Digital Photography News Archive!
November 1999

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Tuesday, November 30, 1999

Monday, November 29, 1999

Wednesday, November 24, 1999

On a serious note, the US holiday of Thanksgiving is a good time to contemplate all that we do have to give thanks for: If you're reading this page, you're probably in the top few percent or so of the world's entire population, in terms of creature comforts. (Let's face it, digicams are pretty far down the "essential life needs" priority list.) How about the wealth in your life that has nothing to do with gadgets or money? Why not take a moment and think about Who you might want to thank for all of that? Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Online Photo Sharing Reviewed!
By David Etchells, The Imaging Resource
(Wednesday, November 24, 1999 - 2:20 EST)

The indefatigable Dennis Curtin of www.shortcourses.com fame is turning his considerable review & analysis talents to the area of online photo sharing. He's posted a "photo sharing work in progress" that reviews some of the popular sites and methodologies in this new area. Highly recommended reading, keep checking back as he adds more info over the next days/weeks. (Typically great job, Denny!)

Oh - And while you're there, be sure to check out Dennis' excellent digital photography books! A great gift idea for the new (or even not-so-new) digital photographer! He has a whole set of them, one on "choosing & using a digital camera", several keyed to several of the more popular cameras, one on digital photography in general. All excellent, and fantastic deals at only $20-25 each. Click here for some info we've posted on his CoolPix 950 book (a good example of what the others are like), or here if you're interested in ordering any of the titles!

Something for the real techno-dweebs...
By David Etchells, The Imaging Resource
(Wednesday, November 24, 1999 - 2:10 EST)

(... like Dave ;) - Reader Keith Cremer wrote in with a link to the agenda for a session of the ISSCC conference, scheduled in early February. The session is on "Image Sensors", and has a lot of activity around CMOS sensors, and various high-speed designs. What we found particularly interesting though, was a talk describing a "progressive-scan CCD imager in standard double-layer polysilicon ... designed on a pixel-interleaved-array architecture. The pixel layout increases both saturation voltage and sensitivity by a factor of 1.3. The interleaved array increases resolution by [radical]2x in H & V directions." - Sound familiar? - It's the Fuji SuperCCD sensor we covered in our Comdex report. - Looks like there'll be some *real* details available on it in early February! Simultaneously increasing both saturation voltage and sensitivity means higher ISO and less image noise to worry about, plus the 1.4x increase in V&H resolution (that was much-debated in our news discussion links below.) (Thanks, Keith!)

DCRP Posts Digicam Shopping Guide!
By David Etchells, The Imaging Resource
(Wednesday, November 24, 1999 - 1:30 EST)

Our good friend Jeff, over at the Digital Camera Resource Page (DCRP) has thoughtfully put together a shopping guide for people searching for just the right accessory for the digicam fan who has everything! The DCRP Holiday Buyers Guide is online, with a variety of practical suggestions, ranging from $20 to "under $2000." Nice work, great place to direct your Significant Other for some ideas! ;-)

Tuesday, November 23, 1999

Monday, November 22, 1999

Tiny Optical Drive? Reader Brian Keller pointed out a CNN story that mentioned a tiny optical disk drive (apparently) called "ID Photo". I seem to recall seeing something on this in the Olympus booth, but ignored it, thinking it was just their larger optical disk product that's been around for quite a while. According to the CNN story, the new drives use a "tiny" cartridge that holds 730 megabytes (!) and will sell for about $50 each. Jointly developed by Sanyo, Hitachi, Maxell, and Olympus, drives using the new cartridges will supposedly be built into digicams beginning sometime next year! (Now that would be some welcome digicam memory capacity!)

Reader David Kamanski wrote in with several items, which we share below:

Fuji Print Process David was very impressed with Fuji's on-line print services: Send them your digital files, they send back prints. - There are a number of companies beginning to offer this service, and we expect to be announcing a partnership in this area soon as well.

More SuperCCD Raves David dittoed our enthusiasm for the samples he saw from the new Fuji SuperCCD technology.

Canon BJC-8200 Printer - Missed this one entirely, given our digicam-centric focus. Canon announced a new 1200x1200 dpi 6-color inkjet printer, with some very interesting characteristics that promise both very high quality and economical printing. The new BJC-8200 (due to ship in mid-December), the printer uses an exceptionally small 4 picoliter droplet size for very fine gradation and high resolution, and also has individual ink tanks for each of the 6 ink colors. This last feature means that you won't have to throw away the entire ink cartridge just because you (for instance) ran out of light cyan ink. Canon's press release pegged the price of the new printer at $399 list. David felt the prints he saw from the BJC-8200 at the show were a noticeable improvement over even the Epson 750/1200, one of the current "hot" photo printers.

Return of the Digital Wallet? David also found a device called the "Digital Wallet" being exhibited in an obscure corner of the Sands convention center by Minds@Work of Irvine, CA. The gadget sounds similar to another that was marketed under the same name by a company called MGVision about 6-12 months ago. (MGVision apparently fell on hard times financially, and we have no idea whether there's any relation between the two companies.) The concept of the Digital Wallet is that of a portable, battery-powered unit with a large hard drive (8 gig?) inside that can store images from your digital camera memory cards. Minds@Work apparently pegged the price of their unit at about $299. David reported though, that the company reps there were "very hard to talk with", and that they couldn't demonstrate it working, transferring images from his CF card. We hope it works out: 8 gigabytes of portable storage for remote image offloading sounds good, and the USB host connection would address the huge limitation of the earlier Digital Wallet's slloooww serial port connection...Thanks, David & Brian!

ArcSoft announces PhotoStudio 2000!
By David Etchells, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 22, 1999 - 15:44 EST)

ArcSoft has announced a major update to their PhotoStudio digital imaging suite, PhotoStudio 2000. The new program offers a host of high-end features, including multiple levels of "undo", macro processing for repetitive image adjustments, image layers, image management tools, and much more. The new program will apparently be available by the end of this month, and can be ordered today from their PhotoIsland web site, for the (bargain) price of $39.95.

Olympus C-2000 Flash Fix Update!
By David Etchells, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 22, 1999 - 9:00 EST)

We've had a *flood* of traffic over the note posted below on the fix for long exposure times with external flash on the Olympus C-2000! It turns out that the main workaround offered only works with recent firmware revisions: It apparently works with firmware version 951-81, but not with -80 or -79. (The alternate workaround using "burst" mode works on all units.) If anybody has information on other firmware versions, let us know. You can check your firmware version on the Mac using Juri Munkki's Cameraid utility, which can be found at http://www.cameraid.com/, or on Windows systems using Max Lyon's EXIFRead, which can be found at http://members.tripod.com/~tawba/exifread.htm.

Saturday, November 20, 1999

"Playing around with the camera, I found another undocumented feature that solves this problem: Press "OK" and "Arrow down" on the Jog dial simultaneously in Aperture priority mode with flash switched off, and the exposure time will get no longer than 1/30 s (and will be shorter with longer focal lengths). This is what you need to avoid too long exposures with an external flash at low light. (Dave's note: On my camera, it produced shutter speeds ranging from 1/30s at wide angle to 1/100s at telephoto.)

You can leave this special mode by switching the internal flash and the slow flash mode on (and off).

I have just tested it with my camera, which was bought in Germany. (Dave's note: As noted above, it worked on my US-branded C-2000 also, so is likely universal.) (Late-breaking news: See note above, the main fix here apparently only works on the latest-model cameras!)

A similar result can be achieved by setting the camera to sequence shooting mode. Exposure times are then limited to 1/25 second. This does not work with the highest (SHQ) resolution, though. But I find HQ more useful in most cases, anyway."

This touches on the current war of words that's floating about the internet, in the form of rumors and counter-rumors surrounding the D1. We haven't chosen to repeat any of them here, as they've so far been just that: Unconfirmed rumors. If anyone has concrete, actual information on how the D1's faring in the marketplace, pass it along to [email protected]. Note that any message that starts out "I've heard..." will be strictly ignored. Only "I've seen..." and "My company did/did not..." are permitted!

Nikon Corporation has indicated the following items have been (A)dded, (C)orrected or (I)mproved in the Coolpix 950 Firmware version 1.2

• 1-LCD brightness is significantly improved in the "+" and "O" setting mode. This makes outdoor use easier(I)
• 2-Seqential numbering now operates in M-rec OR A-rec modes(C)
• 3-Auto sensitivity is active in "P" mode. This will improve the low light shooting.(A)
• 4-Shutter speed display changes to yellow at speeds of 1/4 second or lower, to indicate need for tripod or a very steady hand.(A)
• 5-Change in the screen display used when custom folder names are used.(A)
• 6-AE-lock function now operates in AUTO white balance mode.(I)

Friday, November 19, 1999

• Higher horizontal/vertical resolution: According to Fuji's research, due to gravity the usual characteristics of natural scenes tend towards more spacial frequency power in the horizontal and vertical planes, and analysis shows that the human eye makes use of this tendency, being more sensitive to high frequency information on these axes . A look at the layout of a conventional CCD shows that it has an exactly opposite tendency, offering a higher capture resolution on the 45 degree diagonals. The SuperCCD's layout reverses this, matching the human eye in capturing its highest resolution horizontally and vertically.
• Increased sensitivity, signal/noise ratio and dynamic range: The SuperCCD does away with the need for a control signal path as required in normal CCDs, allowing the photodiode to increase in size (and hence increasing the area of light that it can capture). At the same time, the shape of the photodiode is changed from rectangular to octagonal, which more closely matches the circular form of the microlens over it, again allowing for an increase in the effectiveness of light capture. This increased light capture allows for the gains in sensitivity (Fuji predicts an ISO rating of 800 in its brochure), signal/noise ratio and dynamic range.
  At the same time, Fuji claims two further enhancements with the SuperCCD - both the video frame rate and the ability to use an electronic shutter (ie. turn the CCD on/off) rather than using a mechanical shutter, much more simply than is possible with a conventional CCD. Since the color layout of the SuperCCD features the R, G and B pixels on every horizontal line, it becomes simple to skip horizontal lines when reading from the CCD for video. With a conventional CCD, each horizontal line contains only the R and G or G and B pixels, necessitating that consecutive lines must be read to recapture the full RGB color information, and slowing down video capture. Fuji's SuperCCD can offer skipped readout at ratios of 1/2, 1/3 and more, offering video frame rates of 30 frames per second at 1/3 of the sensor resolution. The SuperCCD also takes a different approach to how it transfers charge through the transmission path, adding an extra packet to the standard three packets required to eliminate the mechanical shutter with a conventional CCD, at the same time as increasing the width of the transmission path to accomodate this. The result is the ability to control shutter speed completely from the CCD itself.
  
  According to the Future Image Report, the SuperCCD should be scaleable up to a maximum of 10 megapixels, and the first SuperCCD-based cameras will show up in spring of 2000... If the samples we've seen are anything to go by, these cameras could make a big step forward over existing digicam quality. Olympus

Tuesday, November 16, 1999

Sunday, November 14, 1999

Saturday, November 13, 1999

 - Scrapbook capability: The new capability to apply
   cutouts to your images is not limited to the included
   shapes. The simplicity of Qimage Pro cutouts and
   description of how to create them simply with your own
   image editor (see the Qimage Pro help file under
   "cutouts") will have you creating you own custom
   designs in no time! The new cutouts, when applied,
   will display in your slide shows as well as printouts!
   To access cutouts, simply click "Queue Actions" and
   "Batch Filter". You can then apply the cutouts by
   clicking on the "Cutout" button under "Image Effects".

 - Empty template: You can now add an empty "space" for
   an image anywhere in your document. In every folder
   you "visit", you'll notice a new thumbnail at the
   bottom called [Template]. Simply select your size and
   drag the [Template] to the page as you would any other
   image. Templates appear as red rectangles (below).
   When included in a document, the templates don't print.
   They can, however, be used to set up your own custom
   pages that contain only locations (no images). To
   create a page template, simply add and arrange the
   [Template] thumbnails and "Save Session". When you
   "Load Session" later, you can simply drag thumbnails
   and drop them onto the template. The thumbnails will
   drop into the template exactly where you designed them
   to be. Below is a sample template of one 4x6 image and
   five 2x3 images that is ready for images to be dropped
   onto the appropriate locations.

 - Save page: Many users have requested this option since
   it is handy for creating images like the one above for
   sending to others. You may want to send a page to a
   friend or send the image to a professional printer to
   create an 8 x 10 photo! With unlimited resolution
   selection, you can make sure that your image has enough
   resolution for the application! Access this new feature
   by entering the page editor (click "Edit" from the main
   screen) and clicking the "Save Page" button.

 - "Green eye" correction: Qimage Pro red-eye correction
   can now remove "green eye", "gold eye", etc. found in
   many animal shots as well as just about any other
   "abnormal" pupil color."

Friday, November 12, 1999

Thursday, November 11, 1999

 - Adobe Systems Inc.
 - Apline Electronics Inc.
 - Alps Electric Co. Ltd.
 - Audi AG
 - Casio Computer Co. Ltd.
 - Clarion Co. Ltd.
 - DataFab Systems Inc.
 - France Telecom
 - I-O Data Device Inc.
 - Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
 - LG Electronics Inc.
 - Mitsumi Electric Co. Ltd.
 - Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd.
 - Olympus Optical Co. Ltd.
 - Ricoh Co. Ltd.
 - Seiko Epson Corp.
 - Teac Corp.
 - Volkswagen AG
 - Western Digital Corp.

 - Aiwa Co. Ltd.
 - Fujitsu Ltd.
 - Kenwood Corp.
 - Pioneer Corp.
 - Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.
 - Sharp Corp.

Wednesday, November 10, 1999

 - Fuji MX-1700 Zoom digital camera
 - Olympus C-2500L digital camera
 - Sony Digital Picture Frame
 - Lexar Jumpshot Kit USB-enabled CompactFlash
 - Canon PowerShot S10 Digital Camera
 - Sony PictureBook micro-notebook with built-in
   digital camera
 - MetaStream streaming 3D technology
 - Epson Stylus Color 900 inkjet printer
 - Hewlett Packard Deskjet 970 inkjet printer

Tuesday, November 9, 1999

Monday, November 8, 1999

 - 1 Megapixel CCD, 30 bit color depth
 - Resolutions of 1440x1080 (interpolated), 1152x864
   1024x768 and 640x480; also a 1152x864 black and
   white mode. 24-bit color JPEG files.
 - 1.8" LCD
 - Clik! card slot; 40MB disk bundled
 - 2X digital zoom
 - 6 to 11 seconds between pictures dependant on
   resolution
 - Focus free, all glass lens; equivalent to 43 mm
   on a 35mm camera; macro capability
 - Aperture f/2.8 (wide)/ 8.0 (tele)
 - Built-in flash (auto,fill,variable energy,red-eye
   reduction,external flash trigger,off)
 - 10 second self timer
 - NTSC and PAL video out connectivity
 - USB connectivity
 - 5" x 3 1/4" x 1 1/2" dimensions
 - Weighs 265g / 9.33 oz (without batteries)

Sunday, November 7, 1999

Saturday, November 6, 1999

- Toshiba PDR-M5
- Sony DSC-F505
- Ricoh RDC-5300
- Agfa ePhoto CL30

Friday, November 5, 1999

 - Announcing a partnership with Pakon, the industry
   -leading supplier of innovative digital imaging and
   slide mounting products, which allows Pakon photo-
   finishers to upload consumer photos directly to
   PhotoLoft.com; or create digitized images on CD or
   floppy; and/or get traditional photo prints in one
   easy step.
 - Launching a sophisticated e-commerce program that
   offers consumers a wide array of photo-personalized
   gift items as well as customized, photo-personalized
   greeting cards. As the e-commerce program has evolved,
   PhotoLoft.com also gives members the option of
   uploading their personal address books, making
   addressing and sending cards easier than ever.
 - Receiving preliminary comments from the Securities and
   Exchange Commission (SEC) on the company's Form 10SB.
   Responses to those comments have been submitted and the
   company is waiting final approval of its request to
   become a fully reporting company. This is an important
   first step in moving from the Over-the-Counter
   Bulletin Board to NASDAQ SmallCap.
 - Finalizing an agreement with Yashica to offer free
   premium accounts to all purchasers of the Samurai
   2100DG digital camera, the first high-quality 2
   million pixel class digital camera in the world to
   feature a 4x optical zoom lens.
 - Offering all purchasers of the EPSON Stylus Photo 750,
   the EPSON Stylus Photo 1200 and the EPSON Stylus Color
   740i ink jet printers a free premium PhotoLoft.com
   membership.
 - Being named one of the top three new companies in
   Silicon Valley.

 - Most Hilarious Award: Most humorous entry
 - Heartstrings Award:Most touching or emotional
   entry
 - Did Not Know That Award: Most interesting or
   educational entry
 - You Inspire Me Award: Most inspirational entry
 - That's Uncanny! Award: Most oddball or off the
   wall entry

Thursday, November 4, 1999

Wednesday, November 3, 1999

 -  IBM Microdrive 340MB by Microtech
 - USB Microtech Card Reader
 - Kodak DC-290 Digital Camera
 - Olympus C-2500L Digital SLR
 - Fuji MX-1200
 - Fuji MX-1700
 - Nikon Coolpix 950

 - Case is identical in shape, but has a new titanium
   colored metallic finish and a redesigned power-on dial
 - new wide-view TFT LCD display has greater viewing angle
   than on the C-2000 Zoom
 - Fully manual exposure capability added (1/800 to 16
   seconds, F2.0 to F11 (F2.8 to F11 at telephoto)
 - Automatic Exposure Bracketing capability added
 - Manual focus down to 0.2 meters
 - QuickTime Motion JPEG capability; 15 frames per second
   in either 160 x 120 pixels (up to 60 seconds) or 320
   x 240 pixels (up to 15 seconds)
 - New iESP auto white balance - more accurate, and
   better flesh tones
 - Black & White and Sepia modes
 - Improved flash to avoid camera shake
 - PC Sync now has an external flash mode
 - Improved battery life
 - New menu structure
 - Supports 64MB SmartMedia
 - Available this month at an expected street price of
   US$899

Tuesday, November 2, 1999

Monday, November 1, 1999

announced a rebate on its Stylus Color 660 inkjet printer, a 1440x720 dpi (dots per inch) photo quality printer with parallel and USB connectivity. The unit features print speeds of 5PPM (pages per minute) in black and white, and 3.5PPM in color. Whilst the unit is not USB-capable out of the box, a mail-in coupon is provided for a free USB Adapter Kit, usually $39. Also in the box is a $30 rebate coupon, bringing the unit's street price of $129 down to a final price of $99 including the USB kit.

A similar press release notes that a new $30 mail-in rebate brings Epson's Stylus Color 440 down from $99 to $69. The Stylus Color 440 features 720 x 720 dpi resolution.

MGI leads in photo editing retail market!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 21:53 EST)

A press release today from MGI Software Corp. announces that the company is currently leading the worldwide market for photo editing software in terms of unit shipments. The release, pointing to a report titled "Photo Editing: One Size Does Not Fit All" by market research company Dataquest, reveals that the company had a 38.3% share of the worldwide market in terms of unit shipments, and 28.3% in terms of revenue. The company also had the highest revenue and shipment figures in the individual markets for the US, Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific. Adding to this was a note that the second placed company worldwide (with 12.8% of shipments and 20.1% of revenues) was Live Picture, recently purchased by MGI...

DCRP posts D-450Z samples, slide copier review!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 15:50 EST)

Showing themselves to be hard at work as ever, we see that our friends over at the Digital Camera Resource Page have posted sample pictures from Olympus' D-450 Zoom digital camera, and a review of the Happenstance slide copier. Planned for tomorrow is a review of Ricoh's RDC-5300... Jeff also picked up word of a 5x zoom attachment, the DigiZoom, for most digital cameras which works with any camera with at least 2x digital zoom and a threaded lens. The sample pictures from manufacturer Eagle Eye are impressive, to say the least!

SanDisk increases flash capacity with 256Mbit technology!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 15:42 EST)

A press release today from SanDisk Corp. announces the imminent debut of its new line of flash products based on 256 Megabit D2 (Double Density) technology. The new technology sees increases to a maximum of 64MB in MultiMediaCards and SD Memory Cards, 192MB for Type-I CompactFlash cards, 300MB for Type-II CF cards, and a whopping 1.2 gigabytes for Type II PC cards. A new Type III PC Card will go even further, topping out at 1.6 GB.

From the press release, here's a little more info:

""Sampling of the new SanDisk flash memory cards, drives and chipsets, with the exception of the MultiMediaCard and SD Memory Card started in October, 1999, with production shipments starting in November - December, 1999. The new MultiMediaCards and SD Memory Card will range in capacity between 32 and 64 MB while Type I CompactFlash cards will range between 24 and 192 MB capacities. Type II PC Card and FlashDrive capacities will range between 32 MB and 1.2 GB.

Some sample, high volume OEM pricing: CF card, 192 MB -- $382; CF card, Type II, 300 MB -- $598; PC card, Type II, 1.2 GB -- $2400; Flashdrives, 1.2 GB -- $2400; PC card, Type III, 1.6 GB -- $3200."

Steve's Digicams posts review of Sony Mavica FD-91!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 15:31 EST)

The fine folks over at Steve's Digicams have posted a review of Sony's Mavica FD-91 digital camera, which features a truly incredible 14x optical zoom lens with image stabilisation. Here's how Steve sums things up:

"Overall I like this camera but its image size and quality isn't quite up to par with its peers. For bird watchers or action freaks this camera will more than fill the bill as the 14X zoom makes up for a lot of things. Some of the newer MAVICA cameras have broken the megapixel barrier and I expect we'll be seeing future models using the Sony MemoryStick, either by itself or in the floppy disk adapter. The 1.44MB diskettes may be highly portable but they are severely limited as an image storage medium. Sony uses a little too much JPEG compression on its images to get more images stored per diskette."

Check the full review out here!

Nogatech announces WinCE digital videocam reference design!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 15:09 EST)

Integrated circuit developer Nogatech Inc. has created a reference design for a WindowsCE digital video camera in cooperation with JVC, according to a press release today. The USBvision NT1003 chip, evaluation board, and reference design kits, now available, can be used to add a digital video camera capable of 640 x 480 still images, audio, and video at 15 frames per second (fps) in VGA or 30fps in CIF resolution.

Calluna brings 260MB PC Card drive to retail!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 13:46 EST)

Calluna Technology Ltd. has announced in a press release today that it is bringing its 260MB Type-II PC Card hard disk drive to the retail channel, where it has "identified a substantial growth opportunity". The announcement comes alongside a new name for the drive, aimed at "allowing the brand name to clearly communicate the benefits and essence of the product". The drive, to be sold under the moveIT brand, is now available from a variety of retail and mail-order outlets at a price of $299.

HP Cartogra goes live with F5 Networks!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 13:40 EST)

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Cartogra photo-sharing website has gone live today, according to a press release from F5 Networks. F5 has provided its BIG/ip controller for the site, to ensure "high reliability, manageability, scalability, and speed". HP Inkjet Imaging Solutions President, Antonio Perez, had the following to say on the announcement: "We are committed to providing our customers with the richest photo imaging experience possible. By partnering with F5 Networks, we can provide a higher degree of performance to our Cartogra.com photo Web site."

Umax announces AstraCam digital camera!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 13:34 EST)

Umax has today announced its low cost AstraCam digital camera, a $199 unit available immediately which features USB connectivity and audio capability. The AstraCam has an optical resolution of 640 x 480, interpolated up to a maximum of 1280 x 960 pixels. Here's the full specs:

 - Umax AstraCam
 - 640 x 480 pixel optical resolution, interpolated to a
   maximum of 1280 x 960 pixels
 - USB connectivity via a USB docking cradle
 - Audio capability, able to store up to 20 seconds of
   audio with each picture
 - 4MB of internal, non-removeable memory offers up to
   46 pictures, or 31 pictures with audio enabled
 - Built-in rechargeable batteries charge when the unit
   is in its docking station
 - "After Shot Recovery" allows for image data direct
   from the camera's DSP (Digital Signal Processor) to be
   used to recalculate the white balance of an image in
   the PC
 - Bundled with Adobe PhotoDeluxe (Home Edition) and Umax
   PhotoCabinet (archiving software with ability to
   annotate photos with audio or text messages, and search
   capability)
 - Dimensions of 4.3" x 3.2" x 1.3"

Club Photo announces i.Share Plug-In!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 13:13 EST)

Online photo-sharing and finishing service Club Photo has today announced a new way for users of Adobe's PhotoShop, PhotoShop LE and PhotoDeluxe products to share their photos through the site. Using the i.Share plugin, users can add their edited image to their Club Photo album of choice, with just a single mouse-click, without having to leave PhotoShop or PhotoDeluxe. The plugin can be downloaded free of charge from Club Photo's website, and is available immediately.

Canon announces CanoScan FB630 series scanners!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 12:35 EST)

Canon Computer Systems Inc. has today announced two new flatbed scanners, the CanoScan FB 630U and FB 630P. The FB630 series scanners, identical except for their interface (USB for the 630U and parallel for the 630P), feature an optical resolution of 600 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch) in 36-bit color, and a low weight of three pounds in a 1.5-inch tall package. The 630P (now available) costs $99 and the 630U will cost about $129, when it ships in January 2000. The 630P also currently has a $20 mail-in rebate available, bringing the final price down to about $79.

UMAX announces Astra MX3 scanner!
By Michael Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, November 1, 1999 - 12:23 EST)

UMAX Technologies Inc. has today announced its new Astra MX3 scanner, a SCSI/USB unit designed specifically for Apple's iMac and G3/G4 systems, which features one touch scanning buttons. The MX3, estimated to sell for $179 and available immediately, has a translucent blue lid to mimic the iMac's styling, copy and scan buttons (plus a third, user-defineable button), an optical resolution of 600 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch), in 36-bit color, and a software bundle including Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition, Caere OmniPage LE OCR, Presto! PageManager and Presto! PhotoAlbum LE.

 

 

AOL Alert: Several readers connecting via AOL have complained of poor image quality when using the AOL web browser. This is caused by a setting called "compress images" in the browser that causes it to completely mangle images in the interest of faster transmission. You should turn this setting OFF before viewing any of the comparison images on this site.

• FLASH: Thanks to reader Lynn Mannan, here's an explanation of how to make the correct settings adjustments (at least in AOL 4.0 for PCs):
  • I opened the "My AOL" preferences screen in the toolbar across the top. Then I clicked on WWW icon and selected the "web graphics" tab where I unchecked the "compressed graphics" choice and clicked on the Apply button at the bottom. Now the scanner test pictures are gorgeous. The pictures take a long time to load. But they are worth waiting for. Thank you, Lynn!