News Archive - August 2003 Return to: Current News Archive Index Friday, August 29, 2003 Reindeer Graphics Releases Optipix 2 12:37 EDT - The cross-platform suite of Photoshop plug-ins brings Layers to 16-bit images, a revamped Auto Contrast tool with EV compensation and a wide histogram labeled for the Zone system, a new Detail Sharpener that enhances texture and two PDF publications on high-end image editing. As soon as we installed our review copy of Optipix 2, we looked up and wondered, "Is it an Optipix update or Photoshop 8?" We'll have a complete review in our next newsletter, but our first look left us... (More) Bleich Digicam Workshop to Cruise Caribbean 11:36 EDT - Eight days of workshops for beginning and intermediate photographers -- and some $25,000 in gifts from Epson, Olympus, Adobe and others that participants will receive prior to departure. Interrupted only by stops at St. Maarten, Barbados and Martinique. Arthur H. Bleich will lead an eight-day Digital Photography & Imaging Cruise featuring workshops for beginning and intermediate photographers that will embark from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Jan. 24, 2004,... (More) PRESS RELEASE: SilverFast DCPro Release Dedicated to Raw Data Enhancement of High-End Digital Cameras 11:08 EDT - Unique Virtual Light Table Features Integrate Versatile Picture Organization with Powerful Image Enhancement tools. Kiel, Germany -- LaserSoft Imaging AG, the developer of SilverFast professional scanner and digital camera software solutions, has announced the immediate availability of SilverFast DCPro. SilverFast DCPro delivers lighting-fast access to "Raw" image formats ranging from professional... (More) Olympus announces C-5000 Zoom (UPDATED) 09:00 EDT - Olympus has today announced its new C-5000 Zoom digital camera, an interesting-looking update to the C-4000 that adds a number of features in a smaller package. Our apologies to readers who've seen this elsewhere already, and have been wondering why it hasn't been here. Olympus USA gave a specific time of 9AM Eastern for the announcement, but Olympus UK chose to go ahead at least five hours early - whilst we were asleep, naturally. Why does this kind of thing seem to happen on every announcement these days? The most obvious change is a totally redesigned camera body that is 20% smaller than the C-4000 was, and is much more "organic" looking, with smoother flowing contours. Olympus tells us that the new design... (More) Olympus announces two new photo printers 09:00 EDT - Olympus has today added two new dye-sublimation photo printers to its lineup, the Olympus P-10 Digital Photo Printer and P-440 Digital Photo Printer. The P-10 is a 4" x 6" dye-sub photo printer (it can also make 3.5" x 5" prints), which can make borderless prints in less than 45 seconds. Connectivity is USB1.1, and the printer is compatible with the... (More) Thursday, August 28, 2003 Lemke Software Updates GraphicConverter 14:14 EDT - Cropping for online photofinishing, improved rotation, 5000% zoom are just a few of the improvements. Lemke Software has released version 4.8.1 of it's venerable Macintosh image editor, GraphicConverter. Among the highlights in version 4.8.1 of the $30 shareware application are: Crop feature for digital... (More) PRESS RELEASE: WiebeTech Reduces Prices on Many FireWire and USB2 Storage Products 14:04 EDT - WICHITA, KS - August 28, 2003 - WiebeTech announces price reductions up to 37% on many of its most popular storage products. The amount of the reductions vary by product. For example, the extremely popular MicroGB+TM pocket drive with a 40GB, 5400RPM, 8MB cache drive has been reduced $40, from $269.95 to $229.95. At the top end of the scale, the price of the 1.2 Terabyte Quad BayDockTM FireWire... (More) Pixture Studio Releases QuickImageCM 2.1 13:58 EDT - QuickImageCM, a freeware contextual menu plug-in for Mac OS X, lets you view and edit image files without launching an application. Pixture Studio has released QuickImageCM 2.1, an OS X contextual menu plug-in to view and edit image files without launching an application. Displayed images can be cropped, scaled, filtered, printed,... (More) PRESS RELEASE: SanDisk Introduces Industry's Fastest Professional Grade Flash Memory Cards for the North American Photo Retail Channel 13:36 EDT - SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2003-- � New Higher Performance and Highly Durable SanDisk Extreme CompactFlash and Extreme SD Cards Targeted at Advanced and Professional Photographers Operating under Severe Temperature Conditions � SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) today introduced the SanDisk Extreme(TM) CompactFlash(R) and SD line of high performance, high durability digital film... (More) PRESS RELEASE: SanDisk Introduces the SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash and Ultra II SD Card Line -- The World's Fastest Flash Memory Cards 13:34 EDT - BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2003-- � With A Minimum Write Speed Of 9 Megabytes Per Second, The New SanDisk Ultra II Card Is 50 Percent Faster Than SanDisk's Ultra CF Card � SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) today introduced the SanDisk Ultra(TM) II line of CompactFlash(R) (CF) and SD flash memory cards. Each card features a minimum write speed of 9 megabytes per second (MB/sec.) and a minimum... (More) Gateway makes its digicam debut 12:32 EDT - Gateway Inc., one of the larger names in the personal computer world, has today announced another expansion in a new direction with its first steps into the digital camera market. The company has for some time been looking to expand from the rather cut-throat PC field into consumer electronics, and made its first move in that direction when it began selling plasma TVs - a market... (More) Wednesday, August 27, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: Kodak Delivers New Family of CCD Sensors With Peak Quantum Efficiency of 85% for Increased Performance in Photographic, Scientific, and Medical Imaging Applications 17:39 EDT - Leading Life-science Instrument Manufacturers PerkinElmer and Roper Scientific Realize Imager Performance Gains and Outstanding Image Quality ROCHESTER, N. Y., August 26, 2003 - Eastman Kodak Company announced today a family of Blue Plus charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors that contain microlens technology to increase sensitivity and provide high-quality digital images for professional photography,... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Smugmug Partners with Club Photo to Offer Online Prints and Unique Gifts for smugmug.com Customers 17:34 EDT - Partnership delivers leading photo services to smugmug.com subscribers to share prints, gifts and customizable online photo albums with family and friends MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF., August 25, 2003 - Smugmug, the most dedicated, complete and stylish photo sharing site, today announced an alliance with Club Photo(tm) Inc., to offer integrated photo finishing and online photo sharing services for smugmug.com... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Visioneer Announces the OneTouch 9320 USB With Integrated Transparency Adapter; First 3200 dpi Scanner To Ship For Under $150 17:22 EDT - PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2003--Visioneer, a leader in intelligent imaging solutions, today announced the newest addition to their Slimline scanner series, the Visioneer OneTouch(TM) 9320 USB color flatbed scanner. The new OneTouch 9320 USB is an extremely fast color flatbed scanner with the ability to scan up to 3200 x 6400 dpi in 48-bit color and has a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface.... (More) Casio updates the Exilim EX-Z3 05:37 EDT - 9AM ET: Casio Computer Co. Ltd. and its US subsidiary Casio Inc. will today announce several new addition to their Exilim series of ultra-compact digital cameras in a "credit card" form factor (apparently European countries were given a different NDA time to the US). One of the announcements, the EX-Z4U looks to be closely based on the existing EX-Z3 model, with the same Pentax 3x optical zoom lens, but a new 4.23 megapixel CCD image sensor. (The other announcements... (More) Casio announces new Exilim digital camera 05:31 EDT - 9AM ET: Alongside the announcement of the Exilim EX-Z4U digital camera covered in another news item, Casio Inc. will today announce two new non-zoom additions to the Exilim series of ultra-compact digital cameras in a "credit card" form factor. The Casio Exilim EX-S20U and EX-M20U are updates to the existing EX-S2 and EX-M2 models, with several improvements and also a number of changes presumably aimed at reducing cost. Most immediately noticeable,... (More) Tuesday, August 26, 2003 Fujifilm updates the FinePix 3800 01:00 EDT - Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc. has today announced a very slight update to its FinePix 3800 digital camera, in the form of the new FinePix S3000. The new model - which we predicted was on the way late last month - is near-identical to its predecessor, with exactly the same 6x optical zoom lens and 3.2 megapixel CCD image sensor, as well as almost... (More) Monday, August 25, 2003 Minolta updates DiMAGE Messenger 08:00 EDT - Minolta Corp. has today announced an update to its DiMAGE Messenger software which adds a number of new features. From a Minolta document, the new features in Minolta DiMAGE Messenger v2.0 include the following: Image Linking - Link Images (not just words) to Image portions (You can still link text, too!) Audio File... (More) Review posted for Pentax Optio 33L! 07:30 EDT - The Optio 33L is the latest in a series of compact, feature-packed digicams from Pentax. The 3.2-megapixel entry-level model in their line, the 33L offers good value for the money when you consider the range of features it offers, although its image quality isn't up to the standard of the... (More) Review posted for Canon PowerShot A60! 07:26 EDT - This is the "little brother" of the hugely popular Canon PowerShot A70. It's a two-megapixel design, vs the three-megapixel resolution of the A70, but other features and performance factors are almost identical. The one exception I found is that its shutter lag is a *lot*... (More) Friday, August 22, 2003 Sanyo announces DSC-S1 digital camera 03:37 EDT - Sanyo Japan has announced a new 3.3 megapixel model for its Xacti (pronounced Zack-Tee) line of digital cameras. The DSC-S1 couples its effective 3.2 megapixel rating with a 3x optical zoom lens, 5-area AF, 1.6" LCD display, optical viewfinder, built-in flash, SD / MMC storage and USB connectivity. Power comes from... (More) Wednesday, August 20, 2003 Canon announces consumer digital SLR (UPDATED) 14:00 EDT - Canon has today announced its first digital SLR aimed at consumers rather than the semi-pro market - called the EOS Digital Rebel in the USA, the EOS Kiss Digital in Japan, and the EOS 300D elsewhere. The EOS Digital Rebel is based on Canon's existing EOS 10D, sharing the same 6 megapixel image sensor and most of the same specifications. It will ship in the US, Japan and Europe in late September. Two... (More) Canon announces new lenses, EF-S mount 14:00 EDT - Alongside its announcement of the EOS Digital Rebel, Canon has announced two new lenses - one of which fits only the EF-S lens mount on the new camera. The EF-S mount still accepts standard EF lenses, but can also accept lenses specifically designed for the1.6x field-of-view crop of a camera with an APS-C sized image sensor. Sound familiar? It should... (More) Canon announces PowerShot A80 digital camera 14:00 EDT - Canon has today announced the latest addition to its A-series of digital cameras in the form of the new PowerShot A80. The new model, which now occupies the top position in the A-series lineup, features a resolution of 4 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom lens and a tilt / swivel LCD display similar to that seen previously... (More) Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Kodak announces 4mpix, 10x zoom digicam 22:06 EDT - Eastman Kodak Co. has today announced a new digital camera that takes its EasyShare series in a completely new direction. At 4.2 megapixels, the EasyShare DX6490 Zoom isn't Kodak's highest-resolution camera - but it certainly has the most powerful zoom lens.of any EasyShare camera. The 38 - 380mm equivalent Schneider-Kreuznach... (More) Ricoh announces Caplio RR211 digital camera 08:07 EDT - Wrapping up our Ricoh news for today, we've news of a 2 megapixel CMOS-based entry-level digicam announced in Europe. Once again uncovered by our friends at German website digitalkamera.de, the Ricoh Caplio RR211 is one of those cameras we're convinced we've seen before - we're just not sure where. The design is basic,... (More) Ricoh announces two new Caplio G-series digicams 06:36 EDT - Ricoh has announced two new digital cameras that should ship in Europe this September, the Caplio G4 and G4 Wide. Uncovered by our friends at German website digitalkamera.de, the new cameras are closely related to the existing Caplio G3 (which is available in several different versions). At first glance, the design... (More) Sanyo Germany announces DSC-J1 update 04:20 EDT - Our friends at German website digitalkamera.de today alerted us to news of a new digital camera model from Sanyo that updates the existing DSC-J1 model. The new Sanyo Xacti (pronounced Zack-Tee) DSC-J2 looks externally almost identical to the DSC-J1, announced last February. Known in Europe as the VPC-J2 EX, the only difference to the camera body we can... (More) Monday, August 18, 2003 Full review posted for Canon PowerShot G5! 22:25 EDT - Back when Canon's PowerShot G3 came out, the question everyone was asking was "where's the 5 megapixel CCD?" The G3 is a very worthy camera, with myriad enhancements and upgrades relative to the G2, but the high end of the market was still clamoring for a 5 MP CCD. Well, the bigger chip is here now, in the form... (More) Sony Memory Stick: New products, partners 16:49 EDT - Sony and a number of partner companies have published press releases announcing a ramp of new products in the Memory Stick line. Full details are in the press releases, but briefly: Sony will begin shipping Memory Stick Duo media in the USA at a cost of $45 for 64MB (70¢ / MB) or $75 for 128MB (59¢ / MB); availability... (More) Fujifilm cuts S2 Pro pricing, releases OS X software 01:37 EDT - A press release from Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc. announces that it has reduced pricing of its S2 Pro digital SLR, and updated the software bundle. First announced in January 2002, the S2 Pro's MSRP or list price was initially set at $3495 in the USA that March. The Japanese MSRP announced in May was much lower, however - on the order of US$2500.... (More) Friday, August 15, 2003 Full-length Preview posted for Sony DSC-F828! 07:04 EDT - A couple of years back, Sony really rocked the digicam world when they introduced the DSC-F707, their original 5-megapixel camera. The big sensor was noteworthy, although Minolta had just months before announced their 5-megapixel DiMAGE 7, but the F707 incorporated a range of unique, Sony-only technologies, including Hologram Autofocus... (More) Sony announces successor to the F717's throne (UPDATED) 07:00 EDT - Sony has today announced its new Cyber-shot DSC-F828 digital camera at a press conference in Berlin, Germany. The company has done quite a good job of keeping plans for its new model under wraps, at least until a French magazine broke its embargo and published a photo and brief details on the camera yesterday,... (More) Sony announces swivel-body Cyber-shot U camera 07:00 EDT - At a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Sony has today announced the first ever swivel-bodied digital camera in its Cyber-shot U-series. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-U50 is essentially a Cyber-shot DSC-U30 in a different body. It has the same 2.1 megapixel (2.0 megapixel effective) CCD imager and 33mm-equivalent fixed focal-length lens as that... (More) Thursday, August 14, 2003 Hewlett-Packard announces Deskjet 9650 09:42 EDT - In the last of HP's huge batch of printer announcements, the company announces a new Deskjet model aimed at business use. The HP Deskjet 9650 has a resolution of 1200 dpi, prints on paper up to 13" x 19", features parallel and USB connectivity, and offers a straight-through paper path for printing on thick media. Two other... (More) HP announces two compact 4x6 photo printers 08:59 EDT - Hewlett Packard Co. has announced two new closely-related photo printers that use 4x6 inch or 4x6.5 inch media. Both printers share the same engine with 1200dpi resolution and PhotoRET III technology, along with extremely similar body designs. They also both offer CompactFlash Type I and II and Microdrive, SmartMedia,... (More) HP announces two new all-in-one printers 07:56 EDT - Hewlett Packard Co. has announced two new all-in-ones, devices which feature the functions of a printer, scanner, fax machine and copier in a single piece of hardware. Both the PSC 2410 and PSC 2510 support Memory Stick, Compact Flash, Secure Digital, Multimediacard, xD-Picture Card and SmartMedia memory cards through slots in the front of the chassis, and have built-in... (More) HP announces four new photo printers 07:13 EDT - Hewlett Packard Co. has announced four new photo printers featuring built-in card slots to accept all of the major digital camera memory formats. The Photosmart 7260, 7660, 7760 and 7960 all appear to be based on the same standard print engine, but with modifications that cater to different needs. The most basic 7260 model has no LCD and must be... (More) Gateway planning 2, 4 and 5mpix digicams 05:04 EDT - An article on the website of Ziff Davis' eWEEK predicts that both Dell and Gateway will follow competitor HP into the digital camera market. According to the eWeek article, Gateway's top digital camera model will be a 5 megapixel digital camera called the DC-T50 that the company claims "will be slightly more powerful" than HP's just-announced... (More) Hewlett Packard announces see-through Scanjets (UPDATED) 03:58 EDT - Hewlett Packard Co. has announced two new Scanjet scanner models that feature an unusual see-through polycarbonate window which lets you check for proper document alignment. The HP Scanjet 4600 and 4670 appear to be the same basic 48-bit 2400dpi scanner unit, and differ only in whether or not a transparent material adapter is included, and which holder is in the product bundle... (More) Tuesday, August 12, 2003 Pentax *ist D: US pricing info 09:25 EDT - We told readers last Friday of the announcement that Pentax's *ist D digital SLR will begin shipping next month, but at that time were unable to mention a price in our article. Pentax has now informed us that the camera will have a price of $1699.95 for the body only, or $1899.95 for the body plus an 18-35mm (27.5-53.5mm equivalent) lens. We don't have pricing info for the 16mm-45mm DA lens at this time. Pentax *ist D supports FAT32, Lexar WA 09:19 EDT - A press release this morning from Lexar Media Inc. brings interesting news about Pentax's *ist D digital SLR. If you're not familiar with the *ist D (pronounced ist-dee), which was first announced in February, you might want to look over our item from last week for the full specifications. To recap briefly, though,... (More) Panasonic announces DMC-FZ2 07:04 EDT - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. has announced an update to its Lumix DMC-FZ1 digital camera in Japan, the DMC-FZ2. Despite the new model number, changes are minimal and look to be mostly related to the camera's firmware. The 2.11 megapixel image sensor, 12x optical zoom lens, 1.5" LCD, color electronic viewfinder,... (More) Monday, August 11, 2003 Panasonic DMC-LC33 updated, LC43 nearing 23:48 EDT - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. has issued two press releases in Japan about cameras sold under its Panasonic Lumix brand-name. Both the Lumix DMC-LC33 and DMC-LC43 were announced back in March at the PMA trade show, and the DMC-LC33 is already shipping in the US and Japan. Japanese consumers will soon get a second color choice... (More) Sunday, August 10, 2003 Fuji's SR sensor technology - side by side results (UPDATED) 00:18 EDT - I just got a production sample of Fuji's FinePix F700 camera yesterday. This is the much-awaited first digicam to use Fuji's unique "SR" technology SuperCCD sensor, which pairs high- and low-sensitivity photodetectors in each pixel. The promise of the new technology has been to bring the sort of dynamic range and forgiving exposure curve that have characterized film to the digital world. Fuji's apparently struggled with producing... (More) Friday, August 8, 2003 Miranda Releases Photoshop FM Plug-ins 11:10 EDT - Fred Miranda's FM Actions for Photoshop/Elements go to a new level as plug-ins. Fred Miranda has been busy, as he writes recently. "I just got back from a recent trip to Brazil and I wanted to update you on a few new releases. I have taken my Photoshop FM Actions to a new level and... (More) Kyocera updates the Finecam S5 08:42 EDT - Kyocera Japan has today announced an update to its Finecam S5 digital camera in the form of the new Finecam S5R. The new model features a mighty fast 3 frames per second burst-mode that is limited only by card capacity (on Secure Digital cards with write speeds of 10MB / second or greater). Not only that, but unlike... (More) First Look review posted for Minolta DiMAGE A1! 06:55 EDT - Throughout their evolution, I've been impressed with Minolta's DiMAGE series of digicams, from the 7 to the 7i, 7Hi, and now the A1. The new Minolta DiMAGE A1 is a nice upgrade to the 7Hi, adding the benefits of faster shutter speeds, a very effective Anti-Shake mode, tracking autofocus, an intelligent grip sensor to help conserve battery... (More) Foveon's F19 imager for compact digicams 04:44 EDT - We notice this morning that our friends over at the Digital Photography Review have posted an item on an imager from Foveon, the F19X3-A50. Phil's article describes the sensor as "brand new". We actually first mentioned it back in March, and it was initially listed on Foveon's site around the start of the year - but being that Phil has called... (More) Pentax prepares to ship the *ist D SLR 02:00 EDT - Pentax has today announced that it will soon begin shipping the *ist D single-lens reflex digital camera (pronounced ist-dee) in the USA, Europe and Japan. According to the US release, the plan is currently that the camera (which was first announced in February of this year) will ship next month. (We don't have details of ship dates in other countries, but... (More) Thursday, August 7, 2003 Minolta rebadges the Konica KD-510Z 09:42 EDT - 12pm EST: In Minolta's fourth and final announcement of the day, the company shows its close ties with Konica through a rebadging of the latter company's flagship digital camera. The Minolta DiMAGE G500 is, with the exception of the logos on the camera body, identical to Konica's Digital Revio KD-510Z. Regular readers will be aware that Konica and Minolta agreed to a merger back... (More) Minolta announces 3mpix, 3x zoom compact digicam 09:19 EDT - 12pm EST: Minolta USA today announces a new (and rather stylish looking) digital camera with a 3.3 megapixel CCD imager, the DiMAGE E323. The new camera also features a 3x optical zoom lens, 1.6" TFT LCD display, Secure Digital / MultiMediaCard storage, built-in flash, USB connectivity and power from 2 AA batteries. The E323 focuses down... (More) Minolta announces futuristic-looking digicam 06:58 EDT - 12pm EST: Minolta USA today announces a new digital camera that wouldn't look out of place in an episode of Star Trek. The DiMAGE Z1's visual style is likely to be one you'll either decide you like or dislike instantly. It is certainly radical looking, but we're not alone in noticing a distinct similarity to a much older... (More) Minolta announces DiMAGE A1 digital camera 03:32 EDT - 12pm EST: Minolta USA is today announcing a new model in its lineup of SLR-style digital cameras that follows in the footsteps of the DiMAGE 7Hi (we say "SLR-style" because they use an electronic viewfinder rather than an optical viewfinder). The new Minolta DiMAGE A1 features the same 5.3 megapixel CCD image sensor and 7x optical zoom lens as its predecessor, but has improvements in a number of areas. Changes include 14-bit A/D conversion,... (More) Wednesday, August 6, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: Simple Star Announces PhotoShow Deluxe 23:29 EDT - New easy-to-use and complete digital photography software suite allows anyone to get control of their photos and have fun doing it San Francisco, CA (August 6, 2003) - Simple Star, Inc., creators of easy to use consumer software, announced today the availability of PhotoShow Deluxe. This new digital photography software suite for PC users makes it simple for anyone to get control of their digital... (More) PRESS RELEASE: MAGIX Announces Movie Edit Pro 2004 for Consumers 22:03 EDT - Complete PC Movie Studio with Professional-Level Video Editing and Integrated DVD Authoring Made Easy August 6, 2003, Miami Beach, FL - MAGIX, the worldwide leader in video editing software1, today announced MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 2004 home video editing software that combines top-quality professional features with drag and drop ease-of-use for consumers. Movie Edit Pro lets everyone create sleek video... (More) Windsor Interfaces Releases PhotoMesa Image Browser 21:58 EDT - Navigate your image collection without cataloging it, using simple navigation techniques to zoom in and out of multiple image directories. Ben Bederson, Windsor Interfaces president and CEO, announced the release of PhotoMesa, a new $20 shareware photo browser. PhotoMesa is a zoomable image browser, Bederson said, allowing you to view multiple... (More) SiMPLE CodeWorks Releases Free Javascript Photo Tour 21:43 EDT - Create your own adventure-game sequences or animated sequences of your vacation photos using this free package. Bob Bishop pointed us to SiMPLE CodeWorks Photo Tour, a Javascript package that can turn your collection of 320x240-pixel images into an animated slide show that can be explored. The user navigates your... (More) Kodak announces two new digicams and a printer dock 04:15 EDT - Eastman Kodak Co. has announced two new digital cameras and a printer dock in the USA and Europe. The EasyShare DX4530 is a 5 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens and a pricetag of $399. The EasyShare CX6230 has a resolution of two megapixels, a 3x optical zoom lens, and costs just... (More) Tuesday, August 5, 2003 Minox announces tiny 2mpix digicam 23:00 EDT - Minox Germany has announced a new digital camera model which offers a resolution of 2.1 megapixels in a tiny, stylish design. The Minox DD1 has a disc-shaped body design with a 5-element multi-coated glass lens central on the front, with a small optical viewfinder above it. Arranged around the outside edge of the disc are the... (More) Rollei announces dt3200 digital camera 18:39 EDT - Rollei Germany has announced a second new 3 megapixel, 3x optical zoom digital camera - the Rollei dt3200. As compared to the Rollei dp300, the dt3200 has a slightly wider D-VarioApogon HFT zoom lens, a larger 1.6" LCD display, a higher maximum ISO of 200, and a proprietary rechargeable battery instead of... (More) Rollei announces dp300 digital camera 18:17 EDT - Rollei Germany has announced a new 3 megapixel, 3x optical zoom digital camera - the Rollei dp300. The camera has a 40 - 120mm equivalent focal length lens, focuses down to 50cm (or 20cm in macro mode), and offers shutter speeds from 1 to 1/14000 second. Images are saved as JPEG files on 16MB of built-in... (More) PRESS RELEASE: PowerEx Adds More Digicam Battery Packs to Its Lineup 06:40 EDT - LA VERNE, CA ------ Maha Energy Corp., the maker of the PowerEx brand rechargeable batteries and chargers, is pleased to announce three additions to its lithium ion & polymer digital camera battery pack product line. The three models fit Sony, Nikon and Minolta, respectively: MH-FM50 1400mAh 7.4V Li-Ion Compatible with Sony®: Sony® Camcorder - DCR-PC110 Sony® Digital Cameras - DSC-F707,... (More) Lexar 4GB CompactFlash now shipping 06:32 EDT - A press release from Lexar Media Inc. announces that the company is now shipping the first commercially available 4GB CompactFlash card. Costing around $1499, the Type-II card that was first announced in March of this year is rated at 40X in Lexar's parlance, translating to a 6MB / second sustained write speed. At this price-point, the... (More) Monday, August 4, 2003 Konica Minolta logo unveiled 19:48 EDT - A press release on the Minolta Co. Ltd. corporate website announces that it will be forming a new holding company along with Konica Corp - and unveils a logo for the joint company. Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. will be formed tomorrow, as a step on the road to the merger we told you about last January. Both companies will simultaneously begin using the new logo, which discards Konica's... (More) PRESS RELEASE: New Integrated Holding Company Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. to Launch on August 5 19:47 EDT - Tokyo, Osaka (August 4, 2003) -- Konica Corporation (Fumio Iwai, president) and Minolta Co., Ltd. (Yoshikatsu Ota, president) will be launching Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc., a new integrated holding company formed by management integration, on August 5. 2003 This new holding company will be formed as a result of "the letter of intent for the management integration " signed on January 7, 2003 by Konica... (More) Friday, August 1, 2003 Review posted for Casio Exilim Z3! 04:02 EDT - There seems to be a lot of action in the compact and subcompact segments of the digicam market, with Casio's Exilim series square in the middle of the action. Their Exilim Z3 offers 3.2 megapixel resolution, a 3x optical zoom lens, and a large (2.0") LCD display in an amazingly small package. The obvious competition for the Exilim Z3 is the Pentax Optio S, which... (More) Full review posted for Minolta DiMAGE S414! 03:39 EDT - Minolta's DiMAGE line of digicams includes some of the better values in digital cameras currently on the market, and the S414 is a prime example. With its 4.0-megapixel CCD, optional full manual exposure control, and variety of shooting modes, it's a versatile camera well-suited to a wide range of users. Novices will appreciate its fully automatic... (More) Return to: Current News Archive Index