Delkin Devices Inc. Press Release 09/02/04

DELKIN ADDS SD & HIGH CAPACITY GIGABYTE MEMORY CARDS TO ITS HIGH-SPEED EFILM PRO CARD LINE

Poway CA, February 9, 2004 Delkin Devices Inc., maker of premium quality eFilm memory cards and other innovative products for camera stores worldwide, today announced some major new additions to its high-speed eFilm PRO Card line.  The new eFilm Secure Digital (SD) PRO Card meets today’s need for speed for the new wave of video cameras and mobile camera phones requiring high-speed SD memory cards.  Initial eFilm SD PRO Card capacities will be 256MB and 512MB (with SD PRO 1GB coming in Q2) and are expected to be among the fastest Secure Digital memory cards on the market. Transfer rate speeds up to 10 MB/s can be achieved.  A 512MB SD PRO Card can hold approximately 4 hours and 20 minutes of MPEG4 video, 4 hours of MP3 audio (128 kbps), and 1,041 JPEG photos (standard/1600x1200 pixels).

Delkin is also increasing the storage capacities to their already popular eFilm CompactFlash (CF) PRO Cards for high-end SLR digital cameras. High-capacities of 1 and 2 Gigabytes (GB) now join the existing PRO Card capacities of 128MB, 256MB, 320MB, 512MB and the unique “straight to CD-R” capacity of 640MB. eFilm PRO cards are Delkin?s premium series of memory cards designed to quench the professional photographer’s thirst for speed. As digital cameras continue to evolve into sophisticated tools, Delkin has positioned the eFilm PRO card as the state of the art high-speed digital memory card. The eFilm CF PRO Cards are solid-state, and designed to be fast and durable for extensive shooting in the most extreme conditions.

Delkin Devices Inc. Press Release 09/02/04

DELKIN EXPANDS DIGITAL CAMERA BATTERY AND READER/WRITER PRODUCT LINE

Poway CA, February 9, 2004 Delkin Devices Inc., maker of premium quality eFilm memory cards and other innovative products for camera stores worldwide, today announced an expanded line of digital camera and camcorder batteries.  These new products will be introduced at PMA in Las Vegas February 12 through 15 at their booth C166. Chief among the products is the eFilm RCR-V3 digital camera battery.  Many of today?s digital cameras are powered by two or four AA batteries, or in their place one or two of the popular CR-V3 batteries.  But the CR-V3 is expensive and like Alkaline AA batteries, is disposable and presents an environmental concern with its one time use. Delkin?s RCR-V3 provides a rechargeable alternative in a Lithium Ion battery.  The RCR-V3 also offers greater power output than NiMH researchable batteries, holds a charge longer, weighs much less, and is more economical over time.  Delkin Devices offers the RCR-V3 packaged with a battery charger.  The RCR-V3 is also sold separately.

SimpleTech Press Release 09/02/04

SimpleTech Announces Industry’s Highest Capacity 8 GB CompactFlash Card With 10MB/sec Write Speed

New 8 GB Card Utilizes Company’s Patented IC Tower Stacking Technology

SANTA ANA, Calif., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—SimpleTech, Inc. (Nasdaq: STEC), a designer, manufacturer and marketer of custom and open-standard memory solutions based on Flash memory and DRAM technologies, today announced the industry’s highest capacity CompactFlash with an 8 GB Type II card using the Company’s patented stacking technology. The Company also announced 2, 4 and 5 GB Type I cards and a significant increase to the write speed of its entire ProX line of CompactFlash cards. The products will be unveiled at the PMA (Photo Marketing Association) trade show held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from February 12-15, 2004. SimpleTech will exhibit in booth N-64.

The Norwgian digital camera website Digit.no has posted its review of the Fuji Finepix S5000. This mid-range digital camera looks like a traditional SLR (but isn’t) and has a massive 10X optical zoom that is equivalent to equivalent to 37-370mm on a 35mm camera.

Website: Digit.no - Fuji FinePix S5000 Review

February 9, 2004, Miami Beach, FL - MAGIX, the award-winning technology leader in Personal Rich Media, announced today MAGIX Photo Cleaning Lab, the ‘must-have’ digital camera accessory that quickly repairs, organizes and preserves the thousands of digital images collected by photographers and consumers. Priced at only $49.99, MAGIX Photo Cleaning Lab includes real-time image correction, high-speed photo management, instant album creation, accelerated image explorer, photo printing, CD archiving and a powerful image editor in one easy-to-use program.

MAGIX Photo Cleaning Lab instantly resizes and restores digital photos, making it essential software for any photographer. Efficient batch-processing enables users to change entire folders of pictures to a different image format and resizes for printing, emailing or posting to a webpage. Exposure, focus, color correction and ‘red-eye’ reduction tasks are performed instantly—even while the photos playback in a slideshow.

NEW POLAROID X530 POINT-AND-SHOOT DIGITAL CAMERA USES FOVEON X3 DIRECT IMAGE SENSOR

Anticipated arrival of consumer camera with advanced technology due in 2004

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, February 11, 2004 ? Foveon Inc., a technology leader in high-quality digital image capture products, announced today that a new Polaroid brand digital camera will incorporate the 4.5 megapixel Foveon X3 direct image sensor. The camera is the world?s first point-and-shoot digital camera to incorporate X3 technology. Foveon X3 direct image sensors are the only image sensors that directly capture color in three layers, just like color film. This results in richer colors, warmer tones, and sharper images than are available through traditional image sensors.

First introduced in 2002, the X3 image sensor has only been available in a professional class digital camera. Now with the introduction of the Polaroid x530, consumers are able to enjoy the many benefits of X3 technology in an affordable full-featured point-and-shoot digital camera. The Polaroid x530 is scheduled to ship to retailers in June 2004 with a suggested retail price of $399.

As ever with new product releases, a number of websites have already been able to test out some of the Canon products and post previews or hands-on tests. Here in no particular order is a round-up of those websites:

Canon Powershot Pro 1

Website: Index Digicam - Canon Powershot Pro 1 Preview

Website: DPReview - Canon Powershot Pro 1 Preview

Website: Canon PowerShot Pro1 Sample Images

Canon PowerShot S1 IS

Website: DPReview - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Preview

Website: Canon PowerShot S1 IS Sample Images

Canon Focuses on Imaging Innovation, Long-Term Leadership and a Future That Anticipates, Meets, and Exceeds Customers’ Needs

LAS VEGAS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 9, 2004—Canon U.S.A.: Canon Raises Analog and Digital Imaging Standards Spanning Professional Product Sophistication to Point-and-Shoot Simplicity, Image Capture to Output and Photos to Video

Canon expands its commanding presence in the imaging industry with the rollout of nearly two-dozen new consumer products at the 2004 Photo Marketing Association exhibit Feb. 12 - 15. Building on the company’s recently announced record results for 2003, Canon’s big picture for 2004 features a battery of new imaging products designed to fit pro photographers’ needs and consumers’ lifestyles.

“Canon is proudly in the position of imaging industry leadership thanks to the foresight, creativity and talents of our engineers and designers who consistently find new ways to improve technology for real world applications,” said Yukiaki Hashimoto, senior vice president and general manager of the consumer imaging group at Canon U.S.A., Inc, a subsidiary of Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ - News). “It is our goal - our unwavering ethic - to provide our customers with products that raise their expectations of what is possible and then deliver on and even surpass those expectations.”

Canon USA Press Release 09/02/04

Canon Launches Industry-First 13 x 19 Inch Desktop Photo with ChromaPLUS Eight Color Ink System for Wider Color Gamut

The first in its class to offer eight individual ink tanks, the Canon i9900 desktop photo printer creates a 13 x 19-inch borderless photograph in under three minutes. The printer will be available in May for a suggested list price of $499.

LAS VEGAS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 9, 2004—Canon’s top-of-the-line i9900 desktop photo printer empowers consumers, photo enthusiasts and working photographers to make their own professional quality borderless photo prints. The 13 x 19-inch inkjet printer features new red and green ink cartridges for rich, accurate color rendition, industry leading 4800 x 2400 dpi(a) maximum color resolution, microscopic 2 picoliter ink droplets, as well as USB 2.0 Hi-speed(b) and Firewire(R) interfaces. The i9900 desktop photo printer will be available in May for a suggested list price $499.99(c).

The i9900 photo printer is the first in its class to offer eight individual ink tanks. Canon’s exclusive ChromaPLUS 8-color ink system adds individual red and green ink tanks to the cyan, magenta, yellow, black, photo cyan and photo magenta inks that are commonly found on six-color printers. The red ink tank allows for an approximately 60% increase in the orange/red gamut over six-color printing and provides for previously unobtainable orange hues and well as richer reds. The green ink adds about 30% increase in green gamut as compared to six-color printing and creates more accurate and deeper greens in grass and foliage. The resulting finished print more closely matches the color characteristics of positive photographic film.

Canon UK Press Release 09/02/04

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 9 February 2004. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today cements its leadership position in digital photography with the release of the 8.0 Megapixel PowerShot Pro1, the new flagship of the PowerShot range. Targeted at professional and highly advanced photographers, the camera is the first compact from Canon to be fitted with a Canon professional L-series lens; the f/2.4-3.5, 7.2-50.8mm (28-200mm 35mm film equivalent) USM lens. An abundance of features generally reserved for Canon’s high-end digital SLR cameras combine to deliver outstanding camera performance and exceptional image quality for enlargements up to A2 size.

Professional features include RAW file recording and a hybrid AF system, combining TTL and external metering focusing systems for fast and precise auto-focus. The PowerShot Pro1 can shoot at 2.5 frames per second, and has shutter speeds from 15 sec to 1/4000 sec. The photographer is handed full control over all focus points and exposure variables. Twelve shooting modes, including two custom modes, cover a broad range of shooting situations. The camera’s purpose built DIGIC processor delivers high speed, noise free and extremely accurate colour rendition and image processing. This is the first PowerShot to support both sRGB and Adobe RGB colour spaces. Advanced photographers will recognize the PowerShot Pro1 as a ?system camera?, with complete access to Canon?s Speedlite EX flash range, close-up lenses and an optical tele-converter lens.

Canon UK Press Release 09/02/04

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 9 February, 2004. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today releases the hybrid PowerShot S1 IS compact digital camera. A fully featured and well specified 3.2 Megapixel digital still camera with a 10x optical zoom, the PowerShot S1 IS is also a quality digital video camcorder, with capacity to shoot clear and natural video clips with 30 frames per second VGA resolution and high quality sound. An optical Image Stabilizer is featured, limiting blur in digital stills and keeping video footage steady. The 3.2 Megapixel sensor and Canon’s image processing algorithms allow enlargements without image degradation up to A4 in size.

“This camera represents a significant development for Canon,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe at the camera’s launch. “It has digital still capacity to rival many single purpose digital cameras, and digital video quality that will delight many camcorder users. Canon’s strengths across different fields have driven a convergence of technologies to deliver an exciting new product concept”.

Canon UK Press Release 09/02/04

Canon releases new range, celebrates 30 IXUS models

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 9 February, 2004. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces the release of three new Digital IXUS cameras. This takes to a total of 30 the number of IXUS models released since 1996.

The range release includes a new flagship of the Digital IXUS fleet, the 5.0 Megapixel Digital IXUS 500. The 4.0 Megapixel Digital IXUS 430 replaces the previous top of the line Digital IXUS 400, while the 3.2 Megapixel Digital IXUS IIs takes over from the popular Digital IXUS II.

Launched to popular and critical acclaim in May 1996, the original stainless steel IXUS APS camera triggered an avalanche success. Canon has stuck with IXUS ever since, never straying from the IXUS philosophy of simplicity and beauty that feels great in the hands. Released in May 2000, the first Digital IXUS marked the beginning of a string of successes for Canon in the style-conscious digital compact segment.

“This new range celebrates eight stylish IXUS years,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. “Unmistakably IXUS, these new cameras bring together uncompromising build quality and an abundance of relevant technologies in a triumph of miniaturisation and design”.

Canon UK Press Release 09/02/04

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 9 February, 2004. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today releases its new entry-level digital camera, the 3.2 Megapixel PowerShot A310. With a new Print/Share button and extended print functionality, the camera replaces the PowerShot A300. Although targeted at consumers looking for an easy-to-use camera, many features found in Canon’s high-end cameras have been included to ensure image quality and flexibility is maintained. These include Canon’s highly responsive and award winning dedicated DIGIC processor for superb colour rendering and high image quality, a 5.1x digital zoom, movie clips and 5-point AiAF auto-focus with 5cm macro close-up.

Canon UK Press Release 09/02/04

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 9 February, 2004. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces the release of its new range-opening zoom lens digital camera, the 3.2 Megapixel PowerShot A75. The camera has a number of new features including a ‘Special Scene Mode’ to deliver optimal results in tricky lighting conditions and a Print/Share button to simplify direct printing and uploading to Windows PCs.

The winner of the 12th PhotographyBLOG Photo of the Week contest is panchals with the entry “Richard Alston Dance: Duet”. There are no prizes as such for this contest, but the winning photo is displayed on the PhotographyBLOG homepage for a week, and the winner can display the Photo of the Week logo on their website if they wish.

The 13th Photo of the Week contest is now open. This is a weekly photography challenge where you decide who the winner is by voting for your favourite photos. It’s an open contest with no set theme and you can enter as many photos as you like.

The New York Times have reported that none other than Polaroid are set to introduce a compact digital camera called the x530 which is based around a Foveon sensor at PMA 2004. It will have 4.5 million effective pixel sensors and cost $399.

Website: DPReview - Polaroid x530 uses Foveon chip

Website: New York Times

Website: Foveon X3 5M CMOS Direct Image Sensor

The US website DCResource has posted the full specifications of the still unconfirmed Canon PowerShot Pro1, and also a new model in the shape of the PowerShot S1 IS. The Pro1 will apparently cost $999, whilst the S1 has a price tage of $499.

Website: DCResource - Canon PowerShot Pro1 Specifications

Website: DCResource - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Specifications

The latest issue of the monthly online photo magazine, Vivid Light Photography, has just been published. Highlights this month include a review of the Canon EOS 300D:

“The other misconception is that the Digital Rebel is just an EOS 10D in a plastic body. That’s like saying a Subaru WRX STi is the same as an Imprezza; hell, they look similar don’t they? Yes, the DR has a plastic body, but that’s as much of the statement is true. Let’s look at the similarities: they have the same imaging chip and similar electronics, so the image quality should be as good as the 10D and when using both cameras back to back, I haven’t noticed any difference in image quality.”

and an article called David vs. Goliath which compares consumer lenses with pro lenses:

“These are both quality lenses but they are aimed at two very different types of shooters. The trick is to figure our which type you are and buy the right lens.

The amateur who buys the 80-200mm will soon tire of hauling around its bulk and the lens will start spending more time in the drawer than on the camera. Likewise the pro who buys the 70-300mm will be frustrated by its autofocus speed and will likely damage the lens at some point through hard use. “

Website: Vivid Light Photography - Issue #33

Triscape Inc. Press Release 09/02/04

New FxFoto Version 1.2 Expands Digital Photo Organization, Enhancement and Web Publishing

Windham, NH (February, 2004) - Triscape Inc. announces the release of FxFoto 1.2, offering significant enhancements of its easy-to-use yet feature-rich photo package. Major new features include intuitive timeline navigation, a host of new photo enhancement and creativity tools, and improved tools for publishing slide shows on web sites using the FxFoto Viewer Plug-In. The FxFoto Standard Edition is still free and the Deluxe Edition is $29.99, with upgrades free of charge.

FxFoto’s unique user interface has been highly acclaimed by users as easy to learn and use. FxFoto automatically scans for photos upon installation and organizes thumbnails by date and folder in the navigation pane. The new Timeline Bar indicates visually the location of all folders by date, and one mouse click instantly moves the user to the folder thumbnails. Unique to FxFoto, all photo navigation, timeline representation, enhancement, slide creation, and creativity features are quickly accessible from a single application window, avoiding the complexity of products using complicated and sometimes confusing windows for separate tasks.

Fairly self-explanatory - 2 product shots of the rumoured 8-megapixel Canon Powershot Pro 1…

The following specification is also completely unconfirmed:

- 28-200mm optical zoom (35mm equivalent)
- 8.3 megapixel, 2/3 inch sensor
- 8.0 effective megapixels
- Aperture range: f2.4 - f3.5
- Shutter speed range: 15 seconds - 1/4000 second
- DiGiC Processor
- Macro 10 - 50cm
- Super Macro 3-30cm
- UD lens with 14 element lens (with Flourite) and aspherical elements