Cameras

Lexar this morning announced its first Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) memory card. Part of the company's Professional line, the 4GB card carries a 133x speed rating, which Lexar translates into a minimum sustained write speed of 20MB per second. For those unfamiliar with the new SDHC standard, it was developed to let SD memory cards reach capacities larger than 2GB.

Of course, a new standard also means that SDHC cards aren't compatible with older readers or cameras that aren't SDHC compatible. Because of that fact, Lexar includes a small USB 2.0 SDHC reader with the … Read more

Shrinking margins on low-end and midrange models. A handful of entrenched market leaders surrounded by a large halo of struggling wannabes. Companies pulling out of unprofitable markets--or pulling out of the line of business altogether. Slowing market growth. Increasing competition from convergence devices. Great opportunity for a newcomer.

That last one threw me, too. I'd think this would be a horrible time for a completely new digital camera company to poke its head through the soil. Clearly GE, and its new protégé, General Imaging, think differently. The latter company, formed by former bigwigs from places such … Read more

Varioptic's Arctic 416 lens combines electrically conducing water with nonconducting oil in a sealed package. Depending on how electrical voltage is applied to the package, the boundary between the oil and water changes geometry, which has the effect of focusing light passing through the liquids.

Using this "electrowetting" technology, Varioptic promises compact lenses that focus quickly, consume little power, don't need moving parts and have good transparency to visible light.

The first module, the AFCM … Read more

Newcomers to the digital SLR camera realm have no shortage of opportunities for sticker shock. Take, for example, Canon's EF 500mm F/4L IS USM lens, a 15-inch, 8.5-pound telephoto.

It costs about $5,500.

That's more than five times what I got when I sold my not-too-shabby car a while back.

But there's a reason that sticker is so high besides Canon's desire to transfer my salary to its coffers. Those suckers are expensive to make. Or at least that's the impression I got from watching an artful online propaganda video from Canon: … Read more

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to that club you were thrown out of, they come up with another way to keep you behind the rope.

Touted as a "non-invasive" approach to checking ID, iris scanners rely on pattern recognition of the image reflected from the iris's convex cornea--which, when converted into a digital template, will give you away every time.

The problem with conventional iris scanners is that they require the subject to hold still and submit. Now, a new-fangled unit produced by Sarnoff Labs in New Jersey can reportedly identify up … Read more

With its silver filigree accents, the design of the new Vije Deluxe is vaguely reminiscent of the old Mutoscopes found in penny arcade museums. But instead of sepia-toned Westerns, this little number from will be featuring your very own image--with autofocus, even.

SavitMicro claims that its latest offering, a 2-megapixel Webcam, will ensure that your mug always stays sharp (whether you want it to or not, depending on how rough a night you've had). Akihabara News even included a video clip to show its focus mechanism in action. It looks pretty good, so we'll have to get over … Read more

Look at this cute little guy. Don't you wish you took this picture?

Yeah, I don't really care either because he's not that colorful. But you might find it interesting to know that it was taken from underwater with a Nikon digital camera.

Fantasea (pronounced fantasy) just released another underwater housing for a Nikon Coolpix camera to allow photographers to plunge their gadgets into water, sand, dust and what have you.

The FS-9, available from Fantasea for about $200, fits the Nikon Coolpix S-9. The housing comes with an anti-glare hood over the camera's 2.5-inch … Read more

As our own David Carnoy predicted, and as News.com reported, Kodak announced a new line of inkjet printers yesterday at a lavish press event in Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. All three models are all-in-one printers, meaning they include built-in flatbed scanners--and in the case of the flagship model EasyShare 5500, a fax machine, too. Kodak is billing them all as six-ink printers, though they function as four-ink printers when producing color photos; the other two inks are a nonphoto-black and a clear, protective coating.

Kodak is making a big deal over the price … Read more

Kodak's PR folks have been working hard to get the press to turn out in force for an event tomorrow at the NBC studio where Saturday Night Live is filmed. We know SNL-vet Molly Shannon will be there, but in a nod to Apple and Steve Jobs, Kodak's PR folks aren't revealing what the product is that they're hyping.

If you read the Kodak tea leaves (and The Wall Street Journal), there's a good chance what we'll be seeing tomorrow is a new inkjet printer--or even a couple of new inkjet models. That in … Read more