash, auto red-eye-reduction flash, no flash, fill-in flash, night portrait flash | AF modes: | Wide AF, Spot AF | Movie mode: | File format: AVI file, sound record on/off | Recording resolution: | 320x240, 160x120 | Recording period: | 30sec / session (320 x 240), 120sec / session (160 x 120) | Playback with PC: | QuickTime 4.1 or above(Windows/Macintosh) | Function (still image): | Self-timer/remote release, AF mode, metering mode, ABC C Menu: | drive(s, c), LT mode, flash-light compensation, Color mode, Image Resolution, Image Quality, WB bracketing, Sharpness | D Menu: | Chroma | | Function (movie): | Self-timer/remote release, AF mode, Sound record on/off C Menu: | Color mode | D Menu: | Movie Resolution | | LCD Monitor: | Flash mode, WB, metering mode, focus mark, drive(C ), pixels, quality, number of images recordable, exposure compensation, shutter speed, aperture, exposure sensitivity, Sharpness, Chroma, digital zoom, self-timer / remote release, macro, MF, AFL, ABC, WB bracketing, battery mark ,date | Display Panel: | Flash mode, macro, drive mode(c), number of images recordable, MF, AFL, exposure compensation indicator, LT, battery mark | Playback mode: | multiple image display, after record, protect, erase, all erase, resizing, slide show, DPOF setting, Close up image playback, Thumbnail Playback, Histogram display | After record: | 30sec / still image file format .wav | Resizing: | 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 file format .jpg | Delete: | Single frame erase, Total frame erase | SET UP mode: | Flash default/ABC/AFL hold time, AE lock by AFL button, exposure comp. Hold time, exposure comp. step, LCD monitor SET UP C: | brightness, date, date imprint, format, auto-off time (power save), digital zoom, beep tone, shutter tone, select color, opening | SET UP D: | display image, auto REC review, language, .le number reset, mode reset | | Video output mode: | NTSC / PAL composite video signal selectable | Input / output: | Video output connector, External power input connector, USB connector (mini-B) | Power: | 3.7V lithium ion battery pack (1500 mAh) / dedicated AC adapter | Outer material: | Titanium | Dimension: | 112(W) x 60(H) x 33(D) mm (not including protruding parts) | Weight: | Approx. 210 g (without battery pack and memory card) | Operating temperature: | 0–45° under the dry conditions | Option: | Remote release (CONTAX REMOTE CONTROL) | More Photos | | . | Our thanks to LetsGoDigital for providing us with an image of the camera. Be sure to visit their news item for more on this new Contax!
Source:
Contax
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