Digital Camera Highlights from PMA 2007

With a month's worth of hustle & bustle, events, contests, demos, announcements, and thousands of attendees crammed into four hectic days, the 83rd annual, 2007 PMA International Convention and Trade Show is ready for the history books.

For the consumer, the most interesting news from PMA 2007 is focused around the product announcements; the digital cameras and other photography equipment that you and I can buy off the shelf or order online. This year, there was no shortage of product news. We have previously written about product (and photo workshop) announcements from Panasonic LUMIX, the new digital camera models from Nikon Coolpix, and of course, the new 10.2 megapixel Nikon D40X.

Here are more digital photography and imaging product highlights from PMA 2007:

The FujiFilm IS-1 digital camera wins a DIMA Innovative Digital Product Award. The Digital Imaging Marketing Association (DIMA) Innovative Digital Product Awards recognize products or services that are at the forefront of digital imaging technology or the "first of their kind." FujiFilm stated that, "DIMA's recognition of the IS-1 digital camera underscores Fujifilm's commitment to creating unique products and rich new technologies that meet the imaging needs of today's customers."

Fujifilm's IS-1 is the world's first production point-and-shoot digital camera that can capture images in the IR (infrared) range of the light spectrum. Although this camera won't be owned by the average family photographer (the camera is more practical for science labs or law enforcement professionals), we congratulate FujiFilm on pushing the envelope with this unique camera.

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New FujiFilm FinePix Digital Cameras: Speaking of FujiFilm, FujiFilm USA, Inc. announced three new consumer models in its line of consumer digital cameras, including the 8-megapixel Finepix A820 and the 9-megapixel A900.

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New Olympus Digital Cameras: Not to be left behind, Olympus Imaging America has also announced several new models of high-quality digital cameras for Spring 2007, such as the Olympus EVOLT E410 and the Olympus EVOLT E510.

Both digital cameras are advanced digital SLRs that include a dust reduction system; a bright, high-resolution, 2.5 inch, 230,000-pixel HyperCrystal LCD screen; Auto-focus; and a 10-megapixel Live-MOS sensor that lets you preview your shots with all of the nuances of your own overrides and custom settings. The E510 also includes Advanced Image Stabilization.

Other new point-and-shoot Olympus cameras that have been recently announced include:

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Olympus Stylus 760 Digital Camera: A 7.1-megapixel, 3x optical zoom point 'n shoot that was designed to be used in adverse weather. The camera includes a bright, wide angle, high-resolution, 2.5-inch LCD, dual image stabilization and 26 different shooting modes for video capture and still images. The stylish Olympus 760 comes in four different colors: silver, black, light blue, and pink.

 

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Olympus SP-550UZ Digital Camera: The high-speed, 7.1-megapixel, full featured Olympus SP-550UZ offers more features than many digital SLRs, sans the interchangeable lens. Most notably, its wide-angle, 18x super-telephoto lens is the equivalent of a amazing 28-504mm telephoto lens on a 35mm camera. Super-sensitive, the ISO 5000 SP-550UZ will capture images in extremely low-light conditions (or for extremely fast-action photos). Its bright, 230,000-pixel 2.5-inch LCD allows you to review your shots even in bright sunlight, and the dual image stabilization ensures that a shaky hand or a fast-moving subject will be captured with crystal clarity.

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For more news and daily updates related to the PMA 2007 show, please visit the Virtual Press Office at:

http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/show/index.jsp?showId=1152106483613

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Tags: Digital Cameras, FujiFilm Digital Cameras, Olympus Digital Cameras, Photography Trade Shows, PMA 2007, Photo Marketing Association, PMA, PMAI

A Camera for Frequent Family Portraits

Selecting a digital camera these days is not easy. With the wide range of megapixels available, with so many features that appear on some cameras and not others, how does one make a choice? The easiest way may be to envision how you will use the camera most often, and then get the best camera you can for that specific application.

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You can find all the latest FujiFilm cameras and accessories at RitzCamera.com

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With that in mind, the FujiFilm F31fd digital camera may be the absolute best choice for the typical, family photographer. In addition to its 6.3 megapixels -- plenty of megapixels for a quality 8x10 blow-up -- the F31fd contains many features perfect for those frequent, personal family portraits.

The fd in F31fd stands for Face Detection, and this is the feature that FujiFilm is touting the most about this camera. Their advanced face detection technology allows the camera to identify up to 10 individual faces in a photo (in as little as 0.05 seconds), and also follow any faces that aren't sitting still until they go beyond the borders of the image. The benefit to your photos is that, with individual faces being identified, the lighting on those areas can be optimized, and the camera makes easy work of zooming in on them for a nearly automated, close-up portrait taken just a second after a more distant shot.

A complementary feature to assist in taking those family portraits is the sensitivity of the FujiFilm F31fd. With light sensitivity up to ISO 3200, this camera can take many photos in low-light conditions that are beyond the reach of most other cameras. So if you're fond of taking pictures at birthday parties with nothing but the candles on the cake lighting the scene, or if you enjoy candld snaps of your family opening their Christmas presents lit only by the lights of the Christmas tree, you should seriously consider this camera. It will be able to capture shots that would otherwise get away, and help you capture them easily.

Even though this camera is more sensitive than most, there will be times when you simply don't have enough ambient light. The FujiFilm F31fd also incorporates "intelligent flash" technology that will light up the scene when necessary. This feature also works well with the face detection technology. That is, if the important faces in the photo are darker than the background, the Intelligent Flash will light them up, creating a much better shot with more evenly balanced lighting.

The FujiFilm F31fd is not available just yet. It is scheduled to come out in December with a price tag somewhere around $399. However, if your family has a person who loves to take those personal family portraits -- and whose doesn't -- the timing is perfect; this cameras would make perfect holiday gift for that relative.

When the FujiFilm F31fd is ready for pre-order, we will announce it here.

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Tags: Digital Cameras, FujiFilm Cameras, FujiFilm F31fd