Cameras: May 2008 Archives

Taiwan-based BenQ makes more than 30 models of digital camera so it's understandable if its marketing department can get confused from time to time. For instance, when announcing the company's latest model today, the T850, its flacketeers trumpeted the snapper as the "the world’s slimmest 8-mega-pixel digital camera." Yet, if the T850's specs [91.0 x 59 x 16.9 (14.9 slimmest) mm] are compared with those of BenQ's very own 8MP X800 [100 x 63.7 x 14 (9.8 slimmest ) mm], the clear winner in the slim department is the X800.

Maybe what the buzzbeaters meant to say was that the T850 is the slimmest eight megapixel digital camera with a touch-screen. Oooops. The BenQ T800, announced last September, which also has a touch-screen, is just as slim as the T850. In fact, there's very little difference between the two models when their specs are compared head-to--head. The T800 has a self-timer with two settings--two and 10 seconds--the T850, one--10 seconds. The T800 has some internal memory--10 megabytes--the T850 has none. The T800 has a 3x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom; the T850, a 3x optical and 5x digital zoom.

No pricing information was released by BenQ with its announcement of the T850, but the company said the model would be available this month in China and select countries in Asia and Europe.

Zink Imaging and Polaroid have made noises for months about the revival of instant photography in digital camera form and apparently they're making good on their boasting with the introduction today of the Shelly E-paper Digital Camera. Information about the product is scant. In fact, for English-speaking folks, it's barely understandable. Here's a sample from the Web site that broke the news about the snapper: "The concept is to make more intimate the picture something we can touch and feel within digital benefits." From the photos accompanying the fractured prose for this item, one thing seems certain: the camera is firmly targeted at the Barbie set.

Outdoor enthusiasts lookinig for a tough point-and-shoot digital camera may want to examine the Optio W60 introduced this week by Pentax, of Golden, Colo. The 10-megapixel camera, offered in two colors--ocean blue and silver, can operate in up to 13 feet of water and in temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit. The unit, which has a 2.5-inch LCD, meets the highest Japanese Industrial Standards for waterproofing, Class 8, and the penultimate JIS benchmak for dustproofing against dirt, dust and sand, Class 5.

If you want your images to capture the "great" in the great outdoors, this Optio model will let you do it with its wide-angle optical zoom (28-140mm equivalent) and a special Digital Wide function that will automaticallty stitch two shots into a single ultra-wide-angle image (21mm equivalent). The DSC has all the state-of-the-art enhancements found in the latest bytecams--face recognition, smile capture and blink detection--and will also shoot high quality video at 1280 x 720 (720p HDTV equivalent). Scheduled to reach retailers in July, the Optio W60 will have a US pricetag of $329.95.

Fujifilm has taken mug mapping to a new realm with the introduction today of its Z200fd ultracompact digital camera. The 10-megapixel point-and-shooter, which is expected to reach retailers later this month at a price yet to be determined, has a combination face recognition/timer mode called the Couple Timer. Depending on the level of intimacy of the couple involved, the mode can be set for Near (first date), Close Up (second date) or Super Close (third date). The idea is that the camera will recognize the proximity of two faces in a frame and automatically shoot a picture when it's appropriate. For broader relationships, or kinkier ones, there's a Group Timer that will wait until there's up to four faces in a frame before firing. Here are some other highlights of the new Fujifilm offering.

• 2.7-inch LCD display with a resolution of 230,000 pixels.
• Reinforced glass coating to protect the LCD from scratches.
• 5x optical zoom (33-165mm equivalent).
• TTL 256-zone metering.
• 52MB of internal memory with expansion via xD, SD or SDHC cards.
• Dual Image Stabilization-- CCD shifting and ISO manipulation.
• Intelligent Flash, where the camera tailors the flash output to the lighting in the scene being shot.
• Flash Bracketing, where two shots are automatically taken consecutively--one with a flash, one without.
• Micro thumbnail view capable of showing up to 100 photos in a 10 x 10 array.
• In camera illustration editing that allows you to transform a photo into pseudo art.
• Available in four colors--Misty Pink, Shiny Silver, Red & Black and Glossy Black.

For many moons, point-and-shoot digital cameras and digital SLRs have been on a collision course and today they collided to form the 10-megapixel Olympus E-520. The new snapper has the infrastructure of a DSLR but the trappings of a point-and-pop bytecam--features like live shooting through an LCD, scene modes and that darling of the P&S world, face-recognition. Olympus point-and-shoot pundits will recognize two other features of the 520--Shadow Adjustment Technology, for improving the dynamic range of images containing contrasting light and dark areas, and Perfect Shot Preview, for viewing on the camera's 2.7-inch display several versions of the same shot with different white balance and exposure settings.

This compact camera, which measures 5.35-by-3.6-by-2.68 inches--not much bigger than Olympus's smallest DSLR, the E-420--has triple threat mechanical image stabilization built into the body of the unit. Not only will it do the typical CCD adjustment along the X and Y axes, but it also has specialized stabilization modes for capturing moving subjects while panning with the camera and holding it either horizontally or vertically.

The E-520 is scheduled to reach retailers in July. Body-only price is pegged at $599.99 and a kit with an ED 14-42mm F/3.5/5.6 Zuiko digital zoom at $699.99.

In addition to the E-520, Olympus pulled the wraps off a new super wide-angle zoom lens.