Editor’s Note: This camera will be known as the EOS Rebel T2 in the USA.

Canon UK Press Release 19/08/04

Canon upgrades Europe?s best selling analogue SLR
 
Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces its latest analogue SLR camera, the EOS 300X. Replacing the popular EOS 300V, the EOS 300X produces the fastest AF speed in its class with 7-point wide area AF, while 2.5fps in AI SERVO AF mode gives the camera class-leading predictive focus speed. The camera can fire off up to 3fps in One Shot AF mode and Flash metering is upgraded to Canon?s new distance linked E-TTL II system. The camera will sell as body only, or as a kit with the new Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 III, which is compatible with the E-TTL II flash metering.

Shutter speed is increased and now extends from 30 sec to 1/4000 sec, with flash synchronisation at 1/125 sec. AF points can be manually selected with new ergonomic cross keys, which fall under the fingers for intuitive, one hand operation. The more compact body has an improved ergonomic design and features a luxuriant dark metallic finish and a rubber skin on the grip. A large 30 x 30 mm illuminated LCD shows all key camera controls at a glance, while the durable body features a rugged metal lens mount. Extremely quiet shutter release and motor wind makes the camera suited for shooting in situations where discretion is required.

Canon UK Press Release 19/08/04

Canon’s flagship compact film camera now has 4.7x zoom

Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces the 35mm Canon Sure Shot 180u Date compact camera with a 4.7x zoom lens. The Sure Shot 180u Date is amongst the smallest compact zoom cameras in its class. A chic blast-finish aluminium alloy cover and extensive use of metal components complete the camera’s stylish design, which includes a large rear LCD for fast, easy viewing of key camera controls. Incorporated are a retractable 38-180mm f/5.6-12.9 zoom lens, full compliment of six Programmed Image Control (PIC) modes and a zoom-coupled passive 7-point auto focus. A compact Light Guide zoom flash provides the Sure Shot 180u Date with a long flash range of 2.2 metres and the camera can be triggered remotely via an optional controller RC-5. A date function allows date and time recording to photographs.

Canon UK Press Release 19/08/04

Canon wins two EISA awards for Professional Camera and Photo Printer of the Year
 
Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, has received two prizes at this year’s prestigious European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA) awards: the EOS-1D Mark II was named European Professional Camera of the Year 2004?2005 and the Bubble Jet i9950 was awarded European Photo Printer of the Year 2004?2005. “At Canon we are passionate about photography, so we are delighted and honoured to receive these two prestigious EISA awards,” said Malcolm Hills, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging in the UK and Ireland. “The awards cement our commitment to Canon customers and reinforce our dedication to continuously innovating in both digital photography and photo printing technology.” 

A Dutch photography retailer has started listed the Canon EOS 20D and the other cameras that were leaked yesterday, complete with speficiations for all of them. The listed price of the 20D is 1998,00 euros.

Website: www.sdcard.be

Pure Digital Technologies are set to introduce the world’s first ever disposable digital camera, retailing in the USA for $19.99. Ritz, CVS, Disney World and Longs Drugs are all going to stock the 2-megapixel camera, which somewhat amazingly has a color preview screen and allows you to delete images before you take it to the store for processing (where you will receive a free picture CD along with your prints).

“Jonathan Kaplan says his company can capitalize on the shift. The secret of his business model is not just persuading retailers to stock his product - but an image processor unit as well. It gets hooked up to the store’s minilab to transfer pictures from the camera.

Unlike traditional digital cameras, you can’t connect the Pure Digital camera to a home PC to transfer images. And retailers like that. It brings customers into the store, Kaplan says.”

Kaplan predicts he’ll have sold 500,000 cameras by the end of the year - hmmm, we’ll see…

Website: USAToday - A disposable digital camera enters the market at $19.99

Website: Yahoo Finance

Ricoh Press Release 19/08/04

Ricoh launches the Caplio RZ1 -a fashionable 4.0 megapixel digital camera with 3x optical zoom lens in a 25mm super slim body

August 19th, 2004. Ricoh is proud to announce the release of the Caplio RZ1, a fashionable 4.0 megapixel digital camera with an outstanding 35 mm lens and a 3x optical zoom lens in a super slim body as thin as 25 mm. On the performance side, the Caplio RZ1 also incorporates technologies that professional photographers would appreciate -  outstanding 1cm macro technology, and the combination of a 4.0 megapixel CCD and Ricoh’ unique image processor -while offering user-friendly functionality that is sure to capture the hearts of all photo enthusiasts. The Caplio RZ1 offers all these and many other features at a surprisingly reasonable price.

*  As of August 2004 for all auto focus digital camera

PCMagazine have published a shortish review of the Canon CP-330 Photo Printer:

“One minor issue is that unlike some of its competitors, which can print from memory cards, the CP-330 can print only from a camera or computer. We printed both ways on our tests, with consistent times of 1 minute 26 seconds to 1 minute 33 seconds. Output quality was just short of excellent, missing a perfect score primarily because of obvious aliasing in the bicycle spokes in one image, but this was a problem only when we were printing in borderless mode.”

Website: PCMagazine - Canon CP-330 Photo Printer Review

Roger Cavanagh has published a informative tutorial about combining 2 different versions of a RAW file to produce one image with greater dynamic range. He’s even created a Photoshop action to help automate the process.

“One of the advantages of shooting raw is that it is possible to convert the same image more than once using different conversion settings. Put another way, one conversion can be made for the highlights and another for the shadows. These conversions can then be combined to produce an image which has more overall detail and greater dynamic range.”

Website: Roger Cavanagh - Creating Composites

Sony Press Release 18/08/04

SONY DEBUTS NEW PHOTO PRINTER: COMPACT SIZE, LAB QUALITY PRINTS

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 18, 2004 - With a footprint smaller in size than an 8"x 10” portrait, Sony’s new PictureStation DPP-FP30 printer makes it easy to print and share lab-quality photos with or without the use of a personal computer. About the size of a standard paperback the compact FP30 printer will be available in October with an included 40 sheet print pack for about $150.

Featuring a lightweight silver colored casing and cleanly styled industrial design (approximately 7” x 5.5” x 2.5”), the DPP-FP30 printer is a dedicated photo printer that uses dye-sublimation technology to produce continuous tone, photo- quality prints. Each photo is sealed with SuperCoat 2 laminate which makes photos super-resistant to spills, moisture and fingerprints.

“With the introduction of the compact and PictBridge compatible DPP-FP30 printer, Sony now offers consumers a comprehensive line of high-quality and easy-to-use 4 x 6-inch printers,” said Greg Young, general manager for Sony Electronics’ Digital Camera and Photo Printer marketing.

That’s the question that NEAsia Online are asking, as both companies are set to launch cheaper DSLR cameras in the next couple of months. Some interesting tidbits of info about the new cameras are:

“Olympus has yet to disclose the details about its new single-lens reflex camera due to be released this autumn but it will likely offer the popular features of the E-1, such as automatic removal of dust from the charge coupled device when lenses are being changed. Komiya claims the new camera will offer unique capabilities that will set it apart from Canon and Nikon products.”

and:

“Pentax will likely distinguish its new camera from rival firms’ products by making it more compact and lighter. The price could be as low as 100,000 yen, as it will be manufactured in the Philippines.”

Website: NEAsia Online

Q-Technologies Press Release 14/08/04

Q-Technologies releases PictureTheBatch 1.1 for Windows and Macintosh.

Transform your digital images quickly and easily with PictureTheBatch.

Melbourne, Australia (August 14, 2004) - Q-Technologies announced today the release of PictureTheBatch 1.1, a feature release.  PictureTheBatch is an easy to use tool that enables users to transform their digital photos in an easy, reproducible manner.

PictureTheBatch 1.1 introduces the ability to drop a directory of images for processing and an option to keep the file modification date the same as the source image.

PictureTheBatch is a batch processing tool for photos and other images.  The user simply drags the photo(s) from Windows Explorer or the Macintosh Finder and drops them onto the drop window or application icon.  A configuration screen then presents itself so the user can choose how they want to transform the photo(s).  Transformations available include colour adjustment, resizing, rotating, filters and overlaying text or other images.

Rollei Press Release 18/08/04

The Rollei Prego da4 is the second new model in a versatile line of Rollei digital cameras.

By comparison with the entry-level model Prego da3, the Prego da4 has even more to offer: A 4.1-megapixel CCD is a sound basis for high-quality prints up to A4 size; a 3x D-VarioApogon zoom lens and a 3.3x digital zoom let you zoom in on your subject, and a video mode captures even moving images. The Prego da4 will be available for ? 249 (incl. VAT) from September 2004.

4.1 million pixels, a high-performance 3x D-VarioApogon zoom lens 5.6-16.8mm (equivalent to approx. 36-108 mm in 35mm photography) with maximum apertures of f/2.8-4.9 and a 3.3x digital zoom are the heart of this powerful but compact digital camera from the new Prego series. Focusing is controlled automatically from 0.5 m to infinity; a macrofocus setting takes care of subject distances as short as 15 ? 50 cm.

Rollei Press Release 18/08/04

With the launch of their new 3-megapixel Prego da3 model, Rollei are starting an entirely new line of digital cameras.

The Prego da3 is the entry model of a new family of powerful and compact, general-purpose digital cameras. With an image resolution of 3.2 megapixels, a high-quality 3x zoom lens, 5x digital zoom and both video and voice-recording options, the Prego da3 is the ideal entry-level digital camera. It will be available for ? 179 (incl. VAT) from end of August 2004.

The 3.2-megapixel camera has a high-performance D-VarioApogon HFT zoom lens offering focal lengths from 36 mm right up to 108 mm (equivalent to 35mm photography). This 3x optical zoom is enhanced by a 5x digital zoom.

As if all of that Canon news wasn’t enough, PhotographyBLOG visitor Dirk Ellenbeck has kindly let me know that the Leica Digital-Modul-R, which turns the analogue Leica R8 or R9 SLR into a digital one, was officially revealed yesterday at a pre-Photokina press conference in Hamburg. There’s no details yet on Leica’s website, but Dirk does have a page with the specs on his weblog (in German though).

Website: Dirk Ellenbeck’s Weblog

Leica Press Release/Specifications 17/08/04

LEICA DIGITAL-MODUL-R: The world’s first digital 35mm camera back

Choice of digital or analog photography with the same LEICA R8 and R9 SLR camera and lenses

This year’s photokina photo trade fair in Cologne will witness the presentation of the world’s first digital 35mm camera back by Leica Camera AG, Solms. Using the LEICA DIGITAL-MODUL-R, the analog SLR cameras LEICA R8 and R9 can be transformed into digital cameras in next to no time. Any of the high-performance lenses of the Leica R system made after 1965 can be used in combination with this new development to produce top-quality digital and analog photos. The photographer can decide from photo to photo whether to benefit from the fast communication possibilities and direct result checking offered by digital photography or opt for the permanence, authenticity and emotional quality of silver halide photography.

“This hybrid product links the decades of investment of our customers in lenses and cameras for film-based photography to the progress made in digital technology. The LEICA DIGITAL-MODUL-R is the logical consequence of Leica’s product philosophy, which is based on decades of system compatibility and retention of value,” said Hanns-Peter Cohn, CEO of Leica Camera AG at the product presentation.

Deliveries for the LEICA DIGITAL-MODUL-R are scheduled to begin in December 2004.

Need I say anymore?!

Wll, OK then :-) It looks as though Canon USA have dropped the ball by posting 3 images of the EOS 20D in their press room before the official press release (widely rumoured to be the end of this week). They’re currently available at the following URL (although I wouldn’t expect that page to be there for very long…):

Website: Canon USA Press Room

As you can see from the pictures, the 20D will support the same EF-S lens mount as the EOS 300D, and there is a new EF-S lens in the shape of the 17-85mm F4-5.6, which will also be image-stabilised.

As for the actual specification of the camera, the best that I can do is this non-official list from a thread on the DPReview forums:

EOS-20D
8.2 MegaPixels
DIGIC II
1:1.6x Crop
9 Point focusing
1/8000s Max Shutter speed
5fps Continuous speed
25 frame buffer
EF-s support
E-TTL II support
0.2sec startup time
50g lighter than 10D

Price US$1600 RRP
(Street price should be closer to 1300 they say)

August 20 - Announcement
September 20 - On Sale

Also 2 Lenses will be announced at launch of 20D
EF-s 10-22mm /f 3.5-4.5
EF-s 17-85mm /f 4-5.6 IS (Will be sold with 20D also like the 300D)

Website: DPReview - Canon Forums

As well as the new Canon EOS 20D and 17-85mm EF-S lens, there are also official product shots of an exciting new wideangle lens, the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-4.5. Great news for all you ESO 300D owners out there who have yet to add a wideangle lens to your kit.

Finally (I think), the Canon Powershot G6 has also turned out to be real - the pictures that the French website Fnac.com posted a couple of weeks ago weren’t fake after all. As with the Canon EOS 20D news, Canon USA have now released the official photos.

Website: Canon USA Press Room