Pepcom "Holiday Spectacular" Event Offers Early View of New Digital Cameras, MP3 Players and More
Pages: 1, 2

Digital Cameras, Video, Printers, and More

Digital cameras and videocams keep getting better--the small ones keep getting smaller, the professional ones have crossed the threshold where they're competing with (or have won the war over) their non-digital cousins. Meanwhile, as noted above, the printers are talking to everything short of the microwave oven.

There were lots of intriguing new cameras being shown, ranging from low-end consumer through "prosumer" and professional.

Canon brought the new high-end version of its PowerShot A-series line of digital cameras, the A95, replacing the A80--five megapixels, 3x optical zoom--$399, available now, plus the A85 ($179) and A95 ($399).

Canon A400 digital cameras in a variety of colors.

In its G line, Canon was showing the 7.1 megapixel PowerShot G6 (introduced in mid-August), aimed at photo enthusiasts and advanced amateurs, and available in September (ES/SP $699). Canon also brought its August-introduced 8.2-megapixel EOS 20D digital SLR--about a quarter-pound lighter, and slightly smaller, than its 10D model. The 20D can shoot five frames per second; $1,599 with an 18-55mm lens; $1,999 with a 17-85mm lens, available now.

Casio brought what it claims is the world's smallest digital camera; it includes an optical zoom (2.8x), Casio's EXILIM CARD EX-S100, done by using ceramic lenses-- closed, it's 66 millimeters thick--SD memory cards, MSRP $399, available in October. I'm ready (except for spending the money) to replace the clamshell I've been toting around.

Casio also had its five megapixel EX Z50 (MSRP $449) and EX-Z55 (MSRP $399), which includes a 2.5-inch LCD and an optical viewfinder, and can squeeze up to nearly 400 shots from a battery charge; available in October. One interesting feature in the EX series: the "Business Shot" function, which, says Casio, "take a trapezoidal distorted picture of a projector, white board, document, or business card from a side angle and correct it to a rectangle automatically."

Konica Minolta introduced its new DiMAGE A200 8-megapixel SLR digital camera featuring 7x optical zoom, and "anti-shake, plus VGA/SVGA recording modes. They also introduced two new interchangeable zoom lenses for use with their D-SLRs: the AF ZOOM 17-35mm F/2.8-4(D) and the AF ZOOM 28-75mm F/2.8(D). (No price or availability information given.)

NIKON toted along two new SLRs--the digital D2X Pro, and the film-holding FG, plus three new members of its CoolPix line, the 4800, 8400, and 8800

Film cameras have been getting smarter and more informative for many years now. The FG brings "all the digital improvements" to a film-SLR, like metering, focus, and flash technology, and a display on the back to show shooting information, image data, and so on.

The new CoolPixes include post-shooting (playback mode) features like D-lighting, which lets you retroactively compensate for underexposure, backlighting, insufficient flash, and so on. In red-eye-reduction mode, the camera will fix red-eye before even writing the image.

Pentax's OptioMX4 uses Transformer technology to fold and unfold, and is happy either as a 4 megapixel digital camera, or a 30 frame per second 640 by 480 video recorder--with 10x optical zoom. Shipping in mid-October.

The Pentax Option MX4 records both still images and VGA video.

Printers Get Talky

On the printer side, Canon had its new iP4000R ($229.99), iP5000 ($199.99), iP6000D six-color ($179.99), and iP8500 PIXMA eight-color ($349.99) inkjet photo printers, which, Canon claims, are the first to deliver 1-picoliter ink droplets "for virtually grain-free photographs." Available this fall, the new PIXMA printers sport a variety of features; for example, the iP8500 also includes 802.11g WiFi capability; the iP6000D can print directly from infrared-equipped cell phones.

HP had, among other things, its Photosmart 375 Compact Photo Printer (ES/SP $199), for previewing, editing, and printing 4 by 6 inch photos directly from memory cards, or wirelessly from (some) Bluetooth-enabled PDAs, camera phones, and other devices.

Lexmark brought new no-computer-needed printers ($149 and $199, shipping in early October) that let you define a batch of images to print from a given card to be printed, and then you can go get coffee or do something else, rather than having to wait around. (It even tells you roughly how long the prints will take to complete.)

On the "make it easier to use" front, reflecting our bad habits of leaving pens, paper clips, and so forth on top of scanner/printers, Lexmark's new all-in-one device includes cover guards to keep our office detritus from falling inside the mechanism. The all-in-one printer also includes an inside storage slot for a spare ink cartridge, and the LCD displays "how to change the cartridge" info--useful for us forgetful types.

Final Goodies

If your camera media is full, but you still have room on your iPod, Belkin's got accessories to let you download (side-load?) your pictures, like its Digital Camera Link for iPod w/ Dock Connector, Media Connector for iPod, and Media Reader/Writer.

Kingston is keeping pace with the USB flash drive race, showing its new 256MB DataTraveller Elite, up through its $288 2GB version. (Hint, prices will keep dropping, so if you don't need that much capacity, stick to the sub-$100 offerings, or keep waiting.)

Got digital photos you need to organize, and/or would like to "slideshow"? Ulead's new CD/DVD PictureShow 3 Deluxe makes it easy to do, with features such as the ability to add topical themes (birthday, wedding) and transitions, music, and effects, ready to display on a TV or computer. Priced at $49.99 in stores; $44.99 for downloads.

Ulead also announced a new version of its PhotoImpact Image Editing Software, version 10, a sub-$100 tool for photographers, and graphic and web designers, for $89.99.

So, if you're already starting a shopping list for yourself, friends, or family, and thinking "music or pictures?" there's no shortage of interesting stuff to choose from.