6Sight

PANASONIC ADDS HD VIDEO TO MICRO FOUR THIRDS CAMERA

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 may be a do-everything-well camera with few if any compromises: it captures 1080p HD video at 24fps, or 720p at 60fps; it has a 3-inch swiveling LCD with Live View; and it offers interchangeable lens flexibility -- even though it is not an SLR.

 

As it's built around the Micro Four Thirds architecture and does away with the standard SLR internal mirror, it's also conveniently small: 4.9 x 3.5 x 1.8 inches.

The camera has internal optical image stabilization that works with any lens -- and will be bundled with a 14-140mm lens that is optimized for video capture with a continuous autofocus system with a silent motor drive.

It can also have manually set shutter speed and aperture during video recording.

The camera has Panasonic's Intelligent Auto with face recognition that directs the camera to prioritize focus and exposure on a specific face that the user had previously registered in the camera -- and the iA mode works with video capture as well.

The new camera follows up the 12MP Lumix DMC G1 Panasonic announced last September -- about which everyone wondered at the lack of video capture, as the camera did have live view and no SLR mirror and so was theoretically capable of it. Somewhat addressing that perception, the company followed up with a prototype just two weeks later that promoted HD.

Out of all the new cameras at the PMA tradeshow, this was one stand out that definitely made me say, "I want that."

But one caveat: Pricing was not announced.

March 6, 2009

SONY SWEEPS SCENES

The "sweep panorama" on Sony's DSC-HX1 "lets you reach beyond the traditional wide-angle lens and capture breathtaking shots," the company says.

While many cameras now let you take one shot, line up its image with another, and then stitch them together in-camera, Sony's new technique takes an extended panorama in one motion: just hold the shutter button down and sweep the lens across the scene for either a 224-degree horizontal or a 154-degree vertical final image that is created automatically. The camera calculates and aligns the full-resolution images for a final shot with a maximum resolution of 7152 x 1080.

The 9MP camera has a 20x lens. It takes 10 frames per second, and Sony says its mechanical shutter helps reduce distortion when shooting a moving subject.

Furthermore, in its hand-held twilight and anti-motion blur modes, six shots captured "within a fraction of a second" are superimposed into one picture as the camera calculates the position of objects in each frame, Sony says -- which results in clearer and sharper pictures without the need of a tripod, especially in dim lighting.

The camera also captures 1080p HD video and has a stereo microphone.

The HX1 costs $500.

March 6, 2009

SMALL SWIVELING SLR FOR "FREE-STYLE SHOOTING"

Olympus says its E-620 is the smallest SLR with in-body image stabilization, which works with any attached lens.

The 12MP camera weighs 16.76 ounces, and measures 5.1 x 3.7 x 2.4 inches.

"This camera was made for free-style shooting, experimenting and engaging with events and subjects," Olympus says. Its Live View 2.7-inch LCD swivels 270-degrees, "so photographers can compose at any angle, including overhead and down low, without getting bent out of shape." 

The camera also features new specialized movement tracking -- with modes for either vertical or horizontal movement -- that render the subject in sharp detail with blurred background. Olympus says it is, for example, "ideal for capturing a runner or cyclist traveling by, preserving the sense of motion while panning." 

Olympus also touts the SLR's in-camera art filters and multiple exposures, saying that you can "enjoy capturing creative images on the go -- without being tethered to a computer and editing software... and easily customize your images."

Interestingly, Olympus provided the SLRs to students at the University of Arts and "turned them loose on the streets of Philadelphia for three days to see just how creative they could get." 

The images they captured are at www.YouTube.com/GetOlympus.

The SLR is $699, body-only, or $799 with a 14-42mm lens.

February 27, 2009

IMAGE OVERLAYS FOR "AUGMENTED REALITY"

"Augmented reality" layers visual info over your view of the physical world. 

Last week we noted Tonchidot's "Sekai Camera" application that lets you look through an iPhone's camera at nearby buildings, stores, sightseeing spots or objects, and also see tagged information such as graphics and text over the images.

The application does not require actual physical tags on the buildings for the camera to pick up -- instead it uses GPS to know your location, and taps into a database of tags associated with the area.

It can't tell where the phone's camera is pointed, so you have to scroll left or right to find relevant tags around you.

This week Microsoft demonstrated a research project that, instead of GPS, actually pictures where you are through the phone's camera: it matches shapes the camera sees to its visual database.

Relying on computer vision to recognize where you are from any angle or in differing lighting conditions is a challenge for the program --

But once it does, it can then overlay labels and added info on top of what you see.

At its annual TechFest, Microsoft also demonstrated technology that combines multiple simultaneous video streams of a single scene, and stitches them into a panoramic video.

February 27, 2009

CAMERAS GET SMARTER

In the weeks prior to the Photo Marketing Association's annual spring tradeshow, many companies have announced their new lines.

Resolution has generally risen to 10-12MP, and true distinctions in compact cameras this year all but come down to whether video is captured in old standard definition [VGA 640 x 480], 720 high-definition, or full 1080 HD. 

1080 HD is still a rarity in pocket cams -- but 720 video is even coming to phones. See "Phones add better cameras" below.

Also this year, many companies have added some form of "Smart Auto" mode which, in retrospect, seems like an obvious no-brainer. 

We've said for a few years that few things are worse in photography than finding out, long after that special moment, that your camera could have captured a much better picture than the dark blur you got... if only you'd known the secret sauce of correct settings to make it yield its best image.

But once customers spend their money on a camera, they shouldn't have to also spend their time learning how to use it. In every digital camera is a computer, and today there is enough processing power for it to do more of the work. 

Most fundamentally, the camera should be smart enough to look at the scene at which it's aimed and determine which of its many features and scene modes would yield the best picture; the customer should not have to make that determination every time.

We're happy to see that functionality now making its way into a wide range of consumer cameras.

For example, Canon says its Smart Auto uses data from optical image stabilization, face detection and motion detection to "intelligently select the proper camera settings based on the specific shooting conditions of each scene, ensuring that all images are accurately focused, exposed, stabilized and white-balanced before the shutter is even pressed." 

Fujifilm's SR automatic scene recognition also optimizes exposure, focus, white balance and ISO.

"You can go from a walk in the park to taking pictures of a flower and then back to beautiful landscapes or indoor birthday parties, and the camera will know what to do to get the best shot," Sony says.

Or as Samsung puts it: "If the user is taking a photo of a mountain range, Smart Auto will automatically select the Landscape scene mode. If the user then proceeds to take photo of an individual, Smart Auto will switch to the Portrait scene mode - no manual interaction is required."

And while you might think that having the camera do all this thinking for you would slow your shooting too much -- Sony, for example, says its intelligent scene recognition changes the setting in one-thirtieth of a second.

Panasonic debuted its "Advanced Intelligent Auto" function this time last year. 

This time around, everyone is on the bandwagon... 

And unlike, say, the megapixel race, this is one feature set that brings immediate advantage to the customer -- and immediate improvements to photography.

February 20, 2009

PHONES ADD BETTER CAMERAS

This year's top camera-phones are upgrading to bigger screens, touch input, and 3-5MP sensors on average -- but some bleeding-edge models up the ante to 8MP or, in the case of Sony Ericson's "Idou" announcement last week, even 12MP with a 3.5-inch touchscreen.

The most exciting model might be Samsung's Omnia HD: the company claims it will have the world's first 720P HD video recording and decoding on a mobile, and the world's largest AM-OLED [Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode] screen on a mobile, at 3.7 inches -- which offers "unrivalled sharpness of tone, vivid colors and greater clarity in direct sunlight, as well as less power consumption," the company claims.

The phone's 8MP camera has autofocus, flash, face and smile detection. 

It uses the Symbian OS and comes with video editing software and an HDMI port.

Samsung's UltraTouch S8300 has a 2.8-inch touchscreen and 8MP camera with autofocus, dual-power LED, face and smile detection, and geotagging.

Sony Ericsson also announced the W995 Walkman, with a 2.6-inch screen and 8MP camera with flash.

Nokia adds some interesting photo features: a variable aperture from f/2.4 to f/4.8, a mechanical shutter that snaps at up to 1/1000th second, a dual LED flash, photo geotagging, and SD-resolution video.

That's all in the N86, which also has an 8MP sensor, an autofocusing Zeiss lens, and a 2.6-inch OLED display.

Also: the 6710 Navigator slider has a 2.6-inch display; the 6720 classic, a 2-inch display. Both have 5MP cameras. 

Leading laptop maker Acer wants to become one of the top five smart phone vendors. It announced a line of touch-enabled Windows Mobile phones:

The M900 has a 3.8-inch screen and a 5MP camera.

The DX900 has a 2.8-inch screen, 3MP camera and flash -- plus a secondary camera for video calls.

The F900 has a 3.8-inch screen and 3MP camera.

The X960 has 2.8-inch screen, 3MP camera, and 2nd camera for video calls.

HTC updated its Touch Diamond 2 with a 3-inch touchscreen; 5MP camera, and secondary camera for video calls. 

The Touch Pro2 has a 3.6 touchscreen, 3MP camera, and second camera for video calls.

HTC also announced its Android G2 phone, the Magic, with a 3-inch touchscreen and 3MP camera.

LG's Arena LG-KM900 has a 3-inch touchscreen and 5MP camera with autofocus and DVD-resolution video capture. It will be about $600.

February 20, 2009

I3A TEAMS WITH 6SIGHT

3D Exhibit and Lecture Featured

"Photography will no longer be flat," says Bonny Lhotka of Digital Atelier. 

The artist will exhibit her lenticular 3D photos at the 6Sight Future of Imaging Conference, and lecture on "The Art of Time and Space."

"Artists throughout the ages have worked on the problem of representing three-dimensional space on a two dimensional plane," Lhotka says. "Several of the most effective attempts to capture realistic space rely on human stereoscopic vision; each eye sees a slightly different view." 

* The International Imaging Industry Association's will co-locate its annual conference with the 6Sight Conference in Monterey, CA, on November 10-12, 2009. 

6Sight provides imaging thought leaders an opportunity to explore the future of imaging, predict the interplay of technological innovation, examine changing customer behaviors and desires, and identify business opportunities for vendors and users. 

I3A, the leading global association for the imaging industry, complements the work at 6Sight by bringing members together to create standards and collaborate on initiatives that advance the industry and remove barriers to growth.

I3A members will be offered a special price to attend both events. 

"Now the key players who come together at 6Sight to drive future growth in their business have the option to seamlessly take the next step: Without encumbering their busy schedules with another trip and another event, they will have the opportunity to engage with the development of standards to enable and accelerate that growth. We strongly believe this synergy will produce tangible positive results for our attendees and for the industry as a whole," the two firms say.

YOUTUBE GOES OFF

While workarounds exist, YouTube primarily provides its videos only in streaming format -- offline viewing options aren't offered.

But now Google says it is "testing an option that gives video owners the ability to permit downloading of their videos from YouTube." 

Google says video makers can offer downloads for free, or for a small fee paid through Google Checkout. "Partners can set prices and decide which license they want to attach to the downloaded video files."

The company adds that "many video creators want their work to be seen far and wide. They don't mind sharing their work, provided that they get the proper credit. Using Creative Commons licenses, we're giving our partners and community more choices to make that happen."

[Creative Commons licenses permit content re-use under pre-set conditions.]

February 13, 2009

FUJIFILM FUSES PIXELS

The FinePix F200EXR camera from Fujifilm takes photos in three modes: 

1. Full resolution, for when light is bright and even;

2. Pixel Fusion, which "caps two adjacent pixels together to produce six million large photodiodes, which are big enough to absorb light in the darkest of conditions, to produce low-light shots of extraordinary quality with minimal noise and grain," according to Fujifilm;

3. Dual Capture, which yields a wider dynamic range by capturing and combining two different 6MP exposures.

...That all sounds like it could be complicated, but: With EXR AUTO, the camera recognizes the subject and scene, and automatically decides the optimum EXR shooting mode. 

The new camera is the first to feature the Super CCD EXR previewed last year.

It has a 12MP sensor, 5x optical zoom lens, and 3-inch LCD for $399.

The camera's ISO goes up to "an unprecedented 12,800," Fuji says, "allowing you to capture any shot, any place and at any time with the lowest noise signature to date." 

Fujifilm notes that dynamic range [the gradations of light that exist between bright and dark in any setting] are better discerned by the human eye than a digital camera. However, the F200's wide dynamic range "dramatically broadens tonal capability and guarantees exceptional rendition of photos with both bright highlights and dark shadows," the company claims. "This expansion of sensitivity captures greater detail, and subtle nuances of brightness and tonality that bring the photo closer to what the human eye actually sees."

Fuji also announced the entry-level A150, with a 10MP resolution, 3x optical zoom and a 3-inch LCD for $129. The compact camera measures 3.6 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches.

February 6, 2009

CAMERA SALES RISE, PRICES DROP

Research firm BCN reports that digital camera prices declined 11% in late January as compared to early December. [The company monitors sales data from 2,360 stores in Japan.]

The Camera & Imaging Products Association reports that total shipments of digital cameras in 2008 increased 19.3% from 2007, rising to 119,757,000 units.

SLRs sold 9,687,000 units, up 29.7%.

Compact cameras sold 110,070,000 units, up 18.5%. 

However, CIPA projects that 2009 won't be quite so cheery: 

SLR sales will continue up 6.8%, selling approximately 10,349,000 units.

But compact cameras will drop 1.3% to 108,622,000 units.

CIPA projects that growth potential in Asia and other areas will result in overall shipments increasing to 122,449,000 in 2010 -- and to 125,954,000 in 2011, up 2.9% year-on-year. 

InfoTrends also forecasts that the Asia-Pacific market will surpass North American sales in 2013 in unit shipments of digital cameras.

Due to a combination of large populations and increasing wealth, the research firm says, the region will represent more than a quarter of all digital camera shipments in that year, making it the world's second largest digital camera market, behind the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. 

February 6, 2009