Tuesday, July 3, 2007

New FujiFilm Cams Easy on The Wallet

FujiFilm has announced three new cameras, two aimed at new digital photographers and another aimed at photo-savvy snappers on a budget.

Not to be left out of the pre-PMA hype, FujiFilm today announced three new FinePix cameras sure to appeal to first-time digital photographers as well as experienced snappers looking for advanced features at a checkbook-friendly price.

First up, the FinePix S5700 (which FujiFilm seems to want to call the S700 elsewhere...) offers a 7.1 megapixel resolution with a nice 10×optical zoom and ISO sensitivity all the way up to 1600. The S5700 offers a Picture Stabilization mode (which looks to be an electronic combination of high ISO sensitivity and fast shutter speeds rather than optical image stabilization), an intelligent flash which varies in intensity depending on the scene, a dual shot mode, 14 scene modes, and compatibility with both xD and SD storage media. The camea sports a 2.5-inch LCD, 27M of internal memory, and runs off 4 AA batteries. The S5700 boasts a DSLR-like styling—just in case you want to try to fool people into thinking you're one of those
photographers—and should be available in March for a surprisingly friendly price of $249.95.

[Update 23-Feb-2007: FujiFilm says th 7.1 megapixel DSLR-like FinePix camera, above, will be marketed as the S5700 in Europe, and the S700 in the United States, which explains the initial confusion and duplication in the company's product materials.]

For the first-time digital camera buyers, FujiFilm has also announced the FinePix A820 and FinePix A900 point-and-shoot cameras, respectively offering 8.3 and 9 megapixel resolutions, 4× optical zooms, and ISO sensitivities up to 800. To be friendly for first-time buyers, the cameras feature icon-based interfaces (because we all know icons make things easy!) along with a mode dial which enables users to quickly switch between commonly-used shooting modes. Both cameras offer electronic image stabilization through a combination of fast shutter speeds and high sensitivity, are handle both xD and SD storage media; both also feature IrSimple connectivity to wirelessly share pictures with other cameras, devices, and photo kiosks, and 2.5-inch LCD viewfinders. The A820 and A900 should hit retailers this May at suggested prices of $179.95 and $199.95.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/12337


National Geographic to Offer Global Phone

It might not be sexy or offer to be a mobile video experience, but National Geographic plans to offer a pre-paid cell phone which works in more than 100 countries.

National Geographic might be more known for its venerable publication, exquisite photography, and solid coverage of science and nature…but now it's taking another step in its efforts to get people to think on global terms with the National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone, which promises to offer pre-paid cellular communications in more than 100 countries—with no contracts, no roaming fees, and free incoming calls in most areas.

"National Geographic is excited to offer the Talk Abroad Travel Phoneto all international travelers," said John Dumbacher, senior vice president oflicensing for National Geographic, in a statement. Students, vacationers, business travelers and our own explorers and photographers can now stay connected with this affordable travel phone and SIM card, while they seek to understand and experience our world."

The phone will be offered via Cellular Abroad, based in Playa Del Rey, California, and it's not very sexy by modern mobile phone standards: a rather thick candy-bar style phone with a small screen, without many contemporary conveniences like Bluetooth, an integrated camera, or mobile broadband capability. However, the quad-band GSM phone does offer pre-paid access to local cellular networks in more than 100 countries, and the U.K.-based phone number doesn't change, no matter where the user travels.

The phone will be available for $199, including 30 minute of free outgoing talk time, or if you're an infrequent traveler, a $49/week rental plan might be appealing. SIM cards go for $79, which includes 30 minutes of free outgoing talk time and will be available for purchase at "select" mobile phone stores. Once customers have a phone, they can add pre-paid talk time at $.90 cents per outgoing minute in most countries; incoming calls are free in some 65 countries. The phone will also offer 24/7, fee-free customer service.

"Staying in touch while overseas has proved difficult for travelers;the majority of overseas travelers have not been able to afford thesecurity and convenience of a cell phone," said Sebastian Harrison,Cellular Abroad president, in a release. "With expensive rates and little or notechnical support, international cellular service has excluded the generalpublic. Now, it is at their fingertips."

You might not be able to carry a couple gigabytes of your favorite club tunes on this phone…but it does handle SMS text messaging so it's not completely in the dark ages. The National Geographic Talk Abroad Phone should be available in March; pre-orders are being taken now, and include a 10-song National Geographic World Music gift card while supplies last.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/12354


Sony Unpacks New Cyber-Shot Shooters

Sony has announced new Cyber-shot digital cameras, a slim fashionable point-and-shoot and fast pro-sumer models with 15x optical zooms.

Sony Electronics today announced a new selection of Cyber-shot digital cameras, one set designed to appeal to to the fashion-conscious point-and-shoot crowd, and another offering advanced features and a whopping 15×optical zoom for more demanding photographers.

First up, the Cyber-shot DSC-T100 and DSC-T20 offer 8 megapixel resolutions, slim profiles, and fashion-friendly colors. The T100 sports a 5×optical zoom, 3-inch LCD screen, and will be available red, black, or silver casings, while the T20 opts for a 2.5-inch LCD display, a 3× optical zoom, and will be available in pink, white, black, and silver. Both the T100 and T20 will offer face detection technology to make sure up to eight people might be recognizable in those photos you snap in one of those feverish party hazes (also helped by optical image stabilization built into the camera), and new shooters are compatible with optional cradles and accessories to push images and slide shows to high-definition televisions. Both cameras offer in-camera editing tools like cropping and red-eye reduction, and both offer more than 300 shots per battery charge and claim one-second startup times. Expect the T100 to hit retailers in March for about $400, while the T20 will be available in April for about $330; Sony wil begin accepting online pre-orders on February 28.

For more advanced photographers, Sony is offering up new Cyber-shot DSC-H7 and DSC-H9 super zoom cameras, offering 8 megapixel resolutions, 15× optical zooms, face recognition technology, and a new advanced sports shooting mode designed to appeal to "families with budding athletes in their broods." The H7 and H9 models offer shutter speeds of up to 1/4000th of a second, sensitivity down to ISO 3200, optical image stabilization, and use the Bionz processing engine employed in Sony's Alpha DSLR camera to offer fast processing speeds. The H7 offers a 2.5-inch LCD viewfinder, while the H9 sports a 3-inch flip-up LCD screen and Sony's "NightShot" technology for very low-light photography, and both can be connected to high-definition televisions with optional accessories for big-screen image viewing. Expect the H7 and H9 to ship in april with prices around $400 and $480, respectively; as above, pre-orders will be available online beginning February 28.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/12364


Two New Olympus DSLRs Offer Live Preview

Olympus's new Evolt E410 and E510 DSLRs offer 10 megapixel resolutions and live previews on their 2.5-inch LCD viewfinders.

One of the ironies of the high end digital camera market—as represented by digital single-lens reflex shooters—is that they long failed to offer a useful feature common on consumer point-and-shoot models: live previews on the camera's built-in LCD display, enabling users to frame shots without peering through a viewfinder. The reasons are complicated, but boil down to traditional SLR camera designs actually framing images through the lens, rather than a separate viewfinder mechanism.

Last year Olympus worked around this problem using a second CCD sensor, and became the first camera maker to offer live LCD preview on a DSLR. This year, it adds two more live-preview DSLRs to its lineup, the Evolt E410 and E510. Both cameras offer 10 megapixel resolutions, 2.5-inch LCDs, dust reduction systems, a more-powerful image processor, and a more compact design than their predecessor&mdashland, of course, being DSLRs they're compatible with a wide range of accessories and digital-specific lenses, including lenses manufactured to the Four-Thirds Standard from makers like Sigma and Leica. The base price for the E510 is $100 higher, with the main difference between the two models being that the E510 offers mechanical image stabilization.

The E410 will be available in May for a base price (body only) of $699; the E510 will be available in June with a body-only price of $799. Kits with one or two lenses (for everyday and telephoto use): the one lens kit adds $100 to the cameras' respective prices; the two lens kits add $200.

Olympus has also unveiled a new consumer-oriented camera, the Stylus 780. The compact camera offers a 7.1 megapixel resolution, 2.5-inch LCD, a new shadow adjustment technology to bring out subjects hidden in shadows, and both mechanical and digital image stabilization for blur-free photos. The Stylus 780 also packs a 5× optical zoom, built-in help guides, a dust- and moisture-resistant casing, 23 shooting modes, and video capture capability running up to 30 frames per second at VGA resolution. Expect to see the Stylus 780 at retailers for $349 this May.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/12393


Nikon D40X DSLR Jumps to 10.2 Megapixels

Nikon lowballed the DSLR market with its D40 camera; just a few months later, it's pumping up the megapixels with the D40x.

Back in November, Nikon set the world of digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras back on its heels with the D40, a 6.1 megapixel shooter with a 18-to-55mm Nikkor zoom lens for just $599. Now, Nikon is back with the new D40x, which doesn't change much about the D40 except for one little thing: the camera now offers a 10.2 megapixel resolution.

"The D40 has become a runaway success for Nikon because it effectively addresses so many of the concerns shared by those who take pictures to preserve family memories and for all-around fun," said Edward Fasano, Nikon's general manager for SLR System Products Marketing. "Now with the D40x, anyone has the choice of higher resolution so they can do even more with their pictures. Whether people want to make poster-sized prints or make special enlargements from a smaller (cropped) area of a picture, the D40x can produce images that have superb clarity, outstanding detail and vibrant colors. Even regular 4×6 inch prints, and pictures reduced in size for e-mailing, are visibly better when captured with a more capable camera".

The D40x offers a very fast power-up (just 0.18 seconds) and can shoot three pictures per second non-stop for up to 100 shots, making it ideal for capturing action and spontaneous moments. The D40x features a 2.5 LCD screen for menu options, interface, and viewing images (although, unlike Olympus's recent DSLR offerings, it does not function as a live viewfinder) and comes with the new 3X 18–55mm ƒ3.5-5.6 ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens which is suitable for everything from landscapes to portraits. The D40x can also be used with Nikon's AF-S and AF-I Nikkor lenses. The camera also includes Nikkon's i-TTL flash control for better flash balance, eight built-in scene modes, in-camera image editing capabilities, a fast three-area autofocus, and the capability to shoot up to 520 images on a single battery charge. Oh, and Nikon is also billing the D40x as its smallest DSLR "ever"—if that isn't a selling point, nothing is, right?

The D40x will be available in the U.S. in April at a body-only price of $729.95; if you want the 3X zoom lens, the camera will run you $799.95.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/12401


HP Extends Digital Photography Offering

Offers the Most Connected Experience for Consumers and Pros

HP (NYSE:HPQ) today made a series of announcements designed to make its digital photography offering the most complete and highly connected experience for consumers, professional photographers and graphic artists.

Foremost among the announcements, the company introduced HP DreamColor Technologies, the industry's first highly integrated system that delivers the highest level of digital color consistency across a series of devices.

HP DreamColor will make it easy for graphic artists and professional and advanced amateur photographers to accurately match color to prints or digital sources and automatically deliver predictable color in a wide variety of applications, from photos to marketing collateral to posters.

Also introduced at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow, the new HP Designjet Z3100ps GP Photo Printer is one of the first products to implement HP DreamColor. Designed for professional photographers and graphic artists, the 12-ink printer uses HP Vivera pigment inks to produce exquisite prints that can last more than 200 years.(1)

Over the coming year, the company plans to implement support for HP DreamColor across a range of markets and product categories, including PCs and monitors.

HP also launched 12 new digital photography products, technologies and services for home users as well as retailers. Highlighting this lineup, the HP Photosmart R837 Digital Camera is the first digital camera featuring the ability to tag photos inside the camera, which allows for easy searching and organization within Microsoft Windows Vista™.

"From our ease-to-use solutions for consumers to back-end infrastructures for retailers, HP is truly the only company with the depth and breadth to create a seamless and scalable photography experience - in the home, online and at retail," said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. "Through our innovation, we are enabling our customers to realize the true power of digital, freeing them from the constraints of analog and enabling them to tell their stories through photos."

Today at PMA, Joshi will deliver a keynote address during which he will be joined on stage by key DreamColor collaborator, Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive officer and director of DreamWorks Animation SKG. The two will discuss details surrounding the conception and user benefits of HP DreamColor.

First products to feature HP DreamColor Technologies

The HP Designjet Z3100ps GP Photo Printer, one of the first products to use DreamColor, is the latest addition to the HP Designjet Z Photo Printer Series, which was recognized yesterday with a 2007 DIMA Innovative Digital Product Award.

Offering the industry's only built-in spectrophotometer for improved color management, the printer also has an embedded Adobe PS3/PDF RIP, which simplifies workflow by allowing for optimum networkability. The HP Advanced Profiling Solution that comes in the box provides rigorous color profiling and includes a monitor calibrator, enabling users to accurately print their creative visions easily.

HP DreamColor also is offered in the HP Designjet Z Photo Printer series, the HP Indigo press 5000, the HP Indigo press ws4500 and the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 Photo Printer.

New photo center solutions offer customization and increased revenue to retailers

HP announced two new scaleable and customizable photo solutions for retailers - the HP Photosmart ps2000 Studio and the HP Photosmart pl1000e Microlab system.

Offering retailers an effective way to drive incremental sales, the HP Photosmart ps2000 Studio can be integrated into existing photo center or mini-lab operations. Easily operated by an attendant, the ps2000 allows retailers to expand beyond traditional 4 x 6-inch prints to create a central point for customers to order prints as well as creative projects, including ready-to-share photo books, calendars, CDs, greeting cards and posters, all of which can be picked up in less than an hour.

For retailers who wish to replace an existing mini-lab or create a new photo center, the HP Photosmart pl1000e Microlab system provides economic photo fulfillment for low- to medium-volume retail locations.

The HP Photosmart pl1000e Microlab system features the Photosmart pm1000 Microlab printer, which delivers high-performance printing in order to produce lab-quality 4 x 6-inch prints quickly - up to 700 prints per hour. Like the HP Photosmart Express station, this printing system is based on HP's Scaleable Printing Technology and creates smudge-, water- and fade-resistant prints that have the best overall image permanence of any consumer 4x6-inch prints in the entire 130-year history of color photography.(2)

Additionally, the Microlab includes the hardware and software needed to readily connect input stations, input scanners and output devices to offer traditional photo center output (4 x 6-inch, 5 x 7-inch and 8 x 10-inch prints) and can expand with options to offer creative output such as photo books, calendars and posters. The system requires minimal maintenance from retailers, resulting in lower operating costs and higher revenue.

Both new systems efficiently integrate into existing retail photo environments by using the HP Photo Center technology platform - which combines the full-integration capabilities provided by Silverwire, which HP acquired in June 2006, with the innovations of HP's retail solutions. The systems join the company's self-serve retail photo solution, the HP Photosmart Express station, and collectively are in trials with more than 50 retailers across three continents. More information on HP's retail photo solutions is available at http://www.hp.com/go/rps.

HP also is expanding its print-to-retail options for retailers and consumers. In the second half of the year, Snapfish members, along with users of its more than three dozen co-branded sites, are expected to have the ability to order photo books and posters online, then pick these orders up at any retail location with an HP Photosmart Studio solution. Snapfish also expects to add photo cards and calendars as in-store pick up options in coming months.

HP also will begin offering two new products for its HP Indigo press 5000 in the second half of the year that help deliver true silver-halide photo quality in greeting cards, calendars and photo albums. Designed for high-end photo finishers and labs, the HP Indigo Photo Enhancement Server is a multi-processing, high-quality, fully automated photo solution. HP Indigo Light Cyan and Light Magenta (LC/LM) inks provide an improved color range and smoother tone transitions on photo-specialty products.

New digital camera features two industry firsts

HP debuted the industry's first digital camera to feature in-camera pet-eye fix, the HP Photosmart R837 Digital Camera. This innovative feature allows people to easily adjust images with glowing pet eyes, which often appear when photographing pets - the second most photographed subject among consumers.

Upload

In another industry first, this camera enables the quick tagging of photos for easy sharing with an in-camera image organization feature, compatible with Windows Vista.

In addition, the R837 features the latest generation of HP's Real Life technologies including the new HP touch-up technology for the removal of blemishes. All of these features are easy to see on a three-inch display with 170-degree viewing angle and "auto bright" display that automatically adjusts to the environment's ambient light.

HP further expanded its digital photography portfolio with two new M-Series digital cameras that start as low as $109.(3)

All of these new digital cameras are Windows Vista ready and offer consumers HP's Real Life technologies, including industry-leading in-camera red-eye removal,(4) HP Design Gallery and HP steady photo anti-shake to reduce blurring in photos.

Lab-quality photo printing for consumers who are at home or on the go

Joining HP's popular line of photo printers, HP announced the HP Photosmart A440 Series Camera and Printer Docks - a complete photo system that brings lab-quality photo printing to consumers at home or on the go.

In addition to automatically reducing red-eye and enhancing photos with the HP Red Eye button, this compact photo printer delivers long-lasting photos that resist fading for generations using HP Advanced Photo Paper and HP Vivera inks.(5) HP printing systems provide customers an unrivaled combination of quality, reliability, speed and ease of use at competitive prices, including the ability to print photos for as low as 24 cents per 4 x 6-inch photo.(6)

HP Photosmart Essential 2.0 software brings photos to life with new user interface

With the latest HP Photosmart Essential 2.0 software, users can more quickly and easily find, organize and edit photos, get lab quality prints and album pages, and securely share photos online with friends and family. The personalized home page showcases recent photos while simple web-like navigation and on-screen help ensure success.

The software is currently available for free download in 21 languages at http://www.hp.com/go/pse. Additionally, HP Photosmart Essential 2.0 is featured on new consumer PCs and notebooks and is expected to ship with fall 2007 hardware products.

Virtual house calls with HP SmartFriend for Digital Photography

Through a new service called HP SmartFriend for Digital Photography, HP is using the Internet to connect technical support agents or "SmartFriends" with customers' computers to better help them with their digital photography needs. Now, when customers have questions about cropping photos or changing printer settings to enhance their photos, they can watch their computer screens as a senior agent shows how them step by step. HP SmartFriend for Digital Photography is available in 45- or 75-minute virtual house call plans for help with digital photography "how to" questions.


http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/334347.html

Nokia Launches the N95, But Not In The U.S.

Nokia has started shipping its top-flight N95 Internet and multimedia smartphone...in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Finland's Nokia has begun shipping its top-flight N95 Internet- and multimedia-savvy smartphone, marking the company's latest attempt to integrate mobile phone functionality with a media player, video camera, high-resolution still photography, mapping and location services, and mobile Internet capability. And if that sounds interesting, you'd better live in Europe, Asia, or the Middle East, because there's no word on when—if ever—the N95 will make it to the North American market.

The N95 features a two-way slider design, sporting a 2.6-inch 320 by 240 pixel LCD display, and an integrated video-capable 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. The N95 is designed to offer high speed connectivity, handling HSDPA with support for WLAN, EDGE, and WCDMA networks. The N95 also sports an integrated GPS receiver (including support for Nokia Maps, so users can find their way around in more than 150 countries and choose among over 15 million points of interest), and includes and integrated email client, Web browser, and PIM applications. If you can't get to the Internet via high-speed mobile networks, there's always the N95's integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. And if you don't like cables for syncing or hands-free talking, there's Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The N95 sports USB 2.0 connectivity and stores media and documents to microSD cards.

"The Nokia N95 is the ultimate multimedia computer and a fantastic example of what Nokia Nseries devices can deliver," said Juha Putkiranta, Nokia's senior VP for Multimedia, in a statement. "It easily replaces a number of single purpose devices with a well designed package that is with you and connected. The Nokia N95 is what computers have become—personal, powerful, and connected devices."

As a media player, the N95 supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, and M4A with playlist support; there's a headphone output, along with an integrated FM tuner. The N95 also supports Visual Radio which lets users pull up song info, artist details, and participate in interactive contests and surveys. On the video side, the N95 sports RealPlayer, and can play back MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, H.263/GPP, and RealVideo media. Of course, the N95 runs the S60 software on the Symbian OS, so a number of applications and enhancements are available for the unit.

Pricing on the N95 will vary by market—and Nokia says it plans to expand shipments in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East in the next few weeks—but the N95 should carry a price around €550 (about $730 USD) exclusive of service fees. When is it coming to the United States? Right now, nobody is saying whether the N95 will ever hop over to North America.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/12523


Samsung S850 (silver)

On most cameras' mode dials, PASM stands for Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Manual. They're the four primary shooting modes, besides Auto, that are found on most advanced cameras and don't often show up on a camera that costs less than $250. That's why the Samsung S850 surprised us so much.

The S850 is an 8-megapixel, sub-$250 shooter with full manual exposure controls, giving frugal photographers plenty of settings to tinker with. Manual mode even has a convenient onscreen meter that tells you if your photo will be over- or underexposed, an extremely useful tool when tweaking all the settings by hand. Strangely, the camera doesn't have a manual focus setting, forcing you to choose between center and multipoint autofocus. Manual focus would have been nice, but its absence is hardly a surprise; few, if any, low-end cameras offer manual focus.

Whether you're looking at the silver or black version, the first thing you'll notice about the S850 is its prominent lens. Instead of receding into the camera's body as do most compact cameras, the S850's lens protrudes more than half an inch from its body. It doesn't have the most aesthetically pleasing design, but it's not nearly as ridiculous as the small body/massive lens combinations found in its bigger brothers, the Samsung NV5 and the NV7 OPS. Regardless of appearance, the S850 feels very solid and accessible, with a dense, hard shell and a simple, well-placed control scheme.

A 38mm-to-190mm-equivalent lens gives the S850 a 5x zoom factor, a slight boost over most snapshot cameras' 3x zooms. Unfortunately, that 38mm starting point doesn't cut it for wide-angle shots. We had trouble trying to capture large rooms, buildings, and landscapes with this camera. While a 5x zoom can be handy for zooming in on subjects, we would have rather had a 28mm wide-angle and sacrificed some of the reach on the telephoto end. The S850 lacks a viewfinder, forcing you to use the 2.5-inch LCD screen for framing all of your shots.

While the S850 doesn't have optical or mechanical image stabilization, it does include Samsung's Advanced Shake Reduction, an ISO-boosting mode that hastens the shutter speed for better motion shots. Typically, electronic image stabilization like Samsung's ASR doesn't work much better than simply cranking up the ISO sensitivity and choosing a faster shutter speed yourself (as is possible in the S850's shutter-priority and manual modes). However, Samsung buried a unique feature called Wise Shot deep in the camera's ASR mode menu. Wise Shot takes two photos--one with ASR and one with flash--and shows you the results. A zoomed-in portion of the two photos lets you actively compare them before you choose which one you want to keep. Unfortunately, it's less useful than it sounds; the flashed pictures almost always look better than the ASR pictures, and since Wise Shot always takes a flash picture, you can't use it when you can't use your flash, anyway.

Slow shooting holds the S850 back. According to our lab tests, after a 2.1-second start-up time, the camera took an additional 2.1 seconds between every shot. With the onboard flash enabled, that wait expanded to 3.2 seconds. The shutter fared better, lagging only 0.5 second with our high-contrast target and 1 second under low-contrast conditions. The burst mode shot a single frame per second, which is a tad slow for an 8-megapixel camera.

Artifacts and overprocessing plague the S850's photos, rendering fine details such as text blurry. Noise begins to manifest as low as ISO 200, creeping up in the shadows. At ISO 400 the grain becomes quite recognizable on a computer monitor, though it goes unnoticed in 8x10 prints. ISO 800 photos predictably develop serious noise, and ISO 1,600 shots appear covered in heavy, detail-obscuring fuzz.

The camera tends to underexpose shots, especially those taken under incandescent lighting. Fortunately, underexposure is much easier to fix than overexposure. When your photos are underexposed, simply adjusting image levels in photo-editing software can bring out the shadow detail. Most image editors and photo kiosks can perform these functions automatically with only a few clicks. Overexposed photos, on the other hand, can completely eradicate detail found in highlights, and are much harder to recover than underexposed shots.

Colors look good in most shots, with a few minor quirks. In general, automatic white balance works well when shooting outdoors under direct or overcast sunlight, and tungsten white balance works well when shooting indoors under most incandescent and fluorescent lighting. The fluorescent preset tends to overcompensate, resulting in a slightly reddish cast. Of course, manual white balance gave the most neutral results, but needs to be reset whenever you change lighting conditions.

As one of the least expensive cameras with manual exposure controls out there, the Samsung S850 is a great choice for young or inexperienced photographers who want to step beyond simple snapshooting, without investing more than $250. While it suffers from flaws like slow shot-to-shot time, a narrow lens, and slight underexposing, you'd be hard pressed to find a better training camera for the price.


http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/digital-cameras/samsung-s850-silver/4505-6501_7-32332779.html?part=ecoustics-cnet


Corbis to take 'microstock' plunge

For the small army of photographers looking for Web sites to sell images at low prices, there already are many choices: Dreamstime, Fotolia, iStockphoto, Stockxpert, 123rf, BigStockPhoto, CreStock, LuckyOliver, Can Stock Photo, Shutterstock.

This month, Corbis, an established but traditional seller of stock photos, will add its name to the list as part of an effort to attain profitability. Until now, the company has missed out as this "microstock" market blossomed, with networks growing to encompass thousands of photographers and buyers. Gary Shenk, Corbis' president and, come July 1, its chief executive, is unworried about the timing.

"It's by no means too late," Shenk said. "We feel the microstock industry is still at the top of the first inning. Nobody's really emerged with the ultimate experience."

Corbis is the other company founded by Bill Gates, who still owns 100 percent of its shares. It has yet to become profitable, but the microstock site and Shenk's promotion to CEO are elements of a turnaround strategy.

"We're going to be acutely focused on profitability over the next couple months," Shenk said.

The growth of microstock sites has been fueled by the increasing quality of digital cameras, the eagerness of amateur photographers to make a little supplementary income, and an appetite for low-cost, royalty-free photos. Corbis' two biggest rivals moved into the microstock business in 2006, sending a clear message that the microstock business was to be taken seriously. Jupiterimages acquired a 90 percent interest in Stockxpert, and stock art leader Getty Images acquired iStockphoto.

The head of one microstock rival, Fotolia, said he's unworried about Corbis' arrival as a direct competitor. "They have the name of Corbis, but it's a new business," said Oleg Tscheltzoff, Fotolia's co-founder and president. "What makes a microstock site successful is the customers," and Corbis will have to attract a new set.

A warm welcome
Corbis may be late to the microstock party, but it won't need much of an introduction.

"I will definitely apply to the microstock offering from Corbis. No hesitation," said Lee Torrens, author of the Microstock Diaries blog and an amateur photographer who submits his own photos to several sites. Given that he's a hobbyist, not a professional, though, he has modest expectations Corbis will approve his work.

Deciding whether to join a new microstock--thereby potentially reaching a new batch of buyers--isn't the no-brainer it might appear to be at first glance. It takes time to upload photos, tag them with keywords and ensure that model release forms are filled out and attached when images show human faces. Torrens concluded earlier this year that some second-tier microstocks might not be worth his time.

Torrens expects Corbis to be worthwhile. Although it's hard for cash-strapped microstock start-ups to build critical mass, he said, Corbis "has a large existing business behind them, one of the top brands in stock photography and probably all the industry contacts there are," he said. "These same factors will give them sufficient advantage to easily overtake the second-tier players."

There often are incentives for stock photographers to sell their work exclusively through one site--iStockphoto lets top exclusive photographers keep 40 percent of the proceeds compared to 20 percent for ordinary members, for example--but Corbis is counting on photographers spreading their eggs among several baskets.

"One thing we have going for us is that photographers are submitting to multiple sites. Very few are exclusively submitting to one site," Shenk said.

That assessment was one factor in Corbis' decision to build its own microstock site rather than purchase an existing one. "None of these companies out there have enormous barriers to entry or competitive advantage," Shenk said. "We decided building it ourselves, given the valuation environment, was a much better way to go."

Corbis can offer microstock members something most others can't: access to the higher-end stock art market. "We're using the microstock as a farm club to find great photographers who can sell their photographs on the main Corbis Web site," Shenk said.

Microstock sites may have shaken up the stock photo business, but Shenk plans on doing some shaking of his own by taking the microstock business into new domains.

"Right now the microstocks are still operating as mini-Corbises and mini-Gettys, selling into a very low end of the professional market," Shenk said. "The big opportunity is finding a much broader customer base--people who may never have bought a picture before (such as) kids putting pictures in school reports."

Fending off competitors
But what about being eaten up by the little guys, or in iStockphoto's case, the little guys backed by big guy muscle? In some areas of the technology business, companies that build a business selling lower-end products can dethrone companies with higher-end, higher-cost alternatives, as chronicled in The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen. Shenk doesn't believe Corbis is vulnerable, though, when it comes to stock art.

"It's much harder to start at the bottom and work your way up," building a sales force to target big ad agencies, creating effective search technology, assembling a consistently high-quality portfolio and ensuring rock-solid copyrights and model release rights. In contrast, he argued, "For us to launch a micro site, that's relatively straightforward."

The other threat is whether cheaper sites will gobble up business by luring away otherwise high-paying customers. Shenk's counterpart at Getty, CEO Jonathan Klein, thinks the issue is legitimate but minor.

"I think cannibalization is a fact of life--and completely overblown," Klein said. But in a reference to the iStockphoto acquisition, he added, "If I have to be cannibalized, I'd rather cannibalize myself and find a new customer base."

Shenk agrees that microstocks generally involve new customers. "Nine out of ten customers of microstocks would never contemplate (buying) a picture at Corbis or Getty. The vast majority of microstock customers haven't even heard of Corbis."

The cannibalization issue may be slight, but the flip side is that Corbis can't benefit from a well-recognized, trusted brand.

Bruised business
Gates' initial vision for Corbis was a supplier of images people could display on flat-panel screens he imagined would festoon homes. Indeed, Gates' house has many such screens, though the controlling software is in need of an upgrade.

To that end, the company bought rights to "iconic, historical and celebrity" images, Shenk said. Classic photos of Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein are in the collection.

"Fifteen years later, that model is starting to emerge," Shenk said, though so far mostly on the tiny screens of mobile phones, but in the meantime, Corbis has struggled financially.

Though the Seattle-based company has 1,100 employees in 24 offices in 16 countries, and though its revenue increased 11 percent to $251 million in 2006, Corbis remains in the red.

To cut expenses, the company is installing a new accounting and business operation system that will gradually unify the computer infrastructure across the 27 different companies Corbis has acquired. And it will overhaul its Web site to make e-commerce easier and less expensive, he said.

And to increase revenue, the company has three main thrusts. The microstock push is one, but, Shenk predicted, "For the next few years it will be a sliver of our business."

More significant in the near term will be the rights services business Shenk led within Corbis, in which the company handles the chores of acquiring images such as songs or artwork used in advertisements and movies. That business accounted for about 20 percent of Corbis' revenue in recent years, Shenk said.

And for licensing its photography, the company is expanding its focus from editorial buyers such as the news media to the larger market of commercial buyers such as advertisers. There, Corbis will take on its larger rival more directly. "Getty is in the sweet spot, and that's where we're going now," Shenk said.

And though microstock appeals to some commercial buyers, such as those who produce annual reports and PowerPoint presentations, Shenk believes all the emphasis on microstock has distracted competitors from more lucrative customers.

"While other companies are racing to the bottom of the market," Shenk said, "we're capturing a lot of share in the large, commercial part of our marketplace."


http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/2100-1025_3-6187931.html?part=ecoustics-cnet&tag=feed_2574&subj=6187931


Amazon snaps up Digital Photography Review

Amazon.com announced on Monday that it has acquired Digital Photography Review, also known as Dpreview.com, a London-based site that specializes in reviews, information, news and discussion forums pertaining to the digital-camera market. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Jeff Bezos, the online megaretailer's founder and CEO, said in a statement that Digital Photography Review is "by far the most authoritative source anywhere for straight talk about new digital cameras." Dpreview, which was founded in 1998 as a hobby by Phil Askey and, according to the site, now employs several other editors, plans to continue to operate independently. Amazon has not otherwise stated specific plans for its new purchase.


http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/2110-1038_3-6183488.html?part=ecoustics-cnet&tag=feed_2574&subj=6183488

BenQ Sells Digital Camera Business

Still trying to get back on its feet after its debacle with mobile phones, BenQ has sold its digital camera division to Ability Enterprise...dirt cheap.

Taiwan's BenQ is still struggling to get back on its feet after a series of significant setbacks, including its mis-adventure in the mobile phone business (which has found the company essentially selling off the remainders of Seimens AG as scrap), the arrest of BenQ executives on insider trading charges, and the recent dicey move to spin off its own brand and keep hold of its manufacturing assets. Now, the company has announced a "strategic partnership" with Taiwan's Ability Enterprise which has Ability paying book value for BenQ's digital camera business, including manufacturing and R&D facilities.

"Digital camera is one of our most important and profitable product lines," said BenQ President Sheaffer Lee in a statement. "Ability will remain as one of our most important strategic suppliers for future BenQ branded digital cameras"

The deal is expected to close on June 30, and will have about 70 BenQ employees joining Ability as of June 1. Although the companies did not disclose financial details of the transaction, industry analysts and a BenQ representative have put the expected value of the deal around $3 million.

The arrangement will let BenQ offer digital cameras from a number of different suppliers while reducing their own manufacturing and product development overhead, although the company apparently intends to market cameras under the BenQ brand using Ability as a supplier.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/13045

Casio EX-Z1200 Moves to 12 Megapixels

Casio's new Exilim EX-Z1200 camera offers 12 megapixel resolution, 2.8 LCD viewfinder, face detection, and a high-quality movie mode.

Casio has announced the EX-Z1200, a new top-line model in its Exilim digital camera line offering a 12.1 megapixel resolution, face detection technology, image stabilization, and a high-quality movie mode. The camera supplants last year's EX-Z1000 model, which marked Casio's first Exilim to crack the 10 megapixel barrier.

"The newest addition of the slim, stylish EXILIM line represents Casio's continuing objective to produce innovative products fit for everyone's needs," said Bill Heuer, VP of Casio's Digital Imaging Division, in a statement. "The EX-Z1200 incorporates the same characteristics from the EX-Z1000 and adds new features such as face detection and motion analysis technology which make photographs more life like."

The EX-Z1200 offers a 12.1 megapixel CCD with a 3× optical zoom, a CDD-shifting image stabilization system to help eliminate blurring due to camera motion, along with in-camera digital blur reduction technologies. The camera also offers face detection technologies which can track a human face in its frame and correct focus and exposure for that face as the camera ad subject move. The camera also offers a 3 shot/second burst mode (at three megapixels), and sports a 2.8-inch LCD display. Users can store images to SD/SDHC memory cards, and the camera has 11.4 MB of on-board memory. The camera offers a series of movie modes for folks who don't want to carry around a separate camcorder—including options for a 848 by 480 "HQ Wide" mode—although video recording time is apparently limited to 10 minutes per file regardless of resolution.

Casio is also offering a new feature in the Z1200: eBay Best Shot mode, which takes images automatically sized for best display on the online auction site eBay (like, say, if you wanted to sell that now-outdated Z1000 or that "fun" Casio musical keyboard). The eBay mode includes an auto macro function for snapping pictures of tags and small items like jewelry, and stashes all eBay mode images in a special directory.

The Exilim EX-Z1200 should be available at retailers beginning in mid-July at a suggested price of $399.99. Silver and black versions will be available.


http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/13046