Sony Boosts Image Sensor Production

Sony Corp. yesterday announced it will for the next three years boost image sensor production, investing a total of ¥60 billion ($494 million USD), to accelerate growth in its digital still camera and mobile phone markets.

Through Sony’s semiconductor division, Kumamoto Technology Center in Japan, the company plans to continue to expand production of micro-display devices, CCDs, and particularly CMOS sensors to meet increasing demand.

“Sony is positioning image sensors as a key focus area of its semiconductor business,” stated a company release yesterday. “Through the reinforcement of this facility, Sony will strengthen supply and provide the platform for further image sensor business growth.”

Mass production of image sensors began in the spring.

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Sony-Boosts-Image-Sensor-Production-13225.htm

PMA: Large Capacity Memory Cards Popularize On-Camera

According to a new study conducted by market research firm Photo Marketing Association (PMA), most digital camera owners transfer their images to computer hard drives or keep them on their camera’s memory card.

A survey showed that 72 percent of digital camera owners keep their photos on their computer hard drive and 54 percent store their photos on their camera's memory card. The increasing availability of large storage CF, SD, SDHC, xD, and MMC cards allows users to take hundreds of photos before transferring them to their computer. A third of memory cards sold in 2006 had a capacity of 1GB or higher, according to PMA.

“The trend of cheaper, larger memory cards becoming more readily available to consumers is not expected to stop or ease soon, especially in the light of flash memory entering the laptop hard drive space,” according to a PMA Data Watch analysis, 2007 PMA U.S. Digital Imaging Survey.

PMA predicts the need for better on-camera image organization and better kiosk upload capacity will increase.

Other popular methods include storing photos on CD or DVD media (53 percent) and printing (52 percent).

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/On-Camera-Photo-Storage-Grows-13213.htm

JOBO Storage Devices Bundled with MAGIX Software

JOBO AG, maker of mobile storage devices and photo viewers, today announced a package deal that includes free photo software. Customers who purchase the JOBO Giga one or the JOBO Spectator will receive a free copy of MAGIX Photos.

“By bundling the MAGIX software with our GIGA one and Spectator products we are enhancing our customer’s digital imaging experience,” said JOBO CEO Johannes Bockemuehl-Simon in a company press release today. “These combined products provide our customers with the solutions they need for safely storing their precious memories and sharing those memories with others.”

MAGIX Photos on CD, with a normal retail price of $25, is a Windows-based photo and video program that allows users to view slideshows on computers, television, or mobile media players.

The JOBO Giga one, a dedicated image hard drive comes in 40, 80, and 120 GB capacities, which range in price from $129 to $249. The JOBO Spectator, which doubles as a photo-viewer, ranges in price from $249 to $379 and will ship this month.

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/JOBO-Storage-Devices-Bundled-with-MAGIX-Software-13202.htm

Flextronics Acquires Solectron

Electronics manufacturer Flextronics today announced it will acquire California-based Solectron Corp. to become a diversified global provider of electronics, according to yesterday’s joint company release. Flextronics, who last year partnered with Eastman Kodak Co. to provide digital camera manufacturing, will merge with Solectron to share design resources, engineering, and manufacturing, with promises of better value for the consumer.

In a unanimous Board of Directors agreement, Flextronics will acquire Solectron in a deal worth $3.6 billion. Under the agreement, Solectron will be able to nominate two people to the Board of Directors

"Solectron is an extremely important strategic addition to Flextronics and this combination transforms the landscape of our industry,” said Flextronics CEO Mike McNamara in a company press release. “By joining forces, we expect the increased scale will enable us to further extend our market segment reach and leverage an increased vertical integration opportunity, realize significant cost savings, and better serve the needs of our combined customers, employees and shareholders."

For the past 18 months, Solectron has prepared for corporate integration. Details about specific products that the companies may develop have not been released. Flextronics’ acquisition of Solectron will be complete by the end of the year, according to the release.

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Flextronics-Acquires-Solectron--13198.htm

Kodak EasyShare Z650 Digital Camera Review

The Kodak EasyShare Z650 is an addition to the "Z" series that boasts a 10x optical zoom lens, accessory lens and filter capabilities, and a number of manual and preset controls as well as an interface friendly to the novice user. The Kodak EasyShare Z650 has a 1/2.5-inch, 6.1 MP CCD, a pop-up flash, and a 2.0-inch LCD screen. The Kodak Z650 has a full auto mode, 16 preset still shooting modes, and a movie mode in addition to the manually oriented PASM modes. Originally priced at $349, it can now be found online for between $225 and $300 through various retailers including Kodak who dropped the price drastically at the end of 2006.

Physical Tour

Front (7.25)
The Kodak EasyShare Z650 features a lens housing that extends out from the body of the camera by about one and a quarter inches. When the camera is powered off, the lens barrel retracts into this housing. The optional lens cap offers further protection. Covering the entire housing of the lens is a quarter-inch wide, black rubber strip that helps provide additional grip when shooting and breaks up the otherwise plastic silver of the camera body. The lens cap fits loosely and pops off easily when bumped or when the camera is turned on and the lens begins to extend. The Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 10x optical zoom lens can be customized by using the included lens adapter in conjunction with either wide-angle or telephoto lenses or B+W circular polarizer or B+W neutral density filters.

The low-light assist/self-timer light is adjacent to the top of the lens barrel, to the left, in the sunken area between the barrel and the protruding right hand grip. Directly above the lens is the pop-up flash that the user must manually open. On the right side of the flash is the in-camera microphone. The placement of the microphone will make it nearly impossible to have a 180-degree recording field. At best, this microphone might get 90 degrees but even that seems like a stretch.

On the other side of the Z650’s front face is the aforementioned right-hand grip. The grip is covered by the same black rubber found on the barrel of the lens and will provide excellent additional handling when shooting one-handed or when weather conditions are less than perfect. The right hand grip extends from the body of the camera about seven-eighths of an inch, and it is modeled on the front to provide fingers of the right hand with a better grasp.

Back (6.0)
The Kodak EasyShare Z650's electronic color viewfinder is in the upper left-hand section of the camera body's back. Pressing the EVF/LCD button lets the user toggle between the electronic color viewfinder and the LCD screen. The button is clearly labeled beneath the lower-right corner of the viewfinder eyepiece.

The eyepiece is made from black rubber that enabled comfortable shooting during long shoots. Shooting with the right eye was far more feasible than the left, especially when adjusting manual controls. For many users this won’t be an issue but was problematic for me because I use my left eye; the controls located to the right of the viewfinder and LCD screen were masked by my face.

Below the electronic color viewfinder to the left is the info button that opens the live view histogram and other control information. Beneath the electronic color viewfinder is the 2.0-inch LCD screen with 110,000 pixels. A black frame surrounds the LCD screen with the Kodak EasyShare Z650 brand printed beneath. The LCD screen is raised from the rest of the camera body by about a quarter of an inch.

The zoom toggle is to the right of the electronic viewfinder, along the top of the camera body. This toggle stands out from the body of the camera quite a bit and could benefit from having more horizontal space to make quick and accurate adjustments. When in playback mode, the zoom control can be engaged to adjust the level of the playback zoom.

Beneath the zoom toggle is the share button. This button can be pressed for direct printing or tagging pictures as favorites amongst other parameters. To the right of the LCD screen and beneath the share button is a mode dial with a joystick control in the center. The mode dial is large and spins via a slightly protruding tab. The large size of the mode dial enables the user to switch modes with ease. The joystick at the center allows for navigation through menu structures as well as making adjustments to shutter, aperture, and exposure settings when in manual mode. Beneath the mode dial and joystick are well-labeled and sizable buttons which from left to right are delete, menu, and review. These three silver buttons are slightly raised from the camera body.

Left Side (6.0)
The eyelet for the neck strap is positioned at the top of the left side in the center of the camera body. In the lower back corner of the camera body, the reader will note the DC IN alternate power source for the Kodak EasyShare Z650. This is an open port without a cover, making it easy for dust and grime to get into the housing. There are no other features or controls on this side.

Right Side (6.0)
The right side of the camera body has an eyelet for the neck strap near the top. Beneath the eyelet is a large port cover that is opened by a tab located along its vertical back edge. This cover is sturdy and attached to the camera body via thick plastic hinges that should be able to endure some mishandling without snapping. It would be nice if this cover could lock into place more firmly since there is a slight possibility that it could be pulled open and break if loosely transported in luggage or a backpack. Under this port cover, near the top of the cavity, is the AV out port. This port allows for connection to printers, computers, and other monitors via either USB or RCA cables included with the camera. Beneath the AV out port is the slot for optional SD/MMC memory card.

Top (7.0)
On the far left side of the Z650’s top face is a small switch that can be moved backwards to open the pop-up flash located directly above the lens barrel of the camera. Users must push the flash physically back into the camera body to close. To the right of the flash and towards the front edge of the camera is a switch that can be moved from the center "off" position to either the right for shooting images/videos or to the left for review of favorite images. Behind the power/favorites switch is the in-camera speaker for monitoring audio levels. To the right of the power/favorites switch and the speaker are three buttons labeled with symbols. The first button, which has a zig-zag icon, toggles between flash modes, while the second button moves between macro and landscape shooting modes, and the back button engages self-timer and burst shooting modes. The shutter button is positioned in front of these controls in the extended area of the right-hand grip. The shutter button is sizable, intuitively positioned, not labeled and polished silver.

Bottom (7.75)
On the bottom of the camera body, in the section directly beneath the right hand grip, is the cover for the lithium ion battery slot. The battery is the size of two AA batteries and hefty. The cover for the battery slot is hinged on the front edge by a sturdy plastic hinge. Directly under the camera's lens is the camera's tripod socket. The dock connector is beside the tripod socket along the back edge of the camera body.

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Kodak-EasyShare-Z650-Digital-Camera-Review-13057.htm