September 26, 2006, 4:49 PM PDT
HP's dye-ink for your big pictures
Posted by: Lori Grunin

OK--a bad pun, poorly executed. I admit it. Nonetheless, at Photokina today, HP announced a new Photosmart printer to inhabit that amorphous market segment geared to amateur photographers who want to print their photos as large as 13x19. Or at least to know that they can.

The Photosmart Pro B8350 uses HP's dye-based Vivera inks--the same cartridges as the consumer Photosmart 8450--for six-color or monochrome prints. What's "pro" about it is the medium-format size and straight-through paper path for printing on heavier paper stock.

I expect the print quality to be the same as the 8450's, which is very good for a consumer model, and like the 8450, the B8350 has a built-in Ethernet connection, which is one of the reasons I recommend the B8450 to anyone who wants to use it on a home network.

HP plans to ship the Photosmart Pro B8350 printer this month, for $349.

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September 26, 2006, 7:56 AM PDT
Foveon and Sigma, back for more
Posted by: Lori Grunin

Just when I'd almost forgotten about them, Foveon and Sigma are back for a third try at the digital camera market. Foveon's X3 sensor--a still-innovative design that stacks RGB filters on each pixel rather than scattering them across the pixels in a Bayer pattern--is now up to 14 megapixels, and is integrated into the new Sigma SD14. Previous Sigma dSLRs, the SD10 and SD9, have served well as proofs-of-concept for the low-noise, high-fidelity capabilities of the chip, but they were pretty much disappointments as cameras. Despite the ingenuously overstated claims for the SD14--five-point autofocus, 3fps continuous shooting for 6 frames at max resolution, a physical dust protector over the sensor, mirror lock-up capability, and so on--this model will have to have really amazing photo quality to make a dent in the market. I have to say, though, Sigma has a beautiful Flash site for the SD14.

Furthermore, Sigma's jumping in with both feet this time. Despite the dubious fate of the Foveon-based Polaroid X530 consumer camera, Sigma will be releasing a compact camera with the 14-megapixel X3, dubbed the DP1. There's little word on either pricing or availability for either camera, though.

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September 25, 2006, 4:13 AM PDT
Epson's pro printer for ambitious prosumers
Posted by: Lori Grunin

If you dropped $2,000 on a good dSLR and lenses, don't you think you deserve a printer to match? Epson does, and it thinks the Stylus Pro 3800 should be that printer. This is the first desktop printer from the company's pro graphics division, which positions it well for shooters and digital artists who want to embark upon the journey of selling their work or those who've considered--and discarded--the idea of spending $2,000 on a Stylus Pro 4800 for the ability to produce their own 17x22-inch prints.

The Pro 3800 also produces 17x22-inch prints, though unlike the 4800, it doesn't support roll paper. On the other hand, it does allow you to print full bleed (borderless) on cut sheets, which the 4800 could do only on rolls, and print as small as 4x6. Like that model and the 13x19 Stylus Photo R2400, it uses Epson's 8-color UltraChrome K3 pigment ink set, with all of that printer's grayscale and color printing perks but without the need to swap the Matte and Photo Black ink tanks. Though the droplets have the same 3.5pl volume, Epson claims its new screening algorithm does a significantly better job at producing grain-free output. Depending on the ink/paper combo, prints are rated to last upwards of 100 years. Epson also claims the 3800 is faster than the 4800, by about 30 seconds on a 16x20 print. And finally, it has built-in networking and a USB 2.0 port.

So are you ready to shell out $1,295 for all that? Yeah, I'd want to think about it a bit, too. But it's not slated to ship until November, so you have some time.

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September 19, 2006, 6:50 AM PDT
Sony announces pro HD camcorder, HVR-V1U
Posted by: Lori Grunin

As has become Sony tradition, the company follows up a consumer camcorder announcement with a pro version of the same model. In this case, the Sony HVR-V1U builds on the $3,500 HDR-FX7. It uses the same trio of 1/4-inch, 1-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensors and 20X zoom lens, housed in a similar chassis about the size of the VX2100.

The biggest feature you pay for with the extra $1,300--the V1U will run $4,800 when it ships in December--is progressive-scan support. That's for 1080 24p recording, however, not 720p or 1080p; like the FX7, the V1U records HDV 1080i footage.

The V1U also offers far more extensive audio controls, plus two XLR inputs and a bundled shotgun microphone. It also allows you to save custom settings to a Memory Stick for transfer to another camcorder; the FX7 can save them only to internal memory.

At its price, the V1U faces some interesting competition: the forthcoming, less expensive Canon XH A1 and the slightly more expensive but 1080p-capable Panasonic Panasonic AG-HVX200 . Sony also plans to ship the HVR-DR60, an optional, $1,800 60GB add-on for recording directly to a hard disk.

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September 14, 2006, 1:15 PM PDT
Adobe Photoshop Elements 5
Posted by: Lori Grunin

This week, Adobe announced the latest version of its consumer image-editing package, Photoshop Elements 5. It's taken a while for the software to crawl out from the shadow of its celebrity sibling, Photoshop, but these days you'd be hard-pressed to find similarities between the two. There's the occasional familiar dialog box and a handful of traditional Photoshop interface quirks that may elude newbies--for example, how to enter the unit (such as "px" for "pixels") in the width and height of the crop box. But Elements seems to have settled into its identity as something more--and less--than a "lite" Photoshop.

Click here for a tour of Photoshop Elements 5's new features.

Overall, there seems to be more and better creative content in Photoshop Elements 5, and it's generally easier to work with. The organizer and photo downloader have also taken a step forward in elegance and usability. Ironically, however, the imaging tools don't seem to be keeping up. All four of the new additions--black-and-white conversion, curve-based correction, distortion correction, and a different take on sharpening--try new interfaces for old problems. But, at least to me, the approaches don't make the operations much easier or better. Just different.

Once I get the final version, I'll flesh out a review and deliver a verdict; the beta version I worked with was certainly zippier than previous releases, but I'd like to see everything hooked up before I lock in my opinion. Stay tuned.

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September 14, 2006, 8:14 AM PDT
Olympus slates Evolt E-400 for Europe only
Posted by: Lori Grunin

Olympus's newly announced Evolt E-400 is shaking off the dust of the New World and settling in Europe, where the dust is way older. So we'll defer to our British gadgeteers over at CNET U.K. to fill you in on the details. CNET UK Craves Olympus E-400. Cheerio!

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September 14, 2006, 2:30 AM PDT
Canon updates PowerShot G7
Posted by: Lori Grunin

Once upon a time, the Canon PowerShot G series was the darling of amateurs. A relatively compact camera with a wealth of manual features and great photo quality, for a while, it had no equal in its class.

That was then; this is now.

In a world of cheap dSLRs and powerful 12X zoom models, it will take a lot for the $599 Canon PowerShot G7 to garner the attention of the current generation of enthusiasts. It does up the G series to 10 megapixels, while most of the competition is still at 6 or 7. It has an image-stabilized f/2.8-to-f/4.8, 35mm-to-210mm (35mm equivalent) 6X zoom lens, which could probably stand to be a bit wider. Canon integrates its Digic III image processor for potentially better all-around performance. The new Digic chip also helps drive the G7's golly-gee-whiz feature, Face Detection; the camera can locate as many as nine different faces in a scene, select the most likely subject, then maintain the optimal focus lock and exposure as the subject moves. A gaggle of scene modes, high ISO support (as high as ISO 1,600 manually and ISO 3,200 via a preset), and a 2.5-inch LCD round out the G7's new feature set.

But this G-series model lacks something its predecessors had: a flip-out-and-twist LCD display. I suppose that's the trade-off for getting a larger screen, but I know I'll still miss it. Check back at the beginning of October when the Canon PowerShot G7 ships to see how much of a deal breaker that display turns out to be.

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August 24, 2006, 9:29 AM PDT
Fujifilm S9100 isn't a dSLR, but it'll probably play one on TV
Posted by: Lori Grunin

With the price gap vanishing between entry-level dSLRs and fixed-lens dSLR-style cameras, it's getting increasingly difficult to define the market for the latter group. The one clear-cut distinction you can make, though, is that adding a long-zoom lens to a dSLR is generally pretty pricey, while the SLR-style cameras come with the megazoom baked right in. However, the competition for that slice of photographers can be pretty fierce.

Fujifilm has a loyal following for its S-series of megazoom SLR-style cameras, and its forthcoming FinePix S9100 looks as if it's got the same bundle of capabilities that has traditionally pleased them. Though it only has a 10.7X zoom--the cutting-edge models these days stretch to 12X--it does provide a 28mm-equivalent angle of view on the wide end, which most long-zoom models lack. And at 9 megapixels, it offers the highest resolution of the bunch. In addition, it includes all of Fujifilm's high ISO tricks, such as its iFlash and Picture Stabilization program-shift mode .

What it doesn't have, unfortunately, is a real optical or mechanical stabilizer; good high ISO performance helps, but it can't replace some form of nondigital steadying technology.

When it ships next month, the S9100 will be priced at $599, which is more expensive than some enty-level dSLRs and generally more costly than competing 12X zoom models. It'll be interesting to see how much that 28mm view is worth to people.

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August 21, 2006, 7:39 AM PDT
Panasonic announces U.S. version of SD camcorder
Posted by: Lori Grunin

Although the company announced its new SDR-S150 flash-based, 3CCD camcorder in June for overseas markets, Panasonic today revealed availability for the United States: next month. It will come with a 2GB SD card and have a retail price of just less than $1,000.

That is all.

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August 09, 2006, 8:53 AM PDT
Shooting straight in the dark, the Fujifilm way
Posted by: Lori Grunin

Though it's targeted at some heavyweight activities--such as criminal forensic investigation--Fujifilm's new version of its FinePix S3 Pro dSLR introduces some novel capabilities that are attractive to the creative (or nosy!) photographer in all of us. As its name implies, the FinePix S3 Pro UVIR adds the ability to shoot in the ultraviolet and infrared ends of the spectrum, making the invisible visible.

Both film and digital cameras need to filter out the extremely short UV light waves for a variety of reasons. In the case of digital, UV rays hit the sensor first, and unless filtered out, will saturate the photosites before the visible light can even hit them. The extremely long IR light waves have the opposite problem. They hit the sensor last, and during the long exposure time necessary to capture them, the photosites would become saturated by visible light.

For the S3 Pro UVIR, Fujifilm removed the UV and IR filtering, instead allowing the photographer to use lens filters for controlling which bands of the spectrum reach the sensor. However, this also requires that you use manual focus, which the S3 provides via a Live Preview LCD, as well as manual exposure modes when shooting outside the visible spectrum. The S3 Pro UVIR takes all the same Nikon-mount lenses as the standard version of the camera.

This isn't new: independent companies have been retrofitting--or, more accurately, stripping--both digital and film cameras for years. Hutech Astronomical Products, for example, offers defiltered versions of Canon's EOS 20D and Rebel XT. Still, I'm looking forward to taking the S3 Pro UVIR on a test drive through New York at night, though I'll bypass any bloodstains I happen to find. It's slated to ship next month for about $1,800.

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