Canon USA Press Release 09/02/04

CANON’S NEW i80 MOBILE PRINTER SUPPORTS WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY AND IMPROVED PHOTO QUALITY

LAS VEGAS (PMA, BOOTH # E11), Feb. 9, 2004 - Canon’s new i80 mobile printer enhances the quality and flexibility of portable printing. The world’s most advanced mobile printer features a newly designed print head, optional Bluetooth Unit* and an optional Automobile Power Unit. The i80 mobile printer will be available in mid-February for a suggested list price of $249.99**.

“Our new i80 mobile printer expands beyond the traditional road warrior applications into environments like professional photographers on assignment, educators traveling from one classroom to another, college students with limited dorm space, real estate agents, pilots, military personnel, insurance agents and many others,” 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). “The i80 mobile printer allows all of them to print much needed documents and photographs on the fly.”

“The successor to our enormously popular i70 portable printer, the i80 model expands the flexibility and capabilities available to the end-user,” added Hashimoto. “The enhanced wireless printing capabilities allow many Windows users to print all types of data from their computers or print photos, schedules and address book lists from select PDAs, laptops or cell phones ? without wires.”

Canon USA Press Release 09/02/04

CANON’S NEW SURE SHOT 150u CAMERA PUTS MORE FUN, FEATURES AND AFFORDABILITY IN COMPACT, LIGHTWEIGHT, EASY-TO-USE POINT & SHOOT

New Pocket-Sized 35MM Point & Shoot Camera for Price Point Savvy, Quality-Conscious Consumers

LAS VEGAS (PMA, BOOTH # E11), Feb. 9, 2004 - Shooting primo pictures with the new Canon Sure Shot 150u camera is the absolute soul of simplicity. Whether capturing for posterity baby?s first haircut or any of a thousand other meaningful milestones, the Sure Shot 150u camera ensures that Moms and Dads, doting Grandparents and any other member of the extended family can focus on snapping a phenomenal photo without worrying about the picture taking process. Indeed, its outwardly simple design is literally a cover for inner workings so smart that the Sure Shot 150u camera captures brilliant images with little more than a click of the shutter button.

With its sleek lines, uncluttered instrumentation, smooth 3.9x, 38-150 mm optical zoom lens and a light and durable aluminum case packed with a flock of features, this newest entrant into the line of Sure Shot u-series lens shutter cameras arrives in stores this April with an estimated selling price under $150.

Canon USA Press Release 09/02/04

CANON’S NEW EOS ELAN 7N/7NE 35MM SLR CAMERAS SAVE THE BEST AND IMPROVE THE REST

LAS VEGAS (PMA, BOOTH # E11), Feb. 9, 2004 - Canon launched its new flagship advanced amateur 35mm SLR system - the EOS ELAN 7N and EOS ELAN 7NE 35mm SLR cameras. Designed to be the fastest, most responsive, innovative and intuitive cameras in their class, the new EOS ELAN 7N and EOS ELAN 7NE cameras replace the popular EOS ELAN 7 and 7E models (the ELAN 7NE model retaining the ELAN 7E?s popular Eye Controlled Focus option) and feature an autofocus system that is the fastest in its class, according to a Canon Inc. survey.

“With an ever present eye on technological advancements and our standard attention to detail, Canon has ensured that the EOS ELAN line of 35mm SLR cameras remain ‘state-of-the-science’ for discerning photo enthusiasts,” stated 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). “The advancements and upgrades that we have built in to the new EOS ELAN 7N and EOS ELAN 7NE models improve the cameras’ high quality output, facilitate the photo experience for our users, and enhance the cameras’ already enviable reputation in the photographic community.”

Epson USA Press Release 09/02/04

PICTUREMATE BY EPSON ELIMINATES THE BARRIERS TO DIGITAL PHOTO PRINTING

First and Only Personal Photo Lab Enables Consumers to Produce Photos with Quality, Durability and Cost Benefits of Traditional Photo Lab Prints in the Convenience of Home

LONG BEACH, Calif., February 9, 2004 - Addressing all of the barriers that digital camera owners have had with printing their photos, Epson today introduces PictureMate, the first and only personal photo lab that allows digital camera owners to easily print brilliant, long-lasting lab-quality 4” x 6” photos at home at a cost that is comparable to some of the most affordable lab print prices.

This breakthrough is made possible by Epson’s exclusive archival print technology for photos that are indistinguishable from traditional lab prints and last even longer.

With an estimated 33 million households owning digital cameras at the close of 2003, more people are taking digital photos to preserve their memories. According to the Photo Marketing Association International (PMA) Digital Imaging Survey, the majority of these owners would like to print more photos at home but feel the prints they are making don’t look as good as lab prints. The survey also indicates that owners believe 4” x 6” printing at home is difficult, too time-consuming, and cost-prohibitive.

Mike Strock has emailed me with an intriguing link which to me kind of explains why Kodak is in decline. They are introducing a self-service kiosk in the USA which will process your film in just 5 minutes, and then allow you to select the pictures that you want to keep. All well and good so far, until you get to this part of the story:

“Costs are expected to be around $4 for film developing and a CD, plus 29 cents per print. Consumers get the CD in lieu of the traditional negatives.”

They keep the negatives! And give you a CD instead! Taking away the negatives from a film photographer is sacrilege. There’s no mention of how big the scans will be, but I bet they fit neatly onto a 650Mb CD…

So maybe the service is aimed at occasional camera users who don’t understand or care about their negatives. That doesn’t seem to be the case either:

“Says Grant Pill, CVS’ photo manager: “If you give consumers the ability to take control of the process, they’ll be happy.”“

Will those customers be happy? Wouldn’t they rather drop off their film as they’ve always done and pick up their 24 or 36 prints later? Will they really bother to pick and choose?

Kodak’s new kiosk seems to be a confusing mix of old and new, as this very traditional company tries to embrace the digital world. Expect to see one in store near you soon…

Website: USA Today - Kodak self-serve kiosk to develop film in under 5 minutes

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.