Canon UK Press Release

Sail up up and away; all the way to Napa Valley, California with Canon’s ‘I SPY with my Digital Eye’ Nationwide digital photography competition

Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, is delighted to introduce its ‘I SPY with my Digital Eye’ digital photography competition and series of in-store offers and events. The competition will be held in Canon Digital Centre stores around the UK and Ireland and will award winners with a ride in a Virgin hot air balloon. An overall store winner will then be entered into a National competition and the best photograph will be awarded with a trip to Napa Valley, California, USA for a balloon ride over its spectacular vineyards. The competition is live now and deadline for entries is 14th January 2006. Winners will be announced at the end of January 2006.

The competition is split into three categories;

• Amateur photographers aged 16-18
• Amateur photographers over 18
• Amateur photographers in colleges and camera clubs (over 18)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

In addition to the competition Canon is celebrating I SPY with a series of unique offers and events to be held in its Digital Centre stores. Activities include a National Demonstration Day in all of Canon’s 52 Digital Centre stores on 10th December, with the chance to speak to a Canon expert in-store and also to receive a free 256MB memory card free with every digital still compact camera purchase.

I SPY
The competition is based on the game of the same name. Each Canon Digital Centre store will select a letter of the alphabet and display it in-store. All local entries should start with this letter; for example, the theme for the letter ‘A’ could be apples, A-list stars, aqueducts or anything ‘A’ brings to mind. The idea is to get creative with photography and take the best possible shot.

Entry leaflets can be picked up at Canon Digital Centre stores. Entrants should simply complete the detachable label on the back of the leaflet and take it back to the store along with their memory card or on the reverse of their printed photograph. In the case of an entry on memory card, store staff will print two copies of the photo in-store and then hand the memory card and a copy of the photograph to the entrant, retaining one for the competition.

Special offers
There are also several exciting offers on Canon products in the run-up to Christmas:
• Anyone buying over £300 worth of digital still compact camera products from the Canon range will receive a free voucher to take part in exciting activities such as go-karting, canoeing, mountain biking or golf
• Anyone purchasing Canon’s new DVD camcorder, the DC20, will be able to purchase a DVD accessory kit worth £70 half-price