Kopin Corp. Press Release 24/03/04

Kopin’s World’s-Smallest Color Viewfinder Integrated Into SpyPen’s Stylish, Futuristic Digital Cameras

TAUNTON, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—March 24, 2004—Kopin Corp. (Nasdaq: KOPN) today announced that its new CyberDisplay(TM) 113K EVF, an ultra-small, ultra-low power electronic viewfinder system, has been integrated into the new SpyPen Oboe digital camera just introduced in Europe.

The SpyPen Oboe digital camera is manufactured by World Wide Licenses Ltd. for leading German digital camera company plawa-feinwerktechnik GmbH. The plawa SpyPen brand is known for its eye-catching designs and innovative form factors. The SpyPen Oboe debuted this month at CeBIT 2004. It features an unusual but stylish telescopic look with a 2.1-megapixel resolution and a 2x zoom.

“With its low power, miniature footprint and stunning image quality, Kopin’s viewfinder system enabled us to design a camera that is fun to use and makes a unique fashion statement,” said Giovanni Tomaselli, Managing Director of World Wide Licenses. “And unlike other digital cameras, the unique viewfinder enables pictures taken to be viewed clearly even in direct sunlight.”

“By providing a complete electronic viewfinder system, our new display technology allows manufacturers like World Wide Licenses to design more creatively while shortening design cycles, outsourcing more of their production needs and reducing the time to introduce new products to market,” said Kopin Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. John C.C. Fan.

Some random photographs that don’t fit into any of the hypothetical boxes that I’m trying to categorise my Tenerife photos into (despite there being a large number of different boxes…). Hence the title “Miscellaneous Moments”.

There have been a couple of budget-priced digital cameras announced in the last couple of days that haven’t been widely reported in the photography world. First up is the D’zign DZ 338, a 3.2 megapixel camera with a very minimal design that has a suggested RRP of just £99. Full details can be found on the DP-Now website. Next is the Yakumo Mega-Image 57, a 5-megapixel model that will sell for around 200 Euros. Visit the German website Digitalkamera.de for the full story.

Website: DP-Now - D’zign DZ 338

Website: Digitalkamera.de - Yakumo Mega-Image 57

Steves Digicams have just reviewed the Canon Powershot S1 IS digital camera, which offers 10x image stablised zoom, 3 megapixels and high-quality 640 x 480 video at 30 frames/second with sound.

“Canon’s PowerShot S1 IS represents a practical and cost-effective alternative to the 8-megapixel high-end consumer digicams dominating the headlines this year. Like its predecessor the Powershot Pro 90IS, the S1 combines a 3-megapixel imager and a 10x image-stabilized optical zoom lens. The difference that three years in digicam evolution makes means that the new S1 is now much more compact, faster and less than half the price.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Review

Popular Photography magazine have posted their review of the 8-megapixel Sony DSC-F828 digital camera.

“As with the F717, autofocusing is another very strong point - fast and sensitive in normal conditions. In low or no light, the camera projects a holographic focusing target by laser; within a range of about 16 feet, it makes for AF nearly as fast as in bright light.”

Website: Popular Photography - Sony DSC-F828 Review (PDF Format)

Popular Photography have also reviewed the 3.2 megapixel Kyocera Finecam SL300R.

“Press the shutter and The Twister starts clicking away merrily at over 3 frames per second. It’s true continuous shooting, and works with all resolution and compression settings. We filled a 256MB card with 242 full-resolution images (2048x1536 pixels) in 78 seconds, for a rate of 3.1 fps - a little slower than Kyocera?s claim of 3.5 fps, but still astounding.”

Website: Popular Photography - Kyocera Finecam SL300R Review (PDF Format)

CNET have reviewed the 3.2 megapixel Kyocera Finecam SL300R. Kyocera claims that this is the world’s thinnest 3x optical zoom digital camera, which virtually eliminates lag time and is capable of unlimited continuous shooting at an unprecedented 3.5 frames per second.

“The Kyocera Finecam SL300R is an interesting-looking camera whose big claims to fame are its swivel-lens design and incredible burst mode. Otherwise it’s just an average 3 Megapixel / 3X zoom camera.”

Website: DCResource - Kyocera Finecam SL300R Review

CNET have reviewed the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 digital camera, which should be available in your local photography shop now.

“If you live by the philosophy that you can’t be too rich or too thin, the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T1 belongs in the pocket of your Armani suit. This ultrachic, thin, high-resolution snapshot camera boasts a large 2.5-inch LCD, unusually good video capabilities, and a Carl Zeiss 3X zoom lens. But despite the T1’s cool factor, enthusiasts won’t be satisfied with its minimal advanced controls, and persnickety shooters will look down their noses at its image quality.”

Website: CNET - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 Review

The Norwegian website Akamera.no have just reviewed the Canon Powershot S1 IS digital camera, which offers 10x image stablised zoom, 3 megapixels and high-quality 640 x 480 video at 30 frames/second with sound.

Website: Akamera.no - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Review

Creo Inc. Press Release 22/03/04

Creo Inc.: Leaf Valeo 22Wi and New Leaf Valeo 17Wi Go Wireless

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—(BUSINESS WIRE)—March 22, 2004—Creo Inc. (NASDAQ: CREO)(TSX: CRE) is pleased to announce that the fastest digital camera back system - the Leaf(TM) Valeo - is now wireless. This next generation Leaf Valeo is being introduced with an innovative wireless display on two models: the Leaf Valeo 22Wi and the new Leaf Valeo 17Wi, with resolutions of 22 and 17 million pixels respectively. Both camera backs feature an unmatched fast capture rate, optimized 3:4 format ratio CCD, Portable Power technology, and In-Studio Large Format Power.

The new Leaf Valeo Wi family uses built-in Bluetooth(R) wireless technology to accomplish two-way communication between the camera and the Leaf DP-67, a 6 x 7 cm (3.9 inch) image display and control unit, based on the HP iPAQ pocket PC. By using the Leaf DP-67 image display and control unit, users can zoom-in on high resolution images that display instantly, verify focus, set camera parameters or even manage files and folders from a distance of up to 10 meters (33 feet). The DP-67 acts as both a “digital proof” and a “personal photographic assistant”.

Jasc Software, Inc. Press Release 22/03/04

New Version Delivers Smart, Simple Tools for Digital Photos

MINNEAPOLIS, March 22 /PRNewswire/—Jasc Software, Inc. today announced the release of the public beta version of Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 5, the newest version of its award-winning digital camera software. With a completely redesigned interface that follows the digital camera user’s workflow, Paint Shop Photo Album puts tools right at the user’s fingertips. Photo Album 5 gives consumers a new level of choice and simplicity not seen in the industry before: choice in viewing, enhancing, sharing, and protecting photos.

With more options to view and organize photos, users can choose to view by file tree, favorite folders, calendar view, or keywords. Photo Album gives users the ability to switch quickly and easily between views. Users are not forced into only one way of working with photos; they can make the choice.

The Plugin Site Press Release 23/03/04

March 23, 2004 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) has just released Photo Galaxy 2300. Photo Galaxy 2300 is a collection of more than 950 royalty-free digital photos on CD-ROM sorted into 118 different categories. The photos mainly consist of photo textures that were selected from a pool of a several thousand photos to ensure high quality. The photos can be used for a lot of different purposes, e.g. as material for graphics artwork or multimedia projects, as decoration for web sites, brochures, flyers or other print products, as desktop backgrounds and many other things.

Why Photo Galaxy is different
Photo collections usually provide thousands of almost unusable low-resolution photos or with very few high-resolution photos at a high price. Photo Galaxy is different in two aspects. Unlike other photo collections it offers a wide range of high-resolution photos at an affordable price. Secondly, it is allowed to use the photos on a royalty-free basis, which means that the photos can be used for commercial purposes at no additional costs.

Epson Japan have posted a marketing brochure (PDF format) for their new Rangefinder Digital Camera RD-1, the world’s first rangefinder digital camera.

Website: Epson Japan - Epson RD-1 Brochure

A rather grand, albeit modern, building in the centre of Santa Cruz, and a clever sculpture in the visual arts area of the city ( I somehow managed to walk past it for several days running, despite it being as tall as me).

Pyroport.com have posted a new review of a production version of the Olympus C-750 digital camera, which offers 4 megapixels and an optical 10x zoom lens (found via Gizmodo).

“Once again Olympus have produced a worthy camera that has a lot of useful features for a reasonable price. There are some faults with the camera, but these are far outweighed by the high quality build, vast features and usability.”

Website: Pyroport.com - Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom Review

Rob Galbraith has just updated his CompactFlash Performance Database with a number of new additions, including full results for the Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n and Nikon D70 digital SLR cameras and performance benchmarks for CompactFlash and Secure Digital cards from Delkin, Microtech (Pexagon), Ridata (Ritek), Sandisk and Viking, as well as a revamped 40X Pro Series card from Lexar. Well worth checking out if you’re looking for the fastest cards available.

Website: Rob Galbraith’s CompactFlash Performance Database

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have reviewed the 3.2 megapixel Minolta DiMAGE Z1. This digicam has a 10x optical zoom lens, equivalent to a 38-380mm 35mm camera zoom, which in combination with the digital zoom offers a 40X zoom range.

Website: Index Digicam - Minolta DiMAGE Z1 Review

Imaging Resource have published their full review of the new 8-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 8700 digital camera.

“Relatively low image noise at ISO 50, rapidly increases at higher ISO levels though. Image noise on the Coolpix 8700 is a bit of a mixed bag. Like most 8-megapixel cameras, its overall noise levels are higher than those of the best 4- and 5-megapixel models. That said, I found that it produced surprisingly “clean” images at ISO 50, with less noise than I expected, and indeed, lower noise than many competing 8-megapixel models. Its noise levels seemed to increase more rapidly at higher ISO levels than some of the competition though.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Nikon Coolpix 8700 Review

The CeBIT electronics trade show in Hannover, Germany is now drawing to a close. There haven’t been too many new photography announcements, but if you want to catch up with everything that’s happened at the show, these reports by e-Fotografija and LetsGoDigital are essential reading.

Website: e-Fotografija - CeBIT 2004 Report

Website: LetsGoDigital - CeBIT 2004

Fujifilm Press Release 22/03/04

Fujifilm digital camera image scoops Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year award

Fujifilm is proud to announce that the winner of the prestigious Wanderlust Travel Photograph of the Year Award (Digital Category) is Andrew Chong, using Fujifilm’s FinePix 6800 Zoom camera.  Andrew’s photograph of wildlife on the Galapagos Islands was a clear winner, beating other entrants using newer or higher specification cameras, including the Nikon D100 and Canon EOS 10D.

The FinePix 6800 has been a hugely popular camera, and is ideally suited to the challenges of photographing wildlife because of its powerful optical zoom that captures images quickly and discreetly without intimidating the subject.  This feature enabled Andrew to achieve crisp, detailed images without having to use a large, bulky zoom lens.