DIMA Press Release 13/02/04

Nine digital cameras were named winners in the 2004 DIMA Digital Camera Shoot-Out today at the PMA 2004 Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, Nev., USA.

Over 50 digital camera entries and 13 manufacturers participated in the 8th Annual DIMA Digital Camera Shoot-Out, which took place on Friday, Feb. 13, at the DIMA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nev. Participating camera manufacturers captured images in four live-model studios.

Images from the point-and-shoot cameras were printed on three different digital minilab systems including the Agfa D-Lab 2 Plus supplied by Agfa Corp., the Fuji Frontier 370 supplied by Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc., and the Noritsu 3101 supplied by Noritsu America.

Images from the Prosumer/Professional category were output through a G4 Power Mac running Adobe PhotoShop CS and printed on an Epson Photo Stylus 9600 inkjet printer, supplied by Epson America Inc. Color management support for the DIMA Digital Camera Shoot-Out was provided by GretagMacbeth, using Sony Artisan displays donated by Sony Electronics.

Professional photo equipment used at the DIMA Digital Camera Shoot-Out was supplied by Adobe Systems, Agfa Corp., Epson America Inc., Fuji Photo Film USA, Inc., GretagMacbeth, GTI Graphic Technology, Quality Mounting & Laminating, and Sony Artisan. Professional photographer Lee Varis lit the sets and ran the professional/prosumer studio. Other pro shooters including Randy Hufford, David Spellman, and Mark Williford shot all photos used in the three point-and-shoot studios.

A panel of expert judges voted on the entries, based on the overall quality of the digital print and the accuracy of color as compared to samples of fabric worn by studio models. The panel of judges included some of the most well-respected names in the industry including Brian Lawler, Eddie Tapp and Daniel Grotta.

Below are the winners of the 8th Annual DIMA Digital Camera Shoot-Out:

Point-and-Shoot categories and winners
Below $100
Mustek MDC4000, Mustek Inc., Irvine, Calif. (Entry #40)

$100 to $199
HP Photosmart 735, Hewlett-Packard Company, San Diego, CA (Entry #3)

$200 to $299
Konica Minolta DiMage X20, Mahwah, NJ 07430 (Entry #24)

$300 to $399
Casio QV-R51, Casio Inc., Dover, NJ (Entry #16)

$400 to $499
HP Photosmart 945, Hewlett-Packard Company, San Diego, CA (Entry #5)

$599 to $799
Olympus C-5060, Olympus America, Inc., Melville, N.Y. (Entry #54)

Digital Video Camcorder
Sony DCR-PC330, Sony Electronics, San Diego, CA (Entry #50)

Prosumer/Professional categories and winners
$999 to $1299
Olympus C-8080, Olympus America, Inc., Melville, N.Y. (Entry #51)

$1300 to $1799
Leica Digilux 2, Leica Camera AG, Solms, Germany (Entry #1)